Tasigur vs Damia
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Jan. 3, 2016, 8:20 a.m. by Ravolt
Which of the cards makes for a stronger commander deck? Tasigur, the Golden Fang Damia, Sage of Stone
I'm curious because I do enjoy sultai colors and might eventually want a deck with either of these commanders.
Neither Tas nor Damia have abilities you really ought to build around. Damia's usually preferred since she offers more value, but Tas is interesting in that he offers a built-in way to avoid commander tax and supports recursion. It's not like Tas can't be a good commander, it's just that he's a bit lackluster when compared to other BUG legends.
January 3, 2016 10:06 a.m.
BreadManDan says... #4
I recently switched to tasigur after a buddy blew away my damia deck using his tasigur deck. The utility tasigur provides by forcing the opponent to give u back cards and just delving away the cards you don't need is just too nice.
January 3, 2016 10:19 a.m.
Tasigur is stronger especially in 1vs1 you can focus on counterspells and control magic and then beat them up with your commander. You can almost always cast your commander and then attack and keep mana open to counter or remove anything that comes in its way. Once you forced your opponent into topdeck mode you can use your mana on tasigur's ability.
January 3, 2016 10:23 a.m.
lemmingllama says... #6
I personally prefer Tasigur, the Golden Fang. He incentivizes you to run nothing but powerful cards. This does mean that you typically will have little ramp, but it also means that you can play politics to get back the correct answer for what is happening.
Also being able to cast your commander for cheap is nice. Damia will always be expensive and force you to ramp a lot. Tasigur will normally cost 
every time.
January 3, 2016 10:29 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #7
It depends on what you want to do with the deck. I run Damia in a combo-control shell in Dominus - Dreamcrusher Edition because the card advantage is better and Tasigur's ability is less relevant. I cover both in the primer.
January 3, 2016 10:56 a.m.
I've debated on using both of these cards as commanders in the past but ultimately gave up for the time being as I had no idea what to do with them. I'm hoping future sets will give me ideas :)
I'm also hoping the current commander deck I'm working on will make me better at commander deck building. For now, I'll just save up on cards I think might be interesting for those colors :)
January 3, 2016 11:07 a.m.
Epochalyptik I absolutely agree with you regarding multiplayer. In 1vs1 matches I prefer Tasigur, because of its casting cost. In multiplayer my Tasigur deck lacks creatures and I get beaten up. The card draw Damia gives would open up more possibilities (you do not need that many draw spells and so on). But I guess everybody will come to a different conclusion and the Sultai commanders are all pretty cool.
January 3, 2016 11:25 a.m.
It depends. Tasigur can be cast for a lot cheaper so long as you don't have any drawbacks about exiling your graveyard for his delve. Like others have said, I like him better in 1v1 or in groups that have faster games. In slow grindy games, though, exiling large chunks of your graveyard can be a significant drawback when others are recycling it with elixir of immortality or some such.
Damia is very expensive, but she provides card advantage like nobodies business if you can protect her for a bit. She's better in long grindy games and is perfect for a more controlling deck.
So really, it depends on your deck and on your play group.
January 3, 2016 1:03 p.m.
For me as a person who prefers games with at least 3 people, you guys think Damia would be the better option?
January 3, 2016 1:41 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #12
Again, it depends on what you're trying to do with the deck.
I personally think Damia is better overall, especially if you think you'll need the ongoing advantage, but it's a large and expensive target.
January 3, 2016 2:27 p.m.
I currently run Tas, but have been looking at Damia a lot recently to try. I also play a Thraximundar EDH deck, and having an expensive commander with little protection is more of a problem than a solution. Nothing is more upsetting than tapping out to play your cmdr, then losing him instantly. I've become a little disenchanted with Tas recently since his ability will always get you back the LEAST valuable card in the yard (if your opponent is smart), and his basic 4/5 body is mediocre at best. Maybe I'll try Sidisi, Brood Tyrant next, haha.
January 3, 2016 3:18 p.m.
Karns_Pyromancer says... #14
I currently run Tas and have no intention of changing that. Damia is really good and arguably has a much better build around ability, but the setup cost is a bit too expensive for my taste. My deck Tasigur's Courtroom can usually hard cast Tas T2/T3, setting me up for his ability on T3/T4. (I'm still playing with the landbase).
Tasigur offers an ability that basically turns your graveyard into an extension of your hand. Yes, sometimes you need to tune that a bit by exiling some cards, but in general, he plays very well as a combo/reanimator general or as a vanilla general for Sultai colors because he doesn't require building around.
EndStepTop says... #2
Damia if protected gives you insane card advantage. Tasigur is an outlet for infinite mana and can come into play for much less, and provide smaller card advantage. The typical control/combo decks built with these commanders will be very similar. Tasigur can make great use of Food Chain to ritual into extra mana when you combo off. Damia will often be a secondary option if you can't land necropotence or another card advantage engine.
Edit: I personally prefer Damia but know of players who swear by Tasigur as the better choice. It's ultimately up to you to playtest and see what one fits your playstyle best.
January 3, 2016 10:03 a.m. Edited.