Creaturless Talrand, mild prison theme.

Commander / EDH*

b1rchw00d

Spell Counters (20)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Deprive
• 1x Disallow
• 1x Disdainful Stroke
• 1x Dissipate
• 1x Dissolve
• 1x Essence Scatter
• 1x Faerie Trickery
• 1x Forbid
• 1x Misdirection
• 1x Mystic Confluence
• 1x Negate
• 1x Overwhelming Denial
• 1x Overwhelming Intellect
• 1x Spell Crumple
• 1x Spelljack
• 1x Summary Dismissal
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Void Shatter

Utility (7)

• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x High Market
• 1x Misdirection
• 1x Spelljack
• 1x Summary Dismissal
• 1x Twincast
• 1x Vedalken Shackles

Bounce (4)

• 1x Capsize
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Echoing Truth
• 1x Mystic Confluence

Ability Counters (3)

• 1x Disallow
• 1x Stifle
• 1x Trickbind

Theft (2)

• 1x Spelljack
• 1x Vedalken Shackles

Draw (14)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Blighted Cataract
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Gush
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mystic Confluence
• 1x Oona's Grace
• 1x Opportunity
• 1x Overwhelming Intellect
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Portent
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Think Twice

Prisons (8)

• 1x Arcane Laboratory
• 1x Frozen Aether
• 1x Kill Switch
• 1x Meekstone
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Telepathy
• 1x Torpor Orb

Ramp (6)

• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Extraplanar Lens
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Sapphire Medallion
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thought Vessel

Wipes (4)

• 1x AEtherize
• 1x Aetherspouts
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Wash Out

Removal (3)

• 1x Pongify
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Reality Shift

Commander (1)

Filtering (10)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Dissolve
• 1x Impulse
• 1x Mystic Speculation
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Portent
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Scrying Sheets
• 1x Telling Time
• 1x Think Twice

Lands (36)

• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x High Market
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Riptide Laboratory
• 1x Scrying Sheets
• 31x Snow-Covered Island

Recursion/Recurrables (6)

• 1x Call to Mind
• 1x Capsize
• 1x Forbid
• 1x Mystic Speculation
• 1x Oona's Grace
• 1x Relearn

Tutors (2)

• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Mystical Tutor

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Sideboard

Other (8)

• 1x Damping Matrix
• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Grafdigger's Cage
• 1x Merchant Scroll
• 1x Mindlock Orb
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Pact of Negation

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Maybeboard

Other (5)

• 1x Abjure
• 1x Into the Roil
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Neurok Stealthsuit
• 1x Redirect

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The point of putting a mild prison theme into a Talrand deck is to be able to use buyback cards (Capsize,Mind Games, Mystic Speculation) and occasionally Call to Mind + Relearn to garner one or two drakes per turn when nothing needs countering, be it my turn (with mana rocks while Kill Switch is on the field), or your turn (with huge mana gain from my mana doubler's).

Counterspells being inherently reactive make them dead draws by technicality, in my eyes anyway. With that in mind, I've done my best to make any permanents have a big impact immediately on most any deck, rather than furthering or developing a board I might not have.

• Grafdigger's Cage and Torpor Orb put a pretty big damper on a lot of combo's out there.
• Meekstone shuts down any aggro too big to answer with drakes.
• Kill Switch shuts down any artifact creatures or artifact ramp, while letting me utilize my own small mana rocks. Caged Sun, Sapphire Medallion, and Extraplanar Lens are major ramp that dodge Kill Switch's effect.
• Frozen AEther slows down anything I don't have mana or drakes to deal with now. Helps Kill Switch keep their mana rocks tapped.
• Telepathy is one of if not the most amazing under-rated gem of a card in the entire deck. People are so reluctant to answer it, and try (and fail) to save their removal fro my other enchantments.
• Arcane Laboratory is usually GG. Maybe looking for a permanent or two to create a hard lock with Arcane Laboratory, Entitled to the Bling or Jake, Bedazzler of Sequins come to mind.

The siding of tutors Mystical Tutor, Merchant Scroll, and Fabricate are to keep balance in my playgroup. I have a moral quandry with too many tutors, EDH being a singleton casual format and all. Siding of Pact and Force are to specifically target repeat offending, boring combo decks.

Oona's Grace and Think Twice can still cantrip from the hand with Grafdigger's Cage active, and are ready when it inevitably get's destroyed. Cage can also be Capsized if there's nothing better to do.

Neurok Stealthsuit is a tough call, seeing as most of the time it will stay equipped to Talrand and never ever move. It's good against the occasional opposing or Redirected Echoing Truth.

Will obtain things like Cryptic Command, Force of Will, Mystic Confluence, Pact of Negation, and maybe even Mana Drain will be added some day, though their presence might change the makeup of the deck.

The only real win-con in the deck is Talrand, or a forfeit.

Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 1 Mythic Rares 23 - 5 Rares 27 - 2 Uncommons 17 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.71
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Drake 2/2 U, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, Manifest 2/2 C