Don't Worry, It's Just a Phase

Commander / EDH

dapplegrim

Artifact (24)

• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Coalition Relic
• 1x Coldsteel Heart
• 1x Darksteel Ingot
• 1x Everflowing Chalice
• 1x Eye of Ramos
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Fireshrieker
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Jester's Cap
• 1x Mana Web
• 1x Portcullis
• 1x Quicksilver Fountain
• 1x Sky Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Storm Cauldron
• 1x Surveyor's Scope
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Torpor Orb
• 1x Vedalken Orrery
• 1x Ward of Bones
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak
• 1x Worn Powerstone

Instant (16)

• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Disdainful Stroke
• 1x Evacuation
• 1x Foil
• 1x High Tide
• 1x Hurkyl's Recall
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Pull from Tomorrow
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Stubborn Denial
• 1x Sunder
• 1x Swan Song

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Merchant Scroll
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Treasure Cruise
• 1x Whelming Wave

Land (37)

• 1x Buried Ruin
• 33x Island
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terrain Generator

Commander (1)

Enchantment (10)

• 1x Dream Tides
• 1x Frozen Aether
• 1x Land Equilibrium
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation
• 1x Mana Vortex
• 1x Overburden
• 1x Pendrell Mists
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Shimmer

Creature (6)

• 1x Grand Architect
• 1x Palladium Myr
• 1x Scourge of Fleets
• 1x Silent Arbiter
• 1x Silver Myr
• 1x Thassa, God of the Sea

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Maybeboard

Artifact (9)

• 1x Cursed Totem
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Eon Hub
• 1x Eternity Vessel
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mindslaver
• 1x Orb of Dreams
• 1x Storage Matrix
• 1x Winter Orb

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Back to Basics
• 1x Monastery Siege

Sorcery (1)

• 1x All is Dust

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Tezzeret the Seeker

Creature (2)

• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Walking Atlas

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Version 2.0 Stax to the Max

Okay, so today we are looking at Taniwha, one of the more bizarre commander choices in the format. Taniwha has phasing, and for those that don't remember how that works, basically during your untap step, Taniwha "phases out" of the game. The card is still on the battlefield, including any auras or equipment attached to it, but the card is treated like it doesn't exist. During your next untap step, Taniwha "phases in", and because it never actually left the battlefield, it does not have summoning sickness.

The second key part of Taniwa is that all your lands phase out ON YOUR UPKEEP, which basically means that the board looks like this:

-Turn 1 (Turn you play Taniwha). Taniwha and your lands are in play.

-Turn 2. Taniwha phases out on your untap step.

-Turn 3. Taniwha phases in on your untap step, and then all your lands phase out during your upkeep.

From this point on, you will either have Taniwha or all of your lands, but not both.

Now you might be wondering: "Doesn't it, you know, suck if I have no lands every other turn?" Of course it would, if you were playing typical blue control. But this is freaking Taniwha you're talking about. I got this shit covered.

1). Loads of mana rocks. Missing out on lands doesn't hurt so much when you can tap for 10 mana a turn on rocks alone.

2). Valuable instants. Because the lands phase out on your upkeep, you have time to respond by casting instants before they phase out. With Vedalken Orrery or Leyline of Anticipation, you can play your main phase during your upkeep. Suddenly that drawback doesn't seem too bad.

3). If you can't have lands, your opponents can't either. Tap your mana during your upkeep, wait for your lands to phase out, and then play Sunder, returning everyone else's lands to their hands, while keeping your own. If that isn't rude enough, cards like Storm Cauldron, Shimmer, and Mana Vortex should do the trick.

In terms of wincons, you almost certainly will be winning with Taniwha. It has seven power, so without any voltroning that will already kill an opponent with three direct hits. To aid in a clear board state, try casting Evacuation after Sunder when Taniwha is phased out. Whelming Wave and Cyclonic Rift will also get rid of troublesome creatures, while sparing your precious commander.

Of course, once you clear the board, you want to make sure that your opponents struggle to recover. We do this with stax, stax, and more stax. Look to cards like Ward of Bones, Frozen AEther, and Overburden to halt their recovery until you can kill them with your sea serpent. If you understandably draw aggro after you have ruined everyone else's board state, Propaganda and Dream Tides will ensure that your opponents will spend their precious dwindling mana a bit more wisely.

So yeah, a blue control deck where you win by swinging your big Timmy creature directly into your opponents faces. The best of both worlds!

Date added	7 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 33 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.94
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Boar 2/2 G, Frog Lizard 3/3 G
Folders	edh mono blue, EDH Ideas, lmao, Future Builds, EDH decks, z Others Decks, Under 400, Order Decks, Nice Decks, yo, EDH