Talrand and His Minions of Flying Doom

Commander / EDH Ashmed

SCORE: 148 | 114 COMMENTS | 25420 VIEWS | IN 75 FOLDERS


What about creatures? I understand how talrand works, but you could run Thousand Winds or such.

May 12, 2016 2:24 p.m.

Ashmed says... #2

I have thought about using creatures however I quite like the fact there are none in here. If I did delve into using them it would be Stormtide Leviathan, Guile and the such like.

May 12, 2016 3:12 p.m.

Why Icy Blast? You could just run Gridlock. Can you even trigger Ferocious with this list?

Ooh! or run them both!

Also, Thassa's Ire.

May 12, 2016 5:17 p.m.

Ashmed says... #4

Ferocious can trigger, I will look at Gridlock though, cheers for that!

May 12, 2016 6:55 p.m.

Thassa's Ire is WAY stronger than you think it is.

Test it out at least!

May 12, 2016 7:26 p.m.

erabel says... #6

Your list looks really solid as it stands. I like how you're going for a lot more interesting effects like Ray of Command and Clone Legion rather than the boring ol' "cantrips and counterspells" kind of stuff.

A few suggestions/questions:

  • Starting with suggestions, High Tide is an extremely cheap (under a dollar) card that is absolutely incredible. Sure, some people will accuse it of being solely a combo card, and it can be that, but I've used it just to play Talrand turn three, or to allow me to play two or three five-mana spells in a turn, without wanting to combo off. The fact that it benefits your opponents also running blue is a small price to pay.
  • Acquire is around two dollars, and can be pretty interesting to play with. I've taken the standards like Sol Ring and Gilded Lotus, but also Darksteel Plate and even Whip of Erebos, just for the life swing. Your deck shows a willingness to play with your opponent's stuff, so I thought I'd leave that suggestion there.
  • Turnabout is a bit more expensive (currently around four dollars), and also has the reputation of being a combo piece, for good reason. This combined with High Tide and a Jace's Sanctum effect have caused some massive swings in my board state before. But it's also just an extremely flexible tempo card. Tap down a threatening player's lands before they have the chance to combo off, untap all your creatures as a surprise blocking option, tap down someone's creatures at beginning of combat... It's so, so worth the money. Again, you said that combo isn't your thing, so you don't have to run it at all. Just my two cents.
  • A few cards that I'm not criticizing, just that I've considered running before and want to hear your thoughts. What have your experiences been with Soldevi Excavations? Veilstone Amulet? Epiphany at the Drownyard (I know this one specifically is pretty new, so if you don't have too much to say about it, that's fine)?
  • Finally, are there any specific things you've been having problems with while you're playing that you'd want my specific advice on? My Talrand deck isn't the exact same, but it's similar, and I can make some broad suggestions if you're having trouble, say, hitting your land drops, or refilling your hand after a big play.

Again, deck looks really really sweet, and I hope you're having fun with it. +1.

May 13, 2016 12:47 p.m.

Ashmed says... #7

Hi erabel, thank you for the comment! I'll answer in order: 1.) I actually got a High Tide yesterday and am now about to put it in the list! 2.) I wasn't too sure about Acquire, however thinking about it more everyone runs artifacts in EDH so there's no reason not too, I'll definitely be looking at getting one of those. 3.) Not too sure about Turnabout, however I see how it could be useful for untapping my creatures for an unexpected line of defense so I may well look into getting that too. 4.) Soldevi Excavations I find outstandingly useful, being able to scry 1 before your turn is always good and I find that losing the island to play it doesn't affect me at all. Veilstone Amulet I haven't actually had a use for yet, it's been on the battlefield but wasn't actually required. I think it could be useful against certain decks though so I'm planning on keeping it for the time being. Epiphany at the Drownyard isn't too bad, especially if I pull either Learn from the Past or Psychic Spiral as they have to choose between me getting a load of good spells or refilling my library. It is a bit random though so I'll be replacing it with High Tide for now. 5.) Not too many specific problems, just every now and again I find that if I start lagging behind it can be hard to come back (for example against life gain decks). I very rarely find myself without cards in hand, especially with Rhystic Study out. I notice you have a Mystic Remora in your deck, how do you find having that? I'm wary of the cumulative upkeep required. Thank you again for your comments, I truly appreciate it! I have great fun playing with the deck, definitely my favorite :D (sorry for how the comment came out, couldn't figure out how to make it a list)

May 14, 2016 4 p.m.

Bababad says... #8

Jace's Archivist is a hilarious alt win con for this sort of deck

looks fun!

June 2, 2016 10:07 a.m.

Ashmed says... #9

Thank you both for your comments! Bababad, I see how that would be fun! However I do like the creatureless element of the deck at present, however if I change it I will consider using him!

doctorhydrogen, it never occurred to me that Mitotic Manipulation could hit a land, I think I may get one and try it out. I agree with Evolving Wilds, I've been running it to test out but it's not providing any benefit. I will disagree with Lonely Sandbar however, as I find it quite useful later in the game (just my personal opinion).

I have toyed with the idea of using Gravitational Shift, I just haven't got around to actually getting one yet!

June 2, 2016 11:07 a.m.

guessling says... #10

I run Talrand as a commander and maybe it's just my playgroup, but if they decide they want to beat Talrand.Dec (and they often do), then they just start targeting him mercilessly because without him in play, the deck basically does nothing. You might consider things like Mizzium Skin. I even have things like Diplomatic Immunity. I see that you have Swiftfoot Boots but a determined table can cut through a single layer of protection - even if you get it out.

For multiplayer, draw effects and lower costing stuff become more important. You could try Rhystic Study and replace higher cmc spells with things like Pongify.

I run creatures in my version so I'm not intending to mold your deck to mine. +1 for making creature less edh (by the way - I think someone else did that on tappedout but I forget who just now - when I remember I might share a link to their deck on tappedout). I think that great minds think alike and going tlcreatureless with Talrand is an intuitive challenge.

June 20, 2016 9:44 a.m.

Ashmed says... #11

Thank you for your kind comments guessling :) I have been considering Mizzium Skin, however I never thought of Diplomatic Immunity, I may well look in to that.

I do already run a Rhystic Study, and Pongify is absent purely because I haven't got myself a copy yet.

Thank you again, I believe the other user and deck may have been erabel's Talrand's Party of One, which is undeniably awesome!

June 20, 2016 10:44 a.m.

nemesis464 says... #12

What about Quicksilver Fountain?

Slowly locks opponents out of the game whilst leaving you untouched?

July 9, 2016 8:46 a.m.

Ashmed says... #13

Interesting, I'd never considered using it before. I may look into it when I have my next shake up, thank you for the suggestion!

July 9, 2016 2:41 p.m.

abby315 says... #14

Pemmin's Aura might help against removal. Extraplanar Lens can give you a crapton of mana if you're interested in that :)

July 26, 2016 8:38 p.m.

Ashmed says... #15

Hi abby315, thank you for the suggestions! I find that mana isn't really an issue in the deck, plus Extraplanar Lens is a bit over my budget at present. Pemmin's Aura is an interesting one though, I may look into that, however it would be a tough choice between that or Diplomatic Immunity.

July 27, 2016 4:22 a.m.

Serbon says... #16

If you do run Extraplanar Lens , make sure to use Snow-Covered Island so only you get the benefit of the lens.

August 4, 2016 8:18 p.m.

tommydragna says... #17

This deck looks like tons of fun. Have you thought of adding Staff of the Mind Magus? You're playing tons of blue spells, might as well gain some life off it too.

August 6, 2016 6:07 p.m.

Ashmed says... #18

Hi Serbon, if I do ever wind up running Extraplanar Lens I will definitely use Snow-Covered Islands, however I generally don't have any issues with mana in this deck.

tommydragna, this deck is incredibly fun to play! I highly recommend making one, especially as it can be made on a really tight budget. As for Staff of the Mind Magus, I did use to run it however I found the life gain element was fairly minimum and would rather run another spell in its place.

August 9, 2016 4:18 a.m.

The_2ndpanda says... #19

Hey love the deck, would you add a Rise from the Tides and a Desertion to the deck.

August 31, 2016 12:43 p.m.

Ashmed says... #20

Hi The_2ndpanda, thank you for the comment and the upvote! I have been considering both of those cards, possibly using them to replace Trail of Evidence and Discombobulate. I'm more in favour of keeping Trail of Evidence and just running Desertion, however I am planning to playtest all the options :)

September 1, 2016 8:57 a.m.

The_2ndpanda says... #21

Personally I feel like Altar of Dementia not that efficient even with a lot of birds, and same to Visions of Beyond. Trail of Evidence is a really solid card, because of the card draw you get from spell that don't draw you cards.

September 1, 2016 11:53 a.m.

Ashmed says... #22

The Altar of Dementia is mainly there as a free sac outlet in case of board wipes and also in case my drakes are blocked etc. Visions of Beyond is useful as it is fairly easy to get 20+ cards in a graveyard, plus it is an excellent card to imprint onto Isochron Scepter. The Trail of Evidence is super useful I agree, I doubt I would take it out unless there was a very good alternative.

September 2, 2016 4:14 a.m.

The_2ndpanda says... #23

Hello is me again, what do you think about Metallurgic Summonings from kaladesh

September 8, 2016 2:55 p.m.

Ashmed says... #24

Hiya mate, yeah thats a definite include as soon as it comes out! Only card I will be adding from the new set so far.

September 8, 2016 2:58 p.m.

endersblade says... #25

I know it's creatureless, but Stormtide Leviathan and Archetype of Imagination are pretty crazy together.

September 16, 2016 3:46 p.m.

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