Tiana, Angelic Engineer Extraordinaire

Standard Brawl* Enchantment RW (Boros) Theme/Gimmick

KingZamiel

Creatures (16)

• 1x Aerial Responder
• 1x Angel of Invention
• 1x Baird, Steward of Argive
• 1x Benalish Marshal
• 1x Bishop of Rebirth
• 1x Cataclysmic Gearhulk
• 1x Champion of the Flame
• 1x Combat Celebrant
• 1x Danitha Capashen, Paragon
• 1x Dauntless Bodyguard
• 1x Oketra the True
• 1x Restoration Specialist
• 1x Sky Terror
• 1x Sram, Senior Edificer
• 1x Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle
• 1x Valduk, Keeper of the Flame

Enchantments (13)

• 1x Authority of the Consuls
• 1x Call for Unity
• 1x Cartouche of Solidarity
• 1x Cast Out
• 1x Compulsory Rest
• 1x Desert's Hold
• 1x Dub
• 1x Giant Spectacle
• 1x Luminous Bonds
• 1x Saving Grace
• 1x See Red
• 1x Squire's Devotion
• 1x Tilonalli's Crown

Instants (3)

• 1x Abrade
• 1x Adamant Will
• 1x Invoke the Divine

Lands (22)

• 1x Inspiring Vantage
• 1x Memorial to Glory
• 1x Memorial to War
• 7x Mountain
• 9x Plains
• 1x Ramunap Ruins
• 1x Shefet Dunes
• 1x Zhalfirin Void

Artifacts (4)

• 1x Blackblade Reforged
• 1x Captain's Hook
• 1x Helm of the Host
• 1x Jousting Lance

Commander (1)

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Gideon of the Trials

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What's not to like about Tiana? She's adorable, an angel, and she's got that artificer sub-type (which is rather late since Kaladesh will rotate out soon). Alright so there's quite the flavor fail with her not being able to interact with vehicles as well, but I feel it's understandable since Boros vehicles were so rampant a while back. Anyways, let's look at her a little more in-depth!

COMMANDER TIANA!

Alright, so ignoring her ability for a moment, let's look at the rest of her kit. For CMC 5 she's a 3/3 flyer with first strike. That's not too shabby. It's not great mind you, but it is pretty good for an angel. Take Serra Angel for instance; instead of first strike she has vigilance, but she's non-legendary and costs 2 White mana instead of Tiana's R/W.

Let's be honest though, Tiana's not our Commander for her battle prowess. Her ability to return auras and equipment to your hand if they are sent to the graveyard is what's important, and therefore that is what this deck is built around. As a legendary uncommon creature I feel like even though she's not as powerful as Teferi or Lyra Dawnbringer, she can hold her own just fine.

Alright, so before I go any further, let's cut to the chees chase and get to the meat of the deck - the strategy!

THE BLUEPRINTS WILL GUIDE YOU TO VICTORY! (THE STRATEGY)

The main focus of the deck is pretty straightforward: equip as many auras and equipment to Champion of the Flame to make him incredibly powerful, or equip as many auras and equipment to Valduk, Keeper of the Flame to keep popping out elementals every turn.

The champion is a pretty solid choice for buffing just because of his low CMC and natural trample, but the fact that he gets an additional +2/+2 per aura/equipment attached makes him outstanding.

Valduk is pretty interesting. Normally a creature that wants auras/equipment has an effect that triggers when they attack. Not Valduk though, and that makes him great. Of course your opponents are going to try to kill him first since he pops out tokens, so excluding the need to attack makes him just a little less vulnerable. (Fun fact: if you're in need of more auras to give to Valduk, you can give him Desert's Hold and the like since he doesn't need to attack. Far from efficient, but hey, the option's there.)

Is it innovative? No, and it doesn't need to be. Can it win? Most certainly! Just keep in mind that there's good matchups, bad matchups, and really bad matchups (which are control decks).

From here on out, I'll be going over the other parts of the deck that keeps it a well-oiled machine.

EVEN THE BEST MECHANIC NEEDS A HELPING HAND SOMETIMES (CARD SYNERGY)

What's a deck without any synergy? Sure you can toss a bunch of cards together and call it a deck, but will it even function? Maybe, but not nearly as smoothly as it could.

Anyways, Tiana may return your auras and enchantments, but let's face it: they're not getting any cheaper. That's where Danitha Capashen, Paragon comes in. Not only does she make the aforementioned cards cheaper to cast, but she makes for a great brawler (lame pun intended) if needed.

Next we're got good ol' Sram, Senior Edificer. To be honest, I never made use of him back in the Kaladesh block (I wasn't too fond of vehicles), but now that's changed! There's no better feeling than being rewarded for something that you were going to do regardless, and Sram does just that. He gives you a free card every time you cast your equipment and auras, and thanks to Tiana's recurring ability you should be getting a fair amount of card draw each game.

PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE (OPPONENT LOCKDOWN)

Any good mechanic will tell you not wait until things are literally falling apart to try and fix it. Rather, preventative upkeep is the way to go. Likewise just because Tiana's ability can return your auras and equipment once they've left the battlefield, would it not be better to not go through all that hassle in the first place? Auras and equipment are rather fragile things, both highly susceptible to removal, and the former automatically going to the graveyard (with the occasional exception of course) once the creature its attached to dies. Now creatures of course are subject to removal in their own ways, but most commonly they're destroyed in battle. Unfortunately there's no 100% way to prevent removal and/or death with the Standard pool alone, but I've added in a few cards to make it a bit more difficult for our opponents to put the brakes on our engine.

Cards like Compulsory Rest and Desert's Hold are okay on their own. They stop enemy creatures from attacking and blocking, which not only makes it easier for you to slip right through their defense and more importantly, keeps your creatures alive. Add in Tiana's ability, and they get so much more value.

Cast Out sadly is not an aura, so it's use is limited, but I added it in as an answer to any non-creature permanents that might come my way.

Authority of the Consuls cannot win games for you, but it can slow down your opponents just enough to give you that edge needed to win. Plus, lifegain makes me happy.

Next up is the steadfast Baird, Steward of Argive. At 4 toughness he's just out of range of most removal spells (I'm looking at you Sweltering Suns), which is undeniably nice. More importantly though, his mere presence on the battlefield makes it harder for enemies to attack you. Sure it's only 1 mana per creature attacking, but again it can bide you a few extra turns to win. Especially effective against decks that like to go wide like my Saheeli Can Brawl Too! deck (shameless self-promotion) and Elenda token decks.

Last up is Cataclysmic Gearhulk. This bad boy is more of a last resort option, as he wipes your board too. The good thing is, as long as you have Tiana out (and choose her as the creature you keep of course), you'll get back all auras and equipment that were destroyed by him.

DELAYING THE INEVITABLE (CARD RETURN)

No matter how smart you play, sometimes you just cannot avoid some removal. Spells get counted, creatures get killed, artifacts and enchantments get naturalized. You may not be able to prevent everything, but that doesn't mean all is lost.

Bishop of Rebirth and Teshar, Ancestor’s Apostle are the two most prominent cards for revival, both being able to bring back most creatures in the deck (CMC 3 or less), should they meet an untimely end.

At the cost of his own life, Dauntless Bodyguard can protect any other creature for a turn, which will likely be Tiana more often than not. As a plus, he can be brought back by either the Bishop or Teshar if necessary.

Much like the bodyguard, Restoration Specialist can bring back an artifact and/or enchantment at the cost of their life, and can be given new life by the Bishop and Teshar.

A GOOD MECHANIC KEEPS SPARE PARTS AROUND (THE BACKUP PLAN)

Every good deck has an extra win-con or two. While this backup plan is not ideal, it's still effective: Good ol' Boros-style beatdown. Simply equip what you can to the creatures that you can, and just keep swinging. This is where every other unmentioned creature (and Gideon) prove their worth.

Angel of Invention and Benalish Marshal both have anthem abilities, which are nice regardless, but become vital when you can't rely on Valduk or the Champion alone.

Combat Celebrant is a game-changer, and hopefully, a win-con. Getting to attack twice in one turn can be brutal, especially when your opponent(s) used up their resources in the first combat phase.

Oketra the True definitely has her uses here. She's flexible enough to be a good defender, and a great attacker (especially if you can toss a couple of auras on her). What's more, her ability to create warriors (even if they're just 1/1) can turn the tides in a war of attrition.

Aerial Responder and Sky Terror are the main flying attackers here, both having solid kits. The Responder has Vigilance and Lifelink (great to keep yourself alive) and the Terror has Menace (very wonderful if you can put some buffs on it).

Last but certainly not least, we've got the big man himself: Gideon of the Trials. He's got a little bit of everything. His +1 is a pseudo indestructible (which it truly helpful when you need to attack, but don't want your creature taking damage), his first +0 turns him into a great attacker, and his second +0 gives you a wonderful cushion against defeat (assuming that you can keep him alive, of course).

SUCCESS LIES WITHIN INNOVATION (COOL CARD COMBINATIONS)

This section is dedicated to the neat interactions between some cards. Some are silly, and others are rather ridiculous.

Saving Grace + any expendable creature. As long as Tiana is on the field, Saving Grace is pretty great. If you attack and an opponent declares problematic blockers, you can slap this on to a creature you don't mind losing. You'll still do all your damage, but you won't take any yourself. Then you can play it on your opponent's turn if they try to slam you hard. So long as you have the mana and creatures, you can play this every turn.

Helm of the Host + Any creature. If you have the mana for it, the helm can be a wonderful boon. While you can attach it any creature, I'll just list the most notable combos:

• Angel of Invention. Probably the best option to choose from. Not only does the anthem ability stack, but you can choose to buff the angel or get servo tokens.

• Baird, Steward of Argive may not be your first pick (mine either), but the more of him there are the more costly it becomes for your opponents to attack you.

• Cataclysmic Gearhulk is a nasty choice, as you'll get a free board-wipe every turn. Give it menace and it'll basically be unblockable.

• Oketra the True. Rather an obvious choice, but nonetheless a great one. An army of indestructible double strikers is frightening indeed.

• Honorable mention: Gideon of the Trials. When Gideon becomes a creature you technically can equip the helm to him. While having a slew of him is really nice, he is far from an ideal choice since the artifact falls off of him once he becomes a Planeswalker at the end of turn. That means you'll have to pay 5 mana to equip it each turn just to get an extra Gideon. On one hand, you'll have an increasing amount of 4/4 Indestructible creatures you can attack with and you'll be that much harder to kill if you have his emblem out, but on the other hand that's a lot of mana to spend every turn to do so.

Anyways, that's all this deck has to offer. Thanks for taking the time to check out my deck! Feel free to leave a comment if you like it or have any suggestions! Also, if you really like it, please don't hesitate to upvote it!

Date added	6 years
Last updated	6 years
Exclude colors	UBG
Legality	This deck is not Standard Brawl legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 10 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.89
Tokens	Copy Clone, Elemental 3/1 R w/ Trample, haste, Emblem Gideon of the Trials, Servo 1/1 C, Soldier 1/1 W, Vampire 1/1 W, Warrior 1/1 W w/ Vigilance