Yisan, the Wanderer Bard

Legendary Creature — Human Rogue

, , Put a verse counter on Yisan, the Wanderer Bard: Search your library for a creature card with converted mana cost equal to the number of verse counters on Yisan, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.

Discussion (51)

enpc on Saffi: Sac Back *cEDH Primer*

1 week ago

Overall the list looks good. A few improvements I would recommend however:

• Starved Rusalka is better than Caregiver. You run both Gaea's Cradle as well as the infinite mana line off Devoted Druid, which both produce green mana. Rusalka can use that mana where Caregiver can't.

• Skullclamp is so so so good. Hell, I run Stoneforge Mystic in my list with only two equipment, primarily as a clamp tutor. I'm really surprised it's not in the list.

• Beast Within/Generous Gift are excellent removal. Would rate them over Oblation. Unexpectedly Absent is also good, though not as good as the other two.

• I would also recommend Yisan, the Wanderer Bard. This guy does some serious work, especially if the game starts getting a bit drawn out.

jakeyuki12 on Boros Aurelia

1 week ago

@DespairFaction I'm glad to hear that it performed well for ya. Unfortunately I didn't have that experience this last week haha. So I played 5 games that night with this deck and lost literally every game. It solidified what I thought that this deck could never be a cEDH deck. Unless we get the exact silver-bullet that we need, this deck just cannot kill fast enough before the cEDH deck combos off. I played against cEDH Zur the Enchanter & Demonic Consultation combo and cEDH Yisan, the Wanderer Bard, and just could not keep up. I definitely worked hard to punish them, but without drawing the right hate bear or board wipe to take them down, I could not win fast enough.

The other games I had pretty much every piece of removal in the game pointed at me, so every engine piece I had was blown up. Because my deck gets value from permanents, if every single one of them gets destroyed, the deck will naturally run out of steam very quickly.

So, with this pretty poor showing, there are a few things I learned about. 1) I had answers in this deck that could slow down, stop, or neuter the crazy decks I was playing against, but unfortunately, if it is not an equipment, this deck cannot tutor for them consistently. I was thinking if there was room to put in Recruiter of the Guard and Imperial Recruiter then we would have some way to tutor for the right hate-bear. 2) How do you typically deal with players making very poor decisions that end up costing you and them to game to another player? You play on Magic Online, I play a lot in paper, so poor politics and emotions seem to matter a lot more when playing with paper in front of real people. How do you handle it?

Thanks a ton for spending time with my deck!

fadelightningmm on Opinion: Banning Tutors in EDH

1 week ago

I think tutors are a necessary part of the game. Yes they make things more linear, and yes it goes against the spirit of being singleton; but, tutors not only help you it forces your opponents to make better deck building choices. Do I add another splashy card to my deck or do I add some interaction to stop my opponents? I think tutors allow for more interactive games. Does that mean that sometimes games will be quick? Yes. Is that a problem? I don’t think it is. You shuffle up again and put a bullseye on your chest. Being able to quick combo with tutors only hurts you politically. It’s a system of checks and balances. Plus tool box style decks like my beautiful boy Yisan, the Wanderer Bard rely on tutors.

enpc on Polymorph vs Pod decks

2 weeks ago

Pod decks are designed to leverage Birthing Pod lines, i.e. creatures of increasing CMC. There is also Prime Speaker Vannifar and Yisan, the Wanderer Bard who fit into this category.

A really basic Birthing Pod line might be (using Thrasios, Triton Hero/Tymna the Weaver as your commanders):

• play Thrasios

• eat him with Pod to get Trinket Mage (who fetches Lion's Eye Diamond)

• untap pod and eat the Trinket Mage getting Auriok Salvagers

From here you can generat infinite mana, recast Thrasios and combo off.That line is quite compact however has to be done over multiple turns or requires an external untapper. There are lines which include cards like Felidar Guardian which can combo off in one turn:

• Eat a 3 cmc creature getting Felidar Guardian (untap pod)

• Eat guardian getting Karmic Guide (bringing back guardian and unttaping pod)

• Eat guardian getting Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

• Copy Karmic Guide getting back guardian and combo guardian and kik for infinite dudes

On the other hand, Polymorph or Mass Polymorph decks are designed with a very low creature count, however all of the creatures have huge impact (think Blightsteel Colossus). Then you use non-creature token generators (e.g. Lingering Souls) to give you fodder to polymorph into big stuff for cheap.

There is also Proteus Staff decks which can be polymorph decks, or can be completely creatureless except of the commander. Since staff lets you order the cards you put back (as opposed to it being random from most polymorph effects), you can stack your library basically let you play the whole deck in one hit. Elsha of the Infinite is a good example of this, since she can play the top card of your library. So you stack your deck andthen use cost reducers/untap effects to let you play all of your mana sources (e.g. mana rocks) and make them mana positive.

TheDarkPlague on Need help to be green!

2 weeks ago

I've been challenged by my friends to build a green deck. One thing you need to know about me to understand my struggle is, in 20 years of playing mtg I'VE NEVER PLAYED GREEN ONCE.

So I went on EDHREC and checked all the general with green in their color identity and I narrowed it down to a big 8 cards. I need help understanding them better and to know if my strategies are viable for them or if there's a better one I could use instead.

1. Yisan, the Wanderer Bard Basically using my deck as a toolbox with a bunch of ETB and taping/untaping shenanigans with a small stax engine from artifacts

2. Gargos, Vicious Watcher Tribal hydras.

3. Rosheen Meanderer Tribal hydras and other X cards (not sure which one is better for tribal hydras between her and Gargos).

4. Siona, Captain of the Pyleas: Shielded by Faith + Siona, Captain of the Pyleas to create Infinite tokens then use them with Altar of Dementia to mill everyone to death or having Aetherflux Reservoir and any Soul Warden ability to gun down everyone.

5. The Mimeoplasm or Muldrotha, the Gravetide I have no idea how to play them I just thought they were funny.

6 Animar, Soul of Elements Eldrazi tribal. Also thinking about Protein Flash.

7.Yasova Dragonclaw Stealing stuff + pod effects or other sacrifices effect to kill the stuff I stole.

8.The First Sliver Sliver tribal (yeah I know you didn't see that coming, what a shock).

Let me know what you guys think might about these generals and if my strategies are viable and which one would be better.

budget isn't an issue and power level is semi-competitive (not casual but the decks won't be tuned to the most powerful versions).

Thanks

CyborgAeon on Grumgully The Last Rainforest

1 month ago

Hey, I'm intrigued by the build but there's definitely some adjustments to make.

Elvish mystic => Orcish Lumberjack - mtg's greatest mana dork.

Harmonize => Compost - meta dependent but FAR greater reward.

Game trail => Gaea's Cradle . (This should be obvious)

Forest => Birthing Pod (35 lands is excessive in cedh unless you have a real reason)

Mountain => Sylvan Tutor (see above)

Mountain => Barbarian Ring (you otherwise have 0 ways to stop a grand abolisher or similar, so flash hulk bodies grumgully)

Reflecting pool => Mana Confluence (pool can't tap without another land)

Soul of the harvest => Yisan, the Wanderer Bard (getting up to six mana to play a dude that doesn't immediately do something is risky, at least yisan has application to find your entire combo, or disruption if needed)

Also what's the deal with genesis chamber?

ShaperSavant on Commanders by Power Level [EDH Tier List]

2 months ago

ELD Updates

Maximum

• Kenrith, the Returned King

Competitive

• Chulane, Teller of Tales
• Emry, Lurker of the Loch
• Korvold, Fae-Cursed King

High

• Alela, Artful Provocateur
• Ayara, First of Locthwain
• Gadwick, the Wizened
• Torbran, Thane of Red Fell
• Syr Carah, the Bold
• Syr Konrad, the Grim

Mid

• Grumgully, the Generous
• Questing Beast
• Rankle, Master of Pranks
• Syr Elenora, the Discerning
• Syr Faren, the Hengehammer
• Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale
• Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig

Casual

• Linden, the Steadfast Queen
• Syr Alin, the Lion's Claw

Changes

• Yisan, the Wanderer Bard - Max to Competitive
• Pir, Imaginative Rascal & Toothy, Imaginary Friend - High to Competitive
• Grenzo, Dungeon Warden - High to Competitive

Explanations

Explanations

Maximum

Kenrith, the Returned King -- Now the de-facto pick for 5-color commander-outlet-agnostic infinite mana strategies. Powerful and versatile, Kenrith can helm a lot of builds and his large cost is carried by his general flexibility with the adaptability and raw strength of the 5 color card pool.

On his comparison to Thrasios: it is the case that Thrasios + partner as an infinite mana outlet may lend an unfavorable comparison to Kenrith in a broad, general sense. Thrasios in a tier above denotes this difference sufficiently. However, there are applications in which one would want to build with all 5 colors, and Kenrith remains strong enough to compete at the top of the metagame.

There is still a lot of room to brew and optimize Kenrith. As dominant builds emerge, the featured lists will update to reflect this.

https://scryfall.com/@Wedge/decks/07c7ab8e-cf05-4187-9e6e-cd258f00614c by Wedge

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/king-of-thieves-1/ by ShaperSavant

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/hulk-king/ by ShaperSavant

Competitive

Chulane, Teller of Tales -- Chulane represents an incredible amount of value and offers Bant not-yet-before-seen access to concise win conditions, such as Village Bellringer, Food Chain, and Aluren. Some weaknesses to boardwipes and a lack of access to black tutors.

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/chulane-cia/ by Spleenface

Emry, Lurker of the Loch -- Emry is powerful and consistent as an engine in the Command Zone, but lacks accessible, susinct win conditions on artifacts. Struggles with losing to Null Rod, Cursed Totem, and grave hate. This is an optimistic tentative placement.

Build to be posted.

Korvold, Fae-Cursed King -- Korvold has proven quite strong as a value engine and wincon outlet rolled into one. Immense synergies with Dockside Extortionist. An outlet for Food Chain. Synergies with fetches and a host of win conditions.

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/korvold-food-chain/ by Centipedantic

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/korvold-land-chain/ by ShaperSavant

High

Alela, Artful Provocateur -- Alela is in a powerful color combination and sets up well for a stax-centric long game. Compares unfavorably to other competitive Esper options.

Ayara, First of Locthwain -- A Blood Artist with a value engine stapled to it can power mono-black combos reasonably well.

Gadwick, the Wizened -- Infinite mana in mono-blue, though not the best at the role.

Torbran, Thane of Red Fell -- Quite potent, though burn in a 120 life game is always an uphill battle.

Syr Carah, the Bold -- Storms out powerfully and keeps the board clear. Inconsistent wincons and high fizzle chance on a given storm turn.

Syr Konrad, the Grim -- An extremely powerful commander with strong Necropotence and infect synergies. Gated by color identity for interaction and support.

Mid

Grumgully, the Generous -- A bit janky and of questionable finite value.

Questing Beast -- Combat-oriented.

Rankle, Master of Pranks -- High value; no clear wincon. Possibly decent reanimator commander. Tentative pessimistic placement.

Syr Elenora, the Discerning -- No clear wincons; slow value.

Syr Faren, the Hengehammer -- Combat-oriented, though reasonably strong for its context.

Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale -- Very expensively costed. Pushed toward tribal.

Yorvo, Lord of Garenbrig -- Combat-oriented.

Casual

Linden, the Steadfast Queen -- Mono-white and very low impact. Combat-oriented.

Syr Alin, the Lion's Claw -- Mono-white and expensive for yield. Combat-oriented.

Changes

Yisan, the Wanderer Bard - Maximum to Competitive

Yisan continues to be a strong competitive pick, but has been pushed out of the top meta with the increase in speed wrought by Hulk (which he does not interact with particularly well) and being sideswiped by Hulk hate such as Grafdigger's cage. As a niche, he preys on staxxy strategies that have moved out of favor for not interacting with Hulk and Consult optimally.

Pir & Toothy - High to Competitive

P&T have demonstrated a strong amount of value and good tools to be played successfully in the competitive environment. Toothy's flicker synergies are difficult to interact with profitably and offer a lot of power in combo-control oriented games.

Grenzo, Dungeon Warder - High to Competitive

Dockside offers powerful new Doomsday lines to Grenzo, who can also layer Worldgorger. With this addition it moves back to competing with the other Competitive Level Rakdos commanders in power.

Hjaltrohir on Help designing a GOOD Boros ...

3 months ago

Firstly, Voltron is really hard to make work in CEDH as it is really vulnerable to an edict effect and can only take out one opponent at a time (ignoring additional combat phases). This basically just makes it easy to disrupt and usually the archenemy at the table.

Secondly, the reason Boros sucks in commander is not exclusively due to a lack of good commanders, it is because and are the weakest colours in commander due to a lack of card advantage and spell-based interaction. Thus, even if a new extremely pushed Boros commander were printed, it still would be unlikely able to compete with based CEDH decks simply due to the lack of good support cards in the 99.

Thus the problem with Boros is a systematic one, that can only be fixed by increased support from Wizards in terms of giving powerful card advantage and interaction pieces.

In terms of your commander, he seems like a cute Yisan, the Wanderer Bard for equipment and is at a decent power level. If you really want to create a commander that helps Boros become relevant, a planeswalker or creature with repeated draw or ramp abilities might be better though.