Our return to Tarkir was just about everything I could have hoped for and more. The original Tarkir block is one of my absolute favorites, since it was one of the first new planes that debuted around the time I first got into the game. As much as I could wax poetic about how happy I am with this return, and all of the nostalgia, I'd rather wax poetic about the updates that Isshin got instead.

I never thought that Isshin, as a commander, would feast so heavily from a single set. This is a great time for new and enfranchised Isshin players alike. Prior to Dragonstorm, some of the most recent edits I made focused on adding a few more 2 drop creatures, to help speed up board presence. I was especially happy to add more 2 drop creatures, and focused on making the deck a bit leaner, and honing in a bit more on creature token production. This set, I swapped in 9 cards:

Edits

• Ainok Strike Leader replaced Flawless Maneuver - This was a tough swap. This was almost Dalkovan Packbeasts, but the lower MV & additional protection effect were hard to pass up.

• Sinkhole Surveyor replaced Hammers of Moradin - Getting a bit leaner on MV, & is an early game play that can quickly start pumping out tokens, or can become a heavy hitter in the air.

• Voice of Victory replaced Inti, Seneschal of the Sun - Easy 1:1 MV swap. VoV can be early token production & protection against spot removal, & is a quick cast in mid-late game after board wipes.

• Redoubled Stormsinger replaced Enduring Courage - Trying this out for now as a means to get another "Army in a Can" effect. Enduring Courage was cool, and could take its spot back.

• Will of the Mardu replaced Seize the Spotlight - Another 1:1 MV swap. I figured Will could be another means of leeching off other go-wide decks in certain match ups. The instant speed certainly sets up all kinds of shenanigans, especially with Impact Tremors effects on board.

• Windcrag Siege replaced Aurelia, the Warleader - A big trimming on both MV and color investment. I think Karlach, Fury of Avernus does plenty as my one and only extra combat effect. Windcrag Siege is more so a back up Isshin if he's been removed enough, but can certainly be the extra gas to push triggers even more.

• Zurgo Stormrender replaced Mardu Ascendancy - A quick 1:1 MV/color swap. I think Zurgo will be a pretty popular Mardu tokens commander in his own right, esp with the "leaves the battlefield" wording that works so well with both Mobilize and Myriad. I like that he's token production, group slug, & draw all in one.

• Within Range replaced Giggling Skitterspike - Another quick 1:1 MV swap that was probably Brutal Hordechief at a prior update. Another group slug option that also creates a couple of bodies on ETB.

• Goldlust Triad replaced Dragonhawk, Fate's Tempest - The last 1:1 MV swap, & less color investment. Dragonhawk was okay, but I think I wouldn't mind going a bit deeper on teh Treasure production subtheme for this deck.

Additional considerations

• Dalkovan Packbeasts - Mobilize 3 on a hefty Vigilance body is tempting.

• Avenger of the Fallen - An interesting option that will likely be better in other formats, and other decks that care more about intentional GY investment.

• Mardu Siegebreaker - I love the design of this card. As much as I'd like to include it in Isshin, I think this card is most at home in a deck that can exile creatures with a mixture of: ETB triggers, combat damage triggers, & death/leave the battlefield triggers. It's probably for the better that this creature isn't Legendary, as much as I wish it was, otherwise I would've brewed this up as a commander. I still might brew this up as a Rule 0 commander.

• Elspeth, Storm Slayer - She is probably the chase mythic for this set. I'll likely include her in an upcoming proxy batch and try her out then.

A couple of days ago, this deck reached a couple of milestones that I never imagined that it would when I brewed it up three years ago. Between the Tapped Out version of this deck, and its Moxfield counterpart, the Musashi's Mosh Pit deck surpassed a combined 1k likes and 125k views across both versions.

To build on this milestone, I will be recording a deck tech/deck study podcast episode about Musashi's Mosh Pit. My best friend wolfsack (the person that got me on Tapped Out some 11 years ago), recently started the Mages of Magic podcast, and asked me to be one of his co-hosts. We are barely getting started, but are working on recording some more episodes soon. I'm looking forward to translating my writing into occasional podcasts.

Once Isshin's episode is recorded I'll link it in the primer. Cheers to this deck's first 3 years, and here's to many more.