Just in time for Dominaria ... I mean, a full standard set later and in the middle of C19 spoilers, here is a primer no one wanted for a commander dismissed as not cEDH viable.
First of all, an apology. This deck plays bad cards, like Demonmail Hauberk and Phyrexian Marauder. It is in a bad color, arguably the 2nd worst of all 32 possible combinations. It relies on its commander. It is largely a combo deck, with only limited interaction. If any of that sounds unbearable, this deck isn't for you.
Alright, but what does the deck do?
- Cast Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle
- Cast a sacrifice outlet
- Assemble an infinite loop
- ...
- Profit
But it is significantly more complex than that. The deck fully utilizes the 3 tutors available in its colors: Enlightened Tutor, Recruiter of the Guard, and Stoneforge Mystic. It plays a blistering low average CMC of 1.05, 1.52 not counting lands, along with every source of fast mana it can (which also often bring back three drops for free).
It can assemble an infinite loop off any of those tutors, but particularly off the creatures as they can be brought back with Teshar's ability. For example, with the easy-mode sacrifice altar out (Ashnod's Altar) along with Teshar, the following line is available:
Recruiter lines
- Recruiter for Hangerback Walker (bringing back Recruiter of the Guard, which was sacced for 2 mana)
- Recruiter for Walking Ballista (bringing back ... 4 mana)
- Recruiter for Phyrexian Marauder (etc.)
- Recruiter for Ornithopter
- Recruiter for Memnite
At this point, all we've done is sacrifice Recruiter 5+1 times as well as the 2 non-0/0s, giving 16 mana. The only real reason to do this is to make it easier to default to another line, in case someone interacted in an unusual way. We put the 3 0/0s in our graveyard, which can be a requirement of going off. With our floating Recruiter activation from replaying Memnite, we can go and grab any of:
- Myr Retriever
- Junk Diver
- Workshop Assistant
- Glint Hawk
- Aviary Mechanic
- Treasure Hunter
- Salvage Scout
- Restoration Specialist
- Scrap Trawler
This assembles a combo, though the actual combo varies depending on whether the creature returns an artifact on ETB or LTB and whether it returns the artifact from the battlefield or graveyard. Being a show-off, we decide to do each of these. We fetch Myr Retriever, then Glint Hawk returned a 0-drop artifact, then Treasure Hunter. We then complete each major type of creature-loop the deck uses to win:
- LTB return from graveyard + Sacrifice Outlet + 0-Drop (may need Ravager/KCI to remove)
- ETB return from graveyard + Sacrifice Outlet + 2 0-drops (may need Ravager/KCI to remove)
- ETB return from battlefield + Sacrifice Outlet + 1 0-drop (not 0/0 but does not need Ravager/KCI)
For the purposes of this primer, any mana-positive rock is considered a 0-drop unless we are using specifically Leonin Squire. Grim Monolith for instance works just as well as Paradise Mantle if you can cast it, as both have the same restrictions; if you are using Ashnod's Altar + Myr Retriever, you'll need a way to get them into the graveyard. In practice this restriction isn't too bad, as you can see that Recruiter of the Guard can get all the pieces by themselves.
Stoneforge lines
But wait. Hold up. Stoneforge Mystic can't do that! ((This is actually true. Stoneforge mostly gets Skullclamp to try to draw into a loop)). What do Jittes, Batterskulls, and Swords of Fire and Ice have to do with this game plan? Nothing. We don't play weak cards like those. We instead run with far superior cards like Paradise Mantle and Mortorpod.
How does that work? Well, here is assuming you have Ashnod's Altar + Teshar out again:
- Stoneforge Mystic for Lightning Greaves (bringing back Stoneforge Mystic)
- Stoneforge Mystic for Paradise Mantle
- Stoneforge Mystic for Mortorpod
- Stoneforge for Skullclamp
Unlike Recruiter, we haven't made really broke even. We've sacrificed our Stoneforge 4 times for 8 mana, but we've also cast 5 mana of permanents. Throw in a Skullclamp and we've gotten a lot of cards, and Paradise Mantle has converted half our colorless mana into white. We have get extremely tricky to get anything out of this.
That trickiness is generally Puresteel Paladin. There is a line that involves Swiftfoot Boots, Thornbite Staff, Shuriken, and Scythe of the Wretched but in general the answer to closing a Stoneforge line is rather simple: make equip costs 0 with Puresteel, then use Mortorpod to win. The most common way to get to that point is dig with Skullclamp, making Stoneforge one of the strongest ways to dig in the deck.
Non-mana creature sacrifice outlet
Alright, easy mode over. Now instead of having Ashnod's Altar, or even Phyrexian Altar we have Fanatical Devotion as our sacrifice outlet. Altar of Dementia is significantly better in this spot; the instant you assemble a returner loop you have milled your library to what you need or milled your opponents out. This is assuming the slightly worse scenario of Martyr's Cause, Fanatical Devotion, Demonmail Hauberk, or Spawning Pit as our outlet.
What do we do, assuming we have 4 mana from lands? The first thing we can do is hack our non-mana producing 0-drops in hand into mana producers.
- Recruiter for all the 0 drops
- Recruiter for Myr Moonvessel
- Myr Moonvessel
- 0-drop > Myr Moonvessel
- 0-drop > Recruiter for Myr Retriever
- Myr Retriever > 0-Drop loop
This assumes that your 0-drop is both able to be sacrificed, and helps win the game. If your 0-drop is fast mana, you can Glint Hawk for infinite mana and then Recruiter for Walking Ballista. What if it is just a Paradise Mantle? We aren't totally screwed, but it usually takes a turn of preparation to win.
- Recruiter for Puresteel Paladin
Paradise Mantle > Recruiter for Stoneforge
- Pass
- Stoneforge Mystic for Lightning Greaves
- Stoneforge Mystic for Mortorpod
- Recruiter for Myr Retriever
- Recruiter for 0-drop creature
At this stage, we've hacked our shitty equipment and have assembled the world's worst infinite mana and infinite damage outlet. Each time we cycle our returner, we equip our stuff to it for free. That means 1 mana, 1 damage each time.
No creature sacrifice outlet.
We have Ravager or Krark-Klan Ironworks, and no way to put a non-artifact creature in the yard to abuse shenanigans. With one tutor effect, what do we grab to finish the combo? It really depends on what we have in hand and how much mana we are throwing around.
Stoneforge can grab Demonmail Hauberk to give us a (shitty) sacrifice outlet. This requires another historic card to start doing other things, but will eventually get there. If we have Myr Retriever/Junk Diver/Workshop Assistant we only really need our outlet, and can happily go and grab Walking Ballista with Recruiter of the Guard or Enlightened Tutor. Worst case scenario, we have just Arcbound Ravager and Stoneforge, which don't really work towards a win at all.
The opposite of this happens when we have a Leonin Squire, Trusty Packbeast, or Treasure Hunter and Paradise Mantle or Ornithopter. In this case, we can complete our loop by Recruiting for Arcbound Ravager. If we have Memnite instead we can sometimes use Stoneforge for Skullclamp. Sacrificing one artifact per time, we now have a loop (though it may not be a winning loop).
No sacrifice outlet (MAX SPEED)
What if we don't have a sacrifice outlet at all, but have Enlightened Tutor + Recruiter of the Guard? Well, there is still a way to win, ~~though it rarely comes up~~ (more common now with Salvage Scout providing another piece). Recruiter of the Guard for LED + Salvage Scout/Restoration Specialist and assemble your own bomberman combo. When you are done with making mana, use the last cast of LED to bring back Recruiter of the Guard finding Walking Ballista.
How fast is this? Very. Here is hypothetical combination of turns where you start with Mox Diamond, Plains, Plains, Salvage Scout, Recruiter, LED, Sol Ring:
Turn 1: Mox Diamond, Plains, Salvage Scout, Sol Ring
Turn 2: Teshar, LED, infinite with Salvage Scout/LED
The critical reader realizes that this can even go off turn 1, as long as you can generate 2W and have everything else you need in hand. Plains, Salvage Scout, Mana Crypt, LED. As LED can be used to cast Teshar, this generates the W needed to cast salvage scout, and the 2 needed to both cast Teshar (2WW) and use the W floating to bring back LED.
Final level of difficulty: No Tutors
Generally we want fast mana and either all the pieces we need in hand or a way to find them. However, sometimes we have to accept that just doesn't come together. Without our major goldfish lines open, the deck is playing the top of its library or playing to slow down the game.
The deck has several strong ways to dig. Militia Bugler and Filigree Familiar are the premier creatures here barring the tutors. Urza's and Mishra's Baubles are often blown early to see a couple more cards rather than held in hand to reanimate. Sequestered Stash and Buried Ruin offer ways to either get another shot at a dig or to get a combo piece back. Altar of Dementia ~~and Mesmeric Orb~~ serves as pseudo-draw ~~(basalt monolith can be used completely dump the library).~~
The deck doesn't run a lot of interaction, though some pieces might very rarely be used that way (ie thornbite staff might be used to kill a stray bloom tender). It runs stax pieces that don't get in the way of its plan, particularly creatures that can be removed or brought back as needed: Aven Mindcensor, Leonin Arbiter, Phyrexian Revoker, and Ethersworn Canonist (all of which are also tutorable by Recruiter of the Guard, which is really the allstar here). It also uses Leonin-Relic Warder and Fiend Hunter as ways to flicker our permanents and as removal (and crucially, as some of the few non-artifact, non-combo pieces to pitch to Chrome Mox). Finally, it has one shot of Swords to Plowshares; use it wisely.
Note that actually winning doesn't necessarily require Walking Ballista to ping, but does usually involve activating artifacts. Cursed Totem and Chalice of the Void on 1 are not scary, and even a single tax effect isn't the end of the world if you have one of the better loops (ie, Ashnod's + Lotus Petal + Myr Retriever makes 3 mana normally). Ethersworn does nothing to it, but other Rule of Law effects do shut it down.
To win, the deck prioritizes removing graveyard hate first, artifact hate second. It mulligans hard, as its pieces are interchangeable but it does need a combination of them to win. Winning lines can be extremely complex and enjoyable to carry out, think through; this is not a simple deck to play. See the final goldfishing example to see what I mean.
Goldfishing:
These are non-cherrypicked hands played to a win with Revision 2 of the deck. See deck section for changes.
Hand 1
Enlightened Tutor, Plains, Restoration Specialist, Plains, Plains, Chrome Mox, Plains
This unassuming hand has infinite mana turn 3, but no way to coral that into lethal. I would mulligan this. If we could find Altar of Dementia, Recruiter, Walking Ballista, or Stoneforge in the top 3 we would likely present a quick clock, but we could easily get screwed.
Hand 1, post-mull (free)
Plains, Plains, Mesmeric Orb, Spawning Pit, Spirit Of The Labyrinth, Plains, Cathar's Shield
A stax piece, a 0-drop, and a sacrifice outlet. But no returner. Regardless, we probably keep this. Our next four draws aren't very good: Phyrexian Revoker, Phyrexian Marauder, Workshop Assistant, Plains.
This is enough to put infinite charge counters on Spawning Pit, but we'll have to really hope our stax pieces come through to win this game. Next draw is Recruiter of the Guard, which gets Myr Moonvessel first and then sometime later Walking Ballista.
Hand 2
Plains, Mortorpod, Urza's Bauble, Welding Jar, Plains, Memnite, Trusty Packbeast
High number of 0-drops, but limited mana. I would not keep this.
Hand 2, post-mull (free)
Spawning Pit, Lion's Eye Diamond, Puresteel Paladin, Plains, Plains, Tireless Tribe, Welding Jar
Fast mana, discard outlets, a sacrifice outlet, and potential draw. We keep. Next three draws are plains, mana crypt, recruiter of the guard. Put out Tireless Tribe turn 1, Teshar turn 2. On turn three we pitch Recruiter with Tireless Tribe, bring it back with Welding Jar (Tireless Tribe is a ritual in this deck), find bomberman combo by Enlightening before our draw for LED, win after the last LED is used to return Recruiter for Ballista.
Hand 3
Spidersilk Net, Plains, Trusty Packbeast, Plains, Puresteel Paladin, Plains, Lightning Greaves
This hand needs a sacrifice outlet and mana. I would pitch this.
Hand 3, post-mull (free)
Tormod's Crypt, Myr Retriever, Welding Jar, Memnite, Plains, Plains, Walking Ballista
This would be a snap keep if we had a sacrifice outlet, even a shitty one. As-is, we are completely at the mercy of our draws. If we get fast mana and a sacrifice outlet, it would be a turn 3 goldfish. Looking at the deck, the sacrifice outlet is drawn turn 5 (KCI). I would pitch, going to 6.
Hand 3, post-mull (6)
Plains, Skullclamp, Altar Of Dementia, Plains, Plains, Aven Mindcensor
Well, its a curve. No fast mana is a bummer, but this hand gives us great shots at looking deep into the deck. Scry Phyrexian Revoker, decide to throw it to the bottom (may be wrong). Draw Jeweled Amulet. Go Skullclamp > (draw KCI) Altar of Dementia > (draw Sol Ring) Aven Mindcensor + Skullclamp > ... to say you the effort, the key piece is the returner. The closest returner is the 29th card of the deck. We would draw it turn 5, getting to the 24nd card turn 4.
Hand 4
crystal vein, spidersilk net, aviary mechanic, treasure hunter, spawning pit, mana vault, mox amber
Turn 1 Mana Vault (basalt monolith). Turn 2 Teshar + spawning pit saccing crystal vein, (plains). Turn 3 we make infinite mana off Aviary mechanic and Mox Amber after drawing Recruiter, and win with Walking Ballista.
Hand 5
Plains, Enlightened Tutor, Plains, Mana Vault, Tireless Tribe, Restoration Specialist, Plains
Similar to hand 1, we have bomberman combo whenever we want it, but no real resolution. However, this had is slightly better; it has fast mana. Turn 1 we draw KCI and play tireless tribe. This doesn't change our play though it would give us another route to infinite with Myr Retriever/Mana Vault. I would go ahead and play Teshar and Mana Vault turn 2 after drawing a plains. Turn 3, we draw Stoneforge mystic and get and play Skullclamp getting back restoration specialist. Turn 4 we enlightened tutor for ashnod's altar. Sac Restoration Specialist to equip Skullclamp to Stoneforge, sac Stoneforge to draw Leonin Squire + Mesmeric Orb, get Stoneforge back ... get the following and draw between each:
- Paradise Mantle > Plains, Plains
- Cathar's Shield > Plains, Aviary Mechanic
This gives infinite colorless mana from Aviary Mechanic + Mana Vault + Ashnod's Altar. We do that now. We could then go and fetch the other 8 equipment of the deck, drawing an additional 16, but instead we merely play Cathar's Shield to get back Stoneforge Mystic getting Mortorpod. Then we continue the Aviary Mechanic loop, but instead of sacrificing the mechanic to Ashnod's Altar we sacrifice it to Mortorpod to deal 1 damage each time until the opponents are dead.
Card Selection
Unlike most decks, there isn't really a lot of "Why aren't you playing this?" in this deck. There is, however, a whole lot of "Why are you playing THAT?"
- Every card that returns an artifact - combo piece
- Every card that sacrifices - combo piece
- Puresteel Paladin - turns "on" Mortorpod, draws cards
- Sequestered Stash - desperate attempt to dig for combo piece
- Jeweled Amulet - mana storage, 0-drop
- ~~Piston Sledge~~/Demonmail Hauberk - sacrifice outlets stoneforge can search for (Piston Sledge removed along with most 0 CMC equipment, as it primarily functioned as a way to sacrifice them)
- Arcbound Ravager - the only outlet Recruiter can search for without Stoneforge
- Filigree Familiar - best card to sacrifice to draw
- Skyscanner - Added in Revision 3 as another similar dig piece
- Welding Jar - loop piece that sacrifices itself
- Urza/Mishra's Bauble - loop pieces that sacrifice themselves, cycle
- Tormod's Crypt - loop piece that actually impacts the game
- Myr Moonvessel - used to get mana off non-mana loop pieces
- Hangerback/Ballista - used as a recruitable loop piece or as win condition
- The other 0-drops - Recruitable loop pieces
- Mortorpod - non-walking ballista/altar of dementia win con that can be Stoneforged
- ~~0-drop equipment - Stoneforge lines~~ (Removed as of Revision 3)
- Paradise Mantle - Stoneforge lines,
- Leonin-Relic Warder - Repeatable removal of hate pieces
- ~~Scythe of the Wretched/Shuriken/Thornbite Staff - last ditch win condition with puresteel~~
- Tireless Tribe - Discard outlet to cheat costs on 3 drops.
Why it isn't in the deck:
- Auriok Salvagers: Not tutorable, would require cutting down on 0-drops or removing lines. (As per Revision 3, I've taken the Salvagers back out for those reasons, though I did briefly try it after freeing up 3 slots
- Scrap Trawler: Was not running Chromatic Sphere/Star and Conjurer's Bauble, and he can't get back sacrifice altars unlike the other returners (as of Revision 3, I've added in Chromatic Sphere/Star and Conjurer's Bauble and him as well)
Is this cEDH worthy?
Maybe?
I mean, if we are being honest here the deck isn't faster than Protean Hulk and has a lot of potential hurdles to overcome. But it can win turn 1 in Magical Christmasland, turn 2 with a lot of fast mana, and turn 3 pretty often. This puts it roughly in line with other commander-dependent decks (Muzzio, Selvala, Captain Sisay) which typically goldfish somewhere between turns 2.5 and 3.5. As you can see from the goldfishing, it runs in normal games anywhere between 3 and 5 with an average under 4; the primary consideration being fast mana. A perfect hand can easily win turn 1 off bomberman combo, and something like Sol Ring + Mana Crypt is enough to put out T1 Teshar, T2 win.
Deck (Revision 3)
After doing a lot of testing, I found a couple ways to increase the speed of the deck. Some of this comes from other Teshar decks in the comments below, and from suggestions.
Changes:
In
- Crystal Vein
- Arid Mesa
- Windswept Heath
- Marsh Flats
- Flooded Strand
- Cavern of Souls
- Gemstone Caverns
- City of Traitors
- Chromatic Star
- Chromatic Sphere
- Conjurer's Bauble
- Scrap Trawler
- Monastery Mentor
- Hope of Ghirapur
- Abeyance
- Fiend Hunter
Out
- 6 Plains
- Darksteel Citadel
- Cathar's Shield
- Spidersilk Net
- Sram, Senior Edificer
- Auriok Salvagers
- Piston Sledge
- Phyrexian Walker
- Mesmeric Orb
- Everflowing Chalice
- Basalt Monolith
Explanations:
I found that Scrap Trawler did in fact increase the consistency of the goldfish, not necessarily from Scrap Trawler himself but for the addition of 3 slots devoted to digging. I swapped to a more expensive manabase for the very small increase of consistency; it is fine to leave the original alone. Gemstone and Crystal Vein slightly increase the speed and Cavern does protect against counterspells on Teshar, so those are very reasonable inclusions.
Monastery Mentor is a loop closer. Sometimes the deck "loops" with something like Welding Jar + Junk Diver + Spawning Pit; a variety of cards can be used to turn this from an open loop (that doesn't not affect the board state) to a closed loop (one that does). I put it above Desecrated Tomb and Genesis Chamber because it can be pitched to Chrome Mox if not needed, while also serving to take out a player if on the loop turn if it is cast the turn before. Those two, along with Oketra's Monument, are decent budget includes if you want more of this effect.
Hope of Ghirapur, Abeyance, and Fiend Hunter add a little more interaction while also furthering the decks plan. Fiend Hunter pitches to Chrome Mox, while the other two either serve as a loop piece or dig in addition to their Silence effect. Note that Fiend Hunter cannot be fetched with Recruiter of the Guard; it is quite possible that Flickerwisp is should be the deck's answer for creature-based hate instead even if it isn't permanent.
I removed two 0 mana equipment and a 0/3 for a couple reasons, but mostly to eliminate the number of "almost" going off turns where the loop can't close without Ravager, Sledge, or KCI. The 0/0 dies by itself, and also can be used to dig with skullclamp if necessary. Because of the lower equipment density I also cut Sram (Puresteel is better here because he also turns Mortarpod into a sacrifice outlet). I cut the Basalt Monolith/Mesmeric Orb combo as it cannot be easily fetched, and cut Everflowing Chalice because it served only a little use in a loop while also being bad as a Mind Stone.
Budget Options
First, lands. This deck "can" be played with 32 plains. I would recommend the very cheap Ancient Den, Buried Ruin, and Sequestered Stash at a minimum, but even they can be cut. Sol lands like Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors help a lot for speed, and I would make Ancient Tomb at least a priority pickup. I don't think a super expensive land like Mishra's Workshop or Bazaar of Baghdad would add much to the deck as it wouldn't help cast your ultra-critical commander. Inventor's Fair is good card that can be included in either a budget or full-out list if you want. Land cuts drop the price of the deck to under $1000.
Next I would cut the ancillary fast mana, Arcbound Ravager, Stoneforge Mystic, and Phyrexian Altar. Ancillary fast mana means Mox Opal, Mox Amber, Mox Diamond, Grim Monolith. These help power out strong plays, but aren't combo pieces themselves. Sol Ring, Mana Crypt, and Mana Vault combo with Aviary Mechanic and Glint Hawk, LED combos with Salvage Scouts and Restoration Specialist. In place of these 7 I'd add in Blasting Station, Grinding Station, Terrarion, Desecrated Tomb, Genesis Chamber, Dark Sphere, Delif's Cone. These cuts should cut the price down to around $500-600.
Then if I was forced I would cut the combo artifacts (Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, LED), though it will reduce both the decks speed and consistency considerably. This means you should probably cut Salvage Scouts and Restoration Specialist. At this point, we are much slower and should play like it. I would add Fragmentize, Winter Orb, Mind Stone, Everflowing Chalice, and Expedition Map (if running Inventor's Fair/Buried Ruin, otherwise Eidolon of Rhetoric). This will lower the decks price to around $300, but I'd say it loses a lot of its shine at competitive tables. An alternative here is to add Staff of Domination + Metalworker for an alternative win condition that doesn't use the graveyard.
