Sultai Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Aug. 21, 2020, 6:15 a.m. by any_response
Hello swarm intelligence,
I am working on a deck idea i had some weeks ago, a sultai deck using ETBs to control the board using cards like Sidisi's Faithful, Silumgar Sorcerer, Frilled Mystic, Acolyte of Affliction or Reclamation Sage together with Escape Protocol in a cycling shell.
The commander of the deck will be Tasigur, the Golden Fang.
As i have many different ETBs and i want to get as many of them as possible onto the battlefield, i want to include Yisan, the Wanderer Bard, also to be able to use them all at instant speed.
I know this deck will not be played at a competitive level, but i would like to include 1-2 combo lines with Yisan. As i have Tasigur, the Golden Fang, any infitite coloured mana combo would suffice (at least for a win at sorcery speed), one thought of mine was Peregrine Drake and Deadeye Navigator, but i hope you have some other and unique ideas i could include. Preferably, if possible, without any effect targeting a card in a graveyard, because i would like to run Ground Seal as a control piece.
I hope you can breathe some life into this idea of mine, be as creative and convoluted as you please, i am looking forward to it!
any_response says... #3
I prefer having a card in the commandzone that just wins with infinite mana, making combofinishes easier, instead of a value engine that only benefits a small portion of the deck. Also, Yarok doesn't really add to the control potential of for example Frilled Mystic or Silumgar Sorcerer at all, first of which is a soft lock with enough cyclers. Tasigur brings those back and if i have enough cyclers, i don't even care what i get, as anything can be used as a counterspell.
I stumbled across the Escape Protocol-Lock in standard, played it, and think all it needs is a reliable card advantage engine like the one Tasigur provides to keep going. The one thing that should never happen to this deck is to run out of cards in hand - therefore, Tasigur is my pick.
August 21, 2020 7:18 a.m.
TriusMalarky says... #4
Fun tools with Yisan:
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9 mana gets you from 1 to 5 counters really quickly. If you happen to have 12, you can go grab peregrine drake then get Deadeye next turn for the win.
August 21, 2020 9:28 a.m.
any_response says... #5
Thanks for the ideas, untappers sound great. Perhaps i might make them a little more flexible using clones in some spots as for Yisan i don't have to sacrifice the creatures (i know it might get a little more glass canon, but also a bit more flexible if i need something else and untappers are mostly dead if i don't have Yisan in play).
This seems to go in the direction of Prime Speaker Vannifar or Birthing Pod, which i like, but it is always meant to be sorcery speed (as would be the Drake/Navigator Combo as i need an upkeep to untap again).
Do you happen to have an idea for a combo to assemble at instant speed?
August 21, 2020 10:26 a.m.
fadelightningmm says... #6
Vigean Graftmage and Incubation Druid are Yisan chainable and produce infinite mana
August 21, 2020 10:50 a.m.
TriusMalarky says... #7
I'd go something like Training Grounds or Biomancer's Familiar, or even just Heartstone or even all three.
Tasigur, Yisan, Deadeye and plenty of other amazing creatures benefit from this. I would recommend using 1-3 of those, adding Prime Speaker Vannifar and keeping that string of 3 untappers. Untapping w/Vannifar and any 1, 2 or 3 cost creature means you get the best 5 drop for the situation, same with Yisan if you have enough mana or an ability coupon.
Having both makes it a lot easier to assemble certain combos, and black means you can recur your pieces in the case of Vannifar. Don't worry if the untap loop is 'sorcery speed' -- grab it on someone's end step and then use Yisan to nab Deadeye during your next turn and win from there.
August 21, 2020 12:03 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #9
Surely I can help. You want to look for how many forests/elves you have to start. Quirion Ranger/Wirewood Symbiote are great for the first activation, however easily you could go for something else like a dork.
I like going for tutor chains that give value. However, if you have enough mana for two activations and an additional you can win on the second turn you activate him, as long as you got one of the two untappers previously mentioned!
Getting Thassa's Oracle, then responding to the trigger by untapping and tapping Yisan, getting a Spellseeker to find a Demonic Consultation can work for a win.
If you want another chain that takes less mana on the win scenario, here are some choices you can try out! Corridor Monitor on two, Hyrax Tower Scout/Deceiver Exarch/Pestermite/Bounding Krasis on three, and clones, for further levels if you just want to get to another combo you like.
Galvanic Alchemist deserves a mention in my opinion, as it allows for one of the best lines I know of, specifically in Tasigur.
Deathrite Shaman -> Biomancer's Familiar -> Galvanic Alchemist -> Wirewood Channeler. The channeled at that point taps for at least two, so with the alchemist makes infinite mana of all 5 colors, but getting infinite blue and filtering it back in, however you can remember that Yisan would just cost 1 Green mana for the last two activations, so is much cheaper near the end.
Again, Familiar, Deathrite, and Alchemist are good value, with Alchemist you can bind it to Yisan for tons of value, and the familiar works with the Arcanist, Yisan, and Tasigur! There are a ton of replacements for both Wirewood Channeler, like Zaxara, and a ton more for Deathrite Shaman, as any elf would work, or often even no elf! The issue is that summoning sickness is pretty sad.
Sylvan Safekeeper is a good turn one get for protection, Caustic Caterpillar, Gilded Drake, etc. for removal. These pieces help protected the combo.
August 21, 2020 7:01 p.m.
any_response says... #10
I thought a lot about adding cards like Prime Speaker Vannifar, but i don't really want to have sorcery speed cards in my deck, as they are only useful for finding the combos and don't really do anything else.
I already thought about Thassa's Oracle, but i am not sure yet whether i want to play Consultation. I know it is powerful, but i dislike cards i cannot use that much outside their combo. If i have enough cyclers (as i want to have a small ETB package + a lot of cyclers) Coveted Jewel can be a janky combo if combined with Escape Protocol to draw my library, but the Yisan-Line with Spellseeker is tempting.
For the other suggestions, i absolutely love Galvanic Alchemist! Haven't even heard of that card, but it is pretty awesome. I don't know which cards i will use in the end to combo with it, in the moment, i lean towards something janky like Oasis Ritualist, but i'm not sure about that yet. The advantage would be i don't have to rely on elves that much. The only problem i see at all using this combo is the need for Biomancer's Familiar to work, but if i include Training Grounds for a little redundancy i might like it.
I also thought about cards like Freed from the Real if i play enough 2-mana-producers, or a combo like Devoted Druid + One with the Stars, but without good creature tutors for enchantments or access to white those aren't as consistent as i would like them to be.
August 23, 2020 9:11 a.m.
SynergyBuild says... #11
That's perfectly fair.
The Yisan, the Wanderer Bard/Galvanic Alchemist/Biomancer's Familiar style synergies was something I was researching not too long ago, and so you asking about it was almost perfectly on time, pretty lucky!
I'll tell you now that I am still unsure of it. I think the Thrasios/Tymna build I made it for with Faeburrow Elder, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Drannith Magistrate, and Aven Mindcensor give a better toolbox utility than in Sultai, however I'd still use value creature with it. Notion Thief, Gilded Drake, even Reclamation Sage could be high in value!
I'd look
DeePupChopra says... #2
Why not just run Yarok as the commander if you are going for an ETB toolbox?
August 21, 2020 6:53 a.m.