Tasigur: A Tale of Lands, Graveyards, and Forks

[Mookie]

Fallout spoilers are out. There is a Sultai deck that features a self-mill theme in the form of rad counters, which has some synergies with this deck. I'm somewhat ambivalent on the set overall though.

• Tato Farmer is a Ramunap Excavator variant that doesn't require a land drop, similar to Undergrowth Recon. I think it's a miss though, unless you're running a lot of self mill - I'm not convinced you'll get enough fuel off only its rad counters.
• Contaminated Drink is an efficient draw spell that also fills the graveyard. There are plenty of good mono-blue instant-speed X draw spells, but the black options are significantly more limited - I think this is the first one I would actually consider playing. I guess Stinging Study exists?
• Raul, Trouble Shooter is another self-mill payoff.
• Alpha Deathclaw is an expensive but flexible piece of interaction. Six mana is a bit expensive compared to Reclamation Sage or Ravenous Chupacabra, but it has a good statline and can potentially kill a second thing.
• Viridescent Bog and Overflowing Basin are new options for fixing lands. I wouldn't ever want Darkwater Catacombs because this deck skews very heavily towards green, but I could see myself testing them.

Overall, I think the set is a bit of a miss for this deck - it has some self-mill, but it's not a heavy enough theme to want any of the self-mill payoffs in the set. I could see myself testing Contaminated Drink or Alpha Deathclaw. Otherwise, I think the lands are the most impactful new option, but I would need to do some testing / analysis to see how I feel about them compared to other options for fixing.

[Mookie]

Outlaws of Thunder Junction spoilers out! I think the mechanics are a bit of a miss for this deck - I only have 6 or so cards that are crimes, and a single outlaw. The Bg creatures in graveyard theme sort of works with this deck, but I'm a bit creature-light to fully benefit from it. Still, plenty of fun cards in the set.

Black

• Gisa, the Hellraiser is a strong token producer if you have lots of crime triggers.
• Tinybones, the Pickpocket is adorable. Deathtouch makes it awkward to block, and it can generate some nice value if it connects.
• Rush of Dread is interesting. Not amazing, but it certainly will make your opponents question their life choices.
• Kaervek, the Punisher is an interesting recursion / value engine if you can commit crimes.
• Tinybones Joins Up is mildly interesting as a bit of disruption and mill / drain engine if you have a lot of legends.
• Insatiable Avarice is a nice draw spell that can also be a tutor. bbb to draw 3 is already a decent rate.
• Hollow Marauder is sweet if you can stock your graveyard full of creatures - discount Syphon Mind that is also a 4/2 flyer sounds very nice.
• Lively Dirge is so-so as a three mana Entomb, but recurring some creatures or tutoring a 4-drop into play sounds very nice.
• Harvester of Misery looks like a reasonable board wipe creature, but I think Massacre Girl is generally better.
• Heartless Conscription is an interesting alternative to Decree of Pain. Worse against tokens, but it exiles instead of destroys.

Green

• Goldvein Hydra is effectively a green Fireball. Cast it for a big number, beat down, then make a bunch of treasure when it dies.
• Railway Brawler is a beefy creature. Plot is somewhat interesting in this deck because you can quickly redeploy after a board wipe.
• Smuggler's Surprise is a very flexible value card. This deck has about 55 creatures and lands, which gives a 96% chance of hitting at least one card off the first mode, and 77% for at least two - not amazing, but okay. The relatively low creature count makes it a bit less likely that I'll get full value from the second mode, but it's a strong tempo play if I can cheat in a pair of 6-drops. The last mode saves Tasigur and most of my other creatures from removal. Overall, I'm not sure if it makes my list, but certainly worth consideration in more creature-heavy builds.
• Outcaster Trailblazer is mildly interesting as a draw engine if you have lots of big creatures. Tasigur is 4 power, which works well with the set's 4+ power theme.
• Freestrider Lookout looks like a sweet ramp engine if you have lots of crimes.
• Colossal Rattlewurm has a ton of upside - big, flash, trample, ramps after it dies. You do want to be running deserts though, which conflicts with this deck's snow theme.
• Map the Frontier is another desert payoff.
• Spinewoods Armadillo is a beefy creature with pseudo-landcycling. Generous Ent / Troll of Khazad-dûm is generally better, but ward 3 is nice.
• Dance of the Tumbleweeds reminds me of Beanstalk Giant // Fertile Footsteps - ramp spell in the early game or a beefy body.
• Bristlebud Farmer is an alright value card. Oversized body, food, card advantage.
• Omenpath Journey looks like a lot of fun. It's slower than other 4 mana ramp spells, but getting five lands over the course of a long game sounds amazing.
• Vaultborn Tyrant is a sweet value creature - nice body, generates value (plus more value if you play Tasigur), then generates more value if it dies. Not sure where it lies in the Tasigur → Neoform rankings, but not bad.
• Dune Chanter is an alright way to fill the graveyard for value.
• Rumbleweed is a big beater that can be cheap with sufficient lands in graveyard.
• Vengeful Regrowth is more expensive than Splendid Reclamation, but getting three 4/2s plus flashback sounds sweet.
• Savvy Trader is an alright Eternal Witness variant.
• Tower Winder is interesting as an alternative to Sakura-Tribe Elder - worse to loop / recur, but 1/1 reach deathtouch is a much better body.

Gold and Lands

• Vraska, the Silencer looks fun - kill stuff, pay mana, then get the stuff you killed in the form of treasure. 3/3 Deathtouch isn't a bad baseline either.
• The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride looks fun if you have Rampaging Baloths or some other way to churn out expendable but beefy bodies. Smack people, ramp, and draw cards - all good stuff.
• Bonny Pall, Clearcutter is a very nice pile of value. Ramping and drawing cards is a little generic as a payoff, and you do need to attack, but the combination of a 6/5 reach and X/X ox represents a ton of board presence.
• Pillage the Bog is capable of digging extremely deep for the right card. You can plot it in the early game and save it for a rainy day.
• Make Your Own Luck is an interesting draw spell. Harmonize isn't that exciting, IMO, but plotting one of the cards you draw to cast for free later sounds sweet.
• Honest Rutstein is an alright Eternal Witness variant. Less flexible, but the cost reduction is nice if you have lots of creatures.
• Badlands Revival is an okay recursion spell.
• (edit) Cactus Preserve is an interesting manland - 3 mana to activate, and you get a 6/6 with reach. Like Reflecting Pool, it isn't quite a fixing land, but it is certainly interesting.

Overall, I think this set is just so-so for this deck. Bonny Pall is the one card I'm most interested in running, but there are a few others I could see myself testing. Vaultborn Tyrant, Vraska, Gitrog, and Omenpath Journey all seem fun. I could also see Goldvein Hydra and Smuggler's Surprise in some builds.

[Mookie]

Swapping around some stuff in the interest of testing new cards. I've recently felt like I have a little too much air in the deck - ramp is great, and Tasigur is a great mana sink, but four mana for a card can feel painful at times. I'm adding in a little more card draw to offset this.

Adds:

• Up the Beanstalk
• Kellan, Inquisitive Prodigy // Tail the Suspect
• Case of the Locked Hothouse
• Flotsam // Jetsam
• Blood Money

Cuts:

• Nature's Lore
• Countersquall
• Splendid Reclamation
• Greenwarden of Murasa
• Casualties of War

Not sure if the Nature's Lore cut is correct - my general sense is that it's great at getting to 4 or 5 mana, but less valuable than my bigger ramp spells if I want to hit 6+ mana. It's also a very easy pick for opponents to give back with Tasigur, which is a relevant downside.

I'll call out that I am slightly biasing in favor of permanents over nonpermanents. The addition of Up the Beanstalk means I now need to pay attention to how many 5+ mana cards I have in the deck. That said, it draws a card immediately and whenever I play Tasigur, so the floor seems pretty high even without other triggers.

[Mookie]

Got in two games yesterday. The first one went pretty terribly due to a mull to 5. I technically won, but it felt pretty undeserved - my opponents effectively ignored me and took each other out. The last opponent took out another player instead of me, but ended up at three life while I had a Creeping Tar Pit on the battlefield that both they and I forgot about. I could claim it was good deckbuilding (I do include it in my list for a reason, and I also used Maze of Ith to deny them lifelink), but still a bit awkward. Not sure if I want to add another land or two to the deck, but worth considering. Lair of the Hydra and Simic Growth Chamber are my current top picks.

The second game went better - I ramped into Boundless Realms, nuked the board with Pernicious Deed, and proceeded to dominate the game. Things did sort of grind to a halt though - Tasigur activations tend to slow down the game, and my opponents were understandably reluctant to give me any way to actually close out the game. I feel like I'm currently a bit light on win conditions - not sure if I have any of note other than Exsanguinate. I guess Rude Awakening technically works, but I often forget about its 'just attack for a bunch' mode. I don't want to add Doppelgang back due to its easy combo potential, but I could consider adding back Villainous Wealth. I think the 'best' option are Torment of Hailfire and The Scarab God, but they're both above my price threshold. Hmmm...

I did cast Up the Beanstalk, which felt great - I have lots of expensive spells for it. Flotsam // Jetsam was also cast, and felt pretty reasonable - it's an extremely flexible spell.

[pokken]

and Simic Growth Chamber are my current top picks.

I have been really warming to the karoos lately. The virtual card advantage plus extra landfall they provide is often really good. :D

[Mookie]

and Simic Growth Chamber are my current top picks.

I have been really warming to the karoos lately. The virtual card advantage plus extra landfall they provide is often really good. :D

Indeed. They can sometimes feel a bit clunky, but they're a fantastic way to make up for a mulligan and avoid missing early land drops. Quite good with Exploration and other sources of extra land drops too.

...I saw someone fetch Arid Archway with Map the Frontier yesterday and felt extremely jealous. Fetchable karoo sounds awesome, even if it is colorless.

edit: on the topic of deserts, I just reread Cactus Preserve and noticed it has reach, which is... very interesting. It can't be as big as Lair of the Hydra, but 3 mana to activate for a 6/6 is pretty efficient, and it's excellent for warding off attacks from flyers. May give it a shot if it ends up being affordable. I don't think I'll add a desert package to my list, but it does bump Colossal Rattlewurm and other desert-based ramp up in my rankings.

Simic Growth Chamber will probably be my first addition though. I feel like karoos appeal to my greed - adding one feels like adding two lands to the deck, but only takes up one deck slot.

[Mookie]

OTJ swaps! Awkwardly, I forgot to add Simic Growth Chamber to my order list, so it's missing in this iteration. Should be getting one for the next iteration though.

Adds

• Aftermath Analyst
• Ice-Fang Coatl
• Pest Infestation
• Counterpoint
• Bonny Pall, Clearcutter
• Cactus Preserve

Cuts

• Sakura-Tribe Elder
• Make an Example
• Nature's Claim
• Persist
• Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar
• Forest

These are all pretty direct swaps. Individual thoughts:

• Not sure how I feel about the Sakura-Tribe Elder cut, for similar reasons to my recent Nature's Lore cut. I do generally prefer bigger ramp spells, but it may come back if I find myself wanting more speed.
• Nature's Claim is another cut I'm unsure of - it's a very efficient spell. It can be narrow though, and I do have other interaction.
• Persist is okay, but I think it is generally my weakest reanimation effect - most of my best creatures are legends, and I don't have that many nonlegendary creatures I'm excited to recur.
• I've actually been running one non-snow Forest for a while because I didn't order enough snow lands. Finally cutting it.
• Aftermath Analyst and Counterpoint are two experimental cards - low floor, but high ceiling. I've cut Splendid Reclamation in the past, but hopefully Aftermath Analyst's self-mill will make it a bit better.
• I was initially planning to add in one more land slot, but my sense is that I'll want to cut it if I add in another bounceland or two, so keeping as-is for now.

[Mookie]

MH3 spoilers are out! Lots of powerful stuff in the set, for both this deck and others.

Black

• Nethergoyf is a beefy 1-drop. Not particularly exciting by itself, but its escape ability lets you play it later for value and prune your graveyard.
• Flare of Malice is a potentially free piece of interaction. That said, my current list only has three nontoken black creatures, so probably a miss.
• Ripples of Undeath is an efficient self-mill engine, mixed with Phyrexian Arena. Three life and a mana is a somewhat steep cost for a card, but it's nice as an escape valve if you mill something important. The selection is also nice.
• Crabomination is hilarious. The emerge ability is useless for this deck, but a 5/5 for 6 that gives a free spell is certainly interesting.
• Emperor of Bones is an alright piece of grave hate. No instant-speed exile, but you can get extra upside when you adapt it. It goes up massively in value if you have other sources of +1/+1 counters.
• Chthonian Nightmare looks excellent for more creature-focused black decks.
• The Creation of Avacyn is interesting. It's certainly slow and telegraphed, but cheating out something like Toxrill, the Corrosive or Nyxbloom Ancient for 3 mana can be very strong.
• Boggart Trawler // Boggart Bog is a land when you need it, or a piece of grave hate when you don't. Bojuka Bog does something similar, but Borrart's ability to enter untapped is very nice, and makes it a pretty free inclusion. That said, I'm not currently running MDFCs in this deck because I value the ability to recur lands with World Shaper and similar effects, plus the nonland sides tend to be a bit weak (and thus easy picks for Tasigur activations).
• Fell the Profane // Fell Mire is a MDFC land // removal spell. Similar to Boggart, I'm a little low on MDFCs for this list, but it's a pretty free inclusion.
• Quest for the Necropolis is interesting. Seven mana for Animate Dead is pretty weak, but it's not difficult to get it down to two mana with enough landfall triggers.
• Consuming Corruption is an okay removal spell. Not amazing on its own, but can be good with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth or Dryad of the Ilysian Grove.
• Grim Servant is a creature that tutors on ETB. It is conditional, but you can always at least grab a land.

Green

• Grist, Voracious Larva // Grist, the Plague Swarm is cute. It requires a bit of effort to flip, but it's not difficult if you have Bloodghast or some other recursive creatures. The flip side is a nice value planeswalker.
• Birthing Ritual is an efficient Birthing Pod // Eldritch Evolution variant. I don't think this deck has enough creatures to consistently get value from it though.
• Flare of Cultivation is a Cultivate with upside. This deck doesn't have a lot of expendable green creatures in it, but it isn't difficult to slot in Wood Elves or similar cards.
• Six looks like a discount Muldrotha, the Gravetide. Recursion is strong, but discarding a land card can be a hefty price. Excellent with any land recursion to negate that price though.
• Fanatic of Rhonas may be the best two mana dork ever printed. Trivially enabled by Tasigur, at which point it taps for four mana... and if it dies, you can eternalize it. I'm usually low on mana dorks for this deck, but I think it's strong enough to make the cut.
• Sowing Mycospawn can tutor for any land on cast, and fetch that card untapped. The better your utility lands, the better this will be.... and if you have some colorless mana, it can also exile an opposing utility land. It's not immediately obvious whether it is better or worse than Pir's Whim or other nonbasic tutors, but the body isn't irrelevant either.
• Thief of Existence is a cool mix of Thought-Knot Seer and Skyclave Apparition. Flexible interaction, but the colorless cost can be rough.
• Collective Resistance is a flexible piece of interaction - blow up two things, plus potentially save a creature from removal.
• Disciple of Freyalise // Garden of Freyalise looks quite nice. I'm a bit low on MDFCs for this list, but turning Tasigur or another big creature into a pile of cards in the lategame can be quite nice.
• Bridgeworks Battle // Tanglespan Bridgeworks is another MDFC, this time providing a fight spell.
• Monstrous Vortex is a cool card if you have a lot of big creatures. 5 power is one too many for Tasigur though.
• Path of Annihilation is an interesting ramp spell - the Eldrazi Spawn tokens are a bit vulnerable, but it does ramp you to 8 mana on the following turn by itself.
• Evolution Witness is a bit weaker than Eternal Witness in a vacuum, but can potentially recur a bunch of stuff if you have other ways to put +1/+1 counters on it.

Multicolor, Colorless, and Lands

• Emrakul, the World Anew is big and hard to kill, plus she can steal a bunch of stuff if you cast her.
• Kozilek, the Broken Reality has a sweet cast trigger, often drawing four cards on card while making two opponents discard two cards. Is a 9/9 Syphon Mind good? No idea.
• Ulamog, the Defiler is big and hungry, and will usually take out an opponent on attack. There is some sneaky Tasigur synergy because you can delve away something expensive.
• Nadu, Winged Wisdom looks absurd, but a miss in this deck due to a lack of self-targeting. It does make it awkward for opponents to target stuff though.
• Wight of the Reliquary is sweet as a way to repeatedly tutor up utility lands. This deck is light on expendable creatures, but it seems great with landfall effects like Scute Swarm.
• Psychic Frog is a cheap draw engine with additional upside - it's also a free discard outlet and can prune the graveyard.
• Planar Genesis is a nice Growth Spiral variant that provides extra selection. It's not strictly better - you don't get to ramp unless you select a land - but seems good.
• Waterlogged Teachings // Inundated Archive is a very nice MDFC, providing either a tapped dual land or a tutor depending on what you need.
• Revitalizing Repast // Old-Growth Grove is another MDFC - cheap protection for Tasigur or another creature is pretty nice, and the fail case of a tapped land is perfectly reasonable.
• Drowner of Truth // Drowned Jungle is the final MDFC dual for this deck. Land in the early game, or a big creature in the lategame.
• Nulldrifter is a sweet take on Mulldrifter, giving a much more respectable body in the lategame.
• Spymaster's Vault is interesting and can give a bunch of filtering if things have died. You do need a creature to connive though.
• Shifting Woodland is hard to evaluate. It does require some effort to reach delirium, and you also need something in your graveyard to copy. That said, getting a temporary Zendikar Resurgent or other big thing can be quite strong... to say nothing of copying something like Dark Depths or Omniscience.
• Urza's Cave is a fetchland that can tutor up any nonbasic. Seems very strong if you have stuff to fetch.
• Foreboding Landscape is the only member of its cycle that can be played in this deck, but it seems quite good - generally a strictly-better Evolving Wilds, and one of the better budget fetchlands available.

Overall Thoughts

Lands, lands, lands! MH3 has a ton of strong cards in it, but the most significant options for this deck are all either lands or related to lands. Pretty much all of the MDFCs are worth consideration - both the potentially-untapped monocolor ones and the tapped duals. There is some tension in this deck because of both Tasigur activations and World Shaper / Life from the Loam effects that care about lands in the graveyard... but on the flip side, they work well with Ramunap Excavator and other cards that let you play lands from the graveyard. The utility lands also look quite strong, most notably Shifting Woodland, but Urza's Cave and Foreboding Landscape also look good.

Beyond the lands... Fanatic of Rhonas, Sowing Mycospawn, and Planar Genesis are all nice ramp options that I could see myself playing. There are also some nice options for more creature-focused builds, like Wight of the Reliquary and Birthing Ritual.

Will do analysis for the Commander precons sometime in the next few days - the Omo, Queen of Vesuva deck has a ton of powerful land-related options in it, and I'm very tempted to pick up a copy.