facebook

CoolStuffInc.com

Star Wars: Unlimited Spark of the Rebellion available now!
   Sign In
Create Account

Tasigur's Travels

Reddit

Greetings, readers, my name is Tasigur, and I used to be khan of the former Sultai clan. When I ruled the jungles of Tarkir as the Golden Fang, I was ruthless in my quest for wealth and power. Ant, or “Dragonlord Silumgar” as he forces me to call him, is a lazy good-for-nothing and has forced my zombified self to write his column this week. Typical dragonlord behavior.

“Enough complaining, foolish human! Write the article as I commanded or I will thread your head with gold and drape your lifeless corpse across my chest.”

Ye– Yes . . . Lord Silumgar . . . Right away, as you command.

Ahem. A little over a week ago, Ant—

“WHO!?”

Dragonlord Silumgar! Sorry, master . . . 

A little over a week ago, Dragonlord Silumgar and Mike Linnemann took a trip to Seattle, WA. While the two were there, they did a little sightseeing and spent quality time with friends and family.

As the pair adventured along the west coast, Mike decided to look into—and eventually picked up some—rare Alpha original art.

Look at them, enjoying the space needle and hoarding priceless treasures while their broods are busy at home gathering food. Again I say, typical dragonlord behavior . . . 

“Zzzzz . . . Zzzzz . . . Zzzz . . . ”

Ah! Perfect, the drooling oaf is asleep. Now I can stop referring to him as “Dragonlord” and fill you in on some of the more juicy details from Ant’s trip. You see, on this trip, Ant also visited Wizards of the Coast. While there, he forced me to serve as his commander in a number of games of Magic, all of which he lost (to my ultimate pleasure). I shall use this opportunity to recount his failures with you all and embarrass my current “master.”

Game 1: Cafe Commander, Part I

When Mike and Ant first arrived at Wizards, they faced off in a four-player Commander game against Wizards employees Colin Morris and Robert Schuster.

Player Deck
Ant Tessitore Vorthos Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Mike Linnemann Melira, Sylvok Outcast Combo
Robert Schuster Pharika, God of Affliction
Colin Morris Mishra, Artificer Prodigy

The first game was rather uneventful, with Mike going infinite by forcing his commander to use her magic in order to repeatedly sacrifice her ally on an oil-soaked altar, creating an infinite loop that allowed Mike to destroy all of his opponents’ resources, forcing their concessions. How I despise dragonlords.

Melira, Sylvok Outcast
Woodfall Primus
Phyrexian Altar

Game 2: Cafe Commander, Part II

Player Deck
Ant Tessitore Vorthos Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Mike Linnemann Melira, Sylvok Outcast Combo
Robert Schuster Daxos of Meletis
Colin Morris Brago, King Eternal

Game two proved to be far more interesting—and more humiliating for Ant. In this game, Robert and Colin both opted to switch out their decks and pilot W/U creations (most likely in an attempt to control Mike’s despicable behavior). Colin showcased the power contained within his deck early on by generating unlimited mana using a powerful ghost to summon an infinite supply of mana-infused artifacts.

Brago, King Eternal
Talisman of Progress

Without a card in his hand or in play to make use of the infinite mana, Colin was forced to simply pass the turn. Unhappy about another player having more resources than he had, Ant was able to lock down the Ghost King with a large pile or fairy dust, effectively locking Colin out of his infinite mana.

Venarian Gold

Mike played a few cards that brought him dangerously close to his combo potential, drawing glares from both Robert and Colin. With his opponents suitably distracted (and tapped out no less), Ant opted to go all in, spending all of his wealth on one powerful spell pointed at Robert’s head:

Gilded Lotus
Lotus Bloom
Villainous Wealth

Casting a Villainous Wealth for 13 is a rare event, even in Commander, and Ant was practically drooling when he cast his spell on his seemingly helpless victim. To his horror, and my ultimate delight, Ant’s dreams of wealth were shattered by the sheer force of Robert’s will.

Force of Will

Deflated, Ant was forced to pass the turn to Mike, having spent all of his mana with nothing to show for his efforts. Mike promptly untapped and decided that Melira should give everyone a crash course in evolutionary theory.

Melira, Sylvok Outcast
Woodfall Primus
Survival of the Fittest

With a sacrifice outlet in play, and Robert’s only counter option spent, Mike went on to win the second game easily. If you are like I am, you are eager to know what list Mike was piloting in these games so that you can construct it for yourself and cause misery for your opponents. Well, let’s just say that your old friend Tasigur knows a girl who knows a guy and was able to procure that very list for you all.

Melira Combo? Commander | Mike Linnemann

  • Commander (0)

Game 3: Commander in Dominaria

After Robert and Colin said their goodbyes, Mike and Ant moved on to one of the nearby rooms at Wizards named Dominaria. There, the two would be split up as they each joined four-player Commander games at different tables. Ant decided to yet again force me to serve as his meat shield as he shuffled up and faced off against Liz Leo, Mark Globus, and Bill Stark.

Player Deck
Ant Tessitore Vorthos Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Mark Globus Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
Bill Stark Glissa, the Traitor
Liz Leo Keranos, God of Storms

Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
Glissa, the Traitor
Keranos, God of Storms

With Mike no longer at the table threatening to combo out, Ant was able to experience a nice game of good, old-fashioned Commander. Haymakers were thrown left and right, and Ant laughed maniacally as he was able to cast spell after ruthless spell.

Bribery
Grave Betrayal
Treachery

Ant was even able to surprise Glissa’s controller with a timely Reins of Power just after Bill had summoned a stampeding behemoth.

Craterhoof Behemoth
Reins of Power

Liz was able to supply the means to Bill’s end via her combination of a burning furnace and a flaming giant, before both she and Ant were “hugged to death” by a gigantic, indestructible Angel. I so loved watching Ant’s defeat at the hands of yet another player skilled player.

Furnace of Rath
Inferno Titan
Avacyn, Angel of Hope

Game 4: Star Planechase Commander

Having also been defeated in his game, Mike joined Ant in the loser's circle where the two planned to await the arrival of Ethan Fleischer, who was meeting the pair in order to get dinner. That was the plan anyway, until Mel Li sat across the table with her deck sleeved and ready. As the trio prepared their decks, Ant noticed a pile of Planechase cards sitting in the middle of the table. “We should so play Planechase Commander,” he exclaimed, a devious grin on his face. That decision would ultimately be his undoing. Ethan arrived as they were shuffling up the planar deck, followed by Shawn Main. “Planechase Commander?” asked Ethan. “Why don't we make this interesting and also play Star now that we have five?” Thus, the epic showdown of Star Planechase Commander was born.

Player Deck
Ant Tessitore Vorthos Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Mike Linnemann Melira, Sylvok Outcast Combo
Ethan Fleischer Creatures of the Briny Deep
Mel Li Iroas, God of Tokens
Shawn Main Phelddagrif

For those of you unfamiliar with the Star format, the rules can be found here. In short, players sit down in a circle. The two players across the circle from a player are that player's enemies. Each turn, a player's creatures can attack either of these enemies or be split between them. The two players who sit adjacent to a player are that player's allies. A player's creatures can't attack his or her allies, but he or she can target them and their permanents with whatever spells he or she wishes. The seating for our Star game looked a little something like this:

To Ant’s dismay (and my delight), he found himself seated across from Ethan’s sea monsters and Mel’s army. The game went underway, and Ant found himself off to an early lead thanks to the plane of Otaria and a lot of lucky dice rolling.

Otaria

His luck was not meant to last, though, as Ant soon found himself planeswalking straight into a planar phenomenon of pure chaos.

Morphic Tide

Ant came out of the other side of the Morphic Tide with an army of Demons, though they would prove useless in the face of Mel’s Dragons and Ethan’s powerful water Elemental.

Harvester of Souls
Archfiend of Depravity
Necropolis Fiend

Forgestoker Dragon
Tidal Force

With his back against the wall, Ant attempted to master the dark art of necromancy, only to have his enemy Ethan point out that the card was a nonbo (a non-combo) with me, his commander. Oh! How I wish you could have seen the look on Ant’s face as his own poor deck-building decisions cost him the game. I will never forget such a sweet sight as long as I remained animated as a glorified jewelry bead.

Necropotence
Tasigur, the Golden Fang

Ant was defeated in short order, but before he packed me away in disgust, I was able to use my vast wealth and influence in order to procure not only Ethan’s list, but Mel’s as well. I knew one day they would come in handy! What better way to anger the “Dragonlord” than by listing the two decks that defeated him in his own article. Muahahahaha!

“TASIGUR!!!”

That’s all I have time for this week! Tune in next time when I will teach you how to repurpose an old zombie into a fruit bowl.


Order Dragons of Tarkir boxes and singles from CoolStuffInc.com today!

Limited time 30% buy trade in bonus buylist