A recent Commander Legends draft with friends got me thinking about just how easy it is to find inexpensive uncommon legendary creatures nowadays. Wizards seems to have shifted their original views on legendaries in general, and recent sets like the previously mentioned Commander Legends, as well as Dominaria and Throne of Eldraine, have made it incredibly easy to find fun and unique legendary creatures. Most of them just scream "build around me!" and I've been having a blast doing just that. So far, my favorite has to be Dominaria's Tiana, Ship's Caretaker, whose aura recursion ability makes for some powerful and entertaining plays.

Tiana Time| Casual | James Heslip

• Creatures (25)
• 2 Tragic Poet
• 3 Heliod's Pilgrim
• 4 Blood Aspirant
• 4 Hero of Iroas
• 4 Ollenbock Escort
• 4 Satyr Hoplite
• 4 Tiana, Ship's Caretaker

• Enchantments (12)
• 1 Benevolent Blessing
• 1 Capashen Standard
• 1 Light of Promise
• 1 Shiny Impetus
• 4 Ordeal of Heliod
• 4 Ordeal of Purphoros

• Lands (23)
• 7 Mountain
• 10 Plains
• 2 Terramorphic Expanse
• 4 Evolving Wilds

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Cost: $11 at the time of publication

The Core

Cousin auras Ordeal of Heliod and Ordeal of Purphoros are the two enchantments we'll be replaying the most with Tiana. With her in play, we can build an engine that allows us to gain ten life or Lighting Bolt a target (or both) every turn! This is in addition to the bonus of adding +1/+1 counters to our creatures ad infinitum.

The Backup

Because both Ordeal cards only check the number of counters on a creature, and not where the counters came from, we can force them to trigger much earlier than intended as long as we play creatures who gain counters naturally themselves. In an aura-based deck, the obvious choice is any creature with the Heroic ability, like Satyr Hoplite. While the unassuming 1-drop isn't much to look at on his own, a single Ordeal can build him into a respectable beater in no time, while also pushing the life gain and burn effects of the auras much sooner than we otherwise could. Hero of Iroas fills the same role in our two-drop slot, and makes it even easier to pay for our recurring auras every turn.

Blood Aspirant is another counter producer that helps to abuse the Ordeals. Any early sacrifices, like Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds, build him up for success even before an aura touches him. Once our engine is online, though, he'll continuously grow every time the Heliod and Purphoros enchantments tribute themselves. This is true even if we place them on a different creature, which makes him a major player in the strategy.

Rounding out the creatures, Ollenbock Escort keeps our aura targets alive. Should she be forced to martyr herself, we can take solace knowing that she non only saved a key creature from dying, but also added yet another counter to Blood Aspirant. Meanwhile, Heliod's Pilgrim searches out either of the Ordeals, or any of the other silver-bullet auras included. Should we lose an aura to removal, or pop an Ordeal before Tiana hit the field, Tragic Poet can be used to bring the permanent back. And, just like Escort, her sacrifice means more meat on our Satyr Berserker.

In the aura department, Benevolent Blessing protects Tiana or any other large or important creature. Capashen Standard pairs with our angel artificer to draw us extra cards every turn, and Light of Promise boosts any creature's stats by factors of ten every time Ordeal of Heliod triggers. Finally, Shiny Impetus was included as a way to offset Tiana's high mana cost. The treasure tokens it spawns provide us with a means to ramp into Tiana should we not be able to find our fourth or fifth land, while the aura itself increases the threat level of whatever creature we enchant with it.

Tips and Tricks

Though not as common as some of the other plays, you can also use the treasure tokens created with Shiny Impetus to boost Blood Aspirant every turn. Aren't you happy mana burn doesn't exist anymore?

If you're having trouble getting past blockers, remember that Benevolent Blessing's protection also makes the enchanted creature unblockable to whatever color you name. Considering the massive power and toughness your creatures will likely be achieving, this can be relevant for large game-ending swings that the opponent isn't ready for.

Additional Options

Additional Options | Casual | James Heslip

• Creatures (18)
• 1 Abzan Falconer
• 1 Abzan Battle Priest
• 1 Ainok Bond-Kin
• 1 Akki Ember-Keeper
• 1 Alseid of Life's Bounty
• 1 Auramancer
• 1 Auratog
• 1 Champion of the Flame
• 1 Danitha Capashen, Paragon
• 1 Favored Hoplite
• 1 Generator Servant
• 1 Graceblade Artisan
• 1 Iron Apprentice
• 1 Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
• 1 Sram, Senior Edificer
• 1 Tempered Veteran
• 1 Tenth District Legionnaire
• 1 Upriser Renegade

• Enchantments (4)
• 1 Daily Regimen
• 1 Face of Divinity
• 1 Furnace Celebration
• 1 Inferno Fist

• Instants (2)
• 1 Final Flare
• 1 Kami's Flare

• Sorceries (2)
• 1 Angelic Purge
• 1 Open the Armory

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Most creatures presented here either directly benefit from the aura-heavy strategy we're playing, like Champion of the Flame, or Graceblade Artisan, or help to support their allies, like Tempered Veteran or the Khans of Tarkir Outlast creatures. I especially like Sram, Senior Edificer, who can help dig for Tiana in the early game, and makes full use of the repeated casting of our auras in the late game. If played, he would likely eliminate any reason for playing Capashen Standard, and could open up the silver bullet slot for other powerful auras.

Furnace Celebration gives even more reach and damage, and can be absolutely devastating for opponents if the Tiana engine is online. It's also incredibly strong when paired with Shiny Impetus and its treasure tokens. It's just too bad Celebration isn't an aura, otherwise it'd be a great Heliod's Pilgrim target. Speaking of Pilgrim, I prefer it over Open the Armory here because of the body it provides. However, some may like the lower casting cost of Armory better, and I wouldn't blame them.

One weakness I've noticed with the deck is its inability to reliably answer larger threats. Anything with more than 4 toughness is just too far out of reach for our burn. Angelic Purge helps in this regard, exiling not only creature threats, but also any artifact or enchantment that might be hindering our efforts. Another option not listed here is to simply play aura "removal" like Pacifism, which can be tutored for with Pilgrim or Open the Armory.