Magic is a good game for a number of reasons. It has its problems, sure, and there are often things which make people unhappy, but still, despite all that... it's a good game.

It has strategy, luck, world design, math - there are many aspects of this game which allow it to appeal to a broad audience. Into fantasy and D&D? This may well be a game for you. Like math, statistics, and strategy? This could be a game for you. Enjoy breaking rules and finding unusual interactions? This might be the game for you. Want to tell a story with your game pieces? Magic is likely a place you'll be happy.

Today's deck is an example of one of these peculiarities. Tarkir is all about splash - big Dragons, lots of multicolored spells (particularly with the Wedges, something we don't get very often), lots of lore. But that doesn't mean there isn't something for people into something else.

Taigam is Jeskai-aligned clearly, based on both art and ability. But with no White or Red anywhere to be found, from our Commander perspective, we're in Mono-Blue.

Then we get this wild ability. When we cast our second spell of each turn, we get to copy that second spell. The copy goes on the stack for now and the original spell gets Exiled with four time counters on it, gaining Suspend as it does and counting down to resolving. (The emphasis there is mine.)

So, we can use this ability to copy specific spells, but we have to do it strategically, because we won't get the second copy for some time. We probably want the spells we're copying to have an impact, but it has to be our second spell so there are mana considerations. Let's see what we've got.

Taigam, Master Opportunist | Commander | Mark Wischkaemper

• Commander (1)
• 1 Taigam, Master Opportunist

• Creatures (12)
• 1 Archmage Emeritus
• 1 Archmage of Runes
• 1 Errant, Street Artist
• 1 Hullbreaker Horror
• 1 Jhoira's Timebug
• 1 Mulldrifter
• 1 Nulldrifter
• 1 Overlord of the Floodpits
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Sphinx of the Second Sun
• 1 Time Beetle
• 1 Tomb of Horrors Adventurer

• Instants (12)
• 1 Aetherize
• 1 Archmage's Charm
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Clockspinning
• 1 Consider
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Frantic Search
• 1 Opt
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Reality Shift
• 1 Snap

• Sorceries (13)
• 1 Ancestral Vision
• 1 Gitaxian Probe
• 1 Inevitable Betrayal
• 1 Inspiring Refrain
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Preordain
• 1 Serum Visions
• 1 Temporal Mastery
• 1 Time Stretch
• 1 Time Warp
• 1 Treasure Cruise
• 1 Wibbly-wobbly, Timey-wimey
• 1 Windfall

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 As Foretold
• 1 Paradox Haze
• 1 Shadow of the Second Sun
• 1 Storm of Saruman
• 1 Unstoppable Plan

• Artifacts (17)
• 1 Adaptive Training Post
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Decanter of Endless Water
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Isochron Scepter
• 1 Midnight Clock
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Primal Amulet
• 1 Rotating Fireplace
• 1 Sapphire Medallion
• 1 Sky Diamond
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Sol Talisman
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Throne of Eldraine
• 1 Twinning Staff
• 1 Wayfarer's Bauble

• Lands (40)
• 30 Island
• 1 Castle Vantress
• 1 Demolition Field
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Mystic Sanctuary
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rivendell
• 1 Scavenger Grounds
• 1 Sunken Palace
• 1 Temple of the False God
• 1 War Room

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This feels like a shell that needs some direction, but it's got good bones. Remember when I said this was a deck for a specific player? That player is the durdler - this deck messes around with lots of triggers, card draw, counter manipulation, and board management, finally ending in some sort of overwhelming board state which will likely lead to concession, rather than outright victory. If that's your game, read on! If it's not... read on anyway. You might pick something up.

The goal is to have a bunch of very small spells, the majority of which help us keep Cards flowing into our Hand. Think Brainstorm, Opt, Gitaxian Probe - stuff like that. That way we can use them early to dig for our big stuff or a needed answer, then later to be our first spell so we can cast our second without a huge mana deficit. Then we want to have a slate of large spells which benefit from multiples. These will be our game winners, like Overlord of the Floodpits, Hullbreaker Horror, or Tomb of Horrors Adventurer. We also have a few spells which give us an extra turn... which means we'll actually get two extra turns with Taigam out.

Let's take a look at what this game plan means. Because our game winners are large and expensive, and we still need to cast a first spell, we're going to need plenty of mana. We need to make absolutely certain we're going through a lot of Cards, because we need cheap spells and expensive spells to pull off our goal. And since we don't win all at once, but rather over time through inevitability, we'll need to be able to manage the board state some and keep ourselves from dying while we put together our massive army of whatever to figure out how to win this game. As long as we're at it, we may as well stack the deck, too: we can make it so our copies happen sooner and more often. Why have two of something when we can have four?

40 Lands may seem like a lot for a two-mana Commander, but I can tell you it's important to start there. If you play 20 games with this deck and find you're seeing too much mana, then cut to 39. But until then, keep the mana in place - you'll draw and filter plenty of them away, and we really want to hit our drops so we can cast our big spells.

Additionally, we have a decent number of ramp spells, and in this case, I proposed cheap ones rather than the more expensive but more useful three- and four-mana ones, because we might need them to be our first spell down the line. Sol Ring, Sky Diamond, Arcane Signet... we've got 'em, for one- and two-mana costs. The couple of exceptions are Midnight Clock, which is fun when doubled, and Decanter of Endless Water, because we really want the backup Reliquary Towers. Oh, Throne of Eldraine, too, but that thing is really there for the card draw.

In addition to the Brainstorms (Ponder, Consider, Windfall, and the like), we also have stuff like Archmage Emeritus, which draws whenever we cast or copy a spell, Mulldrifter and Nulldrifter, both of which can be cast for their Evoke costs, and even War Room, an excellent use of mana should we have leftover. Getting cards into our Hand should not be a problem.

(A quick hit on how Evoke works with Suspend: You cast the spell for its Evoke cost. The spell is copied, then Exiled. The copy is exactly that - a copy, Evoke cost and all. The copy will Enter, then sacrifice itself immediately. However, the original spell, once the final Time Counter comes off, is an all-new spell and won't know it was originally cast for its Evoke cost. That means when the last Time Counter comes off, you'll get to keep your spell as if you cast it for full price.)

We have a batch of answer cards with things like Reality Shift, Counterspell, Aetherize, and Archmage's Charm. Use them carefully and let people know you're not to be messed with, and whenever possible, leave up a few basic Islands to represent a Counterspell. That can go a long way.

The fun stuff is in the synergy. Take a look at Twinning Staff. Since Taigam copies our second spell, Twinning Staff will see that and copy it again, which means we'll still get our Suspended original spell and two copies of that spell, resolving now. With seven extra mana, we could have yet another copy. Storm of Saruman also copies the second spell we cast each turn. I had a play-test where I ended up with three copies of Storm of Saruman. That got nutty.

Then we have the Clockspinning effects. Clockspinning has been around a long time, and it is great; removing a Time Counter from something we want sooner, especially with Buyback, is awesome. But Doctor Who brought us Time Travel, which lets us adjust Time Counters up or down on everything we own, as we wish. So, we have Wibly-wobbly, Timey-wimey, Rotating Fireplace, and a few other spells which let us adjust the counters.

We also have Paradox Haze effects, essentially granting us extra Upkeep phases. Sphinx of the Second Sun gives us untap and Draw as well, but really we just want the Upkeeps to keep those Time Counters ticking down faster than one per turn.

And why would we want to tick Time Counters up, like Time Travel lets us? Well, if we want to wait a turn for a spell to resolve - to force someone's hand on a board wipe, for example - we might want to prevent a spell from being cast right now. Additionally, though, we have As Foretold, which does more with more counters. I had one game where I simply stopped paying for spells because I had two copies of this out.

I want to make one thing very clear: When a Card with Suspend has its last Time counter removed, it is then cast without paying its mana cost. The copies of the spell, on the other hand, are not cast - they're put on the Stack and resolve, but are never cast. So Errant, Street Artist can copy the copies of the second spell you cast, but not the ones coming off Suspend. Understanding what is being cast, what is being copied, the difference, and how that affects the various triggers will be key in this deck.

As you play it, I suspect it will tighten up. You'll realize you have too much card manipulation and not enough answers, or a touch too much ramp, or just not enough big, juicy game-winning plays. There are no cards, however, I left out because of cost or any other reason. I think this deck will be a blast to play as-is, durdles and all.

Thanks for reading.