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I've been writing articles about Commander for over 10 years now. Every time a new set comes out, there are all these splashy cards everyone gets all excited about - and with good reason! Who doesn't want to build around big, fancy, splashy cards like Infinite Guideline Station or Sami, Wildcat Captain?
On the other hand, anyone who's been reading my columns for the last several years knows I like to travel the path less taken. I like doing things people don't expect, like building Partner decks with no Partner. I like looking at a set to see which Legendary Creatures will get overlooked. As the Edge of Eternities fades into the rearview and we look forward to the rest of the sets for 2025, I'd like to take a look at some of the underused (and, frankly, underwhelming-seeming) Creatures from the set. Today, I want to start with this guy.
There's something kind of cool about the second-in-command. Riker from Star Trek: TNG. Colonel Tigh from Battlestar Galactica. Coach Beard from Ted Lasso. Sometimes broken, sometimes strange, and always the rock upon which the Captain builds their foundation. Tannuk is no different, offering a decent set of stats, a relevant static ability, and a fantastic other ability in Warp.
Warp effectively lets us cast cards (in this case, Artifact and Red Creature cards) for a Warp cost (
). We drop the card, which gets Haste if it's a Creature thanks to Tannuk's other ability, then we Exile it at our next End Step. We can then cast it from Exile later! This is, when leveraged properly, extremely powerful. Here's what I came up with, then we'll talk through it.
Tannuk, Steadfast Second | Commander | Mark Wischkaemper
- Commander (1)
- 1 Tannuk, Steadfast Second
- Creatures (23)
- 1 Balefire Dragon
- 1 Barbarian Guides
- 1 Cavern-Hoard Dragon
- 1 Cityscape Leveler
- 1 Clive, Ifrit's Dominant
- 1 Combustible Gearhulk
- 1 Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
- 1 Etali, Primal Storm // Etali, Primal Sickness
- 1 Hellkite Tyrant
- 1 Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
- 1 Inferno Titan
- 1 Maelstrom Colossus
- 1 Meteor Golem
- 1 Molten Primordial
- 1 Myojin of Roaring Blades
- 1 Nalfeshnee
- 1 Overlord of the Boilerbilges
- 1 Pinnacle Monk
- 1 Sandstone Oracle
- 1 Skitterbeam Battalion
- 1 Solemn Simulacrum
- 1 Trumpeting Carnosaur
- 1 Wild-Magic Sorcerer
- Instants (6)
- 1 Big Score
- 1 Demand Answers
- 1 Thrill of Possibility
- 1 Unexpected Windfall
- 1 Untimely Malfunction
- 1 Valakut Awakening // Valakut Stoneforge
- Sorceries (3)
- 1 Devastating Onslaught
- 1 Seize the Spoils
- 1 Seize the Spotlight
- Enchantments (5)
- 1 Charred Foyer // Warped Space
- 1 Flameshadow Conjuring
- 1 Passionate Archaeologist
- 1 Sunbird's Invocation
- 1 Warstorm Surge
- Artifacts (22)
- 1 Conjurer's Closet
- 1 Coveted Jewel
- 1 Cursed Mirror
- 1 Decoction Module
- 1 Ebony Fly
- 1 Endless Atlas
- 1 Erratic Portal
- 1 Extinguisher Battleship
- 1 Fire Diamond
- 1 Illuminated Folio
- 1 Ingenuity Engine
- 1 Mind Stone
- 1 Mind's Eye
- 1 Mox Tantalite
- 1 Portal to Phyrexia
- 1 RMS Titanic
- 1 Sol Ring
- 1 Sol Talisman
- 1 Spine of Ish Sah
- 1 Sundial of the Infinite
- 1 The Endstone
- 1 The Fire Crystal
This deck is designed entirely around Warping in things for a deep discount, then doing it some more until we can then start casting them again out of Exile. This makes us a nifty and unusual hybrid - we're an aggro deck with a bunch of cool 3-drops in the early game, but we're also a ramp deck with massive late-game threats.
Sol Ring, Sol Talisman, and Mox Tantalite all come in turn one. Ebony Fly and Fire Diamond both still get us Tannuk a turn early. Solemn Simulacrum grabs a Land a little later, but it's not a terrible Warp target, and Cursed Mirror doesn't ramp us for Tannuk but is worth it to make a copy of one of the big beaters we have if we draw it later.
It's worth noting Coveted Jewel is really here as a Warp target; effectively it's a free draw-three, not a ramp spell. (We Warp it for 3 mana, draw three cards, tap it for 3 mana, and Exile it.)
Endless Atlas, Mind's Eye, and Illuminated Folio are all great ways to draw cards in decks which struggle sometimes. We've also got The Endstone, which, similar to Coveted Jewel, is really meant to be Warped so we only take the life cut one time.
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We've got a few examples of cards like Thrill of Possibility, where we discard to draw two. Demand Answers is probably the best one because it lets us sac an Artifact rather than discard, but they all work well. Combustible Gearhulk and Clive, Ifrit's Dominant are both great ways to draw a bunch as well; in play-testing, I was able to negotiate a turn where I Warped in Clive with devotion equal to nine, and I only discarded one card. When the turn started devotion was two and I had five cards in Hand!
Threats are where this deck lives and breathes. There are a ton of big ol' Creatures with powerful effects we'll be able to Warp in. Feel free to peruse, but here are a few standouts:
- Ilharg, the Raze-Boar (lets us basically Warp in another Creature from our Hand, and doesn't go to Exile to be Warped again)
- Hellkite Tyrant (steal a bunch of their stuff)
- Skitterbeam Battalion (keep the Tokens!)
- Extinguisher Battleship (blows up much of the world)
- RMS Titanic (a Ball Lightning with massive upside)
Our answers are mostly tacked on to our big things, like Spine of Ish Sah and Meteor Golem. Portal to Phyrexia should do good work. We've also got Untimely Malfunction.
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We have a number of synergy pieces. We have a suite of cards like Erratic Portal which return cards from the 'field to our Hand. My favorite is Barbarian Guides, which is a very old Ice Age card that randomly gives a Creature Snow-Covered Landwalk (could be helpful?) but more importantly bounces that same card back at the end of turn.
There are several cards which care about things being cast from Exile, like Wild-Magic Sorcerer, Passionate Archaeologist, and Nalfeshnee. One or two of those on the Battlefield are really fun once we get enough mana to start actually casting our previously Warped spells.
We can also copy stuff. Flameshadow Conjuring, The Fire Crystal, and the big mama Devastating Onslaught, which could be spectacular. Imagine that where X = 3 cast on a Molten Primordial!
Sunbird's Invocation and Warstorm Surge are both great pieces for this deck, as is Charred Foyer // Warped Space. That last one is particularly awesome because Charred Foyer is great early (since if it's something huge we can Warp it in), then later, Warped Space lets us cast it for free.
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Conjurer's Closet allows us to save a Creature we've Warped from Exile, because we can stack our End Step so it flickers with the Closet first. And Sundial of the Infinite, that wacky combo enabler that Phage, the Untouchable decks everywhere loves, might be even better here. Warp out a bunch of cool things, attack with them, then end the turn and keep all your stuff.
This deck is a haymaker. It's surprisingly not fast; while I'm sure there are Hands that could launch out of the gate, most of the time it plays a couple of support or ramp spells along with Tannuk, then Warps in a thing or two, but then... then. Around turn eight, you're probably going to be taking some long turns as you work through your mana, what gets Warped, what you copy, and how to sequence your turn. It's quite fun.
One fun thing about it is the haymakers are all pretty swapable. None of the big Creatures are necessary - you just want expensive, high-impact Enters or damage abilities. Ingenuity Engine is super fun and lets us bounce another Artifact we'd Warped out, but it's not like the deck suddenly won't work without it. Run a different Dragon, huge Creature, or whatever new shiny thing grabs your fancy.
I'd call this a powerful Bracket 2 deck. It's strong but not till fairly late, doesn't combo but can take long turns, and can run Game Changers or not as you wish. This version doesn't, but I'm not going to lie - The One Ring would be really good here. That plus Erratic Portal kind of means you're invincible!
Thanks for reading.
