Pieces of the Puzzle - Displacer Kitten

Pieces of the Puzzle - Party Time

Pieces of the Puzzle - Cormela, Glamour Thief

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tameshi, Reality Architect" href="#" target="_blank">Tameshi, Reality Architect</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.scottmfischer.com/">Scott M. Fischer</a>)</h6>
<h1>Who Are You?</h1>
<p>Welcome to <i>Pieces of the Puzzle</i>. I’m Goldshot, a Head Editor on the <a href="https://commanderspellbook.com/">Commander Spellbook</a> project, and this article series is all about looking into combo decks. My goal is to look at each new set and showcase a bit of what that set will do for combos and combo decks.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tameshi, Reality Architect"></div></div>
<p>To begin, I want to look at <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tameshi, Reality Architect" href="#" target="_blank">Tameshi, Reality Architect</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. To me, this new Azorius Moonfolk has the makings of a great combo commander.</p>
<hr />
<h2>The Commander</h2>
<p>Tameshi has two abilities: a flow of constant card draw and a very interesting reanimation effect. Tameshi is reminiscent of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hanna, Ship&#039;s Navigator" href="#" target="_blank">Hanna, Ship&#039;s Navigator</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Emry, Lurker of the Loch" href="#" target="_blank">Emry, Lurker of the Loch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and my favorite card, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lurrus of the Dream-Den" href="#" target="_blank">Lurrus of the Dream-Den</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but with a bit of <em>Landfall</em> spice. As a result, many of Tameshi’s combos can be derived from those very same commanders. Tameshi puts our lands back into our hand, but they need to make it back to the field to allow us to activate Tameshi again. This means we want to make sure we can get as many lands as we can onto the battlefield in a given turn.</p>
<p>Azorius has a hard time getting extra lands into play aside from one-shot effects like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Knight of the White Orchid" href="#" target="_blank">Knight of the White Orchid</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, so let's look at what else we have. We have our must-plays of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Walking Atlas" href="#" target="_blank">Walking Atlas</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghirapur Orrery" href="#" target="_blank">Ghirapur Orrery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which give us extra land drops for a turn, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Keeper of the Accord" href="#" target="_blank">Keeper of the Accord</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archaeomancer’s Map" href="#" target="_blank">Archaeomancer’s Map</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which reward us for being behind on lands, a condition that our commander will handily help us meet.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ancient Den"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Master Transmuter"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Prototype Portal"></div></div>
<p>Now to get creative. Azorius may not be able to play lands, but it can help us cheat out some artifacts, and we can use <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ancient Den" href="#" target="_blank">Ancient Den</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Seat of the Synod" href="#" target="_blank">Seat of the Synod</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and other artifact lands to take advantage of that. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Master Transmuter" href="#" target="_blank">Master Transmuter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Covert Technician" href="#" target="_blank">Covert Technician</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prototype Portal" href="#" target="_blank">Prototype Portal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (as well as our commander) can cheat out these artifact lands and get around Azorius’s lack of land ramp, while <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mirrorworks" href="#" target="_blank">Mirrorworks</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can provide us some extra benefit and lands.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Emeria Angel"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Felidar Retreat"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hedron Crab"></div></div>
<p>Another interesting note is combo outlets. Sometimes it's not enough to go infinite, as even infinite death triggers need a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blood Artist" href="#" target="_blank">Blood Artist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or similar to turn that loop into something useful. Tameshi offers a unique opportunity in an abundance of combo outlets by using <i>Landfall</i> cards as outlets. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Emeria Angel" href="#" target="_blank">Emeria Angel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Felidar Retreat" href="#" target="_blank">Felidar Retreat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can turn our infinite <em>Landfall</em> into infinite creatures. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hedron Crab" href="#" target="_blank">Hedron Crab</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can mill an opponent's entire library while also allowing us to mill ourselves to stock up our graveyard when we aren’t going infinite.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Time to Talk Combos<b><br />
</b></h2>
<hr />
<h3>The Old</h3>
<p>When looking at new combos, old combos are always worth taking inspiration from. Using <a href="https://www.commanderspellbook.com/">Commander Spellbook</a>’s search engine, we can search for infinite <em>Landfall</em> combos in an Azorius color identity. This will allow us to quickly find old combos that allow us to use our outlets. This gives us some interesting finds!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Retreat to Coralhelm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Walking Atlas"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Meloku the Clouded Mirror"></div></div>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://commanderspellbook.com/combo/10118/">Retreat to Coralhelm + Walking Atlas + Meloku, the Clouded Mirror</a></li>
<li><a href="https://commanderspellbook.com/combo/10314/">Prototype Portal + Clock of Omens + Grinding Station + Seat of the Synod</a></li>
<li><a href="https://commanderspellbook.com/combo/10117/">Retreat to Coralhelm + Master Transmuter + Seat of the Synod</a></li>
</ul>
<p>While <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Retreat to Coralhelm" href="#" target="_blank">Retreat to Coralhelm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has always been a thorn in my side, once being a literal THIRD of Commander Spellbook’s combos, it is a pretty sweet card. It allows for infinite combos that want to put a land into play and then pick it back up just to do it again. We may not use Meloku, but with access to a zero-mana artifact that can sacrifice itself (like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tormod’s Crypt" href="#" target="_blank">Tormod’s Crypt</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lotus Petal" href="#" target="_blank">Lotus Petal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>), our commander does a fair imitation.</p>
<p>Another interesting angle is similar cards to our commander. When searching via Emry’s combo page on EDHREC, some interesting results present themselves:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://commanderspellbook.com/combo/940/">Emry, Lurker of the Loch + Mirran Spy + Lotus Petal (1330 decks)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://commanderspellbook.com/combo/10123/">Emry, Lurker of the Loch + Mindslaver (1048 decks)</a></li>
</ul>
<p>We may not be able to combo Tameshi with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mirran Spy" href="#" target="_blank">Mirran Spy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lotus Petal" href="#" target="_blank">Lotus Petal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but with Emry’s similarity to Tameshi, we will be playing Emry. Emry’s <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mindslaver" href="#" target="_blank">Mindslaver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lock is much more interesting for Tameshi, though, because Tameshi can directly replace Emry here, giving us another great combo for our deck.</p>
<hr />
<h3>The New</h3>
<p>Tameshi has some combos of his own, so let’s dig into that. The second ability of Tameshi reads like this: “{X}{W}, Return a land you control its owner's hand: Return target artifact or enchantment card with mana value X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield. Activate only as a sorcery.” To combo with this, we have a few options: 1. Tameshi puts a land back in our hand. 2. Tameshi reanimates an artifact. The first is definitely the easiest, using Tameshi like Meloku in the previously mentioned combo.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sculpting Steel"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tameshi, Reality Architect"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Lotus Bloom"></div></div>
<p>The second requires a bit more work. To successfully combo with the second part of the ability, we need to be able to have a land ready and waiting for us each time we want to activate the ability. The payoff though is the ability to get back one of our spicy artifacts to keep us going. Our biggest issue is dropping the land back from our hand. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Walking Atlas" href="#" target="_blank">Walking Atlas</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> needs a way to untap, but that’s just the <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Retreat to Coralhelm" href="#" target="_blank">Retreat to Coralhelm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> combo, and we saw that earlier. This means we need to get tricky again. To solve the puzzle of limited land <i>plays</i> each turn, we just need to <i>cast</i> our lands. Now, <em>Magic</em> rules may not allow for that <em>exact</em> interaction, but <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sculpting Steel" href="#" target="_blank">Sculpting Steel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> only becomes a land on the way into the battlefield, not when it's being cast.</p>
<p>To have it become a land, we just need <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ancient Den" href="#" target="_blank">Ancient Den</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> out. The last piece of this puzzle (hehe, see what I did there?) is paying the three mana for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sculpting Steel" href="#" target="_blank">Sculpting Steel</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Luckily, Tameshi doesn’t just pick up a land, he reanimates something for our troubles. So we just need three mana on a zero-cost artifact. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Black Lotus" href="#" target="_blank">Black Lotus</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> fits that bill, but is banned, so we can just use <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lotus Bloom" href="#" target="_blank">Lotus Bloom</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as our zero-mana, three-mana source. It has a mana value of zero, so Tameshi grabs it back just fine. Overall, our combo looks something like this:</p>
<p><a href="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Capture3.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-81422 size-full" src="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Capture3.png" alt="Display of the combo" width="982" height="551" srcset="https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Capture3.png 982w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Capture3-300x168.png 300w, https://edhrecstatic.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Capture3-768x431.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 982px) 100vw, 982px" /></a></p>
<hr />
<h3>The Tutors</h3>
<p>Tutors aren’t needed for a combo deck. In fact, my favorite deck I play is a Lurrus combo deck without any tutors. <a href="https://commandersherald.com/tutors-make-commander-a-better-format/">Jake FitzSimons</a> and <a href="https://commandersherald.com/tutors-make-commander-a-worse-format/">Corbin Hosler</a> of Commander’s Herald do a much better job than I can at fleshing out the argument, but with tutors comes consistency. This deck relies on a weird gimmick of artifact lands to get extra land drops in Azorius, so in my eyes, it's essential for this deck to have access to those artifact lands, so without any further ado: the tutors. Our tutor suite is comprised of eight tutors.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Artificer’s Intuition"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Oswald Fiddlebender"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Trinket Mage"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Weathered Wayfarer" href="#" target="_blank">Weathered Wayfarer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Expedition Map" href="#" target="_blank">Expedition Map</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> give us access to our artifact lands or the other goodies tucked away in our land base, while <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drift of Phantasms" href="#" target="_blank">Drift of Phantasms</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> grabs our <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Retreat to Coralhelm" href="#" target="_blank">Retreat to Coralhelm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or something else to finish a combo. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Artificer&#039;s Intuition" href="#" target="_blank">Artificer&#039;s Intuition</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Oswald Fiddlebender" href="#" target="_blank">Oswald Fiddlebender</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> give us tutors while also stocking our graveyard with goodies to get back. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Moonsilver Key" href="#" target="_blank">Moonsilver Key</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can grab <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Krark-Clan Ironworks" href="#" target="_blank">Krark-Clan Ironworks</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or an artifact land and can also be brought back with Tameshi just like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Expedition Map" href="#" target="_blank">Expedition Map</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Trinket Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Trinket Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> grabs low-cost artifacts, and lastly, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Whir of Invention" href="#" target="_blank">Whir of Invention</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> grabs any artifact we need.</p>
<p>Lastly, to wrap up this deck, looking at the general vibe of the deck helps. Being an artifact-centric graveyard deck, using <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teshar, Ancestor&#039;s Apostle" href="#" target="_blank">Teshar, Ancestor&#039;s Apostle</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scrap Trawler" href="#" target="_blank">Scrap Trawler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Myr Retriever" href="#" target="_blank">Myr Retriever</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and other similar cards that let us interact with our graveyard adds in a few extra combos while providing some extra glue to keep the deck running. Don’t question why glue makes things run, it's just magic. Well, it's just <em>Magic:</em> <i>the Gathering.</i></p>
<hr />
<h2>The Deck</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Landing Combos" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Tameshi, Reality Architect
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Arcbound Ravager
*1 Replication Specialist
*1 Chief Engineer
*1 Covert Technician
*1 Diligent Excavator
*1 Drift of Phantasms
*1 Emeria Angel
*1 Emry, Lurker of the Loch
*1 Hedron Crab
*1 Keeper of the Accord
*1 Knight of the White Orchid
*1 Master Transmuter
*1 Mirran Spy
*1 Myr Retriever
*1 Oswald Fiddlebender
*1 Realmwright
*1 Scrap Trawler
*1 Sun Titan
*1 Teshar, Ancestor&#039;s Apostle
*1 Thermal Navigator
*1 Trinket Mage
*1 Triskaidekaphile
*1 Walking Atlas
*1 Weathered Wayfarer
[/Creatures]
[Enchantments]
*1 Angelic Renewal
*1 Artificer&#039;s Intuition
*1 Felidar Retreat
*1 Fraying Sanity
*1 Mirrodin Besieged
*1 Planar Collapse
*1 Retreat to Coralhelm
*1 Seal of Cleansing
*1 Solitary Confinement
[/Enchantments]
[Sorceries]
*1 Open the Vaults
*1 Sevinne&#039;s Reclamation
*1 Tome Scour
[/Sorceries]
[Instants]
*1 Faithful Mending
*1 Whir of Invention
[/Instants]
[Artifacts]
*1 Archaeomancer&#039;s Map
*1 Basalt Monolith
*1 Clock of Omens
*1 Empowered Autogenerator
*1 Expedition Map
*1 Ghirapur Orrery
*1 Grinding Station
*1 Heartstone
*1 Illusionist&#039;s Bracers
*1 Krark-Clan Ironworks
*1 Lotus Bloom
*1 Lotus Petal
*1 Mindslaver
*1 Mirrorworks
*1 Mishra&#039;s Bauble
*1 Moonsilver Key
*1 Perpetual Timepiece
*1 Prototype Portal
*1 Rings of Brighthearth
*1 Sculpting Steel
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Swiftfoot Boots
*1 Thran Dynamo
*1 Tormod&#039;s Crypt
*1 Urza&#039;s Bauble
*1 Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble
*1 Welding Jar
[/Artifacts]
[Lands]
*1 Academy Ruins
*1 Ancient Den
*1 Darksteel Citadel
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Glacial Chasm
*1 Inventors&#039; Fair
*1 Irrigated Farmland
*9 Island
*1 Mystic Sanctuary
*11 Plains
*1 Prairie Stream
*1 Razortide Bridge
*1 Scavenger Grounds
*1 Seat of the Synod
*1 Terrain Generator
*1 Treasure Vault
[/Lands]"></span></div>



Goldshot

Goldshot

Pieces of the Puzzle - Displacer Kitten

Pieces of the Puzzle - Party Time

Pieces of the Puzzle - Cormela, Glamour Thief

Pieces of the Puzzle - Tameshi, Reality Architect