Temur AscendancyTemur Ascendancy | Art by Jaime Jones

Greetings and salutations, my dear brewers, and welcome to a new instalment of Branching Out, when I try to find fun and interesting ideas for you to brew for each color combination. I'm Arnaud, and this time I'm taking you to the treacherous valleys of value and the stompy steppes of Temur.

is an association I was dreading a bit to address. With only 31 legendary creatures to be found, only Abzan () has fared worse. The presence of the infamous is usually enough to strike at least mild worry into the hearts of any seasoned Commander player. The addition of red to the mix means you're likely to be in for some Izzet () shenanigans.

Before diving deep, let's have a look at the most popular commanders in these colors:

• Miirym, Sentinel WyrmMiirym, Sentinel Wyrm: 26,181 decks, with the most popular themes being Dragons (6.1K decks), Clones (1K), and Tokens (875).
• Animar, Soul of ElementsAnimar, Soul of Elements: 21,447 decks, with the most popular themes being +1/+1 Counters (2K decks), Birthing Pod (601), and Combo (433).
• Flubs, the FoolFlubs, the Fool: 21,124 decks, with the most popular themes being Lands Matter (1.8K decks), Cheerios (1.1K), and Landfall (814).
• Xyris, the Writhing StormXyris, the Writhing Storm: 18,249 decks, with the most popular themes being Wheels (3K decks), Tokens (1K), and Group Hug (506).
• Ureni of the UnwrittenUreni of the Unwritten: 15,711 decks, with the most popular themes being Dragons (625 decks), Flying (449), and Ramp (447).

Need I say more? Two of the most popular commanders in Temur are largely focused on Dragons. Miirym goes as far as being the second most popular commander for this type of creature, only to be superseded by the almighty Ur-DragonUr-Dragon.

Another popular theme seems to be massive card draw, through Cheerios and Wheels strategies.

Let's now have a look at what those most popular themes actually are:

• Spellslinger: 7,838 decks
• +1/+1 Counters: 7,361 decks
• Dragons: 7,169 decks
• Tokens: 4,295 decks
• Lands Matter: 4,013 decks

So, a good propensity of decks playing around lands, counters, and spells thrown around. Again, a classic merging of both Simic and Izzet archetypes.

With this in mind, let's dive into the ideas I have to offer this time.

Fair warning: I fear they might be a tad nuttier than the previous iterations.

Borborygmos and FblthpBorborygmos and Fblthp

Let's take this slow and easy to start things off. This is a commander that comes straight from my favorite set of the decade, March of the Machine. And with only 1,483 decks built to date, I'd like to shake things up a bit.

What I like about this wild pair is the versatility it provides.

• High land count? Check.
• Discard outlets? Check.
• Graveyard Shenanigans? Check.
• Burning Cinder Fury of Crimson Chaos FireBurning Cinder Fury of Crimson Chaos Fire? Check.

The core idea is rather simple and elegant: assemble a massive number of lands in your hand, and use them as an avalanche of value, without them needing to actually be on the field.

Let me give you a few examples:

• Borborygmos and Fblthp could throw all the lands in the world at a Brash TaunterBrash Taunter or a Stuffy DollStuffy Doll to burn an opponent to death. Or build an army with Hornet NestHornet Nest;
• You could play Borborygmos EnragedBorborygmos Enraged or Seismic AssaultSeismic Assault to burn the world to the ground;
• Creeping RenaissanceCreeping Renaissance + ArchaeomancerArchaeomancer + blink outlets to keep juggling your lands between your hand and the graveyard;
• Surly BadgersaurSurly Badgersaur to make a massive number of Treasures;
• Amulet of VigorAmulet of Vigor + Splendid ReclamationSplendid Reclamation + Trade RoutesTrade Routes to fill your hand back up with lands over and over again;
• Scouting TrekScouting Trek + Treasure HuntTreasure Hunt for a massive hand to throw away;
• Storm CauldronStorm Cauldron or SunderSunder if you're in a filthy mood...

In short, if you're looking for a Rube Goldberg puzzle to solve, this could very well be your entry point. It's clunky but elegant, janky but stylish, Izzet and Simic but not in the classic sense.

And when it pops off... It's all glorious fireworks.

To make this work, you'll need:

• A massive number of lands: I'm thinking at least in the 50 range. All of your win-cons rely on having lands in your hand, and you want as many of those as you can get.
• Tutors: This is a combo deck, but it relies on several key pieces to be assembled in order to work. So those are in order here, to find what may still be missing.
• Infinite hand size: It would be a shame to have to discard down to seven after getting 35 lands in your hand...
• Solid knowledge: This is the kind of deck that could very easily turn into a sluggish machine if you don't know what you have to look for or how the pieces work with one other. It takes patience and practice.

You will like this deck if: 

• You enjoy a deck-building challenge.
• You like puzzles.
• You enjoy clunky builds.
• You've always dreamed of killing someone with lands.

You won't like this deck if: 

• You care only for efficiency.
• You don't like tutoring.
• You don't like turns that can take a lot of time to fully resolve.
• You don't like basic land heavy mana bases.

Kydele, Chosen of KruphixKydele, Chosen of Kruphix and The Prismatic PiperThe Prismatic Piper/Rograkh, Son of RohgahhRograkh, Son of Rohgahh

All right, let's push deeper in the weird and the strange.

First and foremost, I'd like to give a massive shoutout to Ashebear, who has been impressing me over and over with her extremely wacky yet effective ideas. She's a fantastic deckbuilder, and I strongly encourage all of you to go check out her brews over here, especially her Ctrl+C, Ctrl+Z deck, which is one of the most creative things I've seen in a very, very long time.

As you may have surmised, she's also the one who hooked me up with this strange idea. There are, at the moment, only 188 Kydele + Rograkh decks in EDHREC's database, and only 12 with Kydele and the Prismatic Piper. While the latter may prove a little harder to pull off, I think it's a clear flavor win.

In essence this is a pure combo deck, with a very convoluted line. The goal is rather simple: make your commander free to cast from your command zone, no matter how high the commander tax is.

To this end, the strategy boils down to a very unique card: Myth UnboundMyth Unbound

This card reduces the mana cost of your commander by for every time you've cast it this game from the command zone. So basically reducing the commander tax by one.

This means that with two such enchantments in play, Rograkh's tax is effectively nullified. With a sacrifice outlet, you can then cast it any number of times.

This also means that with three in play, the tax is for all intents and purposes at -1. So casting The Prismatic PiperThe Prismatic Piper five times would make it totally free.

With that, there are many ways to secure the win. Myth Unbound will provide infinite card draw, and Kydele will generate equally absurd amounts of mana.

From there you can either loop your library, win with a massive storm, make your opponents draw their decks, or go for more convoluted lines. Ashebear suggested the following:

• Ghostly PilfererGhostly Pilferer -> Card discard outlet
• Elixir of ImmortalityElixir of Immortality -> Shuffle itself and the graveyard into the library
• Energy RefractorEnergy Refractor -> Convert two colorless mana into a blue for Vizier each loop
• Vizier of Tumbling SandsVizier of Tumbling Sands -> Untaps Kydele to produce mana for more Elixirs

This allows you to cycle your deck an arbitrary number of times, which you can then redraw ad libitum. Discard your hand with the Pilferer, make a double-digit number of mana, use two of those to cycle the Vizier and untap Kydele, then another two to activate the Elixir... Recast your other commander to draw almost all your deck, rinse and repeat.

After this, she likes to win by repeatedly casting Orim's ChantOrim's Chant and Secret RendezvousSecret Rendezvous to effectively lock the game and deck her opponents. Granted, that's not an option in Temur, but I wanted to mention it for the sake of completeness. On my end, I would lean towards an absolutely massive GrapeshotGrapeshot. Or pelleting down my opponents with repeated sacrifices through Goblin BombardmentGoblin Bombardment. Or bouncing their entire board with Words of WindWords of Wind...

Not bad for a strategy relying on a highly underrated card (0.31% inclusion in all legal decks).

To make this work, you'll need:

• Tutors and graveyard recursion: Myth UnboundMyth Unbound is the most important card in this build, so you need consistent ways to go look for it. Sadly the best ones are in either black or white, but there are still a few decent options:
  • Drift of PhantasmsDrift of Phantasms
  • GambleGamble
  • IntuitionIntuition
  • Long-Term PlansLong-Term Plans
  • Gifts UngivenGifts Ungiven
    Aside from the outlets required to loop your graveyard back into your library, you also need ways to get Myth Unbound back to your hand in case it gets removed. RegrowthRegrowth and Eternal WitnessEternal Witness work especially well with IntuitionIntuition.
• Clones: Remember, you need two copies of the enchantment on the field with Rograkh, three with the Piper. Make sure you pack enough ways to clone it consistently enough. Think Mirage MirrorMirage Mirror, MirrormadeMirrormade, Copy EnchantmentCopy Enchantment, Clever ImpersonatorClever Impersonator, Estrid's InvocationEstrid's Invocation...
• Win-cons: The world is your oyster (see above), but make sure you pack at least two to three. Better safe than sorry.
• Interaction: Chances are the table will gang up on you the moment they understand what you're up to. Make sure you can fight back.

You will like this deck if: 

• You have the word "uncanny" plastered on your wall.
• You like to surprise the table.
• You enjoy convoluted wins.
• You always wanted to use The Prismatic PiperThe Prismatic Piper in a build.

You won't like this deck if: 

• You believe Commander shouldn't rely on a single line of play.
• You don't want to rely on a single card, furthermore one that's buried in the deck.
• You don't like combo wins.
• You said "NO TUTORS!"

Flubs, the FoolFlubs, the Fool and His Slimy Posse

Let's round this up by hiking along an untrodden route. Earlier on, I said that Flubs, the FoolFlubs, the Fool was the third most popular commander in these colors, with 21,124 decks. And yet, there are only a puny whimsy teeny tiny 50 decks that focus on Slime Against HumanitySlime Against Humanity.

Among those is my own build, and I've had a lot of fun piloting it.

So what's the big idea? Like all such decks, you want to play an unreasonable amount of Slime – 25 at the very least – to build up an increasingly huge army of sludge. Then swing for the win.

To this end, Flubs is, in my book, the perfect commander. Since Slime Against Humanity cares for the cards in your graveyard as well as in exile, and your commander will make short work of filling up your bin. This translates into bigger and bigger Oozes, before eventually smothering the table through green stuff engulfment.

It's a crude yet rather effective plan, and it sidesteps all the usual ways this commander is built. And since you're playing a bunch of identical sorceries, you can also slam a Pyromancer AscensionPyromancer Ascension in the mix!

To make this work, you'll need:

• Slimes, a lot of Slimes: Again, don't be skimpy; 25 is an absolute minimum.
• Mana cost reducers: These are even more important than ramp, in my book. If you can make it so that each Slime costs only , you're going to snowball fast.
• Card Draw: Flubs may well be your primary source of value, but it's going to be removed eventually, and you need plan Bs.
• A couple finishers: Big as they may become, your slimes could always benefit from additional help. I really like Candlekeep InspirationCandlekeep Inspiration here.

And in case you're curious, this is the build I'm currently running (yes I know, removal is sorely lacking):

You will like this deck if: 

• You've been looking for a suitable home for your bunch of Oozes for a long time
• You like playing the same card again, and again, and again, and...
• You enjoy strategies that go wide in incremental steps.
• You like eating Jell-O.

You won't like this deck if: 

• You're reluctant to use a very popular commander, even with such a weird take.
• You're a stickler for the singleton rule in commander.
• You hated Mark... I mean Karlov Manor.
• +1/+1 counters? That's literally the second most popular strategy in Temur!

Conclusion

A peculiar journey this has been. I hope you enjoyed these various twists and turn as much as I did.

Let me know if there's anything in here that struck your fancy. Any weird Temur brews? Any hidden gems?

Oh, and don't forget to vote for the next trim!

See you in two weeks!