Building a Tap and Untap Deck with Sami, Ship's Engineer

<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sin, Spira&#039;s Punishment" href="#" target="_blank">Sin, Spira&#039;s Punishment</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/tedrick94" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Tedrick</a></em></p>
<p>In today’s current meta, commanders that sit around the seven mana mark tend not to be built too often. But every once and a while, we get a legend that breaks the status quo by capturing player’s imaginations, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sin, Spira&#039;s Punishment" href="#" target="_blank">Sin, Spira&#039;s Punishment</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> did just that.</p>
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<p>Having an enters and attack trigger as powerful as this creature has sparks a lot of creativity, which opens it up to all kinds of directions to go in.</p>
<p>With the start of this list, I wanted to focus on some great cards that help set up Sin’s ability by filling up the graveyard. Then we'll close things out by showcasing some great payoffs for all those copy tokens hitting your board.</p>
<p>This deck might be a little bit of an all-in strategy, but that’s what Commander is all about, right?</p>
<h2>Sin, Spira's Punishment</h2>
<p>This deck wants to do one thing: have your commander enter and attack. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sin, Spira&#039;s Punishment" href="#" target="_blank">Sin, Spira&#039;s Punishment</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can cheat in a huge number of permanents and specifically relies on you hitting lands to repeat the process.</p>
<p>Including plenty of instant and sorcery ways to fill your graveyard will be important, since your commander's effect will ignore them in the bin, thus increasing your chances of hitting a land to keep the chain going.</p>
<p>Recently, fellow EDHREC writer Jeff Girten released an article covering a decklist for Sin with no non-land permanents that I highly recommend you <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/building-sin-spiras-punishment-with-no-nonland-permanents" target="_blank" rel="noopener">check out here</a>. As you will see in this list, I did include some payoff permanents to help the deck flow, and could give you more options to build the rest of this 99 on a budget.</p>
<p>With that being said, here are the <em>fourteen cards for under $14</em> you can pick up to get a jumpstart on a new deck!</p>
<h3>Grisly Salvage</h3>
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<p>Kicking off our list is the classic graveyard filling spell, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grisly Salvage" href="#" target="_blank">Grisly Salvage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Two mana to dig five cards deep, pick out the best creature or land from among them, and put the rest in the bin is exactly what you want in this deck.</p>
<p>As I mentioned before, instant and sorcery spells dodge Sin’s trigger, since it looks for a random permanent. That allows you to hit as many lands as possible, without breaking the chain.</p>
<h3>Doom Whisperer</h3>
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<p>Next up, we have a creature you would love to hit with the first card on the list: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Doom Whisperer" href="#" target="_blank">Doom Whisperer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. A flying, trampling 6/6 for only five mana is an incredible rate, but the star of the show for this spell is that surveil ability.</p>
<p>With this creature out, you can pay as much life as you want and fill up your graveyard in preparation for your commander’s arrival. All while being a great attacker and blocker in the air!</p>
<h3>Flux</h3>
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<p>Another great way to fill up your graveyard is with wheel effects. While a card like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Windfall" href="#" target="_blank">Windfall</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will do great work in the deck, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flux" href="#" target="_blank">Flux</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is here to give you a little more selection.</p>
<p>Making sure you fill your graveyard with lands and your hand with spells is paramount for this deck’s strategy. Being able to do that by turn three will just set you up for success as the game goes on.</p>
<h3>Drown in Dreams</h3>
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<p>Depending on where you are in the game, a spell like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drown in Dreams" href="#" target="_blank">Drown in Dreams</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can be exactly what you need in the moment. Whether you need to fill your hand, or your graveyard before Sin comes out, it's here to help.</p>
<p>Then, once your commander is on the board, you can do both! Since it can be cast at instant speed you can play it right before your turn, which then sets you up for a big attack trigger to move yourself towards the endgame.</p>
<h3>Otherworldly Gaze</h3>
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<p>Speaking of instant-speed graveyard fillers, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Otherworldly Gaze" href="#" target="_blank">Otherworldly Gaze</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lets you surveil 3, and has flashback for only two mana. Holding this up and casting it just before your commander can help you catch your opponents by surprise, since you can add a few more lands to your graveyard that your opponents weren't ready for.</p>
<p>Plus, that flashback cost is pretty cheap, so it can easily be cast again whenever you need it.</p>
<h3>Stargaze</h3>
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<p>One of my favorite cards from last year is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stargaze" href="#" target="_blank">Stargaze</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, since it offers an incredible level of card selection all in one go.</p>
<p>Say you cast this spell the turn before your commander, where X is equal to four. That allows you to dig a whole eight cards deep, putting the cards you want right now into your hand, and most likely a chunk of lands into the bin that you’ll be ready to copy once Sin hits the board.</p>
<h3>Malevolent Rumble</h3>
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<p>Next up we have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Malevolent Rumble" href="#" target="_blank">Malevolent Rumble</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, a card that gives you both a little bit of ramp and card advantage.</p>
<p>While it’s nothing too flashy, two mana to mill three cards, while giving you a necessary permanent and an Eldrazi Spawn, is nice at any point in the game. On top of that, you can then sacrifice that Spawn to help get your commander out a turn earlier than people are ready for.</p>
<h3>Harrow</h3>
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<p>Let's keep this ramp train rolling with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Harrow" href="#" target="_blank">Harrow</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. At instant speed you can sacrifice a land to go search for two basics and put them on the field untapped.</p>
<p>As I mentioned with the last card on the list, getting Sin out early can help throw the tempo of the table off. Doing that while also adding a land to your graveyard is just icing on this recursion cake.</p>
<h3>Foreboding Landscape</h3>
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<p>If you plan on putting this deck together, adding as many lands to the deck that either cycle or sacrifice themselves for any reason will be great to keep your engine going. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Foreboding Landscape" href="#" target="_blank">Foreboding Landscape</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is the perfect land to represent those effects.</p>
<p>Even though it’s a common it still packs a major punch in this deck, since it has two ways to get into your graveyard, while also just tapping for mana if you really need it at the time.</p>
<h2>Payoff Cards</h2>
<p>Now let’s take a look at some of the great payoff cards we can run in this deck to ensure that when <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sin, Spira&#039;s Punishment" href="#" target="_blank">Sin, Spira&#039;s Punishment</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> hits the battlefield it’s even more impactful.</p>
<h3>Tireless Provisioner</h3>
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<p>One of the best Landfall cards in the game is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tireless Provisioner" href="#" target="_blank">Tireless Provisioner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Creating a Food or a Treasure whenever a land hits your field is a powerful effect at its base level, letting you build up your board as early as turn three.</p>
<p>However, if your commander hits the table while this is out, you could be making a huge number of tokens for each land copy you make. If you make Treasures with the Provisioner, that helps you dodge the drawback of those copy tokens entering tapped, since you can use that new mana right away.</p>
<h3>Kheru Goldkeeper</h3>
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<p>If Treasures is what you want, then <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kheru Goldkeeper" href="#" target="_blank">Kheru Goldkeeper</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can help you get them! Since Sin’s exile ability could repeat over and over again, you’ll make a Treasure for every card that left your bin when all those triggers resolve.</p>
<p>On top of that, if this creature ends up in your graveyard, and you want to get it out of the way for your commander’s ability, it has its own way to exile itself with that Renew effect.</p>
<h3>Spelunking</h3>
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<p>A card that's found a home in plenty of deck lists since its release is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spelunking" href="#" target="_blank">Spelunking</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (even if they don’t include any Caves). The main text that people have fallen in love with for this enchantment is allowing your lands enter play untapped.</p>
<p>If Sin’s ability does make you a whole chunk of land tokens, they will unfortunately be tapped, which is why Spelunking can be so pivotal, giving you the chance to use all that mana right then and there.</p>
<h3>Iridescent Vinelasher</h3>
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<p>Another way to utilize those lands is with Iridescent Vinelasher, since it turns all of those <em>landfall</em> triggers into direct damage to your opponents life totals.</p>
<p>Since Sin’s ability happens when it enters and attacks, you could get yourself in a spot where you regularly fill your graveyard, move to combat, and then make a whole bunch of land copies turn after turn. Also, don’t overlook that offspring ability, since that can speed up the burn process if you really need it.</p>
<h3>Second Harvest</h3>
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<p>Closing out the list today, we have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Second Harvest" href="#" target="_blank">Second Harvest</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. When Sin exiles all those cards from your graveyard, they enter as token copies. So, that just means you can wait for when the time is right and fire this off at instant speed, making you a copy of every token you've made over the course of the game to surprise the table.</p>
<p>This spell also works great with all the Treasures, Food, or even <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Iridescent Vinelasher" href="#" target="_blank">Iridescent Vinelasher</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> offspring tokens you made along the way!</p>
<h2>In Closing</h2>
<p>Well, there you have it, <em>fourteen cards for under $14</em> you can pick up to get you started on your very own deck built around <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sin, Spira&#039;s Punishment" href="#" target="_blank">Sin, Spira&#039;s Punishment</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>Let me know in the comments which cards you would add to this list, that way we can help our fellow players build out their 99s. Also, be sure to check out my <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/author/tyler-bucks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent <em>Bulk Up</em> articles</a>, where I cover the best commons &amp; uncommons from the new <em><a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/fin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Final Fantasy</a></em> set.</p>
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copy tokens

Building a Tap and Untap Deck with Sami, Ship's Engineer

Building A Sin, Spira's Punishment Deck on a Budget