“I dream, and the World trembles.”
Art:Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice
by Matt Stewart
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Tawnos is a very sweet CEDH commander who had a little bit of buzz when they were released, but that has since settled, and no one really talks about Tawnos anymore. I totally understand why Tawnos is an Izzet, which does play two of the best CEDH colors, but not having access to black really does hurt the deck. Having one-half of a combo for the various combos in our deck is quite powerful, and even just casually copying an ability with Tawnos can be quite strong. We are running a little hate to slow down our opponents, but we are by no means a Stax deck. I have been having a ton of fun with this deck and found it to be quite strong against a variety of decks in the format. There certainly are some bad matchups, like some of the fastest decks in the format, but we are well-positioned against many of the most powerful decks. I am very excited to showcase this one. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
Click here to copy full decklist to your clipboard!
Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice Artifact Combo!
Buy This Deck!
Buy this deck using our TCGPlayer Affiliate Link: Tawnos, Urza’s Apprentice Artifact Combo Brewed CEDH
Why Tawnos, Urza’s Apprentice?
Tawnos is a big part of our deck. Not only do they combo with Sands of Time
right from the command zone, which in all honesty is their primary purpose they can be quite strong in other ways. Being able to copy an activated or triggered ability even just for additional mana can be quite strong. Tawnos is quite strong and a great combo piece and utility for the deck.
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! I also highlighted some of my favorite cards in the deck! The infinite combos and loops in the deck are listed below in the “Main Win Conditions” Section.
Creatures:
We are heavy on spells and very light on creatures, but the creatures we do have are quite impactful and strong. Gilded Drake
is one of my favorite creatures in the deck and stealing a high-value creature or commander from an opponent can be great. Dockside Extortionist
is an auto-include in pretty much any deck that can play it, and the extra mana we generate off of this is very strong and can help us combo off quicker. Tribute Mage
is a great tutor we can grab as early as turn one, and we are able to grab many of our combo pieces with this. Urza, Lord High Artificer
, and Walking Ballista
are nothing more than infinite mana outlets for when we combo off, and these are the ways we typically end the game!
Planeswalkers:
We only have one planeswalker in Narset, Parter of Veils
, but they are extremely strong and a great card for the deck. Their minus gives us a nice card selection and can even help us find a combo piece. The main reason we are playing Narset is the passive that restricts our opponents from drawing more than one card per turn. This, of course, works perfectly with cards in our deck like Wheel of Fortune
or Timetwister
and can be a great way to empty our opponent’s hand or if we are against decks that are heavy on card draw or playing a storm-style strategy we can absolutely shut them down.
Instants:
Our instant package is where a good majority of our countermagic is, but we have some strong utility spells as well. One of my favorite utility spells is Whir of Invention
which is a great tutor for the deck and can allow us to easily tutor up a combo piece and go off. Since it has convoke, we can typically go off with protection utilizing our leftover mana. We also have Stroke of Genius
and Blue Sun's Zenith
are two cards we can also use to end the game when we have infinite mana since we can force our opponents to draw their entire deck. Now, we do have a ton of great counterspells, but there is not a ton to say about any of them. The top three in the deck, in my opinion, are Force of Will
, Fierce Guardianship
, and Mental Misstep
, which are all great ways to protect ourselves when going off and since they are quite cheap we are able to stop opponents as needed.
Sorceries:
Transmute Artifact
and Fabricate
are two pretty cheap cards that allow us to grab more and more combo artifacts and are amazing cards that can be cast very early, as early as turn one and can help the combo gameplan a ton. Timetwister and Wheel of Fortune are great ways to reset our hands and keep on digging to find our combos. We also have Ponder
and Preordain
, which I really like in the deck; being able to cantrip is quite strong, and since we are a combo deck, we want to dig as much as we can to find what we are looking for.
Artifacts:
I want to focus on some of the hate pieces we have, like Defense Grid
, which helps keep our opponents fair and allows us to go off when we want. We also have Trinisphere
which is mostly in there for the matchups like storm decks where they just want to keep casting, not many decks can play through this but we easily can. We, of course, have a ton of the staple mana rocks like Mana Crypt
, Mana Vault
, and Mox Diamond
. These three, in addition to the various other mana rocks in the deck, allow us to play through our own hate and get quite a bit ahead on mana.
Enchantments:
We are rocking some hate within our enchantment package as well, with both of them focusing on non-basic lands. We have both Blood Moon
and Back to Basics
which really hurt our opponents and don’t affect us that much because we are only two-color. We are able to run a higher density of basics within the deck than most CEDH decks, and since most of our combos are artifact-based, we don’t need a ton of colored mana to go off. Since we are running blue, we are also packing staples like Rhystic Study
and Mystic Remora
, which are both amazing sources of card draw for the deck.
Land Base:
Our landbase looks a lot different than many within CEDH. Because we are playing hate pieces targeting non-basic lands throughout the deck we are running a much higher basic count than most decks. We also have the on-color duals like Volcanic Island
, Steam Vents
, and Training Center
, which can help us get our colors established pretty early. We are concerned with being pretty fast, so we are also running a ton of fetches as well as fast mana like Gemstone Caverns
, City of Brass
and Mana Confluence
. I like this landbase a lot, and while thirty is quite a bit for CEDH, I find it works because of our emphasis on non-basic hate. I have not had any issues while in testing with this landbase.
Strengths of the Deck:
- We are an adaptive combo deck with a ton of different ways to combo off/ make infinite mana; additionally, we have quite a bit of payoffs and mana sinks for these infinite mana combos.
- We have a decent amount of Stax effects, but we are by no means a Stax deck; we play these to slow down our opponents while we assemble our combos.
- We have a ton of counterspells, allowing us to stop our opponent’s combos and have some protection when we attempt to go off.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Being in Izzet is certainly a weakness of the deck, specifically in relation to the tutor access we have, which does hurt to not have access to the black tutors.
- We are generally pretty weak to artifact stax/hate effects like Null Rod
or Collector Ouphe. - We can be fast if we get lucky with a hand, but we typically go off between turn three and four, which against some of the fastest decks in the format may not be enough.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
We are in CEDH, so of course, we have a ton of combos. One of the biggest strengths of the deck is the various ways to combo off and make infinite mana. The combos in the deck are also the primary win condition within the deck. Below are all of the combos in the deck explained:
Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice + Sands of Time
Requires:
Tawnos, Urza’s Apprentice must be on the battlefield. Sands of Time must be on the battlefield. All other permanents must be able to produce at least 1UR. Tawnos does not have summoning sickness.
Steps:
- At the beginning of the upkeep step, Sands of Time triggers.
- In response, tap all of your mana producing permanents.
- Activate Tawnos, copying the Sands of Time trigger.
- Let the copy resolve, untapping all your creatures, lands, and artifacts.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite Mana during the upkeep step. Infinite taps. Infinite untap.
Strionic Resonator
+ Sands of Time
Requires:
Strionic Resonator must be on the battlefield. Sands of Time must be on the battlefield. Artifacts, creatures, and/or lands you control can tap to produce at least 3.
Steps:
- At the beginning of your upkeep, Sands of Time triggers.
- Holding priority, tap all mana producing permanents you control, adding at least 3.
- Activate Strionic Resonator by paying 2 and tapping it, copying Sands of Time’s ability.
- Resolve the copy of Sands of Time’s ability, untapping all tapped artifacts, creatures and lands you control and tapping all untapped artifacts, creatures, and lands you control.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite mana permanents you control can produce. Infinite tap triggers.
Lithoform Engine
+ Sands of Time
Requires:
Lithoform Engine must be on the battlefield. Sands of Time must be on the battlefield. Artifacts, creatures, and/or lands that can tap for at least 3.
Steps:
- At the beginning of any upkeep step, Sands of Time will trigger.
- In response to that trigger, tap all of your lands, artifacts, and creatures that can produce mana, then tap Lithoform Engine, copying the Sands of Time trigger.
- Allow the trigger to resolve, untapping your mana producing permanents and Lithoform Engine.
- Repeat for infinite mana.
Results:
Infinite artifact untaps. Infinite colored mana. Infinite land untaps. Infinite untap of creatures.
Underworld Breach
+ Lion's Eye Diamond
+ Wheel of Fortune
Requires:
Underworld Breach must be on the battlefield. Lion’s Eye Diamond must be on the battlefield. Wheel of Fortune must be in the graveyard. You have at least six other cards in hand and/or graveyard.
Steps:
- Activate Lion’s Eye Diamond by discarding your hand and sacrificing it, adding RRR.
- Cast Wheel of Fortune from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 2R and exiling 3 cards from your graveyard.
- Resolve Wheel of Fortune, causing each player to discard their hand and draw seven cards.
- Cast Lion’s Eye Diamond from your graveyard for its escape cost by exiling 3 cards from your graveyard.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite draw triggers. Infinite looting. Infinite looting for opponents. Near-infinite storm count.
Underworld Breach + Lion's Eye Diamond + Brain Freeze
Requires:
Underworld Breach must be on the battlefield. Lion’s Eye Diamond must be on the battlefield. Brain Freeze must be in the graveyard. You have at least six other cards in hand and/or graveyard.
Steps:
- Activate Lion’s Eye Diamond by discarding your hand and sacrificing it, adding UUU.
- Cast Lion’s Eye Diamond from your graveyard for its escape cost by exiling three cards besides Brain Freeze from your graveyard.
- Cast Brain Freeze from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 1U and exiling three cards from your graveyard.
- Brain Freeze’s storm ability triggers, creating at least one copy of Brain Freeze targeting yourself, and any remaining copies targeting an opponent.
- Resolve each Brain Freeze, causing yourself to mill six cards and, if applicable, an opponent to mill three cards for each Brain Freeze remaining.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite self-mill. Near-infinite colored mana. Near-infinite magecraft triggers. Near-infinite mill. Near-infinite storm count.
Underworld Breach + Wheel of Fortune + Jeska's Will
Requires:
Underworld Breach must be on the battlefield. Wheel of Fortune must be in the graveyard. Jeska’s Will must be in the graveyard. You have at least six additional cards in your graveyard, plus an additional six cards between your hand and/or graveyard. An opponent has at least six cards in hand. Mana needed: 2R
Steps:
- Cast Jeska’s Will from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 2R and exiling three other cards from your graveyard, adding at least six R.
- Cast Wheel of Fortune from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 2R and exiling three other cards from your graveyard, causing each player to discard their hand and draw seven cards.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite draw triggers for all players. Infinite looting for all players. Near-infinite magecraft triggers. Near-infinite storm count.
Dramatic Reversal
+ Lithoform Engine
Requires:
Dramatic Reversal must be in hand. Lithoform Engine must be on the battlefield. Nonland mana sources that can tap for at least 4 on the battlefield. An additional Mana needed: 1U
Steps:
- Cast Dramatic Reversal, holding priority.
- Tap Lithoform Engine and spend 3 to activate the second ability of Lithoform Engine, copying Dramatic Reversal.
- Allow the Dramatic Reversal copy to resolve, untapping your nonland permanents.
- Tap your nonland mana sources for at least 4.
- Repeat steps 2-4 for an infinite loop.
Results:
Infinite colored mana. Infinite colorless mana. Infinite untap for nonland permanents.
Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter
Requires:
Dramatic Reversal must be in exile (exiled by Isochron Scepter). Isochron Scepter must be on the battlefield. Nonland permanents you control can tap to produce at least 3
Steps:
- Activate all mana-producing nonland permanents you control by tapping them, adding at least 3.
- Activate Isochron Scepter by paying 2 and tapping it, casting a copy of Dramatic Reversal without paying it’s mana cost.
- Resolve Dramatic Reversal, untapping all nonland permanents you control.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite magecraft triggers. Infinite mana nonland permanents you control can produce. Infinite storm count. Infinite untap of nonland permanents you control.
Conclusion:
Tawnos is certainly not the best option for CEDH, but they allow us to play a fun and adaptive combo deck that I have been having a ton of fun playing and piloting. The element of surprise and an off-meta commander can be an important thing in CEDH, so coming with Tawnos will certainly have some opponents scratching their head, which can be a nice advantage. I have been enjoying this list a ton, and while we do have the weakness of being in Izzet, there are still a ton of strong cards and combos. Thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support!