“The night is long and full of terrors, but it takes only a tiny spark of hope to shred the darkness and bring the dawn.“
Art:Talion, the Kindly Lord
by Justyna Dura
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Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Talion is an extremely strong commander and is perfect for the CEDH environment. Talion fits perfectly into a control shell since they are a strong source of card draw from the command zone. We are in Dimir, so we end the game through the typical Thoracle / Lab Man lines, and since we are so control-heavy, we can almost always go off with protection. The only caveat to that is, depending on the number we chose with Talion, is that we sometimes have to remove Talion before going off, which is not difficult to do. We are also decently strong as the game goes long, which is not atypical for control decks, but with cards like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
, and Talion, we can easily put pressure on our opponents. We have done this deck in EDH; now it’s time for CEDH. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Talion, the Kindly Lord Control!
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Why Talion, the Kindly Lord?
Talion, The Kindly Lord, is a very strong commander who provides effective card draw as well as life loss for our opponents, which can be a strong attribute to have, especially if we are in a pod with other control / stax strategies or any deck if the games go long. Additionally, this doesn’t usually matter, but if needed, Talion is a strong attacker/blocker who is naturally evasive with flying. When I play Talion, I find myself either selecting one or two for the number, and I typically find two to be the best option just due to the higher percentage of cards at two as opposed to one, but to be honest, both are viable options.
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:
Because of Talion’s ability Notion Thief
is quite strong in this deck and can provide a large amount of supplemental card draw. An additional payoff for the extra card draw from Talion is Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, which can be a great way to get some life when we get draws and can harm opponents when they draw cards. Due to how many cards are drawn in CEDH, Sheoldred can put our opponents in a very bad place. Opposition Agent
and Dauthi Voidwalker
are two very strong control pieces for the deck that can slow down our opponents greatly. Spellskite
is an amazing way to redirect removal destined for Talion back to Spellskite for only two life. Tishana's Tidebinder
is an awesome way to Stifle
a trigger or activated ability, and if it is a creature or planeswalker, it loses all abilities and effectively does nothing on the board.
Planeswalkers:
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
is pretty much nothing more than a combo piece for the deck, and we rarely put them on the board until we are ready to go off. We also have Ashiok, Dream Render
, which has a strong passive that allows us to stop opponents from searching their library, which can shut down pretty much any tutors for our opponents as well as Ashiok’s minus, which allows us to hose opponents graveyards which can be very strong against any breach deck or any reanimator/graveyard strategies. Narset, Parter of Veils
is another great control planeswalker that stops our opponents from getting supplemental draws it also interacts very well with cards like Timetwister
and can force our opponents to play fair when it comes to card draw. We can also utilize Narset’s minus to look at the top four and get a non creature spell, which can be great, and we can even find combo pieces. My favorite part about Narset and Ashiok is that their passives only affect our opponents and leave us at an advantage.
Instants:
We run both Dark Ritual
and Cabal Ritual
, which are both great ways to ramp out mana rocks, our commander, or pretty much anything. We also have some cards that counter many of the formats storm strategies like Mindbreak Trap
and Flusterstorm
, which can hose storm strategies. Shadow of Doubt
is another control piece for the deck that can harm many strategies and can be a great way to shut down an opponent for a turn. We also have a ton of strong counters like Fierce Guardianship
, Force of Will
, and Force of Negation
which are all awesome counterspells that can very easily be free. We also have a few strong removal spells that we can use to take out an opponent’s creature/commander and can also be used to remove Talion when we try to go off with Thoracle which can be very strong as well. Resculpt
, Deadly Rollick
and Drown in the Loch
are all great examples of this.
Sorceries:
Toxic Deluge
is a great card that is very strong against any creature based decks or decks that rely on their commander for combos / winning. We also have some strong sorcery speed tutors like Demonic Tutor
and Imperial Seal
, which are great ways to grab combo pieces and set up for a win. Gitaxian Probe
is another card that not all Talion decks run, but I like it for the cheap card draw as well as seeing what an opponent is working with. Praetor's Grasp
is an amazing CEDH staple that allows us to either steal an opponent’s combo piece or we can use it to steal a combo piece back.
Artifacts:
Our artifact package is where most of our control pieces reside with cards like Grafdigger's Cage
, which is very strong against any graveyard strategies and can completely shut down graveyard strategies. The same is true for Cursed Totem
, which primarily hurts creature decks but can work well against a variety of strategies. Weathered Runestone
is another control piece I like a lot because it stops some of the more unfair spell-casting / reanimation from opponents. Runestone is similar to Grafdigger’s Cage but stops nonland permanents from being “cheated,” so both are needed. We have Wishclaw Talisman
, which is a decent tutor for the deck with the downside that our opponents get it after, but can be a great way to get a card. We also have The One Ring
, which is a great card in the deck and gives us not only one turn of protection but a large amount of card draw. Beyond that, we have a ton of mana rocks, which are primarily for casting Talion as early as possible; we typically want her on the board on turn 1 or 2.
Enchantments:
Because of the life loss caused by Talion Bloodchief Ascension
is extremely easy to turn on and can effectively put additional pressure on our opponents and end the game. While we have a lot of supplemental card draw from Talion, more is always better, so we had to include Rhystic Study
and Mystic Remora
. Dress Down
is another card I like a lot and can be a great way to stop creature decks and all of their abilities for a turn. This can be enough to allow us to set up a win in our turn. We also have Necropotence
, which some decks don’t run, but I find it to be very strong and a great way to cycle through a ton of cards.
Land Base:
We have a pretty typical CEDH land base running a lot of the cards that you would expect, like fast mana pieces like Ancient Tomb
and Gemstone Caverns
, which are awesome ways to get ahead in the early game. Beyond that, we have a ton of fetches, on-color duals, as well as some additional utilities like Urza's Saga
and Minamo, School at Water's Edge
. I have found this land-base to be strong and efficient, there is no real consensus on the number of lands to run I have seen 26 count decks all the way up to 29-30.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Talion is a strong card draw engine right from the command zone, Talion is also a strong damage outlet which can help a ton if games go long.
- We are very counterspell heavy, which makes us able to stop opponents as well as combo off with protection
- We are decently well positioned against the creature decks of the format since we have Toxic Deluge
as well as Cursed Totem, which can do work against a lot of creature-based strategies.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- We need to mulligan aggressively since we want to cast Talion as soon as possible.
- Even though we need to cast Talion ASAP since we are much slower than many decks in the format, we want to try to have at least one counterspell to stop an early win from an opponent.
- One of the biggest weaknesses of the deck is that when we go off with Thoracle, we can die with Talion on the field; if an opponent casts a spell equal to Talion’s number while we are in the process of the Thoracle win, they can kill us with the card draw. We do have multiple ways to remove Talion ourselves, but we need to be mindful of this.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
We do have a few combos, but they are certainly nothing new; we run the typical Thoracle / Lab Man lines as well as Hullbreaker combos. These are the primary ways we win the game, and we are always looking/going for them, no matter what turn. Below are all of the combos in the deck explained. Another thing to consider when we are going off with Lab Man, Jace, or Thoracle is that we need to be careful about the number we selected, as well as if Talion is on the field because it can cause us to lose. Also, a note about the Hullbreaker Horror combos: while they are in the deck, there aren’t really any outlets for the infinite colorless or storm count; they were included because they are possible, and I am sure there are situations where it is worth it. But we mostly use Hullbreaker for his abilities as a control/protection piece. Many of these include the same cards and finish with the same result, but they are all fully explained for the sake of the guide:
Demonic Consultation
+ Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
Requires:
Demonic Consultation must be in hand. Jace, Wielder of Mysteries must be on the battlefield. Mana needed: B
Steps:
- Cast Demonic Consultation by paying B, naming Jace, Wielder of Mysteries and thus exiling your library due to you not having a card named Jace, Wielder of Mysteries in your library.
- Activate Jace’s first loyalty ability by putting a loyalty counter on it, causing target player to mill two cards and you to win the game due to drawing from an empty library.
Results:
Exile your library. Win the game.
Tainted Pact
+ Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
Requires:
Tainted Pact must be in hand. Jace, Wielder of Mysteries must be on the battlefield. No two cards in library share a name. Mana needed: 1B
Steps:
- Cast Tainted Pact by paying 1B, exiling your library.
- Activate Jace’s first ability by putting a loyalty ability on it, causing target player to mill two cards and you to win the game due to drawing from an empty library.
Results:
Win the game.
Demonic Consultation + Laboratory Maniac
Requires:
Demonic Consultation must be in hand. Laboratory Maniac must be on the battlefield. You have a way to draw a card. Mana needed: B
Steps:
- Cast Demonic Consultation by paying B, naming Laboratory Maniac and thus exiling your library due to you not having a card named Laboratory Maniac in your library.
- Draw a card, causing you to win the game due to Laboratory Maniac.
Results:
Exile your library. Win the game.
Tainted Pact + Laboratory Maniac
Requires:
Tainted Pact must be in hand. Laboratory Maniac must be on the battlefield. No two cards in library share a name. You have a way to draw a card. Mana needed: 1B
Steps:
- Cast Tainted Pact by paying 1B, exiling your library.
- Draw a card, causing you to win the game due to drawing from an empty library.
Results:
Win the game.
Demonic Consultation + Thassa's Oracle
Requires:
Demonic Consultation must be in hand. Thassa’s Oracle must be in hand. Mana needed: UUB
Steps:
- Cast Demonic Consultation by paying B, naming Thassa’s Oracle and thus exiling your library due to you not having a card named Thassa’s Oracle in your library.
- Cast Thassa’s Oracle by paying UU.
- Thassa’s Oracle enters the battlefield, causing you to win the game.
Results:
Exile your library. Win the game.
Tainted Pact + Thassa's Oracle
Requires:
Tainted Pact must be in hand. Thassa’s Oracle must be in hand. No two cards in library share a name. Mana needed: 1UUB
Steps:
- Cast Tainted Pact by paying 1B, exiling your library.
- Cast Thassa’s Oracle by paying UU.
- Thassa’s Oracle enters the battlefield, causing you to win the game.
Results:
Win the game.
Hullbreaker Horror
+ Sol Ring
+ Mana Crypt
Requires:
Hullbreaker Horror must be on the battlefield. Sol Ring must be on the battlefield. Mana Crypt must be in hand.
Steps:
- Activate Sol Ring by tapping it, adding CC.
- Cast Mana Crypt by paying 0.
- Hullbreaker Horror triggers, returning Sol Ring from the battlefield to your hand.
- Activate Mana Crypt by tapping it, adding CC.
- Cast Sol Ring by paying 1.
- Hullbreaker Horror triggers, returning Mana Crypt from the battlefield to your hand.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite colorless mana. Infinite storm count.
Hullbreaker Horror + Mana Vault
+ Mana Crypt
Requires:
Hullbreaker Horror must be on the battlefield. Mana Vault must be on the battlefield. Mana Crypt must be in hand.
Steps:
- Activate Mana Vault by tapping it, adding CCC.
- Cast Mana Crypt by paying 0.
- Hullbreaker Horror triggers, returning Mana Vault from the battlefield to your hand.
- Activate Mana Crypt by tapping it, adding CC.
- Cast Mana Vault by paying 1.
- Hullbreaker Horror triggers, returning Mana Crypt from the battlefield to your hand.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite colorless mana. Infinite storm count.
Hullbreaker Horror + Lotus Petal
+ Mana Crypt
Requires:
Hullbreaker Horror must be on the battlefield. Mana Crypt must be on the battlefield. Lotus Petal must be in hand.
Steps:
- Activate Mana Crypt by tapping it, adding CC.
- Cast Lotus Petal by paying 0.
- Hullbreaker Horror triggers, returning Mana Crypt from the battlefield to your hand.
- Cast Mana Crypt by paying 0.
- Hullbreaker Horror triggers, returning Lotus Petal from the battlefield to your hand.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite colorless mana. Infinite storm count.
Conclusion:
Talion, The Kindly Lord, is a very fun commander and perfect for a control shell; having an evasive creature as a way to get card draw and deal damage in the command zone is extremely powerful. While we are much slower than many of the decks in the format, the control elements in our deck allow us to slow down the game, control what our opponents are doing, and perform our combos with protection. Thanks for reading to the end and for all your support!