Few cards scream "build around me!" like Tallowisp. Fewer still have spent close to fifteen years in builder's limbo, with no real way to accomplish the task you know in your heart should be realistic to accomplish. For the longest time, though, that was the exact problem with Tallowisp. While it was simple enough to throw together a bunch of spirits and auras, there was no real opportunity to create something with a sense of cohesion. Simply put, there were few spirits that had any synergy with the high number of enchantments Tallowisp required you to play. Now, with the release of recent sets like Innistrad: Crimson Vow and Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty behind us, new spirits have found their way to the mortal realm. And, excitingly for us, many of them have enchantments on their mind. So, grab that Ouija Board and lay down that salt circle. We're about to summon some spirits!

Selesnya Tallow Spirits | Casual | James Heslip

• Creatures (23)
• 1 Twinblade Geist
• 2 Rescuer Chwinga
• 2 Shinen of Life's Roar
• 3 Clarion Spirit
• 3 Dawnhart Geist
• 4 Generous Visitor
• 4 Kami of Transience
• 4 Tallowisp

• Enchantments (14)
• 1 Benevolent Blessing
• 1 Ethereal Armor
• 1 Light of Promise
• 1 Ordeal of Heliod
• 1 Ordeal of Nylea
• 1 Sixth Sense
• 1 Regeneration
• 1 Unflinching Courage
• 1 Venom
• 1 Whip Silk
• 4 Crystallization

• Lands (23)
• 7 Forest
• 8 Plains
• 4 Radiant Grove
• 4 Fortified Village

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Cost: $13.50 at the time of publication

The Core

Kami of Transience and Generous Visitor are the secondary core of the deck, as they are the main reason we're able to construct it in the first place. Their existence means we now have access to spirits that have meaningful synergy with the many auras Tallowisp will be searching up for us. Every time you cast an aura, you get a +1/+1 counter. This growth, combined with the many benefits the variety of auras in the list provide, presents a threatening and tricky set of different win conditions to opponents. Twinblade Geist // Twinblade Invocation exists in the list to play a similar role as Kami and Visitor. He holds auras well, while also acting as a castable aura from the graveyard.

The Backup

Clarion Spirit and Tallowisp feel like they were made for each other. With Wisp on the battlefield, every spirit you play is effectively two spells. So, as long as you have enough mana to keep the ghost train rolling, Clarion Spirit will keep calling its brothers and sisters to battle. Rescuer Chwinga protects her or other important permanents.

Shinen of Life's Roar is one of my favorite inclusions, just for the style points. Sure, you can use it as intended, eating up blockers so that your other threats can hit the opponent unhindered. But, if a Wisp is in play when you cast Shinen, then you have the option to search out our single copy of Venom, which turns Shinen into a walking targeted Wrath of God. If another spirit hits play, then Regeneration can be added to the mix to make the combo repeatable.

I really wanted to include the new Phyrexia: All Will Be One card Planar Disruption, but alas, Tallowisps strange wording prevents it from searching for the upgraded pacifism. So, I went with Crystallization instead. This "enchant creature" limitation is also why we are not running a singleton Quiet Disrepair as a silver bullet answer to artifacts and enchantments.

Tips and Tricks

Aside from the clear sequencing strategy (play your Kami, Visitor, or Dawnhart before you play your auras, but not before you play Tallowisp) much of the deck's decisions are based around what auras you are grabbing at what time. The previously-mentioned Shinen + Venom, is a great example, but there are others lines to consider. If you're low on mana, but have Kami or Visitor holding counters, Ordeal of Nylea is an easy way to pump up your land count. If you need more life, Ordeal of Heliod or Unflinching Courage are the way to go.

If you want to go the Voltron route, Benevolent Blessing or Regeneration are often the first auras you want to grab, just to ensure that inevitability. From there, the Ordeal of Heliod + Light of Promise combo will often destroy an opponent in one or two hits. This is especially true if Kami's trample is being put to good use, or if Blessing's protection is making your threat unblockable.

If you've got a decent number of Kami and/or Visitor play, you can grab Whip Silk, which you can cast and bounce repeatedly to build +1/+1 counter counters. Dawnhart Geist can also be triggered multiple times a turn in much the same way.

Additional Options | James Heslip

• Creatures (38)
• 1 Alseid of Life's Bounty
• 1 Aurora Eidolon
• 1 Blessed Spirits
• 1 Blinking Spirit
• 1 Calix, Destiny's Hand
• 1 Celestial Crusader
• 1 Chaplain of Alms
• 1 Crystal Dragon
• 1 Danitha Capashen, Paragon
• 1 Dowsing Shaman
• 1 Dripping-Tongue Zubera
• 1 Drogskol Infantry
• 1 Eidolon of Blossoms
• 1 Geothermal Kami
• 1 Grateful Apparition
• 1 Haru-Onna
• 1 Hero of Iroas
• 1 Hopeful Eidolon
• 1 Ironclad Slayer
• 1 Jukai Naturalist
• 1 Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr
• 1 Kindly Ancestor
• 1 Lunarch Veteran
• 1 Monk Idealist
• 1 Niblis of the Urn
• 1 Nikko-Onna
• 1 Pilgrim of the Ages
• 1 Revered Dead
• 1 Spectral Rider
• 1 Spectral Shepherd
• 1 Spirited Companion
• 1 Spirit Mantle
• 1 Starnheim Courser
• 1 Strangleroot Geist
• 1 Topplegeist
• 1 Transcendent Envoy
• 1 Verdant Eidolon
• 1 Warbriar Blessing

• Sorceries (1)
• 1 Reviving Melody

• Enchantments (22)
• 1 Arachnoform
• 1 Armadillo Cloak
• 1 Audacity
• 1 Battle Mastery
• 1 Blessing
• 1 Candletrap
• 1 Cho-Manno's Blessing
• 1 Entangler
• 1 Faith Unbroken
• 1 Forced Adaptation
• 1 Inviolability
• 1 Keen Sense
• 1 Lifelink
• 1 Mortal Obstinacy
• 1 Rancor
• 1 Sage's Reverie
• 1 Shielded by Faith
• 1 Shield of the Oversoul
• 1 Spectral Steel
• 1 Spider Umbra
• 1 Timely Ward
• 1 Trollhide

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It's incredibly tempting to play some sort of cost-reduction effect, like Hero of Iroas or Jukai Naturalist, but at the end of the day I'm not sure that reducing your spirit count is worth it, or that the reduction is actually needed. Still, if you're going to play one, I would play Hero, since it pairs well with the Ordeals, as well as Whip Silk.

It seems like Katilda, Dawnhart Martyr // Katilda's Rising Dawn was literally designed with this style of deck in mind. However, at the end of the day I don't think she brings anything to the deck that we are not already doing, but better. It's possible she could replace Twinblade Geist, or reduce the counts on some of the other backup spirits, but I feel like it would be done for flavor more than anything else.

I thought hard about including some number of Dowsing Shaman so that I could repeatedly cast Ordeals, fallen Venoms, or Crystallizations off of creatures that had since been exiled. In the end, his high casting and activation costs forced me to turn away. If included in your list, I would also suggest other auras that can be sacrificed for benefit, like Mortal Obstinacy, or even Alseid of Life's Bounty for more protection.

I also considered playing spirits that could bounce themselves, like Blinking Spirit or Nikko-Onna, since this would allow for repeated Tallowisp triggers. However, similar to Dowsing Shaman, the amount of mana needed to make it work was just too much.