I've had a buddy for 33 years. He's my best friend, and despite many periods of not living near each other and wildly different life experiences, we've stayed very close friends. He now lives a few states away, but we talk often about life, role-playing games (the tabletop kind - we both grew up playing and maintain a healthy interest in the genre), politics, and recently, Magic.

When I first started playing during Unlimited, my friend didn't join in. His brother and several people in our orbit played, but he mostly stayed away from it. However, in the last few years, he's started showing an interest, and the last couple have seen a fairly large growth in his collection and involvement. He really likes the Phyrexians, so the sets around the Phyrexian invasion were great for him, and he loved Stryxhaven. He also enjoys the "Un" sets, and the fact we can play the latest one in Commander has been a great joy for him.

He told me a story yesterday I wanted to share with you. He was talking about a deck he's currently building, and I asked him to put it on Moxfield so he could send it to me. He responded "what is Moxfield?" I told him it was a site where he could put in his deck and see stats like color distribution and curve, as well as share it with me. He came back with "I'm not interested in stats. I don't care about any of that stuff. I want to play the cards I want to play, and if that means I lose all the time, that's fine - I've already won because it's the cards I want to play."

He went on. "When I first started flirting with this game, I discovered Zur, the Enchanter and got really excited about the possibilities. I told you and you said you won't play against a Zur deck, because they're too mean, too oppressive... and I abandoned the idea. I shouldn't have. I wanted to play it and I should have built it, how I wanted it, regardless of how you felt about it."

He made it very clear he wasn't blaming me for his choices or reactions, and I clarified he could use Moxfield just to share, but also agreed he should play the game the way he wants, and no one can tell him otherwise.

This is true for each and every one of us. We get to play this game however we want. I encourage open and honest communication with everyone you sit down with - old friends, new players, unfamiliar shop, anywhere - about what kinds of games you enjoy, how quickly you attempt to win, and the like. I also recommend multiple decks (especially a few budget decks; check Abe Sargent's and my collected works for a number of great ones at really low prices) at different levels and with different styles so you can slot into lots of different games without being a jerk or completely blown out of the water. But if you want to play an oppressive, stop-the-table-from-doing-anything deck, you can. And you should. Just make sure everyone is cool with that, and know the table is likely to try to stop you.

When a new set comes out, everyone gets excited about the amazing cards. One look at Nadu, Winged Wisdom and we know: this is the standout commander from the set. Everyone is going to play it. And they have - a simple Google search will turn up several articles and numerous decklists with Nadu at the helm.

But we can play whatever game we want, and we can build whomever we want. So while everyone else is out there playing Nadu, I say we take a look at a different Simic Commander, one who hasn't gotten nearly the attention.

If you're wondering how Tamiyo is Simic () and not Mono-Blue, I get it. We know a Commander's color identity is determined by the pips in its mana cost and any pips in its text box (interestingly, reminder text that includes a pip, like the one for Extort, where the pip is in parenthesis, does not count toward color identity. So, you can run Crypt Ghast in a deck with no White). However, there is another color identifier to watch for:

On the flip side of Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, we have Tamiyo, Seasoned Scholar. Look just to the left of her Type line, and there's a circle with some colors in it. In this case, that determines her color identity - and it's . Make sense?

Now that we've clarified that, here's the plan:

We're going to play out Tamiyo, hopefully turn one. We'll start attacking with her right away to generate Clue tokens.

We're going to ramp a good bit.

We're going to flip Tamiyo rather quickly; remember we only need to draw two more cards to trigger her flip.

Four turns later, we're going to ultimate Tamiyo and draw half our deck. In all those cards, we're hoping for two things:

1. The pieces to an infinite combo to win the game
2. Reliquary Tower, though we can do without it

Along the way, we're going to run a fair bit of interaction, mostly in the form of slowing things down - countering spells and reducing damage. That will keep us alive as we assemble our combo and attempt to win the game. Let's talk through these categories.

In order to get started, we need our Lands. We've got our standard 40, most of which help with colors. We're leaning into more which come into play untapped, because we probably don't want to play a tapped Land until at least turn three, but especially because we want a turn-one Tamiyo. We do have some Lands which do other stuff, like Boseiju, Who Endures and Alchemist's Refuge. Otawara, Soaring City can be very strong.

We want to ramp right away. It's likely Tamiyo will be unbothered for the first few turns of the game, because they are normally used for setting up, ramping, and early-game board development. We can probably attack with her the turn after she enters, we want to whenever possible, because those Clues can be key to flipping her. Therefore, we really want to play her turn one, ramp turn two, and have 4 mana on turn three to play some card draw and flip Tamiyo. So, we have Three Visits, Farseek, and Rampant Growth, among others. Explore does good work here. Note the spells which go get a "Forest" or an "Island" rather than a "Basic Land," because the former can get a Land like Hedge Maze. Whenever possible, grab a dual Land.

After we ramp, our goal is to flip Tamiyo any way we can. It's often easy - cast a Three Steps Ahead and she flips. That's it. Sometimes we have to cast an Opt and crack a Clue, but it should be fairly trivial to get her flipped. Immediately add counters to her, and do your best to protect her. Her ultimate is scary, but at least it's not "the game is over immediately" scary, so hopefully you'll get some time to develop her. Plus she weakens potential attackers. Having out Alandra, Sky Dreamer or Scute Swarm won't hurt, though, in terms of developing blockers.

We keep ticking her up, via her +2 and our various Proliferate spells, over a few turns, until we can ultimate her. In the meantime, we'll be managing the board, keeping others from winning or killing us, and mostly trying to keep a low profile. Do your best to keep up so they always think you have Counterspell ready to go.

Then we Ultimate Tamiyo and try to assemble one of two basic combos. (Parentheticals explain how the combos work.)

• Bloom Tender + Freed from the Real or Pemmin's Aura = Infinite Green Mana

  • (Enchant Bloom Tender with the Aura. Tap Bloom Tender for . Use the Blue to untap Bloom Tender. Repeat for infinite .)

If you're going with Bloom Tender, I recommend playing it the turn you draw all the cards, so you can activate her the next turn when you Enchant her with the Aura. You'll want Counterspell backup to protect her should you do this. If you're going with Kodama of the East Tree, I'd play out your Baloths, Swarm, or Provisioner, unless you are certain you have enough mana to play both Creatures in the same turn (you'd need 12 mana for Kodama plus the Baloths - that can be a lot!).

If we wind up with infinite mana, we can do two things with it: win with Helix Pinnacle by pumping 100 mana into it and surviving till our next Upkeep, or dump a bunch of mana into Gelatinous Genesis to make a bunch of huge Oozes. Or, we're using Kodama to make a bunch of Scute Swarm or Beast Tokens. Either way, we're going to wait until the next turn to win, which means having multiple Counterspells to protect our win is important.

Alternately, we can have played out Crashing Drawbridge before our big turn, in which case we can give all our new Tokens Haste and attack right away.

Oh! If you can avoid playing your Land before you draw all the cards, do so. If you draw Reliquary Tower, you'll certainly want that to be your Land drop for the turn. However, if you don't get it, don't sweat it: figure out the cards you need for the combo, determine which (if any) can be played this turn, and fill the rest of the slots in your Hand with counters. Discard everything else. You'll be fine.

In order to stay alive, we have a bunch of Counterspells. We can use these, but we want to have a couple of big turns, so keep that in mind. We also have a few ways to protect ourselves from attacks, including Obscuring Haze and Desynchronization. Pongify and Beast Within can do a good job of stopping something which will kill us or Tamiyo immediately. We need to stay alive, so that's what we're going to try to do.

Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student | Commander | Mark Wischkaemper

• Commander (1)
• 1 Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student // Tamiyo, Seasoned Scholar

• Creatures (12)
• 1 Alandra, Sky Dreamer
• 1 Bloom Tender
• 1 Crashing Drawbridge
• 1 Dreamtide Whale
• 1 Evolution Sage
• 1 Flux Channeler
• 1 Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse
• 1 Kodama of the East Tree
• 1 Rampaging Baloths
• 1 Scute Swarm
• 1 Tireless Provisioner
• 1 Walking Ballista

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 1 Jace, Wielder of Mysteries
• 1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

• Instants (23)
• 1 Aetherize
• 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Brainstorm
• 1 Brainsurge
• 1 Consider
• 1 Counterspell
• 1 Desynchronization
• 1 Experimental Augury
• 1 Force of Negation
• 1 Frantic Search
• 1 Growth Spiral
• 1 Mana Drain
• 1 Negate
• 1 Obscuring Haze
• 1 Opt
• 1 Pongify
• 1 Rapid Hybridization
• 1 Serum Snare
• 1 Sink into Stupor
• 1 Swan Song
• 1 Tamiyo's Safekeeping
• 1 Three Steps Ahead

• Sorceries (18)
• 1 Careful Study
• 1 Chart a Course
• 1 Cultivate
• 1 Explore
• 1 Farseek
• 1 Flare of Cultivation
• 1 Gelatinous Genesis
• 1 Gitaxian Probe
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Nature's Lore
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Preordain
• 1 Rampant Growth
• 1 Tezzeret's Gambit
• 1 Thirsting Roots
• 1 Three Visits
• 1 Treasure Cruise
• 1 Winged Words

• Enchantments (4)
• 1 Freed from the Real
• 1 Helix Pinnacle
• 1 Pemmin's Aura
• 1 Rhystic Study

• Lands (40)
• 6 Forest
• 8 Island
• 1 Alchemist's Refuge
• 1 Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1 Cephalid Coliseum
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Dreamroot Cascade
• 1 Evolving Wilds
• 1 Flooded Grove
• 1 Hedge Maze
• 1 Hinterland Harbor
• 1 Karn's Bastion
• 1 Kitchen
• 1 Lonely Sandbar
• 1 Mystic Sanctuary
• 1 Otawara, Soaring City
• 1 Rejuvenating Springs
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rimewood Falls
• 1 Shifting Woodland
• 1 Simic Growth Chamber
• 1 Sunken Palace
• 1 Tangled Islet
• 1 Temple of Mystery
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse
• 1 Tranquil Thicket
• 1 Vineglimmer Snarl
• 1 Waterlogged Grove

Buy This Deck Export text

I confess I like this kind of combo deck. I like there's a possibility it can whiff, because there's no guarantee you'll get all the right pieces. It could fizzle dramatically, forcing you to try to stay alive as you frantically dig for the remaining piece or some other way to eek out a win. On the other hand, it often will create a board state where everyone knows if they don't deal with you this turn you will win, so what will they do? Sometimes they'll pull it off, leading to a dramatic "HOORAY" moment for the rest of the table, all thanks to you (so even though you didn't win, you still can be proud for making your friends happy). And sometimes you'll just run the table over with 1000 1000/1000 Hasty Oozes and there ain't nothing anyone can do about it.

Thanks for reading.