Of course, Gramps doesn't get out of bed for anything less than Emrakul unbannings and/or the reprint of Strip Mine, so he gave me his typical, "You need to hold your horses/I have to see this with my own two eyes/Why do you overexaggerate about nonsense all the time?" response, and I brought my exaggerations down to earth, and that was that. In all fairness, the last time I talked like this, the debate was about Ruric Thar, which wasn't earth shattering, but also not as overwhelming as I'd anticipated.
All of this was some time in December, post-C14 release, and so I kept my mouth shut, tested this deck, and held it over as the first Better Deckbuilding of 2015 so I could research and test and tweak and prove that Titania is every bit the unstoppable force I thought she was.
So I'm beyond stoked to talk about Titania today (say that five times fast), not only because this deck is straight up OP, but because I get to talk about value, token-beatdowns, and my absolute favorite part of any Magic deck I've ever made- The Got-Damn Land.
WHY TITANIA?
I wasn't going to build this deck. My playgroup actually has a pretty traditional precedent set where we make conscious efforts not to override someone else's Legendary Creature as a Commander, and that's what I thought was going to happen. Whenever there's a new product coming, we tend to call "dibs," which is silly, but we do try to be gentlemanly (I would've been more gender neutral, but we're all dudes these days) about it. Another guy did, and though I was chomping at the bit, I had no problem with this. I tend to give my group the first crack at new cards. Decks fall in and out of favor all the time with us, so there is some inheritance of a Commander when another player decides to retire decks.
Right before the release of C14, I'd begun to assemble a Loam deck with Xira Arien, based on a list I'd found scrolling through rogue decks in MTG Salvation. Once I'd gotten that silly-looking little bug in the mail though, I wasn't really feeling the deck design at all.
Right before the release of C14, I'd begun to assemble a Loam deck with Xira Arien, based on a list I'd found scrolling through rogue decks in MTG Salvation. Once I'd gotten that silly-looking little bug in the mail though, I wasn't really feeling the deck design at all.
This happens a lot more than I admit, but it's not that I'm unwilling to talk about it- there's just not much to say when I scrap a design. I find zero shame in shelving a deck that you aren't consciously and continuously motivated to play and re-tool throughout the deckbuilding process and its ensuing sleeved-up career, so I went back to the drawing board.
Then, I was getting ready to go play some 1v1 and I decided, "Screw it. I'm gonna play Titania with this Loam stuff and see what's up. If I have to take it apart, I will, but I can't help myself." Although the pieces to a Jund Loam deck were together, building around Titania at the helm was probably one of the quickest, most natural decks I've ever assembled. That's what will happen when cards and combos are floating around in the ol' noggin. It was literally world-record timing for me. From choices to fully sleeved, it was less than 40 minutes. That even included a couple Magic Solitaire/Goldfish tests.
So I played it with the idea that if it was any good, I'd be a sport and ask if it was okay.
Sure enough, it was all these things, my courteous takeover was fine, and my badass beatdown Titania deck was born.
Then, I was getting ready to go play some 1v1 and I decided, "Screw it. I'm gonna play Titania with this Loam stuff and see what's up. If I have to take it apart, I will, but I can't help myself." Although the pieces to a Jund Loam deck were together, building around Titania at the helm was probably one of the quickest, most natural decks I've ever assembled. That's what will happen when cards and combos are floating around in the ol' noggin. It was literally world-record timing for me. From choices to fully sleeved, it was less than 40 minutes. That even included a couple Magic Solitaire/Goldfish tests.
So I played it with the idea that if it was any good, I'd be a sport and ask if it was okay.
Sure enough, it was all these things, my courteous takeover was fine, and my badass beatdown Titania deck was born.
THE STRATEGY
Lands. Lands are our strategy- playing multiple lands per turn, playing a bunch of non-basics for utility- and then of course, making sure they end up in the graveyard with Titania out so we can beat down with 5/3 Elementals.
I like to categorize my decks, and I think the best phrase for it is "Aggro-Loam Token Engine." With the extra value Titania generates, we are able to increase the value of the Tec Edge/Wasteland/Ghost Quarter/Strip Mine/Dust Bowl suite by grabbing some cards to go on the offensive. With help from cards that give us extra land plays, as well as the creation of an engine via Life from the Loam, we have the strongest mono-Green graveyard deck in current existence, as well as one of the strongest pure-value engines I've ever seen.
THE TECH
THE TECH
Working our way towards the stronger cards, we'll start with the most obscure and "not terrible."
Arcane Spyglass, without Titania, is probably one of the fairest cards. We don't draw a single card until we have 6 mana, and then we actually have less than 6 mana (the assumption being we don't have mana rocks).
It may not be as absurd as some of my other tech (Sylvan Library, Horn of Greed), but I designed the deck with some serious draw power. There are upwards for 45 lands in this deck, and so digging with our extra resources will yield value that isn't always contingent on having a Titania in play.
However, if she happens to be around, which she usually is, we end up with a midrange creature that will probably have some friends. Also, for every three lands we sacrifice, we get a free card.
Arcane Spyglass, without Titania, is probably one of the fairest cards. We don't draw a single card until we have 6 mana, and then we actually have less than 6 mana (the assumption being we don't have mana rocks).
It may not be as absurd as some of my other tech (Sylvan Library, Horn of Greed), but I designed the deck with some serious draw power. There are upwards for 45 lands in this deck, and so digging with our extra resources will yield value that isn't always contingent on having a Titania in play.
However, if she happens to be around, which she usually is, we end up with a midrange creature that will probably have some friends. Also, for every three lands we sacrifice, we get a free card.
Creeping Renaissance has been experiencing an actual creeping renaissance in my metagame, and though most people would be content to say, "Shit man, that's awesome," and move on from literal flavor being IRL flavor, I am not one of those souls. There's always more, and I always want it.
In fact, the coolest part about Creeping Renaissance's creeping renaissance is the fact that we're all playing it in decks for COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SET OF PERMANENTS!
Titania, like me and Brick Tamland, loves Land, our Sidisi player loves to make Zombies and get the ones he's milled away, and our Cromat player gets back all his Superfriends. Like eating Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, there's just no wrong way you can go when playing this card.
In fact, the coolest part about Creeping Renaissance's creeping renaissance is the fact that we're all playing it in decks for COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SET OF PERMANENTS!
Titania, like me and Brick Tamland, loves Land, our Sidisi player loves to make Zombies and get the ones he's milled away, and our Cromat player gets back all his Superfriends. Like eating Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, there's just no wrong way you can go when playing this card.
When I don't get Lands back with Renaissance, I'm probably looking for all the cards my Bane of Progress has blown up.
We haven't talked about them yet, but because of the nature of the land-driven-token-generating that his happening, I really like the all-in Wrath effects. Most of my creatures are expendable, and the ones that aren't, I'm not attached to them. Titania is the biggest part of the deck, and because of the way she creates value with her ETB trigger, we will usually have plenty of land to cast her.
As far as Bane of Progress goes, he's powered up in design. Nicknamed after a bygone song from a bygone Teen Pop band in the lost years of the mid 90's, "mmmBoP" here is one of the better ways to police the board. I've struggled since C13 to find the right home for him, simply because I didn't like that he got in the way of my stuff, but again, I don't mind it so much here. I can play around or deal without the noncreature permanents I invest in, and when I need a big thing, he is the big thing.
So far, my high score with Bane of Progress is fifteen +1/+1 counters, without Enchanted Evening or Mycosynth Lattice or Doubling Season/Vorel effects. I'd like to keep track of the high scores in this mini-game, so leave me a comment if you've beaten it.
We haven't talked about them yet, but because of the nature of the land-driven-token-generating that his happening, I really like the all-in Wrath effects. Most of my creatures are expendable, and the ones that aren't, I'm not attached to them. Titania is the biggest part of the deck, and because of the way she creates value with her ETB trigger, we will usually have plenty of land to cast her.
As far as Bane of Progress goes, he's powered up in design. Nicknamed after a bygone song from a bygone Teen Pop band in the lost years of the mid 90's, "mmmBoP" here is one of the better ways to police the board. I've struggled since C13 to find the right home for him, simply because I didn't like that he got in the way of my stuff, but again, I don't mind it so much here. I can play around or deal without the noncreature permanents I invest in, and when I need a big thing, he is the big thing.
So far, my high score with Bane of Progress is fifteen +1/+1 counters, without Enchanted Evening or Mycosynth Lattice or Doubling Season/Vorel effects. I'd like to keep track of the high scores in this mini-game, so leave me a comment if you've beaten it.
For the last year and a half or so, I was actually cutting most of my O-Stones out of decks. What I found was that timely spot removal was really getting the job done, so I went with more of that and less Wrath effects.
Disk and Stone are solid options for decks with expendable creatures, or ones with ways to generate advantages out of them. Most of my Disks and Stones are back in decks now where the design supports them better, like Karn, where I can protect them with Darksteel Forge or Soul of New Phyrexia, or my the topic of my next Better Deckbuilding segment, Obzedat, where investing in Obzedat and having an Instant-speed activation ensures my guild leaders are going to take a couple chunks of damage out of a life total.
The best cards in Titania are the ones you don't expect. By now, I'm sure the Internet has gotten real wise to just how insanely powerful Titania can be with this, but it's still worth mentioning we use it, and more importantly, how it's used.
Zuran Orb, much like Sylvan Safekeeper, should be an actual game-ender in this deck. With Titania out, we can always make enough tokens at Instant speed at the end of someone's turn so we can compensate for blockers whilst avoiding most Wrath effects.
Personally, I don't prefer to use this ability sparingly. By that I mean that I have no problem sacrificing most of my lands if need be. Again, this is a little bit bold, but I've found that what separates the mediocre Aggro player from a better one is not the blind risk, and attacking every turn if able- it's knowing how to manipulate your own momentum by preventing Control players from buying extra turns on the damage clock.
Rites of Flourishing has been long recognized as part of the 99 of most Group Hug decks.
I do not support this archetype at all (another article I will be writing for Commander Cast, as I continue to foreshadow future segements), but this is a card I tend to play with a little more caution when I put it in decks.
The thing most people don't realize is that the secret to successful decks with RoF is that the winner is the player whom consistently plays the additional land that this card allows, thereby maximizing its value.
With 45-47 lands in the deck, we can support this card nicely while also using it to dig. In combination with use and re-use of Fetches, Panoramas, and Myriad Landscape, this is usually not about generosity. Sometimes, you have to help others get ahead so you can. This is clearly what's going on here.
There's a pretty extensive Land Destruction package in the deck. With Crucible, and access to cards with extra land plays, there is plenty of opportunity to play a heavy resource denial strategy.
The cool thing about the Strip Mines and Ghost Quarters is that we have additional options for targets in our little Loam engine. We can control our opponent's lands, and in the process, we gain extra creatures.
What's cool about Ghost Quarter is that grabs more land out of the deck when we do this. The value, again, is just overflowing here.
One of the obvious includes in the deck are cards with Landfall triggers. Of course, most people will be holding up their removal for Avenger of Zendikar and Rampaging Baloths, which can get really out of hand.
Grazing Gladehart, on the other hand, has a really nice home here in the deck because of the bigger targets and tokens in the deck. Before our little Antelope meets his end, the opportunity to gain upwards of 10+ life is significant.
The last card I want to talk about is Arashi, the Sky Asunder.
Although the art for this creature looks like it's lacking one, there is plenty of punch here.
Captain Sisay players can probably attest to the excellent utility Channel adds to its deck design.
In Titania, I replicate this a little bit with my Time of Need package. It's exponentially smaller, but there's only three creatures I really need at various stages of the game: Azusa, Kamahl, and Arashi.
Green typically has some issues with flying, and this is a way I've found to get to my answer, should I not get my go-to Silklash Spider.
Per usual, here's the full list. Feel free to drop me a comment, +1, or whatever.
I Love Land- Titania EDH
We've got a new look, some new people, and I'm pretty excited to be inching towards Year 3 of TGZ. Thanks for making it happen!
Pass.
-UL
Zuran Orb, much like Sylvan Safekeeper, should be an actual game-ender in this deck. With Titania out, we can always make enough tokens at Instant speed at the end of someone's turn so we can compensate for blockers whilst avoiding most Wrath effects.
Personally, I don't prefer to use this ability sparingly. By that I mean that I have no problem sacrificing most of my lands if need be. Again, this is a little bit bold, but I've found that what separates the mediocre Aggro player from a better one is not the blind risk, and attacking every turn if able- it's knowing how to manipulate your own momentum by preventing Control players from buying extra turns on the damage clock.
I do not support this archetype at all (another article I will be writing for Commander Cast, as I continue to foreshadow future segements), but this is a card I tend to play with a little more caution when I put it in decks.
The thing most people don't realize is that the secret to successful decks with RoF is that the winner is the player whom consistently plays the additional land that this card allows, thereby maximizing its value.
With 45-47 lands in the deck, we can support this card nicely while also using it to dig. In combination with use and re-use of Fetches, Panoramas, and Myriad Landscape, this is usually not about generosity. Sometimes, you have to help others get ahead so you can. This is clearly what's going on here.
The cool thing about the Strip Mines and Ghost Quarters is that we have additional options for targets in our little Loam engine. We can control our opponent's lands, and in the process, we gain extra creatures.
What's cool about Ghost Quarter is that grabs more land out of the deck when we do this. The value, again, is just overflowing here.
Grazing Gladehart, on the other hand, has a really nice home here in the deck because of the bigger targets and tokens in the deck. Before our little Antelope meets his end, the opportunity to gain upwards of 10+ life is significant.
Although the art for this creature looks like it's lacking one, there is plenty of punch here.
Captain Sisay players can probably attest to the excellent utility Channel adds to its deck design.
In Titania, I replicate this a little bit with my Time of Need package. It's exponentially smaller, but there's only three creatures I really need at various stages of the game: Azusa, Kamahl, and Arashi.
Green typically has some issues with flying, and this is a way I've found to get to my answer, should I not get my go-to Silklash Spider.
Per usual, here's the full list. Feel free to drop me a comment, +1, or whatever.
I Love Land- Titania EDH
We've got a new look, some new people, and I'm pretty excited to be inching towards Year 3 of TGZ. Thanks for making it happen!
Pass.
-UL
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