Entry 9: In Appreciation of Taranika ~ I like to think Kytheon keeps watch over all of us ~ (Taranika, Akroan Veteran) Before I delve into Taranika, I want to touch on the change I made for this week. Emeria’s Call likely isn’t many players’ pick for the best white card from 2020. I’m not most players though. The dual faced card is a great addition to a mono white mana base. The opportunity cost of this card is extraordinarily low, and though over costed, the spell face is valuable to a white deck with a board state. The three life is a rather negligible cost to having this come into play untapped so swapping a basic plains feels totally acceptable. Most importantly, this card gives the deck a nice boost while keeping it relatively unchanged giving me more time to compare the differences from having the partners at the helm. The swap at commander has, unsurprisingly, felt like one step backward to take two steps forward. I outlined in my previous entry how the ceiling of Taranika was naturally capped by her ability and my card pool. That said, she was a magnificent lead for this specific deck and having a new set of commanders at the helm has only served to solidify that thought. Livio and Alharu seem like much better long term fits as the strength of the deck continues to grow and new printings are released, but in the meantime some of the synergies feel a touch strange. A 1/1 double striker doesn’t quite feel as terrifying as it used to.
I think I was wrong on both accounts. Tanazir has an attack trigger just like Taranika, but that’s about where the similarities end. I built both a Taranika and Tanazir deck side by side thinking my lessons from Taranika would apply to Tanazir, but the cards play extremely different and it centers around the idea of scale and growth. Taranika does one thing, and she does it the same way everytime. Tanazir alternatively does two things that can vary depending on the circumstances. It feels almost ironic, but the same reasons I switched from Taranika in my 2020 deck are the reasons I disliked actually building Tanazir. I love the consistency of Taranika. I know what she’s going to do, and she’s going to do it the same way every time. The emphasis is then placed on me to get the most value I can from this single ability. I’m not chasing more value. I’m making the most I can in the moment. Tanazir is different. As I was building, I felt like I was constantly chasing that ceiling and as such it felt like I lost some control. My Unchained Taranika list is a soldier tribal list. It developed that way somewhat naturally. As I looked for more creatures that worked well with Taranika, I found that a lot of them were soldiers. A few scryfall searches later and I had a list of soldier creatures and some noncreature slots to fill in. Alternatively, my Tanzir list is part +1/+1 counters and part 0/0 creatures. The cards feel intrinsically more powerful and also appeal to me significantly less. To some extent, it feels like the power of the deck doesn’t come from my play decisions, but from the cards I choose to add. The cards themselves feel like they do their thing as best they can regardless of how I use them. The ceilings feel both variable and completely out of my control. Tanazir is the perfect example of this difference. Instead of presenting a choice upon attacking, Tanazir affects all of your creatures. Despite this power increase, I find the absence of this decision less enjoyable. I want that decision. I want to see that opportunity cost, and I want to have to make the correct choice. Taranika provides me with the scale I love. Whether correct or not, I feel in control when I play her and when I play mono white. For me, it’s about achieving the play experience that makes me happy and in most cases, I find that when I play Mono White.
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AuthorMonoWhiteBorder -- A man who loves MtG and his small dog. Archives
June 2021
Categories"MonoWhiteBorder" and corresponding content is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
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