Talrand, Sky Summoner

I've been kicking around ideas for a Talrand deck (even though I don't even have any of them ).  But I was thinking just pure Izzet style R/B to be able to capitalize when RTR comes out.  Talrand + lots of burn and counter spells + Reverberate/Increasing Vengeance + Chandra, the Firebrand.  You'd just be dropping firebombs and controlling the board, drop Talrand and BAM we're talking LOTS of drakes.

I even had a thought about Archaeomancer + Ghostly Flicker and was trying to find some awesome ETB effect that would be able to provide the mana to do it infinitely - as you would play Arch, flicker him and (insert cool ETB card here), get the ghostly flicker back, rinse, repeat.  Each one would give you more drakes.

I also like the idea of Charmbreaker Devils in there as another game winner, either by bringing back all the burning or just pumping it.  But then again, Deadeye Navigator with said Archaeomancer would let you get all those spells back as you please at a cost of two mana per (which isn't bad if you want those Mana Leaks or Talrand's Invocations back ).

In any event, you'd want to rock at least 2x Favorable Winds to ensure the drakes get at least big enough to face off with angels.  You would also need some means to protect sir Talrand, as you KNOW he will be a prime target the second he hits the battlefield.  Whether that comes in the form of flickering, counterspells, or hexproof equipment, I don't know, but I do know you would need some protection there (Elgaud Shieldmate anyone?)

I would be hesitant to bring green in as I've always thought two-color decks work better than three and outside of ramping, there isn't much reason to even bring green in there.

Now there is the possibility of pairing both Talrand AND Krenko in the same deck.  It would be a beast to get the balance right, but man, could you imagine the flood of goblin and drake tokens?

God that sounds amazing, I'm actually going to go see if I can design that into a deck, my main issue is the number of cards in a deck and being able to have mostly instants/sorceries with still having lots of goblins

I just threw this together, it's pretty rough but it gives an idea, I think it should probably move to x3 of each card for variety since I feel like that's more important in a deck like this

http://deckbox.org/sets/211412

Last edited by imsully2 (2012-08-07 15:19:59)

Burn at the Stake would rock in a straight goblin deck, but I don't know how useful it would be here.  Ideally the goblins will serve one of two purposes, either a) they help you overrun the enemy or b) they're just a TON of chump blockers.  The real offense here would come via the drakes from Talrand, as a flock of 2/2 flyers can get nasty pretty quickly.

A few quick thoughts. 

First, Chandra, the Firebrand would be perfect with Talrand, while also giving you some added punch here.  To be honest, I'd make her the top of the mana curve. 

Second, I know the four spot is already pretty full, but Talrand's Invocation would work wonders too.  Even 2x of them, with Talrand out, that's four for three 2/2 flyers.  Much less if you use Chandra to copy it, then you're looking at six drakes in one turn for only four mana. 

Third, I can see where the Goblin Chieftains fit for the time being, but I'd actually likely drop 1-2 of them for Arms Dealer as those won't definitely help your attack as much, but they are more versatile in terms of clearing the way for your flyers. 

Fourth, I'd also exchange Mental Misstep for Vapor Snag or Unsummon.  Perhaps even something like Claustrophobia could make its way in here, as they might as well be full blown removal spells.

Fifth, I'm still on board with Favorable Winds or until rotation Adaptive Automaton - some means to pump all the drakes to help make them more dangerous (if only you could find a way to work in a touch of white for Intangible Virtue).  The chieftains do that to some degree, but I like to think of the goblins as being expendible more so than the drakes - Goblin Grenades?

Lastly, god I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can see where Snapcasters or some other spell retrieval would be ideal here.  The last thing you want is to run out of spells.  Archaeomancer is the obvious choice, but that's just further crowding the four spot.  Perhaps some sort of draw mechanic and Elixir of Immortality?

Good eye Null... but you'd still score five drakes, not six.

Hrm... well, like I said, it'll be a pain to get the balance right, but I still think there's potential here.  That and it should get some support in RTR given that Izzet is among the first five guilds to be in the block.

Perhaps I'll piece something together in the next few days and will see what it can do on Cockatrice.

Only thing I see right off the bat is that you might be better off with Think Twice compared to wild guess cause instant speed flashback can really catch your opponents off guard and in general I like to run more color balanced decks but that might just be me

Wild Guess only nets one card since you have to discard, it gives you options but this deck doesn't benefit from things in graveyard so without the addition of Runechanter's Pike (not a bad idea) the Wild Guess seems inferior to me, in late game when you top deck a land with nothing in hand having a think twice in the grave yard can be really nice

Also I like the charmbreaker devils since they'l be unexpected, no one uses them since they cost too much but with a goblin and drake swarm you could easily last long enough and with the card draw you should have land drops every turn

Last edited by imsully2 (2012-08-07 23:47:40)