{"ops":[{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Watch and weep, Crusaders!"},{"insert":"\n\nTidus works as an incremental value deck, looking to slowly but surely win games by laying low under the radar for the majority of the first 4-5 turns whilst creating a board state of many creatures with evasion and +1/+1 counters to win through combat damage. \n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Priorities in Opening Hands:"},{"insert":"\nALWAYS MAKE SURE TIDUS CAN BE PLAYED: Whilst this is obvious for most decks, it is especially crucial for Tidus. Tidus provides significantly more draw and only amplifies the other draw pieces that are available to him like Enduring Curiosity, Curiosity or Ohran Frostfang. On top of this, he begins the proliferation process for your +1/+1 counters, and thus in the off chance you have an opening hand that can play Tidus but doesn't have counters available, you will still be able to make use of them as soon as the topdeck occurs. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Turn 2 plays or +1/+1 counter sources: After you have enough lands to make sure Tidus can be played on Turn 3 or earlier, trying to get pieces which can generate +1/+1 counters for Tidus or accompanying pieces like Slither Blade is essential, as this gives you the continual draw. My personal favourites include Maester Seymour, Hadana's Climb, Silent Hallcreeper and Inkeeper's Talent. These are all cheaper or the same cost as Tidus, allowing for them to give Tidus (or other attacking creatures) their counters. In the cases that you do not have counters in your opening hand, proliferation sources like Thrummingbird or Faithful Apparition work as well, provided the topdecks are friendly to you."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Draw Engines and Ramp: These are the least significant, though definitely provide value for you in the early game to ensure Tidus gets off on a correct foot. Best ramp options are Bloom Tender, Noble Hierarch and of course Birds of Paradise. Meanwhile, on draw engines, the cheaper the better, ideally pieces like Esper Sentinel or Storm Fleet Negotiator come to mind, though saving a more costly piece like Enduring Curiosity or Ohran Frostfang works just as well. "},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nAfter the opening hand has been established, you should use your first 2 turns ramping out and getting out pieces which can provide counters, or your cheaper sources of evasion like Slither Blade or Elusive Krasis. Turn 3 should pretty much always have Tidus hit the field, though things that have evolve like Elusive Krasis as mentioned earlier (sometimes Gyre Sage though normally he should be Turn 2) can take priority to ensure you have an evasive attacker with a +1/+1 counter. Once Turn 4 hits, your best plan is to ensure that proliferation continues at a steady pace, and to amplify their effects, use Tidus' first ability to move +1/+1 counters around so that multiple creatures get new counter effects.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Finishing Pieces"},{"insert":"\nYour late game will typically involve the use of a couple specific strong cards. Keep your eyes on the lookout for (in no particular order): \nArwen, Mortal Queen: She provides +1/+1 counters, lifelink counters and indestructible counters on herself which can be passed to Tidus and other important creatures after some proliferation. This card single-handedly means that removal from your opponents is significantly slowed, as well as providing a good variety of counters for cheap prices, and you can be as aggressive as you like thanks to lifelink, with evasion not being as necessary as before with her on the field."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Danny Pink: This is the draw MACHINE. I have in testing and in live games, never seen a card draw as many as Danny Pink has, since he will trigger on you moving counters thanks to Tidus' first ability, as well as his proliferation from "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Cheer"},{"insert":". This means that interaction is almost always available for you with Danny Pink on the field provided you have the mana, as his cost of 4 mana typically allows for 2-3 creatures to be on the field before he arrives. This would lead to you drawing 6 cards a turn including your draw step, thus putting you even further ahead."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Kodama of the West Tree / Brotherhood Regalia: Whilst these two are not as explosive as the others on this list, the incremental value that they provide with Tidus is invaluable. Evasion that is groupwide is hard to come by, which makes Kodama of the West Tree surprisingly nice for the board wide trample. Not only that, but Kodama also skims the rest of the deck for your basic lands whenever it connects, allowing your late game to have less lands and more big plays. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood Regalia giving Tidus ward 1 as well as making him unblockable means that you can start racking up commander damage reliably, which is often than not the easier way of clenching victory, provided you have no other smaller creatures with evasion. On the topic of equipment, Buster Sword deserves a mention, though should always go on creatures which already have evasion, but it allows you greater plays through cheating things out, which is always fantastic."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Ouroboroid: Probably the best creature that is in this deck. Ouroboroid only exponentially speeds up the ability to put +1/+1 counters on your entire board since instead of increasing most creatures by one counter through proliferation, their on combat trigger ability synergises particularly well with Tidus' first ability, as well as Maester Seymour, Inkeeper's Talent and Hadana's Climb. Typically, the best way to get value out of Ouroboroid is to move a counter from Tidus onto Maester Seymour, then give him one thanks to Inkeeper's, and use Seymour's ability to give counters to the Ouroboroid. This then allows the Ouroboroid to pass counters all through the board. Give Ouroboroid two cycles of this, and every creature on your board can have upwards of hundreds of counters."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Akroma's Will: The best finisher in the deck, it gives all the creatures on the board protection, evasion, lifelink to ensure safety on the next turns, and double strike to pretty much guarantee kills. It's simple enough to use, have a big board state available and swing all out with whatever you have available to get a bunch of life. Akroma's Will also has versatility as it allows for it to be used as a costlier form of protection if the need arises and the creatures need to dodge things like Blasphemous Act and the like. Moreover, the use of Akroma's Will as protection means that you cannot be targeted by exile effects either, being one of the main ways to bypass indestructible counters from creatures like Arwen. I personally removed it in exchange for smaller pieces since a one card “win the game” button that happened instantly as opposed to the sustain of the other pieces didn’t follow what I wanted for the deck, though a faster Tidus will much prefer this."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Interaction and Protection"},{"insert":"\nA good method to preserve your counters if interaction is not available is the use of either Yuna, Grand Summoner and The Ozolith. Both of these move the counters from a dead permanent to the rest of the board, and there are some cases where you will prefer one over the other. If possible, where +1/+1 counters are the only thing on the board, Yuna is better, since she moves them directly to the creatures currently in battle. The Ozolith, meanwhile, saves the other \"wildcard\" counters that are present on cards like Arwen, Mortal Queen or Dreamtide Whale (indestructible, lifelink, vanishing etc.), though the majority of the time Ozolith is always going to be good.\n\nInteract with the opponents boards where necessary, in particular Swords to Plowshares, Amphibian Downpour, and the counterspells of Offer You Can't Refuse and Swan Song (Stubborn Denial too), slowing down the board state to ensure that your counters can continue building. \n\n\n"}]}