{"ops":[{"insert":"aka: "},{"attributes":{"underline":true,"bold":true},"insert":"islands? more like WAS lands! muahahaha"},{"insert":"\n\nthis is my attempt at an optimized Taniwha list.\nthe primary goal of the deck is to turn Taniwha's drawback of phasing out our lands into a way of disadvantaging our opponents.\nif we can get our lands to phase out every turn, suddenly our stax pieces go from fair and symmetrical, to forming a complete lock on our opponent's resources.\n\nno strategy is off-limits. salt-score is a byproduct of greatness.\nenjoy.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Phasing:"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"before we start, I feel compelled to explain phasing, as it is a core mechanic of the deck.\na permanent can 'phase out' in numerous ways.\nif a permanent is phased out, it is considered to not exist. it can't be interacted with in any way.\nthis is different than something being 'exiled'. a phased out permanent does not leave the battlefield. it retains counters, and equipment as well as auras remain attached to it. in fact, if an equipped creature phases out, the equipment it is equipped with phase out as well. when the creature phases in on the players next untap step, the equipment phases back in as well, still attached to it.\na permanent that is phased out will phase back in at the beginning of that permanent's controller's next turn, before their untap step (some cards of course, are exceptions).\n\nTaniwha itself has "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Phasing"},{"insert":", which means it will constantly alternate between being phased out and in.\nleft to its own devices, it will exist for a turn, then disappear on the next.\n\nTaniwha's next ability causes all of our lands in play to phase out. if Taniwha is not in play, of course this will not trigger.\nthus, the pattern becomes:\nTaniwha phased in this turn"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"our lands will phase out on our upkeep"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"or\nTaniwha phased out this turn"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"our lands remain on the battlefield"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nthe only time we will have both Taniwha and our lands in play, is the turn on which Taniwha was cast.\nat the beginning of the next turn, Tani will phase out, and the cycle begins.\n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"on its own, Taniwha will only exile our lands every other turn.\nwe can however, interfere with the loop by phasing Taniwha out ourselves.\nif Taniwha has phased in on our turn, it will not phase out.\nso if we want to attack with Taniwha or have no lands on our next turn cycle, we must find a way to phase it out before our next turn begins.\n\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Core Cards:"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nthe best way I have found to consistently phase Taniwha out, is with an obscure enchantment called "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Teferi's Veil"}},{"insert":".\nas long as Taniwha can continue attacking, it will always phase out after combat on our turn, meaning it will always phase in at the beginning of our next turn.\nif Tani is always phasing in, our lands are always phasing out.\nas an added bonus, phasing out protects Tani from any board wipes or other disasters our opponents might conjure up after our turn is over.\nto establish the lock, we will eventually need to stick a Veil, in combination with another lock piece.\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Muddle the Mixture"}},{"insert":" will help us tutor up this piece of the puzzle. \nnow that we have found a way to consistently put our lands away, we can take a look at the reasons for doing so.\n\nbehold, the best ramp spell in the game (in mono blue, anyway): "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Surveyor's Scope"}},{"insert":".\nat first glance, this inconspicuous card seems like it deserves its $0.30 price tag.\nbut the more I have played this deck, the more I have become seriously impressed by this card.\nreading this card in the context of Taniwha will reveal its true power: 2 colorless mana to fetch three UNTAPPED lands.\nthis is seriously one of the best cards in the deck.\nwe would like so badly to recur this card, we are even playing "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Karn, the Great Creator"}},{"insert":".\n\nnow we get to the good stuff.\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Ward of Bones"}},{"insert":" | "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Mana Vortex"}},{"insert":" | "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Land Equilibrium"}},{"insert":"\nall three of these pieces will slow our opponent's development, and should eventually lock them out.\nVortex is the weakest of the three, but can still affect the game even without the lock in play.\nif we have Taniwha out, we can choose to phase our lands out before we are forced to sacrifice a land.\nLand Equilibrium and Ward of Bones will prevent our opponents from playing any lands on the turns when our lands are phased out, and eventually serve to lock our opponents out of playing lands at all once we have established the Taniwha + Teferi's Veil phasing loop.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Sunder"}},{"insert":"\nin most games, you will simply float mana in response to Taniwha's upkeep trigger, then cast Sunder after all our lands have phased out.\ndon't underestimate the power of setting your opponents back 4 or 5 turns.\nbe careful casting this if there is currently a board full of creatures however, as this spell can pull a lot of aggro.\nSunder can do some heavy lifting, but sometimes you just don't have the mana or time for it.\ndon't be afraid to discard this, but I do consider it to be a core part of the deck.\n\nlastly we have a pair of lands, "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Thawing Glaciers"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Urza's Saga"}},{"insert":".\nboth of these have wonderful interactions with both phasing, and our Teferi's Veil loop.\nThawing Glaciers can be activated before Taniwha's upkeep trigger, but will not return to our hand at end of turn as it no longer exists (it is phased out).\nthe ramp this provides will quickly get you to an insane amount of mana available, albeit only during our upkeep.\nUrza's Saga is already a strong card under normal circumstances, but has higher than normal potential in Taniwha.\nwith some planning, we can potentially establish our Teferi's Veil loop on the same turn that Urza's Saga hits two lore counters.\nbecause lore counters are added at the beginning of your main phase, if our lands are phasing out every upkeep, the final phase of the Saga will never trigger. This means you will be able to create a construct every upkeep until our loop is broken.\noften it is correct to search up some form of ramp or card draw, but this interaction is so strong I wanted to mention it as a possible play.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Dress Down"}},{"insert":" \nwe can play this during the end step right before our turn to ensure we have access to all of our mana throughout our next turn.\nTaniwha will lose trample, but our lands will remain on the battlefield along with Taniwha as DD will remain on the battlefield until our end step.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Shadow of the Second Sun"}},{"insert":" \ni'm not convinced this card is good, but it has some very interesting interactions with Taniwha.\ni have included a number of spells to manipulate Tani's phasing state, in an attempt to abuse this card. I do not have high hopes.\ni have also chosen to include a number of "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Stifle"}},{"insert":" effects, in an attempt to enable us to occasionally have access to our lands during our turn (stifle Tani's upkeep trigger).\nif Tani phases in at the start of our turn with Second Sun in play: \nour lands will phase out on our first upkeep"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Tani will phase out during our postcombat untap step"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"our lands will phase in during our postcombat untap step"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Tani will phase in during our next turn, starting the cycle again"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"thus, if Tani is phasing in on our turn, our lands will only exist during our opponents turns, and Tani will only exist during ours.\n\nif instead, Tani is phasing out on our turn while Second Sun is on the battlefield:\nif phased out, our lands will return during our untap step"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"our lands will not phase out during our upkeep"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Tani will phase in during our postcombat untap step"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"our lands will phase out during our postcombat upkeep"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"thus, if Tani is phasing out on our turn, our lands will not exist during our opponents turns, but Tani will remain on the battlefield.\n\nif Teferi's Veil is in play in combination with Shadow of the Second Sun:\nif Tani phases in at the start of our turn:\nour lands phase out on our first upkeep"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Tani attacks, and phases out at end of combat"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"after the postcombat main phase, our lands phase in, and Tani phases in"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"on our postcombat upkeep, our lands phase out"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"next turn, Tani phases out, our lands phase in"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"if Tani phases out at the start of our turn:\nour lands do not phase out on our upkeep"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Teferi's Veil does not trigger"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"at the start of our post-combat untap step, Tani phases in"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"on our post-combat upkeep, our lands phase out"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"next turn, Tani phases out again"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"as you can see, Tani tends to become stuck phased out on our turn with both of these enchantments in play, and our lands only exist during our own turn, until our post-combat upkeep.\nnot a great combination, but the potential of Second Sun as a redundant Veil must be explored!\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Gameplay:"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"didn't add this part yet\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Exclusions:"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nedhrec lists a few 'top' cards that I have chosen not to run. here are my thoughts.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Worldslayer"}},{"insert":" \nWorldslayer has a lot of potential, but I feel that the card is not quite the right fit for this deck.\nto start, if Tani is on the battlefield, then our lands have already phased out.\nthis means you will need access to 5 mana likely from rocks (perhaps one land) to equip the Worldslayer, all of which will be destroyed when Tani connects.\nthe whole table will gladly unite against you to prevent Tani from hitting any one of their faces. we can happily sling free spells against one player, but will quickly run out of resources trying to stop all three others from target-firing Tani.\nwe would need to consider running more protection spells, as protecting Tani with phasing does not seem ideal (although phasing Tani out in response to the Worldslayer trigger sounds sweet).\nkeep in mind that Worldslayer also destroys Taniwha itself when it connects.\nyes, our opponents will be far behind you with their permanents destroyed, but taniwha can take a long time to get the job done and our opponents will quickly rebuild.\nimagine actually hitting someone with a Tani equipped with Worldslayer. a turn later, you recast Tani. a turn after that, it phases out. a turn after that, you swing for 7. next turn Tani phases out again, and finally 5 turns later you have managed to kill the one player you originally attacked.\nI can see this getting wins, but it seems like there is a lot of chaos involved. I'd personally rather try to focus on locking all opponents out at the same time.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Acid Rain"}},{"insert":" + "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth"}},{"insert":"\nConsidering re-adding this combo. Harbinger of the Seas allows us to pick up our Yavi later in the game with "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Daze"}},{"insert":" and "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Gush"}},{"insert":" . could be a huge blowout, though the drawbacks still exist.\n"},{"attributes":{"strike":true},"insert":"I tried for a long time to make this combo work, unfortunately it feels far too clunky to consistently pull off."},{"insert":"\nboth cards are mostly dead draws when drawn alone."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"you can't play Yavimaya before the turn on which you will play Acid Rain. if you play Yavi, it will be phased out on future turns."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Acid Rain is a sorcery. once again, you rely on rocks to actually be able to cast it even after working to get both cards in your hand."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"blue doesn't have a card like "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Demonic Tutor"}},{"insert":" that tutors for both pieces. adding a "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Tolaria West"}},{"insert":" to give us the option to tutor up Yavimaya when we need it will actually affect the deck's early game more than you'd think, and will feel REALLY bad when we inevitably draw both, before drawing Acid Rain."},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Shimmer"}},{"insert":" + ("},{"insert":{"card-link":"Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth"}},{"insert":" or "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth"}},{"insert":")\nagain, Shimmer is a sweet card, but I don't think it fits in this deck.\nwe want to phase our own lands out so that our opponents cannot play lands. if our opponent's lands phase out every other turn, that gives them the potential of building two phases of lands, beneath our stax pieces.\nsweet combo though.\n\n"},{"insert":{"card-link":"Thwart"}},{"insert":"\nprobably one of the worst free counterspells in Taniwha. we can't return islands to our hand if they don't exist (they are phased out). I can justify "},{"insert":{"card-link":"Daze"}},{"insert":", as we will often be able to play an island for the turn after our lands have phased out, but three islands for Thwart seems often unattainable when we need it most.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"underline":true},"insert":"Final Thoughts:"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nidk lol\n"}]}