[SCD] Tasigur, the Golden Fang

[Cire]

I fear that this card got overlooked very quickly.

Tasigur, the Golden Fang :5::b:
Legendary Creature - Human Shaman
Delve
2:ug::ug: : Put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard, then return a nonland card of an opponent's choice from your graveyard to your hand.
4/5

To me it is looking to just be a 1 mana 4/5 that works as a fifth goyf (or even replaces goyfs entirely in a deck). True he requires a little more set up, but not really all that much set up - considering normal play: Turn 1 Fetch - Spell, Turn 2 Fetch - Spell - you can cast him turn 3 for 1 mana easy, and turn 2 if you have a Probe. Also understandably he is hard to run alongside goyf due to eating up your own grave - and its hard to run him as a 4 of due to his legendary status, but he is also immune to Abrupt Decay unlike goyf. Without Treasure Cruise around anymore the graveyards should be untouched for the most part (Outside DRS) and ready to delve whenever you want to routinely cast him for only 1 or 2 mana.

His activated ability doesn't really have an upfront impact on the game until it can get really drawn out into a resource scarce game, which he will then overwhelm the opponent in card advantage - but it's really just gravy.

What deck or archetype can this card be used in and why?

I believe he can be used instead of Goyf or with Goyf in non-aggro decks. He won't come down turn 2 all that often like Goyf so it would be foolish to use him as Aggro. Just looking at the 1st page of Established and Decks to beat I can see him in:

Jund (although there is disynergy with Dark Confidant - so I expect Tasigur to stay in decks with blue, which don't have to rely on non blue draw engines)
bUrg Tempo ( I know I said no aggro decks, but this seems like a fine turn 3 play regardless in the deck, especially since they are playing less than the full set of Goyf's already)
Nic-Fit
Shardless (only if the shardless player doesn't like pulling goyf with agent instead of removal or discard) (http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=79229)

How does this card fulfill the role of another card in an existing archetype more effectively than the card it would replace?

As was discussed this card has the same stats of goyf, but takes more set up - but comes with the following upsides: Can be cast for 1 mana, Immune to Abrupt Decay, and can help in the long game maybe. Also he is relatively immune to counterbalance - and he is good against opposing goyfs, due to making them smaller

Another upside is the cavern of souls may actually be reasonably used on him since he is a human (or shaman with deathrite shaman)


How has the metagame changed or what new cards exist now to make this card playable?

Treasure cruise is no longer cannibalizing your own graveyard, and other delve cards can now be supported.

Sample Decklist

Just as a thought experiment here is a deck that might use him


4 Cavern of Souls
14 Lands

4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Tasigur, the Golden Fang

4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Thoughtseize
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Hymn to Tourach
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Ponder

[Lemnear]

How is this one any better than Tombstalker? Because it's cheaper to cast?

[Cire]

Essentially yes - fully delved he is cheaper to cast, and also that 1 card for delve makes a big difference in getting him out turn 2 and even turn 3 reliably. Additionally he is a human and shaman which makes him ideal for cavern in terms of Delver or even Deathrite Shaman.

[Barook]

How is this one any better than Tombstalker? Because it's cheaper to cast?
He can do a pretty good Goyf impression. He's also more splashable.

How usable his ability to generate CA is for Legacy needs to be explored, though. Might be fancy with Brainstorm and DRS shenanigans.

[sjmcc13]

He has a decent P/T, but no evasion so he gets chumped allot.
It is probably easier to drop and grow a goyf.

His ability is interesting, but only really good with a infinite mana combo, as otherwise you get the worst card, and since you keep milling to use it you are not likely to clear up the chaff. That said I would like to try him with Mind over Matter, and some land that produces 5+ mana, but I doubt that can be made competitive.

[FoolofaTook]

He can't replace goyf because he's Legendary. Alongside goyf maybe but Legendary 4-ofs are iffy, especially if they're creatures you're counting on as beaters.

[TsumiBand]

Since the other ability is "just gravy" as stated, what makes it a better guy for the slot than, say, Hooting Mandrills? Will trample be more consistently relevant than an 'extra' ability and a point of toughness?

Removing Treasure Cruise from the cardpool puts a little more play in the wheel wherein Delve is concerned, so I think it's a good idea to look at a lot of the Delve offerings again. I do think that the Delve critters are worth strong consideration, since on the whole they are so closely related to creatures that are commonly run anyway that unless there's a major speed difference - Delver of Secrets vs. Sultai Scavenger for example is not at all a similar comparison - they may operate as a way to directly or indirectly address common removal and threats. Shrinking a Goyf with your own 4/4 or 4/5 is probably good; playing a cheap creature that doesn't care a damn about Abrupt Decay is probably also good.

[Cire]

Since the other ability is "just gravy" as stated, what makes it a better guy for the slot than, say, Hooting Mandrills? Will trample be more consistently relevant than an 'extra' ability and a point of toughness?

Removing Treasure Cruise from the cardpool puts a little more play in the wheel wherein Delve is concerned, so I think it's a good idea to look at a lot of the Delve offerings again. I do think that the Delve critters are worth strong consideration, since on the whole they are so closely related to creatures that are commonly run anyway that unless there's a major speed difference - Delver of Secrets vs. Sultai Scavenger for example is not at all a similar comparison - they may operate as a way to directly or indirectly address common removal and threats. Shrinking a Goyf with your own 4/4 or 4/5 is probably good; playing a cheap creature that doesn't care a damn about Abrupt Decay is probably also good.

The reason that I see him as better than Mandrills is only due to that extra toughness. The ability to shrink goyfs is a good one, but that ability is also just gravy. So the criteria that we need in a creature is one that can block goyf and survive. Mandrills one on one still loses to goyf while Tasigur is goyf's equal.

Delver of Secrets vs. Sultai Scavenger is not a similar comparison as Delver will be attacking, most likely a full turn earlier than the Scavenger, while Tasigur will probably be attacking at the same time as Goyf.

Although I do agree and reiterate - that people should ignore Tasigur's ability - it is only gravy. Treat it like a PW's ultimate. Nice to have, but often unused.

[Lordofthestringz]

He can't replace goyf because he's Legendary. Alongside goyf maybe but Legendary 4-ofs are iffy, especially if they're creatures you're counting on as beaters.

his biggest problem in legacy is Karakas, but he seems worth testing.

[Barook]

his biggest problem in legacy is Karakas, but he seems worth testing.
You're trading vulnerability to Karakas for immunity against Abrupt Decay.

[wcm8]

I ran 1 copy of Tasigur in my BUG Delver list that performed well in a local tournament this past weekend: I took 3rd place out of 34, and likely would have won if not for awful mana flood in my semi-finals match. He only showed up a few times, but was awesome in those instances.

Any Goyf deck that has access to black mana can realistically run 1-2 copies easily to increase threat density. Costing only one mana is huge against a Stifle/Daze/Wasteland environment, as is dodging Abrupt Decay (or Counterbalance, Pernicious Deed, Engineered Explosives, Spell Snare, etc.). It's easy to bring him down on turn 3, often with only needing to tap one land which gives you other options that turn.

I mentally took note of the times where I cast Tasigur and compared it to the alternative if I had Tombstalker instead -- in almost every instance save maybe one (against DNT that had Karakas and Serra Avengers), Tasigur was simply better. I think that he's a great card to have if you expect to run into a fair amount of RUG and BUG decks. He actually isn't too bad against White decks either as he maintains his P/T post-Rest in Peace and can also occasionally provide card advantage in the late game.

Beyond being Goyf #5-6 in BUG, I think the more interesting role Tasigur plays is providing non-green decks the option of playing a 'Pseudo-Goyf'. Grixis or even just straight UB Delver could use him, and other decks like Esper could run some copies alongside DRS and Stoneforge Mystic. He's arguably *better* here, since these decks otherwise don't care about their graveyard, and Tasigur's Delve could be strategically used to shrink opposing Tarmogoyfs or DRS targets.

I'm guessing there will probably be a handful more Delve creatures in the final set of the Khans block, but so far Tasigur is the most promising for Legacy.

edit: Just wanted to mention Gurmag Angler as an option for those who are concerned with Karakas, Legendary, and the extra 1 power. However I think Tasigur's lower casting cost and late-game ability make him the better option for most decks.

[Cire]

@wcm8: Thanks for actually trying him out! Knew other people probably had the same ideas about him. Do you feel he is better alongside Goyf or by himself in non Goyf decks. I feel that having him as gofy 5-6 might harm your own goyf's too much, and perhaps cloud your decks with essentially vanilla creatures?

[TsumiBand]

Yeah, excellent to hear of that kind of success with the deck.

It's kind of an easy-out but "it's a meta call" seems fair, right -- are you going to get Karakas'd out of keeping him in play? Might want to look at a more different Delve thing.

@wcm8 - I may have missed your saying so but did his ability ever matter for you?

[tescrin]

IMO he fits in the Dark Confidant slots rather than next to them. Junk and Jund run more lands due to consistency issues and often fall in the 6+ mana range or discarding loads of mana to Lily by the end of the game.

In the Junk thread I was mostly treating it as an upgrade since he's a beater and a good topdeck as opposed to a 2/1. With 5 mana you get a card and a 4/5. The card choice by your opponent is hardly relevant since:
-You just Delve'd
-You get a non-land card in legacy. It's CA that is *likely* high quality
-He'll be run next to DRS in almost any realistic scenario

I've been trying to get people excited about him for two weeks with few bites. For some reason people respond more to success in standard than actual legacy players trying to talk about it; but w/e.

The fact that he's splash-black instead of double and the 4/5 is very relevant for blocking Goyfs while being much easier to slot next to a TNN or similar. He's firmly midrange, but I honestly think he'll make a splash since he can start getting you cards right away while not interfering with counterspells and gumming up the board quite well.

[MGB]

This seems as if it could take the Tombstalker slot in those old Team America decks. In fact, I see this as Tarmogoyf 5-7 in any deck that already plays Tarmogoyf.

[Finn]

This looks like a very good card to me. I imagine the engine on it will be a fun mechanic. It forces interesting decisions with its own delve as well as stuff with Brainstorm and Top. I especially would like to see this with courser of kruphix.

[aCatNamedBootsy]

I'm guessing there will probably be a handful more Delve creatures in the final set of the Khans block, but so far Tasigur is the most promising for Legacy.


Dragons of Tarkir will have Dash and Bolster as the only returning mechanics. The other three factions will have new mechanics for them.

Could Tasigur and Hooting Mandrils possibly be something to help make Grisly Salvage a viable card? Perhaps enable a Vengevine strategy?

[Aggro_zombies]

Interestingly, even if your yard is empty, casting Grisly Salvage will let you cast Tasigur for one afterward. However, I think the test for whether you want Tasigur instead of (or in addition to) Tarmogoyf is whether you can activate his ability. Cards like Grim Lavamancer and/or DRS can let you curate your 'yard to ensure you only get back what you want.

Is it good? Probably not. It seems fun, though.

[Richard Cheese]

Think I'd generally rather have flying or trample. Unless you have something like Library or Top going, or the draw ability on this guy seems too inconsistent. Most of the time it's probably going to be land, but there's definitely the opportunity to occasionally screw yourself. Opponent has Bridge in play and you flop Decay and Goyf...guess what you're getting?

I guess it could also be alright if you're otherwise taking advantage of the GY...Snapcaster, Loam, Souls...something. Maybe he'd work in Zombardment? I just really want that to be a thing again.

[Aggro_zombies]

Tasigur specifies "nonland" in his return clause.

[Vacrix]

his biggest problem in legacy is Karakas, but he seems worth testing.
While an opposing Karakas could be to his detriment, our own Karakas could help to protect him as well. He's definitely powerful, but supposing he is an alternative to goyf also supposes that he'd be 'replacing' goyf in current archetypes. Of course, recasting him if you've bounced him with Karakas means you've already delved your yard.. but its still card advantage if you can manage to replay him again later.

Legendary though is a pretty big set back. Tombstalker also dodges decay, also delves, but he has evasion, he dodges Karakas, and the extra point of power can speed the clock up a full turn. He costs significantly more though, and is harder to compare to goyf, costing somewhere between 8 and 2 instead of 5 and 1.

The ability looks like it would be good in a shell that includes Top and Deathrite Shaman. DRS allows you to sculpt your yard a little better so the ability is more relevant and top lets you sculpt your library so you know when to mill yourself. I could see Dark Confidant fitting in there as well considering Top. If you play these cards though, its more difficult to justify board sweepers like Deed, Toxic Deluge, EE, etc. because you stand to lose Confidants and DRS to them. Top also suggests Counterbalance.. Tasigur, costing 5, is actually quite good for Counterbalance considering an opposing FoW or AdN.

Also, if you want to gain more control over his ability.. I'd say other spells and/or creatures with delve would be preferred. Soulflayer doesn't seem to be talked about too much. It costs between 6 and 2.. which is a little more comparable to Goyf than Tombstalker. He seems like he wants to be played with Entomb or something.. and is likely cooler than he is effective.

[tescrin]

Most of the time it's probably going to be land,
You will get a land precisely 0% of the time.


but there's definitely the opportunity to occasionally screw yourself. Opponent has Bridge in play and you flop Decay and Goyf...guess what you're getting?
This is the same argument Mill decks use. I will now start running Cathartic Adept.


Again, IMO, put him where you'd normally put dark confidant and you'll probably be able to make it work. I love my DCs, but they don't reliably draw cards either because they die *a lot.* this guy is weak to precisely one popular/common removal spell and a land ran in ~2 decks while being run next to a (probable) 4 Wasteland.

[Cire]

It's kind of an easy-out but "it's a meta call" seems fair, right -- are you going to get Karakas'd out of keeping him in play? Might want to look at a more different Delve thing.


Yeah pretty much - but I do think this card is still being undervalued.

Anyway here's a table I came up with. IMO you can run 2-4 delve creatures alongside DRS and Goyf without any problems. So instead of thinking if you will run them instead of Goyf, think whether you would run them alongside gofy.



Creature
Pros
Cons


Goyf

Without any effort he is a 4/5 for 1G
Sometimes He is more than a 4/5
Immune to Karakas
Playable with Dark Confidant



He is vulnerable to Abrupt Decay
He is vulnerable to Countertop
He is "shrinkable"




Tasigur

He can be cast for 1 mana
Delving 4 cards to cast him for 2 or 5 cards to cast him for 1 is easy by turn 2-3
His ability may give you late game advantage
Karakas may be used to save him
He is not vulnerable to Abrupt Decay or Countertop



Delving still requires work, and makes him vulnerable to gravehate
Vulnerable to Karakas




Tombstalker

He is 5/5 with flying.
He is not vulnerable to Abrupt Decay or Countertop



Delving 5 cards to cast him for 3 or 6 cards to cast him for 2 is hard to do by turn 2-3




Hooting Mandrils

Unlike Tasigur, this card has a form of evasion in trample



Missing an extra point of toughness means that if opposing goyf was not shrunk down then this card would lose one on one.

[Valtrix]

I'm definitely going to flip Terminus to counter Tasigur :P

In other news, I think Tasigur is quite good.

[TsumiBand]

A 'pro' for any of the Black options may well be "doesn't require Green mana".

That is to suggest that, like... UB can use Tasigur at least as well as BG. With the added benefit of having but two colors to borrow against when concerned with Wasteland and other unfun things.

I guess maybe "pro" or "con" is less accurate than "fac" but whatever.

Also with a Delve guy you will never be tempted to look at outside card types. Theoretically you never need to play anything beyond lands, creatures, and instants. That's pseudo-Goyf hate in and of itself; you don't have to play any card types that would inflate your opponent's Goyf artificially. Make 'em work for that 4/5 and up, nawmean?

[Richard Cheese]

You will get a land precisely 0% of the time.

Oops! RTFC, myself!



This is the same argument Mill decks use. I will now start running Cathartic Adept.

I'm not sure what mill decks or argument you're talking about. My point is that giving your opponent the choice of what card you get is going to bite you on the ass sometimes. It's the same reason Vexing Devil has never seen much play, you're just giving them the opportunity to choose whatever they can deal with most easily.

I just think if you run him, you either want ways to take advantage of your yard, and/or you want to be manipulating your draws so you can take advantage of the "bin 2" part regardless of what you get back. With Top or Library, dude becomes a reusable fetchland on a stick.

[tescrin]

What I mean is, you're taking the chance of milling the wrong card and not drawing it; which is exactly the same thing that someone spamming Hedron Crab is thinking. The chance of you drawing Decay as your first card for the turn was the same as the chance of you binning that card next to goyf; the consideration that you've somehow lost a resource you never had is a...

:cool: Mental Misstep :cool:

It's hard to describe because we see that card in the grave as a missed opportunity since *this time* we would've drawn it. However, we didn't lose anything *real* because this is where the actual instance of luck just happened to bite us.

EDIT: I agree that library manipulation makes him better since you can float the card you need for your draw.

[Cire]

I just think if you run him, you either want ways to take advantage of your yard, and/or you want to be manipulating your draws so you can take advantage of the "bin 2" part regardless of what you get back. With Top or Library, dude becomes a reusable fetchland on a stick.

I think that's the trap with him. His ability is like a PW's ultimate. Nice to have, but hardly important. What makes him good is the fact that he is a 1 mana goyf most of the times that is immune to many things goyf is subject to and can shrink opposing goyfs. Building a deck to abuse the ability is missing the point.

[iostream]

I think that's the trap with him. His ability is like a PW's ultimate. Nice to have, but hardly important. What makes him good is the fact that he is a 1 mana goyf most of the times that is immune to many things goyf is subject to and can shrink opposing goyfs. Building a deck to abuse the ability is missing the point.I agree. In fact, it makes me wonder if one should just play Gurmag Angler instead if you're in the market for an extra fat, non-evasive body. I'm not sure how important the extra mana is compared to Angler's immunity to Karakas.

[Tokugawa]

In the position of "Goyf No. 5-6", usually Gurmag Angler and Tasigur won't make significant differences...

But Gurmag Angler has an ultra-ugly art...so people may start their playtesting with Tasigur.

[keys]

I'm willing to bet that most decks that play this guy will also feature Abrupt Decay, which means Submerge will still be a beating, the same way it is against Tombstalker.

Jace, as well.

[wcm8]

I'm willing to bet that most decks that play this guy will also feature Abrupt Decay, which means Submerge will still be a beating, the same way it is against Tombstalker.

Jace, as well.

Yeah, but that's all kind of a moot point. Tombstalker generally gets sided out against StP/Jace/Karakas/Rest in Peace decks anyways, mostly he was there to beat on RUG and Jund by matching/outsizing Goyf as well as dodging Bolt and Decay. Tasigur is similar except that he will often only cost 1 mana and often come down earlier, and additionally has the upside of breaking stale-mate topdeck draw-go scenarios via his ability in the late game.

I think that Tasigur only costing 1 is *very* relevant against RUG since they have Stifle/Daze/Wasteland and can cut you off from reaching BB. Tombstalker's extra power and flying is certainly relevant, but I think overall Tasigur is better. And regarding Submerge -- just as with Tombstalker, ideally you would try to only fetch out Underground Seas and get your Green mana via DRS activations, thus avoiding the issue and stranding the card in their hand. Obviously this doesn't always work out, but a smart BUG pilot can often mitigate the risk of Submerge and at the very least avoid walking into a Shuffle-effect blow out.

For BUG Delver, we are talking about 1, maybe 2 max slots at most. Which creature is 'best' to run as an additional threat to go along with DRS/Delver/Goyf is pretty much a toss up and comes down to a case-by-case basis, which even changes depending on the particular gamestate. There is just as much situational value to running TNN, Clique, Snapcaster, etc. and it mostly comes down to which matchup you expect to confront most commonly and how the rest of your deck is constructed.

Also let's not always assume that he'd be only featured in BGx decks, as Tasigur could just as easily find his way into Esper and Grixis lists. I'm sure Esper Stoneblade wouldn't mind playing a couple copies of "tarmogoyf" if it didn't put much strain on its mana. I think it may take awhile for him to catch on as a format staple, but it wouldn't surprise me if he becomes just as commonly run as Format all-stars like V. Clique, Snapcaster Mage, Stoneforge Mystic, etc. Many of these creatures met similar initial skepticism until tournament performance proved their viability.

[TsumiBand]

I wouldn't want to prognosticate about Tasigur's ability to rise to the level of any given staple creature, but it is definitely worth pointing out that it need not be in a Green list. With everything that implies; one possibility being lists that were coerced into Forests because of Goyf can begin to look to other colors (or just fewer, and therefore make Wasteland less damaging). Another being re-evaluating whether to run Dark Confidant or some other draw in Black*. Maybe Confidant keeps some decks BG while others drop Bob for Tasigur and other tools, and very different Black/x decks emerge.

EDIT: The idea being that, hey it sucks to draw a 6 mana spell off of Dark Confidant, however it's worth the 4/5ness to run it, so now I gotta pick one or keep losing to myself on the draw

[tescrin]

But that's what I'm saying, you can slide him in where DC sits and he'll probably (over the course of the game) draw as many cards as however many DCs you'd lay down, because DC dies fast and doesn't kill people. I would not be surprised if Junk/Jund eventually adopt this guy (or the much more rare prospect that Esper/BUG/BUR would.) We'll find out as people try him out. I'll probably use him as Goyf 5-7 and just have lots of fat. It's notable that it make Deluge in the main more attractive too.

[nedleeds]

You're trading vulnerability to Karakas for immunity against Abrupt Decay.

Hooting Mandrills. I agree about Karakas being the downer. If it weren't for the magic land of Unsummoning many other legends would be more viable. Thalia skirts this because she's cheap and pretty absurd. Griselderp and Emraderp are obviously retarded and rarely get actually cast. Other interesting in between legends like Doran languish under the oppression of Karakas (or Tarmogoyf being the great obsoletor)

[Richard Cheese]

But that's what I'm saying, you can slide him in where DC sits and he'll probably (over the course of the game) draw as many cards as however many DCs you'd lay down, because DC dies fast and doesn't kill people. I would not be surprised if Junk/Jund eventually adopt this guy (or the much more rare prospect that Esper/BUG/BUR would.) We'll find out as people try him out. I'll probably use him as Goyf 5-7 and just have lots of fat. It's notable that it make Deluge in the main more attractive too.

Not trying to hate on Tasigur, but you should check out Siege Rhino if you're just looking for more boots on the ground. Granted there's a huge difference in cost, but the immediate impact, Trample, and GSZ-comparability has made him an all star for me so far.

[Zupponn]

Something of note is that if you are facing a Goyf and you have land and creature in your graveyard and you activate Tasigur's ability and flip instant and sorcery, you just grew the opponent's Goyf.

Also, if TNN becomes more popular, both the Mandrills and Tombstalker might be better.

[Sandro95]

Check out my article on Tasigur in Grixis Delver!

http://legitmtg.com/competitive/brewing-with-fate-reforged-tasigur-the-golden-fang/

[Tylert]

Any good result with tasigur this weekend? did not see him on camera in the SCG open.

[wcm8]

Any good result with tasigur this weekend? did not see him on camera in the SCG open.

http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=15913

15th and 22nd place played 2 copies in BUG Delver, which I feel is the correct number for that deck.

[Rizso]

I ran 1 copy of Tasigur in my BUG Delver list that performed well in a local tournament this past weekend: I took 3rd place out of 34, and likely would have won if not for awful mana flood in my semi-finals match. He only showed up a few times, but was awesome in those instances.

Any Goyf deck that has access to black mana can realistically run 1-2 copies easily to increase threat density. Costing only one mana is huge against a Stifle/Daze/Wasteland environment, as is dodging Abrupt Decay (or Counterbalance, Pernicious Deed, Engineered Explosives, Spell Snare, etc.). It's easy to bring him down on turn 3, often with only needing to tap one land which gives you other options that turn.

I mentally took note of the times where I cast Tasigur and compared it to the alternative if I had Tombstalker instead -- in almost every instance save maybe one (against DNT that had Karakas and Serra Avengers), Tasigur was simply better. I think that he's a great card to have if you expect to run into a fair amount of RUG and BUG decks. He actually isn't too bad against White decks either as he maintains his P/T post-Rest in Peace and can also occasionally provide card advantage in the late game.

Beyond being Goyf #5-6 in BUG, I think the more interesting role Tasigur plays is providing non-green decks the option of playing a 'Pseudo-Goyf'. Grixis or even just straight UB Delver could use him, and other decks like Esper could run some copies alongside DRS and Stoneforge Mystic. He's arguably *better* here, since these decks otherwise don't care about their graveyard, and Tasigur's Delve could be strategically used to shrink opposing Tarmogoyfs or DRS targets.

I'm guessing there will probably be a handful more Delve creatures in the final set of the Khans block, but so far Tasigur is the most promising for Legacy.

edit: Just wanted to mention Gurmag Angler as an option for those who are concerned with Karakas, Legendary, and the extra 1 power. However I think Tasigur's lower casting cost and late-game ability make him the better option for most decks.

Thought geting him out when mana flooded is kind of a dream come true, just activate his active a couple of times can bring you back into the game. He has shown up big in modern this weekend.

[Tokugawa]

He is already a staple in Modern:confused:

[Echelon]

I just love how in every thread about decks that run black you keep seeing people say "Well... Mayhaps 1 or 2 Tasigurs would be nice for this deck", I truly do. Especially since noone responds to that suggestion with a resounding "No!".

[Nuke is Good]

As a Jund player I don't like Tasigur that much. I tried running him and he would backfire with Dark Confidant even as a 1-of. Competing against Bob for a maindeck slot is a losing battle for a post U/R Delver world, if U/R Delver was still a thing I'd cut a Bob or two for sure. His CMC is really nice though for a heavy BGx meta. I'll stick with my BBE and Goblin Rabblemaster for now.

[Darkenslight]

I just love how in every thread about decks that run black you keep seeing people say "Well... Mayhaps 1 or 2 Tasigurs would be nice for this deck", I truly do. Especially since noone responds to that suggestion with a resounding "No!".

Well, he's far better in a deck that can manipulate the graveyard extensively. You can easily play a UB control list in Legacy with him as one of your beatsticks, and he does insane things in the BUG lists. There's something faintly obscene about stacking your graveyard with a Tasigur and then casting near-endless Shardless Agents, for example.


As a Jund player I don't like Tasigur that much. I tried running him and he would backfire with Dark Confidant even as a 1-of. Competing against Bob for a maindeck slot is a losing battle for a post U/R Delver world, if U/R Delver was still a thing I'd cut a Bob or two for sure. His CMC is really nice though for a heavy BGx meta. I'll stick with my BBE and Goblin Rabblemaster for now.

That's eminently sensible. He's much better in decks that can easily utilise his ability, such as the aforementioned BUG lists.

[Echelon]

Yeah.. People play Tasigur because he's 4/5 for like B or 1B... It's nice that he has an extra ability, but one hardly cares for that. 4 mana is way too much to consider it relevant.

Sure, it's wonderful when you get to use it but that's just icing on the cake.

[Poron]

it's both a fast 4/5 for max 2 mana who lets you win the game with his card advantage engine.
1 more nonland card per turn.

it's just huge also in Legacy. The point is that it a creature with all its problems.

it reunites both DC and Goyf in a card.