Commander Legends preview season just finished earlier this week, and I’ve seen plenty of new cards that I want to tinker around with. A number of these cards happen to fall under archetypes that I’ve already covered on The Oathbreaker Thoughtcast, which has led me to try experimenting with a new article series on this blog. As the name already implies, “Flashback” is a series dedicated to taking a second look at decklists I’ve previously written about and updating them with cards that have been printed since.
There are plenty of decklists that I could have chosen to kick off this series with, but I’ve ultimately settled on updating my old Bant Flyers list from one of my first “New Perspectives” articles (linked here). I wrote this article nearly a year ago, so there are certainly plenty of new toys for this type of deck; including a couple of new flying friends from Commander Legends!
The Old Version
Decklist: Tamiyo’s Flyers
Blue/White is a very common color combination for a deck built around flyers, but Bant colors is a bit more of an unusual choice. The main reason I originally chose to go with Bant was the Oathbreaker, Tamiyo, Field Researcher. On top of being a generically strong planeswalker, Tamiyo’s +1 ability pairs especially well with creatures that can easily get in for combat damage. The other reason I decided to throw in the green splash was for a bit of added mana acceleration, along with a few other fun toys. The Signature Spell for this list, Rally of Wings, is a much more traditional choice for this archetype. In addition to being a mana-efficient mass pump effect, Rally of Wings essentially gives our entire board pseudo-vigilance (another perk that pairs well with Tamiyo’s +1 ability). There are few stronger things a creature-based Oathbreaker deck can do than play offense and defense at the same time.
I’m not going to go over the specifics of the old list as much as I did in the original article, but here are the important cards that I’m keeping in the new version of the deck.
- The Flyers Support: Blue/White flyers is an archetype that has popped up in many different draft environments over the years, so there are certainly plenty of supporting cards for this archetype. Empyrean Eagle and Favorable Winds will both boost our whole board, and Thunderclap Wyvern will do same on the front half of our flyers. If that isn’t enough, we can also use Serra the Benevolent to buff our threats whenever she isn’t making 4/4s to pressure our opponents. Conversely, Pride of the Clouds will get bigger on its own as we deploy more flyers, and it even counts our opponents’ flyers as well! Sephara, Sky’s Blade won’t give our board a power buff, but she will make our other flyers much more difficult to remove.
- Mana Ramp & Staples: One upside of splashing for green is that we get access to a handful of flying mana dorks. Birds of Paradise and Gilded Goose can both hit the board as early as turn one, and Maraleaf Pixie can come into play on turn two to help ramp out our Oathbreaker by turn three. This list is also running its share of format staples. Heart of Kiran is a strong card under normal circumstances, but it gets even more of a power boost (quite literally) in this kind of deck. Sword of Sinew and Steel is another staple card that functions pretty well as spot removal in this list, given our high quantity of evasive attackers. Although I wouldn’t call it an all-around Oathbreaker staple, Always Watching is an anthem-effect that I always enjoy running in decks that mainly utilize nontoken creatures.
- Other Fun Toys: Brazen Borrower isn’t a permanent form of spot removal, but it will set one of our opponents off balance for a bit and provide us a 3/1 flashy flyer to boot. Alternatively, we can stop one of our opponents from resolving a spell entirely with the help of a well-timed Spell Queller. Magus of the Moat will make attacking us a virtual impossibility for our opponents, and it won’t hinder us in the least. We can further take advantage of our evasive threats with the triggered ability on Derevi, Empyrial Tactician. Even still, my favorite bit of spice in this deck is definitely Bower Passage, an enchantment that will be sure to catch our opponents off guard and potentially end the game.
The Updated Version
Decklist: Tamiyo’s Flyers v2
After much deliberation, I winded up swapping out a total of 10 cards from the old list. Most of these changes were to the nonlands portion of the deck, though those changes in turn demanded a few small tweaks to the manabase as well. I made the first version of this deck in between the releases of Throne of Eldraine and Theros Beyond Death, and there have been many new toys printed for flyer strategies in the year since. Even still, I couldn’t help myself from trying out a few “generically” strong cards that are particularly effective in creature-based lists.
Let’s take a look at the specific cuts and additions I made to the deck, as well as other cards I considered trying out.
- The Additions: Skycat Sovereign and Watcher of the Spheres are two excellent new two-drops for this style of strategy, especially since we were already running cards like Pride of the Clouds and Warden of Evos Isle. It’s also important for us to be able to protect our various flying friends, which makes Jubilant Skybonder another fine new pick. Along similar lines, we can now run Linvala, Shield of Sea Gate as our “second copy” of Selfless Spirit for an extra layer of protection. Commander Legends has also brought some new toys for this deck in the form of Kangee’s Lieutenant and Kangee, Sky Warden, both of which will make our big birds even bigger! As far as generically strong upgrades, I decided to add in Sawtusk Demolisher as an additional way to interact with opposing Oathbreakers outside of combat (as well as another substantial power buff). I also noticed this deck didn’t previously run much in the way of lifegain, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try Shadowspear out here. Lastly, I added in Nimbus Maze and Rejuvenating Springs to help smooth out the deck’s mana.
- The Cuts: Since most of the additions ended up being newly-printed flyers tech, most of the cuts to the deck ended up being older flyers that weren’t quite as on-theme. One-drop creatures like Siren Stormtamer and Spectral Sailor both have their uses, but neither felt quite as impactful as some of the newer two-drops. I also ended up cutting Faerie Vandal for similar reasons, despite its synergy with Tamiyo’s +1 ability. While I’m a fan of how Hanged Executioner makes multiple flyers, that effect still wasn’t as appealing to me as some of the new flyer support. Part of me wanted to keep in Archon of Absolution for its defensive value, but our Signature Spell should usually be enough to deter opposing attackers anyways. An easier swap that I made was taking out Heroic Intervention for the new Linvala, since the latter card offers a similar effect that’s stapled to a flying body. I also decided that Sawtusk Demolisher was a bit of an upgrade over Roalesk, Apex Hybrid as a means of buffing up a threat. One of the last cuts I made to the list was Smothering Tithe, despite its inherent strength in multiplayer formats. Lastly, the two lands I swapped out were Gavony Township and Hinterland Harbor, both of which just felt needlessly clunky.
- Other Considerations: There were a few other generically powerful flyers that ultimately didn’t quite make the cut. Dream Trawler is a giant, life-gaining threat that’s both difficult to remove and easy to buff; however, six mana is just a tad higher than I was looking to go with this particular deck. Thieving Skydiver was a spicier option that plays well against cards like Heart of Kiran and Umezawa’s Jitte. Even still, I decided to instead stick with the repeatable consistency offered by Trygon Predator. It also would have been easy to jam in some of the “free spells” cycle from the Ikoria Commander precons (Fierce Guardianship, Flawless Maneuver, and Obscuring Haze more specifically), but I didn’t especially feel the need to find room for them. My decision was also influenced by the fact that while Tamiyo is a powerful part of the list, the deck itself isn’t actually built around Tamiyo specifically. I was also tempted to try out Felidar Retreat, but I ended up choosing to stick with the consistency of Always Watching since this deck primarily relies on nontoken creatures. Finally, there was actually one piece of old tech that I considered trying out, that card being Rancor. It came down to choosing between Rancor and Shadowspear, and I just couldn’t ignore the strength of incidental lifegain.
The Sky’s the Limit
I actually did not originally plan to kick of a brand new article series this week, but my excitement from seeing Commander Legends previews won out and made me want to tinker with new tech. It felt pretty good to take a look at an old list with fresh eyes and new options, and I’ll almost certainly experiment this way with “Flashback” again. There are a handful of other decklists that I would love to update in the near future, and I’m sure that list of options will only grow further given time.
What do y’all think of this style of article? Is it the sort of content y’all would like to see more of? Was there anything missing from this first installment that you’d like to see show up in future articles? Make sure to share your thoughts and feedback with me in the comments or on Twitter!
Next week will kick of Commander Legends Top 10 season for me, so I’ll be aiming to put out one article a day starting on Monday.
About the author: My name is Alex Enders. I am a college student that’s been playing MTG for almost eight years, though I only recently began experimenting with writing content. My personal formats of choice are Oathbreaker, EDH, and draft. My other interests include music, education, and most things nerdy. You can find me on Twitter (@AAAEnders) or email me at aenders2112@gmail.com