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The First Mate is the second in command on any ship… but in Tannuk’s case, that makes him the lowest-ranking member of Sami’s crew.Magic: The Gathering’s first legendary Kavu doesn’t need to sit back and support his captain, though; he’s got an incredibly aggressive ability that will keep your opponents guessing.
Tannuk, Steadfast Second can warp in any artifact or red creature that you want, at a fraction of their normal cost, enabling you to overwhelm your opponents with the biggest, baddest crew in the galaxy. Strap in, the guide starts in three… two… one… Now!
Overlord of the Boilerbilges
Terror of the Peaks
Sundial of the Infinite
This deck falls firmly intoBracket 3: Upgraded.
The Commander
Tannuk, Steadfast Second isthe first legendary Kavu introduced in Magic: The Gathering. A proud Kav warrior, this 3/5 Kavu Pilot gives all of your other red creatures haste, but doesn’t get the benefit of that ability himself.
Tannuk would be pretty forgettable if he didn’t have a second ability: hegives every red creature and every artifact in your hand warp, and sets the warp cost at two generic and one red mana.
Warp is an alternate casting cost with a downside:a warped permanent goes into exile at the beginning of your next end step. But you can cast those cards from exile later, with no downside except the requirement to hard-cast them.
Since warp is an alternate casting cost,warping a spell counts as casting it. That means your spells can still be countered, but it also means thatcost-reducing effects like Ruby Medallion can be used to reduce the cost.
While Tannuk isn’t going to win you any games through commander damage, he’s able to deliver massive bombshells early and consistently, allowing you tooverwhelm your opponents with the kind of super stompers that you only see in dedicated mono-green decks.
How To Build The Deck
Giving all of your artifacts and red creatures warp for such a low cost, and giving all of your creatures haste, means thatyou can pack your deck with all the big bombs you want, and barely need to worry about mana.
Expensive creatures, in the six-to-nine mana range, make up the majority of your strategy. Once Tannuk, Steadfast Second is in play,you can pay three mana to warp in something huge,attack or use its ability, then exile it to play again at the full cost later.
There are a few tricks you may use to keep your creatures in play. For example, if you put the exile effect on the stack at the end of your turn, and then activate Sundial of the Infinite, you won’t need to exile the creature at all!
The exile effect only triggers once, so skipping the end step while it’s on the stack means that it won’t trigger again during the next end step. Make sure youactivate Sundial of the Infinite with the exile trigger on the stack. Otherwise, you’ll exile it on your opponent’s end step.
Conjurer’s Closet provides a similar benefit.If your warped creature leaves play and then enters again, it’s counted as a different creaturethan the one that was warped in. Then you don’t need to exile it again!
Another effect of warp counting as casting spells is thatyou can proc cascade off of warped spells. Cascade only cares about the card’s mana value, so you can conceivably pay three mana for a Maelstrom Colossus and get an Ancient Copper Dragon off the Cascade.
Wild-Magic Sorcereris another great addition, since itgives cards cast from exile cascade. Late in the game, you should be able to cast your expensive creatures for their mana value from exile, making Wild-Magic Sorcerer one of the best late-game cards for this deck.
Ramp
Aside from basic mana rocks, most of themana acceleration in this deck comes from either rituals or from expensive creaturesyou can cheat in with Tannuk for extra value.
Neheb, the Eternal passively generates mana at the beginning of your second main phasebased on the amount of life your opponents have lost in that turn. If you warp it in before a big attack, you can generate enough mana to cast one of your big creatures from exile.
Meanwhile,Cavern-Hoard Dragon and Ancient Copper Dragonalso require you to land an attack, but if one opponent has no flying creatures, theycan make a ton of Treasure. Ancient Copper Dragon averages 10–11 Treasures after damaging an opponent, while Cavern-Hoard Dragon makes up to six Treasures.
In terms of rituals,Mana Geyser and Jeska’s Willare both outstanding ones thatcan generate a lot of mana. Usually, Mana Geyser will produce more mana, based on having three opponents to tap lands, but sometimes you’ll have an opponent with 20 cards to make a massive Jeska’s Will.
The deck list also includes a few ways to reduce the cost of spells, butCharred Foyer // Warped Spacegets special attention. Warped Space is expensive at six mana, but itallows you to cast a spell from exile for free, including previously Warped spells. Cast it for six mana, then immediately bring in your Blightsteel Colossus for free.
Draw
Tannuk’s warp ability has a notable side effect:it effectively hides cards in exile while allowing you to play them lateras if they were in your hand. This makes “wheel” effects particularly powerful in this deck.
“Wheel” effects are effects that force each player to discard their handand draw new cards, like Dragon Mage’s ability when it deals combat damage to a player. Forcing your opponents to discard is often good, but it’s even better when you onlydiscard one or two cards, get seven new ones, and still have four or five in exile from warp to cast later.
While Dragon Mage needs to land a hit,Clive, Ifrit’s Dominant has a similar effect every time it comes into play. Once it’s in play, you can either allow it to go into exile to cast and draw cards again, or you can flip it to Ifrit, Warden of Inferno. Flipping it makes it a new creature, so you won’t have to exile it afterward!
Sandstone Oracleis a little different, since it doesn’t require you to discard your hand. It alsohas no set number of cards to draw, instead allowing you to play catch-upwith an opponent. If you think someone is getting ready to draw a lot of cards, hold on to this one and capitalize on their play.
Coveted Jeweldoesn’t see much play, since it makes you a target, but it’s free cards here: Use Tannuk, Steadfast Second towarp it into play for three mana, draw three cards from its effect, and tap it for three manato replace what you paid!
Deck Tech
A deck that relies on your commander is easily countered by removing the commander. Sneak Attack serves as a backup, allowing you toplay those huge bombs for one mana at instant speed. You’ll need to sacrifice them at the end of the turn, but all the ways to keep warped creatures in play can help you get around that requirement.
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar serves a similar function and could be a backup commander if it weren’t forthe higher mana cost. Ilharg allows you to put a creature into play tapped and attacking from your hand when it attacks, but that creature returns to your hand afterward. If you warp it in, you’ll geta two-for-one deal for three mana!
There are also a couple of board control options, like Extinguisher Battleship and Myojin of Roaring Blades.Extinguisher Battleshipis mediocre at eight mana, but with Tannuk’s Warp, itdestroys a permanent and deals four damage to each creaturefor a tiny investment of three mana. TheMyojin is indestructible, so you can attack for seven damage safely, thentrade its invulnerability to blast three creatures for seven damage.
