Hello and welcome to Daily Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Taigam, Ojutai Master!

Taigam is a four mana 3/4 with instant, sorcery, and Dragon spells you control can’t be countered by spells or abilities and whenever you cast an instant of sorcery, if Taigam attacked then that spell gains rebound.

Taigam is an interesting card in the fact that he wants to facilitate a spellslinger strategy, which is uncommon in just blue and white, but it is something that we can definitely work with.

The plan is to stack on ways to make sure that Taigam can survive with a number of uncounterable spells while also gaining advantage from casting a bunch of spells.

The first thing that we need to look at are the spells that we are going to be using as a way to tide us into a winning position, ideally modal spells.

Cryptic Command is an example of this because it is a modal spell that we can cast at any point to gain value on our turn after Taigam attacks, but also has the flexibility to use on our opponents turn. Counter spells are in an awkward spot because we can’t really make use of rebound with a counter spell.

Being modal really helps, which is why something like Mystic Confluence is good because it can be a counter spell, a bounce spell, and a draw spell, especially since it is a confluence spell which allows us to choose three modes, and any mode more than once.

It is also great if we can make even more use of modal spells like Crush Contraband multiple times to exile artifacts and enchantments, depending on what is played in the interim.

Archmage’s Charm is also worth considering, either for the defensive casting for having a counter spell, drawing a bunch of cards, or the chance of potentially grabbing some utility nonland permanents one mana value 1 or less.

What we need to do next is consider ways to make sure that Taigam is safe so we can actually get the value from us casting our spells.

While our instants, sorceries, and Dragon spells can’t be countered, we should have some alternate ways to help Taigam stay safe, and Whispersilk Cloak is a way to make this easier. Lightning Greaves is the better alternative, but Whispersilk Cloak has the upside in getting Taigam to get damage through.

Mother of Runes is a classic way to give Taigam protection from a color until the end of the turn, and similarly Giver of Runes can give Taigam protection from any color and colorless until end of turn, which may be a relevant difference depending on your local meta.

We can also delay our opponents by using Aven Mindcensor to limit what answers they have access to by limiting any tutor effects they have to searching only the top four cards of their library.

Lavinia, Azorius Renegade is another card that is sneaky good depending on what your opponents are playing because it prevents your opponents from casting free or zero mana spells, some of which can potentially be problematic in getting Taigam in play like a Force of Will.

The last thing we need to do is find ways to get value from all of the instants and sorceries that we are going to be casting.

Sentinel Tower is a card I had no idea existed, but it can deal damage to any target equal to 1 plus the number of instants and sorceries cast before that spell this turn, which means after we attack with Taigam we can cast something like High Tide to get value from our Islands, cast a bunch of cantrips to deal a bunch of damage then when we get back to our turn we can do it all again.

If you have access to Aetherflux Reservoir then you can do something similar, albeit in a bulk chunk of damage. If you want to get a ton of bodies on the battlefield then you can consider Geralf, the Fleshwright which makes more Zombies while also making bigger and bigger Zombies the more spells you cast each turn.

Then there is obviously Storm spells like Brain Freeze to potentially mill an opponent out, Astral Steel to buff a creature, Amphibian Downpour to shut down any problematic creatures, and Murmuration to get a ton of fliers in play each turn.

Taigam is an engine Commander in which that he helps fuel you into a victory because of him making your spells uninterruptable, but the risk comes from him not having inherent protection and needing to attack in order for your spells to get rebound.

If you manage to get the right set of circumstances though, you have a chance to have a massive turn to win the game or get so far ahead in resources that your opponents need to spend a lot of resources to deal with it.

Thank you for reading, see you tomorrow for the next Daily Commander!

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual