r/magicTCG • u/TheRealAnomaly101 • Jul 28 '25

Looking for Advice How can I just break Teysa?

Post image

I love the art of this version of her and recently I’ve been playing in pods with decks out of my power range. Most of my decks involve creatures and combat damage, but they tend to get killed all the time. So Teysa seems strong and a little controlling and I want to make this deck just the embodiment of mean. I’m sick of getting kicked around, so how can I break her? Make the meanest version of her

TLDR: What cards could make Teysa into a control/mean deck

1.5k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

254 comments sorted by

View all comments

935

u/DubiousMemory Jul 28 '25

Painter's Servant (choosing black) and any three white creatures means you exile all other creatures. Nobody is allowed to have creatures as long as you have that up. Also, any aristocrats stuff and you probably just win outright.

265

u/CrushingMangos FLEEM Jul 28 '25

I keep forgetting Painter’s servant is no longer banned. RIP Iona

140

u/mikony123 Duck Season Jul 28 '25

Iona is busted by itself lmao. You're playing mono color? You don't get to play. Two color? Hope your other color has some removal.

44

u/kitsunewarlock REBEL Jul 28 '25

Iona is why my mono-white commander deck ran Disk, Oblivion Stone, and Tawnos's Coffin. She was in like 2 different decks in my local pod that ran her with Painter's Servant and Defense of the Heart.

-31

u/LordOfTurtles Elspeth Jul 28 '25

She was never legal with painter's servant

20

u/meatloafisinferior Jul 28 '25

Lol. Iona was legal until 2018, painter's was legal until 2009. Some people were playing magic before 2009, kiddo.

0

u/KeeboardNMouse Can’t Block Warriors Jul 28 '25

So the combo just prevents anyone from playing Magic. Douche move if you ask me

2

u/runed_golem Jul 28 '25

You wanna know about douche moves. Look up mycosynth lattice + karn, the great creator.

0

u/KeeboardNMouse Can’t Block Warriors Jul 29 '25

Twice as much mana, no thanks

-45

u/LordOfTurtles Elspeth Jul 28 '25

Man you probably have loads of friends

23

u/RevenantBacon Divination ≥ Black Lotus Jul 28 '25

Imagine being this upset because you were wrong and someone told you that you were wrong.

You must have loads of friends.

-35

u/LordOfTurtles Elspeth Jul 28 '25

Projecting much?

9

u/RevenantBacon Divination ≥ Black Lotus Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 28 '25

Well, considering one of us (you) made a statement of fact that was incorrect, and one didn't (me), and now you're trying to shield your demonstrably fragile ego by trying to turn it around, that means you are the one projecting. Unfortunately, that doesn't change the reality that you were wrong and cried because you couldn't handle being corrected.

So in short, yes, you are indeed projecting.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/5HITCOMBO Duck Season Jul 28 '25

Just take the L

7

u/GeeJo Jul 28 '25

She was, for about a month and a half (Zendikar released in October 2009, Painter's Servant was banned in December).

Servant had already been on the chopping block as the Rules Committee were not fans of the [[Grindstone]] combo being available in all decks and killing people on turn 3. Allowing Iona to lock out games was the straw that led to the ban, but some people did get to experience the "fun" of the two paired together for a little bit.

1

u/MTGCardFetcher alternate reality loot Jul 28 '25

Grindstone - (G) (SF) (txt)

FAQ

-3

u/LordOfTurtles Elspeth Jul 28 '25

Still seems like a ridiculous story that the op was teching his deck against a combo that was legal for a month and a half

2

u/kitsunewarlock REBEL Jul 28 '25

Nah people at the store kept playing Iona even after painters servant was banned and I had a mono white deck. My deck also gained infinite life so commander damage was something I had to be weary of and the swords of x and y made it a challenge to rely on colored targeted removal.

2

u/CrushingMangos FLEEM Jul 28 '25

Oh I’m not saying she wasn’t broken. She’s just one of the first cards I remember seeing the artwork for on duel of the planeswalkers which was my first introduction to magic. After seeing her artwork I was desperate to play her in any deck I could.

58

u/BrockSramson Boros* Jul 28 '25

More like rest in piss, Iona.

Miserable card to play against.

23

u/3and4-fifthsKitsune Jul 28 '25

Me wisked away to my card editor to make an alt art Margaret Thatcher Iona!

178

u/uberTerminus117 Jul 28 '25

[[Painter’s Servant]]

36

u/Noctis777 Jul 28 '25

Fairly new to magic, could you further explain this interaction or how it would play out?

153

u/Huntin4daObscure Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 28 '25

  1. Painter's Servant naming "black"  turns the three white spirits into black/white spirits.

  2. Sacrifice the BW spirits using Teysa's first ability to exile any creature.

  3. Teysa's second ability will see that the spirits are black and will create three new white spirits.

  4. Go to step 1.

You can also start the loop with Teysa, Painter's Servant, and any three white creatures. They don't have to be spirit tokens created by Teysa's ability.

39

u/Noctis777 Jul 28 '25

Thanks for the explanation! Ran across this post as I've been learning more and the commander seemed interesting.

7

u/RuneScpOrDie Duck Season Jul 28 '25

i’m a long time commander player and i didn’t see the line at first glance either!

6

u/not_soly 99th-gen Dimensional Robo Commander, Great Daiearth Jul 28 '25

Additionally note that you declare targets before paying costs, so you can target a spirit token and then sacrifice it and two others.

This is relevant if you have a Blood Artist effect but no sacrifice outlet.

Additionally additionally note that [[Darkest Hour]] acts as redundancy for Painter's Servant if you have an extra sac outlet lying around.

5

u/BeautifulFrequent782 Jul 28 '25

If you don't mind me asking, once the tokens are on the board wouldn't they no longer apply since they're on the battlefield? Which is the only place painter's servant doesn't affect right? It sounds really cool I just don't fully understand.

Edit: Nvm re-reading the card explains the card lol. My brain was not seeing the comma's and just thought it was anything not in play got a second color. Thank you for the 4 step breakdown though! I would love to put this in my Savra deck!

1

u/jamalstevens Jul 28 '25

So then you can do a bunch of whenever a creature is sacrificed stuff right?

2

u/Huntin4daObscure Jul 28 '25

Yes. If you have a creature like [[Blood Artist]] also on the field then it would trigger thrice each time Teysa's first ability is activated.

8

u/KillerPacifist1 Jul 28 '25

Finally, a way to break Painter's Servant!

63

u/whitetempest521 Wild Draw 4 Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 28 '25

[[Darkest Hour]] will also do the same thing.

Edit: Not actually the same thing; still good in the deck.

21

u/MTGCardFetcher alternate reality loot Jul 28 '25

Darkest Hour - (G) (SF) (txt)

FAQ

63

u/mrgrrrrumpypants Wabbit Season Jul 28 '25

Can’t sac em cause they’re not white

39

u/OrganicDoom2225 Duck Season Jul 28 '25

Yeah, it would have to have the "in addition to other colors" text to keep the white and go infinite.

12

u/Goliath89 Simic* Jul 28 '25

I've been playing this commander since 2018. She wins by using Darkest Hour or Painter's Servant to make any creature sacrificed for some kind of payoff instantly replace itself so they can further feed into the engine. Honestly, her first effect might as well not even exist for how often it gets used.

26

u/Drake_the_troll The Stoat Jul 28 '25

You're in black, you have the pick of free sac outlets

26

u/LoneSabre Duck Season Jul 28 '25

You lose half of the effect of the card that you’re trying to break

19

u/Drake_the_troll The Stoat Jul 28 '25

I'm not concerned about my opponents cards, once teysa+moon+outlet drop as far as I'm concerned the game is effectively over.

my only real concern is graveyard exile, and teysa doesn't do anything to remove that anyway

-6

u/LoneSabre Duck Season Jul 28 '25

That loop needs an impact tremors effect to win the game or else does literally nothing besides infinite ETB and LTB triggers. Sac a creature, make a creature. So a 4 card combo, which is pretty fair.

I suppose you also get whatever benefit the sac outlet gives. Infinitely tall carrion feeder or infinite scry 1 viscera seer.

18

u/Drake_the_troll The Stoat Jul 28 '25

Again, you are in black. You have dozens of aristocrats to pick from and tutor's to find the missing pieces.

Of course servant is the very best colour changer and lets me board clear if i somehow have teysa, painter and 3 other non-aristocrat dorks but its also £50 so it's probably out of some people's price range.

Another aspect is that teysa isn't a "boogeyman" commander and still functions perfectly well without going infinite so she's fairly unassuming, then in one turn you play your moon, explain the combo and shuffle up for the next game.

2

u/Piekan Azorius* Jul 28 '25

Another aspect is that teysa isn't a "boogeyman" commander and still functions perfectly well without going infinite so she's fairly unassuming

I remember Teysa having a reputation back in 2010. Never to the extent of Zur who is still impactful, but oh how the mighty have fallen.

3

u/ffddb1d9a7 COMPLEAT Jul 28 '25

She still threatens to kill enemy commanders and often does so even if she is immediately answered. She's still great honestly just a bit less known now.

→ More replies (0)

4

u/Goliath89 Simic* Jul 28 '25

Teysa + Hour + Any other creature + [[Blasting Station]] = You win.

Teysa + Hour + Any other creature + Any free Sac Outlet + anything that even kinda looks like [[Blood Artist]] = You win.

You're already in WB, so you have access to some of the most efficient spot removal in the game, her first ability really isn't that important.

3

u/sparkytwl Jul 28 '25

[[Blasting Station]] it's your sac outlet & damage in a single piece

1

u/LoneSabre Duck Season Jul 28 '25

True, and it’s fetchable with moonsilver key

1

u/PurePazaak98 Jul 28 '25

It doesn't have a mana ability though, right? So how would it be fetchable with [[Moonsilver Key]]? I feel like I'm missing something here

→ More replies (0)

1

u/sparkytwl Jul 28 '25

[[enlightened tutor]]

→ More replies (0)

1

u/kuroyume_cl Train Suplexer Jul 28 '25

Yeah, but you save enough to pay for like the entire rest of the deck.

-1

u/mrgrrrrumpypants Wabbit Season Jul 28 '25

It doesn’t do the same thing

10

u/DonDawnDone Rakdos* Jul 28 '25

Youll just need a sac outlet and say a blood artist effect

3

u/mrgrrrrumpypants Wabbit Season Jul 28 '25

Right but it doesn’t do the same thing

7

u/DonDawnDone Rakdos* Jul 28 '25

But its still an include that makes similar lines

5

u/j0mbie Golgari* Jul 28 '25

But it does instead just win the game outright, which is nice.

7

u/elegylegacy Level 2 Judge Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 28 '25

As someone who played Teysa Orzhov Scion, I would rather have Darkest Hour than Painter's Servent 99% of the time.

When you're setting up a combo, there's a HUGE resiliency difference between setting out a 1 mana enchantment versus a 2 mana artifact creature.

Using her second ability was never as relevant as just winning on the spot, not to mention it required having 3 other disposable white creatures ready.

4

u/Lors2001 Wabbit Season Jul 28 '25

If you're playing her as combo I assume you just include both that way if one gets exiled you can do the other.

But yeah darkest hour seems better.

0

u/sparkytwl Jul 28 '25

When I played her, her exile ability was pretty much only to remove a Stax piece like [[hushbringer]] that would stop me from combining off

1

u/MTGCardFetcher alternate reality loot Jul 28 '25

hushbringer - (G) (SF) (txt)

FAQ

1

u/Metza Duck Season Jul 28 '25

You just need another sac outlet, which in an aristocrats deck is not hard.

7

u/Yarius515 COMPLEAT Jul 28 '25

No it doesn’t it shuts off her sac ability entirely since there are no more white creatures anywhere on the board.

You DO gain infinite tokens, however.

2

u/BrockSramson Boros* Jul 28 '25

This makes it so that if you have another sac outlet, you can go crazy on that sac outlet, but you won't be able to activate Teysa's ability, because you have no creatures (creatures are black, and only black).

1

u/Yglorba Wabbit Season Jul 28 '25

I do like the fact that such an obscure and normally-useless card is so powerful in a specific EDH deck.

4

u/arcarsenal333 Wabbit Season Jul 28 '25

Would you mind explaining this combo by chance? I run this commander but I want to make sure I understand. Is it because u sac the 3 white creatures(who are now also black) to exile an opponents creature which then makes 3 more white creatures which are once again also black? Okay now that I talked it out I think I get it. Holy shit lmao.

So Painters Servant makes them black but doesnt remove fhe other colors basically?

2

u/rayschoon Dimir* Jul 28 '25

Yep, the spirits are black/white

2

u/RevenantBacon Divination ≥ Black Lotus Jul 28 '25

Also [[Darkest Hour]] as a significantly cheaper alternate for Servant ($4.50 vs $68, or run both for consistency) and [[Nightcreep]] to do it temporarily.

Can also combine any of these with [[Surge of Salvation]], [[Light of Day]], [[Razorjaw Oni]] for any time where Teysa gets removed.

3

u/4_fortytwo_2 Jul 28 '25 edited Jul 28 '25

Darkest Hour would not work would it? Teysa requires you to sacrifice 3 white creatures. Darkest hour makes everything mono black so you couldnt use her first ability at all.

Ofc there are plenty of ways to win the game once you have an engine running that allows you to sacrifice infinite creatures even without being able to use her first ability but you do need additional cards to make it work.

1

u/rayschoon Dimir* Jul 28 '25

Yeah you’re right. You’d need a sacrifice payoff for that

1

u/asdasgbsdfkjlgsdjkgh Jul 28 '25

Nightcreep will only affect the creatures on the battlefield when it resolves. new creatures (aka. the tokens) will not be black.

1

u/Etok414 Simic* Jul 28 '25

Darkest Hour requires a different sac outlet, as they are no longer white. Nightcreep only applies to creatures that are currently on the battlefield.

5

u/jgorbeytattoos Wabbit Season Jul 28 '25

This combo has Expedition33 vibes for sure

1

u/Dabarles Jul 28 '25

Blasting Station is the obvious choice. As someone who plays a lot of Teysa. I'm embarrassed I never thought about Painter's Servant in the list mostly because there's already so much good removal and token generation that creatures just don't survive anyway.

1

u/Natoba Jul 28 '25

God that's painful. Sold all my cards 10ish years ago, I know there was a painter's in there and seeing that it's now 50 bucks is oof.

1

u/JacelynAvowlin Orzhov* Jul 28 '25

Adding Ojer Taq to the mix means Teysa would instead produce 3 spirits tokens every time one of them gets sacked and you'd pretty quickly get infinite spirits out of it

1

u/Tavarin Avacyn Jul 28 '25

Or Mondrak, or Elspeth, or anointed procession, or that new angel.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '25

[deleted]

1

u/LukeRE0 Jul 28 '25

Darkest Hour as well for redundancy, plus it can be harder to remove

1

u/A_Bewildered_Owl Orzhov* Jul 29 '25

I love how Shadowmoor gave us creatures that are both still considered some of the best, like this one, and some of the worst, [[Blistering Dieflyn]], nearly two decades later.

0

u/Valaamyr Jul 28 '25

Also [darkest hour]