This deck uses two really cool Azorius cards to make one great deck based on tokens and classic rule bending and other shenanigans! Taigam, Ojutai Master says we can't have our Instants, Sorceries, and Dragon spells countered? Great! Dovescape wants to counter our stuff - as well as our opponent(s) - and give us birds instead? SOUNDS FUN!!

First off, as Taigam is the focus of the engine, he needs all the protection he can get, otherwise, there will be no doubling the effectiveness of our instants and sorceries.

Having our Instant and Sorcery spells uncounterable is very powerful. How about having the ability to give them Rebound?!! AWSOMER!! We can generally run out our game plan while our opponents will struggle to interact with us. Dovescape is absolutely the biggest powerhouse when combined with Taigam. While both are on the field, we get all our spells - PLUS the bird tokens - while the oppositions noncreature spells (i.e., ALL instants, sorceries, enchantments, and non-creature artifacts) will be countered and replaced with only bird tokens. Oh, and we get the birds too! For added 'groan', drop a Cyclonic Rift and bounce the birdies away. This means we have all the fun!

If that wasn't enough for you, we have Taigam's second ability. This allows us to double cast any of our instant or sorcery cards that we cast once Taigam's attacked. All he needs to do is declare the attack and we get the full value we need, meaning we can act before blockers are declared with any of our value instants like Cryptic Command, Telling Time, Enlightened Tutor, or Fact or Fiction.

But wait, Taigam must attack and survive the combat step for some tricks to begin. Never fear, we have a few ways to protect our dragon-loving Monk through this. A 3/4 body is quite respectable, being able to trade blows with a fair number of creatures but for the bigger bullies out there, we can throw the Whispersilk Cloak on him and sneak past with no damage taken. Or for even a greater chance of survival, throw in...

So, we cast a load of fun value cards but how do we win? Well, we mentioned our Dovescape option above and the absurd synergistic value is having with Taigam. There is also our non-spell wincons like Docent of Perfection // Final Iteration, Talrand, Sky Summoner, and Monastery Mentor, all who drop tokens when we cast an Instant or Sorcery.

NEW!! - Added both Divine Visitation and Murmuring Mystic to the token shenanigans!! Whoo Hoo! 

This deck is meant for friendly commander games, but there are other strategies and themes you can go with to fit to your liking. I try to keep the BS combos to a minimum due to most of my opponents being family, who are just beginning to play MTG. So, have fun, and please, leave any comments and/or suggestions for the deck.

*****WAR OF THE SPARK Spoilers!!*****

Folks, I am down right excited about War of the Spark (WotS), the newest MTG set that will release worldwide on 3 May, 2019. As websites begin to reveal - a.k.a., spoil - cards from WotS, I have seen some cards that I will likely add to the deck. Here are a few:

• Teyo, the Sheildmage:

When I first saw Teyo, the Shieldmage, I immediately thought of another tool for my Taigam deck. I think it’s even more than that though, let’s break down the abilities of this card.

You have hexproof. (You can’t be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.) – This is a very strong ability to have on a planeswalker or any permanent for that matter. It is even better when you combine it with Taigam's static ability. It shuts down most of the Mono Red deck, while also stopping Esper Control staple Thought Erasure from being cast. It also shuts down cards like Duress, Risk Factor and Unmoored Ego.

[-2]: Create a 0/3 white Wall creature token with defender. – This makes this planeswalker even better against Mono Red decks. It shuts down their direct damage to the face and forces them to deal with an 0/3 wall if they want their low to the ground creatures to get through for damage. Even if it dies, you can get a few activations out of it to get more value out of it.  However, this ability would be great for an Arcades, the Strategist deck as well.

• Dovin's Veto:

Every set has some counterspells in it, but very few of them make the cut when it comes to being added to a good control deck. WotS brings a new counterspell to the mix with Dovin’s Veto:

Currently there are two main counterspells being used in Esper Control: Absorb and Negate. Absorb is clearly the best of the lot as it can counter any spell while gaining you 3 life. After that though I would say that despite the double colored mana cost, Dovin’s Veto should be used 100% of the time instead of Negate. How many times have you been in an Esper Control mirror and your opponent has 8 or more mana up and they try and cast a Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. You can be 100 % certain that they have a counterspell to counter the Absorb or Negate that you try to cast. With Dovin’s Veto you don’t need to worry about that. Their won’t be any counterspell war, as it ends with you thanks to Dovin’s Veto ability to not be countered. This is a great addition to the counterspell realm of spells and I can’t wait to put it in my deck come May.

• Teferi, Time Raveler:

This looks like another home run for Teferi lovers. This is the perfect card to have during the control mirror match. Let’s break down the abilities of this card.

Each opponent can cast spells only any time they could cast a sorcery. – Wow, just wow. If you look at typical Mono-Red Aggro or Esper Control lists, this shuts them down from casting 21 of their spells during your turn. That is over a third of the Esper Control decklist. This also means that you have clear skies to cast whatever you want during your turn without any fear of them interacting with your spells or battlefield.

[+1]: Until your next turn, cast sorceries as if they had flash. – This ability may not be useful every turn, but there are some definite advantages for this against any deck. Just thinking about being able to cast Thought Erasure at the end of their draw step, or casting Kaya’s Wrath at the end of their turn to clear the battlefield. How about casting Teferi, Time Raveler to see if it is better suited to come out of the sideboard or be played out of the main deck. The metagame and lots of deck testing will give me more information in the coming months.

[-3]: Return up to one target artifact, creature, or enchanment to its owner's hand. Draw a card. – This ability is somewaht underwhelming, and if you use it once Tereri is cast, then it only has one use.  MTG could have the ability at [-2], but it would have likely obtained Mythic rarity instead.  However, it is a okay fit in Bant Control or Azorius Lockdown type decks.