Oversoul
The Tentacled One
Commander
1 Barrin, Master Wizard
1 Academy Ruins
1 All Is Dust
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Anvil of Bogardan
1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Archaeomancer
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Capture of Jingzhou
1 Cathodion
1 Chain of Vapor
1 City of Traitors
1 Copy Artifact
1 Coral Atoll
1 Counterspell
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Echo of Eons
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Expropriate
1 Fabricate
1 Fierce Guardianship
1 Force of Will
1 Foundry Inspector
1 Gilded Drake
1 Great Whale
1 Grim Monolith
1 Ichor Wellspring
1 Inventors' Fair
14 Island
1 Jeweled Lotus
1 Jhoira's Familiar
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Lotus Vale
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Drain
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Web
1 Manifold Key
1 Meekstone
1 Memory Jar
1 Mishra's Workshop
1 Mox Amber
1 Mox Opal
1 Myr Retriever
1 Mystic Forge
1 Mystic Remora
1 Mystic Sanctuary
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
1 Narset's Reversal
1 Palinchron
1 Peregrine Drake
1 Power Artifact
1 Reef Worm
1 Rhystic Study
1 Scorched Ruins
1 Scrap Trawler
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Spellseeker
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Strip Mine
1 Su-Chi
1 Swan Song
1 Temporal Manipulation
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Thought Monitor
1 Thought Vessel
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Time Spiral
1 Time Warp
1 Timetwister
1 Treasure Vault
1 Ugin, the Ineffable
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Urza, Lord High Artificer
1 Urza's Saga
1 Voltaic Key
1 Wasteland
1 Wurmcoil Engine
This deck owes its existence to a similar list I built and played back in March of 2020, for what would become the penultimate gathering of the West Coast Commander League. That list was thrown together at the last minute and was partially themed around adding and removing counters from permanents. But I hit upon the stupid interaction of Barrin, Master Wizard + Spine of Ish Sah. It's not a particularly fast or potent combo on its own. And in the West Coast Commander League, it wasn't supposed to be, but even then I took the approach of running lots of good artifacts to provide sacrificial fodder for Barrin.
I've been wanting to take another shot at this deck concept. What the gimmicky old version was lacking was a strong suite of creatures that I could bounce, generating value. Barrin does a fine job of bouncing opposing creatures, but I wanted to bounce my own creatures and make an engine out of this. Mishra's Workshop made sense with the artifact theme, helping power out Spine of Ish Sah, and gave me the idea to add more lands that tap for extra mana, so that the "free" blue creatures can potentially generate enough mana to pay for themselves and for Barrin's ability.
So far, I've only taken this into one game. I took a bit of a beating in the early turns, then slowed the game down by bouncing potential attackers. Eventually, I was able to assemble Peregrine Drake + Deadeye Navigator alongside Barrin, Master Wizard + Spine of Ish Sah. After my opponents scooped up their cards, I realized that because I also had Sensei's Divining Top and Scrap Trawler, I had the means to win on the spot anyway. With infinite mana available, I could activate Sensei's Divining Top to draw a card and, in response to that activation I could use Barrin to sacrifice Spine of Ish Sah and bounce one of my own creatures (anything, really). The Scrap Trawler trigger would put Top back into my hand and Spine's own ability would return it to my hand. I'd draw a card and then I'd be free to recast all of the relevant permanents and repeat the process as needed. This would draw me into Wurmcoil Engine, which would enable me to make infinite tokens. It would also draw me into Time Warp, so I could take an extra turn and use that turn to swing in for lethal damage on all opponents.
1 Barrin, Master Wizard
1 Academy Ruins
1 All Is Dust
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Anvil of Bogardan
1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Archaeomancer
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Capture of Jingzhou
1 Cathodion
1 Chain of Vapor
1 City of Traitors
1 Copy Artifact
1 Coral Atoll
1 Counterspell
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Echo of Eons
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Expropriate
1 Fabricate
1 Fierce Guardianship
1 Force of Will
1 Foundry Inspector
1 Gilded Drake
1 Great Whale
1 Grim Monolith
1 Ichor Wellspring
1 Inventors' Fair
14 Island
1 Jeweled Lotus
1 Jhoira's Familiar
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Lotus Vale
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Drain
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Web
1 Manifold Key
1 Meekstone
1 Memory Jar
1 Mishra's Workshop
1 Mox Amber
1 Mox Opal
1 Myr Retriever
1 Mystic Forge
1 Mystic Remora
1 Mystic Sanctuary
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
1 Narset's Reversal
1 Palinchron
1 Peregrine Drake
1 Power Artifact
1 Reef Worm
1 Rhystic Study
1 Scorched Ruins
1 Scrap Trawler
1 Sculpting Steel
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Spellseeker
1 Spine of Ish Sah
1 Strip Mine
1 Su-Chi
1 Swan Song
1 Temporal Manipulation
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Thought Monitor
1 Thought Vessel
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Time Spiral
1 Time Warp
1 Timetwister
1 Treasure Vault
1 Ugin, the Ineffable
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Urza, Lord High Artificer
1 Urza's Saga
1 Voltaic Key
1 Wasteland
1 Wurmcoil Engine
This deck owes its existence to a similar list I built and played back in March of 2020, for what would become the penultimate gathering of the West Coast Commander League. That list was thrown together at the last minute and was partially themed around adding and removing counters from permanents. But I hit upon the stupid interaction of Barrin, Master Wizard + Spine of Ish Sah. It's not a particularly fast or potent combo on its own. And in the West Coast Commander League, it wasn't supposed to be, but even then I took the approach of running lots of good artifacts to provide sacrificial fodder for Barrin.
I've been wanting to take another shot at this deck concept. What the gimmicky old version was lacking was a strong suite of creatures that I could bounce, generating value. Barrin does a fine job of bouncing opposing creatures, but I wanted to bounce my own creatures and make an engine out of this. Mishra's Workshop made sense with the artifact theme, helping power out Spine of Ish Sah, and gave me the idea to add more lands that tap for extra mana, so that the "free" blue creatures can potentially generate enough mana to pay for themselves and for Barrin's ability.
So far, I've only taken this into one game. I took a bit of a beating in the early turns, then slowed the game down by bouncing potential attackers. Eventually, I was able to assemble Peregrine Drake + Deadeye Navigator alongside Barrin, Master Wizard + Spine of Ish Sah. After my opponents scooped up their cards, I realized that because I also had Sensei's Divining Top and Scrap Trawler, I had the means to win on the spot anyway. With infinite mana available, I could activate Sensei's Divining Top to draw a card and, in response to that activation I could use Barrin to sacrifice Spine of Ish Sah and bounce one of my own creatures (anything, really). The Scrap Trawler trigger would put Top back into my hand and Spine's own ability would return it to my hand. I'd draw a card and then I'd be free to recast all of the relevant permanents and repeat the process as needed. This would draw me into Wurmcoil Engine, which would enable me to make infinite tokens. It would also draw me into Time Warp, so I could take an extra turn and use that turn to swing in for lethal damage on all opponents.
