With so many diverse legends and creative deckbuilding angles out there, the Commander format never seems to grow stale. Unfortunately, though, crafting a powerful and well-rounded archetype isn’t always cheap. Many Commander staples are quite expensive, and crafting consistent manabases for multicolor strategies is a pricy task.
The good news is that some strong monocolor options can put up a fight without breaking the bank. Teshar, Ancestor’s Apostle, for example, is a great choice that fits the mold. Not only is the Bird Cleric super cheap, but many of the top support cards are commons and uncommons. This, however, doesn’t mean the card is weak, as there is a wealth of combos you can pull off with Teshar leading the way.
MTG Teshar, Ancestor’s Apostle
As a Commander, Teshar, Ancestor’s Apostle offers a lot of utility as a value engine, thanks to his triggered ability. The simplest way to build around this is to incorporate impactful artifact creatures and legendary creatures with mana value three or less. Historic creatures with potent enters or death triggers like Loran of the Third Path and Filigree Familiar do a great job filling this role.
Additionally, legends that can sacrifice themselves for value are especially powerful, since they essentially guarantee that you’ll have a target for Teshar at all times. Being able to repeatedly protect your Commander with Boromir, Warden of the Tower and then resurrect it with Teshar is a very powerful line of play. In a similar vein, looping Kami of False Hope can make opposing go-wide shells look foolish.
Where things can start to get out of hand is when you add other graveyard resurrection effects into the mix. Cheap creatures like Restoration Specialist and Salvage Scout make it trivial to buy back some of your noncreature artifacts. This, in turn, sets you up to recast them and use Teshar to reanimate the creatures you sacrificed. By combining Restoration Specialist and Salvage Scout with efficient artifacts like Mishra’s Bauble and Urza’s Bauble that naturally go to the graveyard, you’ll start to accumulate tons of extra resources in a flash.
With enough artifacts at your disposal, Myr Retriever, Junk Diver, and Workshop Assistant become incredible engines as well. From there, all you need is a sacrifice outlet, and you’ll never run out of gas so long as Teshar stays in play.
A Multitude of Combos
By utilizing some specific sacrifice outlets to your advantage, you can also create a bunch of infinite combos. With Myr Retriever and Blasting Station in play, for instance, you can have a very nasty win condition on your hands.
To get things started, you’ll need to cast a zero-mana artifact creature like Memnite. When it enters, Blasting Station’s untap ability will trigger. With the ability on the stack, you’re able to sacrifice Memnite to Blasting Station’s activated ability, dealing one damage to any target. Then, once Blasting Station’s untap trigger resolves, you’re free to sacrifice Myr Retriever to bring Memnite back to your hand. By recasting it, Teshar can reanimate Myr Retriever, putting you back to square one. Repeating this process over and over lets you deal infinite damage to each opponent.
Part of what makes this combo so strong is that there are plenty of redundant options that can fill in for each combo piece besides Teshar. Replacing Myr Retriever with Junk Diver or Workshop Assistant and substituting Memnite for Ornithopter will accomplish the same task. Meanwhile, Grinding Station can fill the void for Blasting Station, threatening to win via infinite Mill rather than infinite damage.
Beyond infinite damage and infinite Mill kills, Teshar also opens the door to make infinite mana with Ashnod’s Altar and Glint Hawk. All you need are two zero-mana artifacts in hand or in play to start the chain. Alternatively, looping Salvager of Ruins and Mishra’s Bauble will let you draw your entire deck. This combo won’t result in a win immediately since Mishra’s Bauble creates a delayed trigger, but it should set you up nicely for your next turn.
Powerful and Cheap
As a whole, Teshar offers more than enough upside via his triggered ability to make the Bird Cleric a worthy Commander. While Teshar is definitely at his best when setting up potent combos, his trigger can still warp a game even when being used “fairly.”
Yet, as strong as this legend is, what really sets him apart is his price tag. Since being reprinted as an uncommon in Commander Masters, Teshar’s value has dropped to just $0.17. Considering just how many of the best support pieces for Teshar decks are commons and uncommons, too, it’s possible to build a full deck without being forced to splurge.
Some of the uncommon combo pieces like Ashnod’s Altar and Grinding Station are admittedly a bit pricy, but the cheap creature package and mono-color manabase help compensate. So, if you’re looking to build your next Commander deck on a budget, consider taking Teshar for a spin.
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