Over the years, ramp and Landfall strategies have become extremely popular in Commander. Since you need to play lands to cast spells anyway, getting extra value from playing lands is a powerful strategy. This makes it all the more surprising that Titania, Protector of Argoth doesn’t get more respect as a Commander.
MTG Titania, Protector of Argoth
Unlike traditional Landfall payoffs, Titania, Protector of Argoth actually rewards you for getting lands into your graveyard, not just the battlefield. While this may sound like a tough task initially, there are a ton of lands that sacrifice themselves, netting tokens with Titania.
Traditional Fetchlands, New Capenna lands like Caberetti Courtyard, and utility lands like Strip Mine all help the cause. Land-sacrificing ramp like Harrow or the all-powerful Scapeshift then kick things up a notch.
As you continue to fill your graveyard, Icetill Explorer and Ancient Greenwarden help ensure you never miss a land drop, while Azusa, Lost but Seeking can ramp you tons of mana. All the while, Titania continues to pump out tokens, as do Landfall payoffs like Rampaging Baloths.
Once you have a truly staggering number of lands in the graveyard, cards like Aftermath Analyst and Splendid Reclamation can set up a game-ending play with various Landfall cards. If you have Zuran Orb or Sylvan Safekeeper in play, you can even sacrifice all of your lands, create an instant board with Titania, then put them all back in play. Throw in token doublers such as Parallel Lives and Doubling Season into the mix, and you’ll further increase your board presence.
Once you get your engine rolling, your final step is to incorporate extra payoffs for producing so many threats. Given the size of your tokens, both Tribute to the World Tree and Garruk’s Uprising make it trivial to draw tons of cards. You can also get extra value from Elemental typal payoffs like Titania, Nature’s Force or Coat of Arms, and end the game with an Overrun effect.
Infinite Tokens and Mana Combos
On top of all the impact Titania has as a value engine, the Elemental also enables a couple of powerful combos. In conjunction with Food Chain and Command Beacon, for example, it’s easy to make infinite tokens, Landfall triggers, and infinite mana to spend on creature spells.
To get things started, you’ll want to sacrifice Command Beacon, triggering Titania to make a 5/3. Then, holding priority, exile Titania with Food Chain, netting six mana and putting Titania in the Command Zone. This way, when Command Beacon’s ability resolves, Titania goes to your hand, avoiding the Commander tax. After that, simply cast Titania again with a green mana floating, return Command Beacon to play with its enters trigger, and repeat the process as many times as you wish.
Interestingly, you can also generate infinite tokens by pairing Titania with Ashaya, Soul of the Wild and Vesuva. Since Ashaya makes all of your creatures lands, Vesuva can copy Titania on entry. Thanks to the Legend Rule, you’ll be forced to sacrifice Vesuva, but you can then bring it back to play via Titania’s enters effect. From here, winning the game with a haste enabler like Concordant Crossroads is trivial.
Surprisingly Underrated Commander
With so much utility and the potential to completely take over games, Titania, Protector of Argoth deserves more respect as a Commander. With barely over 2,700 decks to its name according to EDHREC, it’s safe to say Titania is underappreciated as a build-around. The card does see significantly more play in the 99, appearing in 129,000 decks, but Titania remains strong enough to support its own deck.
The good news is that its recent printing in the World Shaper precon tanked Titania’s price down to just $0.30. This means that the card is a rather risk-free purchase, allowing you to easily try this powerful value engine during your next Commander outing.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage. Be sure to check out our deckbuilder for your next big brew, and our MTG Rocks Podcast!