One of the most attractive aspects of a powerful MTG Commander is consistent card draw. So long as you can get your Commander in play and protect it, you’ll never run out of gas, going deep into the game with plenty of choices to make. Eventually, your opponents will run out of options while you still have a full grip, allowing you to take over.
While you can do this by drawing just a few extra cards per turn cycle, some Commanders can go even further. Tui and La, Moon and Ocean are a terrifying example of this, drawing dozens of cards while growing in size.
MTG Tui and La, Moon and Ocean
Representing Avatar, The Last Airbender’s enigmatic spirits, Tui and La, Moon and Ocean provide a win condition and card draw rolled up in one Commander. Of course, to do this, you’ll need to tap and untap the fish duo as much as you can.
Cards that can turn Tui and La into a mana dork, like Relic of Legends and Paradise Mantle, are the best tapping outlets for the Commander. No matter how many times you use one-time untapper effects like Octopus Form or Shore Up, these cards will allow Tui and La to keep tapping itself, providing loads of card draw. These one-time untapper tools play double duty, growing Tui and La while granting them Hexproof, protecting your Commander from opposing removal.
Once you’re drawing lots of cards, Tui and La can employ some payoffs to help run away with the game. Chasm Skulker, for example, can quickly become a sticky threat, while Psychosis Crawler threatens to close the game out through burn damage. Multiple different mono-blue win conditions, like Twenty-Toed Toad and Triskaideckaphile, can allow Tui and La to win from just accumulating more card advantage. Heck, you can even win with an empty library via Thassa’s Oracle.
If you aren’t interested in just drawing a ton of cards, Tui and La can also support a bizarre Voltron strategy. The Fish Spirit grows in size while drawing cards, giving your equipment a good base while offsetting one of Voltron’s biggest weaknesses. Thanks to this, clearing the way with equipment like Commander’s Plate and Sword of Feast and Famine can have Tui and La connecting for a ton of damage out of nowhere. You can even use The Ozolith to keep your buffs if Tui and La should get removed.
Tapping and Untapping Infinitely
Thanks to some of MTG’s more infamous cards, like Pemmin’s Aura, going infinite with Tui and La, Moon and Ocean is surprisingly easy. By combining the enchantment with Relic of Legends, for example, Tui and La unlock infinite draw, growing during the process. Just tap Tui and La for mana with Relic of Legends and untap it with Pemmin’s Aura, creating a loop. The Aura can even give Tui and La Shroud, making this combo a nightmare to stop.
Notably, there are a few different variations of this combo, with both the tap and the untap role being replaceable. Relic of Legends, for example, can be replaced by Paradise Mantle, while Freed From the Real or Mind Over Matter can substitute for Pemmin’s Aura. Heck, even Sinking Feeling, a card meant to be used as removal, and Honor-Worn Shaku can pull this combo off, giving the Tui and La tons of ways to tap and untap infinitely.
Extremely Powerful, But in an Obvious Way
There may not be much to Tui and La, Moon and Ocean, but the Commander is undeniably powerful. Sadly, despite the card being surprisingly underplayed, only having 489 decks to its name according to EDHREC, there’s a fair chance that your opponents won’t be fooled. Mind Over Matter has been breaking cards for decades, making any card that draws cards when tapping or untapping dangerous. Fortunately, blue can stock up on a bunch of counterspells to keep your opponent’s interaction at bay.
Thanks, in part, to this Commander being rather unpopular, Tui and La is surprisingly cheap to pick up to boot. Costing just $1 to grab, it’s surprisingly easy to put together an extremely explosive Tui and La deck on a budget. So long as you don’t mind becoming public enemy number one quickly, this Commander can make for an incredibly powerful and niche deck.
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