Will this New Kamigawa Legend Be Broken in MTG Commander?

Tameshi, Reality Architect, is one of the most powerful and competitive Commanders to come out of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. It might even be busted.

The legendary Moonfolk Wizard can grind some serious value. It draws cards, reanimates artifacts and enchantments, and even has infinite combos. And I mean a lot of infinite combos.

Tameshi, Reality Architect

Tameshi’s first ability draws you a card each turn, the first time you return a noncreature permanent to hand. This triggers on your own turn, when, for example, you activate Tameshi’s other ability. But you can even draw cards on your opponent’s turn when you cast Chain Vapor on one of their creatures. (This effect is commonly referred to as “bouncing” in Magic: the Gathering.)

That ability alone is a great way to accrue value. But Tameshi doesn’t end there. Actually, he only gets better.

Tameshi has an activated ability that lets you bounce a land you control to your hand and return an artifact or enchantment from your graveyard to the battlefield.

It may seem like you want to lean into either artifacts or enchantments to maximize on card type synergies in the deck. But playing both artifacts and enchantments opens Tameshi up for some really cool infinite combos.

Tameshi’s Infinite Combos

There are so many combos to go infinite with Tameshi. He can easily make infinite mana or take infinite turns.

Retreat to Coralhelm Infinite Mana Combo

You can generate infinite mana if you have Walking Atlas, Retreat to Coralhelm, Tameshi, and a white-producing land in play, with Lotus Petal in the graveyard. For this example, I’ll use a basic Plains as the needed land. Here’s how it works:

1. Activate Tameshi’s ability, targetting Lotus Petal in your graveyard. This returns your Plains from play to your hand. Return Lotus Petal to the field.
2. Activate Lotus Petal. Sacrifice it and add a mana of any color of your choosing.
3. Activate Walking Atlas. Put the Plains in your hand back into play.
4. Retreat to Coralhelm triggers. Choose the first mode, untapping Walking Atlas.
5. Repeat steps 1-4, generating infinite mana from each Lotus Petal trigger.

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Infinite Time Warps

The best land in this deck is hands down Mystic Sanctuary. Because Tameshi can bounce it back to your hand, you can play repeatedly play it to put the best instant or sorcery in your graveyard back on top of your deck. This synergy gets particularly good with an extra turn spell, like Time Warp. This is how you can take infinite turns and draw your whole deck assuming you have cards and Tameshi in play:

1. Cast Time Warp.
2. Play Mystic Sanctuary, returning Time Warp from your graveyard to the top of your library.
3. Activate Tameshi, returning Mystic Sanctuary to your hand and targetting Mishra’s Bauble in your graveyard.
4. Activate Mishra’s Bauble, putting it back in your graveyard.
5. Pass to your next turn.
6. Repeat steps 1-5, resulting in infinite turns and infinite card draw from Mishra’s Bauble.

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In place of Time Warp, this combo can be performed with any extra turn spell that goes to the graveyard upon resolution, such as:

• Temporal Manipulation | Buy At TCGPlayer
• Time Stretch | Buy At TCGPlayer
• Capture of Jingzhou | Buy At TCGPlayer

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Infinite Turns with Coretapper

Here’s another way to take infinite turns and draw infinite cards assuming you have the above cards, Tameshi, and three lands in play.

1. Activate Coretapper’s first ability, putting a charge counter on Magistrate’s Scepter.
2. Activate Coretapper’s second ability; sacrifice it and put two more counters on Scepter.
3. Activate Magistrate Scepter’s second ability. Remove the three charge counters and to gain an extra turn.
4. Activate Tameshi, Reality Architect, returning a land in play to your hand and Coretapper to the battlefield.
5. Play a land for turn (the one you just returned).
6. Pass to your next turn.
7. Repeat steps 1-6, generateing infinite turns and drawing your entire library.

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Best Enchantments to Play With Tameshi

There are all kinds of enchantments that synergize with Tameshi in different ways and fill different roles.

Enchantments as Removal

The above enchantments can all sacrifice themselves to get rid of opposing threats. But they don’t just do so once. Tameshi can return them to the battlefield to destroy multiple artifacts and enchantments in the case of Aura of Silence and Seal of Cleansing. Seal of Removal is particularly synergistic in this deck as it can be used to draw cards with Tameshi’s first ability.

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Training Grounds

If you plan on returning any big artifacts or enchantments to the battle with Tameshi’s ability, it’s going to cost a lot of mana. Training Grounds will discount each activation of Tameshi, Reality Architect’s ability by two mana.

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Artificer’s Intuition

Here’s the MVP of this Commander deck. Artificer’s Intuition can discard artifacts and enchantments which Tameshi can later reanimate. In exchange, Intuition finds crucial, artifact combo pieces. This singular card can assemble infinite combos such as Coretapper + Magistrate’s Scepter.

Best Artifacts to Play With Tameshi

Some artifacts in this deck lead to infinite combos. But others gain you substantial card advantage or find your combo pieces.

Archaeomancer’s Map

Because of Tameshi’s activated ability, you’ll naturally have fewer lands than your opponents. This means you can get maximum value out of cards like Archaeomancer’s Map.

Archaeomancer’s Map is kind of like a white Cultivate. When it enters the battlefield, it searches your library for two basic Plains and adds them to your hand. If you can replay this card with Tameshi, you can draw a lot of Plains.

Then, because you’ll generally have fewer lands than your opponents, Archaeomancer’s Map will start putting those Plains onto the battlefield to catch up to your opponents.

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Expedition Map

Expedition Map is at its best inside a Tameshi, Reality Architect, Commander deck. It finds you your key combo piece Mystic Sanctuary and other valuable lands (which will be covered later in the article). Then, Tameshi can return Expedition Map to the battlefield and find more utility lands every turn!

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Lotus Bloom

I know I said Artificer’s Intuition was the MVP of this deck, but Lotus Bloom is just as good. It’s basically a Black Lotus in this deck; that’s how good it is!

Tameshi, Reality Architect, can return this artifact to the battlefield for one mana. You can sacrifice Lotus Bloom to gain three mana. This one-two combo provides some serious mana ramp, which you can use to power out your infinite combos.

Best Land Synergies With Tameshi

While there are lots of cool artifact and enchantment tricks you can do with Tameshi, you can also gain value via the lands you return to your hand with his ability.

Artifact Lands

Artifact lands have all kinds of implications when paired with Tameshi, Reality Architect. For example, if you’re missing your land drop, you can activate Tameshi’s ability, return a land to your hand, and return one of the above lands to your battlefield. Then you can replay the land in your hand as your land drop for the turn.

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Channel Lands

Since their release in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, everyone’s been talking about the channel lands. And for good reason. They’re busted! They can, and arguably should, go in every Commander deck.

But Tameshi, Reality Architect, makes these lands better than they already are. You can play Eiganjo or Otawara in your early turns as lands. Later, Tameshi can return them to your hand with his ability, and you can activate their channel abilities for some uncounterable removal.

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