The Commander
Whenever you cast a Beast or Bird creature spell, you may copy it, except the copy is an artifact in addition to its other types. (The copy becomes a token.)
Guide
Gameplan
Tawnos turns every Beast or Bird creature spell you cast into two bodies, with the copy entering as an artifact token. You ramp into him, then chain value Beasts and Birds with strong ETBs, doubling their triggers while flooding the board with artifact creatures you can sacrifice, blink, or untap. Win through overwhelming board presence, doubled enter-the-battlefield value, or an artifact/token payoff.
Strengths
- Free spell copies generate massive card and tempo advantage every turn you cast a qualifying creature
- Copies being artifacts unlocks Simic ramp plus artifact synergies (cost reduction, sacrifice, untap, affinity payoffs)
- GU gives premium ramp, card draw, and counterspell protection for the commander
- Doubles powerful ETB Beasts/Birds, effectively two-for-one-ing your best creatures
Weaknesses
- Highly commander-dependent; without Tawnos the deck is a pile of mediocre midrange creatures
- Slow to come online and weak to early aggression before turn five
- Beast/Bird type restriction limits the absolute best blue creatures, lowering raw power
- Light on direct interaction and lacks an inherent combo finish without building toward one
Key Cards
- Avenger of Zendikar — A Beast that floods the board with plant tokens, and copying it doubles the army instantly.
- Wood Elves — A Beast that ramps and fetches a land, and the copy fetches a second basic to accelerate hard.
- Ravenous Chupacabra — A Beast with removal-on-a-stick whose copy lets you kill two creatures per cast.
- Cackling Counterpart — Cheaply clones your best Beast/Bird and the cast itself can be copied by Tawnos.
- Cloudblazer — A Bird-adjacent value engine; pair with true Birds like Mulldrifter to draw cards and gain life twice.
- Mulldrifter — A Bird that draws two cards on ETB, and the copy doubles the draw for explosive card advantage.
Upgrade Path
Lean into high-impact ETB Beasts and Birds (Mulldrifter, Ravenous Chupacabra, Avenger of Zendikar) so each Tawnos copy doubles a meaningful effect rather than a vanilla body. Add fast ramp (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, mana dorks) and protection (Heroic Intervention, Swiftfoot Boots) to deploy and shield Tawnos, then top with an explosive payoff like Craterhoof Behemoth, Cyclonic Rift, or an artifact/token combo to convert the board advantage into a kill.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Overwhelming wide board of doubled Beasts/Birds plus artifact tokens swinging in
- ▸Doubled ETB value into an overrun/anthem finisher like Craterhoof Behemoth or Beastmaster Ascension
- ▸Artifact-token-fueled combo or a big drain/draw engine outvaluing the table
Archetypes
- Tokens — Tawnos manufactures a free artifact creature token every Beast or Bird you cast, snowballing a wide board.
- Blink/Value — Doubling ETB-heavy Beasts and Birds, then reusing them with flicker effects, generates relentless card advantage.
- Artifacts — Every copy is an artifact, enabling affinity, improvise, sacrifice fodder, and metalcraft payoffs.
- Combo — Copied infinite-ETB creatures or untap engines with artifact tokens can be assembled into game-ending loops.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (GU), by popularity.
