Commander Deck Tech: Ty Lee, Chi Blocker

I must confess, I know a lot more about Avatar: The Last Airbender than I know about the theme of the last Universes Beyond set, Spider-Man. I really enjoyed how faithful it was to the original series, unlike Spider-Man, who was definitely a low point for Universes Beyond and even MTG as a whole.

UB: Avatar was really well-done and represented each aspect of the characters, the Avatar world, and the story really well. So, in today's article, let's discuss one of the most beloved characters in the series, Ty Lee, and how we can play her in very interesting (albeit modest) ways!

Ty Lee, Chi Blocker is a Monoblue commander that doesn't cost a lot of mana () and has a modest body (2/1), but that also has a set of keywords and abilities that easily make up for her stats. In practice, she is more technical and reflects blue as a color really well. She has flash and an ETB ability that taps a target creature and prevents it from untapping during its controller's untapping step for as long as Ty Lee stays in play. It essentially locks it down in place.

That means Ty Lee is a lot better in the opponent's turn than in ours. We can keep some mana open to represent counters, removals, or tricks, and, if nothing relevant happens, simply put Ty Lee in play at the end of the opponent's turn. Then, we can use her to lock down the best creature on the board in place, or even as an answer to Lightning Greaves.

She also has prowess, which is great in a deck full of instants because it allows her to attack with more than just her 2 base power. It's not a fast "commander damage" game plan, but it can be effective long term, particularly if your opponents were tied up with Stasis.

Because Ty Lee's ability only works when she is in play, we should protect her with equipment, counters, and even blink effects that essentially "reset" her, that is, return her to us safely. This also leads us to clone and blink Ty Lee and use that as our main game plan, as this way we'll essentially get to lock down multiple creatures in play.

Ty Lee, Chi Blocker is by far not that impressive. She doesn't work by herself, like Iroh, Grand Lotus, but she allows us to do a lot of funny things on the board.

Our list today sits at bracket 3. It focuses on clones and copying creatures, particularly our commander, as well as blinks, so that we can reuse ETB abilities again and again.

Let's see it:

Ramp and Development

Any Monoblue list that doesn't play land ramp needs to play the traditional artifact kit. This one is no different.

These mana rocks make sure we get ahead even when we play some of our more expensive cards. Sol Ring and Arcane Signet are a must in practically all Commander lists. Mind Stone and Thought Vessel give us a lot of extra value, which is great in blue lists. One draws cards for us later on, and the other lets us keep all the cards we want when we start hoarding resources and playing lots of card draw.

Besides these artifacts, we use a few cards that take advantage of the fact this is a Monoblue list. High Tide is a "blue ritual" when we need to answer a lot and allows us to play a sequence of counters, bounces, and blinks. Myriad Landscape and Terrain Generator are discreet ways to improve our mana base but still keep islands in play. As for Sapphire Medallion, it discounts the cost of our blue spells so that we can always keep a decent pace.

Multiplying Ty Lee

If the plan is locking down multiple creatures throughout the match, we need more than just Ty Lee. This clone kit is the heart of the deck.

Cards like Phantasmal Image are not what we want when it comes to clones, considering it can't clone Ty Lee, Chi Blocker in a decent way because of the legendary rule. So, instead we'll play Spark Double and Sakashima of a Thousand Faces. They'll put multiple Ty Lees in play without clashing with the legendary rule. Each Ty Lee will come into play and lock down a different creature and, for as long as they remain in play, those threats will stay frozen.

Auton Soldier, Quantum Misalignment, and Irenicus's Vile Duplication take this idea one step further. Auton Soldier can come into play already as a Ty Lee copy, but it won't be a legendary and will also give her myriad. This keyword, in turn, will create even more temporary copies, allowing us to attack each opponent and reuse Ty Lee's ETB again and again.

Quantum Misalignment and Irenicus's Vile Duplication create tokens that are nonlegendary copies of a creature you control. As such, we'll lock down even more creatures turn after turn. Because of this, this deck doesn't have to rely on Ty Lee alone. It can just multiply her and also copy other creatures when needed.

As for Ember Island Production, Chameleon, Master of Disguise, and Impostor Syndrome, they're just extra clones. They give us access to more Ty Lees and also interact with Stasis.

Helm of the Host is the "greediest" card in this clone kit, as well as one of my favorite cards. In slower boards, attaching this card to Ty Lee will give us another copy of our commander at the beginning of each combat phase. In very little time, the entire table will be locked down, and our opponents won't be able to come back into the game.

Blinks

Cloning Ty Lee, Chi Blocker is great, but sometimes just taking her out of the board and putting her back right afterward is enough. That's where our blinks come in. With them, we'll get to lock down more threats with Ty Lee.

Thassa, Deep-Dwelling gives Ty Lee what she wants most: a way to blink in and out of the board at the end of each turn and lock down more creatures. Ghostly Flicker and Essence Flux work reactively and protect our commander from spot removals, all while also letting us reuse her ETB. Displacer Kitten lets us blink something whenever we cast a noncreature spell.

Tap Control

Verity Circle turns tapping creatures into card draw. As Ty Lee, Chi Blocker and cards like Icy Manipulator or Opposition constantly tap permanents, Circle actually becomes a consistent card draw engine. Cryptic Command works like a Fog, as it taps all enemy attackers, and, with Sleep, we'll have a clear board to attack. In the process, we will also feed Verity Circle.

Ideally, the enemy board will be full of tapped permanents, so we'll use cards like Frozen Aether to delay any permanent they play as well. Dungeon Geists and Frost Titan do, in different ways, the same as Ty Le and also lock down a target creature and keep it that way.

Win Conditions

The main win condition in this list is combat damage through evasive creatures. Ty Lee and her clones grow with prowess, but our heaviest creatures will be Talrand, Sky Summoner and Docent of Perfection. A hoard of flying Drakes or Wizards, attacking a board full of locked down creatures, usually ends the match easily.

Another strategy is tap control/soft lock. With Ty Lee, Chi Blocker and her clones, Thassa, and one or two effects like Frozen Aether or Opposition, the opponents won't be able to attack or block in any relevant way. In this situation, even modest creatures like Stormsurge Kraken or Spark Double copying the best creatures on the board are enough to end the game.

As we brought you a different way to play Ty Lee above, let's see the standard way to play her. The list below is a hard control list and resembles the Monoblue standard we all know and learned to fear.

Let's see it:

Ty Lee, Chi Blocker is not flashy or wins the game on a single turn. She is not part of any infinite combos or absurd top-of-the-curve final boards. But, precisely because of that, she offers us a different way to play the game. She gets us to focus more on tempo, interaction, and controlling the board completely.

If you like blue but don't want to play only the classic control lists full of counters, Ty Lee offers you an interesting middle ground. A proactive deck that puts creatures on the board, attacks, and ends the game through combat.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!