<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Orysa, Tide Choreographer" href="#" target="_blank">Orysa, Tide Choreographer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.artstation.com/annapavleeva">Anna Pavleeva</a></em></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mulldrifter"></div></div>
<p>Nearly two decades ago, the first <em>Lorwyn</em> set introduced <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mulldrifter" href="#" target="_blank">Mulldrifter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, one of the most iconic blue creature printed to date. Now, in 2026, a newly printed legend from <a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/sos"><em>Secrets of Strixhaven</em></a> has come to ask a question: "What if Mulldrifter could be my commander?" In this deck tech, I'm going to answer that question with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Orysa, Tide Choreographer" href="#" target="_blank">Orysa, Tide Choreographer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Orysa, Tide Choreographer"></div></div>
<h2>What Does Orysa, Tide Choreographer Do?</h2>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Orysa, Tide Choreographer" href="#" target="_blank">Orysa, Tide Choreographer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a 2/2 Merfolk Bard creature for <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-4" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, reduced by <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-3" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> if creatures you control have a total toughness of 10 or greater. When Orsya enters, you draw two cards. Just like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mulldrifter" href="#" target="_blank">Mulldrifter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>!</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Displacer Kitten"></div></div>
<p>When given a commander with a powerful enters trigger, one of the clearest routes a deck can take is blinking it over and over again. Stapling a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Divination" href="#" target="_blank">Divination</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghostly Flicker" href="#" target="_blank">Ghostly Flicker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Essence Flux" href="#" target="_blank">Essence Flux</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is certain to be incredibly powerful, not to mention a certain <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Displacer Kitten" href="#" target="_blank">Cat Beast</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that's been the talk of the town since <em>Secrets of Strixhaven</em> entered the scene. The deck-building opportunities lie in how a deck lead by Orysa will choose to take advantage of all that card draw and what other enters triggers the deck will seek to reuse.</p>
<h2>Key Cards for Orysa, Tide Choreographer</h2>
<h3>High Tide Storm</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="High Tide"></div></div>
<p>My grand scheme for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Orysa, Tide Choreographer" href="#" target="_blank">Orysa, Tide Choreographer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is to be a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="High Tide" href="#" target="_blank">High Tide</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="High Tide" href="#" target="_blank">High Tide</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an incredibly powerful storm-enabler that makes all <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Island" href="#" target="_blank">Island</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s tap for an additional <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> until end of turn. When paired with repeatable untap effects, High Tide enables ludicrous storm turns. Perhaps most importantly, High Tides stacks, meaning recurring it and casting multiple in a turn makes Islands tap for another <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> for each one cast.</p>
<h3>Blink</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Displacer Kitten"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Skycoach Conductor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ghostly Flicker"></div></div>
<p>Blink spells are the backbone of this Orysa deck. Blinking value-generating permanents and recurring blink spells to do it all over again is the play pattern that makes everything work. Loops with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archaeomancer" href="#" target="_blank">Archaeomancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>-like creatures and multi-target blink spells, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghostly Flicker" href="#" target="_blank">Ghostly Flicker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, provide everything from card draw to interaction to the win conditions.</p>
<h3>Blink Targets</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Spellseeker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scholar of the Ages"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Peregrine Drake"></div></div>
<p>While I'd love to get away with only using blink spells as additional <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Divination" href="#" target="_blank">Divination</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s with Orysa, this deck needs a little more juice to pose a real threat to the table. Tutors like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spellseeker" href="#" target="_blank">Spellseeker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Micromancer" href="#" target="_blank">Micromancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are excellent in the early game to find critical pieces like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="High Tide" href="#" target="_blank">High Tide</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Later in the game, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Transit Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Transit Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> provides access to the artifacts I'll be using to close out games, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Psychosis Crawler" href="#" target="_blank">Psychosis Crawler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Water Crystal" href="#" target="_blank">The Water Crystal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>While I've also included other two other pieces of creature based recursion in <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Archaeomancer" href="#" target="_blank">Archaeomancer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scrivener" href="#" target="_blank">Scrivener</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scholar of the Ages" href="#" target="_blank">Scholar of the Ages</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is the crème de la crème. For the fairly high cost of seven mana, Scholar of the Ages can bring back two instants and/or sorceries. Using one instance of blink to recur two spells simplifies the deck's end game storm turns by a lot, allowing a Ghostly Flicker to recur itself, another spell, and blink another creature, all for just three mana. Playing with Scholar of the Ages in this deck has sold me on including the card in my other blink-based decks, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yorion, Sky Nomad" href="#" target="_blank">Yorion, Sky Nomad</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kefka, Court Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Kefka, Court Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>It's imperative that this deck has a way to convert blink spells into additional mana, which is where <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cloud of Faeries" href="#" target="_blank">Cloud of Faeries</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Peregrine Drake" href="#" target="_blank">Peregrine Drake</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> come in. Thanks to High Tide, both of these untap creatures will almost always be generating a lot more mana than they cost to cast. Either of these two in play, when joined with a Ghostly Flicker and a High Tide, can string together a win with relative ease.</p>
<h3>Interacting For Free</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Foil"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Commandeer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Disrupting Shoal"></div></div>
<p>To a devoted blue mage like myself, the most compelling part of a deck that draws so many cards is that the downside of card disadvantage from free counter magic like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Foil" href="#" target="_blank">Foil</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is rendered moot. I've chosen to lean into that really hard, including free counters like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Disrupting Shoal" href="#" target="_blank">Disrupting Shoal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Commandeer" href="#" target="_blank">Commandeer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Misdirection" href="#" target="_blank">Misdirection</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to help fend off opposing interaction as the sheer value generated by blinking the deck's creatures takes over the game.</p>
<h2>How Does This Orysa, Tide Choreographer Deck Win the Game?</h2>
<p>Like most other <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="High Tide" href="#" target="_blank">High Tide</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> storm decks, this build of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Orysa, Tide Choreographer" href="#" target="_blank">Orysa, Tide Choreographer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is incredibly light on win conditions. A meager four slots in the 99 have been dedicated to cards that can convert the infinite or near-infinite mana, card draw, or storm count this deck seeks to produce into a win.</p>
<h3>Mill</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Brain Freeze"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Laboratory Maniac"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="The Water Crystal"></div></div>
<p>One of the most straightforward ways to end a game after generating infinite storm count and drawing most of the deck in a long High Tide turn is mill. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brain Freeze" href="#" target="_blank">Brain Freeze</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can either convert a huge storm count into milling out all three opponents or milling my own deck to set up a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Laboratory Maniac" href="#" target="_blank">Laboratory Maniac</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> win.</p>
<p>The Water Crystal is perfect as it serves as both ramp and a win condition in games where the final storm turn has resulted in an 80-card hand. This can even be done slowly over multiple turns in grindy games, especially with cards that remove maximum hand size, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sea Gate Restoration" href="#" target="_blank">Sea Gate Restoration</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<h3>Burn</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Psychosis Crawler"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Psychosis Crawler" href="#" target="_blank">Psychosis Crawler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a solid win condition because it's never really bad to slam on the table. Once in play, it's fairly trivial to draw 40 cards either during the big storm turn or over a few normal setup turns of blinking Orysa. At its worst, Pychosis Crawler is very good at drawing out the table's removal due to how scary it looks!</p>
<h2>Orysa, Tide Choreographer Commander Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Orysa, Tide Choreographer High Tide Storm" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Orysa, Tide Choreographer
[/Commander]
[Instants]
*1 Blur
*1 Brain Freeze
*1 Brainstorm
*1 Brainsurge
*1 Chain of Vapor
*1 Commandeer
*1 Dig Through Time
*1 Displace
*1 Disrupting Shoal
*1 Essence Flux
*1 Evacuation
*1 Foil
*1 Force of Will
*1 Frantic Search
*1 Ghostly Flicker
*1 Hide on the Ceiling
*1 High Tide
*1 Long-Term Plans
*1 Misdirection
*1 Mystical Tutor
*1 Planar Incision
*1 Pongify
*1 Rapid Hybridization
*1 Reality Shift
*1 Remand
*1 Resculpt
*1 Sink into Stupor
*1 Snap
*1 Stream of Consciousness
*1 String of Disappearances
*1 Teferi&#039;s Time Twist
*1 Thwart
*1 Turnabout
[/Instants]
[Creatures]
*1 Archaeomancer
*1 Cloud of Faeries
*1 Displacer Kitten
*1 Emeritus of Ideation
*1 High Fae Trickster
*1 Ice Flan
*1 Laboratory Maniac
*1 Micromancer
*1 Peregrine Drake
*1 Phyrexian Metamorph
*1 Psychosis Crawler
*1 Scholar of the Ages
*1 Scrivener
*1 Skycoach Conductor
*1 Spellseeker
*1 Stockman, Mad Fly-entist
*1 Transit Mage
*1 Vedalken Aethermage
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
*1 Flow State
*1 Lórien Revealed
*1 Merchant Scroll
*1 Ponder
*1 Preordain
*1 Retraced Image
*1 Sea Gate Restoration
*1 Splash Portal
*1 Step Through
*1 Stock Up
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Gilded Lotus
*1 Sapphire Medallion
*1 Sol Ring
*1 The Water Crystal
*1 Thought Vessel
[/Artifacts]
[Lands]
*1 Flooded Strand
*27 Island
*1 Misty Rainforest
*1 Mystic Sanctuary
*1 Polluted Delta
*1 Scalding Tarn
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>My aim for this deck was to create a High Tide storm deck that didn't feel too out of place in Bracket 3 (Upgraded). I think I succeeded! While nothing will ever completely remove the strain on the social contract that storm and other alternate win conditions can cause, this build of Orysa, Tide Choreographer succeeds where many other variants of this archetype may fail. This deck's progress towards winning the game is usually very visible, often requiring creatures to be committed to the board in the lead up to the big win attempt and needing to hit at least five or six land drops to enable High Tide. The creatures in particular are fairly vulnerable to opposing removal spells, meaning most decks in Bracket 3 will have a few ways to interact with the deck's plan.</p>


orysa

Building a High Tide Deck With Orysa, Tide Choreographer