Last updated on November 19, 2024
Talisman of Dominance (Secret Lair) | Illustration by Dan Frazier
In traditional lore a talisman is an object imbued with magic that can bring luck or healing or protection. Magic has had a lot of different kinds of objects that serve those purposes in game lore over the years, including the roughly synonymous Amulets and Charms.
But what are the Talismans in Magic, and why do you absolutely need to play more of these in your Commander decks? Read on to find out!
What Are Talismans in MTG?
Sol Talisman | Illustration by Volkan Baga
All Talismans in Magic are artifacts, and most of them fit into one of two cycles.
The first are the Talismans from Ice Age. These are all 2-mana artifacts with an activated ability that allows its controller to pay 3 to untap a permanent in response to a spell of a certain color. Potentially powerful, but these cards were just too mana-intensive to see much play.
The second cycle started in Mirrodin. These are 2-mana artifacts that tap for colorless or one of an allied color pair with the cost that it does 1 damage to you. These became must-have cards in Commander where the few mana rocks that cost less than 3 were a premium. This cycle was finished with the enemy color pairs in Modern Horizons.
There have been a few other Talismans along the way, including a few more recent colored ones that are starting to open up the design space for these artifacts.
#21. Onyx Talisman
The bottom of the list is Onyx Talisman. Black just doesnโt want this kind of effect for this kind of price. You can combo with this, Isochron Scepter, and something like Songs of the Damned, but everything combos with the Scepter so youโve got more efficient options.
As with all of these old school Talismans you could play them in any deck regardless of color, but thatโs even less efficient than matching colors in your deck you know will see play.
#20. Malachite Talisman
Green also has self-bouncing things that enable Chromatic Orrery combos, like Whip Silk. Malachite Talisman can otherwise fit into builds with Orrery alternatives in green like Marwyn, the Nurturer.
But itโs just easier in green to untap things with creatures like Seeker of Skybreak.
#19. Hematite Talisman
Red doesnโt especially want this effect either, but it's got the most pinger creatures you can overpay to use twice with Hematite Talisman. You can always go with Chromatic Orrery and Crown of Flames to go infinite in various ways, but should have already won the game if you can hard cast an Orrery.
This card and the next are both on color for Zirda, the Dawnwaker. Untapping for 1 mana is a pretty good deal. If you have one lying around and youโve got a Zirda deck, maybe give it a go.
#18. Nacre Talisman
In white youโve got Whitemane Lion and friends along with auras like Flickering Ward for Orrery stuff, and in blink decks all of that might work out better. Youโre on color for Zirda, so thereโs that.
Iโve got all of these Talismans left over from my boomer Ice Age collection, so I put Nacre Talisman and the next one in my Shorikai, Genesis Engine deck, but theyโre too slow even in that card draw extravaganza deck. There are just other powerful options to untap Shorikai.
#17. Lapis Lazuli Talisman
Youโve got your Shrieking Drake and friends as well as Shimmering Wings for the Orrery. Blue leans into untappers like Aphetto Alchemist and Voltaic Key anyway, so Lapis Lazuli Talisman might help round out some janky brew in blue.
Youโve also got the OG pinger, Tim himself, Prodigal Sorcerer, and you can slap a Curiosity on it in this color and go to town, I guess?
#16. Tricksterโs Talisman
We all tried to make this work in Ingenious Smith affinity-lite decks in Standard, but Trickster's Talisman never quite got there, even with Lithoform Engine. This card is asking a lot to enable you to copy a creature to be fair.
Still, it gets played in Sakashima of a Thousand Faces decks, and that makes sense.
#15. Reaperโs Talisman
Reaper's Talisman was a nice card in Forgotten Realms Draft, and it was super annoying when wielded by a first striker or double striker in its Standard.
I donโt think this is quite the right rate for EDH, but it only costs 1 mana and synergizes with black drain and gain decks like Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, so maybe?
#14. Pristine Talisman
Manalith is now almost unplayable in Commander thanks to some of the Talismans Iโll get to in a minute, but the lifegain part of Pristine Talisman makes it useful in EDH decks ranging from Dina, Soul Steeper to Oloro, Ageless Ascetic.
#13. Sol Talisman
A โfixedโ Sol Ring? The earliest Sol Talisman can come down in EDH is on turn 4 barring any time counter manipulation. And then you did this instead of a 1-drop? Iโm not here for it in general.
But this card is nice for commanders that like things in exile, like Vega, the Watcher. Itโs also a pretty good thing in decks where the mana cost of artifacts matter, from Ao, the Dawn Sky to Tameshi, Reality Architect. And itโs probably a thing you want in your Eldrazi deck. All colorless ramp is welcome there, it seems.
#12. Bloodsprout Talisman
This Alchemy card is just waiting to be busted. Folks were already strapping Bloodsprout Talisman into Historic builds with Acererak the Archlich. More will come assuming everyone keeps playing Alchemy formats, which is not a given. (2024 update: We've yet to see a new Alchemy Talisman.)
#11. Wishclaw Talisman
Wishclaw Talisman is a reasonably cheap tutor at a total cost of 3 to search for anything. That's if youโre going to win the game the turn you activate this black artifact, which is where it fits in the cEDH universe. Since you can choose who gets the Talisman out of multiple opponents in Commander, this could lead to some interesting politics, and Iโd include it for that reason alone.
#10. Talisman of Unity
The rest of the Talismans are all 2-mana rocks that are only bested by Arcane Signet and whatever Moxen are legal for EDH colored mana. The bottom line is that if youโre running the colors in question and can afford the Talismans from here on out you should run them in your Commander deck, full stop.
Selesnya () decks often top out at 4-mana spells, so that makes Talisman of Unity a bit less necessary in that color pair. Not to mention that this is less of a priority on turn 2 with access to green creature ramp and Cultivate.
#9. Talisman of Impulse
Gruul () has similar access to green ramp and minimal artifact synergies, though Gruul commanders like Meria, Scholar of Antiquity and Roxanne, Starfall Savant might make good use of Talisman of Impulse?
#8. Talisman of Curiosity
The color of rampant ramp and card draw, Simic () isnโt necessarily as interested in Talisman of Curiosity as you might expect. But the busted commander Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy doubling its mana explains a lot of this cardโs use.
#7. Talisman of Resilience
Talisman of Resilience doesnโt have a lot of synergies with most Golgari () decks, but there are a few that really want it. Willowdusk, Essence Seer likes the life loss. Glissa, the Traitor and Baba Lysaga, Night Witch like the artifact synergies.
Black and green have access to other kinds of powerful ramp otherwise.
#6. Talisman of Progress
Azorius () has some interesting synergies with artifacts and also tends to run expensive spells, so Talisman of Progress is welcome. Often used in multicolor Jeskai () or Esper () builds with Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker and a partner, this is good ramp and fixing in colors that often have artifact synergies.
#5. Talisman of Conviction
Boros () and artifacts. Two great tastes that taste great together.
Talisman of Conviction helps power out expensive commanders like Velomachus Lorehold plus cheaper commanders with artifact synergies like Akiri, Line-Slinger.
#4. Talisman of Indulgence
Rakdos () not only wants to cast expensive top end spells for which Talisman of Indulgence is a great help, but it also has artifact-synergy monster Prosper, Tome-Bound as one of its most popular leaders.
And commanders like Greven, Predator Captain synergize with the life loss part of the Talismans, which makes this an extra tasty indulgence.
#3. Talisman of Hierarchy
Orzhov () builds can have a lot of expensive spells. Take Liesa, Shroud of Dusk for example. Talisman of Hierarchy is even more helpful for Esper commanders.
#2. Talisman of Creativity
Izzet () spellslinger decks might not want ramp of this kind, but there are more expensive commanders like Kraum, Ludevicโs Opus that can really use the extra help getting onto the table. Talisman of Creativity is also quite useful for Izzet artifacts decks like Jhoira, Ageless Innovator and Saheeli, the Gifted.
#1. Talisman of Dominance
Dimir () is such a popular color combo in Commander, whether itโs anchoring control builds or supporting typal decks like Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver and Captain N'ghathrod.
Adding a color for Esper or Grixis () opens up other spaces, making Talisman of Dominance really useful in a lot of decks.
Best Talisman Payoffs
Talismans are generally key cards in most decks, and I wonder why we donโt see them more often given how much Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone, and the other Signets are played. Maybe players are concerned for the life loss? This seems unwise in Commander where you start with 40 life.
One approach to 5-color decks is to focus on one color and ramp it, usually green, and drop more expensive mana rocks like Commander's Sphere to smooth out the mana. The Talismans donโt usually make the cut. Iโd rather replace the 3-drop rocks with the four Talismans and four Signets in green in every case.
If you get the goods and Sol Ring turn 1 into two Talismans on turn 2, thatโs so much better than a Chromatic Lantern on 2. The 3-mana rock isnโt going to cast Jodah, the Unifier alone, and the Talismans help power out the spells and rocks you need to get to five colors faster.
Decks ranging in power from Willowdusk, Essence Seer to various Rakdos decks to any deck with multiple colors that plays Vilis, Broker of Blood all provide some sort of reward for life loss. Talismans provide easy access to that very quickly.
Itโs obvious that you want to include artifacts in artifact decks, sure. But the speed of most decks with an artifact theme makes running 3-mana rocks almost impossible.
Also be on the lookout for any card that double the mana from non-land sources. Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy, Nyxbloom Ancient, and Mana Reflection can all give you extra mana from a Talisman mana rock.
Talismans vs. Signets
My hot take is that Talismans are better than the color pair Signets, full stop. You should play both in your decks to ramp and fix mana, but if you have room for only one, go Talisman.
Signets take one colorless mana and convert it into one each of its pairโs two colors. Thatโs powerful, but itโs not as good even though these Signets are far more commonly played in Commander.
Hereโs why. Youโve got two Islands and an Azorius Signet in play with your control deck. You canโt cast Archmage's Charm because of the Signetโs filtering requirements. This doesnโt always come up and it may not be an issue with enough dual lands, but expensive cards with stringent mana requirements like Eerie Ultimatum or Niv-Mizzet, Parun always work best with Talismans over Signets.
Not to mention that thereโs a constant tension on turns where you want to double spell, say turn 5+, when those mana pips start to stack up and you might be caught out unable to cast what you need on a critical turn.
So the answer is to run both Signets and Talismans, but I see a lot of players running only Signets and no Talismans. That seems like too big a risk.
Wrap Up
Talisman of Conviction | Illustration by Lindsey Look
Playing with Talismans is a lot like playing with pain lands, which is to say there's a cost but they're part of a well-functioning mana base. And thatโs good because Talismans are some of the most efficient mana rocks in the game and should be a part of your Commander strategy.
What do you think of these Talismans? Do you agree when it comes to Talismans vs. Signets? Let me know in the comments below or over on the Draftsim Twitter.
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