Old Dogs New Tricks by Walterboi77

Format: Commander

Commander: Iroh, Grand Lotus

Bracket: 2

DeckCheck Threat Index: 27

Deck overview

This Temur spellslinger deck is helmed by Iroh, Grand Lotus, turning the Lesson mechanic into a continuous engine of card advantage and burn damage. Early turns are spent developing lands with ramp spells like Cultivate and Aang's Journey while pitching or casting cheap Lessons into the graveyard. Once Iroh enters the battlefield on Turn 6, every Lesson in the graveyard gains flashback {1}, enabling explosive turns where cheap utility spells are recast for minimal mana. This velocity directly feeds burn payoffs such as Guttersnipe, Kessig Flamebreather, and Thermo-Alchemist, while damage multipliers like Fated Firepower accelerate life loss. Big-mana spells and rituals like Mana Geyser facilitate massive combo-like turns without requiring infinite loops. The deck is resilient against targeted spot removal thanks to cheap redirect effects, though it remains inherently susceptible to mass graveyard hate and creature board wipes.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Aang's Journey
  • 1 Abandon Attachments
  • 1 Accumulate Wisdom
  • 1 Airship Engine Room
  • 1 Barkchannel Pathway // Tidechannel Pathway
  • 1 Bolt Bend
  • 1 Boomerang Basics
  • 1 Braid of Fire
  • 1 Bumi, King of Three Trials
  • 1 Burning Inquiry
  • 1 Combustion Technique
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Containment Breach
  • 1 Cragcrown Pathway // Timbercrown Pathway
  • 1 Cultivate
  • 1 Cycle of Renewal
  • 1 Earthbending Lesson
  • 1 End the Festivities
  • 1 Energybending
  • 1 Environmental Sciences
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Fated Firepower
  • 1 Firebending Lesson
  • 1 Flame Rift
  • 2 Forest
  • 1 Germination Practicum
  • 1 Gran-Gran
  • 1 Growth Spiral
  • 1 Guru Pathik
  • 1 Guttersnipe
  • 1 How to Start a Riot
  • 1 Illuminate History
  • 1 Improvisation Capstone
  • 1 Introduction to Annihilation
  • 1 Introduction to Prophecy
  • 1 Iroh's Demonstration
  • 1 Iroh, Grand Lotus
  • 5 Island
  • 1 It'll Quench Ya!
  • 1 Jeong Jeong, the Deserter
  • 1 Jwari Disruption // Jwari Ruins
  • 1 Karplusan Forest
  • 1 Kessig Flamebreather
  • 1 Lambholt Raconteur // Lambholt Ravager
  • 1 Light Up the Stage
  • 1 Lost Days
  • 1 Mana Geyser
  • 1 Master Pakku
  • 9 Mountain
  • 1 Myriad Landscape
  • 1 Octopus Form
  • 1 Omashu City
  • 1 Origin of Metalbending
  • 1 Overwhelming Victory
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Price of Freedom
  • 1 Professor Zei, Anthropologist
  • 1 Pyretic Ritual
  • 1 Reckless Blaze
  • 1 Redirect Lightning
  • 1 Resonating Lute
  • 1 Seething Song
  • 1 Seismic Sense
  • 1 Seize the Spoils
  • 1 Silundi Vision // Silundi Isle
  • 1 Sokka's Haiku
  • 1 Sokka, Bold Boomeranger
  • 1 Solstice Revelations
  • 1 Song-Mad Treachery // Song-Mad Ruins
  • 1 Spikefield Hazard // Spikefield Cave
  • 1 Start from Scratch
  • 1 Teachings of the Archaics
  • 1 Temur Battle Rage
  • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
  • 1 The Legend of Roku // Avatar Roku
  • 1 Thermo-Alchemist
  • 1 Thriving Bluff
  • 1 True Ancestry
  • 1 Uncle Iroh
  • 1 Urza's Rage
  • 1 Vineglimmer Snarl
  • 1 Waterbending Lesson
  • 1 Whirlwind Technique
  • 1 White Lotus Hideout
  • 1 Zuko's Exile
  • 1 Zuko, Exiled Prince