Overview
Reap the Tides is a landfall deck with a very high land count. Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait lets you play an additional land on each of your turns, and whenever a land you control enters, you may draw a card. The deck includes 44 lands (including 15 Forests and 15 Islands), so that trigger happens very often.
The 99 cards are 30 creatures, 4 artifacts, 3 enchantments, 8 instants, 10 sorceries and 44 lands. The creatures include landfall payoffs such as Rampaging Baloths, Avenger of Zendikar, Sporemound and Trench Behemoth, and a set of giant sea monsters, including Scourge of Fleets, Shipbreaker Kraken, Tromokratis and Stormtide Leviathan. Cards such as Explore, Growth Spiral and Urban Evolution allow extra land plays, and Seer's Sundial and Retreat to Kazandu reward every land.
Key Cards
Playing the Deck
The early game is about lands and ramp. Rampant Growth, Cultivate, Kodama's Reach, Search for Tomorrow, Explore and Growth Spiral fetch and play extra lands, Coiling Oracle, Yavimaya Elder and Ramunap Excavator help you find lands, and Sol Ring and Simic Signet provide mana. Khalni Heart Expedition and Ior Ruin Expedition cash in your landfall triggers.
The middle of the game is about drawing cards and making tokens. Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait draws a card for each land, Seer's Sundial draws more, Sporemound and Rampaging Baloths make tokens, and Retreat to Kazandu adds counters or life. Meloku the Clouded Mirror turns lands into flying Illusions, Fathom Mage and Sharktocrab grow with counters, and Murkfiend Liege pumps your green and blue creatures.
The late game is about huge sea monsters and a reset. Tromokratis, Shipbreaker Kraken, Stormtide Leviathan, Nezahal, Primal Tide and Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep are huge, and Whelming Wave returns all creatures except Krakens, Leviathans, Octopuses and Serpents. Terastodon destroys noncreature permanents, Simic Sky Swallower has flying, trample and shroud, and Sphinx of Uthuun draws a pile of cards.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths: The deck has a huge amount of card draw and ramp, and its monsters are far larger than most precon creatures. It also has good interaction and protection, including Counterspell, Arcane Denial, Beast Within, Acidic Slime, Into the Roil and Swiftfoot Boots.
Weaknesses: Almost everything in the deck is expensive, so it relies on its ramp and land drops, and it has few cheap creatures to defend itself early. Several monsters, such as Stormtide Leviathan, make lands Islands and stop creatures without flying or islandwalk from attacking, which affects both players, so they should be used carefully.
Want to improve it? See the Reap the Tides upgrade guide: twelve swaps with the data behind each one.
Want to see what a fully optimised Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait build looks like? Try the Oracle.
✦ Build with The OracleFrequently Asked Questions
What cards are in the Reap the Tides decklist?
The Reap the Tides precon is a 100-card Commander deck led by Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait. The full Reap the Tides decklist, with every card, current prices and a button to copy the list into your deck builder, is on this page.
When was Reap the Tides released?
Reap the Tides was released on November 20, 2020 as part of Commander Legends.
Who is the commander of Reap the Tides?
Reap the Tides is led by Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, a Simic (U/G) legendary creature.
How many creatures are in Reap the Tides?
The 99 cards besides Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait include 30 creatures.
How many lands does Reap the Tides have?
Reap the Tides has 44 lands in the 99 cards besides Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, including basic lands.
Full Decklist
All 100 cards from the out-of-the-box Reap the Tides precon, with current prices. Click any card to expand it.