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Commander / EDH Attrition Blink Combo Counters Haste Tap/Untap Theft UBR (Grixis) Value Engine Wheels

WorldEater_42

Land (36)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Cascade Bluffs
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Graven Cairns
• 1x Haunted Ridge
• 2x Island
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Riptide Laboratory
• 1x Shipwreck Marsh
• 1x Snow-Covered Island
• 1x Snow-Covered Mountain
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Stormcarved Coast
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Sunken Ruins
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Training Center
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Xander's Lounge

Bury (2)

• 1x Entomb
• 1x Intuition

CageTap (14)

• 1x Arcanis the Omnipotent
• 1x Avatar of Woe
• 1x Coveted Jewel
• 1x Empress Galina
• 1x Galecaster Colossus
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Jace's Archivist
• 1x Kamahl, Pit Fighter
• 1x Mercurial Chemister
• 1x Pendant of Prosperity
• 1x Prismatic Geoscope
• 1x Shauku, Endbringer
• 1x The One Ring
• 1x Tree of Perdition

DrawFillGrave (7)

• 1x Anvil of Bogardan
• 1x Dack Fayden
• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Sauron's Ransom
• 1x Search for Azcanta  ^Flip
• 1x Tainted Indulgence
• 1x Windfall

Haste (6)

• 1x Anger
• 1x Ashling's Prerogative
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Rising of the Day
• 1x Sting, the Glinting Dagger
• 1x Thousand-Year Elixir

Blink (3)

• 1x Conjurer's Closet
• 1x Essence Flux
• 1x Thassa, Deep-Dwelling

Boardwipe (3)

• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Last One Standing
• 1x Toxic Deluge

Protection (3)

• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Mana Drain

Commander (1)

CageNoTap (8)

• 1x AEtherling
• 1x Chainer, Dementia Master
• 1x Endling
• 1x Mirage Mirror
• 1x Ormos, Archive Keeper
• 1x Pack Rat
• 1x Phyrexian Devourer
• 1x Shadowspear

Ramp (7)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Patriar's Seal
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Dominance

CageUntap (5)

• 1x Cinderhaze Wretch
• 1x Eater of the Dead
• 1x Hateflayer
• 1x Morphling
• 1x Torchling

NowThereAreTwoOfThem (3)

• 1x Sakashima of a Thousand Faces
• 1x Sakashima the Impostor
• 1x Spark Double

Draw (2)

• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Rhystic Study

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Maybeboard

Cage (73)

• 1x Argent Sphinx
• 1x Asmodeus the Archfiend
• 1x Azami, Lady of Scrolls
• 1x Balthor the Defiled
• 1x Beguiler of Wills
• 1x Blighted Bat
• 1x Boompile
• 1x Captivating Crew
• 1x Cauldron of Souls
• 1x Cavern Harpy
• 1x Chaos Wand
• 1x Crimson Mage
• 1x Dark Impostor
• 1x Dimir Doppelganger
• 1x Disciple of the Ring
• 1x Djinn of Infinite Deceits
• 1x Dralnu, Lich Lord
• 1x Faerie Formation
• 1x Firemind Vessel
• 1x Geth, Lord of the Vault
• 1x Grinning Ignus
• 1x Grinning Totem
• 1x Hammer Mage
• 1x Havengul Lich
• 1x Heartless Hidetsugu
• 1x Hex Parasite
• 1x Hoard-Smelter Dragon
• 1x Horror of the Dim
• 1x Horseshoe Crab
• 1x Illusionist's Bracers
• 1x Infernal Denizen
• 1x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip
• 1x Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
• 1x Knacksaw Clique
• 1x Magus of the Mind
• 1x Magus of the Wheel
• 1x Marshland Bloodcaster
• 1x Memnarch
• 1x Mindslaver
• 1x Minion of Leshrac
• 1x Mischievous Poltergeist
• 1x Myr Propagator
• 1x Mystic Archaeologist
• 1x Nephalia Smuggler
• 1x Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1x Nezahal, Primal Tide
• 1x Nightscape Master
• 1x Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
• 1x Oblivion Stone
• 1x Obsidian Fireheart
• 1x Oona, Queen of the Fae
• 1x Ovinomancer
• 1x Perilous Vault
• 1x Pili-Pala
• 1x Quicksilver Dragon
• 1x Quicksilver Elemental
• 1x Rainbow Efreet
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Shifty Doppelganger
• 1x Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
• 1x Skyship Stalker
• 1x Soliton
• 1x Soul of New Phyrexia
• 1x Sphinx of Magosi
• 1x Spikeshot Elder
• 1x Spikeshot Goblin
• 1x Staff of Domination
• 1x Steel Hellkite
• 1x Summoning Station
• 1x The Scarab God
• 1x Viashino Heretic
• 1x Whip of Erebos
• 1x Will-o'-the-Wisp

Mana (24)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Canyon Slough
• 1x Crumbling Necropolis
• 1x Darksteel Ingot
• 1x Darkwater Catacombs
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Fiery Islet
• 1x Flamekin Village
• 1x Heartstone
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Sanctum of Eternity
• 1x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Temple of Epiphany
• 1x Temple of Malice
• 1x Training Grounds
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Blink (12)

• 1x Cloudstone Curio
• 1x Crystal Shard
• 1x Danse Macabre
• 1x Deadeye Navigator
• 1x Displacer Kitten
• 1x Ghostly Flicker
• 1x Identity Thief
• 1x Illusionist's Stratagem
• 1x Release to the Wind
• 1x Siren's Ruse
• 1x Teferi's Time Twist
• 1x Voyager Staff

Removed (8)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Olivia Voldaren
• 1x Search for Azcanta  ^Flip
• 1x Shadowblood Ridge
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Teferi, Master of Time

Haste (7)

• 1x Battlemage's Bracers
• 1x Bloodsworn Steward
• 1x Chainer, Nightmare Adept
• 1x Fervor
• 1x Lightning Mauler
• 1x Mass Hysteria
• 1x Urabrask the Hidden

Clones (6)

• 1x Cursed Mirror
• 1x Endless Evil
• 1x Helm of the Host
• 1x Jaxis, the Troublemaker
• 1x Mirage Phalanx
• 1x Rionya, Fire Dancer

Mill (4)

• 1x Deranged Assistant
• 1x Mesmeric Orb
• 1x Stitcher's Supplier
• 1x Traumatize

Draw (4)

• 1x Dig Through Time
• 2x Expressive Iteration
• 1x Phyrexian Arena

Tricky (2)

• 1x Bloodline Necromancer
• 1x Riptide Shapeshifter

WinCons (1)

• 1x Torment of Hailfire

CantripsLooting (21)

• 1x Ancient Excavation
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Careful Study
• 1x Cathartic Reunion
• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Forbidden Alchemy
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Notion Thief
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Ransack the Lab
• 1x Serum Visions
• 1x Sleight of Hand
• 1x Steam Augury
• 1x Thirst for Knowledge
• 1x Thirst for Meaning
• 1x Tormenting Voice
• 1x Treasure Cruise
• 1x Wheel of Fate
• 1x Whispering Madness

InteractionProtection (13)

• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Fire Covenant
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Narset's Reversal
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Siren Stormtamer
• 1x Spellskite
• 1x Stubborn Denial
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Vandalblast

Tutors (12)

• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Citanul Flute
• 1x Corpse Connoisseur
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Final Parting
• 1x Gamble
• 1x Oriq Loremage
• 1x Scheming Symmetry
• 1x Tainted Pact

Out (7)

• 1x Civilized Scholar  ^Flip
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Hammer of Purphoros
• 1x Intruder Alarm
• 1x Wand of Wonder
• 1x Wheel of Misfortune
• 1x Wizard's Spellbook

Control (6)

• 1x Arcane Laboratory
• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Fade Away
• 1x Leyline of Singularity
• 1x Smoke
• 1x Standstill

Untap (4)

• 1x Aphetto Alchemist
• 1x Magewright's Stone
• 1x Mind Over Matter
• 1x Tidal Force

NowThereAreTwoOfThem (1)

• 1x Irenicus's Vile Duplication

Other (1)

• 1x Rising of the Day

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My take on Mairsil, the Pretender. This is an interactive, controlling build which does not include many typical Mairsil combos, such as Mirror-Mad Phantasm and Sage of Hours. Tutors have been minimised to provide diverse and enjoyable games for me and my play group.

Mairsil only grows stronger with each creature or artifact caged, becoming an ever-evolving commander. Mairsil's ever-growing power and inevitability make this my favourite EDH deck to pilot. As Mairsil is very complicated to pilot, victories are immensely rewarding when they come together.

The maybeboard represents cards I have tested or may test in the future.

Win Conditions

This is a slow, grindy, control deck. Most wins arise due to:

Tree of Perdition

Pingers

Hateflayer, Spikeshot Goblin and Kamahl, Pit Fighter do the damage. Gilded Lotus, Coveted Jewel and Prismatic Geoscope all tap for mana, while Eater of the Dead, Intruder Alarm and Cinderhaze Wretch provide effective repeatable untaps, enabling upwards of 16 damage per turn cycle.

Theft

Empress Galina, Memnarch and Chainer, Dementia Master provide a lot of diverse gameplay experiences that scale with the strength of your opponents' decks.

Gameplan

Mairsil, the Pretender wants three things: haste, blink effects, and powerful cage targets.

Haste

Equipment sources of haste are somewhat awkward with Mairsil, as Mairsil will often be blinking in and out with effects such as AEtherling's activated ability. For this reason, enchantments such as Fervor are preferable. Ashling's Prerogative is a favourite of mine, as it also slows down opponents and our gameplan is highly focused upon Mairsil.

Blink

Far and away, AEtherling is the best creature to cage in most circumstances. It enables Mairsil to dodge everything but multiple pieces of instant-speed removal with ease, and grow stronger in the process. Don't be afraid to cast Mairsil without AEtherling however, as there are many other ways to cage new abilities.

Powerful cage targets

My favourite cage targets include Arcanis the Omnipotent, Pendant of Prosperity and Mirage Mirror. The latter leads to a lot of fun and provides boardwipe protection (copy a land!).

Lands and Ramp

The manabase contains a relatively high quantity of mountain-type lands to ensure that Anger is always enabled. Mairsil is both highly colour intensive and needs untapped sources around several critical turns (3-5), so do not be afraid to experiment with filter lands such as Graven Cairns.

Utility lands such as Riptide Laboratory and Minamo, School at Water's Edge provide additional protection/ETBs and untaps for Mairsil respectively.

Talismans (i.e. Talisman of Dominance) are included over signets as these are more effective when caged if Mairsil is desparate for a mana-generating activating ability.

Fellwar Stone is a must for Mairsil's quote in the flavour text! This goes all the way back to the Dark.

Interaction

Our general should be performing most of the interaction beyond the early turns, so only a few cheap, efficient interactive instants are included. Cyclonic Rift and Last One Standing are both fantastic at containing difficult board states.

Note that much of this interaction can be flashed back with Dralnu, Lich Lord when caged.

Card draw

Low-CMC card draw spells such as Mystic Remora ensure Mairsil finds a good cage target, blink effect or haste as necessary by the time it is cast on curve.

Fact or Fiction is incredible to resolve, as any juicy cage targets that are placed in the graveyard can often be caged at next summon. Looters such as Teferi, Master of Time are also very powerful as Mairsil can use creatures and artifcats in the graveyard.

Blinks and Clones

Blink effects such as Essence Flux and Conjurer's Closet allow Mairsil to grow stronger in addition to reusing tap abilities.

Non-legendary clones such as Spark Double, Sakashima the Impostor and Sakashima of a Thousand Faces are even better, as each nonlegendary copy of Mairsil has all of its activated abilities.

Notable Exclusions

Mirror-Mad Phantasm deck yourself: an A/B combo that plays out identically each time, which I do not enjoy.

The Sage of Hours/Anthroplasm infinite turns combo is similarly unfun for me and my opponents. Both of these cards are quite weak when caged individually so I have dropped them in this tutorless build.

I find Quicksilver Elemental to be more of a win-more option outside of combo-oriented builds of Mairsil. I've therefore cut it from this value-oriented, grindy build.

Mairsil is the best way for us to interact with our opponents' troublesome permanents. As a result, I am not running many grixis staples such as Chaos Warp and Terminate.

Mairsil and most of its activated abilities are very colour-intensive. As a result, I have cut Reliquary Tower to improve the consistency of having access to all 3 colours in the early game. This deck also feels OK about discarding a large amount of cards in the event of > 7 cards regardless as cage targets can be placed directly in the graveyard.

Potential Upgrades

Hall of the Bandit Lord represents another potential source of haste, though its inability to tap for coloured mana is concerning. Critically, the haste from this land lasts longer than 1 turn in comparison to Flamekin Village.

The manabase could be upgraded further with the likes of Cavern of Souls, Scalding Tarn and true duals.

Relevant Rulings

Sakashima the Impostor functions as a non-legendary clone of Mairsil. It allows another cage-on-ETB and itself can use all of Mairsil's abilities as advised by Bennie Smith in http://www.starcitygames.com/article/35671_Commander-2017-Cage-Set-Match.html .

Good ruling on Shifty Doppelganger: https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-rulings/782066-mairsil-and-shifty-doppelganger

Hateflayer, Spikeshot Goblin and Kamahl, Pit Fighter can target players and planeswalkers as per: https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=152155 and https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=442141 https://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=106398

Feedback and suggestions are welcome, and if you liked the deck please consider an upvote :)

Date added	5 years
Last updated	2 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 67 - 0 Rares 13 - 0 Uncommons 6 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.55
Tokens	Copy Clone, Emblem Dack Fayden, The Ring, The Ring Tempts You, Treasure
Folders	EDH