Mairsil, The Pretender Ideas?
Commander Deck Help forum
Posted on Aug. 10, 2017, 11:14 p.m. by vbfabled
So I just saw the spoiler for Mairsil, the Pretender. Since he hasn't been added to the site yet, he is a 4/4 for that reads "When Mairsil, The Pretender enters the battlefield, you may exile an artifact or creature card from your hand or graveyard and put a cage counter on it.
Mairsil, the Pretender has all activated abilities of all cards you own in exile with cage counters on them. You may activate each of these abilities only once each turn."
So I immediately thought this dude would make an awesome commander. I'm currently trying to think of some of the best cards to take advantage of his abilities as a commander. Some ideas I've already had are Arcanis the Omnipotent, Gilded Lotus, Tree of Perdition, Mercurial Chemister , and Patron of the Moon as well as some utility type stuff like Rings of Brighthearth, Thousand-Year Elixir, and Crackdown Construct. If you have any ideas for cards that'd go great with him, please let me know.
RazortoothMtg says... #4
Remember untap effects for abuse- things like Horseshoe Crab seem terrible but are sweet here.
Mairsil + Anthroplasm + Sage of Hours = infinite turns.
Mairsil + Deadeye Navigator + Lightning Greaves + Gilded Lotus = Infinite mana. Gilded Lotus replacable with Prismatic Geoscope.
August 10, 2017 11:47 p.m.
I don't think cards that reference themselves in their activated abilities will work. Take Tree of Perdition for example. The card with that name is in exile. The card activating the ability is not the same name as the one named in the ability.
But something like Chainer, Dementia Master you get the activated ability but not the restriction in the next paragraph.
August 10, 2017 11:50 p.m.
RazortoothMtg you can only activate each once per turn.
August 10, 2017 11:50 p.m. Edited.
Kyle_Munzy says... #7
There's always Mirror-Mad Phantasm that will mill your entire deck, and from there I'm sure you could piece together a win with Dread Return and Labratory Maniac and that kind of stuff.
August 10, 2017 11:51 p.m.
SteelSentry says... #8
geekmp3 If a card references itself, anything that gets that ability will get that effect. This works for Marsil, Necrotic Ooze, Sakashima the Impostor, etc. This is because there is not a name check attached to the ability, you can replace any instances of a card referencing its own name with "this card"
August 11, 2017 12:16 a.m.
Run it in inalla, exile Arcanis the Omnipotent and AEtherling
Draw 3 cards each end step for u1
August 11, 2017 12:43 a.m.
Yeah and AEtherling's ability will be great for getting more cards caged.
Also really cool infinite ideas, RazortoothMtg, I'll definitely try to fit those in. One concern I have is making full use of red, so keep the suggestions coming in general, and specifically red stuff.
Thanks!
August 11, 2017 2:01 a.m.
Considering Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Torchling as far as red. Torchling goes along with horseshoe crab for untapping while also offering protection from targeted removal
August 11, 2017 2:27 a.m.
KarnAgGolem says... #13
RazortoothMtg i dont think the Anthroplasm works like thoat does it? The active ability specifically mentions its own name, so whouldnt it check to remove counters from anthroplasm but then not see an anthroplasm?
August 11, 2017 10:23 a.m.
RazortoothMtg says... #14
The comprehensive rules state that if a card (like Anthroplasm) says "-creature name- does something", it means the same as "This card does something." Check the reminder text on Quicksilver Elemental.
Something I also just thought of is that I bet the deck will have a lot of the same cards as Experiment Kraj, so you can look at kraj EDH decks for reference. Also check out Kraj on EDHREC
August 11, 2017 11:01 a.m.
Pili-Pala and Gilded Lotus for infinite mana and infinite untap (into Memnarch for infinite steal, Arcanis the Omnipotent for infinite draw). Also, self-referential cards do work:
http://tappedout.net/mtg-questions/mairsil-the-pretender-and-gaining-effects-which-required-a-card-to-sacrifice-itself/#c3121185
I specifically thought about sac effects. Wizards might nerf this, however.
August 11, 2017 11:05 a.m.
You can only activate each ability once a turn, so infinites are a no go
August 11, 2017 11:36 a.m.
RazortoothMtg says... #17
That's why you need a Deadeye Navigator to reset him, then Lightning Greaves or some other haste enabler so he can immediately retap.
August 11, 2017 11:51 a.m.
Yeah, true. Or i could just exile AEtherling and he'll be untouchable as long as I have a blue open.
August 11, 2017 1:50 p.m.
Sensei's Divining Top. Look at the top 3 then tap mairsil to put him on top of your library to dodge removal and cast him again.
August 11, 2017 3:38 p.m.
All awesome.
So here's another concern. What kinds of things can I run as win conditions other than those few infinites?
August 12, 2017 9:43 a.m.
Kyle_Munzy says... #21
You could always run generically good things like Mind's Dilation, but the way Mairsil was created kinda forces you into a more combo oriented strategy.
geekmp3 says... #2
He has all the activated abilities but none of the downsides so things like Demonic Hordes is possible...
razaketh, the foulblooded is legit too.
I plan on abusing the hell out of Deadeye Navigator.
August 10, 2017 11:35 p.m.