Empress Galina

Legendary Creature — Merfolk Noble

{U}{U}, {T}: Gain control of target legendary permanent. (This effect doesn't end at end of turn.)

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (50)

YesterdaysGhost on I'm Playing Blue So...

2 weeks ago

Thanks for stopping by, DreadKhan! You certainly get the spirit of this deck with your very tasty suggestions! I love that Mass Diminish is just a far more painful Polymorphist's Jest that you can enjoy twice in a game! In fact every card you've suggested sounds like the sort of fun I want to have with this deck! I'll keep my eyes out for some of these, in particular Mass Diminish, War Tax and Empress Galina.

I'm a huge fan of the art for Cultural Exchange as well, certainly love the far older art style of the early hears of MtG!

DreadKhan on I'm Playing Blue So...

2 weeks ago

Pet decks are so much fun to play, just drawing into certain art (even if they're dead cards at the time) can feel pretty sweet. Here are a few of my favorite Blue cards that can also make an opponent's life difficult! War Tax can be really crazy, you can use it during anyone's turn to limit their attacks. Cultural Exchange can let someone else enjoy your Seacoast Drake (it seems mean to hog fun cards like that, right?), it can also generate a lot of advantage. Mass Diminish is a weird card even by the standards of weird cards, the effect last for a REALLY long time in a bigger game, and it inexplicably has Flashback at a low MV. I'm not sure if it needs support to 'work', but not many cards are as annoying to a table as a resolved Counterbalance. She used to be pricey, but Empress Galina is a REALLY weird Blue card to throw in, if people can't answer it they are going to lose their Commanders. Callous Oppressor is pretty good, steal the best thing and then use it to chump the new biggest thing (and then steal that thing with Oppressor). Fatespinner is a nifty Stax piece that can slow your opponent's game plan quite a bit (but it doesn't nothing if they're wildly ahead, so it's still 'fun'). Not sure if you want the removal, but Transmogrifying Wand is a very good effect if it sticks around, but Oxing even 1 creature can be pretty helpful.

Azoth2099 on Rubinia Soulsinger Pod Theft

1 month ago

Flesh Duplicate & Phyrexian Metamorph would fit in pretty well. Lesser known older tech like Dominate & Empress Galina could be tasty too.

Azoth2099 on March of Mordor

5 months ago

Cheers m8, happy holidays!

So having tested Sauron, the Dark Lord into the dirt since his release, I think you're gonna need to get him on the board waaay faster than this list is currently doing if you really want to be mean like that. I'd recommend a few of the following "means" lol:

Rocks: Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Creativity, Talisman of Indulgence, Dimir Signet, Rakdos Signet, Izzet Signet, Fellwar Stone & Springleaf Drum

Rituals: Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Culling the Weak, Burnt Offering, Sacrifice, Rain of Filth, Bubbling Muck, High Tide, Rite of Flame, Infernal Plunge, Pyretic Ritual, Desperate Ritual & Seething Song.

Cost Reducers: Nightscape Familiar, Sapphire Medallion, Jet Medallion, Ruby Medallion, Cloud Key & Urza's Incubator.

And then there are other value pieces like Conqueror's Flail to go along with The Reaver Cleaver to help you get out of hand once he's summoned, & Faerie Mastermind to draw you cards while your commander builds your board from your opponents actions. Mystic Remora is also great in this sense and is still pretty cheap compared to Rhystic Study. Teferi's Ageless Insight is another banger post-commander that should be considered imo, especially since you can't run Necropotence as efficiently as other {U}{B}{R} decks can.

For more villainy, consider Dauthi Voidwalker, Opposition Agent, Praetor's Grasp, Mnemonic Betrayal, Bribery, Acquire & maybe even something like Empress Galina to really peeve your pod.

Peace!

joni1707x on Merfolks Counting

7 months ago

Rasaru Firstly I want to say thank you for your help so far. Secondly, I updated the decklist, made the changes with the cards that arrived as you said. Respectfully, I wanted to try to play Empress Galina as my playgroup plays strong commanders and I like the idea of stealing them, maybe only once (just for the sake of doing it), but I can imagine excluding her after the first tests/steals. :D

Thirdly, I updated the maybe-board, thank you for noticing the doublings.

Tomorrow I will meet my playgroup, I will write a comment on how it went. Have a nice Day!

Rasaru on Merfolks Counting

7 months ago

If I were to only look at your pending deliveries, I'd make the following changes.

Empress Galina --> Lord of Atlantis

Kumena's Speaker --> Master of the Pearl Trident

Shaper Apprentice --> Realmwalker

Storm Sculptor --> Merfolk Skydiver

Rootwater Diver --> Svyelun of Sea and Sky

Lotus Blossom --> Hadana's Climb  ^Flip

Afiya Grove --> Utopia Sprawl

Thornwood Falls --> Flooded Grove

Vivid Grove --> Rejuvenating Springs

Littjara Mirrorlake --> Dreamroot Cascade

Quandrix Campus --> Windswept Heath

Battlegrowth --> Barkchannel Pathway  ^Flip

Once you make some additional updates and clean up your maybe list (I see some cards there that are also in your main board), I'll be happy to take another look! However, some other cards you should consider (that I don't see in either list) are Emperor Mihail II, Murkfiend Liege, Simic Ascendancy, Kindred Discovery, and Guardian Project. A more more expensive card option could be The Ozolith, but I'd wait on that to see if you like how the deck plays after some changes.

NV_1980 on

1 year ago

Nice deck idea. I think it could benefit a lot though in terms of speed, from changing out some of the higher cost spells for some of lower cost. I play-tested this a few times, but usually had to wait until turn 4 before I could cast my first spell. In terms of cheaper ramp, there's plenty to choose from, but some of my ideas would include Burgeoning, Exploration, Fyndhorn Elves, Llanowar Elves, Lotus Cobra, Nature's Lore and Rampant Growth.

As for other ideas, Helm of the Host seems nice if you want to copy legendaries. I've noticed you've also included a stealing-theme. Maybe Empress Galina strikes your fancy. Great thing about her is that the legendaries you steal with her remain under your control even when she leaves the battlefield.

Have fun with the deck!

carpecanum on Flying Merfolk

1 year ago

Empress Galina is a merfolk in errata and Thada Adel, Acquisitor is amazing.

I would cut Coat of Arms and maybe a card draw enchantment (you have a ton). Coat of arms can really bite you on the ass.