Necromancer's Magemark

Enchantment — Aura

Enchant creature

Creatures you control that are enchanted get +1/+1.

If a creature you control that's enchanted would be put into a graveyard, return it to its owner's hand instead.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	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
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (20)

Mana_Mythic_Legendary on Pursuing Perfection, Part 7: Dimir …

2 years ago

Ah, Dimir. Blue-black is where you come to turn an opponent’s soul these exact colors, sidestepping their defenses in order to slip a scalpel right in their feels. Combining the thematic terror of black with all the manipulations of blue, if you think about it, is one of the most disturbing, creepy tactics in magic. Forget psychological warfare: blue-black is about marinating the psyche of your opponent in anxiety, slow-roasting it over the fires of depression, lathering it in the sauce of their own inadequacy, and finally feeding them their own deliciously barbecued will to live. Think I'm exaggerating? Consider these titles. Glimpse the Unthinkable. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver. Freaking Brainbite!!!

If you think this comes from a place of dislike, think again. I have a deep affection for this nasty little mix. Making opponents flip their collective gourds in a sporting way makes me very, very happy. Today, we’ll be going over three primary themes of commanders who embody Dimir chicanery: Mill, Rogues, and Theft. As always, please bear in mind the point isn’t to discuss the competitive but rather to celebrate the thematic.

Mill

The magic equivalent of memory loss, mill suffers in commander: eating through 99 cards is a tall order, and opponents with an original eldrazi titan somewhere in there may well fetch you the worst insult of all and ignore you. There are ways around that, of course, but this is an inarguably uphill climb. Which, of course, makes for a delightful challenge the Dimir will gleefully help you meet. Just ask Nemesis of Reason. It’s very, very hard to protect one’s library, and there’s something truly horrible in watching all your goodies piff away without even hitting your hand.

If you’ve read this series through, you might remember that my oldest deck is mono-green. It’ll be no surprise to you, then, that when I was learning commander I lived in abject horror of Oona. Anyone running a mono-colored deck is going to feel targeted by this hideously nasty commander. Do you even need a strategy to play her, beyond ramp? Honestly, she rather plays herself: even outside her chosen prey, “Exile X” on a stick is very, very spicy, and when you’ve got your chosen prey they may well scoop when you play Kindred Discovery. Remember those eldrazi? Screw those eldrazi.

Hail the mighty poo beetle. No, it doesn’t actively mill, but HOLY BALLS OF ROLLING SHIT does it reward milling! There is a fine, fine pool of zombies in dimir colors, and when that palls you can make your own. I’ve never seen this played, but to be honest I don’t want to, especially since the mighty poo beetle will always be five mana… maybe I want to see this played. By me. Scry X? Bleed X? Army of the Damned, anyone?

Now this is general damage. This is also, in my opinion, a genuinely bad idea for those who aim for winning rather than fun. Seven mana for a 5/5 flyer who doesn’t actually do damage to opponents? Less than competitive, shall we say, but certainly neat and themey. Stuff like Dauthi Voidwalker or Leyline of the Void do nothing to undermine Szadek’s growing spree, and embiggening this already self-embiggening boi could make for a very, very scary board presence. And seeing this work, making this work, would be undeniably fun.

Rogues

I say ‘rogues’ not as the creature type, but as the overall concept of sneaky sneaks sneaking off to perpetrate sneakiness. See Rogue Class or Dimir Cutpurse and you’ll get where I’m coming from. Dimir is the guild of spies and intrigue, so it’s no surprise that blue-black rewards the “Doink! Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk” playstyle. If your passion drives you toward little bodies that pilfer, plunder, or otherwise profit on the swing, look no further.

Zareth is an odd choice to be commander. He functionally has Ninjutsu, but unlike a certain upcoming favorite has no provision for command zones. If you like thinking around corners, there is actually a fair bit of support to be found. Run an aura theme, for instance, and stick Necromancer's Magemark on a spare dude. Or Phantom Wings on the man himself. Zareth will reward you, and as for the second half of his text, it’s a doozy. Mill/kill your opponent’s stuff, then steal it. Good times.

This is a heavily themed card, combining tribal, milling, and draw elements in a nice little vampiric package. Not quite the unpleasant beast that the original Anowon is, but still nice. Be sure to include Notorious Throng.

Instead of a profitable army of petty thugs, you may prefer just the one guy. For actual command damage, Szadek’s replacement has an inarguably better grasp of the job. Mill yourself. You know you can. Clone yourself an unblockable midget, then switch into a Phyrexian Dreadnought (or something similarly large but more affordable) before you tag them. This guy is an absurdly versatile toolkit. Just avoid jerks with Lignify. Hehehe…

Theft

We’ve talked thieves, now let’s talk actual yoink. Blue and black are the only colors with access to consistent, long-term swipage, and combining them inevitably brings you to a natural conclusion: why make a plan when you can steal someone else’s?

Keiga, the Tide Star called. She’s pressing charges on the grounds of copyright infringement. Dragon? Check. Six mana? Check. Theft? Big ol’ check. When combined with blink and a sac outlet, this big and greedy cheese can steal an army. And, if you do this to a super-friends player, maybe lose you a friendship.

This guy’s just neat, especially if there’s some cocky twit in your local meta who likes taking extra turns. Mill him a bit, then tag him. He’ll stop that right quick. Bonus points if you get somebody to make a custom version of this guy as a certain cosmic entity. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh, Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

Do you like Sen Triplets, but not artifacts, white, or being thrown out of playgroups? Xanathar doesn’t pilfer hands, but libraries are fair game. The utility of certain tutors is suddenly very, very much in the eye of the beholder (sorry, I had to). Run stuff like Thoughtpicker Witch, Painful Memories, or Sealed Fate, and enjoy your monopoly on topdecks… I kind of want this one too.

And, for my personal favorite...

My darling, dearest Yuriko. Readers know my love for Kamigawa, so imagine my roaring delight when this beauty was released. There are 346 rogues currently in print. There are only 22 ninjas, and not all of them are good, but even the piddliest ninja becomes horrifying when Yuriko is out (and thanks to ninjutsu, she’s ALWAYS out). There’s a weird imbalance encouraged here: lots of inexpensive bodies digging for absurdly expensive spells. At the worst, you draw some cards. At absolute best, you smack the table for eleven damage by revealing Temporal Trespass… which you then cast for three mana, you magnificent bastard.

That's it for this round. Thoughts and questions are welcome. I hope you enjoyed it, and will come back next week for Rakdos!

Prior Articles:

Green, with links to the other mono-colors

Azorius

Gidgetimer on Nightmare Shepherd exile interaction mechanics

3 years ago

Correct. There are two current rules pertaining to commanders changing zones.

903.9a If a commander is in a graveyard or in exile and that object was put into that zone since the last time state-based actions were checked, its owner may put it into the command zone. This is a state-based action. See rule 704.

903.9b If a commander would be put into its owner’s hand or library from anywhere, its owner may put it into the command zone instead. This replacement effect may apply more than once to the same event. This is an exception to rule 614.5.

I wouldn't say that the rulings on Rescue from the Underworld are necessarily outdated. It is just much harder to get it to apply to the command zone. An enchanted commander that is sacrificed to Rescue from the Underworld with Necromancer's Magemark out can still go directly to the command zone.

DragonSliver09 on Does this work the way …

4 years ago

ok so i just read the link about cost reduction. thats pretty weird.

either way, none of the Necromancer's Magemark interactions you mentioned are specific to bestow creatures. the same thing can be done with any other creature.

when you say "From this point I could cast the returned Nyxborn Shieldmate for W targeting one sheildmate, and sacrificing the other.", that doesn't make any sense why you would do that. you end up back at square one, because you end with one shieldmate enchanted by another shieldmate, just like how you started. the only difference is the 3rd shieldmate went from hand to graveyard.

saluma on Does this work the way …

4 years ago

DragonSliver09 I think he means to have a sac outlet aswell. You bestow a creature with bestow. Then sac the enchanted creature. It Will go back to the hand. The creature that was a aura becomes a creature. Use the bestow cost of the creature you returnd to your hand on the bestow creature on the battlefield. As long as you have a LOT of mana and another creature enchanted with Necromancer's Magemark and a sac outlet, you Will have this... Value engine?

Kavle on Does this work the way …

4 years ago

Ok, say I have a Nyxborn Shieldmate as a creature out enchanted by another Nyxborn Shieldmate, another creature enchanted by Necromancer's Magemark , and a Blood Funnel .

I cast another Nyxborn Shieldmate for W targeting either your already enchanted Nyxborn Shieldmate (both aura sheildmates become creatures) when you sacrifice the creature sheildmate for Blood Funnel .

Additionally, because the creature sheildmate was enchanted by an aura, it has Necromancer's Magemark raise dead effect returning it to my hand.

From this point I could cast the returned Nyxborn Shieldmate for W targeting one sheildmate, and sacrificing the other.

There would be other cards that work well with this like Athreos, God of Passage , Blood Artist , Hall of Heliod's Generosity , Sigil of the Empty Throne , and my favorite Bitter Ordeal .

And I found this hiding: Bestow and Cost Modifications

I'm just making sure this part is correct: "So, by the time you get to applying Thalia, it’s a noncreature spell and will cost you 1 more. By the time you get to applying Heartless Summoning, it’s not a creature so you won’t get the discount."

If Thalia, Guardian of Thraben would increase the cost because it's a noncreature, then Blood Funnel should reduce it too, right?

I think I answered your question and brought it back around to my question in maybe too many words there lol.

DragonSliver09 on Does this work the way …

4 years ago

not sure what you mean by "bestow a creature with bestow". and reuse it how? if a creature with bestow is attached to a creature and that creature dies, the bestow creature becomes a creature by itself anyway. theres no interaction between Necromancer's Magemark and bestow creatures specifically.

DragonSliver09 on Does this work the way …

4 years ago

just out of curiosity, what is the value of Necromancer's Magemark and bestow creatures?

Kavle on Does this work the way …

4 years ago

So I was building a deck that is trying to use Necromancer's Magemark and bestow creatures for value. I started looking into cost reduction effects and found Starfeild Mystic, which seems awesome in the deck, but then I saw Blood Funnel .

So in doing some research into the bestow mechanic, found this page: https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Bestow

It states that if a card is cast for it's bestow cost it becomes an enchant aura, but if it's target becomes illegal (like dying or being exiled) it changes into an enchantment creature and resolves.

So my questions are if I cast a card for it's bestow cost will Blood Funnel reduce it's cost since it's being cast as an aura? And if so, when I cast a card for it's bestow cost, Blood Funnels sacrifice trigger will go onto the stack above the bestow card right? Which means if I sacrifice the creature it's targeting it will then just turn into a creature also right? If this works I think I might try an build some weird aristocrat style deck lol.