Hello and welcome to Weekly Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist!

Mirri is a three mana 3/2 with first strike that whenever they attack, each opponent can’t block with more than one creature this combat and as long as Mirri is tapped, no more than one creature can attack you each combat.

Mirri is an interesting play at a combat control Commander, in which we have some modicum of control in how our opponents block us and attack us. This gives us a few ways to take advantage of this, with go wide being one of the more tempting options.

Having a deck that focuses on the combat phase in such a unique way can help make the deck much more interesting to play with, especially if we can make it so that our opponents would need to block our most annoying creatures while leaving our bigger threats to deal the real damage can be an effective way to win through combat in a nontraditional way.

Look, a Distraction!

The first thing that we need to look at are ways to control which creatures our opponents need to block, just so we can get our actual threats through.

For that we can use a classic card in Lure, an Aura that simply makes it so that all creatures able to block enchanted creature must do so. Simple, effective, and a classic way to help us make sure that our opponents can’t block the real problems.

Alluring Scent and Taunting Challenge are effectively the same in that they are three mana sorceries that cost the same and make it so that all creatures that are able to block target creature do so, and while they happen to both be a bit mana intense in the double green pips, they still are able to get the job done.

There are also Lure effects that happen to either be a secondary effect or have a secondary effect, like Indrik Umbra, which gives the enchanted creature +4/+4, has first strike, and all creatures that are able to block it must do so with the added bonus of having umbra armor.

You Look Upon the Tarrasque is a modal card that is either a Fog effect that prevents all damage that would be dealt to us and creatures we control this turn or we can give target creature we control +5/+5, indestructible, and a Lure effect.

Roar of Challenge is a Lure effect with Ferocious in that the creature it targets gets indestructible until end of turn if we control a creature with power 4 or greater, Seton’s Desire gives the enchanted creature +2/+2 and when we hit Threshold then it also gives the enchanted creature a Lure effect, and Noble Quarry is a Bestow creature that either is itself a Lure effect or gives the creature it enchants a Lure effect while also giving that enchanted creature +1/+1.

That leads perfectly into creatures that are also in and of themselves Lure effects like Shinen of Life’s Roar, which makes it so that all creatures able to block Shinen must do so, but also has the utility of having a Channel ability in which we can pay four mana and discard it to make it it into an additional Lure effect.

Tempting Licid is interesting creature because for a green mana and tap it, it becomes an Aura that gives a Lure effect to the enchanted creature and we can end that effect to make it a creature again for a green mana. A very early version of Bestow to be sure, but one that is a bit more tricky since it can unattach itself and become an extra body for a single green mana that is, by the Oracle text, a special action that can’t be responded to, much like a Morph transformation.

Taunting Elf is the cheapest creature we can cast that is a Lure effect at one mana, Golgari Decoy has the additional utility of having Scavenge to put +1/+1 counters on a creature we control, Treeshaker Chimera is a big body with a Lure effect that when it dies we draw three cards, and Breaker of Armies is just a massive body that can deal with a good chunk of late game big creatures.

Big Threats

The next thing we need are the actual threats that we are going to deploy to help us gain further advantages.

One of the first ones that came to mind for me personally was Ojer Kaslem, Deepest Growth, which when they deal combat damage to a player you reveal that many cards from the top of your library and then you may put a creature and/or a land card from among those cards onto the battlefield, with the rest going on the bottom of your library in a random order. What’s more is that when they die they can become a land that can come back as Ojer Kaslem if we control ten or more permanents.

These sort of saboteur effects are what’s going to serve us well, so something like One with Nature is great because it has it so that whenever the enchanted creature deals combat damage to a player then you can search your library for a basic land and put it onto the battlefield tapped.

Sakiko, Mother of Summer has it so that whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player then you add that much green mana that isn’t lost as steps and phases end until the end of turn, which can be really helpful for some of the bigger spells we want to cast as the game goes on.

We also have a control avenue to play in the saboteur space with cards like Blinding Angel, which when it deals combat damage to a player then that player skips their next combat phase, which can be great if an opponent has a creature that we are having trouble dealing with.

When Caustic Wasps deals combat damage to a player then we may destroy target artifact they control, Soltari Visionary does the same but for enchantments when it deals combat damage to a player, Harnessed Snubhorn let’s us return an artifact or enchantment from our graveyard whenever it deals combat damage, and when Lightwielder Paladin deals combat damage we may exile target red or black permanent that player controls.

There are also cards that, while they may not directly provide a benefit for us when they deal combat damage, they can still help tremendously when we do, like Toski, Bearer of Secrets who let’s us draw a card whenever a creature we control deals combat damage to a player, is indestructible, can’t be countered, and must attack each turn if able.

Ohran Frostfang plays in a similar space to Toski, but only in the angle that whenever a creature we control deals combat damage to a player we draw a card. What it also does for us though is that it gives attacking creatures we control deathtouch, which can be very helpful for making our opponents blocks a little more awkward.

Sphere Grid also does wonders for us here because whenever a creature we control deals combat damage to a player we put a +1/+1 counter on that creature, and creatures we control with +1/+1 counters on them have reach and trample.

Family’s Favor provides a bit of protection for us because whenever we attack we put a shield counter on target attacking creature and until end of turn that creature gains the ability to remove a shield counter from itself if we dealt combat damage to a player with it and if we do we draw a card.

Conclave Sledge-Captain is a bit of extra fun because it has three instances of Backup 1, which means that up to three creatures can get a +1/+1 counter, trample, and whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player then we put that many +1/+1 counters on it. If we happen to stack it all on one creature though we do get to add a bunch of +1/+1 counters to that creature for the turn.

C-c-combo Breaker

Since we want this deck to lean a bit more into a midrange type of deck, then we need ways to deal with opponents that are trying to combo their way into a win.

Angel’s Grace is an interesting card because it makes it so that we can’t lose the game this turn and our opponents can’t win the game this turn and until the end of turn, damage that would reduce our life total to less than 1 reduces it to 1 instead. This helps against aggro decks that out pace us or burn decks that are going for the win.

There is also Everybody Lives! which gives all creatures hexproof and indestructible until the end of turn, gives all players hexproof until the end of turn, and makes it so that player’s can’t lose life this turn and can’t win the game or lose the game this turn.

Deafening Silence can also work really well for us as a control piece because it makes it so that each player can’t cast more than one noncreature spell each turn, which while it can be a bit detrimental to us, we really only need to play one noncreature spell on our turn with the instant speed interaction to prevent our opponents from playing something that can blow us out and be able to recover.

Speaking of blow outs, Ezuri’s Predation is a great card for us because we make a 4/4 Phyrexian Beast creature token for each creature our opponents control and then each of those tokens fights a different one of those creatures. While we will inevitably lose some of those tokens, a good chunk of them should stay to give us more bodies to work with for Mirri.

Winds of Abandon as a spell is great because we can either exile one creature we don’t control or each creature we don’t control if we Overload it, and then for each creature exiled this way its controller searches for a basic land card and puts it onto the battlefield tapped. This helps with creatures that are difficult to remove because of indestructible or hexproof, and because it is exile based we can use it in decks that rely on death triggers.

Game Changers wise we have a few interesting options to choose from, but the one I want to highlight is Drannith Magistrate, which makes it so that our opponents can’t cast spells from anywhere other then their hands.

This is especially brutal in Commander because since the Command Zone counts as a different place then the hand it can hard block your opponents from casting their Commander, which is why it is a Game Changer because it can be a hard lock for some decks to deal with.

Aura Shards can also be a bit of an oppressive card to deal with if we happen to go in a tokens strategy because it makes it so that whenever a creature we control enters the battlefield then we may destroy target artifact or enchantment, which if you wanted to be especially cruel can pair with Mycosynth Lattice to have a complete board wipe in a go wide deck.

Power Through

Now comes onto the methods of how we win the game, of which we have a couple of options depending on what strategy we want to focus on.

Conclave Evangelist is a great way to take Mirri’s ability to the extreme in that whenever Conclave Evangelist deals combat damage to a player then we create a token that’s a copy of it, but what’s more is that it has Myriad, which means that a token copy that is tapped and attacking each opponent other than defending player will be made when it attacks and is exiled at the end of combat, and if those tokens deal combat damage then it will make a ton of copies of it which makes a massive board for us.

While it is a bit slower than Conclave Evangelist, Giant Adephage can also be solid for us because when it deals combat damage to a plater we create a token that’s a copy of it, and it happens to be a 7/7 with trample which is great for us if we just want to deal a ton of damage over time.

Battle Angels of Tyr straddles the line of being solid in a go wide deck and in a control/midrange deck because it also happens to have Myriad and whenever it deals combat damage to a player we draw a card if that player has more cards in hand than each other player, create a Treasure token if they have more lands than each other player, and then gain 3 life if that player has more life than each other player.

If we want a full control payoff then Worldslayer can do it pretty well for us because when the equipped creature deals combat damage to a player then we destroy all other permanents than Worldslayer. Combine that with a Heroic Intervention or a Flawless Maneuver to give permanents or just creatures we control indestructible until the end of turn then we effectively just won the game.

Provided we don’t want to go full bore in the mass board wipe, there are also the various Swords that we have access to to give Mirri, with something like Sword of Body and Mind giving an alternate win condition since it makes a 2/2 Wolf creature token for us when we deal combat damage to a player, and then that player mills ten cards.

As far as alternate win conditions go however, one of the trickier ones that works for us would be Angel of Destiny, which when a creature we control deals combat damage to a player, we both gain that much life and then at the beginning of our end step, if we have 15 or more life then our starting life total then each player who Angel of Destiny attacked this turn loses the game.

This can go in tandem with something like Felidar Sovereign, which has it so that at the beginning of our upkeep if we have 40 or more life, we win the game. We can use our creatures to attack our opponents who can’t really do much to block the incoming damage, gain a ton of life from it from the Angel of Destiny, and then potentially eliminate one player because of it and then force our opponents into a clock to prevent us from winning the game with Felidar Sovereign.

In Conclusion

Mirri is an interesting Commander in that they allow us to play a bit more fast and loose in combat because of how restrictive the blocking can be and is a way to flood gate our opponents from retaliating against us.

Mirri is a much more flexible Commander than I thought because I didn’t even mention that they can be an effective Vehicles or Station Commander because of how we can make use of Mirri’s ability to make it so that our opponents can’t attack us by tapping Mirri to fuel Vehicles or Stations.

What Mirri has trouble with is that with as wide as you can take the deck, it can be very easy to mix up multiple deck strategies and make the deck less effective because you are trying to do one to many things.

It can also be a bit tricky to deal with when Mirri does get removed because a lot of our strategies depend on Mirri being in play in order to prevent our opponents from attacking us, and that plays into the usual issue of keeping our protections spells on hand when we need them.

I still think that Mirri is a cool Commander that has a lot more avenues of play than I initially expected.

Thank you for reading, see you all next time!

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual

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