Today's Commander is a Hardened Scales on a stick, but better, because she works will all the counters.

Given her ability to grant extra counters, it makes sense to partner her with Master Chef. After all, Selesnya () is well-known for its ability to go wide with lots of Creatures, and every 1/1 would come in as a 3/3. In fact, almost every deck using Lae'zel on EDHREC.com partners her with Master Chef.

Let's do something different. Let's see if we can make her more than a supporting character. Let's make her the star.

Here's my thinking. If we play Agent of the Shadow Thieves on turn two and Lae'zel on turn three, we're attacking someone with a 5/5 Deathtouch Indestructible creature on turn four. Each turn following that she'll go up by 2 power. That seems good.

The obvious thing to do is to go with a Voltron strategy and suit her up with Equipment and Auras which give her more evasion and boost her even more; with things like Ring of Thune we could have her at absurd levels of power rather quickly and conceivably one-shot people with her. But I wonder if there's something else we can do? Something which would also work with her ability?

There it is. We play Ajani, Caller of the Pride on turn four, tick him up (to seven Loyalty. He enters with four, but our Commander puts an extra on him when he comes in. Then we add one for his plus ability, but we get an extra - thanks Lae'zel!), and swing for seven rather than five. Seems good. So, we're Orzhov () Superfriends Voltron. I like it.

Lae'zel Superfriends | Commander | Mark Wischkaemper

• Commander (1)
• 1 Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion

• Background (1)
• 1 Agent of the Shadow Thieves

• Creatures (3)
• 1 Battlegrace Angel
• 1 Burnished Hart
• 1 Sublime Archangel

• Planeswalkers (26)
• 1 Ajani Steadfast
• 1 Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants
• 1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
• 1 Ajani, Inspiring Leader
• 1 Basri Ket
• 1 Basri, Devoted Paladin
• 1 Elspeth Resplendent
• 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
• 1 Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis
• 1 Elspeth, Undaunted Hero
• 1 Gideon Blackblade
• 1 Kaya the Inexorable
• 1 Kaya, Bane of the Dead
• 1 Liliana, Death Wielder
• 1 Liliana, Dreadhorde General
• 1 Nahiri, the Lithomancer
• 1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
• 1 Sorin the Mirthless
• 1 Sorin, Grim Nemesis
• 1 Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord
• 1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
• 1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
• 1 Sorin, Vampire Lord
• 1 Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord
• 1 The Wandering Emperor
• 1 Vraska, Scheming Gorgon

• Instants (1)
• 1 Return to Dust

• Sorceries (6)
• 1 Austere Command
• 1 Fumigate
• 1 Kaya's Wrath
• 1 Spread the Sickness
• 1 Urza's Ruinous Blast
• 1 Wanderer's Strike

• Enchantments (5)
• 1 Angelic Benediction
• 1 Banishing Light
• 1 Oath of Gideon
• 1 Quarantine Field
• 1 Underworld Connections

• Artifacts (17)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Bonder's Ornament
• 1 Champion's Helm
• 1 Contagion Clasp
• 1 Contagion Engine
• 1 Explorer's Scope
• 1 Infiltration Lens
• 1 Luxior, Giada's Gift
• 1 Magnifying Glass
• 1 Mask of Avacyn
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Patriar's Seal
• 1 Rogue's Gloves
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of Truth and Justice
• 1 The Chain Veil

• Lands (40)
• 9 Swamp
• 14 Plains
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Cathedral of War
• 1 Fetid Heath
• 1 Forge of Heroes
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Homeward Path
• 1 Idyllic Grange
• 1 Isolated Chapel
• 1 Karn's Bastion
• 1 Kor Haven
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 1 Nesting Grounds
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Silent Clearing
• 1 Springjack Pasture
• 1 Temple of Silence
• 1 Vault of the Archangel

Buy This Deck Export text format

The basic idea here is pretty simple: Play Lae'zel, attack the opponent with the highest life total. We play out 'walkers to buff up Lae'zel more, occasionally do other things, and mostly to distract people from the fact they're about to die to our 3/3 Commander. There are a few specifics, though, so let's talk them through.

Our 40 lands mostly come into play untapped, because with this deck we really want to make those first few turns count. This is a rare exception to my traditional mode of land-ramp-then do stuff; we do have some mana rocks, but they're for later. The first couple of turns should be devoted to getting our Commander in play and starting to attack. If we can equip an Explorer's Scope in the early game, that'll be amazing, but it's more likely we'll use Magnifying Glass to make Clues than to speed us along. It's worth noting Patriar's Seal is nifty because it gives our Commander pseudo-Vigilance, which is awesome when she's huge because she'll be a great blocker.

Because Lae'zel will often be getting in, we have Rogue's Gloves. Because she'll often be blocked, we have Infiltration Lens. Because that doesn't always work, we have Underworld Connections. A few of our Planeswalkers draw us cards, too, and as mentioned, some of our mana rocks can get us a few extra. We are a touch light on repeatable card draw in this deck; it's possible it wants a Phyrexian Arena-style effect or two. Hopefully our 'walkers and their various abilities will make up for fewer cards flowing to our hand.

As mentioned, the basic goal is to pump Lae'zel into the stratosphere and swing for the fences. She will get chumped sometimes, but we have a few ways to grant evasion by giving her Flying. Rogue's Passage is, as always, amazing in a deck like this. Eventually we'll be able to push her through and hit someone really hard.

In the meantime, in addition to all our 'walkers, we've got a few answers to specific problems. One key thing we can do is Wrath the board - as long as it's after we've attacked, our Commander is indestructible, so we can blow everything up and keep our Commander. That should open up the field. We've also got a couple of Enchantment-based removal spells, because sometimes Banishing Light is the only thing that works.

Before we talk Planeswalkers, we have a slight Exalted sub-theme. Just a few cards, but they should help when they land. Battlegrace Angel will gain us a bunch of life. Sublime Archangel turns all our little Tokens (should we have any) into additional buffs. And Angelic Benediction can tap down the Creature someone's counting on to defend themselves, forcing a different block or just getting us through. We also have some Proliferate cards; Contagion Clasp and Contagion Engine both kill things, but adding multiple counters to our 'walkers and our Commander seems good. Sword of Truth and Justice was tailor-made for this deck, despite our Commander's apparent affiliation with the Shadow Thieves.

Most of the 'walkers were chosen because they can pump Lae'zel in some way, but not all. Some of them make Tokens, which serve as blockers, or they can get us around forced Sacrifice effects. They can even be their own win condition; if that Ajani manages to make us 32 Cats or something and we can make an Emblem with Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, there's a good chance we can just win the game. Putting counters on Lae'zel was top priority, but the abilities to make extra Tokens, kill or disrupt our opponent's boards, and draw cards were also highly valued. In honor of all these Planeswalkers, we're also running The Chain Veil, which is pretty killer when it's unlikely you won't have a Planeswalker out. It's a great way to use mana if we have extra, too. Oath of Gideon also throws a couple of extra bodies on the ground and gives us yet another Loyalty on our 'walkers. With Lae'zel and the Oath, a Planeswalker which enters with three Loyalty will enter with five. Elspeth Resplendent can ultimate the turn she comes in to play. So can Kaya the Inexorable. We'll take it.

I'd love to hear what you think about this deck. Master Chef is so clearly the obvious pairing, but something like this will be unexpected and hopefully fun. If you have ideas, please share them in the comments!

Thanks for reading.