Zevlor...Zevlor...

Wasn't he a Power Rangers villain?

Eh, close enough

Once a formidable warrior under the Elturgard Hellriders (not those Hellriders), Zevlor, Elturel Exile may have hit a rough patch in life, but it's not dulled his lethality in the slightest. The dual sword-wielding Tiefling warrior is more than capable of dispatching the opposition, especially taking his Grixis-alignment into consideration. The color-trio is infamous for destruction and disruption, with plenty of card advantage to keep the fires burning. Zevlor's penchant for copying said fireballs only amplifies an already-deadly gameplan. Despite his combat-aligned lore, Zevlor, Elturel Exile's skills shine brightest in a spell-slinger deck.

Though Zevlor can't generate death rays himself, his ability to copy spells twice-over turns any spot removal into a three-for-one. If the crosshairs fall onto the sorry skull of an opponent, he can guarantee your other two foes will feel the pain as well. With spell-copying serving as a key strategy, it's important to bear the following in mind: Copies of spells are not cast. Thus, cards like Primal Amulet and Thing in the Ice won't count any copies crafted by Zevlor's ability. The sheer multitude of Instants and Sorceries in our arsenal still warrants such inclusions, but bear in mind that copied-spells won't supercharge them. However, there is one ability that specifically mentions copied-spells: Magecraft. This tasty mechanic counts both spells cast and copied, allowing Zevlor, Elturel Exile's talent to triple up on triggers.

Make all the mana. Draw all the cards.

Exciting stuff, but there's a final bit of rules-drudgery to cover before we press on. Zevlor, Elturel Exile received some immediate errata - an official rules-change by WotC - shortly after spoiling. It now reads: "The next time you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets only a single opponent or a single permanent an opponent controls...". This change prevents Zevlor from copying cards that can target a single opponent while also targeting you (Ex. - Prismari Command). However, cards that benefit you without self-targeting (Ex. - Sakashima's Will) are totally open for Zevlor to Xerox. Also, a card need not specify "opponent" in order for Zevlor to work, as any card that says "target player" counts so long as the player getting targeted is a single opponent (Ex. - Portent).

Worst Fears by Eric Deschamps

Pictured: A local judge tackling Zevlor rules questions

All righty, with those regulations covered, break down our Commander and all his degenerate potential!

1. Let's start off simple. We'll talk about copying big, flashy spells soon, but before we're able to annihilate opponents and/or steal their armies, we've gotta establish a foundation. Zevlor, Elturel Exile costs four mana on his own. Then we need to spend mana to cast something, then another two mana to copy it. Due to Zevlor's Haste, this is feasible the same turn he lands on the table, but it'll require a hefty investment in real estate and cards. While the possibility of Peek and Portent turning into cheaper Concentrates is stellar, don't hesitate to snap off these cards early in order to hit land drops. In addition to rock-based ramp, we'll also include sources of Treasure (Ex. - Dockside Extortionist) and Instant/Sorcery-fuel (Ex. - Sorcerer Class) to set up a solid base.

2. With Zevlor, Elturel Exile's ability to turn cantrips into pseudo-Ancestral Recalls, alongside a variety of other card advantage outlets, we'll want tools to ensure a stacked hand doesn't go to waste. The more cards we can hang onto, the better the odds of chaining together powerhouse after powerhouse to victory. Wizard Class, Reliquary Tower, Thought Vessel, Sea Gate Restoration // Sea Gate, Reborn, and Triskaidekaphile remove all limits on hand size, with the latter even providing an alternate win condition if we're able to keep the cardboard flowing.

3. All plans are for naught if we're too dead to execute them. Fortunately, being the Grixis overlords that we are, the coffers overflow with removal. Cards like Deadly Rollick, Chaos Warp, and Leadership Vacuum are quick and flexible means to nix enemy threats made triply-so off the back of our own general. Early game, we'll use Terminate and company to keep our heads. Later on, those kill spells all transform into mini-Plague Winds.

4. Alternatively, rather than kill enemy creatures, we could simply employ them. Our mid-to-late game focuses on such haymaker-style plays. Cards like Slave of Bolas, Invoke the Winds, and Hurl Through Hell address threats by enlisting them to our side of the table. Or would could simply take the initiative to go through enemy decks ourselves via Stolen Goods, Bribery, Praetor's Grasp, and Acquire. Energized by Zevlor, all of these plays are game-changing, but even more powerful than controlling an enemy's resources is taking control of the enemy, themselves. Head Games will reduce all hands to basic lands, and the mighty Worst Fears slaps a copy-friendly Mindslaver onto everyone for a full turn cycle.

5. While all of the above devilry comes together, your team will be rewarding you and Zevlor for all the spell-casting shenanigans. We've already mentioned our preference for Magecraft, but we've also ways to recur spells (Kess, Dissident Mage, Efreet Flamepainter, Cormela, Glamor Thief), cast them off the top of our deck (Prosper, Tome-Bound, Urabrask, Heretic Praetor), or copy them in other ways (Twinning Staff, Primal Amulet, Arcane Bombardment). The more spells we cast, the more powerful creatures like Mizzix of the Izmagnus and Smoldering Egg // Ashmouth Dragon grow.

In review, our suite of spells is built to play double-duty. Early on, they're designed to help set up proper mana and keep us alive from threats. Once we've enough land to pour mana into Zevlor, Elturel Exile, those same spells become powerful methods by which to fully control the board. And restock our hand. Once control is established, it's simply a matter of stealing an army (or an opponent) or three to slam the door. Victory in the most fiendishly Grixis way imaginable.

Feel free to laugh manically.

Praetor's Grasp by Steve Argyle

Beware the Grixis Gunslinger | Commander | Matthew Lotti

• Commander (1)
• 1 Zevlor, Elturel Exile

• Creatures (19)
• 1 Archmage Emeritus
• 1 Conspiracy Theorist
• 1 Cormela, Glamour Thief
• 1 Curious Homunculus
• 1 Dazzling Sphinx
• 1 Deekah, Fractal Theorist
• 1 Dockside Extortionist
• 1 Efreet Flamepainter
• 1 Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge
• 1 Kess, Dissident Mage
• 1 Mizzix of the Izmagnus
• 1 Prosper, Tome-Bound
• 1 Sedgemoor Witch
• 1 Smoldering Egg // Ashmouth Dragon
• 1 Storm-Kiln Artist
• 1 Thing in the Ice
• 1 Triskaidekaphile
• 1 Urabrask, Heretic Praetor
• 1 Veyran, Voice of Duality

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Rowan, Scholar of Sparks // Will, Scholar of Frost

• Instants (13)
• 1 Astarion's Thirst
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Crosis's Charm
• 1 Deadly Rollick
• 1 Hagra Mauling // Hagra Broodpit
• 1 Hurl Through Hell
• 1 Leadership Vacuum
• 1 Peek
• 1 Rakdos Charm
• 1 Snap
• 1 Spinal Embrace
• 1 Terminate
• 1 You Find Some Prisoners

• Sorceries (18)
• 1 Acquire
• 1 Agadeem's Awakening // Agadeem, the Undercrypt
• 1 Bribery
• 1 Cut // Ribbons
• 1 Expressive Iteration
• 1 Head Games
• 1 Heartless Pillage
• 1 Invoke the Winds
• 1 Jeska's Will
• 1 Portent
• 1 Praetor's Grasp
• 1 Sakashima's Will
• 1 Sea Gate Restoration // Sea Gate, Reborn
• 1 Slave of Bolas
• 1 Solve the Equation
• 1 Stolen Goods
• 1 Toxic Deluge
• 1 Worst Fears

• Enchantments (4)
• 1 Arcane Bombardment
• 1 Search for Azcanta
• 1 Sorcerer Class
• 1 Wizard Class

• Artifacts (10)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Coalition Relic
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Primal Amulet // Primal Wellspring
• 1 Talisman of Creativity
• 1 Talisman of Dominance
• 1 Talisman of Indulgence
• 1 Thought Vessel
• 1 Treasure Map
• 1 Twinning Staff

• Lands (34)
• 2 Mountain
• 3 Island
• 3 Swamp
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Cascade Bluffs
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Crosis's Catacombs
• 1 Crumbling Necropolis
• 1 Dragonskull Summit
• 1 Drowned Catacomb
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Graven Cairns
• 1 Grixis Panorama
• 1 Hall of Storm Giants
• 1 Haunted Ridge
• 1 Luxury Suite
• 1 Morphic Pool
• 1 Polluted Delta
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Shipwreck Marsh
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Stormcarved Coast
• 1 Sulfur Falls
• 1 Sunken Ruins
• 1 Training Center
• 1 Watery Grave
• 1 Xander's Lounge

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Fellow Riders of Elturgard: Our first military unit are all talented in the Magecraft department, reaping rewards as we play out our spells, but obviously at their best once Zevlor arrives. Deekah, Fractal Theorist and Sedgemoor Witch start off by generating early-game blockers/late-game armies to clean up with. Storm-Kiln Artist grows scary-large off of his triggers, but he's more likely to offer massive mana refunds on via treasure tokens. Archmage Emeritus will simply print you card after card without complaint, but to really supercharge the Archmage and co., look no further than Veyran, Voice of Duality. Not only will the Efreet grow into a sizable threat, but she'll double on all Magecraft triggers (which are already getting tripled via Zevlor), and boost the power of cards like Twinning Staff and Mizzix of the Izmagnus.

Speaking of the Izzet Goblin, she and her fellow spell-synergizing cohort make up our next batch of creatures. Curious Homunculus, Cormela, Glamour Thief, and Mizzix all directly ramp us into bigger and better spells. Or we could just ignore the mana and cast free spells (which can still totally be copied via Zevlor, mindful of targeting restrictions) off Dazzling Sphinx, Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge, and Efreet Flamepainter. Kess, Dissident Mage ensures our best spells are recycled for another round of copying, and both Thing in the Ice // Awoken Horror and Smoldering Egg // Ashmouth Dragon start collecting counters the more spells we play.

Finally, we recruit additional troops to shore up card advantage. Triskaidekaphile and Conspiracy Theorist are fairly direct with their card advantage, though the Theorist is awfully dire about it. Still, if you were gonna cast that removal spell anyway, you might as well pitch it to exile with him first for the extra card. You'll still be able to copy the spell via Zevlor. Prosper, Tome-Bound and Urabrask, Heretic Praetor provide that distinctly-Red form of quick-card advantage, whereby you'll need to play the card in a certain time-window or lose it. Both reward you with more than just card advantage, however, with Urabrask blunting enemy draws and Prosper handing out treasure.

Of course, if it's treasure tokens we're talking about, it's hard to leave Dockside Extortionist home. Sure, the little pirate has squat-all to do with Instants and Sorceries, but his tendency to dump a damn pile of treasure onto whomever casts him means backbreakers like Worst Fears or Bribery light up far earlier than usual.

Wicked Witchcraft: Copying up removal spells and card draw is tasty and all, but let's start with the really fun (nasty) stuff! These are the spells that'll swing the game in our favor once we get the mana to drop them onto unsuspectingly heads. Starting off, why bother going through all the trouble of building an army when we could just steal one? Let your opponents do all the work of casting the threats. We'll simply swoop in with Zevlor and spells like Invoke the Winds, Spinal Embrace, Slave of Bolas, Hurl Through Hell, and Sakashima's Will to pick three enemy creatures and start swinging for damage. If we're impatient, we could skip waiting for opponents to cast their best cards and simply start digging for them ourselves via Bribery, Acquire, Stolen Goods, and Praetor's Grasp. Note that Praetor's Grasp doesn't have the 'you can spend mana as though it were any color' clause, so you'll have to fall back on lands/rocks (Exotic Orchard, Coalition Relic) or treasure tokens.

If resource-theft isn't enough to seal the deal, Zevlor, Elturel Exile can also enable player-theft via Worst Fears. Sure, the lethality of this spell will depend on board states, but that you're literally controlling each opponent for a full turn cycle shouldn't make walking each of them into a pit overly difficult. Though not as lethal, Head Games totally strips opposing hands of any answers they might've held to your plan. Finally, once Arcane Bombardment enters the fray, the sheer volume of devastating spells getting cast over and over will be too much for opponents to overcome.

Further synergizing with our spellcraft are additional sources of copying (Twinning Staff, Primal Amulet), card advantage/ramp (Search for Azcanta, Wizard Class, Sorcerer Class, Treasure Map, Jeska's Will), and the duo of Rowan, Scholar of Sparks // Will, Scholar of Frost, who bring a little of everything to the table. Both sides of the Planeswalker provide a static discount, though Rowan comes down far sooner. While she can't protect herself like her brother, her odds of arriving early and hitting the ultimate are higher than Will's. On a dicey board, Will is more reliable, but Rowan's ultimate is more rewarding to our gameplan. It all depends on how defensive a stance you need to take.

Supporting Spells: Zevlor, Elturel Exile does more than amp up our primary spells. He also sharpens our supporting tools. Card draw grows explosive, especially when it comes in cantrip form (Leadership Vacuum, Peek, Portent). Snap will actually leave you ahead on mana due to its untap effect (God, that was such a busted mechanic). Direct removal like Deadly Rollick, Terminate, Chaos Warp, and Hagra Mauling // Hagra Broodpit all transform into 3-for-1's. Versatile removal like Rakdos Charm, Crosis's Charm, and You Find Some Prisoners grows even moreso. Just bear in mind that whatever selection made off either charm is what'll also get copied. You can't pick new options off the copied spells. Other interesting options include Cut // Ribbons to provide a mana sink to close out the late game and Astarion's Thirst to suddenly turn Zevlor into a surprise win condition via Commander damage.

It's our hope to use Zevlor's removal-reflection to act as pseudo-sweepers, but Toxic Deluge is also included as a quick reset button if things get out of hand. Later in the game, if Agadeem's Awakening // Agadeem, the Undercrypt hasn't already been played as a land, we can use the sorcery to bring back all fallen spellcasters. Similarly, Sea Gate Restoration // Sea Gate, Reborn will double-up a late game hand and nix concerns about hand size.

While we're talking about modal lands, we may as well transition over to...

Mana Support and Rocks: In addition to cards that provide Instant/Sorcery discounts (Primal Amulet, Rowan, Scholar of Sparks // Will, Scholar of Frost, Mizzix of the Izmagnus) or direct mana (Curious Homunculus, Sorcerer Class, Cormela, Glamour Thief), our deck runs the usual assortment of on-color rocks like Talisman of Creativity, Talisman of Dominance, and Arcane Signet. Noteworthy are the how cards like Coalition Relic and Fellwar Stone have the potential to make non-Grixis mana, allowing us to successfully cast cards off spells like Praetor's Grasp or activate abilities from cards stolen via Bribery, etc.

The same can be said of Exotic Orchard, thus its inclusion in the 99. Much of our remaining mana base covers the Grixis bases: "Triomes" (Xander's Lounge, Crosis's Catacombs, Crumbling Necropolis), Fetch Lands (Bloodstained Mire, etc.), Shock Lands (Watery Grave, etc.), Filter Lands (Cascade Bluffs, etc.), and Commander Lands (Luxury Suite, etc.). A lone Hall of the Storm Giants is also included as a late game threat to finish off any survivors once the dust of our spell-slinging has settled.

Well, that's if there are survivors.

Storm-Kiln Artist by Manuel Castanon

What every player imagines they look like during deck construction

Budget Options: Clearly, for Zevlor, Elturel Exile to really heat up, we'll need a fully-stocked spellbook of artillery to call upon. Options thankfully abound, as the top-tier instants and sorceries (to say nothing of lands) are far from cheap. Magic the Gathering can be expensive, so here are some substitutes for players who'd rather not break the bank on cardboard. All cards over $20 will be noted and recommended for swap-outs. If anything seems interesting, regardless of price tag, give them a roll in the main! Creativity is a oft-forgotten cornerstone of Commander. One of the aspects that makes it special. Mix and match card choices to your heart's content!

Creatures: Dockside Extortionist: $60.00, Thing in the Ice: $20.00

Double Masters 2022 has seen Dockside Extortionist dip a bit in price, but Dockside at a discount is still silly-expensive. Fortunately, while it hurts to lose the wealth of treasures he can provide, his loss does nothing to impact our game plan. Thing in the Ice does benefit from our spell-slinging, albeit forcing us to play carefully, but numerous alternatives exist to fill his Eldritch shoes. If we're in the market for treasures, Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge rewards us for all the removal we'll be copying throughout the game. Speaking of copying, Anhelo. the Painter can begin turning our creatures into extra spells whenever needed. Uvilda, Dean of Perfection // Nassari, Dean of Expression provide a flexible means to either discount spells or further steal them from opponents. And because we're all about stealing enemy resources (when we're not killing them, at least), there's always the reliable Hostage Taker to fall back on.

Supporting Spells: Deadly Rollick: $31.00, Jeska's Will: $26.00, Bribery: $26.00

The loss of a powerful removal spell like Deadly Rollick is easily remedied by other removal like Bedevil, Tyrant's Scorn, Hero's Downfall, or Repulse. The insane degree of card advantage potential in Jeska's Will is harder to top, but late-game cards like Twisted Justice and Cruel Ultimatum can draw us a ton of cards while killing things along the way. Treasure-producing cards like Involuntary Employment, Contract Killing, and Grim Bounty lack the efficiency of their counterparts, but copies reward us with extra treasures to get us closer to casting late-game haymakers. Speaking of which, a timely Surge to Victory with a board full of Pest or Fractal tokens can certainly carry a game home.

If disruption is more your flavor, plenty of nasty discard options pair well with Zevlor, Elturel Exile. Many come with bonuses like damage (Blightning), graveyard removal (Go Blank), scaling up (Tormented Thoughts), or letting you pick which cards bite the dust (Thought Erasure, Duress, Divest)

Mana Options: Polluted Delta: $45.00, Bloodstained Mire: $38.00, Scalding Tarn: $28.00, Blood Crypt: $20.00

Fetch lands breaking the budget are like fish being wet. It's just part of nature. That said, Modern Horizons 2 went a long way toward reducing the price of enemy fetches. Here's hoping a reprint of the allied fetches, last truly produced all the way back in Khans of Tarkir, is on the horizon. Plenty of budget on-color lands can help in the meanwhile, such as cycling lands Canyon Slough and Fetid Pools, Sunken Hollow and Smoldering Marsh, Darkwater Catacombs and Shadowblood Ridge, Frostboil Snarl, and Man-Lands like Wandering Fumarole and Creeping Tar Pit.

If you're looking for something more in the utility-department, Strixhaven offers both The Biblioplex and Hall or Oracles, but be careful how many colorless lands you include in this three-color build.

Cruel Ultimatum by Todd Lockwood

'Toxic work environment' is an understatement.

Does the Multiverse have a Human Resources department?

Here's hoping that Zevlor, Elturel Exile and his devious band of riders teach your opponents that unassuming spells can be monstrously amplified when cast (or copied) in the right hands. It's likely your mirror-like influence will draw heat, but woe to any adversary that sends an attacker your way. At best, you'll simply fry said soldier. At worst, your opponent will find their own trooper pointing the sword right back at them. And once you're done playing puppet with the table's creatures, you'll move up the food chain and start bewitching the players, themselves. At that point, the fun is quite literally yours to make.

Thanks for reading, and may you always have a spell up your sleeve.

-Matt-

@Intrepid_Tautog