Mairisil, Cage Match by Frogfinger

Format: Commander

Commander: Mairsil, the Pretender

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 61

Deck overview

This deck is a high-power combo-control build centered on Mairsil, the Pretender. It uses efficient graveyard tutors such as Buried Alive and Entomb to place versatile activated abilities into the graveyard, which Mairsil then exiles with cage counters upon entry. The deck's primary route to victory exploits Quicksilver Elemental to bypass Mairsil's once-per-turn activation restriction. By copying his own abilities repeatedly, Mairsil combines untap effects from Horseshoe Crab or Morphling with damage outlets like Hateflayer to generate infinite damage and eliminate all opponents in a single turn. Defensively, the list runs a robust suite of free and efficient countermagic, including Fierce Guardianship, Deflecting Swat, and Force of Will, alongside caged protection staples like Aetherling. Because caged cards stay in exile forever, the deck boasts strong resilience against removal while maintaining an inevitable clock.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Aetherling
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Ancient Tomb
  • 1 Anger
  • 1 Anthroplasm
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
  • 1 Asmodeus the Archfiend
  • 1 Avatar of Woe
  • 1 Badlands
  • 1 Basalt Monolith
  • 1 Blasphemous Act
  • 1 Blood Crypt
  • 1 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Buried Alive
  • 1 Cavern Harpy
  • 1 Chrome Mox
  • 1 Command Beacon
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Conjurer's Closet
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Crumbling Necropolis
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Deadeye Navigator
  • 1 Deflecting Swat
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Endling
  • 1 Entomb
  • 1 Essence Flux
  • 1 Faithless Looting
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Fierce Guardianship
  • 1 Final Parting
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Force of Will
  • 1 Frantic Search
  • 1 Gamble
  • 1 Ghostly Flicker
  • 1 Gilded Lotus
  • 1 Grim Monolith
  • 1 Hateflayer
  • 1 Haunted Ridge
  • 1 Heartstone
  • 1 Horseshoe Crab
  • 1 Imperial Seal
  • 3 Island
  • 1 Jace's Archivist
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Luxury Suite
  • 1 Mairsil, the Pretender
  • 1 Mana Drain
  • 1 Mana Vault
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Marvin, Murderous Mimic
  • 1 Mirror-Mad Phantasm
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Morphling
  • 1 Mountain
  • 1 Nevinyrral's Disk
  • 1 Oriq Loremage
  • 1 Otawara, Soaring City
  • 1 Pendant of Prosperity
  • 1 Pili-Pala
  • 1 Planar Incision
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Quicksilver Elemental
  • 1 Rhystic Study
  • 1 Sage of Hours
  • 1 Sakashima of a Thousand Faces
  • 1 Scalding Tarn
  • 1 Shipwreck Marsh
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spark Double
  • 1 Spikeshot Elder
  • 1 Staff of Domination
  • 1 Steam Vents
  • 1 Sulfur Falls
  • 3 Swamp
  • 1 Swan Song
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
  • 1 The One Ring
  • 1 Thousand-Year Elixir
  • 1 Torchling
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Training Center
  • 1 Training Grounds
  • 1 Tree of Perdition
  • 1 Underground Sea
  • 1 Vampiric Tutor
  • 1 Volcanic Island
  • 1 Walking Ballista
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Windfall
  • 1 Xander's Lounge