9 lives by Takho

Format: Commander

Commander: Y'shtola, Night's Blessed

Bracket: 2

Deck overview

This Esper spellslinger-control deck is helmed by Y'shtola, Night's Blessed, built around a Final Fantasy XIV Scions theme. The primary game plan is to cast noncreature spells with mana value 3 or greater, triggering Y'shtola's drain - 2 damage to each opponent and 2 life gained - while her end-step trigger draws a card whenever 4 or more life is lost in a turn, which her own drain reliably satisfies. The deck controls the table with a dense suite of removal (Swords to Plowshares, Vindicate, Void Rend, White Auracite), a thin counterspell package, and three board wipes, while generating card advantage through Alphinaud Leveilleur, Archmage Emeritus, Tome of Legends, and Tataru Taru. It finishes by accumulating drain over the game, resolving a large Exsanguinate, or closing with combat beats from its legendary creature base. This is a grindy, value-oriented control list that wins through inevitability rather than a fast combo.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Alisaie Leveilleur
  • 1 Alphinaud Leveilleur
  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archaeomancer's Map
  • 1 Archmage Emeritus
  • 1 Ardbert, Warrior of Darkness
  • 1 Ash Barrens
  • 1 Astrologian's Planisphere
  • 1 Authority of the Consuls
  • 1 Baleful Strix
  • 1 Bastion of Remembrance
  • 1 Blue Mage's Cane
  • 1 Champions from Beyond
  • 1 Choked Estuary
  • 1 Circle of Power
  • 1 Cleansing Nova
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Contaminated Aquifer
  • 1 Coveted Jewel
  • 1 Crux of Fate
  • 1 Cut a Deal
  • 1 Dancer's Chakrams
  • 1 Darkwater Catacombs
  • 1 Demolition Field
  • 1 Desolate Mire
  • 1 Dig Through Time
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Emet-Selch of the Third Seat
  • 1 Estinien Varlineau
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Exsanguinate
  • 1 Eye of Nidhogg
  • 1 Fandaniel, Telophoroi Ascian
  • 1 Fetid Heath
  • 1 Final Judgment
  • 1 G'raha Tia, Scion Reborn
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Hermes, Overseer of Elpis
  • 1 Hildibrand Manderville // Gentleman's Rise
  • 1 Hraesvelgr of the First Brood
  • 1 Hypnotic Sprite // Mesmeric Glare
  • 1 Idyllic Beachfront
  • 1 Into the Story
  • 3 Island
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Krile Baldesion
  • 1 Lethal Scheme
  • 1 Lingering Souls
  • 1 Lyse Hext
  • 1 Murderous Rider // Swift End
  • 1 Observed Stasis
  • 1 Papalymo Totolymo
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 4 Plains
  • 1 Port Town
  • 1 Prairie Stream
  • 1 Propaganda
  • 1 Reaper's Scythe
  • 1 Relic of Legends
  • 1 Rite of Replication
  • 1 Sage's Nouliths
  • 1 Scavenger Grounds
  • 1 Shineshadow Snarl
  • 1 Skycloud Expanse
  • 1 Snuff Out
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sublime Epiphany
  • 1 Summon: Good King Mog XII
  • 1 Sunken Hollow
  • 1 Sunken Ruins
  • 1 Sunlit Marsh
  • 4 Swamp
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Syphon Mind
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 Tataru Taru
  • 1 Temple of the False God
  • 1 Thancred Waters
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Tome of Legends
  • 1 Torrential Gearhulk
  • 1 Transpose
  • 1 Underground River
  • 1 Urianger Augurelt
  • 1 Vindicate
  • 1 Void Rend
  • 1 White Auracite
  • 1 Y'shtola, Night's Blessed