Ishai & Ikra Counting Life by Xathieros

Format: Commander

Commander: Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper and Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 29

Deck overview

This deck leverages the partner pairing of Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker and Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper to build a potent four-color midrange engine. Ishai grows rapidly as opponents cast spells, creating an imposing aerial threat. Ikra converts Ishai's high toughness into massive life gain upon combat damage, fueling a deep suite of lifegain payoffs. Cards like Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, Dina, Soul Steeper, and Sanguine Bond turn life gain into direct opponent life loss, while Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn and Nykthos Paragon distribute +1/+1 counters to build a dominant board. The deck uses green land ramp to smooth its four-color mana base and deploys broad removal like Mortality Spear and Generous Gift alongside board wipes to manage opposing threats. Without tutors or fast mana, it wins through resilient combat pressure, incremental attrition, and large drain bursts.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Absorb
  • 1 Adarkar Wastes
  • 1 Aerith Gainsborough
  • 1 Aerith, Last Ancient
  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Betor, Ancestor's Voice
  • 1 Blossoming Sands
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Bred for the Hunt
  • 1 Breena, the Demagogue
  • 1 Canopy Vista
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Contaminated Landscape
  • 1 Creeping Bloodsucker
  • 1 Cultivate
  • 1 Dawn of Hope
  • 1 Daxos, Blessed by the Sun
  • 1 Day of Judgment
  • 1 Debt to the Deathless
  • 1 Deceptive Landscape
  • 1 Dina, Soul Steeper
  • 1 Dismal Backwater
  • 1 Drogskol Reaver
  • 1 Essence Capture
  • 1 Essence Warden
  • 1 Eumidian Terrabotanist
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Farhaven Elf
  • 1 Farseek
  • 1 Fetid Pools
  • 1 Fleeting Reflection
  • 1 Foreboding Landscape
  • 2 Forest
  • 1 Fumigate
  • 1 Generous Gift
  • 1 Gift of Paradise
  • 1 Haunted Mire
  • 1 Haywire Mite
  • 1 Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper
  • 1 Infernal Grasp
  • 1 Irrigated Farmland
  • 1 Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker
  • 1 Island
  • 1 Jungle Hollow
  • 1 Kaya's Wrath
  • 1 Kodama's Reach
  • 1 Krosan Verge
  • 1 Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn
  • 1 Lavaspur Boots
  • 1 Liesa, Shroud of Dusk
  • 1 Llanowar Wastes
  • 1 Lunar Convocation
  • 1 Mana Tithe
  • 1 Marauding Blight-Priest
  • 1 Marshland Bloodcaster
  • 1 Mortality Spear
  • 1 Murmuring Bosk
  • 1 Nykthos Paragon
  • 1 Opulent Palace
  • 1 Overprotect
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 2 Plains
  • 1 Prairie Stream
  • 1 Primeval Bounty
  • 1 Queza, Augur of Agonies
  • 1 Rampant Growth
  • 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
  • 1 Sandsteppe Citadel
  • 1 Sanguine Bond
  • 1 Scheming Silvertongue // Sign in Blood
  • 1 Scoured Barrens
  • 1 Shanna, Purifying Blade
  • 1 Sigarda's Splendor
  • 1 Sinister Monolith
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Soul Warden
  • 1 Spelunking
  • 1 Sphinx of the Revelation
  • 1 Stensian Sanguinist // Exsanguinate
  • 1 Sunken Hollow
  • 1 Sunlit Marsh
  • 2 Swamp
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Tangled Islet
  • 1 Tenured Inkcaster
  • 1 Tezzeret's Gambit
  • 1 Tranquil Landscape
  • 1 Unspeakable Symbol
  • 1 Urban Retreat
  • 1 Urianger Augurelt
  • 1 Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root
  • 1 Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
  • 1 Vizkopa Guildmage
  • 1 Waterlogged Grove
  • 1 Well of Lost Dreams
  • 1 Yavimaya Coast