Stella Lee, Wild CardStella Lee, Wild Card | art by Fajareka Setiawan
Quick on the draw
Hello there! Welcome back to EDHighlights, the series where I build decks for 2024's most popular commander for each color combination.
Now that last year's set releases have wrapped up, I'll be taking a look at the most popular legendary creatures that were released in the past year, talking a bit about them, and finally building unique decks around them.
This week, I'm taking a look at 2024's most popular Izzet commander, which means we'll be working with … Stella Lee, Wild CardStella Lee, Wild Card
Stella LeeStella Lee has been hugely popular, becoming the 112th most popular commander in all of EDH and the third most popular commander of all time.
With 8,725 decks to her name as of the time of writing, Stella LeeStella Lee has definitely earned her spot in this series. Let's see what makes her so popular…
Aces wild!
As a 2/4 Human Rogue for 3 mana, Stella LeeStella Lee's stats are just ok.
But, her first ability lets us impulse draw the top card of our library whenever we cast our second spell each turn and her second ability lets us copy an instant or sorcery spell we cast (as long as we've cast 3 or more spells that turn).
These abilities are extremely powerful, providing card advantage and the opportunity to double-up on a spell's effect if we fulfill an admittedly-easy requirement.
Stella LeeStella Lee can go infinite with a great many cards, but what fun is that? We'll be focusing this deck elsewhere. I'd like to make efficient, but non-infinite, use of her abilities to maximize the effectiveness of one card in particular: Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach.
We're running a full 27 copies of this card, 8 Dragons to fetch up with its ability, and a strong supporting cast to support our spell slinging. Without any further ado, let's make this deck!
Dragon FodderDragon Fodder
Before talking about the rest of the deck, I want to touch on which Dragons we'll be fetching up with Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach. First, there's a pair of Niv-Mizzets: Niv-Mizzet, ParunNiv-Mizzet, Parun and Niv-Mizzet, VisionaryNiv-Mizzet, Visionary.
The ParunParun version of this dragon will work provide a consistent stream of card advantage and damage as we cast more and more spells, while the VisionaryVisionary version will provide even more card advantage as a payoff for all the damage that Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach throws around.
As a fun fact, Niv-Mizzet, VisionaryNiv-Mizzet, Visionary actually creates an infinite combo with Niv-Mizzet, ParunNiv-Mizzet, Parun.
Or, more succinctly, Niv goes infinite with Niv. That's not the goal of the deck, though. Just a side benefit to running two synergistic cards. Moving on, there's Knollspine DragonKnollspine Dragon.
Should we cast a few copies of our key card on the turn we fetch up this dragon, it'll grab a healthy amount of cards while hopefully pitching a few extra copies of Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach to the graveyard for later use.
To pump out extra damage, Tyrant's FamiliarTyrant's Familiar is here. Given that we'll usually control our commander, it's a 7/7 that wipes out a creature from our opponents' board every turn.
To double our damage, the brand-new Twinflame TyrantTwinflame Tyrant is here. This makes each copy of Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach deal 6 damage to each opponent, which will hopefully end the game quite quickly.
And, of course, Bonehoard DracosaurBonehoard Dracosaur is here too. It provides token creatures to block with, mana to cast spells with, and card advantage all in one 5/5 flying package.
Rounding out this group are two of the best dragons in recent memory: Ancient Silver DragonAncient Silver Dragon and Ancient Copper DragonAncient Copper Dragon. These cards really speak for themselves, providing huge amounts of advantage with just one attack.
In my opinion, they're the best dragons in the Ancient Dragon cycle from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate.
Fire!
Notably, the card we're running 27 copies of does direct damage to each of our opponents' faces. In classic mono-red fashion, there's a good few ways to take advantage of that.
Satyr FiredancerSatyr Firedancer will Lightning BoltLightning Bolt one of each of our opponents' creatures every time we cast a Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach. Neheb, the EternalNeheb, the Eternal can provide a ton of mana, tripling our returns on the investments we make in our burn spells, and Virtue of CourageVirtue of Courage can provide a ton of card advantage as the game drags on.
To make good use of our Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approaches, we need to have a full graveyard. There's a lot of good ways to do this, ranging from Deranged AssistantDeranged Assistant to add mana and self-mill, to Search for AzcantaSearch for Azcanta for mill (plus some card advantage later down the line), to cantrips like Mental NoteMental Note for more synergistic milling.
There's also a group of three cards aptly tagged in Scryfall as “useless-in-singleton-formats,” that find a nice home in this deck. Harness the StormHarness the Storm can act as a weird version of Return the PastReturn the Past. Locket of YesterdaysLocket of Yesterdays will easily reduce our Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approaches to just one mana, making it extremely easy to storm off and win the game.
Lastly, Pyromancer AscensionPyromancer Ascension is extremely easy to enable here, and will quickly double the effectiveness of this deck's signature card.
Good ideas don't take time. They take a lot of bad ideas firstGood ideas don't take time. They take a lot of bad ideas first
It might seem odd to use Stella LeeStella Lee as a Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach commander, but I think she works quite well here.
Assuming that we'll have enough cards in the graveyard to make this interaction work, she can do something pretty interesting.
Should we have put enough cards in the graveyard through self-mill or discard, we can copy a Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach on the stack, exile a total of 8 copies of the card from our graveyard to search up two Dragons at the same time.
And, failing that, she can tap to copy a Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach on the stack to deal 3 extra damage to each opponent. That's still not a bad deal at all.
Here's the full decklist…
As a note, the “Lands” section doesn't contain the MDFCs in this decklist. If you include Search for AzcantaSearch for Azcanta, this deck has 36 lands in it.
2024's EDHighlights - Stella Lee, Wild Card
View on ArchidektCommander (1)
- 1 Stella Lee, Wild CardStella Lee, Wild Card
Creatures (18)
- 1 Ancient Copper DragonAncient Copper Dragon
- 1 Ancient Silver DragonAncient Silver Dragon
- 1 Archmage EmeritusArchmage Emeritus
- 1 Bonehoard DracosaurBonehoard Dracosaur
- 1 Deranged AssistantDeranged Assistant
- 1 Dragon's Rage ChannelerDragon's Rage Channeler
- 1 Goblin ElectromancerGoblin Electromancer
- 1 Hydroelectric Specimen // Hydroelectric LaboratoryHydroelectric Specimen // Hydroelectric Laboratory
- 1 Knollspine DragonKnollspine Dragon
- 1 MillikinMillikin
- 1 Neheb, the EternalNeheb, the Eternal
- 1 Niv-Mizzet, ParunNiv-Mizzet, Parun
- 1 Niv-Mizzet, VisionaryNiv-Mizzet, Visionary
- 1 Pinnacle Monk // Mystic PeakPinnacle Monk // Mystic Peak
- 1 Runaway Steam-KinRunaway Steam-Kin
- 1 Satyr FiredancerSatyr Firedancer
- 1 Twinflame TyrantTwinflame Tyrant
- 1 Tyrant's FamiliarTyrant's Familiar
Enchantments (4)
- 1 Harness the StormHarness the Storm
- 1 Pyromancer AscensionPyromancer Ascension
- 1 Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken RuinSearch for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin
- 1 Virtue of Courage // Embereth BlazeVirtue of Courage // Embereth Blaze
Artifacts (4)
- 1 Arcane SignetArcane Signet
- 1 Locket of YesterdaysLocket of Yesterdays
- 1 Ruby MedallionRuby Medallion
- 1 Talisman of CreativityTalisman of Creativity
Lands (31)
- 1 Cascade BluffsCascade Bluffs
- 1 Command TowerCommand Tower
- 1 Ferrous LakeFerrous Lake
- 1 Fiery IsletFiery Islet
- 1 Haven of the Spirit DragonHaven of the Spirit Dragon
- 7 IslandIsland
- 15 MountainMountain
- 1 Riverglide Pathway // Lavaglide PathwayRiverglide Pathway // Lavaglide Pathway
- 1 Shivan ReefShivan Reef
- 1 Stormcarved CoastStormcarved Coast
- 1 Training CenterTraining Center
Sorceries (31)
- 1 Collected ConjuringCollected Conjuring
- 27 Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach
- 1 Faithless LootingFaithless Looting
- 1 Jeska's WillJeska's Will
- 1 Sundering Eruption // Volcanic FissureSundering Eruption // Volcanic Fissure
Instants (11)
- 1 AetherizeAetherize
- 1 Arcane DenialArcane Denial
- 1 ConsiderConsider
- 1 Delayed Blast FireballDelayed Blast Fireball
- 1 Frantic SearchFrantic Search
- 1 Mental NoteMental Note
- 1 PongifyPongify
- 1 Rapid HybridizationRapid Hybridization
- 1 ResculptResculpt
- 1 Sink into Stupor // Soporific SpringsSink into Stupor // Soporific Springs
- 1 Thought ScourThought Scour
Natural EndNatural End
Thanks for reading, y'all! I did get to include a few of my pet cards in this deck, even if they're not necessarily the best. One of these is Haven of the Spirit DragonHaven of the Spirit Dragon.
Should one of our dragons get removed, this provides a way to rebuy it from the graveyard. Given how hard it is to come by recursion in Izzet colors, this card is particularly valuable.
I also like Collected ConjuringCollected Conjuring, which will usually act as two copies of Dragon's ApproachDragon's Approach for just four mana.
I could have included any one of the large number of infinite combos that Stella LeeStella Lee enables, or included Thrumming StoneThrumming Stone as an easy way to win the game, but I much prefer this version of the deck to those that go infinite at the drop of a hat.
But I'd love to hear your opinion: do infinite combos have a place in more casual EDH pods? I think they can be ok at times, but when they're 2-part combos with the commander as one half of the equation, it often becomes inappropriate for a casual game.
I'll see you all next week, when we look at the year's best Golgari commander!
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