Prismari, the InspirationPrismari, the Inspiration | Art by Justin Gerard

Secrets of Strixhaven comes with a new set of five Elder Dragons, one to lead each of the colleges, and these new cards are truly epic. Each grants an ability to our instants and sorceries, and they do not pull any punches in terms of what those abilities are.

AffinityAffinity and cascadecascade have each broken multiple formats at multiple points in time, and will probably do so again in the future. But there is no ability more grandiose than storm, the namesake of the Storm Scale by which all mechanics' danger level is measured.

Prismari earns the creature type Elder Dragon. Its mana cost is high - almost too high to even be a consideration at powerful tables - but the payoff is unbelievable. Storm is usually balanced by only appearing on spells that would be laughable without it, like two mana for a single damagetwo mana for a single damage or four mana to drain two lifefour mana to drain two life. If they printed a PreordainPreordain or Lightning BoltLightning Bolt with storm, it would break the game.

So the challenge that Prismari sets for us is a simple one: get to seven mana, cast our commander, and then cast instants and sorceries until our opponents are dead. Luckily, this plan also gives us plenty of direction in terms of the power level of the deck. Brackets 1, 2, and even 3 to some extent expect incremental win conditions that the table can plan around and respond to.

Even a lower-powered Prismari deck can hardly stop itself from taking a fifteen minute turn that ends the game as soon as the Elder Dragon hits the battlefield, so that play pattern pushes us towards higher Brackets.

Bracket 4 also unlocks some of the most potent fast mana to allow us to cast our seven-mana commander earlier. Mana VaultMana Vault and Grim MonolithGrim Monolith let us skip three whole turns on the way to casting Prismari, and Jeska's WillJeska's Will is great as both enabler and payoff.

Those three cards would be the limit in Bracket 3, and they're probably the best Game Changers to be including, but their proactive power works so well alongside free interaction like Force of WillForce of Will and Fierce GuardianshipFierce Guardianship to last until our game-ending turn.

The deck's already got Bracket 4 vibes, so we might as well push it to see just how efficient it can get.

Key Cards for Prismari, the InspirationPrismari, the Inspiration

As mentioned above, the hardest part of this deck is counting to seven. In fact, in an ideal world we would rather count to nine or ten, giving us enough mana to cast our commander and start to combo off that very turn. The goal is to get to that point around turn four or five, using pieces that can make us multiple mana.

Alongside our bustedbusted mana rocksmana rocks, we can play more fair accelerators like Worn PowerstoneWorn Powerstone and Basalt MonolithBasalt Monolith. We can even dip into lesser-played single-use mana pieces like Generator ServantGenerator Servant and Vessel of VolatilityVessel of Volatility, which complement the variousvarious ritualsrituals that will help us on our combo turn as well.

Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier is also secretly a mana dork on top of being an engine on its own, and can help us count to seven faster.

After we cast our commander, hopefully with a couple mana to spare, the next step is to buffer our storm count. We only need to generate one or two extra storm before our subsequent spells become ridiculous, but one free spell in the middle goes a long way.

Gitaxian ProbeGitaxian Probe and Gut ShotGut Shot are great, as is free interaction like SnapbackSnapback. GushGush is insane as both a way to build storm and a great spell to copy a bunch of times. And this is finally the deck that makes Mox JasperMox Jasper into a busted card. It gives us the much-needed post-commander mana while adding a spell to our storm tally for free.

Step three is to cast a spell that breaks the game's resource system when copied. We want to be gaining both cards and mana from each spell at this stage, so that we never run out of each and can go until any burn spell wins the game.

Big ScoreBig Score, Unexpected WindfallUnexpected Windfall, Pirate's PillagePirate's Pillage, and even Seize the SpoilsSeize the Spoils fit the bill, and can help us build to casting our commander as well if we draw multiples. Frantic SearchFrantic Search and SnapSnap become super-rituals by untapping our lands over and over.

Inspired TinkeringInspired Tinkering and the newly printed Rapturous MomentRapturous Moment break even with only a single copy, and can become totally nutty when storm reaches five or ten.

Because some of our best spells for our combo turn untap our permanents, we can build that strategy into the acceleration portion of our game plan as well.

TwiddleTwiddle and Hidden StringsHidden Strings are great rituals when they have storm, but they can also generate mana to cast Prismari when combined with a Mana VaultMana Vault or Lotus FieldLotus Field. We're playing the Pioneer staple land, of course, but also including the OG Lotus ValeLotus Vale and its friends Scorched RuinsScorched Ruins and Izzet BoilerworksIzzet Boilerworks.

While we're twiddlingtwiddling, it would be silly not to throw in The One RingThe One Ring, which can be a combo engine in itself that doesn't require our commander in play.

Winning the Game With Prismari, the InspirationPrismari, the Inspiration

If we manage to create just three or four copies of a spell that generates both mana and cards, then we are almost guaranteed to find more gas, allowing us to keep the chain going and accelerating. Even our less impressive instants and sorceries like Sleight of HandSleight of Hand and ConsiderConsider become great digging tools when we can copy them a few times.

The more we can keep the wheels spinning, the lower our chances of failure will be.

In most cases, we'll be able to see over half of our deck, and from there we can use some combination of Lightning BoltLightning Bolt, Gut ShotGut Shot, Flick a CoinFlick a Coin, and Spikefield HazardSpikefield Hazard to deal a ton of damage.

If that's not enough, FlashbackFlashback with a few copies can give them all flashback to let us cast them again, with even more copies. We just have to be careful that we don't draw too many cards with Flick a CoinFlick a Coin.

We also do have an infinite combo available so that we can put together a deterministic win if we see enough cards. Storm-Kiln ArtistStorm-Kiln Artist creates a TreasureTreasure whenever we cast or copy an instant or sorcery, meaning we'll get a token for each copy of every stormed spell we cast. If we can cast UnsubstantiateUnsubstantiate with the artist in play, we can use one of the copies to target the original UnsubstantiateUnsubstantiate, returning it to our hand. The other copies can target creatures we want to get rid or, or they can even target each other, since we don't need them to do anything.

As long as our storm count is two or more, we'll generate enough Treasures to re-cast the original UnsubstantiateUnsubstantiate over and over, generating infinite Treasures.

The linked combo uses Thousand-Year StormThousand-Year Storm (which we're playing too as a backup copy of our commander) since Prismari, the InspirationPrismari, the Inspiration is still so new, but the Elder Dragon fills the same role in the combo.

With our infinite mana, we can cast ElectrodominanceElectrodominance and copy it for each opponent, dealing them millions of damage. ElectrodominanceElectrodominance is also a great card outside of the combo, since it turns any excess mana into direct damage while also generating virtual mana advantage by casting spells for free.

It can easily become lethal on its own if we manage to chain some copied Desperate RitualDesperate Rituals or Seething SongSeething Songs.

Prismari, the Inspiration Commander Deck List

Storm decks really are a joy to play every once in a while. It makes me feel so clever whenever I manage to upend Magic's resource system, and Prismari, the InspirationPrismari, the Inspiration flaunts that system flagrantly. If you enjoyed Fire Lord AzulaFire Lord Azula and the spell-copying shenanigans she offered, give Prismari a try.

This deck is also a joy because it gives a home to some cards that lack a home elsewhere. TwiddleTwiddle, TwitchTwitch, and Toils of Night and DayToils of Night and Day are great here, as is Flick a CoinFlick a Coin.

Storm is a broken mechanic, but it doesn't break evenly when added to every card, and these spells wear it surprisingly well. I'm excited to get to add some cards from Secrets of Strixhaven, such as Rapturous MomentRapturous Moment and FlashbackFlashback; it really feels like Prismari the college has an identity that Prismari the commander epitomizes, and it's cool to see that reflected on the cards themselves.