Lyra, Tolarian ArchangelLyra, Tolarian Archangel | Art by Victor Adam Minguez

Welcome to Too-Specific Top 10, where if there isn’t a category to rank our pet card at the top of, we’ll just make one up! (Did you know that Tolarian WindsTolarian Winds is the only blue instant speed wheel that lets only you draw?)

In the bizzaro-universe of Reality Fracture, Lyra is blue now!

More importantly, she makes hordes of Angels for you if you can manage to draw three cards a turn. Seems easy enough to pull off, right?

Top 10 Blue Instants That Draw Three or More Cards

1. BrainstormBrainstorm
2. Pull from TomorrowPull from Tomorrow
3. BrainsurgeBrainsurge
4. Blue Sun's ZenithBlue Sun's Zenith
5. Thirst for KnowledgeThirst for Knowledge
6. Drown in DreamsDrown in Dreams
7. Tolarian WindsTolarian Winds
8. Marang River RegentMarang River Regent
9. Visions of BeyondVisions of Beyond
10. Stroke of GeniusStroke of Genius

Outside of BrainstormBrainstorm and Thirst for KnowledgeThirst for Knowledge, that is a whole lot of X spells that I'm gonna have to pay five or more mana into to trigger LyraLyra. And if I'm gonna pay five mana for Angels, I could just play mono-white!

In other words? I think I need to guarantee an Angel on my turn and dig deep to find the cheap instant draw spells that will trigger Lyra on everyone else's turns. That sounds like I need wheelswheels!

Top 10 Mono-Blue Wheels

Criteria: Sorcery or permanent cards within the blue color identity which have you put your hand into your graveyard or back into your deck, then draw either that many cards or seven cards, without a creature type requirement. As is tradition, all results are ordered by EDHREC score.

10. Time SpiralTime Spiral

(21.4K Inclusions, 0.44% of 4.92M Decks)

Okay, we decided that five mana was too much to pay, especially since LyraLyra can trigger herself for five on my turn. So, if five is too much, how about six to cast a wheel for free? Time SpiralTime Spiral was one of the many "free" spells out of Urza's Saga block to be banned, with the reason being that drawing seven cards for zero mana (or sometimes positive mana if you had a land that tapped for more than one) is just way too good. With that said, it hasn't been all that popular in Commander for three reasons: one, getting to six lands takes a long time; two, while you're wasting all that time, you could easily be casting one of the many three-mana wheels available in blue instead; and three, Time Spiral is on the Reserved List, and therefore costs $100.

All that said, if you can afford it, I think that Time Spiral is absolutely worth playing in Lyra. The main restriction here is going to be the mono-blue of it all and how poorly it ramps, so getting a free trigger of Lyra and a fresh hand is absolutely worth it in the late game.

9. Memory JarMemory Jar

(21.9K Inclusions, 0.22% of 10.01M Decks)

If you're looking for a more unfair Wheel to foist upon the table, however, then look no further than Memory JarMemory Jar. A fellow Reserved List banned wheel from Urza's block, Memory Jar is pricey at five mana to start. It more than makes up for that, however, by being free to activate, at instant speed, and only letting your opponents keep the cards they draw off of it for the current turn.

In other words? The Jar does exactly what Lyra wants to be doing, drawing a bunch of cards at instant speed while not letting your opponents keep all those board wipes that would make us start over. It also only costs $30 instead of $100, despite having had no reprints. Yes, please!

8. Time ReversalTime Reversal

(23.8K Inclusions, 0.48% of 4.92M Decks)

I am less enthusiastic about Time ReversalTime Reversal than either of our other two overpriced wheels, however. Unlike Time SpiralTime Spiral, this costs five mana and doesn't repay anything, and unlike Memory JarMemory Jar, for that five mana you have to do things at sorcery speed, and Reversal exiles itself so further shenanigans aren't possible. I think it's safe to say that this is only less popular than the other two because it's cheaper on the pocketbook, and we can safely skip on it even if we aren't shelling out the cash for the other two.

7. Day's UndoingDay's Undoing

(27K Inclusions, 0.55% of 4.92M Decks)

Day's UndoingDay's Undoing is a bit of a catch-22 when it comes to Lyra: it lets you draw the card, but then it ends the turn, yeeting your Angel trigger into the sun. Actually, that's not a catch-22. That's just bad. Next!

6. TimetwisterTimetwister

(46.7K Inclusions, 0.95% of 4.92M Decks)

The OG blue wheel, TimetwisterTimetwister sees very little play outside of Competitive EDH. Why? Because it costs $5000. With that said, if you have one sitting around? Yeah, you play this.

5. Echo of EonsEcho of Eons

(62.3K Inclusions, 1.26% of 4.92M Decks)

If you're not made of money, however, then it looks like our first slam dunk here is Echo of EonsEcho of Eons. It is a little pricey up front at six mana, the same as Time SpiralTime Spiral without the repayment at the end. So why is it a slam dunk? Because it also has flashback for three mana, making it a full-on TimetwisterTimetwister replacement if you can get it into your graveyard.

How might we do that, you ask?

While the entire cycle of Thirst cards (there's another in Thirst for IdentityThirst for Identity, as well) doesn't want you to discard sorceries, you can nonetheless do so, and I would encourage it in the case of Echo of Eons. Throw in some other prominent discard effects we're going to be playing, like Pull from TomorrowPull from Tomorrow, Flow of KnowledgeFlow of Knowledge, and Tolarian WindsTolarian Winds, and we should have no problem getting Echo in the graveyard.

4. Teferi's Puzzle BoxTeferi's Puzzle Box

(83.1K Inclusions, 0.83% of 10.01M Decks)

This was the first card I thought of when I saw Lyra spoiled. Teferi's Puzzle BoxTeferi's Puzzle Box can be annoying for the table as they repeatedly see dreams appear and disappear, but ultimately does help everyone if you don't start adding in cards that will lock folks out of the game with it. For our purposes, however? Puzzle Box guarantees an Angel on every one of our turns, provided we can have three or more cards in hand. Sounds good to me!

3. Jace's ArchivistJace's Archivist

(84.4K Inclusions, 1.71% of 4.92M Decks)

Jace's ArchivistJace's Archivist is one of those cards that doesn't have the notoriety of the cards it's trying to emulate, but might actually be better. Why? Because after you wait a turn, this card can wheel at instant speed, and it can do so every turn. As far as Lyra is concerned, that means an Angel per turn cycle with just this card, and likely more than one, as you'll draw other cards that will draw cards as well.

2. Midnight ClockMidnight Clock

(207K Inclusions, 4.21% of 4.92M Decks)

Midnight ClockMidnight Clock isn't as much a slam dunk as Jace's ArchivistJace's Archivist, but it's going to earn its top placing anyhow, as we're going to end up playing it. Perhaps the best three-mana rock with upside in the game right now, Clock does what it says on the tin: it comes down, makes mana immediately, then eventually TimetwisterTimetwisters just you. If you have mana and want cards sooner, you can make it happen sooner. That's an option that appeals to Lyra, as that means that we can pay three to have this happen on another player's turn, leaving our sorcery speed things to make an Angel on our turn.

1. WindfallWindfall

(559K Inclusions, 11.4% of 4.92M Decks)

The card I'm sure most of you were thinking of when you saw Lyra, WindfallWindfall is the best wheel in the game today, bar none. Yes, I know what I said about Jace's ArchivistJace's Archivist, and I meant it, but if you just want to draw a whole bunch of cards right now? Windfall is the best way to do that.

Honorable Mentions

I've actually already mentioned Tolarian WindsTolarian Winds multiple times, and there's good reason for that: it's easily the best effect for what we're trying to do. Normally, Winds is a card that gets added to decklists and then gets removed later, as you realize that it's not card advantage at all, but actually loses you a card. When you're going to be drawing as many cards as this deck will, however, Winds will let you dig seven cards deep routinely, at instant speed. That's just exactly what we're looking for.

The card I haven't mentioned but could have made the list if I hadn't made criteria specifically to avoid it had good reason for not being mentioned: Trenzalore ClocktowerTrenzalore Clocktower doesn't do anything. There are no mono-blue Time Lords outside of Changelings, so if we get deep enough on Angels that we want to play Mothdust ChangelingMothdust Changeling as an extra Angel, we can do that. I don't think we will, but we can.

As for what we can play, let's take a look at what we ended up with, shall we?

If you're looking for a quick win, this deck isn't it. Yeah, it can often get Lyra, Tolarian ArchangelLyra, Tolarian Archangel down on turn two, but it still takes you a couple turns before you start making multiple Angels per turn after that. Once you get to that point, however, you're generally sitting on more than ten cards in hand fairly consistently. In other words, it's very difficult to stop the Angel onslaught as you sit there with protection and counterspells in hand. While I didn't go full control, erring on the side of fun rather than misery, the deck draws a ton of cards and makes a ton of mana. Put the two together, and you'll also be making a ton of Angels to swing in with while you have plenty of options on what to do in your hand.

Nuts and Bolts

There always seems to be a bit of interest in how these lists are made (this seems like a good time to stress once again that they are based on EDHREC score, NOT my personal opinion…), and people are often surprised that I’m not using any special data or .json from EDHREC, but rather just muddling my way through with some Scryfall knowledge! For your enjoyment/research, here is this week’s Scryfall search.

What Do You Think?

When coming up with the ideas for this deck, someone told me "that just sounds like TalrandTalrand with extra steps". Given the reputation Talrand has for those of us that were around for early Commander, I was a bit dismayed that I ended up on a control build with Lyra. At the same time, it's nowhere near the "Oops, All Counterspells" build that Talrand was famous for that guy helming.

And finally, what is your favorite wheel? Can you play it in Lyra, Tolarian ArchangelLyra, Tolarian Archangel? Would you, or would you build Lyra another way?

Let us know in the comments, and we'll see you at the round table with a lazy susan on top.