The Commander
Flying, deathtouch
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, Black Waltz No. 3 deals 2 damage to each opponent.
Guide
Gameplan
Black Waltz No. 3 turns every noncreature spell into a 2-damage drain to each opponent, so you load up on cheap instants, sorceries, and cost-reducers and bury the table under incremental burn. You curve out cantrips and removal to keep the board clear and the commander alive, then spend a single big turn casting a flurry of spells to deal lethal damage to all opponents at once. Cast-trigger payoffs and rituals turn modest hands into explosive multi-spell finishes.
Strengths
- Hits all opponents simultaneously, making it efficient in multiplayer pods
- Flying deathtouch body trades up and pressures life totals on its own
- Triggers off cheap, repeatable spells you already want to play (removal, cantrips, draw)
- Can win without combat by chaining spells, dodging board wipes and creature removal
Weaknesses
- Heavily commander-dependent; recasting after removal gets expensive fast
- Damage is fixed at 2 regardless of how big the spell is, so it scales slowly
- Lifegain decks and high life totals blunt the burn plan
- Card advantage can dry up if you spend everything on a single explosive turn
Key Cards
- Birgi, God of Storytelling — Adds red mana on each cast, letting you chain spells and ramp into multiple commander triggers in one turn.
- Storm-Kiln Artist — Generates Treasure on every noncreature cast, fueling longer spell chains for more burn.
- Aria of Flame — Stacks burn alongside Black Waltz, hitting opponents harder with every spell you cast.
- Underworld Breach — Recasts spells from your graveyard to fire off a huge number of triggers for a lethal turn.
- Guttersnipe — Doubles your per-spell reach, adding 2 more damage to a single opponent each cast.
Upgrade Path
Add fast mana and cost reducers (Jeska's Will, Goblin Anarchomancer, Ruby Medallion) to push more spells per turn, and lean into recursion like Underworld Breach and Past in Flames for explosive finishes. Tighten the spell suite toward efficient one- and two-mana cantrips and rituals so every card advances the burn clock, and add protection (Deflecting Swat, Pyroblast) to keep your commander and combo turns intact.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Chaining many cheap spells in a single turn for lethal multiplayer burn
- ▸Stacking burn enchantments like Aria of Flame and Guttersnipe to amplify each cast
- ▸Storm-style combo turns via Underworld Breach plus rituals
- ▸Commander damage from the evasive deathtouch flier in slower games
Archetypes
- Spellslinger — Its trigger rewards casting as many cheap instants and sorceries as possible.
- Storm/Combo — Mana rituals plus cost reducers and recursion let you chain enough spells to burn the table out in one turn.
- Burn/Group Slug — Each noncreature cast pings every opponent, supporting a death-by-a-thousand-cuts gameplan.
- Control — Counterspells and removal double as life loss while you stabilize the board.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BR), by popularity.
