The Commander
Secret council — Whenever Círdan enters or attacks, each player secretly votes for a player, then those votes are revealed. Each player draws a card for each vote they received. Each player who received no votes may put a permanent card from their hand onto the battlefield.
Guide
Gameplan
Círdan is a Simic value engine that turns every attack and re-cast into either a fistful of cards or a free permanent. The vote naturally splits—players rarely all vote one target, so you'll frequently receive zero votes and drop a fat permanent for free. Build around landing huge ramp targets and card-advantage outpacing the table, then close with the oversized threats you've cheated into play.
Strengths
- Repeatable, low-friction card advantage that scales with how often Círdan attacks
- Vigilance lets him attack while still blocking and triggering on defense rarely matters
- Free permanent drops let you cheat expensive bombs, planeswalkers, and ramp into play
- Politically slippery—votes get spread out so you usually 'win' by getting none
- Simic colors give the best ramp and draw support to abuse the engine
Weaknesses
- Symmetrical: opponents also draw and cheat permanents, fueling the whole table
- No built-in evasion or protection on a 5-mana body
- Vote outcomes are out of your control—coordinated tables can deny you the free permanent
- Lacks an inherent win condition; relies on the payoffs you build around
- Removal-prone and slow to assemble its advantage in cutthroat metas
Key Cards
- Cyclonic Rift — Asymmetric reset that lets you capitalize on the board you built while erasing opponents' cheated permanents.
- Tooth and Nail — Pairs with the free-permanent payoff theme by dropping game-ending creatures, and Círdan keeps the gas flowing.
- Rhystic Study — Stacks even more card advantage on top of Círdan's draw triggers to bury the table.
- Craterhoof Behemoth — A perfect free-permanent target—cheat it in off a no-vote turn for a lethal swing.
- Lithoform Engine — Copies the Secret Council trigger for double votes and double free permanents.
- Panharmonicon — Doubles the enters trigger, letting you blink Círdan for two councils in a turn.
Upgrade Path
Add flicker and copy effects (Panharmonicon, Lithoform Engine, Conjurer's Closet) to multiply council triggers and your odds of cheating permanents. Tighten the deck around a few decisive payoffs—Craterhoof, big planeswalkers, or a combo finish—so the symmetrical draws don't just help opponents. Round out with premium Simic interaction (Cyclonic Rift, Fierce Guardianship, Heroic Intervention) and fast ramp to deploy Círdan early and attack relentlessly.
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
- ▸Cheat in a haymaker like Craterhoof Behemoth or a finisher for lethal alpha strikes
- ▸Out-card-advantage the table and grind to a stax/control lock with superior resources
- ▸Cyclonic Rift overload then swing with the permanents you've assembled
- ▸Land a powerful free permanent (planeswalker or game-warping enchantment) and snowball
Archetypes
- Group Hug Politics — Secret Council hands cards around the table and rewards careful vote-bargaining and deals.
- Big Mana Ramp / Cheat — The no-vote free permanent lets you slam haymakers ahead of curve.
- Simic Value Control — Stack draw engines and answers, out-resource the table, and grind to a finish.
- Blink/Flicker — Repeatedly re-trigger the enters council with flicker effects for compounding value.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (GU), by popularity.
