GolgariLegendary Creature — Human NobleCleopatra, Exiled Pharaoh
Mana value4Rank#8,861
The Commander
Guide
Gameplan
Cleopatra wants a battlefield full of legendary creatures. Each end step she pumps two of them with +1/+1 counters, then you sacrifice or trade those counter-laden legends to draw huge piles of cards via Betrayal. You grind opponents out with card advantage while building threatening bodies, then close with a sacrifice payoff, recursion loop, or oversized legendary attackers.
Strengths
- Turns your own legendaries dying into massive card draw, fueling relentless grind
- Two counters per turn for free accelerates board development and synergizes with counter payoffs
- BG gives premier removal, ramp, recursion, and sac outlets
- Rewards a legend-heavy build with redundant value engines
Weaknesses
- Betrayal life loss adds up fast and can be exploited by aggressive tables
- Heavily commander-dependent; without Cleopatra the deck stalls
- Needs a critical mass of legendary creatures, narrowing card choices
- No evasion or protection built in, so she's an easy removal target
- Vulnerable to board wipes that don't let you cash in counters first
Key Cards
- Sakashima of a Thousand Faces — Copies your best legend and is itself legendary, doubling counter and Betrayal value.
- Cauldron of Souls — Gives persist to recur dying legends, looping Betrayal draws while keeping bodies.
- Viscera Seer — Free sac outlet to cash in counter-loaded legends for cards at instant speed.
- The Ozolith — Banks counters from dead legends and redistributes them for more Betrayal fuel.
- Mikaeus, the Unhallowed — Undying loops on your non-Human legends turn sacrifice into infinite-value Betrayal draws.
- Skullclamp — Backup card engine and pairs with small legends to chain draws and deaths.
- Pitiless Plunderer — Generates Treasure each time a creature dies, ramping you off your own sacrifices.
Upgrade Path
Add more cheap, expendable legendary creatures and free sacrifice outlets (Carrion Feeder, Ashnod's Altar) so Betrayal triggers every turn. Layer in persist/undying and reanimation (Cauldron of Souls, Mikaeus, Reanimate) plus aristocrat drains (Blood Artist, Bastion of Remembrance) to convert draws into kills. Tighten the mana with fast rocks, Survival of the Fittest tutoring, and protection like Heroic Intervention to push toward a focused combo finish.
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
Archetypes
- Aristocrats — Sacrificing counter-loaded legends draws cards via Betrayal while sac payoffs drain opponents.
- Legendary Tribal — The whole package keys off having many legendary creatures to pump and trade.
- +1/+1 Counters — Free counters each end step feed proliferate and counter-synergy payoffs.
- Reanimator — Recurring big legends lets you reuse Betrayal and keep refilling the board.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BG), by popularity.
