The Commander
Flying, first strike
If a source would deal damage to an opponent or a permanent an opponent controls, that source deals double that damage to that player or permanent instead.
If a source would deal damage to you or a permanent you control, prevent half that damage, rounded up.
Guide
Gameplan
Cast Gisela as an evasive 5/5 first striker that doubles all damage your sources deal to opponents while halving incoming damage. You build a Boros midrange/aggro board, then close games fast by punching through doubled combat damage or pointing burn at faces. The damage doubling makes every attack, spell, and ping twice as lethal while keeping you safe.
Strengths
- Doubles all damage to opponents—turns modest burn and combat into kills
- Halves incoming damage, making you very hard to race or burn out
- Evasive 5/5 flying first strike that can attack on her own
- Enables fast multiplayer kills via damage-doubling combos
- Strong with go-wide tokens and direct-damage finishers
Weaknesses
- Seven mana and a high-value removal magnet—dies to any spot removal
- Boros lacks card advantage and ramp compared to other colors
- Damage prevention/doubling only matters while she's on board
- Vulnerable to fogs, lifegain, and board wipes resetting your aggression
- Replays get expensive due to commander tax
Key Cards
- Gratuitous Violence — Stacks with Gisela so your creatures deal quadruple combat damage to opponents.
- Comet Storm — A scalable burn spell that becomes a multiplayer finisher under doubling.
- Sunforger — Tutors up burn and protection at instant speed to leverage doubled damage.
- Boros Charm — Four to the face doubles to eight, and protects your board from wraths.
- Aurelia, the Warleader — Extra combat steps multiply your already-doubled attacks for explosive turns.
- Solar Blaze — Asymmetric board wipe whose damage to opponents' creatures is doubled while yours are halved.
Upgrade Path
Add fast mana and Boros ramp (Sol Ring, Smothering Tithe, Land Tax) to deploy Gisela ahead of curve and recast her after removal. Lean into damage-multiplying stacks (Gratuitous Violence, Furnace of Rath, Dictate of the Twins) and reusable burn via Sunforger packages. Include protection like Deflecting Swat and Heroic Intervention plus haste enablers to convert her to lethal the turn she lands.
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
- ▸Doubled combat damage from evasive or wide attackers
- ▸Scalable burn spells (Comet Storm, Fireball, Crackle with Power) dealt double
- ▸Damage-doubling combos like Repercussion plus a board wipe
- ▸Extra-combat chains with Aurelia and Combat Celebrant
Archetypes
- Voltron/Aggro — Doubled combat damage makes a single evasive threat lethal absurdly fast.
- Burn/Spellslinger — Every direct-damage spell hits opponents for double, enabling reach finishes.
- Tokens/Go-Wide — A wide board of small creatures becomes overwhelming once all their damage doubles.
- Pillowfort/Control — Halving incoming damage and punishing attackers lets you durdle safely behind defenses.
Combos
- Gisela, Blade of Goldnight + Heartless Hidetsugu
→ Each opponent loses the game, Near-infinite damage
- Brion Stoutarm + Malignus + Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
→ Near-infinite damage to one opponent, Near-infinite lifegain, Target opponent loses the game
- Gisela, Blade of Goldnight + Malignus + Warstorm Surge
→ Target opponent loses the game, Near-infinite damage
- Gisela, Blade of Goldnight + Blade of Selves + Mirror Box
→ Near-infinite damage
- Gisela, Blade of Goldnight + Malignus + Chandra's Ignition
→ Each opponent loses the game, Near-infinite damage
Combos via Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (RW), by popularity.
