The Commander
You may choose not to untap Hivis during your untap step.
: Gain control of target Dragon for as long as you control Hivis and Hivis remains tapped.
Guide
Gameplan
Hivis is a mono-red Dragon-theft commander: tap him to permanently steal an opponent's Dragon (so long as he stays tapped), turning their bombs into your beaters. You build a tribal Dragon shell with ramp into haymakers, then either swing wide with stolen and homegrown Dragons or convert theft into burn and combat damage. Keep Hivis untapped only when you have no Dragon worth stealing.
Strengths
- Steals opposing Dragons permanently while Hivis stays tapped, swinging board parity hard in multiplayer pods
- Synergizes with a strong mono-red Dragon tribal package full of efficient ramp and removal
- Cheap commander activation gives recurring value with no mana cost
- Punishes Dragon-heavy metas and superfriends/big-creature decks
Weaknesses
- Color-locked to mono-red: no counterspells, weak enchantment/artifact removal, limited card draw
- Theft ability is dead in pods with no Dragons to steal
- Stolen Dragons revert the moment Hivis is removed, untapped, or dies — fragile and easily punished
- Hivis must stay tapped, so he can't attack or block while holding stolen Dragons
Key Cards
- Sarkhan, Fireblood — Ramps toward Dragons and filters cards while supporting the tribal theme in mono-red.
- Crucible of Fire — Anthem that pumps your Dragons including the ones you steal with Hivis.
- Dragon Tempest — Gives stolen and cast Dragons haste and burns the table whenever a Dragon enters.
- Scourge of Valkas — Turns every Dragon that enters, including thefts, into direct burn that can close games.
- Thousand-Year Elixir — Untaps Hivis or lets him tap the turn he enters, letting you steal a Dragon immediately.
- Kindred Charge — Doubles your Dragons — including stolen ones — for an explosive haste alpha strike.
Upgrade Path
Add fast mana and Dragon-specific ramp (Sol Ring, Mind Stone, Dragonspeaker Shaman, Dragonlord's Servant) to deploy threats ahead of curve, and protect Hivis with hexproof/indestructible effects like Soul of New Phyrexia or Kindred Boon since theft collapses if he dies. Lean into burn payoffs (Terror of the Peaks, Scourge of Valkas) plus untap enablers (Thousand-Year Elixir, Magewright's Stone) so Hivis can act immediately, and include haste enablers like Hellkite Charger or Fervor to weaponize stolen Dragons the turn you take them.
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
- ▸Alpha strike with a wide board of evasive Dragons, often doubled by Kindred Charge
- ▸Burn the table out via Dragon Tempest, Scourge of Valkas, and Terror of the Peaks triggers
- ▸Stealing opponents' best Dragons to cripple them while building your own threat density
Archetypes
- Dragon Tribal — Hivis headlines a mono-red Dragon deck full of lords, payoffs, and big flyers.
- Theft/Steal — His tap ability lets you commandeer opposing Dragons for as long as he stays tapped.
- Aggro/Beatdown — Stolen plus homegrown Dragons form an evasive board that races opponents down.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (R), by popularity.
