The Commander
Whenever you attack, target attacking creature can't be blocked this turn. It connives. Then choose another attacking creature with lesser power. That creature gains double strike until end of turn. (To have a creature connive, draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded a nonland card, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.)
Guide
Gameplan
Kamiz turns combat into a card-advantage and damage engine: each combat you make one attacker unblockable, connive it (filtering and growing it), then hand another smaller attacker double strike. Build a wide-but-pointed board of evasive threats and connive payoffs, then convert connected hits into burst damage, card draw, and graveyard fuel. Win by snowballing a couple of beefed-up unblockable creatures or by chaining extra combats.
Strengths
- Free repeatable connive every combat means consistent card filtering and graveyard stocking without spending mana.
- Guaranteed unblockable plus double strike on a second attacker creates reliable, hard-to-stop damage.
- Esper colors give access to the best card draw, removal, recursion, and protection in the format.
- Synergizes with discard-matters, reanimation, and +1/+1 counter payoffs simultaneously.
Weaknesses
- Effects only trigger when you attack, so a removed or chump-blocked Kamiz stalls the engine.
- Relies on having multiple attackers; board wipes set the deck back hard.
- Double strike targets a creature with lesser power, requiring deck construction to keep useful targets online.
- Can be light on a fast, resilient combo finish unless intentionally built for one.
Key Cards
- Anduril, Flame of the West — Each connive trigger can pump and create tokens, but more importantly evasive equipment carriers turn Kamiz's unblockable into lethal Voltron damage.
- Sword of Feast and Famine — Unblockable double strike with a sword that untaps your lands and strips hands snowballs the game in your favor.
- Bident of Thassa — Forces opponents to attack while you connive and draw, and pairs with your evasion theme for extra cards.
- Anje Falkenrath — Not legal—instead use connive payoffs; see upgrade notes.
- Reconnaissance — Lets you trigger attacks then pull attackers back, protecting Kamiz while still firing the unblockable and double-strike triggers.
- Skullclamp — Connive can discard creatures and the deck wants card flow; tokens plus Skullclamp keep the engine fueled.
Upgrade Path
Add extra-combat enablers (Aggravated Assault, Combat Celebration) and reanimation targets to convert connive discards into massive threats. Lean into proven protection (Heroic Intervention, Teferi's Protection) and tutors (Vampiric Tutor, Enlightened Tutor) to assemble your equipment or combo reliably. For a higher ceiling, build toward a deterministic kill like extra combats plus a double-striking unblockable carrying infect or a sword stack.
Core Cards
- In Too Deep
- Obscura Storefront
- Sun Titan
- Sunken Hollow
- Nadir Kraken
- Creeping Tar Pit
- Darkwater Catacombs
- Ghostly Pilferer
- Champion of Wits
- Port Town
- An Offer You Can't Refuse
- Strionic Resonator
Seeded from a single deck — rates appear once more public decks exist.
Win Conditions
- ▸Commander damage from an unblockable, double-striking, equipment-loaded attacker.
- ▸Reanimating large threats discarded by connive and swinging for lethal evasive damage.
- ▸Extra-combat chains turning unblockable creatures into one-shot kills.
- ▸Grinding card advantage from connive draws to overwhelm with superior resources.
Archetypes
- Voltron — Guaranteed unblockable plus double strike makes a single equipped or enchanted threat lethal quickly.
- Reanimator — Connive repeatedly discards fatties into the yard for cheap reanimation each turn.
- +1/+1 Counters — Discarding nonland cards via connive grows attackers, rewarding counter synergies and proliferate.
- Aggro/Tempo — A wide board of evasive creatures all benefit from the unblockable and double strike triggers.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BUW), by popularity.
