SelesnyaLegendary Creature — UnicornLathiel, the Bounteous Dawn
Mana value4Rank#3,669
The Commander
At the beginning of each end step, if you gained life this turn, distribute up to that many +1/+1 counters among any number of other target creatures.
Guide
Gameplan
Lathiel turns lifegain into a board-wide pump engine, dropping +1/+1 counters on your creatures every end step (yours and opponents') based on how much life you gained that turn. You ramp into Lathiel, build a wide creature base, and stack lifegain triggers so every cycle of the turn floods the board with counters, then close with overwhelming combat or counter-based synergies.
Strengths
- Triggers on EVERY end step, so a single lifelink hit or lifegain spell snowballs counters across multiple turns
- Lifelink on the commander itself guarantees fuel just by attacking or blocking
- GW gives access to elite ramp, go-wide tokens, and counter payoffs
- Counters distribute to any number of creatures, enabling instant board-wide swings
Weaknesses
- Heavily reliant on Lathiel staying on the battlefield; high recast tax after repeated removal
- Slow to come online if you don't gain life early
- Wide boards are vulnerable to wraths, undoing all invested counters
- Lacks built-in card advantage or evasion, so it can stall against control
Key Cards
- Heliod, Sun-Crowned — Doubles lifegain triggers and turns counters into a lifegain-fueled loop, also enabling combos.
- Walking Ballista — With Heliod it forms an infinite lifegain/counter loop that Lathiel converts into a lethal board.
- Archangel of Thune — Pumps the whole team on lifegain while feeding Lathiel even more life triggers.
- Trelasarra, Moon Dancer — Cheap repeatable lifegain payoff that grows and draws on every life event.
- Cathars' Crusade — Stacks counters alongside Lathiel for explosive board growth as creatures enter.
- Soul Warden — Cheap consistent lifegain trigger that keeps Lathiel's end-step pump online.
Upgrade Path
Tighten the lifegain density with cheap, repeatable triggers (Soul Warden, Trelasarra) and add doublers like Heliod and Archangel of Thune to maximize end-step counters. Include a compact combo package (Heliod + Walking Ballista) and a finisher like Craterhoof Behemoth or Overwhelming Stampede to convert wide boards. Round out with protection (Heroic Intervention, Teferi's Protection) and proliferate effects to safeguard and accelerate your counter investment.
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
- ▸Overwhelming combat damage from a counter-pumped board, often with an anthem or trample enabler
- ▸Heliod + Walking Ballista infinite combo for instant lethal
- ▸Single evasive or trampling threat loaded with counters for a Voltron-style kill
- ▸Proliferate and lifegain loops snowballing the board beyond what opponents can answer
Archetypes
- +1/+1 Counters — Lathiel manufactures counters every end step, synergizing with proliferate and counter payoffs.
- Lifegain Midrange — Lifegain directly fuels the commander's pump, rewarding a dense lifegain shell.
- Tokens/Go-Wide — Distributing counters across a wide token board enables one-shot overrun kills.
- Combo — Heliod + Walking Ballista and similar loops generate infinite life and lethal counters.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (GW), by popularity.
