The Commander
Hexproof
Whenever a creature card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, you may have Lazav become a copy of that card, except its name is Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, it's legendary in addition to its other types, and it has hexproof and this ability.
Guide
Gameplan
Lazav is a mill/self-protecting Voltron threat: fill opponents' graveyards with creature cards, then have Lazav copy the biggest or most abusable one while keeping hexproof. You grind the early game with mill and value, then turn an opponent's best creature into your own hexproof commander to close out the game or assemble a combo.
Strengths
- Hexproof makes Lazav extremely hard to remove with targeted spot removal
- Steals the best creatures opponents mill, turning their cards into your win conditions
- Built-in card advantage engine when paired with self-mill and opponent mill
- Flexible threat that can become combo pieces, beaters, or utility creatures on demand
Weaknesses
- Copy ability only triggers off creature cards hitting opponents' graveyards, so it can be inconsistent
- Vulnerable to board wipes, edicts, and sacrifice effects that ignore hexproof
- Mill can fuel opponents' graveyard strategies (reanimator, delve, dredge)
- Lazav starts as a vanilla 1/1 with no evasion, so it needs support to actually deal damage
- Heavy reliance on what opponents are playing to find good copy targets
Key Cards
- Mind Grind — Scalable mill that loads opponents' graveyards with creature cards for Lazav to copy.
- Glistening Oil — Phyrexian Voltron aura that gives Lazav infect, turning a hexproof commander into a fast poison clock.
- Whispering Specter — Cheap evasive creature whose deathtouch/discard or similar bodies pad your mill and copy pool.
- Sword of Feast and Famine — Grants evasion and protection while untapping lands for explosive Lazav turns.
- Consuming Aberration — A huge self-growing body that mills opponents, fueling Lazav and serving as a backup threat.
- Mesmeric Orb — Repeatable, symmetrical mill that constantly dumps creatures into graveyards for the copy trigger.
Upgrade Path
Lean fully into either mill-Voltron or control by adding efficient interaction (Counterspell, Cyclonic Rift, Damnation) and protection that complements hexproof. Add proactive mill that targets creatures (Maddening Cacophony, Fleet Swallower) and cheap evasion/equipment (Whispersilk Cloak, Rogue's Passage) so Lazav reliably connects. Tighten mana with fast rocks (Mana Crypt, Dimir Signet) and tutors (Vampiric Tutor) to find your best enablers.
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
- Voltron — Hexproof lets Lazav carry equipment and auras safely as a hard-to-answer beater.
- Mill — Forcing creatures into opponents' graveyards both attacks their library and feeds Lazav's copy ability.
- Control — Dimir colors give counters, removal, and card draw to protect Lazav while you grind value.
- Combo — Lazav can copy milled combo creatures or be enabled by infect/voltron to end games quickly.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BU), by popularity.
