DimirLegendary Creature — ShapeshifterLazav, Familiar Stranger
Mana value3Rank#12,496
The Commander
Whenever you commit a crime, put a +1/+1 counter on Lazav. Then you may exile a card from a graveyard. If a creature card was exiled this way, you may have Lazav become a copy of that card until end of turn. This ability triggers only once each turn. (Targeting opponents, anything they control, and/or cards in their graveyards is a crime.)
Guide
Gameplan
Cast cheap interaction and targeted removal/discard to commit crimes each turn, growing Lazav with +1/+1 counters while exiling creatures from graveyards to transform into the biggest, most relevant threat available. You play a controlling Dimir game—answering threats, milling and looting for fuel, and turning your removal into board presence via Lazav's copy ability.
Strengths
- Commits crimes trivially since nearly all Dimir removal, discard, and targeting effects qualify, making the trigger reliable every turn
- Doubles as a recurring graveyard-hate engine, exiling key cards while you grow and copy threats
- Acts as a flexible threat-and-toolbox: become whatever creature the table has died, from huge beaters to ETB value engines
- Cheap three-mana body that snowballs into a real clock while you hold up interaction
Weaknesses
- Copy effect only lasts until end of turn and triggers once per turn, so it's slow value rather than a permanent advantage
- Relies on opponents (or you) filling graveyards with worthwhile creatures to copy
- Removal-heavy as a creature; getting Lazav killed in response erases your investment
- Lacks built-in evasion or protection, so the +1/+1 counters can be chump-blocked or wiped
Key Cards
- Cyclonic Rift — A premier blue control card whose overloaded mode targets your stuff but the single-target mode commits a crime for free.
- Snapcaster Mage — Recasting targeted spells from your yard generates repeatable crimes while flashing back interaction.
- Thespian's Stage — Lets you fix mana and combos with Dark Depths or copy lands, and the copy theme pairs with Lazav's identity.
- Demonic Tutor — Finds your best crime-enabler or removal piece to keep the engine and answers flowing.
- Baleful Strix — Cheap deathtouch flyer that draws a card and is a great copy target while also a crime-enabler when targeting opponents.
- Toxic Deluge — Sweeps the board, fills graveyards with creatures for Lazav to exile and copy next turn.
- Dauthi Voidwalker — Unblockable graveyard hate that synergizes with exiling crimes and protects against reanimation strategies.
Upgrade Path
Add cheap, efficient interaction that doubles as crime-enablers—Fatal Push, Swords to Plowshares, Counterspell, and flashback/recursion like Snapcaster Mage and Mystic Sanctuary. Tighten the mana with fast rocks (Sol Ring, Mana Crystal, signets) and fetch/dual lands, then bolt on protection like Lightning Greaves or Robe of the Archmagi to keep Lazav alive. For a true high-power build, lean into a compact combo finish (Dark Depths + Thespian's Stage or Demonic Consultation lines) backstopped by your tutors and counterspells.
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
- ▸Beat down with a counter-pumped Lazav copying evasive or hexproof creatures for commander damage
- ▸Grind out the table with card advantage and removal until your threats outlast them
- ▸Assemble a combo finish (e.g., Thespian's Stage + Dark Depths) supported by your toolbox tutors
- ▸Copy a huge or infinite-value creature from a graveyard at the right moment to swing the game
Archetypes
- Control — Lazav rewards holding up cheap removal and counters, turning each piece of interaction into a crime trigger and a growing threat.
- Graveyard Hate / Stax-lite — The exile-from-graveyard clause lets you disrupt reanimator and recursion decks while gaining value.
- Spellslinger — Targeted instants and sorceries that hit opponents reliably trigger crimes and fuel the engine via flashback and recursion.
- Voltron — Counters plus evasion and protection can let a copied flying or unblockable Lazav close games with commander damage.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BU), by popularity.
