The Commander
: Until end of turn, Thopters you control have base power and toughness X/X, where X is the number of cards in your hand.
, 
: Draw a card, then discard a card. If the discarded card was an artifact card, exile it from your graveyard. If you do, create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a 0/2 Thopter artifact creature with flying in addition to its other types.
Guide
Gameplan
Leonardo is a mono-blue artifact value engine: every turn you loot with the activated ability, and discarding an artifact card exiles it to produce a flying Thopter copy of it. Stockpile artifacts in hand, churn through your deck to find big payoffs, then flip on the anthem to turn your Thopter army into a lethal X/X squad sized by your hand. You play a draw-go control shell that builds inevitability through repeatable card filtering and token generation.
Strengths
- Repeatable card advantage and selection that smooths draws and fills the yard
- Can 'steal' the printed effect of any artifact you discard via the Thopter copy (mana rocks, equipment, Wurmcoil-style bodies)
- Builds a wide evasive flying army that the first ability turns into a one-turn kill
- Mono-blue gives access to the best counterspells, card draw, and interaction in the format
Weaknesses
- Both abilities are mana-hungry; the loot costs every turn and the anthem costs
- The payoff anthem only lasts until end of turn, so it's all-in and vulnerable to instant-speed removal
- Heavily reliant on Leonardo himself — losing the commander stalls the whole engine
- Needs a healthy hand size for the anthem, which fights against expending cards on interaction
- Token-wide strategies fold to board wipes and Thopter copies are fragile 0/2 bodies otherwise
Key Cards
- Sai, Master Thopterist — Doubles down on Thopter generation off your artifact casts and can cash them in for cards.
- Coastal Piracy — Turns your evasive flying Thopter swarm into a massive draw engine that refuels the anthem.
- Cyberdrive Awakener — Provides a second, more permanent way to animate and pump your entire artifact-token army.
- Thopter Spy Network — Adds steady Thopter production and card draw, reinforcing the wide-flyers plan.
- Wurmcoil Engine — A premium discard target — copying it gives a lifelinking, deathtouch flyer with great death value.
- Mystic Remora — Cheap, repeatable card advantage that keeps your hand stocked to maximize the X/X anthem.
Upgrade Path
Add fast mana and rocks (Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Mana Crypt) so you can loot and animate in the same turn, plus cost reducers like Foundry Inspector and Etherium Sculptor. Lean into artifact-token doublers (Anointed Procession, Mondrak) and protection (Heroic Intervention, Teferi's Protection) to safeguard the alpha strike. For a true combo finish, include Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek or Time Sieve loops to generate infinite Thopters and extra turns alongside the anthem.
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
- Artifacts — His loot exiles discarded artifacts to clone them, rewarding a dense artifact build.
- Tokens — He manufactures flying Thopters every turn that the anthem turns lethal.
- Control — Mono-blue draw-go shell uses counters and card filtering while the engine grinds out value.
- Spellslinger / Value Engine — Repeatable looting and token copies provide an inevitability-based card-advantage plan.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (U), by popularity.
