The Commander
Deathtouch, lifelink
Whenever Locke Cole deals combat damage to a player, draw a card, then discard a card.
Guide
Gameplan
Suit up Locke Cole and connect every turn—deathtouch makes him a threatening blocker and attacker, lifelink keeps you alive, and the loot trigger filters your hand while feeding graveyard payoffs. You win either by carrying Voltron-style threats through with evasion or by using the repeated loot to fuel discard synergies, madness, and reanimation. Turn to turn you cheaply protect Locke, push him through, and convert discarded cards into value.
Strengths
- Repeatable card filtering smooths draws and fills the graveyard for reanimation/madness
- Deathtouch plus lifelink makes him a cheap, hard-to-attack-through blocker and a real combat threat
- Cheap three-mana commander that comes back affordably and enables aggressive early pressure
- Great Voltron shell in colors loaded with evasion and protection
Weaknesses
- Needs combat damage to trigger, so chump blockers and fliers can shut him down
- Loot is symmetric card disadvantage if you lack graveyard or discard payoffs
- Vulnerable to spot removal and edicts; without protection the engine stalls
- No inherent evasion, so he relies on equipment/auras to connect
Key Cards
- Rogue's Passage — Guarantees Locke connects to fire the loot trigger and any combat-damage payoffs.
- Whispersilk Cloak — Grants unblockable plus shroud, making Locke an unstoppable, protected damage dealer.
- Cunning Evasion — Lets you bounce and reuse blink/attack triggers while keeping Locke alive—or push other rogues through.
- Sword of Feast and Famine — Protection, evasion, and untapping lands turn each connection into explosive tempo.
- Glint-Horn Buccaneer — Turns your loot discards into repeatable direct damage to every opponent.
- Body Double — A premium reanimation payoff for the creatures Locke loots away.
Upgrade Path
Add more evasion and protection (Whispersilk Cloak, Lightning Greaves, Swords) so Locke connects every turn and survives removal. Lean harder into the loot synergy with reanimation targets and madness/discard payoffs, plus efficient interaction and tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor) to find your enablers. Tighten the mana base with fast lands and dual lands so you curve out and recast Locke without missing combat steps.
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
- ▸Voltron commander damage with evasion and protective equipment
- ▸Reanimating and beating down with looted-away threats
- ▸Incremental discard/looting damage via payoffs like Glint-Horn Buccaneer
- ▸Grinding opponents out with card filtering and lifelink while deploying a finisher
Archetypes
- Voltron — Cheap evasive commander with built-in lifelink and deathtouch wants equipment and auras to one-shot or grind out players.
- Reanimator — The loot trigger reliably bins fatties to bring back with Animate Dead, Reanimate, and Victimize.
- Madness/Discard Matters — Forced discard each combat enables madness cards and graveyard-payoff engines like Glint-Horn Buccaneer.
- Spellslinger/Control — UB filtering, lifegain buffer, and a deathtouch blocker support a value-control build that wins with looted card advantage.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BU), by popularity.
