The Commander
When Malik, Grim Manipulator enters, you and target opponent each secretly choose a creature that player controls. Then those choices are revealed, and that player sacrifices those creatures.
Whenever an opponent sacrifices a creature, you create a Treasure token.
Guide
Gameplan
Malik is a Mardu sacrifice/edict commander who punishes opponents' boards: his ETB forces a target opponent to sacrifice creatures, and his static ability turns every opponent-side sacrifice into a Treasure for you. You spend the early game flooding the table with mass-edict effects (Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos) and recursion, snowballing Treasures into removal, big spells, and combo payoffs. You win by grinding the table out of creatures while you ramp ahead, then closing with a Treasure-fueled finisher or a sacrifice loop.
Strengths
- Repeatable edicts strip blockers and force-feed your Treasure engine on every opponent's turn.
- Treasure generation gives you ramp, fixing, and combo fodder all at once across three colors.
- Blink and recursion make Malik's ETB a recurring board-wipe-on-a-stick.
- Excellent in multiplayer—'whenever an opponent sacrifices' triggers off all three opponents simultaneously.
Weaknesses
- Edicts whiff against decks with tokens or a single must-keep creature, letting opponents chaff off Malik's ETB.
- Relies on creatures hitting the board to sacrifice—stax and creatureless control decks blank your engine.
- Five mana and creature-dependent, so a removal-heavy table can stall the Treasure faucet.
- Little inherent evasion or direct life-pressure; can grind without actually closing the game.
Key Cards
- Grave Pact — Every creature you sacrifice forces all opponents to sacrifice, generating a wave of Treasures and clearing their boards.
- Dictate of Erebos — A second Grave Pact with flash, doubling the edict triggers and Treasure output per sacrifice.
- Butcher of Malakir — Flying Grave Pact effect that also pressures life totals while fueling Malik's static ability.
- Fleshbag Marauder — Cheap repeatable edict that pairs with recursion to keep opponents sacrificing and Treasures flowing.
- Conjurer's Closet — Reliably re-triggers Malik's ETB each end step for another forced sacrifice and Treasure burst.
- Mayhem Devil — Pings opponents whenever any creature dies or Treasure is sacrificed, turning the Treasure engine into a wincon.
- Pitiless Plunderer — Doubles down on Treasures whenever your creatures die, accelerating into your payoffs.
Upgrade Path
Lean into density of Grave Pact–style effects and cheap recurring edicts (Plaguecrafter, Cruel Celebrant) so every sacrifice cascades into Treasures and table-wide drain. Add Treasure payoffs and a clean combo line—Mayhem Devil plus a sac loop, or Treasure-powered Torment of Hailfire—to convert the engine into a deterministic kill. Tighten the mana base with fast rocks and untapped fixing, and add protection like Deflecting Swat and Teferi's Protection so your engine survives interaction.
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
- ▸Mayhem Devil or Bastion of Remembrance/Blood Artist effects draining the table as opponents repeatedly sacrifice.
- ▸Grinding all opponents off blockers, then attacking out with whatever creatures survive.
- ▸Treasure-fueled big-mana finishers like Torment of Hailfire or a large X-spell.
- ▸A sacrifice loop with a payoff (e.g., Pitiless Plunderer + free sac outlet) generating infinite Treasures and damage.
Archetypes
- Aristocrats — Malik weaponizes opponent sacrifices into Treasures while you stack Grave Pact effects and death triggers.
- Edict Control — Repeatable forced-sacrifice effects let you grind opponents off creatures and dominate the board.
- Treasure/Combo — His Treasure output enables ritual-style mana bursts and combos that consume artifacts and sacrifices.
- Blink — Flicker effects re-fire Malik's ETB to repeatedly edict opponents and bank Treasures.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BRW), by popularity.
