The Commander
First strike, vigilance, trample
At the beginning of combat on your turn, another target Elemental you control gains myriad until end of turn. (Whenever it attacks, for each opponent other than defending player, you may create a token copy that's tapped and attacking that player or a planeswalker they control. Exile the tokens at end of combat.)
Guide
Gameplan
Mass of Mysteries is a 5-color Elemental tribal beatdown commander that turns one of your Elementals into a multi-pronged threat each combat via myriad. You ramp into a board of impactful Elementals, then grant myriad to a creature with a powerful attack trigger or huge body so token copies hit every opponent at once, multiplying value and damage.
Strengths
- Five-color identity gives access to the best ramp, removal, and Elementals in the format.
- Myriad multiplies attack/ETB triggers across all opponents for explosive value swings.
- Commander has evasive-adjacent combat keywords (first strike, vigilance, trample) and stays back on defense.
- Elemental tribal is deep, with strong payoffs and lords across all colors.
Weaknesses
- Myriad tokens are exiled at end of combat, so the value is fleeting without ETB or attack triggers.
- Five-color mana base is expensive and prone to color screw without strong fixing.
- Relies on having a second Elemental to target each turn; light boards stall the engine.
- Token copies are vulnerable to board wipes and combat tricks before triggers resolve.
Key Cards
- Risen Reef — Each myriad token's ETB ramps and draws, snowballing card advantage every combat.
- Avenger of Zendikar — Token copies flood the board with Plant tokens across all opponents for a massive army.
- Cackling Counterpart-style copy effects — Reinforce the copy theme, though Myriad's core value is repeatable copies of strong attackers.
- Omnath, Locus of the Roil — Elemental payoff that draws and deals damage, multiplied by myriad ETBs.
- Cryptic Trilobite — Powerful Elemental whose ETB ramps for each myriad copy, accelerating your mana hugely.
Upgrade Path
Prioritize a smoother 5-color mana base with fetchlands, duals, Triomes, and ramp like Cultivate, Farseek, and mana rocks to reliably cast everything. Add more high-impact Elementals with strong ETB or attack triggers (Risen Reef, Cryptic Trilobite, Avenger of Zendikar) so each myriad activation generates maximum value, plus anthem and overrun effects (Craterhoof Behemoth) to convert wide boards into kills. Round out with interaction and protection to keep your engine creatures alive through wraths.
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
- ▸Swing wide with myriad token copies and pump effects to deal lethal combat damage to all opponents.
- ▸Snowball overwhelming card and board advantage via ETB Elementals like Risen Reef until you simply out-resource the table.
- ▸Generate a massive Plant or token army with Avenger of Zendikar copies and alpha strike.
- ▸Repeated ETB damage triggers (Omnath, Locus of the Roil) multiplied across opponents to grind them out.
Archetypes
- Elemental Tribal — The commander only grants myriad to Elementals, pushing a dedicated creature-type build with lords and payoffs.
- Token Swarm — Myriad creates token copies each combat, multiplying go-wide threats and Avenger-style flooding.
- ETB Value — Token copies trigger enters-the-battlefield abilities once per opponent, generating overwhelming advantage.
- Combat Aggro — Vigilance, first strike, and trample plus myriad copies let you pressure every opponent simultaneously.
Combos
- Mass of Mysteries + Prismabasher + Twinflame Travelers
→ Near-infinite combat damage
Combos via Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BGRUW), by popularity.
