The Commander
Flying
Whenever Meneldor deals combat damage to a player, exile up to one target creature you own, then return it to the battlefield under your control.
Guide
Gameplan
Connect with Meneldor's evasive flying body each turn to repeatedly blink your own creatures, triggering powerful enters-the-battlefield effects for card advantage and value. You build a board of ETB-heavy blue creatures, protect Meneldor, and grind the table out before closing with a big tempo or combo finish.
Strengths
- Free, repeatable blink every combat fuels endless ETB value engines
- Mono-blue gives access to the best counterspells and protection for the commander
- Flying makes Meneldor reliably evasive to ensure the trigger connects
- Can re-buy clones, untappers, and bounce effects for combo potential
Weaknesses
- Mono-color means no removal diversity and weaker creature-based ETBs than Bant/Esper blink
- Value engine does nothing the turn you cast Meneldor (summoning sickness, no haste)
- Reliant on combat damage—chump blockers, fog, or removal shut the engine off
- Slow to actually win; can be out-raced by faster combo or aggro decks
Key Cards
- Snapcaster Mage — Blinking it each combat lets you flashback a spell from your graveyard every turn.
- Mulldrifter — Repeatedly drawing two cards per combat is a premier mono-blue value engine for this commander.
- Peregrine Drake — Blinking it untaps five lands for free, enabling explosive mana and combo loops.
- Archaeomancer — Returns an instant or sorcery from your graveyard each blink, recurring counters or bounce.
- Aether Channeler — Flexible ETB that can draw, bounce, or make a token every single combat.
- Rapid Hybridization — Cheap protection/removal that keeps Meneldor swinging and the table's threats in check.
Upgrade Path
Add more impactful ETB creatures and clone effects (Spark Double, Phantasmal Image) plus untappers to set up combos, and prioritize evasion and protection like Aqueous Form and Whispersilk Cloak to guarantee Meneldor connects. Tighten the manabase with fast mana (Sol Ring, Mana Crypt) and tutors, and lean into a Peregrine Drake/Deadeye Navigator-style infinite engine for a faster, more reliable kill.
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
- ▸Grind overwhelming card advantage and finish with evasive beaters or a Blue Sun's Zenith
- ▸Assemble an infinite mana loop via blinked untappers to draw or mill out the table
- ▸Beat down with a wide board of flyers and reusable bounce clearing blockers
Archetypes
- Blink — Meneldor's combat trigger is a free, repeatable blink that rewards a deck stuffed with ETB creatures.
- Tempo Control — Mono-blue counters and bounce protect Meneldor while you grind incremental advantage.
- Combo — Blinking Peregrine Drake or Palinchron with untap effects can generate infinite mana and loops.
Combos
- Meneldor, Swift Savior + Aurelia, the Warleader
→ Infinite blinking, Infinite combat damage, Infinite combat phases
- The Legend of Kuruk // Avatar Kuruk + Meneldor, Swift Savior + Spark Double
→ Infinite turns, Lock
- The Legend of Kuruk // Avatar Kuruk + Meneldor, Swift Savior + Chameleon, Master of Disguise
→ Infinite turns, Lock
- The Legend of Kuruk // Avatar Kuruk + Meneldor, Swift Savior + Sakashima of a Thousand Faces
→ Lock, Infinite turns
- Plea for Power + Illusion of Choice + Scholar of the Ages + Meneldor, Swift Savior
→ Infinite turns, Lock
Combos via Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (U), by popularity.
