The Commander
You may cast artifact spells from your graveyard by paying 3 life in addition to paying their other costs. If you cast a spell this way, that artifact enters with a finality counter on it.
Guide
Gameplan
Noctis is an Esper artifact engine that turns your graveyard into a second hand—sacrifice or lose artifacts, then recast them from the yard for 3 life apiece, with lifelink keeping your life buffer topped off. You durdle through the early game ramping into mana rocks and value artifacts, then loop sacrifice-fodder, equipment, and powerful artifacts repeatedly to grind out advantage. Win by accumulating overwhelming value or assembling an artifact-based combo.
Strengths
- Strong recursion that makes artifact removal and sacrifice symmetrical effects far less painful for you
- Lifelink on the commander offsets the 3-life payments and the life cost of fast mana/painlands
- Esper colors give the best artifact support, tutors, and interaction in the format
- Synergizes naturally with sacrifice outlets, treasure, and equipment that often die or get used up
Weaknesses
- Finality counters stop you from reusing the same artifact twice from the yard, capping infinite loops
- Paying 3 life repeatedly is dangerous against aggro, burn, or life-loss strategies despite lifelink
- Reliant on the commander being on the battlefield to function, so commander hate slows you down
- Can be slow and durdly; lacks an inherent fast clock without a dedicated wincon
Key Cards
- Goblin Engineer — Tutors artifacts straight to the graveyard so Noctis can recast them at instant value.
- Krark-Clan Ironworks — Sacrifices artifacts for mana, fueling the very recasts Noctis enables from the yard.
- Sword of the Animist — Equipment that ramps; if removed you simply recast it, embodying the recursion plan.
- Sevinne's Reclamation — Backs up Noctis by recurring low-cost artifacts and can be flashbacked for more value.
- Ichor Wellspring — Cheap sacrifice fodder that draws on entry and re-entry, looping cards through Noctis.
- Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle — Pairs with cheap artifacts to chain recursion and build near-infinite value engines.
Upgrade Path
Add fast mana and dedicated tutors (Mana Vault, Whir of Invention, Goblin Engineer) plus self-mill or discard outlets to load the graveyard quickly. Build toward a tight artifact combo finish—Aetherflux Reservoir with cheap artifact loops, or Krark-Clan Ironworks lines—so the value engine has a hard kill. Round out with premium Esper interaction (Cyclonic Rift, Swords to Plowshares, Counterspell) to protect Noctis and survive the durdle turns.
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 incremental card and board advantage until you out-resource the table
- ▸Assemble an artifact combo (e.g. KCI/Ironworks loops into a payoff like Aetherflux Reservoir or laboratory finishers)
- ▸Voltron the commander with equipment for repeated lifelinking, evasive damage
- ▸Drain the table with Aetherflux Reservoir or Marionette Master fueled by recurring artifacts
Archetypes
- Artifacts — Noctis rewards stacking artifacts and recasting them, making him a natural artifact-matters commander.
- Aristocrats — He turns sacrificed artifacts into recurring resources, fueling sac-and-recast value chains.
- Combo — Cheap artifacts plus sac outlets and Noctis enable mana- and trigger-based loops for big payoffs.
- Equipment Voltron — Recurring removed equipment keeps a suited-up beater online while granting lifelink.
Combos
- Noctis, Prince of Lucis + Aetherflux Reservoir + Vexing Bauble
→ Infinite damage, Infinite lifegain triggers, Infinite lifegain
- Noctis, Prince of Lucis + Aetherflux Reservoir + Solemnity + Lotus Petal
→ Infinite colored mana, Infinite damage, Infinite lifegain triggers
- Noctis, Prince of Lucis + Aetherflux Reservoir + Hex Parasite + Lotus Petal
→ Infinite damage, Infinite lifegain triggers, Infinite lifegain
- Noctis, Prince of Lucis + Aetherflux Reservoir + Solemnity + Mishra's Bauble
→ Infinite damage, Infinite lifegain triggers, Infinite lifegain
- Noctis, Prince of Lucis + Aetherflux Reservoir + Mox Diamond
→ Infinite damage, Infinite lifegain triggers, Infinite lifegain
Combos via Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BUW), by popularity.
