BlackLegendary Creature — Human RogueSafana, Calimport Cutthroat
Mana value3Rank#10,379
The Commander
Menace
At the beginning of your end step, if you have the initiative, create a Treasure token. Create three of those tokens instead if you've completed a dungeon.
Choose a Background (You can have a Background as a second commander.)
Guide
Gameplan
Take and hold the initiative early, then grind through the Undercity dungeon while Safana floods you with Treasure each end step. Use that ramp and the dungeon rewards to power out big black threats, sacrifice payoffs, or just out-resource the table while menace keeps Safana hitting to defend your initiative.
Strengths
- Strong, repeatable Treasure ramp that snowballs once you complete a dungeon (three Treasures per turn)
- Initiative pressure forces opponents to attack you, distorting their game plans
- Menace makes Safana hard to block, helping you keep the initiative and chip in
- Background slot adds huge flexibility to shape the deck's strategy
Weaknesses
- Losing the initiative shuts off the Treasure engine entirely
- Mono-black limits access to flyers and instant-speed protection for the initiative
- Vulnerable to being swarmed once you hold the initiative — you become the table's target
- Relies on Safana sticking; repeated removal stalls the venture and Treasure flow
Key Cards
- White Plume Adventurer — Gives you the initiative immediately and lets you venture, kickstarting Safana's dungeon-completion bonus.
- Caves of Chaos Adventurer — Another initiative-granter that also ventures and impulse-draws, feeding the engine.
- Undermountain Adventurer — Provides the initiative plus card advantage to keep pace while you defend it.
- Reckoner Bankbuster — Treasure synergy and steady card draw that complements your token flood.
- Black Market Connections — Turns your Treasure-rich board into card advantage, mana, and bodies to protect the initiative.
- Mirkwood Bats — Punishes opponents as your Treasures and tokens enter and die, converting ramp into damage.
Upgrade Path
Add fast mana (Sol Ring, Mana Crystals) and more initiative-granters so you can grab and defend the initiative as early as possible. Pick a Background that sharpens a clear plan — Raised by Giants or Cultist of the Absolute for Voltron, or sacrifice/drain support for Aristocrats — and include initiative recapture like Stirring Bard or removal to clear the player who steals it. Tighten the curve and add efficient interaction so you're never forced to tap out and lose the initiative.
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 opponents out with relentless Treasure-fueled card and mana advantage, then close with big black finishers
- ▸Repeated drain triggers from Aristocrats payoffs sacrificing Treasure tokens
- ▸Commander damage from a menacing, buffed Safana via a Voltron-oriented Background
- ▸Dungeon completion engines (Throne of the Dead Three / Undercity rewards) overwhelming the board
Archetypes
- Initiative/Venture Midrange — Safana directly rewards holding the initiative and completing the Undercity dungeon with escalating Treasure.
- Treasure Ramp/Big Mana — Constant Treasure generation lets you deploy oversized black threats ahead of schedule.
- Aristocrats — Treasure tokens are free sacrifice fodder for drain and grind engines.
- Voltron — Menace plus a damage-focused Background lets Safana threaten lethal commander damage while protecting the initiative.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (B), by popularity.
