The Commander
At the beginning of each end step, if a player discarded a card this turn, create a 1/1 black Bird creature token with flying and "This token can't block."
, 
: Each opponent discards a card. Activate only as a sorcery.
Guide
Gameplan
Build a mono-black discard/wheel engine that turns every discard—yours or your opponents'—into a flock of evasive 1/1 fliers, then convert that board into damage via anthems and sacrifice payoffs. Early game you deploy discard outlets and stax-y hand attack; mid-game The Raven Man's activated ability forces opponents to discard every turn, generating birds at each end step.
Strengths
- Generates evasive flying tokens off any player's discard, scaling with wheels and hand-disruption
- Doubles as a recurring discard engine that grinds opponents' hands while building a board
- Cheap two-mana commander that comes down early and triggers off opponents' natural discards too
- Mono-black gives deep access to tutors, recursion, and reliable mana
Weaknesses
- Tokens are fragile 1/1s vulnerable to any board wipe, resetting your whole plan
- Activated ability is slow at four mana, sorcery-speed, and one card per opponent
- No built-in protection or evasion for itself, easy to remove repeatedly
- Reliant on synergy pieces—without anthems or sac payoffs the birds don't close games
Key Cards
- Megrim — Punishes the discard you're already forcing, turning each opponent's discard into direct damage.
- Liliana of the Veil — Repeatable symmetric discard fuels bird tokens every turn while stripping threats.
- Anvil of Bogardan — Forces a discard every upkeep, guaranteeing tokens and accelerating opponents into empty hands.
- Bontu the Glorious — Acts as a sac outlet and discard enabler that converts excess birds into card draw and damage.
- Coat of Arms — Turns a wide bird board into a lethal evasive army in a single attack.
- Skullclamp — Sacrifices your fragile 1/1 birds into a relentless card-draw engine.
Upgrade Path
Add efficient repeatable discard (Bottomless Pit, Oppression, Necrogen Mists) so tokens come every turn, and pair them with punishers like Waste Not and Megrim. Stack token anthems (Intangible Virtue, Coat of Arms) and aristocrats payoffs (Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat, Skullclamp) to convert birds into wins, and include protection plus fast mana (Sol Ring, dark rituals, swords) to deploy the engine and shield your commander.
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 a buffed flock of flying birds under Coat of Arms or an anthem
- ▸Drain life via Megrim-style discard punishers as opponents are forced to discard
- ▸Sacrifice birds repeatedly to aristocrats payoffs like Blood Artist or Bontu
Archetypes
- Discard / Hand Attack — Its activated ability and end-step trigger reward forcing discards every turn.
- Tokens / Go-Wide — Each discard makes an evasive flier that you can buff into a swarm win.
- Aristocrats — Bird tokens are perfect fodder for sacrifice outlets and drain payoffs.
- Stax / Resource Denial — Repeatable mono-black discard chokes opponents' hands while you build advantage.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (B), by popularity.
