The Commander
Flying
When Vendilion Clique enters, look at target player's hand. You may choose a nonland card from it. If you do, that player reveals the chosen card, puts it on the bottom of their library, then draws a card.
Guide
Gameplan
Vendilion Clique is a mono-blue tempo/control commander that wins through evasive damage backed by a wall of counters, bounce, and card advantage. You deploy cheap interaction to stay alive, protect a flying threat (often the Clique herself or other flyers), and grind opponents out while their plans get answered. The ETB lets you strip a key card from any hand—flashing it in at end step or in response to a critical draw is pure tempo.
Strengths
- Mono-blue gives access to the deepest pool of counterspells, card draw, and bounce in the format
- Flash lets you hold up interaction and deploy the commander as a surprise blocker or evasive threat
- ETB hand disruption can answer a combo piece, board wipe, or fatty before it resolves
- Cheap, evasive commander that recasts easily and pressures life totals
Weaknesses
- Three power on the commander means clocks are slow; you need to assemble repeatable damage
- Mono-blue struggles to remove resolved permanents and has weak answers to enchantments/artifacts
- Inherently reactive—falling behind on board is hard to recover from in multiplayer
- Card filtering on the ETB only delays one card; it doesn't generate true card advantage
Key Cards
- Cyclonic Rift — The premier mono-blue blowout, resetting the board asymmetrically to enable a closing alpha strike.
- Rhystic Study — Engine that converts a control shell's slow game into overwhelming card advantage.
- Aetherflux Reservoir — A mono-U combo finish that turns your spell-heavy deck and lifegain into a one-shot kill.
- Thassa's Oracle — Pairs with self-mill or deck-emptying to provide a compact, protectable win condition.
- Brainstorm — Synergizes with the Clique's bottoming effect and shuffle outlets for tight card selection.
- Consecrated Sphinx — Explosive card-advantage engine that buries opponents if it survives a turn.
Upgrade Path
Lean into a clear win axis—either a Thassa's Oracle/Demonic Consultation-style combo line or a wizard/spellslinger beatdown—rather than playing pure goodstuff. Add fast mana (Sol Ring, Mana Crystal, Mana Drain) and the best free interaction (Force of Will, Force of Negation, Pact of Negation, Fierce Guardianship) to protect your engine. Finish with strong card advantage (Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Consecrated Sphinx) and efficient tutors (Mystical Tutor, Personal Tutor) to find your wincon consistently.
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
- ▸Chip away with evasive flyers (the Clique and friends) under counter protection
- ▸Aetherflux Reservoir lifegain into a lethal energy blast
- ▸Thassa's Oracle / Laboratory Maniac with an empty or near-empty library
- ▸Cyclonic Rift overload followed by an unblocked alpha strike
Archetypes
- Tempo — Cheap evasive threats plus counters and bounce let you race while the ETB strips answers.
- Control — Mono-blue's counters, card draw, and Cyclonic Rift let Clique sit back and dictate the game.
- Spellslinger — A high instant/sorcery count supports prowess, wizard tribal, and storm-style payoffs.
- Combo — Blue tutors and rituals enable compact wins like Thassa's Oracle or Aetherflux.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (U), by popularity.
