BlackLegendary Creature — Azra AssassinVirtus the Veiled
Mana value3Rank#7,226PartnerYes
The Commander
Partner with Gorm the Great (When this creature enters, target player may put Gorm into their hand from their library, then shuffle.)
Deathtouch
Whenever Virtus deals combat damage to a player, that player loses half their life, rounded up.
Guide
Gameplan
Suit up Virtus the Veiled with evasion and trample, connect once, and halve an opponent's life total — then close with a second hit or burst damage. This is a mono-black voltron deck that uses deathtouch and removal to clear blockers, protects its commander with hexproof/regeneration, and grinds incremental advantage when the beats stall.
Strengths
- Halving life on a single connection makes combat damage swing games shockingly fast
- Deathtouch makes Virtus a brutal attacker and a fearsome blocker that trades up
- Mono-black gives access to the best tutors, removal, and recursion for consistency
- Cheap 3-mana commander recasts easily after removal
- Low investment to threaten lethal — pair the halving hit with evasion and trample
Weaknesses
- Color-bound: no access to natural evasion enchantments from blue/green or efficient combat tricks beyond black
- The halving ability does nothing if Virtus is blocked or chump-blocked
- Heavy reliance on the commander makes it vulnerable to commander tax and exile removal
- Single big threat invites pillowfort and fog effects from the table
- Struggles to interact with non-creature combos at higher power levels
Key Cards
- Whispersilk Cloak — Grants unblockable plus shroud, guaranteeing the halving trigger lands while protecting Virtus.
- Rogue's Passage — A repeatable way to make Virtus unblockable for the game-defining connection.
- Lightning Greaves — Haste and shroud let Virtus attack the turn it lands and dodge targeted removal.
- Quietus Spike — Stacks a second halving-style effect and adds deathtouch-like pressure, accelerating the life-total collapse.
- Gorm the Great — The partner lets you run two commanders, adding a second body and color-identity flexibility within black.
- Greaves/Boots package and Swiftfoot Boots — Protection equipment is essential since the whole plan hinges on Virtus surviving and connecting.
Upgrade Path
Prioritize unblockable enablers and protection (Whispersilk Cloak, Rogue's Passage, fast equip costs) so the halving trigger is reliable, then add black tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor) to find them. Lean into a drain/sacrifice finishing package (Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Bolas's Citadel) to punch through after life totals are halved, and include reanimation or cheap recursion to recover from board wipes. For higher power, add Cabal Coffers/Urborg ramp and stronger interaction like Imp's Mischief and Bontu's Last Reckoning to control the board.
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
- ▸Connect with Virtus once to halve life, then swing again or finish with burn/drain
- ▸Quietus Spike plus a connection to drop opponents to single digits fast
- ▸Commander damage accumulation with deathtouch trample threats
- ▸Aristocrat drains (Blood Artist, Gray Merchant) to mop up reduced life totals
Archetypes
- Voltron — Virtus only needs to connect once to halve life, so loading it with equipment and evasion is the core plan.
- Combat Control — Mono-black removal and deathtouch clear blockers and police the board while Virtus closes.
- Aristocrats (light) — Black's drain and sacrifice effects supplement the halving damage to finish opponents brought low.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (B), by popularity.
