JundLegendary Creature — Insect AssassinXira, the Golden Sting
Mana value4Rank#12,865
The Commander
Flying, haste
Whenever Xira attacks, put an egg counter on another target creature without an egg counter on it. When that creature dies, if it has an egg counter on it, draw a card and create a 1/1 black Insect creature token with flying.
Guide
Gameplan
Xira is a Jund creature-sacrifice value engine. Attack each turn with the evasive, hasty body to stamp egg counters on creatures (yours or opponents'), then ensure those creatures die to draw a card and spawn flying Insect tokens. You snowball card advantage and a wide aristocrats board while grinding the table down.
Strengths
- Hasty flier that pressures life totals and triggers immediately the turn she enters
- Generates repeatable card draw plus token bodies, fueling aristocrats and sacrifice synergies
- Egg counters work on opponents' creatures too, turning their deaths into your value
- Jund colors give access to the best removal, ramp, and sacrifice outlets
Weaknesses
- Heavily commander-dependent; if Xira is removed the engine stalls
- Needs creatures to die with counters, so reliable sac outlets are mandatory
- Three-color manabase and a 4-mana commander can be slow to set up
- Vulnerable to flying blockers and combat tricks since she must attack to function
Key Cards
- Viscera Seer — Free sac outlet to guarantee egg-countered creatures die on your terms for cards and tokens.
- Goblin Bombardment — No-mana repeatable sacrifice that also doubles as removal and reach for your tokens.
- Pitiless Plunderer — Turns every sacrificed creature into Treasure, paying for more sacrifices and a combo loop.
- Mikaeus, the Unhallowed — With a free sac outlet and an egg counter, enables infinite sacrifice loops drawing your deck.
- Ashnod's Altar — Free outlet plus mana that powers explosive turns and combo lines off Xira's value.
- Zulaport Cutthroat — Converts all the dying creatures into direct life loss, turning aristocrats value into a wincon.
Upgrade Path
Add free sac outlets (Viscera Seer, Carrion Feeder, Ashnod's Altar, Goblin Bombardment) and payoff aristocrats (Blood Artist, Bastion of Remembrance) to convert deaths into wins. Include the Mikaeus combo package and Treasure makers like Pitiless Plunderer for explosive loops. Tighten the manabase with fetches, shocks, and fast mana, and run protection like Heroic Intervention and Lightning Greaves to keep Xira attacking.
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
- ▸Aristocrats drain via Zulaport Cutthroat or Blood Artist effects as creatures die
- ▸Infinite sacrifice combo with Mikaeus the Unhallowed plus a free outlet and a counter
- ▸Going wide with flying Insect tokens backed by an anthem or Craterhoof Behemoth
- ▸Grinding card advantage until you overwhelm with superior board presence
Archetypes
- Aristocrats — Egg counters plus death triggers reward sacrificing creatures repeatedly for value and damage.
- Tokens — Each egg-counter death spawns flying Insects that go wide for swarm and sac fodder.
- Combo — Mikaeus or persist creatures with a free sac outlet loop to draw out and drain the table.
- Reanimator — Cheap recursion lets you re-sacrifice big bodies, keeping the egg engine running.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BGR), by popularity.
