One of the coolest aspects of Commander is getting to maximize legendary creatures that never got their time to shine elsewhere. There are tons of fun build-arounds like Idris, Soul of TARDIS, can take over games when given the right support. This Incarnation’s abilities give rise to plenty of elite synergies and infinite combos that make it a truly one-of-a-kind Commander.
MTG Idris, Soul of the TARDIS
Between the Vanishing downside and the necessity to have a strong artifact in play to Imprint, there are certainly times when Idris, Soul of the TARDIS won’t pull its weight. Fortunately, though, Idris’ Imprint ability is easily abusable. Add blink effects, for example, and Idris turns into a value machine.
Not only will cards like Conjurer’s Closet and Thassa, Deep-Dwelling reset Idris’ Vanishing counters every turn, but they can also retrigger enters and leaves effects accumulated via Imprint. Thanks to this, curving efficient options like Cryogen Relic or Ichor Wellspring into Idris is a great way to pull ahead on cards.
Then, later in the game, Imprinting Portal to Phyrexia or Spine of Ish Sah helps keep opposing Commanders in check. Notably, exiling Spine of Ish Sah even enables Idris to return to your hand should it die rather than the command zone, making it easier to replay your Commander on a discount.
In addition to gaining the triggered abilities of the Imprinted artifacts, Idris can also abuse activated abilities. This lets you combine powerful tap abilities from artifacts like The One Ring and creature untapping effects like Freed from the Real, drawing your deck. Throw in Illusionist’s Bracers to copy each activation, and you’ll start to go nuts.
While Idris’ most important feature is its ability they can gain, it’s important to remember that exiling big artifacts gives your Commander a massive buff. So, getting Metalwork Colossus or Mycosynth Golem into play at a discount and then Imprinting them can set up massive attacks early. With the help of beefy equipment like Excalibur, Sword of Eden, you may be able to attack for lethal Commander damage in one hit.
Infinite Mana, Tokens, and Looting Through Your Deck
Beyond being a strong value engine and monstrous attacker, Idris also has the upside of enabling numerous combos. The simplest of the bunch are infinite mana combos, of which there are many. For example, you can Imprint either Basalt Monolith or Grim Monolith with Idris while Training Grounds is in play. This way, you can tap Idris for three mana, then activate the untap ability at a discount via Training Grounds. After repeating this process over and over, winning the game with a mana sink like Walking Ballista is trivial. For more redundancy, Illusionist’s Bracers can also take the place of Training Grounds to net the same result.
Digging a little deeper, Imprinting Myr Turbine with Idris enables infinite token production if you stick Intruder Alarm. All you have to do is tap Idris to make a 1/1 Myr, which triggers Intruder Alarm to untap Idris and all of your other creatures. Once you have infinite Myr tokens, you even have the luxury of using Myr Turbine’s second ability to tutor all of the Myr cards from your deck!
If infinite mana and infinite tokens weren’t enough, Idris also opens the door for you to Loot through your whole deck. To start, you’ll need to Imprint Honor-Worn Shaku, whose final ability lets you tap and untap Idris as many times as you wish. Then, by landing Unctus, Grand Metatect, you’re able to continuously draw and discard cards to your heart’s content. So long as you have at least one card in hand to start and Thassa’s Oracle in your deck, you should have no issue converting infinite looting into a win.
Criminally Underrated
While it’s not too surprising that Idris doesn’t see a ton of play in the 99 of other decks given its build-around requirements, it’s strange that it isn’t a more respected Commander. Despite all the different ways to take advantage of the Imprint ability, this legend only accounts for 138 Commander decks, acording to EDHREC.
Still, as a Universes Beyond card printed only in MTG Doctor Who, Idris’ lack of appeal may be partly due to unfamiliarity rather than power level. The good news is that with such minimal demand, Idris sits at a low price of $0.25. So, if you’re interested in a unique but cheap Commander to surprise your friends with, Idris delivers.
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