Insane MTG Star Trek Commander Prevents Death and Makes 10 Tokens a Turn

One of the crucial lessons every Magic: The Gathering player must learn is that life is a resource: it doesn’t matter whether you win with one life or 20, so long as you win. This principle holds doubly true in Commander, where the starting life total of 40 gives you much more to play with. With MTG Star Trek, we get a new Commander, Georgiou, Terran Emperor, who pushes this principle to its absolute limits.

Georgiou, Terran Emperor MTG

Georgiou’s first line of text was spicy enough to be featured in Mark Rosewater’s teaser article for Star Trek. We’ve seen it before on cards like Phyrexian Unlife Phyrexian Unlife You don't lose the game for having 0 or less life.
As long as you have 0 or less life, all damage is dealt to you as though its source had infect. (Damage is dealt to you in the form of poison counters.) and Lich’s Tomb Lich’s Tomb You don't lose the game for having 0 or less life.
Whenever you lose life, sacrifice a permanent for each 1 life you lost. (Damage causes loss of life.) , but it usually comes with a severe downside that can kill you in a different way. Georgiou not only lacks that downside, but it also lets you access this effect in the command zone, making it much more consistent.

When you don’t have to worry about your life total, a ton of black cards get much more effective. You can pay as much life as you want into draw engines like Necropotence Necropotence Skip your draw step.
Whenever you discard a card, exile that card from your graveyard.
Pay 1 life: Exile the top card of your library face down. Put that card into your hand at the beginning of your next end step. and Bolas’s Citadel Bolas’s Citadel You may look at the top card of your library any time.
You may play lands and cast spells from the top of your library. If you cast a spell this way, pay life equal to its mana value rather than pay its mana cost.
{T}, Sacrifice ten nonland permanents: Each opponent loses 10 life. , putting yourself all the way down to zero in exchange for resources. You can also make fantastic use of K’rrik, Son of Yawgmoth K’rrik, Son of Yawgmoth ({B/P} can be paid with either {B} or 2 life.)
Lifelink
For each {B} in a cost, you may pay 2 life rather than pay that mana.
Whenever you cast a black spell, put a +1/+1 counter on K'rrik. and Defiler of Flesh Defiler of Flesh Menace
As an additional cost to cast black permanent spells, you may pay 2 life. Those spells cost {B} less to cast if you paid life this way. This effect reduces only the amount of black mana you pay.
Whenever you cast a black permanent spell, target creature you control gets +1/+1 and gains menace until end of turn. to power out your spells. While you can’t go past zero with these cards, since you can’t pay life you don’t have, they still offer a ton of value.

Where you can go past zero, however, is with cards that make you lose life as a cost. Black staples like Black Market Connections Black Market Connections At the beginning of your first main phase, choose one or more —
• Sell Contraband — Create a Treasure token. You lose 1 life.
• Buy Information — Draw a card. You lose 2 life.
• Hire a Mercenary — Create a 3/2 colorless Shapeshifter creature token with changeling. You lose 3 life. (It is every creature type.) , Dark Confidant Dark Confidant At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal the top card of your library and put that card into your hand. You lose life equal to its mana value. , and Toxic Deluge Toxic Deluge As an additional cost to cast this spell, pay X life.
All creatures get -X/-X until end of turn. can all be used with reckless abandon while Georgiou is in play, letting you rack up a sizable advantage.

This plan gets even better when you rope in life loss payoffs like Hela, Mistress of Darkness Hela, Mistress of Darkness Whenever a player loses life during your turn, you may create that many tapped 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens. Do this only once each turn. and Vilis, Broker of Blood Vilis, Broker of Blood Flying
{B}, Pay 2 life: Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
Whenever you lose life, draw that many cards. (Damage causes loss of life.) to double-dip on value. These are particularly nice here since Georgiou comes with a pricier Phyrexian Arena Phyrexian Arena At the beginning of your upkeep, you draw a card and lose 1 life. effect tacked on, so you’ll be losing life on most turns even without other pieces in the mix.

Once your life does hit zero, which shouldn’t take long with a mix of the above, then Georgiou actually rewards you for it with a whopping 10 1/1 tokens a turn. This is a massive attack force by itself, which you can make even bigger using trigger doublers like Roaming Throne Roaming Throne Ward {2}
As this creature enters, choose a creature type.
This creature is the chosen type in addition to its other types.
If a triggered ability of another creature you control of the chosen type triggers, it triggers an additional time. and Strionic Resonator Strionic Resonator {2}, {T}: Copy target triggered ability you control. You may choose new targets for the copy. (A triggered ability uses the words "when," "whenever," or "at.") . Add in some generic Typal payoffs like Chronicle of Victory Chronicle of Victory As Chronicle of Victory enters, choose a creature type.
Creatures you control of the chosen type get +2/+2 and have first strike and trample.
Whenever you cast a spell of the chosen type, draw a card. and Patchwork Banner Patchwork Banner As this artifact enters, choose a creature type.
Creatures you control of the chosen type get +1/+1.
{T}: Add one mana of any color. , and this can easily let you win via combat alone.

Alternatively, gaining so many tokens at once also lets you pursue a grindy Aristocrats plan quite effectively. The usual sacrifice outlets like Phyrexian Altar Phyrexian Altar Sacrifice a creature: Add one mana of any color. , and payoffs like Zulaport Cutthroat Zulaport Cutthroat Whenever this creature or another creature you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. , become downright silly with so much token production. You can also keep the entire pod in check with Grave Pact Grave Pact Whenever a creature you control dies, each other player sacrifices a creature of their choice. and Dictate of Erebos Dictate of Erebos Flash
Whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent sacrifices a creature of their choice. , if you don’t mind losing a few friends on the road to victory.

However you play Georgiou, one thing that’s absolutely vital is protection. You’ll likely be operating at zero or less life rather quickly in this strategy, which means a single removal spell from an opponent will be able to take you out. Running the classic protective Equipment like Lightning Greaves Lightning Greaves Equipped creature has haste and shroud. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities.)
Equip {0} and Mithril Coat Mithril Coat Flash
Indestructible
When Mithril Coat enters, attach it to target legendary creature you control.
Equipped creature has indestructible.
Equip {3} is a must for this reason, and you may even want to consider Assault Suit Assault Suit Equipped creature gets +2/+2, has haste, can't attack you or planeswalkers you control, and can't be sacrificed.
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, you may have that player gain control of equipped creature until end of turn. If you do, untap it.
Equip {3} for edict protection. You can also bring in Platinum Angel Platinum Angel Flying
You can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game. and Darksteel Angel Darksteel Angel Flying, indestructible
You can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game.
Creatures you control can't have -1/-1 counters put on them. , as an additional layer of game loss prevention for opponents to get through.

Death-Defying Combo Lines

Georgiou offers plenty as a fair deck, or as fair as you can be when preventing death through Magic’s most common means, but it also enables some combo wins. If you can get your life down to zero or less, then simply casting Repay in Kind Repay in Kind Each player's life total becomes the lowest life total among all players. , or activating The Darkhold The Darkhold {T}: Put a sin counter on The Darkhold. Draw a card for each sin counter on it, then you lose 1 life for each card in your hand.
{6}{B}{B}, {T}: Each player's life total becomes the lowest life total among all players. Activate only as a sorcery. ‘s ability once that drops next year, will wipe out the entire pod. You can also use Soul Conduit Soul Conduit {6}, {T}: Two target players exchange life totals. and Magus of the Mirror Magus of the Mirror {T}, Sacrifice this creature: Exchange life totals with target opponent. Activate only during your upkeep. to similar effect, though these will only take out one opponent at a time.

These lines are fairly scary in a vacuum, but they get far scarier when you consider the tools Mono-Black has to support them. Simply casting Ad Nauseam Ad Nauseam Reveal the top card of your library and put that card into your hand. You lose life equal to its mana value. You may repeat this process any number of times. or Necrologia Necrologia Cast this spell only during your end step.
As an additional cost to cast this spell, pay X life.
Draw X cards. not only drops your life below zero but also draws your whole deck, ensuring you have the pieces you need to close things out. Given how easily these cards and Georgiou empty your deck, it’s worth running Doctor Doom, Unrivaled Doctor Doom, Unrivaled Lifelink
{T}: You draw a card and lose 1 life. Then if your library has no cards in it, you win the game. (You win even if you have 0 life or didn't draw a card.) here as well, as an extra win condition that supports the life-loss theme.

Even without these engines, black has no shortage of tutors to find Repay in Kind Repay in Kind Each player's life total becomes the lowest life total among all players. every game, and plenty of ritual effects to power it out when needed. You can also pay yourself down to zero life early on in countless ways, such as Wall of Blood Wall of Blood Defender (This creature can't attack.)
Pay 1 life: This creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. and Blood Celebrant Blood Celebrant {B}, Pay 1 life: Add one mana of any color. . This means these Repay in Kind Repay in Kind Each player's life total becomes the lowest life total among all players. combos should be incredibly consistent, making Georgiou a scary proposition in the command zone indeed.

While MTG cards with flashy lines of text often end up more gimmicky than good, Georgiou, Terran Emperor is a clear exception. Not only is this an extremely exciting legend to build around, but it’s also one with genuine potential. With a life-loss theme already established in the early Marvel: Darkhold Destiny spoilers, Georgiou looks like a great Commander that should only get better over time.

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