Between its powerhouse combo enablers and stellar new Commanders for established archetypes, Mystery Booster Commander Edition is looking like a surprise home run for 2026. Of the 60 new legends introduced, Massimo, the Magician stands out as a potent option for Spellslinger-loving MTG players. By turning normally low-impact spells into grindy value, this Cat Wizard has a ton to offer.
Massimo, The Magician MTG
With Massimo, the Magician in the command zone, one-mana instants and sorceries suddenly stretch a lot further than usual. By attaching some of Magic’s most iconic spells to your creatures, you can create value turn after turn. Admittedly, while this can bury your opponents in an avalanche of advantage, you do have to jump through some hoops first.
First and foremost, you’ll need a bunch of spells in your ‘yard, but there are tons of solutions for this, especially in Izzet. Using cards like Kitsa, Otterball Elite and Faithless Looting, you can effortlessly sculpt your hand and put spells where needed. You can even use self-Mill tools like Mesmeric Orb or Zellix, Sanity Flayer, which handily makes bodies too.
Speaking of, once you’ve got enough spells in the graveyard, you’ll need something to attach them to. Since tokens work with Massimo, cards like Young Pyromancer and Talrand, Sky Summoner are ideal, creating a steady stream of bodies. Notably, since Massimo specifies that you cast the copies, too, these tokens easily replace themselves after doing damage.
Since you’ll be casting tons of spells, this also opens up synergies with draw engines like Archmage Emeritus and Vega, the Watcher. Similarly, cards like Storm-Kiln Artist and even Guttersnipe make for great additions to the 99, even if you’re not attacking with them. Realistically, when it comes to attacking, cards like Slither Blade and Triton Shorestalker really go the distance, ensuring consistent copy triggers.
Beyond effectively utilizing evasion, Massimo can double up on casts by granting creatures Double Strike with Lizard Blades. Alternatively, you can go all in on combat steps using Aggravated Assault to truly blow out opponents. With all this at Massimo’s disposal, all you really need to do is pick the right spells to copy.
Building Massimo’s Spellbook
While Massimo’s one-mana restriction initially sounds limiting, there’s actually a ton of variety across the spells it can repeat. Efficient single-target removal like Lightning Bolt and Swords to Plowshares becomes a lot better under Massimo, as re-using it gets around the typical multiplayer disadvantage of such cards. You can also recycle top-tier draw like Preordain and Brainstorm, balancing out the potential blowouts of exiling your spells to Massimo.
There are plenty of other tricks up Massimo’s sleeve, too, including providing repeatable ramp with spells like Strike it Rich. If you’re short of creatures rather than mana, it can even exile token-making spells, like Recruit the Worthy or Hard Evidence. For any other needs, Massimo also gives you repeatable access to one-mana tutors like Mystical Tutor and Gamble, provided you’re playing in the higher brackets, of course.
One notable wrinkle of Massimo’s ability is that it lets you cast copies of the exiled spells, which still lets you pay additional costs. This means you can pay the Spree cost on Great Train Heist for extra combats and spell casts. This gives Massimo access to effects it really shouldn’t get at one mana, including board wipes with Final Showdown and full board protection with Galadriel’s Dismissal.
Overall, Massimo, the Magician is yet another fun, unique new option from Mystery Booster Commander Edition. So far this novelty seems to be sparking players’ imaginations, as reflected in Massimo’s status as the fifth-most popular Commander in the set according to EDHREC. As time goes on, and Wizards keeps pushing the envelope on one-mana spells, this popularity will only grow.
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