Even though Doctor Who hasn’t even released yet, it appears as though players are already starting to see more cards from the next set. Alongside a full draftable Standard-legal set, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan has four new Commander decks releasing alongside it. We covered the revealed themes of those decks in a separate article.
To reiterate, the four themes for the Commander decks we are getting alongside The Lost Caverns of Ixalan according to the product boxes are Pirate Reanimator, Explore Merfolk, Dinosaur Ramp and Vampire/Demon Aristocrats. These are all rather particular themes, which makes today’s potential Lost Caverns of Ixalan leak rather exciting. It fits within one of these themes, increasing the likelihood of it being the real deal!
Unfortunately, because these leaks are unofficial, there is a chance that the following card could be fake. Even if the following leak does happen to be the real deal, its still an unofficial one. In case you want to wait for Wizards of the Coast to reveal this card officially, consider this your spoiler warning. From here on out, we’ll talk about this card as if it is the real thing.
A New Face Commander Revealed?
Revealed today over on the MTG Rumors Reddit by user Glexy is Clavileno, First of the Blessed. Judging from the similarity of Clavileno’s picture to the one on the deckbox, this could simultaneously be the real deal as well as a clever ruse.
Clavileno appears to fit the role of Vampire/Demon Aristocrats perfectly. This Orzhov Commander turns attacking Vampires into Vampire Demons that get an additional trigger which rewards their deaths. Should an affected Vampire die, you create a tapped 4/3 Demon and draw a card. Considering that you will likely be using this alongside other effects that require sacrifice as payment, the upside to sacrificing these corrupted Vampire Demons could be quite high.
For just three mana, Clavileno looks quite powerful. The card would definitely be playable in constructed Vampire typal decks since it makes killing off your smaller vampires very difficult. It’s not quite strong enough for Legacy, but would be enticing in Standard and maybe even Pioneer. Sadly, the card does not appear to be legal for those sets.
Having Clavileno come in on-curve on turn three with Vampires ready to attack is incredibly powerful. Do note that Clavileno can only turn one Vampire into a Vampire Demon per combat, regardless of how many you can attack with. The only way around this is to double Clavileno’s attack trigger itself with an effect like Vantress Visions or Isshin, Two Heavens as One.
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Powerful Vampire Typal Tool
Another shocking quality about Clavileno, First of the Blessed is that it can repurpose Vampire tokens as long as they aren’t Demons. This makes Clavileno terrifying in the 99 of an Edgar Markov Commander deck. Edgar is a ludicrously expensive Commander financially, and his Eminence ability is a big reason why. Edgar doesn’t even need to be in play to swing the game in your favor. As long as you’re casting Vampires, Edgar will create 1/1 Black Vampire tokens for each one you cast, regardless of whether he is in the Command Zone or in play.
Casting one Vampire per turn before Clavileno comes down means that you’ll have four active bodies that can attack on turn three and obtain Clavileno’s buff. They won’t all obtain it simultaneously, but Clavileno makes your Vampire tokens way more valuable as soon as his trigger resolves.
Elenda, the Dusk Rose is another powerful option, and could either play the role as Commander or as something in the 99 alongside Clavileno, First of the Blessed. Considering Elenda is a legendary creature from the Ixalan block originally, there’s a good chance she’ll be returning in some way in The Lost Caverns of Ixalan.
Both Elenda and Clavileno are interested in having creatures die, which makes them a good combination. Elenda will get bigger when your Vampires die. If they’ve been affected by Clavileno, you’ll create a legion of Demons to replace them.
When Elenda dies, she can create even more Vampires for Clavileno to turn into Vampire Demons and, finally, can be turned into a Demon herself.
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Recurring Value
Edgar, Charmed Groom is yet another card that works well with Clavileno, but probably as a card within the 99 with Clavileno as a Commander or in the 99 of another deck. Edgar can, like the other options, be turned into a Vampire Demon, but he also buffs your other Vampires, working excellently alongside his more expensive variant.
Like Elenda, Edgar, Charmed Groom is interested in dying. Not only will this create more Vampire Tokens that Clavileno can corrupt, but Edgar will eventually return himself.
Either way, Clavileno, First of the Blessed looks great alongside some already available Vampire Typal cards in Commander. If this is the real deal, Vampire fans should be excited for what’s to come.
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