Thanks to the massive amount of support it has, +1/+1 Counters-focused decks are one of the most popular archetypes in Commander. Offering a deadly combination of speed and going tall, these decks can often ignore and power through an opponent’s plans.
In these strategies, counter-doublers are often the cherry on top, going over the top of your opponent’s boards easily. Thanks to Lae’zel, Vlaakith’s Champion, you can even run one of these powerful abilities in the Command Zone.
Picking a Background
Acting as a replacement effect that adds extra counters to creatures and Planeswalkers, it’s easy to build around Lae’zel, Vlaakith’s Champion to abuse its ability. While this makes the Gith Warrior a compelling Commander in its own right, Lae’zel can also Choose a Background, expanding her color identity.
Thanks to its synergy with Lae’zel, Master Chef is the best Background to go with. Not only do you get more counters on your Commander and creatures, but it expands her color identity into Selesnya. This is vital for a +1/+1 Counter-focused deck, as it lets you play Hardened Scales, Doubling Season, and Cadira, Caller of the Small.
MTG Lae’zel, Vlaakith’s Champion in Selesnya
Since Lae’zel, Vlaakith’s Champion effectively doubles the efficiency of adding counters, creatures like Ambitious Augmentor, and Experiment One quickly become auto-inclusions. Forgotten Ancient and Managorger Hydra are particularly nasty here, easily getting 10 or more +1/+1 counters per turn cycle.
Thanks to going into Selesnya, Lae’zel also has tons of redundancy for her ability. Branching Evolution, Conclave Mentor, and Kami of Whispered Hopes all amplify Lae’zel’s replacement effect, while subbing in for her if she gets removed too much. On top of making Master Chef a much bigger deal, this consistency makes boardwide buffs like Ouroboroid and Practiced Offense far more effective.
While this makes getting your creatures big easy, getting through for damage is another question entirely. To break through chump blockers, Duskshell Crawler and Sphere Grid can give all your buffed creatures Trample. Alternatively, Champion of Lambholt and Rogue’s Passage can directly make your massive creatures unblockable.
All of this allows you to make a massive game-ending board with Lae’zel easily, but it also makes you extremely susceptible to board wipes. Both haste enablers like Concordant Crossroads or cards like Teferi’s Protection can fix this, but they won’t be enough on their own.
With this in mind, prioritizing ways to keep your hand stocked and healthy allows you to rebuild more easily after a board clear. Cards like Life’s Legacy and Return of the Wildspeaker can capitalize on the massive stats that Lae’zel naturally creates. Pair this with The Ozolith to save your lost +1/+1 counters, and you can present consistent threats surprisingly easily.
Because Lae’zel’s replacement effect doesn’t just work with +1/+1 counters, Proliferate cards can be particularly effective for the Commander. Contagion Engine and Evolution Sage, for example, will allow Lae’zel to put extra counters of any type your creatures and Planeswalkers. With this in mind, Elspeth, Storm Slayer is extremely effective alongside Lae’zel.
Infinite Power!
In addition to Lae’zel offering a powerful replacement effect for a counter deck, the card can go infinite with a few infamous artifacts. Paired with an effect that can continually grant +1/+1 counters, like Gatta and Luzzu, Walking Ballista can grow infinitely large and deal infinite damage.
With Walking Ballista having at least two +1/+1 counters and Lae’zel in play, just cast Gatta and Luzu, targeting your Ballista. You can then remove one counter on Ballista target to itself with its own ability, replacing the damage dealt with two counters. While this combo is available in mono white, Selesnya offers lots of redundancy through cards like Strength of Will and Rite of Passage.
Outside of +1/+1 counter decks, Lae’zel has a surprising number of infinite combos using Energy. For example, Lae’zel can create infinite tapped 3/3 Colorless Robots with Automated Assembly Line and Gonti’s Aether Heart. While a bit less useful on its own, Decoction Module and Aethergeode Miner can create infinite enters and leaves triggers.
If you choose to use a blue background, like Candlekeep Sage, Lae’zel can gain access to a whole bunch of extra infinite combos. Mindless Automaton, and Iron Man, Armored Avenger, for example, can draw your deck with your Commander in play. Alternatively, Leech Bonder and Paradise Mantle offer infinite Proliferation alongside Lae’zel.
Stuck in a Support Role
Between Lae’zel, Vlaakith’s Champion’s +1/+1 counter potential and her infinite combos, making a powerful deck around this Commander is quite easy. Despite this, however, Lae’zel doesn’t see much play in the Command Zone, only having 2,500 decks to its name according to EDHREC.
While that would normally make Lae’zel rather inexpensive to pick up, she is extremely popular in the 99 of other decks. Despite seeing play in over 98,000 99s, however, Lae’zel is still rather affordable at $3.50. Even if you don’t build Lae’zel as a Commander, she should be a shoo-in for your other decks at this price.
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