Some of the coolest legends to craft around in Commander are those that blend multiple themes together. While balancing an array of ideas is a bit difficult in deckbuilding, the challenge just makes the final result more rewarding. Rionya, Fire Dancer is a perfect example of a Commander that requires a wide range of tools to maximize but can completely dominate games with the right support.
MTG Rionya, Fire Dancer
Even if you haven’t cast any instants or sorceries, Rionya, Fire Dancer will always create value, copying your creatures at least once. Once you’re able to cast a flurry of spells, however, Rionya’s token production can get out of control, making cantrips like Crash Through and Warlord’s Fury essential.
In a sense, this adds a Storm-like element to Rionya, encouraging fast mana like Seething Song and Jeska’s Will. This gives cost-reducers like Ruby Medallion or creatures like Storm-Kiln Artist a great spot here, helping you cast even more instants and sorceries.
From there, a creature with a powerful enters effect can create a ton of value. Ardent Elementalist is a key inclusion, rebuying a big stack of spells to set up multiple Storm turns. Alternatively, copying Terror of the Peaks or Red Dragon can burn the table out surprisingly fast. With the help of trigger doublers like Harmonic Prodigy and Roaming Throne, setting up lethal in one turn is very realistic.
The only downside to Rionya’s trigger is that your tokens get exiled at end of turn, making your payoff temporary. Fortunately, using cards like Sundial of the Infinite can essentially counter your trigger, keeping your creatures around. Exiling also makes it impossible to profit on death triggers, but sacrifice outlets like Goblin Bombardment can turn this back on.
Infinite Combat Steps and Mana Combos
As strong as Rionya is as a value engine, it has even more appeal as a combo enabler. When paired with Combat Celebrant or Bloodthirster, for example, taking infinite combat steps is trivial. All you have to do is make a single copy of the creature with your Commander, and attack with the token to net an extra combat step. This in turn will retrigger Rionya, enabling you to keep attacking until you deal lethal damage.
Additionally, there are also some three-card combos centered around Aggravated Assault that open the door for infinite mana generation. For example, after casting even a single instant or sorcery pre-combat, Rionya can copy Ganax, Astral Hunter twice and net six Treasures. By using five of them to activate Aggravated Assault, you can gain infinite combat steps and net infinite Treasures.
Notably, Charming Scoundrel and Plundering Barbarian can fill the same role, but you’ll need to cast five instants and sorceries pre-combat instead of one to net infinite mana. All these lines open up the door for you to cast a lethal Walking Ballista post-combat, letting you win even in the face of Blazing Archon.
Surprisingly Underplayed
Given how easy it is to abuse Rionya’s trigger, it’s a bit surprising that this Human Wizard doesn’t see more play as a Commander. With only 3,286 decks to its name, this legend is certainly deserving of more respect.
The good news, though, is that copies are incredibly cheap thanks to a reprint from Prismatic Artistry. Between its $0.45 price tag and its mono-red Commander identity, Rionya can be a great budget Commander contender. This makes it a low-risk purchase with tons of upside, and we highly recommend taking it for a spin at your next Commander Night.
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