Tuesday Night Takeover
Massimo, the Magician
EDH August 13, 2026

Massimo, the Magician Spellslinger EDH

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Commander Overview

Out of all the spoiled cards from the Mystery Booster Commander Edition, I knew I had to build Massimo, the Magician. He’s a lynx-looking cat with an affinity for shenanigans of the spellslinging variety.

I saw some people on Reddit interested in a cEDH build of Massimo, but I’m more interested in a bracket 3 deck with some older cards no one really plays anymore. My build is pretty cheap since it doesn’t include many Jeskai staples like Rhystic Study, Birgi, or Smothering Tithe. The most expensive cards are a few 1-mana tutors, and those are also optional. I included them to help the deck be more consistent overall.


Bracket 3 Jeskai Spellslinger
Command Zone

Massimo, the Magician

Legendary Creature — Cat Wizard
$219.08

Creature 23

1 Bilbo, Luckwearer $0.30
1 Caldera Pyremaw $0.38
1 Cephalid Facetaker $5.14
1 Combat Celebrant $1.55
1 Coruscation Mage $1.93
1 Dragon's Rage Channeler $2.02
1 Flitterstep Eidolon $0.13
1 Ghostly Pilferer $3.45
1 Gingerbrute $0.30
1 Goldhound $0.17
1 Gudul Lurker $0.61
1 Guttersnipe
1 Hullbreaker Horror $6.42
1 Kykar, Wind's Fury $0.44
1 Ledger Shredder $9.22
1 Nimble Brigand $0.26
1 Selfless Spirit $0.42
1 Shoreline Looter $0.38
1 Slither Blade $2.70
1 Storm-Kiln Artist $1.51
1 Vega, the Watcher $0.29
1 Willie Lumpkin, Postman $0.71
1 Wraith, Vicious Vigilante $0.23

Instant 16

1 An Offer You Can't Refuse $2.73
1 Boon of Safety $0.27
1 Brain Freeze
1 Brainstorm $1.51
1 Clairvoyance $0.29
1 Enlightened Tutor $37.31
1 Exotic Pets $0.14
1 Great Train Heist $4.55
1 Gut Shot $4.84
1 High Tide $1.54
1 Lightning Bolt $0.78
1 Mystical Tutor $16.23
1 Path to Exile $1.24
1 Peek $0.42
1 Swords to Plowshares $1.37
1 Unwanted Remake $0.29

Sorcery 21

1 Boltwave $3.50
1 Burning Inquiry $3.52
1 Careful Study $3.74
1 Empty City Ruse $30.04
1 Extract $5.10
1 Gitaxian Probe $5.83
1 Grapeshot $0.39
1 Hard Evidence $0.20
1 Helping Hand $0.22
1 Mind Bomb $0.43
1 Oust $0.24
1 Personal Tutor $6.22
1 Ponder $1.72
1 Portent $0.36
1 Requisition Raid $0.38
1 Rite of Flame $5.60
1 Sevinne's Reclamation $0.37
1 Sleight of Hand $0.36
1 Strike It Rich $4.10
1 Void Snare $0.30
1 Windfall $5.11

Artifact 5

1 Arcane Signet $0.47
1 Cori-Steel Cutter $4.22
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Sentinel Tower $2.03
1 Sol Ring $1.53

Enchantment 2

1 Rite of the Dragoncaller $4.15
1 Whirlwind of Thought $0.26

Land 32

1 Adarkar Wastes $0.31
1 Battlefield Forge $0.31
1 Command Tower $0.33
1 Deserted Beach $5.77
1 Emergence Zone $3.45
1 Fabled Passage $0.87
1 Hallowed Fountain
6 Island
6 Mountain
1 Mystic Monastery $0.34
1 Perilous Landscape $0.24
6 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Shivan Reef $0.37
1 Steam Vents
1 Stormcarved Coast $2.14
1 Sundown Pass $2.49

Tokens Used 8

Clue
Coruscation Mage
Crab
Dragon
Fish
Monk
Spirit
Treasure

EDH BRACKET

1
Exhibition
2
Core
3
Upgraded
4
Optimized
5
cEDH
Bracket 3 // Upgraded

Beyond the strength of an average precon deck.

  • Late Game 2-Card Infinite Combos
  • No Mass Land Denial
  • Up to 3 Game Changers
  • No Chaining Extra Turns

How to Play the Deck

The best way to play the deck is to find a good 1 mana spell to cast on turn 1 or 2, and then get Massimo out on turn 3. We keep hands with 3 lands at all times.

From there, we use Massimo and other creatures to slowly work our way through our library with impulse draw effects like Ponder or Brainstorm. We control our opponents’ hands and libraries with Extract, Portent, Clairvoyance, and Peek. We control the board by recurring Lightning Bolt, Swords to Plowshares, and Unwanted Remake. We set up our next turns by recasting Personal, Mystical, and Enlightened Tutor.

This deck is truly a value machine, and once the Massimo train starts, it’s very hard to stop it.

Phases of the Game

Early-Game: We’re looking to cast a 1-mana spell on the first turn, such as Careful Study, Strike it Rich, or another value piece. Turn 2 should be more of the same, or dropping a value creature like Ledger Shredder or Ghostly Pilferer. Massimo needs to come out on turn 3.

Mid-Game: Once Massimo is out, we can start putting down the unblockable creatures and exiling our value spells from our graveyard. From there, we start churning out top-deck manipulation, mana generation, and control the board with removal.

Late-Game: If there haven’t been any board wipes, the late game favors us heavily. We’re looking to run into the combo with Great Train Heist or ping out opponents with Guttersnipe, Coruscation Mage, or Caldera Pyremaw.

Card Breakdowns

Notable Cards

I want to talk about some of the most powerful cards in this Massimo build. Some of them are inherently good, others just become incredibly cracked with Massimo’s ability.

We’ll start with Exotic Pets. I don’t know if anyone has ever played this card, but I think it’s sick in this deck. It’s 3 mana for 2 unblockable 1/1s. It’s worth noting that Massimo’s ability triggers when creatures enter, not when they are cast. So we can exile some spells under these unblockable fish, which is insane value.

Both Hullbreaker Horror and Kykar, Wind's Fury get infinitely better when we’re casting a handful of spells for free. Hullbreaker plus a few free spells bounces some of our mana rocks or clears out our opponent’s board. It can also interact on the stack, bouncing spells to their owner’s hands if they attempt to counter ours. And Kykar just makes a bunch of spirits that trigger Massimo, and can later be sacrificed for mana. These two cards are just crazy power houses.

An Offer You Can't Refuse might not seem like the best card to exile and copy every turn. But, it’s basically a rite of flame at the cost of countering one of your own spells. It’s a political piece too. Have a Path to Exile on the stack? Want to make a deal with one of your opponents? Counter it to save their creature and gain you two treasures.

Caldera Pyremaw is a game ender in the right scenario. If we’re casting a bunch of spells, this creature kills opponents, dealing exponential damage each time. This guy plus Guttersnipe are very dangerous.

Speaking of dragons, Rite of the Dragoncaller is another great way to freak out your opponents. Turn your free instants and sorceries into an army of dragons!

Win Conditions

So, how does Massimo win the game? Well, there is a combo that allows us to get infinite combat steps if we have the right combination of creatures/spells.

For this combo to work, you need three unblockable creatures, and they need to have exiled Rite of Flame, Strike It Rich, and Great Train Heist. You swing all three creatures and get three triggers since they are unblockable.

Resolve Strike it Rich first, creating a treasure. Then resolve Rite of Flame for 2 red mana. Then resolve Train Heist, using the treasure and 2 red to pay for the Spree that grants an additional combat. From there, rinse and repeat until your opponents are dead.

Alternatively, you can just use Guttersnipe to ping people to death or get the storm count really high before resolving a Grapeshot or Brain Freeze.

Strengths of the Deck

Value machine, casting vast number of spells per game in the right set up.

A lot of removal and card draw, making it easy to control the board.

Weaknesses of the Deck

If you get too ambitious, you can exile too many spells from your graveyard and can risk blowing yourself out when your creatures get destroyed.

Without Massimo to start off the shenanigans, it’s slow-going.

Conclusion

Massimo is a snowball commander, where if you let him stay on the field, eventually you’re just swarmed with a massive number of free spells coming at you.

It’s worth noting that the wording on Massimo makes it so that you can cast sorceries at instant speed during combat. You have to order the stack in the right way to make sure all your spells resolve in the optimal order. For example, you’d want Rite of Flame to resolve first so you can use the two mana to pay spree on Requisition Raid. Just pay attention to the order, because it matters!

I’m excited to see if I can get a copy of Massimo in person, since they seem like they’ll be quite rare. But this deck is some of the most fun I’ve had in Jeskai in a long time.

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