“It ain’t luck, it’s destiny.”
Art:Stella Lee, Wild Card
by Fajareka Setiawan
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Stella Lee is an absolute powerhouse of a CEDH commander; having a cheap commander who is a card draw engine by themselves and also easily combos off with quite a few cards in the format, allowing us to draw our deck with ease, is absolutely amazing. Stella Lee is the real deal, and it is no surprise that many CEDH players, including myself, were extremely excited when this card got spoiled. Stella is not only a combo piece for the deck but allows us to get a one-card advantage on our second spell, and being able to copy some of our counters or even draw spells is very strong. While there are ups and downs of being in Izzet, this deck is extremely strong and can easily compete with the best of the best in the format while having a tough matchup against the Stax decks. I am very excited to showcase this one with you all today. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Stella Lee, Wild Card Combo Pile!
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Why Stella Lee, Wild Card?
Stella Lee is a huge part of our deck; not only do they give us infinite draws with cards like Cerulean Wisps
, Refocus
, and Twitch
they also just give us a ton of card advantage and can help us win counter wars, being able to exile the top card and have it available until our next end step is extremely strong. Stella Lee is a huge part of our deck, and when keeping a hand, we should look for hands that can get Stella out as soon as possible. One of the best parts about our deck is that since we are so heavy on spells we can easily trigger Stella’s first ability on nearly every turn which provides an absolute ton of value.
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! I also highlighted some of my favorite cards in the deck! The infinite combos and loops in the deck are listed below in the “Main Win Conditions” Section.
Creatures:
We are extremely low on creatures, but due to the high density of spells and focus on spells, we don’t need any creatures that provide a ton of value; one of those creatures is Spellseeker
because of the lack of great tutors within Izzet, Spellseeker makes the list being able to grab a combo piece as early as the first turn is great. Dockside Extortionist
,Simian Spirit Guide
, and Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
all pretty much serve the same purpose of generating a little bit of extra mana to help us speed out Stella or if we need additional mana for pretty much reason. While Dualcaster Mage
is mostly a combo piece within the deck, I have used it a couple of times to copy a counterspell to win a counter war, so something to keep in mind beyond its combo implications.
Instants:
We are running both Cerulean Wisps and Crimson Wisps
. While Cerulean is certainly the better card since it infinitely combos with our commander we can get a ton of value out of Crimson because we can instantly copy a spell on the turn we bring out Stella. Both of these cards are very strong and help accelerate the gameplan greatly. We also have a ton of strong counterspells that are free or cheap, like Force of Will
, Mental Misstep
, and Pact of Negation
, which are all amazing ways to stop our opponents and protect ourselves.
Sorceries:
Due to being in Izzet, we don’t have a ton of great tutors, certainly nothing like a Demonic Tutor
, but we need to make do with what we have so we are running both Gamble
and Merchant Scroll
while these aren’t the best of the best they are decently cheap and still quite strong. I also really like Personal Tutor
, especially to grab Twisted Fealty
, which is a great one-card combo with our commander. The only reason we are running Strike It Rich
is because it enables us to cast Stella on the first turn, which is an amazing and strong thing to do if we can. That is the same reason we are running Rite of Flame
. Many CEDH decks are not running Gitaxian Probe
anymore, but I love this card a ton. Being able to get a look at what an opponent is working with and drawing a card is very strong and absolutely worth the card slot.
Artifacts:
Since I am in a meta that is quite full of creature-based strategies like Winota, I think that Grafdigger's Cage
is a great card to have and a great way to shut down decks that try to cheat out creatures from the graveyard or their library. If we are facing faster decks like we are we can get a ton of value out of Defense Grid
which can be a great to stop our opponents on the turn that we want to go off. We absolutely had to include The One Ring
. It is just a great CEDH card that gives us protection and a ton of value, and with the high density of artifact mana within the deck, we can cast this quite early and get a strong card draw engine that allows us to find combo pieces with ease. We are, of course, running a ton of mana rocks, which help us speed out Stella and have additional protection when we combo off or need to stop our opponents from going off.
Enchantments:
Our enchantment package is not very interesting, but we do have some key cards, including Rhystic Study
and Mystic Remora
, which are both amazing sources of card draw and can easily push the game in our favor and help us find combo pieces quickly.
Land Base:
Just like the rest of our deck, our landbase is focused on speed, with cards like Gemstone Caverns
being able to get this land out early is extremely strong. We mostly have some pretty fast lands with a ton of fetches, and our on-color shocks and duels allow us to get our colors established early. We also have a couple of lands that interact positively with our commander, like Minamo, School at Water's Edge
, which is a great way to untap Stella and copy another spell. I like this landbase a lot and find it to be strong and effective for the deck.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Stella Lee is an insane value engine and a great combo piece, and having access to that in the command zone is amazing.
- We are quite strong against cards like Praetor's Grasp
because many of our combos are adaptive, and we can use alternative cards whenever opponents take them. - We are a lightning-fast deck, and with the right hand, we can easily speed out Stella and draw our deck fully!
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- If we don’t get out in front of them, we can struggle against Stax strategies.
- Our commander is a very key part of our deck, so cards like Drannith Magistrate can be very good against us.
- While not necessarily a weakness we absolutely need to be extremely aggressive when mulliganing, we are looking for a hand that can either speed out Stella Lee or just simply combo off, this is not a deck where you can keep just any hand and rely on tutors.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
Stella Lee is a sweet commander, and since she has quite a few cheap infinite draw combos within the deck, she can be a great enabler to find everything we need and finish off the game with one of our combos that ends the game. Below are all of the combos in the deck explained:
Stella Lee, Wild Card + Cerulean Wisps
Requires:
Stella Lee, Wild Card, must be on the battlefield. Cerulean Wisps must be in hand. You have cast at least two spells this turn. Stella Lee does not have summoning sickness. Mana needed: U
Steps:
- Cast Cerulean Wisps by paying U, targeting any creature.
- Holding priority, activate Stella Lee by tapping it, copying Cerulean Wisps, targeting Stella Lee.
- Resolve the copy of Cerulean Wisps, untapping Stella Lee and causing you to draw a card.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite card draw. Infinite draw triggers. Near-infinite magecraft triggers.
Stella Lee, Wild Card + Refocus
Requires:
Stella Lee, Wild Card must be on the battlefield. Refocus must be in hand. You have cast at least two spells this turn. Stella Lee does not have summoning sickness. Mana needed: 1U
Steps:
- Cast Refocus by paying 1U, targeting any creature.
- Holding priority, activate Stella Lee by tapping it, copying Refocus, targeting Stella Lee.
- Resolve the copy of Refocus, untapping Stella Lee and causing you to draw a card.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite card draw. Infinite draw triggers. Near-infinite magecraft triggers.
Stella Lee, Wild Card + Twisted Fealty
Requires:
Stella Lee, Wild Card must be on the battlefield. Twisted Fealty must be in hand. You have cast at least two spells this turn. Stella Lee does not have summoning sickness. Mana needed: 2R
Steps:
- Cast Twisted Fealty by paying 2R, targeting any creature or creatures.
- Holding priority, activate Stella Lee by tapping them, copying Twisted Fealty and choosing Stella Lee both times as the targets of the copy.
- Resolve the copy of Twisted Fealty, untapping Stella Lee and creating a Wicked Role token attached to Stella Lee.
- Put any other Wicked Role token that had already been attached to Stelle Lee from the battlefield into the graveyard as a state-based action.
- When a Wicked Role token is put into the graveyard, it triggers, causing each opponent to lose 1 life.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite lifeloss. Infinite magecraft triggers.
Stella Lee, Wild Card + Twitch
Requires:
Stella Lee, Wild Card must be on the battlefield. Twitch must be in hand. You have cast at least two spells this turn. Stella Lee does not have summoning sickness. Mana needed: 2U
Steps:
- Cast Twitch by paying 2U, targeting any creature.
- Holding priority, activate Stella Lee by tapping it, copying Twitch, targeting Stella Lee.
- Resolve the copy of Twitch, untapping Stella Lee and causing you to draw a card.
- Repeat from step 2.
Results:
Infinite card draw. Infinite draw triggers. Near-infinite magecraft triggers.
Requires:
Dualcaster Mage must be in hand. Twinflame must be in hand. At least one creature on the battlefield. Mana needed: 2RRR
Steps:
- Cast Twinflame by paying 1R.
- Holding priority, cast Dualcaster Mage by paying 1RR.
- Dualcaster Mage enters the battlefield, copying Twinflame.
- Resolve the Twinflame copy, creating a token copy of Dualcaster Mage.
- Repeat from step 3.
Results:
Infinite creature tokens with haste. Infinite ETB. Infinite magecraft triggers.
Dualcaster Mage + Heat Shimmer
Requires:
Dualcaster Mage must be in hand. Heat Shimmer must be in hand. You control at least one creature. Mana needed: 3RRR
Steps:
- Cast Heat Shimmer by paying 2R.
- Holding priority, cast Dualcaster Mage by paying 1RR.
- Dualcaster Mage enters the battlefield, copying Heat Shimmer.
- Resolve the copied Heat Shimmer, creating a token copy of Dualcaster Mage.
- Repeat from step 3.
Results:
Infinite creature tokens with haste. Infinite ETB. Infinite magecraft triggers.
Dualcaster Mage + Molten Duplication
Requires:
Molten Duplication must be in hand. Dualcaster Mage must be in hand. You control at least one additional artifact or creature. Mana needed: 2RRR
Steps:
- Cast Molten Duplication by paying 1R, targeting anything.
- In response, cast Dualcaster Mage by paying 1RR.
- When Dualcaster Mage enters the battlefield, it triggers, copying Molten Duplication and changing the target to Dualcaster Mage.
- Resolve a Molten Duplication copy, creating an artifact creature token copy of Dualcaster Mage with haste that will be sacrificed at the next end step.
- Repeat from step 3 any number of times.
Results:
Infinite creature tokens with haste. Infinite death triggers. Infinite ETB. Infinite LTB. Infinite magecraft triggers. Infinite sacrifice triggers.
Underworld Breach
+ Lion's Eye Diamond
+ Brain Freeze
Requires:
Underworld Breach must be on the battlefield. Lion’s Eye Diamond must be on the battlefield. Brain Freeze must be in the graveyard. You have at least six other cards in hand and/or graveyard.
Steps:
- Activate Lion’s Eye Diamond by discarding your hand and sacrificing it, adding UUU.
- Cast Lion’s Eye Diamond from your graveyard for its escape cost by exiling three cards besides Brain Freeze from your graveyard.
- Cast Brain Freeze from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 1U and exiling three cards from your graveyard.
- Brain Freeze’s storm ability triggers, creating at least one copy of Brain Freeze targeting yourself, and any remaining copies targeting an opponent.
- Resolve each Brain Freeze, causing yourself to mill six cards and, if applicable, an opponent to mill three cards for each Brain Freeze remaining.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite self-mill. Near-infinite colored mana. Near-infinite magecraft triggers. Near-infinite mill. Near-infinite storm count.
Underworld Breach + Lion's Eye Diamond + Wheel of Fortune
Requires:
Underworld Breach must be on the battlefield. Lion’s Eye Diamond must be on the battlefield. Wheel of Fortune must be in the graveyard. You have at least six other cards in hand and/or graveyard.
Steps:
- Activate Lion’s Eye Diamond by discarding your hand and sacrificing it, adding RRR.
- Cast Wheel of Fortune from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 2R and exiling 3 cards from your graveyard.
- Resolve Wheel of Fortune, causing each player to discard their hand and draw seven cards.
- Cast Lion’s Eye Diamond from your graveyard for its escape cost by exiling 3 cards from your graveyard.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite draw triggers. Infinite looting. Infinite looting for opponents. Near-infinite storm count.
Underworld Breach + Jeska's Will
+ Wheel of Fortune
Requires:
Underworld Breach must be on the battlefield. Wheel of Fortune must be in the graveyard. Jeska’s Will must be in the graveyard. You have at least six additional cards in your graveyard, plus an additional six cards between your hand and/or graveyard. An opponent has at least six cards in hand. Mana needed: 2R
Steps:
- Cast Jeska’s Will from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 2R and exiling three other cards from your graveyard, adding at least six R.
- Cast Wheel of Fortune from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 2R and exiling three other cards from your graveyard, causing each player to discard their hand and draw seven cards.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite draw triggers for all players. Infinite looting for all players. Near-infinite magecraft triggers. Near-infinite storm count.
Conclusion:
Stella Lee is honestly busted; this commander is just amazing and a card I think is going to be a powerhouse in CEDH for quite a long time. This card is extremely hyped, and I honestly understand this card is great, and the deck around it is strong against many of the best decks in the format. I have been having a ton of fun and this is a deck I am going to keep playing with as time goes on. I hope you all enjoyed this one as much as I did, thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support!