Ayara, First of Locthwain
CommanderAyara, First of Locthwain turns a steady stream of black creatures into incremental life drain and card flow through sacrifice.
Public decks: 3Bracket: Varies
Card text
Legendary Creature — Elf Noble
Whenever Ayara or another black creature you control enters, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
, Sacrifice another black creature: Draw a card.
Building around this commander?
Use MTG Master to build or analyze a Commander deck around this card, check consistency, and find weak spots before your next game.
Overview
- Leans into repeated black creature enters-the-battlefield triggers to ping the whole table while padding your life total.
- Typically plays like an aristocrats engine: develop fodder, drain on entry, then cash creatures in for value.
- Ayara’s built-in sacrifice outlet turns excess bodies into cards and helps you play through sweepers.
- Often prefers board states where you can make multiple creature entries per turn cycle rather than one big threat.
- Can pivot from slow bleed to a sudden finish if you assemble a high-volume token/recursion turn.
Common lines
- Land early mana, deploy Ayara, then start chaining black creature plays to accumulate drain triggers.
- Establish repeatable fodder (tokens or recursive creatures), then use Ayara’s tap ability to convert bodies into cards when you’re not attacking profitably.
- Use sacrifice pressure and edict-style effects to keep opposing boards thin while your life-drain engine ticks up.
- Set up a big turn where multiple creatures enter in sequence, draining opponents down into lethal range.
Strengths
- Inevitable table pressure: every black creature entry chips all opponents at once.
- Built-in card advantage outlet gives you something productive to do with expendable creatures.
- Life gain from the drain trigger can buy time against aggressive pods and chip damage.
- Naturally plays well with sacrifice and death-trigger packages without needing many combat steps.
- Can grind through creature stalls by winning via life totals rather than board size.
Weaknesses
- Engine-heavy: if Ayara is removed repeatedly, the deck can lose a lot of its passive damage and card flow.
- Needs a critical mass of black creatures/fodder; low-creature draws can feel anemic.
- Tap-to-sacrifice can be tempo-limited; you may need other ways to convert a full board into a win quickly.
- Exile-based sweepers and effects that prevent or punish recursion can slow down grindy lines.
- Mono-black constraints can make certain permanent types (notably enchantments) harder to answer cleanly.
Rule zero notes
- This commander often plays like aristocrats; clarify whether your list aims for grindy drains or quicker combo finishes.
- If you run strong sacrifice-lock pieces (example: Grave Pact), mention the likelihood of repeated forced sacrifices.
- If you include explosive mana starts (example: Dark Ritual, Culling the Weak), flag the potential for early high-impact turns.
- If your build uses big snowball engines (example: Bolas's Citadel, Ashnod's Altar), communicate whether you’re aiming to end the game in one turn once online.
Matchups
Best into
- Creature-heavy midrange pods where sacrifice/edict effects stay relevant
- Slower, battlecruiser tables that give you time to assemble an engine
- Token metas where incremental drain adds up quickly
Struggles against
- Fast combo tables that don’t care about board pressure or life-drain pacing
- Heavy control pods that can repeatedly answer your commander and key engines
- Decks that win primarily through noncreature permanents you can’t pressure easily
Recent public decks
Staples
Browse all public decksFAQ
How does Ayara usually win?
Most wins come from stacking lots of black creature ETBs to drain the table out, sometimes backed by sacrifice payoffs that keep opponents from stabilizing.
Do I need to attack to close games?
Not necessarily; Ayara’s plan can win through drains without combat, though chip attacks can help push damage while you set up.
How important is the sacrifice ability?
It’s a key safety valve: it turns stalled boards and spare tokens into cards, and it can let you respond to removal by getting value first.
What kinds of cards does Ayara want around her?
She generally wants cheap black bodies, repeatable token makers, and ways to reuse creatures so you can trigger ETBs frequently.
Is this deck oppressive at casual tables?
It can be if you lean hard into repeated edict/sacrifice pressure (for example, effects like Grave Pact), so it’s worth a quick pregame check-in about how controlling the list is.