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For mostMagic: The Gatheringdecks, the graveyard is the final destination for spent spells. But death is hardly the end. With the help of The Master of Keys and a wide assortment of enchantments, the graveyard becomes just another resource to fuel your arcane power.
The Master of Keys is all about turning your graveyard into a font of possibility. Every enchantment in your graveyard gains an escape cost that allows it to return with a vengeance, enabling quite a few strategies for all levels of Commander play. If you’re ready to open the door, The Master of Keys is waiting.
The Commander: The Master Of Keys
The Master of Keys is a phenomenal commander. You get access to three colors, you can play it as early as turn three (sometimes earlier), and it scales into later turns thanks to its X-mana cost. But the big deal here is the combination ofmilling lots of cardsand then givingevery enchantment in your graveyardan escape cost.
Once you cast The Master of Keys at six or seven mana, you can start dumping your deck into your graveyard in search of particular enchantments. This allows The Master of Keys to enabletwo deck strategies: toolbox or combo. You can either create an enchantment-heavy deck with varied powers to control the game and respond to threats, or you can practically ignore the rest of the table as you use The Master of Keys to search for combo pieces that will win you the game.
How you decide to build your Master of Keys deck will say a lot about you as a player and the type of Commander games you play. If you’remore of a casual playerwho likes fun multiplayer Commander games, then youmight want to build your deck with an enchantment toolboxfor The Master of Keys to play with.
On the other hand,if you play competitive Commanderor your multiplayer games feature decks priced in the thousands rather than dozens of dollars,you might want to lean more into the combo possibilitiesof The Master of Keys.
For this guide,we’re going to try and split the middle of these two extremes. We’re going to include a few combos that aren’t instant wins so they seem a bit more fair to a casual multiplayer table, and the rest will be helpful enchantments that will keep you from getting overwhelmed.
We’ll lista few other combos in the tips sectionlater in this guide.
Building Your The Master Of Keys Commander Deck
Obviously,enchantments are going to be the mainstayof any Master of Keys deck. That said, there are quite a few black enchantments that can resurrect creatures in the graveyard, which allows you to throw in a few non-enchantment creatures safe in the knowledge you can bring them back if The Master of Keys mills them.
Being in black, white, and blue mana means havingaccess to plenty of great spells to support an enchantment-loaded deck. Here’s how you should break it down.
Enchantments, Enchantments, Enchantments
Enchantments cover a wide range of abilities, but we can generally break them down into offensive, defensive, and utility.
On the offensive side, you’ve got enchantments like All That Glitters, Ethereal Armor, Sigil of the Empty Throne, and Starfield of Nyx. These enchantments give you immediate or increasing power as the game goes on, and can sometimes win the game outright.
Defensive enchantmentsinclude Sphere of Safety, Propaganda, Grasp Fate, Amphibian Downpour, Dress Down, Seal of Cleansing, and Blind Obedience. These are the spells that disrupt or debuff your opponents, making you a bit safer.
Utility enchantmentscover everything else. There are card-draw enchantments like Mystic Remora, Monologue Tax, and Rhystic Study, there are enchantments that copy enchantments like Estric’s Invocation or Mirrormade, and there are enchantments that raise the dead like Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead, and Necromancy.
There’s alsoThe Meathook MassacreandCacophany Unleashedtocompletely seize control of a game.
Helpful Creatures
The Master of Keys can do a lot on its own, but it can’t do everything. Tohelp mill your deck, you could throw inSage of Mysteries, Scrabbling Skullcrab, or Mindwrack Harpy. You’ll still want cards to draw, which Enduring Curiosity, Overlord of the Floodpits, or Mesa Enchantress could help with.
There are also a bunch ofdual-type enchantment creaturesthat get a hand from The Master of Keys, likeFear of Imposters, Gravebreaker Lamia, Doomwake Giant, and Overlord of Balemurk. Not only can these be easily reanimated with The Master of Keys, but they each provide their own special ability to help you maintain control of the game.
Don’t forget Inquisitive Glimmer and Starfield Mystic! They reduce the cost of all enchantments, including The Master of Keys.
Tutors, Sweepers, And Mass Enchantment Revival
The Master of Keys is pretty good at giving you lots of options, but sometimes you need something specific, and you need it now.Moon-Blessed Cleric, Idyllic Tutor, Invasion of Theros, and Enlightened Tutor all find an enchantmentand get it to where you want it (either in your hand or on top of your deck to be milled into your graveyard).
Once you have a bunch of enchantments in your graveyard courtesy of The Master of Keys, you canbring them all into play with Redress Fate, Resurgent Belief, or Dance of the Manse. And if you need a bit of help filling that graveyard, Windfall and Thirst for Meaning dump enchantments while refilling your hand.
Finally, you’re going to want some help keeping the board clear of pesky creatures.Supreme Verdict and Extinguish All Hope are great, but you can use Time Wipe, Austere Command, Farewell, Toxic Deluge, Damn, or any number of other board sweepers.
The Combos
The Master of Keyscan enable a lot of combos, but we’re going to stick to the few that require enchantments to work.
First up isAbdel Adrian, Gorion’s Ward and either Animate Dead, Dance of the Dead, or Necromancy. With Abdel in your graveyard, cast or escape any of the three enchantments previously noted to bring back Abdel, then exile the enchantment that resurrected him. This causes Abdel to return to the graveyard, creating a 1/1 Soldier token and bringing back that enchantment that resurrected him in the first place.
Once Animate Dead (or the other two) returns to play, resurrect Abdel and repeat the process ad nauseum. Thiscreates infinite 1/1 tokensthat will win the game as soon as you can attack with them.
A similar infinite token combohappens withSecret Arcade / Dusty Parlor and either Ghostly Dancers or Ondu Spiritdancer. Since Secret Arcade turns every permanent you control into an enchantment, playing Ondu Spiritdancer allows it to create an infinite chain of self-copies. Ditto the 3/1 Spirit token created by Ghostly Dancers—the token arrives as an enchantment, which triggers another 3/1 token, which arrives as an enchantment, etc.
These combos are fair-adjacent as theyallow your opponents a turn to respond. Less fair would be throwing in a Soul Warden for infinite life or a Grim Guardian to make your opponents lose infinite life immediately.
The Master Of Keys Commander Deck List
With all that in mind,here’s a sample decklistfor a middle-of-the-road Master of Keys Commander deck.
Overlord of the Floodpits
Dance of the Manse
Dance of the Dead
Secrets of the Dead
Keys to the House
Islands (7)
Budget Substitutions
Admittedly, there are a few pricey cards in the above decklist, but don’t worry!Here are a few cheaper cards you can substituteif you’re playing on a budget.
Brainstorm, Otherworldly Gaze, Ponder, Preordain
Mystic Remora
Seal of Removal, Bottomless Pool / Locker Room, Phyrexian Reclamation, Tinybones Joins Up, Underwater Tunnel / Slimy Aquarium
Chthonian Nightmare, Jace’s Erasure
Rhystic Study
Phyrexian Arena, Timely Ward, Derelict Attic / Widow’s Walk, Bident of Thassa, Court of Cunning, Monologue Tax
Damn, Time Wipe, Austere Command, Restricted Office / Lecture Hall
Hallowed Fountain, Flooded Strain, Sea of Clouds
Temple of Enlightenment, Glacial Fortress, Adarkar Wastes, Prairie Stream, Thriving Isle
Temple of Silence, Isolated Chapel, Caves of Koilos, Thriving Heath
Watery Grave, Polluted Delta, Morphic Pool
Temple of Deceipt, Drowned Catacomb, Underground River, Sunken Hollow, Thriving Moor
