Lyse HextLyse Hext | Art by Ramza Psyru

With Edge of Eternities just around the corner, and some awesome cards from the set having been previewed just a week ago in Las Vegas, I wanted to take one last look at a Final Fantasy card that I found super impressive.

There's tons of legends in this set with enough text on them to fill a novel, some legends that enable brand new strategies, and some legends that add a nice twist to pre-existing archetypes. Today, I'll be talking about a card that fits squarely in that third category: Lyse HextLyse Hext!

This card is sweet, lending a fresh take to Azorius Spellslinger and Voltron decks. We'll be focusing on the Voltron side of things today, but this new commander also fits really well into strategies focused on instants and sorceries.

For now, though, let's talk about how we'll turn this new card into the leader of this week's deck!

What Does Lyse HextLyse Hext Do?

For , we get a 2/2 Human Rebel Monk with prowess. She also reduces the cost of our noncreature spells by , and gains double strike if we cast two noncreature spells in a single turn.

These are relatively simple abilities, but they work so well together. If we string together a few spells, we essentially double the effectiveness of our commander's built-in prowess. Plus, any power/toughness buffs that we give to our commander are supercharged by her double strike!

I'm reminded of Bruna, Light of AlabasterBruna, Light of Alabaster. This commander asks us to suit it up with a ton of Auras, and lets us get those Auras on the battlefield for free during combat. Lyse Hext is a bit stronger than Bruna, because Lyse relies less on our opponents allowing us to go to combat with our commander to get its benefit.

I'm also reminded of Danitha Capashen, ParagonDanitha Capashen, Paragon. Much like our commander, Danitha reduces the cost of some relevant spells and has cool combat abilities. I actually almost included Danitha in the 99 of this deck, but cut her for some cards that fit more closely with the theme.

This is firmly a Voltron deck, full of Auras to buff our commander, ways to make her harder to block, and so much more. Usually, when I think of decks I don't think of Voltron as a primary strategy, so I'm excited to get brewing! 

Key Cards for Lyse Hext

This deck has a whopping 37 enchantments, so let's talk about a few of the best ones.

First up, let's make our commander evasive. She's naturally going to hit quite hard, due to the combination of double strike and prowess, so we've just got to make sure she can punch in for damage.

FlyFly is a basic card, but it does everything we want in this deck. It's a cheap Aura that makes our commander hard to block, and it lets us get a little bonus every time she deals combat damage.

Speaking of flying, Fae FlightFae Flight is a great roleplayer in the deck too. This Aura gives flying and a small buff to our commander, but also provides it with protection from a removal spell in a pinch. This card fills multiple slots, serving as protection and evasion, and slots very nicely in our 99.

There's a few other cards that can make our commander difficult to block, and one of my favorites is Steel of the GodheadSteel of the Godhead. First of all, the art on this card is so cool. Secondly, making our commander completely unblockable and giving it lifelink is super useful. So, for those reasons combined (and definitely not just the Kithkin in the art), this card is great.

This deck has a lot of cards like Ethereal ArmorEthereal Armor that scale with the number of enchantments that we've got on the battlefield. So, to that end, a lot of the deck's key pieces are enchantments!

Instead of protection spells like Giver of RunesGiver of Runes, we've got enchantments like Shardmage's RescueShardmage's Rescue and Dog UmbraDog Umbra. Instead of removal spells like PongifyPongify, we've got Eaten by PiranhasEaten by Piranhas and Darksteel MutationDarksteel Mutation.

This may seem like it's a downgrade, but there's a lot of super powerful cards that just so happen to be enchantments. I'll show the full deck list later, and I think it's really cool that there's so few cards that you'd find in a typical deck. There's some unique inclusions here, and that's my favorite way to build decks.

How Does This Lyse Hext Deck Win?

This deck intends to suit our commander up with a whole bunch of Auras, give her double strike, and hit our opponents very hard in the face. Enchantments like All That GlittersAll That Glitters can be super helpful, turning all of our Auras into power and toughness buffs for our commander.

One of my favorite win-condition Auras is Auramancer's GuiseAuramancer's Guise. This is an awesome color pie break that provides a huge buff to our commander and gives it vigilance. Given how large our commander is likely to be at any given moment, the ability to use it offensively and defensively can be game-winning.

Similarly, I'm a fan of On Serra's WingsOn Serra's Wings. This gives our commander three fantastic keywords: flying for extra evasion, vigilance for defense, and lifelink to put the game out of our opponents' reach.

Lastly, I really like Michiko's Reign of TruthMichiko's Reign of Truth. This provides a big buff to our commander for two turns, before becoming a huge creature itself. 

Sometimes Lyse is going to be removed from the board and cost too much mana to be reasonably recast. What do we do then? Well, there's a few creatures that do quite well as alternative targets for our Auras.

Among them, Kor SpiritdancerKor Spiritdancer, Hero of IroasHero of Iroas, and Katilda, Dawnhart MartyrKatilda, Dawnhart Martyr each become big threats when we've got enough enchantments on the board. Plus, each of these creatures plays nicely into our game plan when we do manage to keep our commander on the battlefield.

And, one of my favorite new cards, Riptide GearhulkRiptide Gearhulk has the some double strike / prowess combo that makes our commander such a dangerous attacker. Plus, it's a removal spell!

Lyse HextLyse Hext Commander Deck List

Conclusion

Thanks so much for reading! Before you go, there's a few more cards I wanted to talk about. These cards aren't necessarily the strongest ones in the list, but they do something unique.

Shimmering WingsShimmering Wings is a one-mana Aura that doesn't have a very exciting effect: it just gives enchanted creature flying. But, for just , we're able to bounce this enchantment back to our hand to recast it again. The ability to cast this enchantment as many times as we'd like can be super useful in this deck, especially with a 99 full of cards like Monastery MentorMonastery Mentor and a commander with prowess.

Speaking of prowess, our next card is Triton WavebreakerTriton Wavebreaker. This can come down as a blocker in a pinch, or provide our commander with an additional instance of prowess. Given that she's got double strike, this is extra useful.

The last card I wanted to shoutout is Invasion of TherosInvasion of Theros. This is a relatively cheap tutor on its front half, and a lifelinking card advantage engine on its back half. This card ought to see more play in Enchantress-style decks, and I'm glad it's found a home here.

Thanks again for reading, and I'll see you all soon for another deck tech!