Lo and Li, Twin TutorsLo and Li, Twin Tutors | Art by AKAGI

One of the reasons the Avatar: The Last Airbender intellectual property speaks to me as much as it does is that I relate to the characters on a deep level. Aang’s guilt over abandoning his responsibilities, Iroh’s redemption as a father figure who failed his biological son, Zuko struggling to balance his destiny with his moral compass…even Azula being the less-favored sibling, perceived as a monster from a young age.

And yet, the most direct analogue to my own life is in today’s commander(s): Lo and Li, Twin TutorsLo and Li, Twin Tutors.

Lo and Li are not particularly rounded characters, which makes sense, in a somewhat sad way. Like Lo and Li, I am a tutor, albeit an academic one. As educators, our job is more to help others reach their dreams and less to reach dreams ourselves; at our worst, we sometimes wonder whether our lot in life is to act as mentors for others’ journeys rather than to be the heroes of our own stories.

Even Lo and Li, in both of their incarnations, are Advisors, even though today’s focus is on the Noble creature type.

The Noble Creature Type

Nobles are a relatively new creature type in Magic, with many kings and queens of older sets being given the type via errata. Notably absent from the type is Goblin KingGoblin King (might want to get on that, Wizards!), but most other members of aristocracy have been given the title, including the aptly-named Vampire NobleVampire Noble.

Many Nobles are legendary, as the rich and powerful tend to make compelling characters. Of the non-legendary Nobles, many are Vampires, as the Markovs and Sengir represent the wealthy literally feeding off of the poor. I’m sure there’s a joke about late-stage Capitalism in there, but I’m not about to drink from that vein.

Like many cards from the Avatar set, Lo and Li are beautifully designed from a flavor perspective. While their role as a facilitator fits their profession as a royal tutor, so does the fact that they also support Lessons. Our deck will show them mingling with society Nobles while also imparting their wisdom via Lessons.

Mixing Nobles and Lessons sounds interesting in the abstract, but neither is very deep, so we will find ourselves working to find common ground. But how do we get these two types without a lot of overlap to work? And are there enough Nobles and Lessons to make a functional strategy?

What Does Lo and Li, Twin TutorsLo and Li, Twin Tutors Do?

As an uncommon legend, Lo and Li have worse stats than their rare counterparts. Five mana for a 2/2 is way over-costed, especially when Lo and Li, Royal AdvisorsLo and Li, Royal Advisors costs four mana for a 3/3. Their abilities would need to be something special to justify running Lo and Li, Twin TutorsLo and Li, Twin Tutors as a commander, let alone one for a type they don’t even represent. 

Luckily, they don’t disappoint.

Lo and Li’s primary ability is that, when they enter, they search for a Lesson or Noble card and put it in our hand. Nobles vary in power level, as we’ll see in a bit, but there are plenty that we would love to have extra copies of, and our commander helps make that happen. Lessons might not be the toolbox cards Strixhaven intended them to be in Commander, but Lo and Li lets us find removal, card draw, or ramp when we need it.

Lo and Li’s second ability is also fairly powerful, especially in a creature type with inconsistent stats. Granting lifelink to all of our Nobles and Lessons helps win grindy games and is a rarity to find in mono-black. We do need to be a bit careful, as some of our powerful effects cause loss of life, which is unaffected by lifelink.

Since Nobles are an undersupported type, it’s largely up to us to create the synergy and feel for ourselves.

Key Cards for Lo and Li, Twin TutorsLo and Li, Twin Tutors

Many of our stronger Nobles support an Aristocrat strategy, which makes sense, given the meanings of the two words. High-Society HunterHigh-Society Hunter provides a sacrifice outlet as well as a stream of card draw when anyone’s creatures die. We can also benefit off of those deaths with Falkenrath NobleFalkenrath Noble, one of the flagship cards of the archetype when it became a known commodity in Innistrad standard.

Vampires like Arrogant OutlawArrogant Outlaw and Vampire SovereignVampire Sovereign help give the deck reach, complementing the life loss triggers from Falkenrath NobleFalkenrath Noble. These types of effects help us break board stalls and win games where our creatures get out-classed, which happens a surprising amount of times for a deck composed of the upper-class.

While there are some Aristocrats cards in the type itself, we want a bit more than that. If we have too many non-Nobles, we run the risk of diluting the theme, but Bastion of RemembranceBastion of Remembrance gives us another Falkenrath NobleFalkenrath Noble effect without adding a non-Noble creature.

Dark ProphecyDark Prophecy also gives us another draw engine, like High-Society HunterHigh-Society Hunter, which, again, is not a creature.

Aristocrat decks are notorious for sacrificing lesser creatures, which seems pretty in line with what Nobles seem willing to do. Village RitesVillage Rites lets us trade those cogs for cards, while Bone ShardsBone Shards trades vassals for threats. Both of these cause death triggers, setting off a conga line of effects.

The Lessons are where things get a little hairy, but a lot cool. Introduction to AnnihilationIntroduction to Annihilation is one of my favorite Lessons, as it gives us the ability to remove permanents that black usually can’t hit well, like enchantments. It does draw the opponent a card, but that can be helpful politically and is worth the flexibility of being able to find it with our commander.

Ruinous WaterbendingRuinous Waterbending is a newer Lesson that is an InfestInfest attached to a delayed Blood ArtistBlood Artist hovering for the turn. While it can kill our commander, we can re-cast it and tutor again. A second tutorable Blood ArtistBlood Artist effect is necessary to make the deck operate smoothly and to grant us multiple powerful turns. We can even cast this and intentionally send our survivors into a Pickett’s Charge to get more triggers.

After all, the wealthy make war, but it’s the poor who fight them.

Volrath's StrongholdVolrath's Stronghold is a solid land for an Aristocrats strategy, putting whatever creature we want on top of our library. We can even follow it up by casting our commander if we’re mana flooded and need it now. Phyrexian TowerPhyrexian Tower is a way to build a sacrifice effect into our manabase, which can also give the deck a bit of a mana boost.

How Does This Lo and Li, Twin TutorsLo and Li, Twin Tutors Commander Deck Win?

Nobles operate like Aristocrat decks, looking to capitalize off of the deaths of lessers while profiting off of those deaths and nickel-and-diming opponents. Our commander helps us find the missing pieces to get these engines rolling, as well as a few silver bullets, from Lessons learned over the years.

Lo and Li, Twin Tutors Commander Deck List

Conclusion

Nobles are a fun type to give life to. Lo and Li, in particular, let the deck function like a royal party: mingling with the well-to-do while profiting off of the labor of the lackeys. Now, if only we could get Goblin KingGoblin King or Krenko, Tin Street KingpinKrenko, Tin Street Kingpin the Noble typing…

But how would you build Nobles? And how do you differentiate them from other black graveyard decks?