Legendary Creature — Shapeshifter

Lazav, Dimir Mastermind

Mana value4EDHREC#6,666

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The Commander

Hexproof

Whenever a creature card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, you may have Lazav become a copy of that card, except its name is Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, it's legendary in addition to its other types, and it has hexproof and this ability.

Guide

Gameplan

Lazav is a mill/self-protecting Voltron threat: fill opponents' graveyards with creature cards, then have Lazav copy the biggest or most abusable one while keeping hexproof. You grind the early game with mill and value, then turn an opponent's best creature into your own hexproof commander to close out the game or assemble a combo.

Strengths

Hexproof makes Lazav extremely hard to remove with targeted spot removal
Steals the best creatures opponents mill, turning their cards into your win conditions
Built-in card advantage engine when paired with self-mill and opponent mill
Flexible threat that can become combo pieces, beaters, or utility creatures on demand

Weaknesses

Copy ability only triggers off creature cards hitting opponents' graveyards, so it can be inconsistent
Vulnerable to board wipes, edicts, and sacrifice effects that ignore hexproof
Mill can fuel opponents' graveyard strategies (reanimator, delve, dredge)
Lazav starts as a vanilla 1/1 with no evasion, so it needs support to actually deal damage
Heavy reliance on what opponents are playing to find good copy targets

Key Cards

Mind Grind — Scalable mill that loads opponents' graveyards with creature cards for Lazav to copy.
Glistening Oil — Phyrexian Voltron aura that gives Lazav infect, turning a hexproof commander into a fast poison clock.
Whispering Specter — Cheap evasive creature whose deathtouch/discard or similar bodies pad your mill and copy pool.
Sword of Feast and Famine — Grants evasion and protection while untapping lands for explosive Lazav turns.
Consuming Aberration — A huge self-growing body that mills opponents, fueling Lazav and serving as a backup threat.
Mesmeric Orb — Repeatable, symmetrical mill that constantly dumps creatures into graveyards for the copy trigger.

Upgrade Path

Lean fully into either mill-Voltron or control by adding efficient interaction (Counterspell, Cyclonic Rift, Damnation) and protection that complements hexproof. Add proactive mill that targets creatures (Maddening Cacophony, Fleet Swallower) and cheap evasion/equipment (Whispersilk Cloak, Rogue's Passage) so Lazav reliably connects. Tighten mana with fast rocks (Mana Crypt, Dimir Signet) and tutors (Vampiric Tutor) to find your best enablers.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

▸Suit up hexproof Lazav with evasion and pump (or infect) for commander damage
▸Mill opponents out of their libraries with dedicated mill engines
▸Copy a powerful milled creature to dominate the board or assemble a combo
▸Grind incremental advantage and close with a large copied threat

Archetypes

Voltron — Hexproof lets Lazav carry equipment and auras safely as a hard-to-answer beater.
Mill — Forcing creatures into opponents' graveyards both attacks their library and feeds Lazav's copy ability.
Control — Dimir colors give counters, removal, and card draw to protect Lazav while you grind value.
Combo — Lazav can copy milled combo creatures or be enabled by infect/voltron to end games quickly.