Legendary Creature — Shapeshifter

Lazav, the Multifarious

Mana value2EDHREC#8,342

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The Commander

When Lazav enters, surveil 1. (Look at the top card of your library. You may put it into your graveyard.)

{X} : Lazav becomes a copy of target creature card in your graveyard with mana value X, except its name is Lazav, the Multifarious, it's legendary in addition to its other types, and it has this ability.

Guide

Gameplan

Lazav is a 2-mana commander that fills your graveyard via self-mill, then pays {X} to transform into any creature card sitting there with mana value X, keeping the cloning ability so you can shift again at instant speed. You durdle early protecting Lazav and stocking the yard, then assemble a combo or a value engine by becoming the right creature at the right moment. Because Lazav retains his copy ability when he transforms, he becomes a flexible toolbox that dodges removal and answers threats on demand.

Strengths

Extreme flexibility: one card answers many situations by becoming whatever creature your yard contains
Resilient to removal—respond to a kill spell by copying a cheap creature, and recast from the command zone is cheap at 2 mana
Self-mill naturally fuels both reanimation and combo lines
Low commander cost frees up mana for protection and ramp

Weaknesses

Mana-hungry: copying high-value creatures requires large payments, often once per turn
Vulnerable when first cast as a 1/3 with no immediate impact
Graveyard hate (Rest in Peace, Bojuka Bog) shuts off the entire engine
Combo lines can fizzle if you're missing a piece or the yard gets exiled
Dimir colors lack efficient ramp and struggle against heavy enchantment/artifact removal

Key Cards

Body Double — Lets you copy any creature in any graveyard, and as a copy of Lazav it widens your options dramatically.
Thassa's Oracle — Mill yourself out and copy it for an instant win once your library is empty.
Walking Ballista — A modular creature you can copy to ping for damage or combo with proliferate/counter shenanigans.
Dramatic Reversal — With nonland mana rocks it generates infinite mana to fuel arbitrarily large activations.
Buried Alive — Tutors three creatures straight to the yard, instantly loading your toolbox.
Entomb — Puts the exact combo or value creature into the graveyard at instant speed.
Stinkweed Imp — Dredge fills your graveyard repeatedly without needing draw steps.

Upgrade Path

Add fast mana and rituals (Sol Ring, Dark Ritual, Mana Vault) plus cost reducers to enable big {X} activations sooner. Tighten the deck around one or two compact wins—Thassa's Oracle mill-out and an infinite-mana Walking Ballista line—backed by tutors like Entomb, Demonic Tutor, and Buried Alive. Round it out with cheap interaction (Fierce Guardianship, Swan Song) and graveyard insurance so a single Rest in Peace doesn't end your game.

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

▸Mill yourself out and copy Thassa's Oracle (or Laboratory Maniac/Jace) for a deck-out win
▸Generate infinite mana (Dramatic Reversal + rocks) and copy Walking Ballista to ping everyone
▸Reanimate/copy a beater and grind commander damage or evasive attacks
▸Assemble a creature-based combo loop with Lazav as the swappable piece

Archetypes

Combo — Self-mill plus copy lets Lazav become combo pieces like Thassa's Oracle or infinite-mana payoffs to win outright.
Reanimator — You stock the yard with bombs and effectively 'reanimate' them by becoming copies for .
Control — Dimir counters and removal protect Lazav while you grind value and shapeshift into the right answer each turn.
Toolbox/Value — Lazav functions as a singleton silver bullet, becoming whatever creature the board state demands.