Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root (Valentin, Dean of the Vein)

Legendary Creature — Vampire Warlock // Legendary Creature — Human Druid

Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root

Mana value1EDHREC#7,616

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The Commander

Menace, lifelink

If a nontoken creature an opponent controls would die, exile it instead. When you do, you may pay {2} . If you do, create a 1/1 black and green Pest creature token with "When this token dies, you gain 1 life."

Whenever you gain life, you may pay {1} . If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control and those creatures gain trample until end of turn.

Guide

Gameplan

Cast this 2-mana modal commander as Valentin to exile opposing nontoken creatures and farm Pest tokens, or as Lisette to convert lifegain into board-wide +1/+1 counters and trample for a counters/aristocrats overrun. You grind value by removing creatures, building a sacrifice engine with Pests, and snowballing your team off any lifegain trigger to swing for lethal trample damage.

Strengths

Two-sided design gives flexibility: removal/value engine (Valentin) or counters anthem payoff (Lisette).
Only 2 mana, so it's easy to cast early and recast after death.
Built-in lifelink and Pest-fueled lifegain pairs perfectly with Lisette's pump engine.
Exiling opposing nontoken creatures dodges death triggers and reanimation, acting as soft removal hate.
Provides both a token base for aristocrats and a kill condition via trample anthems.

Weaknesses

Effects are split across two sides—you can't use exile-and-Pest and the lifegain pump simultaneously.
Lisette's pump costs per trigger and Valentin's Pest costs , taxing your mana every turn.
Vulnerable to creature removal and a low body for combat.
Wants a lot of small lifegain triggers, which can be inconsistent without setup.
No card advantage or protection built in; can stall against heavy control or wraths.

Key Cards

Cathars' Crusade — Stacks counters on top of Lisette's anthem every time a creature enters, including Pests.
Blood Artist — Each Pest death drains opponents and triggers lifegain that feeds Lisette's pump.
Pitiless Plunderer — Turns dying Pests into Treasure to pay the repeated / commander taxes.
Bastion of Remembrance — A static aristocrats payoff that drains and gains life as your Pests die.
Trudge Garden — Pays life to make Fungus Beasts, weaponizing the lifegain-into-counters loop.
Skullclamp — Draws two cards off every 1/1 Pest, fueling the whole engine.

Upgrade Path

Lean into cheap lifegain triggers (Soul Warden effects, Essence Warden, lifelink dorks) so Lisette's pump fires repeatedly, and add Treasure/ritual support like Pitiless Plunderer and Phyrexian Altar to afford the per-trigger taxes. Tighten the aristocrats package with Blood Artist effects and free sac outlets (Viscera Seer, Carrion Feeder), and include token doublers like Doubling Season and counter synergy such as Cathars' Crusade. Top-end finishers like Craterhoof Behemoth or a wide Skullclamp draw engine push it toward high power.

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

▸Overrun the table with trampling, counter-pumped creatures via Lisette.
▸Aristocrats drain through Blood Artist/Bastion of Remembrance off Pest deaths.
▸Go wide with Pests then alpha strike after a single big lifegain-into-pump trigger.
▸Grind opponents out of creatures by exiling their threats while you build inevitability.

Archetypes

Aristocrats — Pests are free sacrifice fodder with built-in lifegain that loops into more value.
+1/+1 Counters — Lisette's side turns any lifegain into a permanent team-wide counter anthem.
Tokens — Valentin churns Pest tokens off opposing creature deaths to build a wide board.
Lifegain Matters — Built-in lifelink and Pest deaths let you trigger lifegain payoffs constantly.