ELEVEN CARDS. one big swing.

Eleven, the Mage + Mike, the Dungeon Master strategy guide

The commanders

Eleven, the Mage (Oracle name: Cecily, Haunted Mage) and Mike, the Dungeon Master (Oracle name: Othelm, Sigardian Outcast) share Partner (Friends forever), so both start in the command zone. Their combined color identity is WUBRG (CR 702.124i).

Oracle name Cecily, Haunted Mage. Attack trigger draws 1, then at 11+ cards in hand casts an instant or sorcery free. Sorceries are fine mid-combat because the cast happens during resolution (CR 608.2g). Max hand size 11 lets you bank cards drawn on opponents’ turns.

Oracle name Othelm, Sigardian Outcast. {2},{T}: return a creature card that went to your graveyard from the battlefield this turn, tapped. Rebuys evoke and ETB creatures, saves creature engines from removal, and returns Eleven with no tax if you leave her in the graveyard (CR 903.9a).

Open all 100 cards and downloads, or read the table talk before the first shuffle.

How it wins

Wincon 1 · Eleven free cast

Reach 10 cards in hand (9 with Teferi’s Ageless Insight or Alhammarret’s Archive out, since her draw doubles), attack, and after the trigger draws cast Ruinous Ultimatum or In Garruk’s Wake free. Their board dies before blocks, so the attack connects.

Wincon 2 · Approach of the Second Sun

Free cast once (7th from the top, gain 7), redraw it with the engines, free cast it again from hand to win.

Wincon 3 · Psychosis Crawler

Each card you draw costs each opponent 1 life. Consecrated Sphinx plus one doubler draws 4 per opponent draw, roughly 12 life from each opponent per round.

Wincon 4 · Wipe plus Biorhythm

Hard-cast Ruinous Ultimatum or In Garruk’s Wake before combat, then free-cast Biorhythm off Eleven. Every opponent with no creatures goes to 0 (CR 119.5, 119.6). It sets you to your own creature count too (Eleven counts if she is still on the battlefield when Biorhythm resolves), so fire it only when it kills or Crawler, Locust God or Sheoldred can finish the low totals.

Wincon 5 · The Locust God

The same draws make hasty 1/1 fliers; Ruinous Ultimatum clears the way.

Wincon 6 · Mike loop (backup)

Mike + Ashnod’s Altar + Pestermite or Deceiver Exarch: sac for {C}{C}, Mike returns it, its ETB untaps Mike. Start with an untapped Mike that can activate its tap ability. Net zero mana, repeat at will. Midnight Reaper turns each loop into a draw (1 damage to you); Psychosis Crawler turns each draw into 1 life lost by each opponent. A doubler makes it 2 life from each opponent per loop for 1 damage to you. Sheoldred out makes every loop life-positive. Stop before your library runs out.

Turn plan

Turns 1 to 3: ramp plus an early engine (Mystic Remora, Rhystic Study, Sylvan Library, Archivist of Oghma). Mike on 3. Without haste, he can first activate after your next turn begins; once he can tap, keep {2} open for him on opponents’ turns.

Turns 4 to 5: Eleven, ideally with Lightning Greaves for haste. Attack whenever she survives it; the draw is worth it even below 11.

Hold counters and Flawless Maneuver (free with a commander out). Holding them keeps the hand full for the 11 count.

At the last opponent’s end step: crack clues, Pull from Tomorrow, or Sphinx’s Revelation to hit the number. Max hand size 11 means you keep it all until your own cleanup.

Big turn: have Grand Abolisher out so nobody can cast a spell in response, or hold a counter for theirs, then attack with Eleven.

Key interactions

Mike returns Eleven: when she dies, decline the command zone move (CR 903.9a) and Mike returns her that turn for {2} with no tax. She comes back tapped.

Evoke recursion: Mulldrifter, Shriekmaw and Fury. Evoke, let the sacrifice happen, then Mike returns it for a second trigger and a body. Ravenous Chupacabra does the same through Ashnod’s Altar.

Archaeomancer: after Eleven casts a bomb, sac Archaeomancer to Ashnod’s Altar and Mike returns it to put the bomb back in hand.

Rishkar’s Expertise draws cards equal to your hand size when Psychosis Crawler is your largest creature, then lets you cast a spell of mana value 5 or less from hand free.

Toxic Deluge at X of 4 or less keeps Eleven (3/5) alive.

Bracket 3 check

Game Changers: 3 (Rhystic Study, Consecrated Sphinx, Biorhythm), at the cap. Checked against the list as of the Feb 9, 2026 update.

Wipe plus Biorhythm is a two-card win, not an infinite. It needs 7 to 9 mana plus Eleven at 11 cards, so it lands late. Name it at Rule Zero.

No mass land denial. No extra turns.

No two-card infinite. The Mike loop is the commander plus two cards and wins nothing on its own; the kill also needs Midnight Reaper and Psychosis Crawler, five pieces total.

Life budget

Costs: shocks, Talisman, Eleven’s trigger, Sylvan Library, Midnight Reaper, Infernal Grasp, Anguished Unmaking. Refunds: Sheoldred, Archon of Cruelty, Sphinx’s Revelation, Absorb, Archivist of Oghma, Tamiyo’s Safekeeping, Approach. Archive doubles every refund. Lead with basics and checklands; shock only when tempo matters.

Mulligan

Keep 3+ lands, or 2 lands plus Sol Ring, a Signet-type rock or Birds, with at least one early engine. Ship hands that are mostly bombs; they are dead until you are at 11.

Options considered

These cards are not in the 100. They are optional changes for a future build, not part of this Bracket 3 configuration.

Time Stretch. Best raw Eleven target. Kept out because Bracket 3 bars chained extra turns, and Archaeomancer or Eternal Witness plus Mike can rebuy it. If you want it, cut Archaeomancer and never rebuy it.

Expropriate. Off the Game Changers list since Oct 2025 and exiles itself, so nothing rebuys it. Each time vote is an extra turn: flag it at Rule Zero. Swap for Rise of the Dark Realms.

Blatant Thievery. Cut for Biorhythm. Takes the best permanent from each opponent for good. Swap back in for Rise of the Dark Realms if you want the steal.

Faerie Mastermind. Cheaper flash body if the curve feels heavy. Its {3}{U} symmetric draw is great with Consecrated Sphinx and Sheoldred. Swap for Sublime Epiphany.

Wall of Omens. Cantrip blocker for aggressive pods. Swap for Chaos Warp.

City of Brass. Extra five-color land if colors run short. Pings you on every tap. Swap for an Island.

Mountain. Swap for the third Island if Dragonskull Summit, Rootbound Crag, Sulfur Falls or Clifftop Retreat keep coming in tapped.

Havengul Laboratory. Universes Within name of Hawkins National Laboratory. Colorless, {4},{T} investigate; flips to reanimate after you sac three Clues in a turn. Flavor swap for Exotic Orchard.