Every Villain in this deck answers one question: when Loki rents a copy of it for a single turn, what does that copy do before it is sacrificed? Sort the box by that answer and the whole ninety-nine falls into place. The rest is knowing which abilities fire on a token that entered attacking and which stay silent, and then building the attack that ends games.
When Loki attacks, you make a copy of one of your villains. The copy is only around for the turn, then it goes away. So the big question for every villain is: what does the copy do in that one turn before it disappears?
What the copy can and cannot do
The copy enters the battlefield already attacking, and that single fact decides which abilities pay off. An enter ability fires, because the token enters. A static ability applies, because the token is on the battlefield. A combat-damage ability fires, because the token can connect. What does not fire is an ordinary attack trigger. Comprehensive Rule 508.3a says a "whenever this creature attacks" ability triggers only when the creature is declared as an attacker, and it "won't trigger if a creature is put onto the battlefield attacking." The token was never declared, so those abilities stay silent. Wizards gives the same ruling for Kaalia of the Vast, whose entering creature is attacking yet receives no ordinary attack trigger.
One narrow exception is worth knowing. An ability that reads "whenever this creature attacks and isn't blocked" follows Rule 509.3g and can still trigger during the declare-blockers step, even for a creature that entered attacking, as long as no blockers are declared for it. A plain "whenever this creature attacks" gets nothing on the copy. So the rule for building is precise: copy for enter abilities, battlefield payoffs whether static or triggered, combat-damage abilities, and evasion, and run the plain attack-trigger Villains to swing on their own.
The draw ability rewards spreading out. Loki draws one card whenever one or more of your Villains deal combat damage to a player, counted once per damaged player. Five Villains hitting one opponent draw a single card. One evasive Villain against each of three opponents draws three. When the board allows it, point your attackers at different seats and the same swing pays more.
The copy shows up already attacking. So villains that do something when they enter, or that help just by being there, or that draw cards when they hit, all work great. The ones that only work "when they attack" are the exception, covered in their own section below. Also, Loki draws a card each time your villains hit a player, so hitting different players draws more cards.
How Loki closes a game
Value is the engine, and the finish is combat. The other two plays feed that attack rather than replace it. Pick the plan at the start of every game, because a deck that only draws cards can durdle forever without closing a table.
The finish: combat through temporary multiplication. Copy Mysterio for a board of 3/3 Villains, or Doctor Octopus to swing the whole team as a bigger force, and point evasive Villains at different seats so Loki draws two or three off the one combat. The Squadron Sinister and Doctor Octopus raise the damage, Mysterio and Tri-Sentinel supply the bodies. The copied Mysterio's tokens vanish at your end step, so the burst has to be aimed for lethal in the turn you make it. Most games end here, one seat at a time.
Kingpin Treasure feeds the finish, it is not one itself. Copy Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, let both Kingpins see the end-step sacrifice for four Treasure, and that mana pays for a Doctor Doom drain, a second haymaker, or the wrath-and-rebuild. It manufactures the resources for the closing attack rather than ending the game on its own.
The reset buys another attack. When you are behind, Blasphemous Act or Toxic Deluge clears the board, and the next Loki swing rebuilds a copied threat while the connive pieces refill your hand. The reset buys a fresh run at the combat finish, and in a long grind the deck that keeps drawing gets there first.
The honest placement of the finish: this is a fair midrange attrition deck with no single-card kill. That is a strength in a casual pod and a weakness against a fast go-wide start. Against a slow table, lean on combat and card draw. Against a fast one, hold a wrath and win the rebuild.
Loki really wins one way: a big attack. You copy a villain like Mysterio for a huge turn and hit different players so Loki draws lots of cards. Kingpin makes Treasure to pay for that big turn, and a board wipe lets you try the big attack again if it gets stopped. Pick your plan early. This deck grinds people out, it does not have a surprise one-turn kill.
Five copy targets that pay off, and one trap
Sorting the deck by what the copy does turns a pile of Villains into a clear shopping list. Five productive categories and one trap cover it, and the Doom Prevails box already stocks most of them.
Enter abilities
These are the cleanest copies, because the trigger fires the instant the token arrives. Tombstone, Career Criminal returns a Villain from your graveyard on enter, so a copied Tombstone rebuys a body every attack. Tri-Sentinel, Act of Vengeance deals 3 damage to a creature for each opponent when it enters, so copying it clears three blockers at once and comes in as a 7/7 with flying, menace, and trample. Mysterio, Master of Illusion creates a 3/3 Illusion Villain token for each nontoken Villain you control on enter. Those tokens are exiled when the copy leaves at your end step, so a copied Mysterio is an enter-trigger multiplier rather than a lasting army: the flood of Villains entering feeds Prowler, Iron Monger, and your sacrifice outlets that turn, and Sundial can keep the copy to keep the tokens.
These fire the second the copy shows up. Tombstone brings a villain back, Tri-Sentinel shoots three creatures, and Mysterio makes a token for each nontoken villain you have. Copying any of them pays off right away.
Battlefield payoffs
Doctor Octopus, Master Planner gives your other Villains +2/+2 and refills your hand to eight at your end step. A second Doc Ock for a turn stacks with the original: because each buffs only your other Villains, every Villain besides the two Doc Ocks gets +4/+4, two from each, and the two Doc Ocks get +2/+2 from one another. Iron Monger, Sadistic Tycoon is a triggered payoff rather than a static one: whenever a creature connives, it puts a +1/+1 counter on each Villain, so a copied Iron Monger stacks, since both Mongers fire on every connive that turn. Doc Ock is the static half of this category, applying for as long as the token is present with no trigger and no combat, which is why the two share a home even though one reads "whenever" and one does not. One end-step note on the Doc Ock copy: its own draw trigger reaches the stack alongside Loki's sacrifice trigger, so order the draw on top and the copy refills your hand to eight before it is sacrificed.
A copied Doctor Octopus makes your whole team bigger just by being there. A copied Iron Monger adds counters every time a villain connives, and with two Iron Mongers each connive counts twice. Both pay off the turn the copy shows up.
Combat-damage abilities
These read "deal combat damage," not "attacks," so they fire on the copy when it connects. Klaw, Master of Sound has deathtouch and pays you off when it hits. Stilt-Man, Towering Terror takes control of a noncreature, nonland permanent whenever one or more of your Villains deal that player combat damage, but only until the end of your next turn, and the permanent cannot be sacrificed while borrowed. The control lasts only until the end of your next turn, so the theft is strictly temporary, and its damage clause shares Loki's exact wording. Both connect for Loki's own card at the same time, so a single swing does three jobs.
These work when the copy hits a player. Klaw has deathtouch and pays you when it connects, and Stilt-Man borrows something from anyone your villains damage and gives it back after your next turn. The copy hitting also draws you a card from Loki.
Evasion
Evasion matters because Loki only draws when a Villain actually connects. Prowler, Clawed Thief has menace and connives whenever another Villain enters, so every copy you make filters a card, and grows Prowler whenever you pitch a nonland to the connive. Red Ghost, Intangible Genius cannot be blocked at all and carries ward, so it reaches a player nearly every turn. Moonstone, Harsh Mistress flies. Any of these copied into an open lane is reliable card draw off Loki, short of a removal spell or a fog.
Loki only draws when a villain gets through. Prowler is hard to block, Red Ghost cannot be blocked, and Moonstone flies. Copy one of these into an open lane and you draw a card for sure.
Clones
A clone as your copy target repeats your best body, with one wrinkle worth learning. Chameleon, Master of Disguise enters as a copy of a creature you control, and you point it at your strongest Villain as it enters (the choice happens on entry, so recursion effects that return Chameleon get the pick too). Loki copying Chameleon then makes another copy of whatever form Chameleon currently holds, a second of that creature. The free pick happens when you cast Chameleon; left in its base shape, Chameleon instead hands Loki's token the choice as the token enters. Spark Double works the same way, so a Spark Double that is currently a Doctor Octopus gives Loki a second Doctor Octopus rather than a new pick. Titan of Littjara is not a clone and not a changeling: it chooses a creature type as it enters, so it belongs with the enter abilities. Name Villain and its enter trigger draws a card for each of your other Villains.
Chameleon and Spark Double copy one of your creatures when you play them. You pick your best creature then, and Loki can copy Chameleon to make another one of it. Titan of Littjara does not copy; it picks a creature type and draws cards for your villains.
The attack-trigger trap
This is the category the rules quietly rule out. Ultron, Unlimited, Killmonger, Ruthless Usurper, and Helmut Zemo, Mastermind all read "whenever this creature attacks." A copied Ultron does not connive, a copied Killmonger does not pump, and a copied Helmut Zemo does not recast a spell, because none of them were declared as attackers. Keep these in the deck as bodies you cast and attack with the honest way, and aim Loki's copy at the five categories above instead.
Some villains only work "when they attack." Copies of Ultron, Killmonger, or Helmut Zemo do nothing special, because the copy was never really declared attacking. Play these normally and copy the other kinds.
Copy targets, ranked
The five productive categories tell you which Villains work. This table tells you which to reach for first when more than one is legal, sorted by how much a single rented turn buys. When you can copy any of several, copy the one nearest the top.
| Rank | What you are buying | Best targets | Why it is worth the copy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Temporary board multiplication | Mysterio, Master of Illusion | A 3/3 Villain for each Villain you control, entering at once for one oversized attack. The tokens are exiled when the copied Mysterio leaves at end step, so the swing is a one-turn burst that clears itself. Feeds Prowler, Iron Monger, and every sac outlet that turn. |
| 2 | Removal on enter | Tri-Sentinel, Act of Vengeance | 3 damage to a creature for each opponent as it enters. Clears up to three blockers, then swings as a 7/7 flying menace trampler. |
| 3 | Extra cards | Doctor Octopus, Master Planner; Tombstone, Career Criminal | Doc Ock refills your hand to eight at end step and buffs the team. Tombstone rebuys a Villain from the yard on every attack. |
| 4 | Burst mana | Kingpin, Wilson Fisk | Four Treasure off the end-step sacrifice when both Kingpins fire, the fuel for your closing turn. |
| 5 | Reliable draw pressure | Prowler, Clawed Thief; Red Ghost, Intangible Genius; Moonstone, Harsh Mistress | Evasion means the copy connects, which turns Loki's damage trigger into a locked card. Copy into an open lane every time. |
| 6 | Political theft | Stilt-Man, Towering Terror; Klaw, Master of Sound | Stilt-Man takes a noncreature permanent from anyone your Villains hit until the end of your next turn, a temporary theft. Klaw carries deathtouch. Narrowest payoff, still a real one. |
Two lanes Grixis barely fills: pure protection and hard removal on a body. This deck buys those with spells in the 99, not with copies, so nothing here ranks for them. When the top three targets are on the board, copy for temporary multiplication or removal before you copy for one card.
Baron Strucker, HYDRA Overlord sits outside this table on purpose. His cost reduction is static and his connive fires only when other Villains enter, so a one-turn combat copy of him does almost nothing before it is sacrificed. Cast him as the engine that cheapens your Villains and connives your board, and spend Loki's copy on a target that pays off in combat.
When you could copy more than one villain, copy the best one first. The order is: Mysterio to make a pile of tokens, Tri-Sentinel to blast blockers, Doctor Octopus or Tombstone for cards, Kingpin for treasure, then any hard-to-block villain to usually draw a card through an open lane, and Stilt-Man or Klaw last.
Loki's Scepter, the borrowed face
Loki's Scepter, in about 74 percent of decks, taps for any color and does something sneaky on enter: you gain control of a creature until end of turn, untap it, give it haste, and make it a Villain on top of its other types. Read that against Loki's attack and the line appears. Steal an opponent's best creature, turn it into a Villain, and have Loki copy it on the same attack. You get their threat and a rental of it for one turn. The Scepter's Villain type is a real type change on the original, so the borrowed creature is a legal copy target and, being a Villain this turn, draws you a card whenever it connects. The token is where the two paths split. A copy is built from copiable values only, the printed characteristics plus any copy effects, and a temporary type granted by the Scepter is a non-copy effect, so Comprehensive Rule 707.2 keeps that Villain type off the token. Loki's token therefore carries the creature's printed types plus Illusion, and it is a Villain only when the stolen creature is a printed Villain. Steal an ordinary creature for one dependable draw off the borrowed original and a bonus attacking body that does not draw; steal a printed Villain and both are Villains, so both can draw against separate opponents.
Loki's Scepter lets you borrow an enemy creature for the turn and make it a villain. Then Loki can copy it too. If the creature you stole was a villain to begin with, both can hit different players and draw you two cards. If it was an ordinary creature, only the stolen one draws, because Loki's copy does not keep the villain type the Scepter added.
Keeping Loki alive to swing
The engine needs Loki attacking, so a build that never protects him stalls. The precon ships Swiftfoot Boots for hexproof and haste, and the first upgrade is Lightning Greaves for shroud and a free equip. Haste matters because Loki cannot make his copy the turn he enters without it, though his card draw still pays off whenever your other Villains connect. Two equipment pieces is the honest boundary of this adaptation: Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves get Loki his first attack, and the deck stays open to instant-speed removal and equipment disruption. A wide Villain board does not shield Loki by itself, and the two jobs are different: a removal spell clears a blocker, but answering a spell aimed at Loki takes a counter or an instant-speed dodge. This revision raises protection from two pieces to four: it adds Whispersilk Cloak for shroud and an unblockable Loki, and a held Swan Song to answer the removal spell aimed at him. Hold the counter for the crack-back rather than spending everything on your own turn. One sequencing note the shroud creates: Lightning Greaves and Whispersilk Cloak give Loki shroud, which blocks your own targeting as well, so finish any equip or targeted effect on Loki before you attach either one, and slide the Greaves off with its free equip whenever you need to target him again. Swiftfoot Boots grants hexproof instead, so it never blocks your own targeting.
Loki needs to attack to make copies, but he still draws you cards when your other villains hit. Now the deck runs four protection cards: Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves for haste, Whispersilk Cloak so he cannot be blocked or targeted, and Swan Song to cancel a removal spell aimed at him. One trick: Greaves and the Cloak stop you from targeting Loki too, so put them on last, after you have done anything you needed to aim at him.
The upgrade swaps
To be clear about who says what: the method here is Salubrious Snail's dead-draw audit, and every specific swap, count, and rules-timing note below is our own analysis, verified against Scryfall and the Comprehensive Rules, since Snail never covered this precon. The audit is simple: hold every precon card against the deck's two engines, the discard drain on the Doom face and the copy loop on Loki's, and cut whatever neither uses. What leaves is off-plan, and what comes in serves a clear role. Every swap stays inside the Grixis color identity and keeps the precon's power level, and the deck stays at a full ninety-nine. A second pass, below, then trades four narrow cards for two more ramp pieces and two more protection pieces, the two shortages the deck's own numbers flag.
Copy targets and payoffs
Card advantage and ramp
Protection and recursion
Second-pass refinements: ramp and protection
The deck's own numbers flagged two shortages: six mana rocks under a heavy top end, and only two pieces protecting the one creature the whole engine needs. Four narrow cards leave for two rocks and two protection slots.
These swaps cut cards that do not help Loki and add cards that do. Doctor Octopus and Mysterio are amazing to copy. Taskmaster copies the best creature anywhere. Kingpin turns the copy being sacrificed at end of turn into treasure. Sundial can keep a copy forever. Then two more ramp pieces and two guard cards, Whispersilk Cloak and Swan Song, keep Loki safe enough to attack.
Buying upgrades: theme or power
The swaps do two different jobs, and a buyer with a limited budget should know which is which. Some adds deepen the Loki fantasy, a villain army you copy for one explosive turn. Others are cards any Grixis deck wants, generic draw, fixing, and protection that raise the floor without touching the theme. Buy from the column that matches why you picked this deck.
| Identity adds (keep the copy fantasy) | Power adds (raise any Grixis deck) |
|---|---|
| Doctor Octopus, Master Planner, the best static copy target | Phyrexian Arena, a card every upkeep |
| Mysterio, Master of Illusion, the board-doubling copy | Read the Bones, scry two then draw two |
| Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, the four-Treasure copy loop | Fellwar Stone and Mind Stone, cheap fixing and ramp |
| Sundial of the Infinite, keeps a copy forever | Lightning Greaves and Whispersilk Cloak, cheap protection for any commander |
| Taskmaster, Mercenary Mimic, a clone of your best Villain from your next main phase | Reanimate, a one-mana reach for any big body |
If you bought Doom Prevails for the swingy Loki turn, the left column is your shopping list, and it is where the deck stops feeling like a generic value pile. If you bought it to have a tuned Grixis deck at the table, start with the right column, since those cards win games no matter which face is out. A player upgrading in order buys Doctor Octopus and Mysterio first, then the mana and card advantage, because the copy targets are what make the commander worth building around.
Some new cards make the Loki copy trick better, like Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Kingpin, and Sundial. Others just make any dark-colored deck better, like Phyrexian Arena for cards and Fellwar Stone for mana. If you love the copy idea, buy the first kind first. If you just want a strong deck, buy the second kind first.
Dead Draw Audit
Snail's dead-draw test weighs how reliably a card is useful. Each questioned card carries two ratings: copy value, what Loki's rented token does, and body value, what the card does cast the normal way. Beside them are the card's support in the 99 and a verdict. Core clears both axes, supported needs its package on the board, situational is narrow tech, and a card that fails both axes is a cut.
| Card | Copy value | Body value | Support in the 99 | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mysterio, Master of Illusion | High, enter tokens | High | ~27 Villains, 3 to 6 on board at cast | Core |
| Tombstone, Career Criminal | High, enter recursion | High | Villains in the graveyard | Core |
| Tri-Sentinel, Act of Vengeance | High, enter ping | High | three opponents, always live | Core |
| Doctor Octopus, Master Planner | High, static plus refill | High | your ~27 other Villains | Core |
| Prowler, Clawed Thief | High, evasion plus connive | High | every Villain that enters | Core |
| Titan of Littjara | High, enter draw | High | your ~27 Villains once it picks Villain | Supported |
| Kingpin, Wilson Fisk | High, four-Treasure combo | Medium | the Loki token each turn, plus sac fodder | Supported |
| Chameleon and Spark Double | Medium, locked form | High | your best creature on board | Supported |
| Taskmaster, Mercenary Mimic | Medium, locked form | High | the best creature on any board or in a yard | Supported |
| Moonstone, Harsh Mistress | High, evasion | Medium | an open lane, plus discard synergy | Core |
| Sundial of the Infinite | Enabler only | Low | the Loki copy loop | Situational |
The audit exposes a pattern. The core copy targets all pay off the instant the token enters, so they clear both axes. The supported cards rely on their package: Kingpin on sacrifice fodder, Taskmaster and the clones on a strong creature to copy. Sundial is the one narrow slot, earned only by how hard it breaks the copy loop.
This chart rates each card two ways: how good Loki's copy of it is, and how good the real card is. Green means great at both, gold means it needs its friends on the board, and purple means it is a narrow trick. The best copy targets do their job the moment they show up.
The deck by the numbers
After the swaps, the deck sorts into these packages. A few cards fill two roles, so the counts are working targets rather than a strict partition of the ninety-nine.
| Package | Count | Key cards |
|---|---|---|
| Lands | 37 | Command Tower, Crumbling Necropolis, the dual cycle, Villainous Hideout, Path of Ancestry |
| Ramp | 8 | Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Indulgence, Fellwar Stone, Mind Stone, Wayfarer's Bauble, Charcoal Diamond |
| Card draw | 6 + Loki | Night's Whisper, Syphon Mind, Read the Bones, Phyrexian Arena, Skullclamp, Black Market Connections, plus Loki's own draw ability |
| Interaction | 9 | Bedevil, Terminate, Chaos Warp, Withering Torment, Lethal Scheme, Blasphemous Act, Vandalblast, Toxic Deluge, Kindred Dominance |
| Protection | 4 | Swiftfoot Boots, Lightning Greaves, Whispersilk Cloak, Swan Song |
| Recursion | 3 | Reanimate, Tombstone, Endless Ranks of HYDRA |
| Creatures | 30 | exactly 27 printed Villains (Taskmaster and Moonstone among them), plus Titan of Littjara (names Villain on enter), Spark Double (a Villain only when it copies one), and Containment Construct (the lone non-Villain), which is 27 plus 3 for the 30 |
| Clones | 3 | Chameleon, Spark Double, Taskmaster (Titan and Mysterio are enter-trigger cards rather than clones) |
| Connive pieces | 6 | Baron Strucker, Prowler, Iron Monger, Ultron, Glorious Purpose, Villainous Hideout |
The curve peaks at three, where the cost reducers and most Villains live, over a small top end of bombs worth copying. The top end is genuinely heavy: nine cards at five mana or more, including several seven-drops like Doctor Octopus and Tri-Sentinel that Loki would rather cheat in as a copy than hard-cast. That is why this revision lifts ramp from six to eight, adding Charcoal Diamond as a seventh mana rock and Wayfarer's Bauble as a basic-fetch, so the opening reaches Loki and a first copy on curve.
Two of the wraths treat your board differently. Kindred Dominance names Villain and destroys everything else, so your team stays. Blasphemous Act deals thirteen damage to every creature and clears yours too, so you play it as the emergency reset and rebuild off the next Loki copy and the connive draws.
The deck runs 37 lands, 8 ramp pieces (seven mana rocks plus Wayfarer's Bauble), 6 card-draw spells plus Loki, 9 removal spells, 4 protection cards, and 30 creatures. Most cards cost two or three mana, with a stack of big villains at the top worth copying.
The complete upgraded list
The whole ninety-nine after the swaps, with Doctor Doom kept as a Villain and discard engine and Loki commanding. It is Grixis and black-primary, and every name is verified against Scryfall. The average mana value, colored pips, and price below are computed across all ninety-nine cards from Scryfall on 2026-07-14, so the price is a dated capture that market moves can shift.
Creatures (30)
Baron Strucker HYDRA Overlord, Helmut Zemo Mastermind, Killmonger Ruthless Usurper, Klaw Master of Sound, Prowler Clawed Thief, Stilt-Man Towering Terror, Tombstone Career Criminal, Typhoid Mary Fractured, Containment Construct, Iron Monger Sadistic Tycoon, Ultron Unlimited, Chameleon Master of Disguise, Doctor Doom King of Latveria, Kang Prime, Kang Temporal Tyrant, Kingpin Wilson Fisk, Madame Hydra, Mysterio Master of Illusion, Red Ghost Intangible Genius, Spark Double, The Frightful Four, Titania Proud Pummeler, Taskmaster Mercenary Mimic, Moonstone Harsh Mistress, Lady Loki Agent of Chaos, Titan of Littjara, Doctor Octopus Master Planner, The Squadron Sinister, Tri-Sentinel Act of Vengeance, Abomination World Ravager
Artifacts (14)
Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone, Mind Stone, Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Indulgence, Skullclamp, Swiftfoot Boots, Lightning Greaves, Whispersilk Cloak, Wayfarer's Bauble, Charcoal Diamond, Sundial of the Infinite, Loki's Scepter
Enchantments (3)
Glorious Purpose, Black Market Connections, Phyrexian Arena
Instants and sorceries (15)
Reanimate, Vandalblast, Night's Whisper, Terminate, Bedevil, Chaos Warp, Read the Bones, Toxic Deluge, Withering Torment, Endless Ranks of HYDRA, Lethal Scheme, Syphon Mind, Swan Song, Kindred Dominance, Blasphemous Act
Lands (37)
Command Tower, Path of Ancestry, Exotic Orchard, Crumbling Necropolis, Terramorphic Expanse, Unclaimed Territory, Secluded Courtyard, Villainous Hideout, Scavenger Grounds, Scorched Geyser, plus the Grixis duals (Canyon Slough, Choked Estuary, Coastal Peak, Dragonskull Summit, Drowned Catacomb, Fetid Pools, Foreboding Ruins, Frostboil Snarl, Luxury Suite, Smoldering Marsh, Sulfur Falls, Sunken Hollow), 4 Island, 6 Swamp, 5 Mountain
Plaintext export, ready to paste into Moxfield or Archidekt:
1 Loki, the Deceiver 1 Abomination, World Ravager 1 Arcane Signet 1 Baron Strucker, HYDRA Overlord 1 Bedevil 1 Black Market Connections 1 Blasphemous Act 1 Chameleon, Master of Disguise 1 Chaos Warp 1 Charcoal Diamond 1 Containment Construct 1 Doctor Doom, King of Latveria 1 Doctor Octopus, Master Planner 1 Endless Ranks of HYDRA 1 Fellwar Stone 1 Glorious Purpose 1 Helmut Zemo, Mastermind 1 Iron Monger, Sadistic Tycoon 1 Kang Prime 1 Kang, Temporal Tyrant 1 Killmonger, Ruthless Usurper 1 Kindred Dominance 1 Kingpin, Wilson Fisk 1 Klaw, Master of Sound 1 Lady Loki, Agent of Chaos 1 Lethal Scheme 1 Lightning Greaves 1 Loki's Scepter 1 Madame Hydra 1 Mind Stone 1 Moonstone, Harsh Mistress 1 Mysterio, Master of Illusion 1 Night's Whisper 1 Phyrexian Arena 1 Prowler, Clawed Thief 1 Read the Bones 1 Reanimate 1 Red Ghost, Intangible Genius 1 Skullclamp 1 Sol Ring 1 Spark Double 1 Stilt-Man, Towering Terror 1 Sundial of the Infinite 1 Swan Song 1 Swiftfoot Boots 1 Syphon Mind 1 Talisman of Dominance 1 Talisman of Indulgence 1 Taskmaster, Mercenary Mimic 1 Terminate 1 The Frightful Four 1 The Squadron Sinister 1 Titan of Littjara 1 Titania, Proud Pummeler 1 Tombstone, Career Criminal 1 Toxic Deluge 1 Tri-Sentinel, Act of Vengeance 1 Typhoid Mary, Fractured 1 Ultron, Unlimited 1 Vandalblast 1 Wayfarer's Bauble 1 Whispersilk Cloak 1 Withering Torment 1 Canyon Slough 1 Choked Estuary 1 Coastal Peak 1 Command Tower 1 Crumbling Necropolis 1 Dragonskull Summit 1 Drowned Catacomb 1 Exotic Orchard 1 Fetid Pools 1 Foreboding Ruins 1 Frostboil Snarl 1 Luxury Suite 1 Path of Ancestry 1 Scavenger Grounds 1 Scorched Geyser 1 Secluded Courtyard 1 Smoldering Marsh 1 Sulfur Falls 1 Sunken Hollow 1 Terramorphic Expanse 1 Unclaimed Territory 1 Villainous Hideout 4 Island 6 Swamp 5 Mountain
This is the whole deck after the swaps, 99 cards plus Loki. It is mostly black cards, costs about three and a half mana on average, and runs around 135 dollars as of 2026-07-14 (prices move over time). You can copy the list at the bottom straight into a deck website.
The Doom side of the box
The precon is shared, and its front face is Doctor Doom, King of Latveria, a discard-and-drain commander. Loki is the alternate. If you keep Doom in the ninety-nine or run the deck as printed, the discard cards stay strong, so hold cuts like the two remaining rummaging pieces. Building Loki as your sole commander tilts the deck toward copy value, which is why the pure discard-support cards are the first to leave. Either way, connive is the bridge: Baron Strucker, Prowler, and Glorious Purpose reward both faces, since every copy Loki makes is another Villain entering.
The box has two commanders. Doctor Doom is about discarding and draining life. Loki is about copies. If you keep Doom, the discard cards stay good. If you go all-in on Loki, you cut some of them for copy cards. Connive helps both.
Keep or ship: reading an opening hand
Loki never enters the mulligan math, because the commander is not a card in your deck. He begins in the command zone and is always available to cast on turn four, so you never keep or ship a hand for him. The other ninety-nine cards make the library, and a keepable hand wants what actually varies: enough lands for four mana, an early Villain or a rock, and enough card flow that the board is worth copying by the time Loki swings.
| Hand shape | Call | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Two or three lands, an early Villain, some card flow | Keep | The ideal hand: you curve into a board and cast Loki from the command zone on four. |
| Ramp and lands, no Villain yet | Keep if it draws | A rock plus Night's Whisper or Black Market Connections digs to a Villain fast. Ship a pure ramp hand that cannot dig. |
| Several Villains, no acceleration | Keep | The curve peaks at three, so a land drop each turn reaches Loki on four while you build the board. |
| Lands and protection, thin on threats | Keep on the play | Two or three lands plus Swiftfoot Boots or a held counter still casts Loki safely on four; the board comes off the top. |
| One land, or seven lands and no action | Ship | Grixis three-color cannot function on one land, and an all-land hand does nothing. Mulligan for a two-or-three-land hand that has a play. |
The short version: keep a hand with two or three lands, at least one two-or-three-drop or a rock, and some card flow. Loki is a given every game, so judge the hand only on whether it builds a board and reaches four mana.
You never need Loki in your opening hand, because he waits in the command zone and you can always cast him on turn four. Keep a hand with two or three lands and at least one early villain or mana rock and some card advantage. Throw back a hand with only one land, or a hand with no villains and no way to find one.
An opening sequence
A realistic line looks like this, and the plan is to have a board worth copying by the time Loki attacks.
- Land. Cast Sol Ring if you drew it, since it is the only rock you can play off a single land.
- A two-mana rock: Arcane Signet, a Talisman, Mind Stone, or Fellwar Stone.
- A three-mana Villain, Tombstone, Klaw, Prowler, or Baron Strucker, or Black Market Connections for Treasure and cards.
- Cast Loki for four. If a turn-one Sol Ring or a spare rock lets you also equip Swiftfoot Boots or Lightning Greaves this turn, take that line: the point of haste is to attack the same turn you cast Loki, so equip and swing now.
- Without that extra mana, Loki simply attacks next turn, when he no longer needs haste. Equip Swiftfoot Boots or Lightning Greaves for protection instead, swing, copy your best board Villain, Mysterio or Tri-Sentinel or Doctor Octopus, and draw once for each player your Villains hit.
Turn one, a land and maybe Sol Ring. A mana rock on turn two, your first villain on turn three, then Loki on turn four. Turn five, he has been out since your last turn, so he does not need haste. Protect him, attack, copy your best villain, and draw cards.
What EDHREC can and cannot tell you
EDHREC's synergy percentage measures how often a card shows up in submitted Loki decks compared with other decks that could run it. That number is deckbuilding popularity. It is not a record of what players copy during combat, because EDHREC tracks cards included in lists rather than in-game target choices. So the figures point you toward popular includes and no further: Tombstone at 86 percent, Chameleon at 82 percent, Baron Strucker at 79 percent, Loki's Scepter at 74 percent, Villainous Hideout at 71 percent, Prowler at 69 percent, Doctor Octopus at 68 percent, and Taskmaster, Mercenary Mimic at 59 percent. Loki records about 1,263 decks as of 2026-07-13, a total climbing fast this soon after the June 2026 release, so read it as a dated snapshot rather than a settled figure. Use the list to find strong cards, then choose your copy targets from the five productive categories, which is where the games are actually won. In his EDHREC Effect video Snail warns the site inflates already-popular cards and overrates pieces that shine only when the commander is out, so treat a high percentage as popularity and keep a few Villains that work on a turn Loki is gone.
EDHREC shows which cards people put in Loki decks, like Tombstone and Chameleon. That tells you popular cards. It does not show what people copy during the game, because it only tracks decklists. Use it to find good cards, then pick copy targets yourself.
Where Loki ranks among the Marvel commanders
Against the ten supported commanders across the four Marvel Commander decks, Loki ranks mid-pack on raw out-of-the-box strength, fifth of ten in our Marvel rankings. The four ahead are more consistent turn one. Loki's ceiling is higher than its rank suggests, because a good copy sequence is explosive, and its floor is lower, because a hand with no board to copy stalls.
| # | Commander | Deck | OOB strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Director Nick Fury | Avengers Assemble | 8.3 |
| 2 | Captain America, Team Leader | Avengers Assemble | 7.9 |
| 3 | Doctor Doom, King of Latveria | Doom Prevails | 7.5 |
| 4 | T'Challa, the Black Panther | Wakanda Forever | 7.1 |
| 5 | Loki, the Deceiver | Doom Prevails | 6.9 |
| 6 | Mister Fantastic | The Fantastic Four | 6.8 |
Two reads matter for a buyer. Loki shares a box with Doctor Doom, the third-strongest commander of the set, so Doom Prevails gives you a top-three deck and this copy engine in one purchase, which is why it grades highest on fun in the set at 8.7. And Loki is the hardest of the top five to pilot well, because its strength is sequencing and target choice rather than a strong card you simply cast. At a table against the other precons, Loki out-grinds the midrange decks and folds to a fast Nick Fury go-wide start unless it resolves a timely wrath, which is the same closer note from earlier read across the pod.
Out of the ten Marvel commanders, Loki is number five for raw strength. Nick Fury, Captain America, Doctor Doom, and T'Challa are stronger right out of the box. But Loki comes in the same box as Doctor Doom, so you get two strong decks for one purchase, and it is the most fun deck to play if you like tricky plays. It grinds slower decks down and can lose to a very fast board unless you have a board wipe ready.
The one rule
Run bodies that pay off the moment they arrive. An enter ability, a static buff, a combat-damage hit, or evasion makes the copy worth it. A plain attack trigger gets nothing.
That single test sorts every slot. When you weigh a Villain, ask what the rented copy does before it is sacrificed. If the answer falls in one of the five working categories, keep it. If the answer is an attack trigger that never fires on the token, run the card as a body and copy something else.
The rule is simple: copy villains that do something the moment they show up, help just by being there, or hit hard and get through. Skip copying the ones that only work "when they attack."
Snail Tip
The audit behind these swaps is Snail's, and it is worth hearing in his words. His Reducing Dead Draws video is the source for the two-question test: a card should feed one of the deck's engines or come out. His EDHREC Effect video is why the percentages above are a starting point rather than a decklist. We worked his dead-draw audit onto this whole box in his own words on the Doom dead-draws page.
The idea of cutting cards that do not fit comes from Salubrious Snail. Here is his video on it, and here is our page that uses it on this box.