Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Basim Ibn Ishaq
Basim Ibn Ishaq
Legendary Creature — Human Assassin · {U}{B} · Black/Blue commander
What Basim Ibn Ishaq actually does
Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.
- Triggered ability · cast_spellWhenever you cast a historic spell, draw a card. Basim Ibn Ishaq can't be blocked this turn. This ability triggers only once each turn.
- Triggered ability · deals_damageWhenever Basim Ibn Ishaq deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
What a Basim Ibn Ishaq deck wants
The plan the Forge derives for this commander: the roles it fills and how many of each.
- 6× Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
- 20× A card that is CAST to trigger the commander — reanimating or blinking it does not count
- 14× Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
- 2× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 7× Refill your hand
- 2× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
Best cards for Basim Ibn Ishaq
Ranked by an engine that reads what each card does — its real cost, its delay and how reliably it works — rather than counting how often other people play it.
Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
- Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive2 mana
- Gleaming Overseer3 mana
- Galerider Sliver1 mana
- Herald of Secret Streams4 mana
- Favorable Winds2 mana
- Rogue Class2 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Colossus Hammer1 mana
A card that is CAST to trigger the commander — reanimating or blinking it does not count
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Darksteel Citadel0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
- Gemstone Caverns0 mana
- Inventors' Fair0 mana
- Lotus Petal0 mana
- Mox Amber0 mana
- Mox Diamond0 mana
Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- Karn's Bastion0 mana
- Ripples of Potential2 mana
- Thrummingbird2 mana
- Blightbelly Rat2 mana
- Contagion Clasp2 mana
- Contentious Plan2 mana
- Drown in Ichor2 mana
- Experimental Augury2 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Reality Shift2 mana
- Pongify1 mana
- Rapid Hybridization1 mana
- Resculpt2 mana
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
- Suspend1 mana
- Infernal Grasp2 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Do or Die2 mana
- Force of Despair3 mana
- Displacement Wave2 mana
- Accursed Marauder2 mana
- Bontu's Last Reckoning3 mana
- Innocent Blood1 mana
- Coils of the Medusa2 mana
- Forced March3 mana
Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- Pact of Negation0 mana
- Counterspell2 mana
- Three Steps Ahead1 mana
- Long River's Pull2 mana
- Force of Will5 mana
- Abjure1 mana
- Archmage's Charm3 mana
- Cancel3 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Demonic Tutor2 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Vampiric Tutor1 mana
- Imperial Seal1 mana
- Insatiable Avarice1 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Grim Tutor3 mana
- Liliana Vess // Liliana Vess0 mana
Refill your hand
- Mystic Remora1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Orcish Bowmasters2 mana
- Curiosity1 mana
- Wizard Class1 mana
- Black Market Connections3 mana
- Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
- Morbid Opportunist3 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Gleaming Overseer3 mana
- Cryptothrall4 mana
- Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus4 mana
- Lost in the Maze2 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Commander's Plate1 mana
Build this deck in the Arcane Forge →
Arcane Foundry is free to join and every tool is included: the Arcane Forge deck builder, the ARCANE Analyzer that scores a deck by simulating games rather than counting staples, a card scanner, a collection vault, and live webcam Commander tables.
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