Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
Legendary Creature — Bird Wizard · {G}{W}{U} · Green/Blue/White commander
Flying
When Derevi enters and whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, you may tap or untap target permanent.
{1}{G}{W}{U}: Put Derevi onto the battlefield from the command zone.
Build a Derevi, Empyrial Tactician deck →
What Derevi, Empyrial Tactician 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 · deals_damageWhen Derevi enters and whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, you may tap or untap target permanent.
- Activated ability{1}{G}{W}{U}: Put Derevi onto the battlefield from the command zone.
- Keyword · flyingflying
What a Derevi, Empyrial Tactician deck needs
Plays as combat trigger. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- blink and recursion aimed at the commander itself (its value is its own enter trigger)
- permanents with tap abilities and mana producers to untap
- many cheap evasive attackers and team evasion (every creature that connects triggers it)
The Derevi, Empyrial Tactician deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 12× A 0-1 mana creature that reliably attacks UNBLOCKED — the cost the commander's ability consumes, and the only way it gets onto the battlefield
- 7× Exile a permanent you control and return it — the button a value-ETB deck presses
- 11× Mana from a NONLAND permanent — a commander that doubles nonland mana gets nothing from lands
- 9× A permanent whose value is in its enter-the-battlefield trigger — the payload a blink deck reuses
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 2× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
- 7× Refill your hand
Best cards for Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
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.
A 0-1 mana creature that reliably attacks UNBLOCKED — the cost the commander's ability consumes, and the only way it gets onto the battlefield
- Gingerbrute1 mana
- Mist-Cloaked Herald1 mana
- Slither Blade1 mana
- Triton Shorestalker1 mana
- Gudul Lurker1 mana
- K-9, Mark I1 mana
- Fugitive Droid1 mana
- Stature, Size Shifter1 mana
Exile a permanent you control and return it — the button a value-ETB deck presses
- Airbender Ascension2 mana
- Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd2 mana
- Displacer Kitten4 mana
- Eldrazi Displacer3 mana
- Flickerwisp3 mana
- Soulherder3 mana
- Touch the Spirit Realm3 mana
- Conjurer's Closet5 mana
Mana from a NONLAND permanent — a commander that doubles nonland mana gets nothing from lands
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
- Mox Amber0 mana
- Mox Diamond0 mana
- Birds of Paradise1 mana
- Delighted Halfling1 mana
- Elvish Mystic1 mana
- Fyndhorn Elves1 mana
A permanent whose value is in its enter-the-battlefield trigger — the payload a blink deck reuses
- Eternal Witness3 mana
- Knight of the White Orchid2 mana
- Spirited Companion2 mana
- Solemn Simulacrum4 mana
- Arboreal Grazer1 mana
- Thousand-Faced Shadow1 mana
- Loran of the Third Path3 mana
- Ranger-Captain of Eos3 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Path to Exile1 mana
- Swords to Plowshares1 mana
- Reality Shift2 mana
- Pongify1 mana
- Rapid Hybridization1 mana
- Resculpt2 mana
- March of Otherworldly Light1 mana
- Beast Within3 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Green Sun's Zenith1 mana
- Nature's Rhythm2 mana
- Neoform2 mana
- Worldly Tutor1 mana
- Reshape2 mana
- March of Burgeoning Life1 mana
- Mask of the Mimic1 mana
- Long-Term Plans3 mana
Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- Mindbreak Trap4 mana
- Fierce Guardianship3 mana
- Force of Negation3 mana
- Force of Will5 mana
- Flare of Denial3 mana
- Pact of Negation0 mana
- An Offer You Can't Refuse1 mana
- Arcane Denial2 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Vanquish the Horde8 mana
- Supreme Verdict4 mana
- Wrath of God4 mana
- Day of Judgment4 mana
- Shatter the Sky4 mana
- Split Up3 mana
- Winds of Abandon2 mana
- Depopulate4 mana
Refill your hand
- Esper Sentinel1 mana
- Mystic Remora1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Sylvan Library2 mana
- Curiosity1 mana
- Wizard Class1 mana
- Garruk's Uprising3 mana
- Rhystic Study3 mana
Combos with Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that Derevi, Empyrial Tactician is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + Emiel The Blessed + Gaea's Cradle17,711 decks
- Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + Emiel The Blessed + Bloom Tender17,689 decks
- Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + Emiel The Blessed + Mana Vault15,851 decks
- Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + Emiel The Blessed + Faeburrow Elder13,736 decks
- Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + Najeela, The Blade-Blossom10,073 decks
- Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + Emiel The Blessed + Selvala, Heart Of The Wilds9,657 decks
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