Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Dr. Madison Li
Dr. Madison Li
Legendary Creature — Human Scientist · {U}{R}{W} · Red/Blue/White commander
Whenever you cast an artifact spell, you get {E} (an energy counter).
{T}, Pay {E}: Target creature gets +1/+0 and gains trample and haste until end of turn.
{T}, Pay {E}{E}{E}: Draw a card.
{T}, Pay {E}{E}{E}{E}{E}: Return target artifact card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
Build a Dr. Madison Li deck →
What Dr. Madison Li 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 an artifact spell, you get {E} .
- Activated ability{T}, Pay {E}: Target creature gets +1/+0 and gains trample and haste until end of turn.
- Activated ability{T}, Pay {E}{E}{E}: Draw a card.
- Activated ability{T}, Pay {E}{E}{E}{E}{E}: Return target artifact card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
What a Dr. Madison Li deck needs
Plays as artifact cast trigger. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- artifact spells (its trigger fires on each one you cast)
- self-mill, discard and recursion (the graveyard is a resource its text reads)
- haste and untap effects that reach the commander (a tap ability is unusable the turn it lands)
The Dr. Madison Li deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 8× Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- 5× Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
- 22× A permanent of the exact NON-creature type the commander counts — artifacts for an artifact commander, enchantments for an enchantress
- 20× A card that is CAST to trigger the commander — reanimating or blinking it does not count
- 6× Put your own cards into your graveyard as a resource
- 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
Best cards for Dr. Madison Li
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.
Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- Rising of the Day3 mana
- Thousand-Year Elixir3 mana
- Frostcliff Siege3 mana
- The Fire Crystal4 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Urabrask the Hidden5 mana
- Fervor3 mana
Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
- Aggravated Assault3 mana
- Aurelia, the Warleader6 mana
- Freed from the Real3 mana
- Pemmin's Aura3 mana
- Sting, the Glinting Dagger2 mana
- Umbral Mantle3 mana
- Unstoppable Plan3 mana
- Genji Glove5 mana
A permanent of the exact NON-creature type the commander counts — artifacts for an artifact commander, enchantments for an enchantress
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
- Lotus Petal0 mana
- Mox Amber0 mana
- Mox Diamond0 mana
- Mox Opal0 mana
- Lion's Eye Diamond0 mana
- Ornithopter0 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
- Lotus Petal0 mana
- Mox Amber0 mana
- Mox Diamond0 mana
- Mox Opal0 mana
- Ancient Den0 mana
Put your own cards into your graveyard as a resource
- Emry, Lurker of the Loch3 mana
- Eden, Seat of the Sanctum0 mana
- Millikin2 mana
- Perpetual Timepiece2 mana
- Ghoulcaller's Bell1 mana
- Fraying Sanity3 mana
- Palantír of Orthanc3 mana
- Sequestered Stash0 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Path to Exile1 mana
- Swords to Plowshares1 mana
- Reality Shift2 mana
- Wild Magic Surge2 mana
- Pongify1 mana
- Rapid Hybridization1 mana
- Resculpt2 mana
- March of Otherworldly Light1 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Reshape2 mana
- Mask of the Mimic1 mana
- Long-Term Plans3 mana
- Transmute Artifact2 mana
- Open the Armory2 mana
- Whir of Invention3 mana
- Merchant Scroll2 mana
- Enlightened Tutor1 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
- Blasphemous Act9 mana
- Chain Reaction4 mana
- Day of Judgment4 mana
- Street Spasm1 mana
- Shatter the Sky4 mana
Combos with Dr. Madison Li
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that Dr. Madison Li is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- Dr. Madison Li + Intruder Alarm + Robobrain War Mind + Krark-Clan Ironworks22 decks
- Dr. Madison Li + Decoction Module + Intruder Alarm + Myr Battlesphere + Ashnod's Altar18 decks
- Dr. Madison Li + Decoction Module + Intruder Alarm + Myr Battlesphere + Krark-Clan Ironworks18 decks
- Dr. Madison Li + Decoction Module + Intruder Alarm + Myr Battlesphere + Phyrexian Altar10 decks
- Dr. Madison Li + Intruder Alarm + Robobrain War Mind + Ashnod's Altar9 decks
- Dr. Madison Li + Decoction Module + Intruder Alarm + Myr Battlesphere + Goblin Bombardment6 decks
Build this deck in the Arcane Forge →
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