Arcane Foundry › Commanders › The Master of Keys
The Master of Keys
Legendary Enchantment Creature — Horror · {X}{W}{U}{B} · Black/Blue/White commander
What The Master of Keys 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 · etbWhen The Master of Keys enters, put X +1/+1 counters on it and mill twice X cards.
- Keyword · flyingflying
- AbilityEach enchantment card in your graveyard has escape. The escape cost is equal to the card's mana cost plus exile three other cards from your graveyard.
What a The Master of Keys deck needs
Plays as ETB value. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- enchantments in the graveyard (each has escape)
- ramp for a big X (its entry mills twice X)
The The Master of Keys deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 9× Exile a permanent you control and return it — the button a value-ETB deck presses
- 11× A permanent whose value is in its enter-the-battlefield trigger — the payload a blink deck reuses
- 10× Put your own cards into your graveyard as a resource
- 9× 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
- 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 The Master of Keys
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.
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
A permanent whose value is in its enter-the-battlefield trigger — the payload a blink deck reuses
- Orcish Bowmasters2 mana
- Accursed Marauder2 mana
- Baleful Strix2 mana
- Knight of the White Orchid2 mana
- Spirited Companion2 mana
- Solemn Simulacrum4 mana
- Cauldron Familiar1 mana
- Thousand-Faced Shadow1 mana
Put your own cards into your graveyard as a resource
- Takenuma, Abandoned Mire0 mana
- Stitcher's Supplier1 mana
- Ripples of Undeath2 mana
- Emry, Lurker of the Loch3 mana
- Eden, Seat of the Sanctum0 mana
- Port of Karfell0 mana
- Tomb Fortress0 mana
- Millikin2 mana
Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion3 mana
- Yoshimaru, Beloved Companion3 mana
- Thrummingbird2 mana
- Blightbelly Rat2 mana
- Grateful Apparition2 mana
- Metastatic Evangel2 mana
- Scheming Aspirant2 mana
- Vexing Radgull2 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
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Entomb1 mana
- Demonic Tutor2 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Vampiric Tutor1 mana
- Imperial Seal1 mana
- Demonic Consultation1 mana
- Grim Tutor3 mana
- Tainted Pact2 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
- Damn2 mana
- Vanquish the Horde8 mana
- Toxic Deluge3 mana
- Damnation4 mana
- Supreme Verdict4 mana
- Wrath of God4 mana
- Day of Judgment4 mana
- Bontu's Last Reckoning3 mana
Refill your hand
- Esper Sentinel1 mana
- Mystic Remora1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Curiosity1 mana
- Wizard Class1 mana
- Black Market Connections3 mana
- Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
- Morbid Opportunist3 mana
Combos with The Master of Keys
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that The Master of Keys is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- The Master of Keys + Scholar Of The Ages + Burnt Offering + Corpse Churn + Necromancy
- The Master of Keys + Scholar Of The Ages + Burnt Offering + Corpse Churn + Dance Of The Dead
- The Master of Keys + Scholar Of The Ages + Burnt Offering + Corpse Churn + Animate Dead
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