Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root

Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root

Legendary Creature — Vampire Warlock // Legendary Creature — Human Druid · {B} // {2}{G}{G} · Black/Green commander

Menace, lifelink If a nontoken creature an opponent controls would die, exile it instead. When you do, you may pay {2}. If you do, create a 1/1 black and green Pest creature token with "When this token dies, you gain 1 life." Whenever you gain life, you may pay {1}. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control and those creatures gain trample until end of turn.

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What Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root 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 · lifegainWhenever you gain life, you may pay {1}. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control and those creatures gain trample until end of turn.
• Replacement effect · otherIf a nontoken creature an opponent controls would die, exile it instead. When you do, you may pay {2}. If you do, create a 1/1 black and green Pest creature token with "When this token dies, you gain
• Keyword · menacemenace
• Keyword · lifelinklifelink

What a Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root deck needs

Plays as lifegain. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.

• repeatable lifegain — lifelink, gain-life triggers and Food (every life gained is its trigger)
• creatures that grow with +1/+1 counters and counter payoffs (it spreads counters across your team)
• token payoffs — anthems, sacrifice outlets and go-wide finishers (it makes tokens on repeat)

The Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root deck plan

The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.

• 16× Gain life repeatedly — for a commander that converts life gained into drain, the gain IS the damage
• 14× Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
• 12× Make creature tokens — a static anthem or a go-wide commander needs a board to be wide
• 4× A team pump that actually pumps tokens
• 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
• 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
• 1× Answer a whole board at once
• 7× Refill your hand
• 2× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal

Best cards for Valentin, Dean of the Vein // Lisette, Dean of the Root

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.

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. Read the guide · Browse all commanders · Pricing