Lagrella, the Magpie is Underrated and Nobody Talks About Her — So I Wrote a Full Pilot Guide

Lagrella doesn't show up in many "best Commander" lists. She doesn't have a massive EDHREC following. But after building and tuning this deck I can tell you — she is an absolute nightmare to play against when piloted correctly, and one of the most fun and interactive commanders I've ever sat down with.

What Does Lagrella Actually Do?

Lagrella, the Magpie exiles up to one creature from each opponent when she enters the battlefield. Sounds fine on its own. But here's the thing — when she leaves and re-enters, those creatures are permanently gone.

Blink her every turn with Emiel the Blessed, Conjurer's Closet, Ephemerate, or Restoration Angel and you're stripping the most dangerous creature off each opponent's board on a repeatable loop. No graveyard. No recursion. Just gone.

The Deck — Lagrella's Court | Abzan Blink Value

Colors: Abzan (White/Black/Green) Power Level: 7-8 Archetype: Blink/Flicker, Control, Midrange

The gameplan is simple to understand but deep to execute:

• Control the board with Lagrella's exile engine
• Layer soft stax pieces (Archon of Emeria, Collector Ouphe, Smothering Tithe, Spirit of the Labyrinth) to slow opponents down
• Draw cards and build your engine (Sylvan Library, Beast Whisperer, Guardian Project, Phyrexian Arena)
• Close out with one of four distinct win conditions

The Four Win Conditions

1. Agent of Treachery — Blink it repeatedly to steal every permanent your opponents control. Once you have their lands it's over.

2. Kokusho + Gray Merchant Drain — Sacrifice and recur Kokusho with Sun Titan and High Market. Pair with Gray Merchant for massive life drain. Exsanguinate closes it out.

3. Craterhoof Behemoth — Avenger of Zendikar makes a plant army, blink Avenger for more plants, drop Craterhoof for lethal trample damage.

4. Torment of Hailfire — Smothering Tithe generates enormous mana. X=10 or higher ends games on the spot.

Having four distinct paths means you're never locked out. If one line gets disrupted you pivot to another.

The Blink Package

The core engine runs on redundancy:

• Emiel the Blessed — repeatable activated blink
• Eldrazi Displacer — colorless activated blink
• Conjurer's Closet + Teleportation Circle — free blink every end step
• Restoration Angel — flash blink at instant speed
• Ephemerate — one mana, blinks twice with rebound
• Eerie Interlude — mass blink, doubles as wrath protection
• Soulherder — grows every time you blink, blinks at end of turn

Once you have two or three of these on board Lagrella becomes nearly impossible to stop.

Why I Love This Commander

She rewards political play. You can choose which threat to exile and when — making deals at the table, letting two opponents fight while you build, then closing out when they're exhausted. She's interactive without being oppressive, powerful without being unfun.

"If it enters the battlefield, you'll see it again. If it attacks you, it won't be for long."

The Full Guide

I wrote a complete play kit guide for this deck covering:

• Full core engine breakdown
• All 4-win conditions with setup instructions
• Turn-by-turn game phase guide (early/mid/late)
• Stax package explained
• Full removal suite breakdown
• Mana base notes
• Threat assessment & politics guide
• 6 common pilot mistakes
• Budget cuts AND upgrade paths

The guide is available on my Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/snowwhite247

I also just launched The Deckbuilder's Den on Discord — a community for Commander players of all skill levels. Come share your decks, ask questions, or book a coaching session. https://discord.gg/wwPsB42Unu

Happy to answer any questions about the deck in the comments. What do you all think — is Lagrella as underrated as I think she is?