Mai, Scornful Striker
TLA · rare · Released 2025-11-21
Power
Tier shown as baseline → best-case (in its ideal shell).
Derived from the 7 atoms below.
above rate
meaningful alone
fits anywhere
can take over a game
one mode
broadly useful
easily answered
Commander Bracket
Archetypes
Roles
Risks
Mechanics
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Typal
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Structural
Rationale
Mai is a 2cmc 2/2 first strike that punishes every noncreature spell cast by any player with 2 life loss — a powerful tax/drain effect that heavily penalizes spellslinger, storm, and control strategies. Signature in stax-prison and death-and-taxes builds as a cheap commander or 99-card piece; hits opponents for 2 each spell in Brawl where the 25-life total makes the drain meaningful fast. The symmetric trigger hurts the pilot too if they run instants/sorceries, so creature-heavy black builds get the most out of her.
Learnings (3)
Mai's trigger applies to ALL players including herself, so black decks that rely heavily on noncreature spells (hand disruption, removal instants) must budget the life loss or pivot to a creature-heavy build to minimize self-damage.
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At 2cmc with first strike, Mai dodges many common x/1 blockers and survives common ping effects, making her unusually resilient for a punisher hatebear at this cost.
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In multiplayer Commander, Mai drains each opponent separately per their spell casts, so the cumulative life loss against three opponents who cast spells freely can end games — but the symmetric effect also makes her a table-wide removal magnet.
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Popularity
- EDHREC rank: #5,862