Liesa, Shroud of Dusk – Commander Legends MTG Review

David
Fanany
Player
since
1995

I quite like Liesa’s entire style, on top of her stats and abilities; and I also note that she’s surprisingly good outside of Commander settings. For example, while her color combination is far from powerless against spellslinger-type decks (Duress, Eidolon of Rhetoric, etc), it can sometimes be short on ways to damage opponents without attacking, and it can sometimes be caught in an awkward place against big spells off the top of the deck. Liesa makes your opponents think about most things they do, as well as playing the Baneslayer Angel role against aggro.

Constructed: 2/5
Casual: 4/5
Limited: 4/5
Multiplayer: 4/5
Commander: 4/5

The fourth sister of the angels of Innistrad, and the one who met with an unfortunate death experience long before the first block, Liesa is an interesting commander for an already-extant deck, the white-black “bleed everyone out” build. Her unique angle is that you don’t need to pay more mana to get her back out, but instead an increasing tribute of blood; you often have more life than you do mana, so Liesa is pretty reliable at coming back turn after turn, but you must pay life for the added amount, which can prove fraught in a late-game scenario if your life dwindles. Dinging everyone for 2 life when they cast a spell adds up quickly, and while she does impact you, an evasive body with lifelink helps somewhat to offset that.

Liesa is pretty nice in all, and she even has a shell she fits in already; while her ability to come back makes her ideal as a Commander, part of the 99 can work just as well for her. She’s slightly better-positioned for Legacy play, though I still think she falls just short there.

Constructed: 2.25 (there are some decks she’s absurd against, but I don’t think she does enough to justify her spot)
Casual: 4
Limited: 4.5 (evasive lifelink makes her an efficient clock against a lot of decks)
Multiplayer: 3.75
Commander: 4