Ao wants a deck that puts expensive cards onto the battlefield without paying for them. It also suits a deck that sacrifices its own creatures to drain opponents' life.
Mana cost
White ()
Power / toughness5 / 4
RarityMythic
Flying, vigilance
When Ao dies, choose one —
• Look at the top seven cards of your library. Put any number of nonland permanent cards with total mana value 4 or less from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
• Put two +1/+1 counters on each permanent you control that's a creature or Vehicle.
Picked for what they do in Ao's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Ao's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Open the full glossary
Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryWPlayers write colors as letters: W for white.Cheat into PlayCheat into Play decks put huge creatures and other expensive cards onto the battlefield without paying their mana costs. A card says "put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield", and an eight-mana dragon is attacking on turn three. Sneak Attack Kaalia of the Vast Natural OrderOpen the Cheat into Play pageCheat into PlayPuts permanents straight onto the battlefield without casting them, from your deck, your hand or your graveyard. Skipping the cast skips the mana cost, and counterspells with it. Genesis Wave, Coiling OracleOpen the Cheat into Play pageCard SelectionImproves what you draw rather than how much: you look at the top few cards of your library and decide what stays on top. Ponder lets you rearrange the top three, Serum Visions lets you scry, and Consider lets you surveil. It makes your draws more reliable without giving you extra cards.Open the Card Selection pageDeath TriggerTriggers when a creature dies, whether it is this creature, one of yours or an opponent's. These are the cards that pay you in an Aristocrats deck: something else makes creatures die, and these decide what you get each time. Blood Artist, Solemn SimulacrumOpen the Death Trigger pageAristocratsAristocrats decks sacrifice their own creatures on purpose and profit every time one dies, often by draining life from each opponent. A sacrifice outlet, a card that lets you sacrifice whenever you like, decides when that happens.Open the Aristocrats page+1/+1 CountersPuts +1/+1 counters on creatures, permanently raising their power and toughness. Unlike a temporary boost that wears off at end of turn, these markers stay put and stack up over a long game. Hardened Scales, The Great HengeOpen the +1/+1 Counters pageLibrary ManipulationCards that let you look at, rearrange or play from the top of your deck, so you control what you draw next.Open the Library Manipulation page
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