Emperor Mihail II wants a deck that casts extra spells for free off the top of its deck. It also suits a deck that makes an army of small creatures and attacks with all of them.
Mana cost
Blue ()
Power / toughness3 / 3
RarityRare
You may look at the top card of your library any time.
You may cast Merfolk spells from the top of your library.
Whenever you cast a Merfolk spell, you may pay . If you do, create a 1/1 blue Merfolk creature token.
Picked for what they do in Emperor Mihail II's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Emperor Mihail II'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
explain how Emperor Mihail II works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary
Wizards of the Coast9 Sep 2022
Emperor Mihail II lets you look at the top card of your library whenever you want (with one restriction—see below), even if you don't have priority. This action doesn't use the stack. Knowing what that card is becomes part of the information you have access to, just like you can look at the cards in your hand.
Wizards of the Coast9 Sep 2022
If the top card of your library changes while you're casting a spell, playing a land, or activating an ability, you can't look at the new top card until you finish doing so. This means that if you cast the top card of your library, you can't look at the next one until you're done paying for that spell.
Wizards of the Coast9 Sep 2022
The last ability triggers whenever you cast any Merfolk spell, not just when you cast a Merfolk spell from the top of your library. It will resolve before the spell that caused it to trigger, even if that spell has been countered or otherwise left the stack.
Wizards of the Coast9 Sep 2022
You must follow the normal timing permissions and restrictions of the cards you play from your library.
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 glossaryUPlayers write colors as letters: U for blue. Blue is U because B was already taken by black.Cascade/Free CastCascade decks cast extra spells for free, straight from the top of their deck, every time they cast the right card. Cascade turns over cards from the top of your library until it hits a cheaper spell, which you may cast without paying for it.Open the Cascade/Free Cast pagePlay from TopLets you play cards directly off the top of your deck, so your next draw is always available to cast. It pairs strongly with anything that controls what sits on top. Bolas's Citadel, Mystic ForgeOpen the Play from Top 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 pageTokensToken decks fill the battlefield with small creatures made by their cards, then attack with all of them or make them all bigger at once. A token is a creature (or other object) that a card creates, not a card from your deck.Open the Tokens pageToken EngineMakes tokens again and again rather than once. A token is a creature or other permanent created by a card, with no card of its own. Something that makes one token gives you a body; something that makes them every turn gives you a board you can keep rebuilding after it is cleared. Grave Titan, Bitterblossom, OphiomancerOpen the Token Engine pageToken MakerCreates one or more tokens. Different cards make very different ones: creatures Grave Titan, Treasures Smothering Tithe, Clues Tireless Tracker or Food Gilded Goose. This is one of our largest tags, so pair it with an archetype or theme when you are hunting a specific kind.Open the Token Maker 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 pageMerfolkMerfolk are mostly blue creatures, and some make every other Merfolk you control bigger.Open the Merfolk page
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