Commander Deck Tech: Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn (Isilu, Carrier of Twilight)

The phenomenon that brings eternal summer to Lorwyn and hides it from Shadowmoor also affects those who live on this plane. Their appearances and personalities change, literally, once the moon hits the sky.

Lorwyn Eclipsed introduced us to Elementals that represent the two sides of this plane. Eirdu represents Lorwyn and Isilu represents Shadowmoor.

In this article, you'll find two Commander lists built around this two-faced commander.

The first one is an Orzhov token list that lets us take advantage of Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn's Convoke. It also includes combo interactions with Isilu, Carrier of Twilight's Persist.

The second is a bit less competitive and a bit more fun. It plays lots of Hare Apparent so that we can mow down our opponents with Rabbits.

Let's go!

The main side is Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn, an Elemental that gives our creature spells Convoke.

At the beginning of the main phase, we may pay one black mana and transform it.

As Isilu, Carrier of Twilight, it gives your non-token creatures Persist. When a creature with Persist dies, if it doesn't have any -1/-1 counters, it will return into play with a -1/-1 counter.

Just like Eirdu, you can also pay some mana to transform it.

Our main list takes advantage of Eirdu's Convoke ability to grow our board with several token creatures. If that doesn't work, we can use Isilu to set up combo loops with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Geralf's Messenger.

Let's start with the cards that create creature tokens!

Creating Tokens

White is a great color if you're looking for token support. Cards like Ancient Gold Dragon, Illustrious Wanderglyph, Myrel, Shield of Argive, and Adeline, Resplendent Cathar are powerful by themselves and fill the board with creatures quite fast.

Ainok Strike Leader creates tokens and acts as protection, as does Inkshield, which prevents combat damage.

Summon: Knights of Round is extremely strong because it both creates 2/2 Knight tokens and buffs the creatures you control. As if it that weren't enough, it also gives them indestructible counters.

Draining Life

Orzhov token lists are known for their abilities, which trigger when creatures die. If you have ever played or faced a Teysa Karlov, then you know how scary this can be in Commander.

We added a few cards to this list that deal damage directly to our opponents.

Mirkwood Bats is a must in nearly all decks that create tokens, even if they don't create creature tokens specifically. With it in play, whenever you create or sacrifice a token, each opponent will lose 1 life.

As for Blood Artist, it is a classic pick in any Aristocrat list. This Vampire is interesting because its ability triggers when any creature dies in play. Particularly when you already have sacrifice sources in play, like Altar of Dementia, Viscera Seer, or Braids, Arisen Nightmare. The same goes for Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER and his priceless emblem.

Unlike the other cards in this section, Geralf's Messenger only forces opponents to lose life when it enters play. Because it has Undying, when it dies, it can return into play with a +1/+1 counter if it doesn't have it already.

If Isilu, Carrier of Twilight, a sacrifice source like Viscera Seer, and this zombie are in play, we'll have access to a powerful loop that will drain our opponents' lives.

As Isilu's Persist makes creatures return with a -1/-1 counter, we may sacrifice the zombie to Scry and return it into play. Sacrifice it again and repeat the process, alternating between Persist and Undying, so that it returns by itself into play and burns the opponents' lives with its ETB effect.

Yes, Persist is this broken.

Our opponents can answer these triggered abilities, but, if they can't remove some of the pieces on our board and/our graveyard, this combo can end the game.

Buffs

Regardless of which side we play, our commander is a 5/5 creature with Flying and Lifelink. So, winning through powerful attacks is quite possible.

To buff Eirdu/Isulu and any tokens under our control, we'll play:

Eirdu and Isilu are powerful creatures in Lorwyn, where they can turn day into night and vice versa. They're also powerful in this legendary card, but they can still star in some very weird meme lists.

This deck plays exactly 30 copies of Hare Apparent because, when we were building it, this was the perfect number we found. We started off with 60, by the way.

This noble Rabbit has a very interesting effect: whenever this creature comes into play, we'll create 1/1 Rabbit tokens equal to the number of creatures we control that are named "Hare Apparent". As this deck can play several copies of it, it is totally functional in Commander.

We'll use these spells to sacrifice our Hare Apparent. Because of Isilu, Carrier of Twilight's Persist ability, Hare Apparent will return into play and create more Rabbits.

Luckily, we also play Vizier of Remedies and Solemnity. With them, we'll be able to play around Persist's -1/-1 counters. Another option is Luminous Broodmoth. With this card, we'll be able to return our Rabbits with either Isilu's effect or Luminous's effect, which gives it Flying as well.

While our Hare Apparent come in and out of play, they'll trigger other effects on our board, and draw cards, drain life, and even buff our Rabbit tokens with +1/+1 counters.

Afterward, you may choose between attacking with your Rabbit army or setting up a combo to win by draining life.

Don't worry about losing a few Hare Apparent in the way. You can use spells to return them into play and keep adding more of them.

If you're using Eirdu as your commander, thanks to Convoke, two Rabbit tokens will be enough to cast more Hare Apparent!

Every set has those commanders that all players want to play. Eirdu, Carrier of Dawn is one of them, and definitely deserves all the love it gets.

It might cost a lot of mana for its colors, but its abilities are still powerful and make a real difference in the game.

Even in decks with other commanders, like Celes, Rune Knight, it is valuable and gives you an advantage.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!