Image courtesy of Scryfall.com
Blade of Selves and the art of stack timing
Few artifacts tempt you to lean into the chaotic tempo of multiplayer combat more than Blade of Selves. At first glance, a modest {2} colorless artifact equipment, this rare from Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander seems like a humble vehicle for a big swing. But the real spice lives in the word myriad—a keyword that invites you to choreograph a cascade of token copies on the stack as you press the attack. For fans who savor timing windows, line-crossing decisions, and the delicate dance of threats multiplying across a board, Blade of Selves becomes a master class in stack management 🧙♂️🔥💎⚔️.
What the card does, in practical terms
- Equipped creature has myriad. When the equipped creature attacks, you may create a token copy for each opponent other than the defending player. Each token is tapped and attacking that player or a planeswalker they control. Those tokens exile at the end of combat.
- Equip {4}. Like many heavy-hitting equipment, Blade of Selves asks you to invest a turn and mana to bring the staffing power of myriad onto your board. The payoff is not just a single extra attacker—it’s a fleet of potential threats that can overwhelm opponents in ways a single creature cannot.
- Myriad in multiplayer, a different beast in 1v1. In two-player games, you’ll typically generate one additional attacker; in three or more players, you can create multiple token attackers, each targeting a distinct opponent or their planeswalkers. That makes you a proactive threat or a tool to pressure multiple fronts at once 🔥🎲.
- End of combat exile. The tokens don’t stick around. They vanish after the combat phase, which means Blade of Selves is a strategic one-two punch: you push damage now, but you don’t leave a trail of extra bodies to deal with later—your opponents know the threat won’t linger past the clash.
“Stack timing isn’t about forcing every spell at once—it's about forcing choices.”
From a rules perspective, the trigger that creates those myriad copies happens when the equipped creature attacks. The number of tokens depends on the number of opponents beyond the defending player. Because these tokens are attacker-planners, you should think of the moment as a campaign kickoff rather than a single strike. The stack is your friend here: you can hold up a spell or two to interact with the trigger, or you can let the trigger resolve and see how the board develops before you respond.
Strategic angles: maximizing value and avoiding misplays
Blade of Selves shines when you pair it with combat-centric effects and other token synergies. Here are some practical lines to consider 🧙♂️:
- Multiplayer pressure. In a pod with three or more opponents, you’re looking at multiple token attackers. The moment you declare attack, you set up a multi-front assault that forces opponents to allocate blockers creatively. This can unlock combat damage distribution advantages and force suboptimal blocks from war-weary players.
- Token timing vs. removal effects. Because the tokens are created on the attack trigger and are exiled at end of combat, you can sequence removal or removal-trigger effects on those tokens during the rest of the combat phase without risking long-term board presence. Clever timing can maximize their impact while minimizing risk.
- Protection and haste windows. If you anticipate disruption, giving your creature haste via other spells or abilities can ensure the myriad copies swing earlier, turning a potential stalemate into a decisive rush. Conversely, patience with a set of instant-speed responses can let you adapt as blockers and combat math evolve.
- Equip economy and recasting. The {4} equip cost is steep, so you’ll want to protect Blade of Selves from removal or incorporate ways to re-use equipment or reattach it to another threat mid-game. This is where card draw engines, tutors, and recursion shine, letting you stay on plan without stalling momentum.
- Commander-specific nuance. In Commander, Blade of Selves interacts with legendary rules and format-specific strategies. It’s legal in Commander, Brawl-like duel formats, and other multi-player formats where the token swarm can become a recurring engine—especially when support cards allow you to protect the equipped creature or reconfigure the board between combats 💎⚔️.
Deck-building considerations and synergy picks
From a design perspective, Blade of Selves invites a meta-aware approach. Draw sources that help you find the equipment when you need it, and persistence effects that let you recast blades or shuffle them back into the deck. Measured interaction is key; the goal isn’t to flood the board with tokens haphazardly, but to choreograph two or three clever swings that tilt a five-player table in your favor.
Flavor-wise, the card evokes a mythic image—one hero duplicating themselves to chase many adversaries across the battlefield. The art, courtesy of Lie Setiawan, frames the blade as a conduit of doubling magic, a perfect fit for players who savor both the visual drama and the tactical complexity of a well-executed combat trick. The rarity and the reprint status in Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander only deepen its appeal for collectors who chase iconic reimaginations of old staples in new frames 🔥🎨.
Lore-like texture and cultural bite
While Blade of Selves lives in the mechanical realm of stacked decisions and token armies, its thematic resonance taps into a longer tradition in MTG: the wish to fracture, multiply, and redirect force with precision. The card invites you to imagine a hero’s counterpart weaving through each opponent’s defenses, a narrative thread that aligns with many tales from Dragonstorm and Tarkir’s draconic banners. Fans often enjoy pairing it with other “copy” or “mirror” effects, tracing a lineage of spells and artifacts that celebrate duplication as strategy.
As you stare down a table full of variable threats, you’ll appreciate how Blade of Selves shifts from a simple equip to a choreography of timing. It rewards you for reading the room, sequencing your attacks, and choosing when to push, when to hold, and when to let the tokens do the talking on the stack 🧙♂️🎲.
For readers who want to explore more about the card, its print history, and current pricing, the Scryfall pages and the gatherer links tucked into its MTG profile are a goldmine of context. The community conversation around these interactions is as rich as the token avalanche that can accompany a well-timed blade swing.
And if you’re looking to level up your desk between games, consider a side quest of comfort that keeps you sharp for the next combat: a touch of ergonomic design to keep wrists happy during long drafting sessions or late-night battles. If you’re curious, the same creative energy that powers Blade of Selves can also be found in practical gear that makes gaming marathons more comfortable.