Card Spotlight
Maralen, Fae Ascendant
A 5-mana Sultai flier from Lorwyn Eclipsed that mills an opponent two cards every time an Elf or Faerie enters. Once a turn, you can cast one of those cards for free if its mana value is no more than your Elf and Faerie count.
Commander Spotlight
Maralen, Fae Ascendant ↗
A 5-mana Sultai flier from Lorwyn Eclipsed that mills an opponent two cards every time an Elf or Faerie enters. Once a turn, you can cast one of those cards for free if its mana value is no more than your Elf and Faerie count.
See Maralen, Fae Ascendant's full stats and printings →
Strategies it goes well with
- Elf and Faerie tribal. Every creature of either type entering triggers the mill, and a wide board of them raises the mana value ceiling on what can be cast for free.
- Mill and library-attrition decks. A steady two-card mill on every relevant creature entry adds up into a real threat against a deck that cares about its own library size.
- Value-creature go-wide decks. Even outside a strict tribal build, a deck running enough Elves for ramp and Faeries for evasion gets meaningful mileage from the ability.
How it does in Commander
As the commander
As the commander, Maralen rewards building a dedicated Elf and Faerie tribal shell, which gets repeated access to the mill-and-free-cast engine from the command zone.
In the 99
A reasonable value piece even outside a tribal build, since most Sultai decks run at least a handful of Elves for ramp, giving Maralen something to work with.
Formats it's strong in
- Elf and Faerie tribal decks. The free-cast ceiling scales directly with the tribal count, rewarding a deck built specifically around both creature types.
- Grindy, long games. The mill and free-cast value compounds every turn Maralen survives, which suits a deck built to go long.
Formats it's weak in
- Low-creature-count decks. With few Elves or Faeries on the battlefield, the free-cast ceiling stays low and the ability is much less impactful.
- Fast, aggressive decks. A five-mana value engine that needs a turn or two to compound is a poor fit for a deck trying to end games quickly.
Synergistic cards
Elvish Mystic ↗
A cheap, easy-to-cast Elf that both ramps and adds to the tribal count feeding Maralen's ceiling.
Bitterblossom ↗
A repeatable Faerie token generator that steadily raises the tribal count every turn.
Lord of Extinction ↗
A classic free-cast-off-mill target in decks built around exiling and casting big spells for nothing.
Any cheap tribal Elf or Faerie ↗
The more of either type on the battlefield, the higher the mana value Maralen can cast for free, so going wide is directly rewarded.
Is it worth the price?
As a recent-set card, Maralen is inexpensive and a reasonable pickup for a Sultai Elf or Faerie tribal deck, with little financial risk to try it.
Frequently asked questions
How does Maralen, Fae Ascendant's free-cast ability work?
Once each turn, you may cast a spell with mana value less than or equal to the number of Elves and Faeries you control from among the cards exiled off an opponent's library with Maralen this turn, without paying its mana cost. A wider Elf or Faerie board raises the ceiling on what you can cast for free.
What decks want Maralen, Fae Ascendant?
An Elf or Faerie tribal deck in Sultai colors. Every creature of either type that enters triggers the mill, and the free-cast ceiling scales with the board that deck is already trying to build.
Is Maralen, Fae Ascendant good against decks with few nonland cards left?
It gets worse the emptier an opponent's library is of exilable spells, since the free cast depends on what's milled. The mill itself is also a real clock toward an empty library, which can matter against certain combo shells even without a Thassa's Oracle-style payoff of your own.