Mairsil, the Pretender

Mairsil, the Pretender

Card Information

Type: Legendary Creature — Human Wizard

Mana Cost: 1Blue manaBlack manaRed mana

CMC: 4

Part of the Reserved List: No

Color Identity: Mana symbol for BMana symbol for RMana symbol for U

Set: Commander 2017 (C17)

Rarity: Mythic

Collector Number: 41

Oracle Text

When Mairsil enters, you may exile an artifact or creature card from your hand or graveyard and put a cage counter on it. Mairsil has all activated abilities of all cards you own in exile with cage counters on them. You may activate each of those abilities only once each turn.

Format Legalities

duel(Legal)
brawl(Not Legal)
penny(Legal)
predh(Not Legal)
future(Not Legal)
legacy(Legal)
modern(Not Legal)
pauper(Not Legal)
alchemy(Not Legal)
pioneer(Not Legal)
vintage(Legal)
historic(Not Legal)
standard(Not Legal)
timeless(Not Legal)
commander(Legal)
gladiator(Not Legal)
oldschool(Not Legal)
premodern(Not Legal)
oathbreaker(Legal)
standardbrawl(Not Legal)
paupercommander(Not Legal)

Card Rulings

  1. August 25, 2017

    The exiled cards remain exiled with cage counters when Mairsil leaves the battlefield. If Mairsil returns to the battlefield, it will see all of those exiled cards with cage counters on them.

    Source: wotc
  2. August 25, 2017

    Activated abilities contain a colon. They're generally written "[Cost]: [Effect]." Some keyword abilities (such as equip) are activated abilities and will have colons in their reminder text. Mairsil won't gain triggered abilities (which start with "when," "whenever," or "at").

    Source: wotc
  3. August 25, 2017

    If an activated ability of a card in exile with a cage counter on it references the card it's printed on by name, treat Mairsil's instance of that ability as though it referenced Mairsil by name instead. For instance, if Mairsil exiles Magus of the Mind, the cost to activate the ability includes sacrificing Mairsil, not sacrificing Magus of the Mind.

    Source: wotc
  4. August 25, 2017

    If Mairsil has an equip ability, activating it won't cause anything to happen. Mairsil doesn't become attached to a creature. They may remain friends.

    Source: wotc
  5. August 25, 2017

    If you have a creature enter the battlefield as a copy of Mairsil, its first ability triggers. You won't be able to activate any abilities before the "legend rule" applies, but the triggered ability will still let you exile another card with a cage counter regardless of which Mairsil you keep.

    Source: wotc
  6. August 25, 2017

    If Mairsil gains an activated ability that's normally linked to another activated ability of the card it came from, those two abilities Mairsil gains are linked for as long as Mairsil remains on the battlefield. For example, if Mairsil exiles Izzet Chemister, cards exiled with the first ability Mairsil gained from Izzet Chemister can be cast if you activate the second ability it gained that way. Izzet Chemister itself can't be cast this way, and if Mairsil leaves the battlefield before activating that second ability, the cards exiled with that first ability are lost forever.

    Source: wotc
  7. August 25, 2017

    If multiple cards exiled with cage counters on them have the same ability, Mairsil will have multiple instances of that ability. Each may be activated once each turn.

    Source: wotc
  8. August 25, 2017

    If another player gains control of Mairsil, it will have the abilities of only cards that player owns in exile with cage counters on them.

    Source: wotc
  9. August 25, 2017

    If Mairsil gains an activated ability that's normally linked to a non-activated ability of the card it came from, the ability Mairsil has isn't linked to any ability. For example, if Mairsil exiles Prototype Portal, the activated ability creates no tokens at all; it doesn't create Prototype Portal tokens.

    Source: wotc
  10. August 25, 2017

    If one of Mairsil's abilities doesn't resolve, most likely because its target became illegal before it resolved, it can't be activated again in the same turn.

    Source: wotc
  11. August 25, 2017

    If Mairsil has a crew ability, creatures can crew Mairsil. It'll become an artifact creature, but its power and toughness remain unchanged.

    Source: wotc

Price History

Wizard conjuring a magic the gathering cards

To study a single card is to glimpse the heart of a spell - a frozen moment of ambition, artistry, and arcane intent. Within each glyph lies a spark: a story untold, a duel turned, a destiny altered. Treat it not as mere parchment, dear seeker, but as a shard of the Multiverse itself.

Gandareth the Odd
Keeper of Cardboard Secrets and Loremancer of the Lost Ink

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