Ruffling Feathers | Building A Maha, Its Feathers Night Commander Deck

Maha, Its Feathers Night is one of the most exciting mono-black commanders we’ve seen in recent sets. Coming out of Bloomburrow, this bird of doom doesn’t just fly, it levels the battlefield by making every opposing creature have a base toughness of 1. With this asymmetric rule-warping ability, Maha turns many modest cards into devastating one-sided board wipes and gives you control over the flow of combat.

Let’s dive into how to build a Maha, Its Feathers Night commander deck for early, mid, and late game dominance, plus five must-include cards that make this commander deck a hoot!

Early Game Strategy

Maha decks function a lot like a mono-black control shell in the early turns.

Key Goals:

• Ramp and establish board presence

• Play small deathtouch or evasive creatures

• Drop Maha as early as possible and protect her

  
  

Because Maha only costs 3 mana, you can reliably cast her on turn 3 or 4. You’ll want to follow that up by holding up pings, sweepers, or combat tricks that abuse the 1-toughness debuff.

Great early cards:

• Jet Medallion or Charcoal Diamond for ramp

• Plague Spitter and Crypt Rats to prep for one-sided sweeps

• Deathgreeter or Zulaport Cutthroat to get value from future deaths

  
  

Mid-Game Strategy

Once Maha is on the battlefield, it’s time to start breaking symmetry and controlling the board.

Your Mid-Game Plan:

• Ping effects like your early Plague Rats destroy entire boards

• Mass -1/-1 or 1-damage sweepers like Toxic Deluge or Massacre Girl become lethal to all enemies

• Use recursion and discard to keep pressure on opponents and rebuild after clearing the board

  
  

Because Maha’s effect only hits your opponents' creatures, you can safely build a creature base of durable or evasive threats.

Use targeted removal sparingly. You’ll have plenty of ways to clear full boards, so use cards like Feed the Swarm for problematic enchantments instead.

Late Game Strategy

Maha shines in longer games by making it nearly impossible for creature-based decks to stabilize.

Win Conditions:

• Drain opponents out with Gary (Gray Merchant of Asphodel)

• Recur threats like Grave Titan or Sheoldred

• Make big mana with Cabal Coffers and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

• Repeatedly clear the board while keeping your key creatures safe

  
  

Control-based black decks thrive on inevitability. Maha gives you that by constantly knocking opponents back to square one while you slowly grind out value.

5 Must-Include Cards for Maha, Its Feathers Night

1. Night of Souls' Betrayal

This enchantment gives all creatures -1/-1, which pairs devastatingly with Maha’s effect. With both on the battlefield, every opposing creature dies immediately upon entering, unless protected by buffs or indestructibility. Your creatures remain unaffected, making Night of Souls' Betrayal a brutal asymmetrical piece of board control.

2. Pestilence

Damage-based repeatable board control. With Maha in play, one activation often clears your opponents’ entire boards. Since Pestilence sticks around if a creature is on the battlefield, include a black creature with 3+ toughness (like Maha herself) to maintain control.

3. Massacre Girl, Known Killer

This version of Massacre Girl is tailor-made for Maha. Giving creatures wither plays well with Necroskitter and helps bring down opponents' buff attempts. Plus the death trigger gives you bonus card draw to further build your engine.

4. Necroskitter

Whenever a creature with a -1/-1 counter dies, Necroskitter gives you control of it. Combined with -1/-1 counter effects and Maha’s toughness-lowering ability, it turns your removal into permanent creature theft. It synergizes especially well with Massacre Girl, Known Killer.

5. Vincent Valentine // Galian Beast

A fresh addition to the deck, Vincent gets +1/+1 counters based on the power of the opponent's creatures when they die. This ramps insanely fast when clearing the board with Maha and his transformed side, Galian Beast, has trample and Lifelink. An absolute monster.

Bonus Tech: Cards That Shine With Maha

• Opposition Agent: Expensive, but it stops your opponent from fetching cards to deal with your commander

• Contamination: Maha slows the board, and Contamination locks it down

• Black Market: Creatures die, you add charge counters, you ramp big mana

• Rise of the Dark Realms: Lol. Lmao even.

Is a Maha, Its Feathers Night Commander Deck for you?

Maha, Its Feathers Night is a powerhouse of a mono-black commander. It turns symmetrical board wipes into asymmetrical ones, turns pings into Plague Winds, and turns grindy value plays into overwhelming inevitability. If you enjoy board control, cruel efficiency, and winning by suffocating your opponents' options, Maha is your bird.

How are you breaking symmetry with Maha? Got a spicy tech card to include? Drop your favorite interaction in the comments or send us your deck list. The skies are dark, and your opponents’ toughness is lower than ever.