UEDHREC #5652

Octavia, Living Thesis

Legendary Creature — Elemental Octopus

This spell costs {8} less to cast if you have eight or more instant and/or sorcery cards in your graveyard. Ward {8} Magecraft — Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, target creature has base power and toughness 8/8 until end of turn.

8 / 8

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“Blue spellslinger that pumps creatures whenever you cast spells—cheap, efficient, deadly.”

PlaystyleAggro

DifficultyIntermediate

Wins viaCommander damage, Combat damage

ThemesSpellslinger, Graveyard, Magecraft

Strategy

How this commander wants to play

Octavia, Living Thesis is a graveyard-fueled spellslinger commander that turns your instant and sorcery suite into a pump engine. Your core gameplan revolves around filling your graveyard with cheap cantrips and draw spells to unlock Octavia's cost reduction, then casting her as early as turn 4-5. Once she's in play, every spell you cast becomes a temporary pump effect, allowing you to turn any creature (including Octavia herself) into an 8/8 threat. This pairs perfectly with evasive creatures and cards that generate card advantage when cast.

You're building a tempo-oriented spellslinger deck that uses instant and sorcery synergies to both ramp Octavia out and turn her into a consistent threat amplifier. Cards like Murktide, Subtlety, and cheap cantrips fuel both your graveyard and your spellcasting. The deck wins primarily through commander damage or swinging with oversized creatures, often taking opponents by surprise with pump-in-combat tricks. Your secondary gameplan involves generating so much card advantage that you simply overwhelm through tempo and resources.

Strategy generated by Tapped Decks AI. Not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.

Key Synergies

Cards that especially shine here

Budget Build

Same gameplan, less money

Skip pricey blue dual lands initially—basic Islands and budget staples like Spell Pierce and Consider are just as effective. Swap Murktide for Snapcaster Mage or Counterspell for Archmage's Charm as budget adjustments.