Mana Fixing Strategies for Lord Xander, the Collector's Color Pair

In TCG ·

Lord Xander, the Collector card art from Streets of New Capenna

Image courtesy of Scryfall.com

Mana Fixing in a Maestros World

When you lean into the Maestros identity of blue, black, and red, you’re signing up for a fast, glass-half-full game where control and curiosity meet relentless pressure. Lord Xander, the Collector is a tri-color legend from Streets of New Capenna with a memorable trio of abilities that rewards players who plan a stable mana base as much as they reward aggression. With a mana cost of {4}{U}{B}{R} and a formidable 7 CMC, casting him on curve already demands thoughtful fixing. Once he lands, you’re not just getting a big body—you’re delivering a multi-part engine: discard, milling, and a brutal death-trigger consequences that swing the battlefield in your favor. The trick is building a mana base that reliably feeds U, B, and R on the same turn, so you can unleash Xander when the game is most vulnerable to a Maestros’ gambit. 🧙‍♂️🔥

Core concepts: why fixing matters here

Three colors means three distinct color requirements, and Xander’s enter/attack/die triggers reward you for sequencing draws, fetches, and rocks that smooth the color curve. You’ll want to maintain access to blue for countermagic and card filtering, black for disruption and graveyard synergy, and red for acceleration and go-wide pressure. The key is not simply “more colors” but “more reliable access to all three colors the moment you need them.” A misstep on mana can leave you stuck with a hand full of expensive spells you can’t cast or, worse, a mis-timed attack that lets your opponents stabilize first. The good news: a well-tuned mana base doesn’t just cast Xander on time—it accelerates your milling and punishes the table for resource hoarding. ⚔️💎

Practical mana-fixing toolkit

  • Fetch lands that enable all three colors: In a UB/R (blue/black/red) shell, fetches like Misty Rainforest (Island/Forest), Polluted Delta (Island/Swamp), Bloodstained Mire (Swamp/Mountain), and Scalding Tarn (Island/Mountain) let you sculpt your mana when you need it. Coupled with shocks and tri-lands, they form a backbone that keeps your early turns free of color-screw while you assemble Xander.
  • Shock lands and tri-lands: Cards that produce two of your three colors at one land drop help bridge the gap between early ramp and late-game power. In Maestros builds, these lands reduce the risk of opening double-color hands that don’t include all three colors on turn four.
  • Color-fixing rocks: Sol Ring is universal, but you’ll also want rocks that specifically support multi-color identity—think Signets that empower U/B/R mana in the same turn you need to cast Xander. They accelerate in two colors at once and smooth your math for the crucial turn you drop the collector vampire demon noble.
  • Mana and spell tutoring spells: Cultivate, Kodama’s Reach, and Farseek-like effects gently tilt your mana toward three colors while keeping the board stable. In a three-color shell, you’ll often use these to set up multiple draws worth of payoff, ensuring you’re not stranded after the first big discard or mill swing.
  • Mana dorks and draw amplification: In Commander, you can speed up into Xander by pairing mana acceleration with draw engines. A few efficient rocks or dorks that produce a color you need can prevent your opening turns from devolving into pure color-pinning chaos.

How to sequence for maximum impact

Lord Xander’s enter-the-battlefield line punishes big hands by forcing an opponent to discard half of theirs, rounded down. That means you want him to land when someone’s already set up a threatening position but can’t rely on a large hand. If you have reliable fixing, you can curve from turn two or three into a turn-four Xander while still holding a few counterspells to protect him. On attack, milling halves the defending player’s library, a clock-like pressure that quickly shaves options from the table. And if Xander ever dies, the target opponent sacrifices half of their nonland permanents—rounded down—creating a cascade of board-state changes that can topple even well-established boards. The synergy with your mana base is obvious: you need to reach that turn where you can present a stable, three-color equation that your opponents can’t solve in one turn. 🧩

One practical takeaway: plan for Warp-speed fixing, not only for your own curve but to ensure you can respond to evolving board states. In Maestros circles, that means a little casino of mana that pays off in the form of a steady stream of hands and threats. The more consistently you fix, the more Xander becomes your pivot—not just a big creature, but a living disruption engine.

Supporting your three-color plan with the right meta read

The Maestros identity isn’t shy about resource denial, so leaning into control elements that protect your three-color plan while you assemble your key pieces is wise. Counterspells, bounce effects, and selective discard backfires are all part of the plan, as you keep your opponents from stabilizing while you whittle away at their resources. Lord Xander is a natural fit for a deck that can flip from disruption into a road-to-victory milling machine in a single swing. If your meta features frequent graveyard shenanigans, your own graveyard becomes a resource you can leverage for value while you keep your mana base from buckling under pressure. The Maestros watermark nods to a cunning archetype—think of it as a stylish intersection of control and inevitability, with Xander as the ruthless enforcer. 🎨

As you polish your mana base, remember to keep the plan flexible. The combo of blue’s disruption, black’s hand and stack control, and red’s acceleration creates a dynamic that rewards careful sequencing. With a few fixes under your belt, you’ll be ready to deploy Xander on turn four or five with a full hand and a plan that keeps your opponents guessing—and that, my friends, is the heart of the Maestros experience. 🧙‍♂️🔥

Phone Case with Card Holder – Impact Resistant Polycarbonate

More from our network