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River Song’s Diary and the Izzet Engine: why this artifact shines in Commander
In the Doctor Who Commander collection, River Song’s Diary stands out as a sleek, space‑age piece of glass and gears: an artifact with the quiet hum of untapped possibility. Its imprint ability is deceptively simple: whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell from your hand, exile it instead of putting it into a graveyard as it resolves. That line alone tilts the table toward a very particular kind of planning—one where your spell choices accumulate in a growing memory palace, ready to be tapped at the opportune moment. And then, at the beginning of your upkeep, if you’ve exiled four or more cards with the Diary, you pick one at random from among them and may cast it without paying its mana cost. The randomness is part of the thrill, but the real power is the pool you curate and the timing you engineer 🧙♂️🔥💎.
Because the Diary is colorless, it’s a natural fit for any two‑ or multi‑color command deck, but its strongest home is in velocity and value‑heavy spell‑slinging shells. You’re not just “holding” spells you exile—you’re building a mini arsenal you can unleash for free later, potentially duplicating or multiplying your impact with the right pilot at the helm. In other words, this artifact rewards decks that love to cast a lot of instants and sorceries, and then carefully pick when to unleash a surprise from the exile pool. The result can feel like a small miracle each upkeep turn, especially when you’ve lined up the right commander to maximize the payoff 🧙♂️🎨.
First pairing: Jhoira of the Ghitu — the UR spell‑slinger engine
Jhoira of the Ghitu, a classic commander in blue and red, is all about casting more spells and drawing cards as you go. That synergy with River Song’s Diary is almost poetic. As you sling a flurry of instants and sorceries to fuel Jhoira’s card‑draw engine, you’re also populating the Diary’s exile pool. When the upkeep arrives and there are four or more exiled cards, you’re in a prime position to pick one of those spells at random and cast it for free, potentially chaining more spells and draws with Jhoira’s trigger. The result is a rapid tempo swing that can overwhelm slower opponents and set up a late game where you’ve got more options than everyone else at the table 🧙♂️⚔️.
- What to lean into: cheap cantrips and removal to keep the exile pool robust; card filtering to ensure you exile the most impactful spells; and plenty of cheap draw to maintain pressure.
- Deckbuilding note: include a mix of instants and sorceries that you’re happy to see in exile, plus a few “free cast” candidates you don’t mind using earlier than expected.
- Flavor note: the Doctor Who cross‑over makes for a delightful lore‑rich table, where a diary can become a time‑bending spellbook.
Second pairing: Riku of Two Reflections — copying the free and the flashy
Riku of Two Reflections turns a single spell into two, and then two into four, if you’re not careful. In a River Song’s Diary build led by Riku, that one free spell you cast from exile could easily become multiple copies—especially if you lean into spells that generate tokens, card draw, or ETB effects. The diary’s imprint ensures you’ve got a growing pool of spells to copy, and Riku’s ability can multiply the value of each cast you make at upkeep. As you populate your exile with versatile answers, Riku transforms the unpredictable free cast into a reliable cascade of gas, tempo, and inevitability 🔥⚙️.
- What to lean into: spells with powerful modal choices or repeatable effects; consider including a few spells with advantaged targets or strong duel‑layer interactions so copies don’t waste resources.
- Deckbuilding note: keep the exile pool balanced between cheap answers and a few “telegraphed” finishers you’re excited to copy multiple times.
- Flavor note: the combination feels like a dynamic duet between time‑loose diary entries and the mirrored genius of a master spellsmith 🧭🎲.
Third pairing: Talrand, Sky Summoner — a drake storm from blue devotion
Talrand offers a different kind of synergy. This mono‑blue commander rewards you for casting instants and sorceries by creating 2/2 Drake creatures with each spell you cast. River Song’s Diary fits right into that plan: as you exile more spells with imprint, you still get to cast one for free on upkeep, which can trigger a cascade of spell‑casting that fuels Talrand’s token factory. The combination can feel like you’re brewing a blizzard of blue spells, where each exiled card expands your board state and your potential for exponential value, all while keeping pressure up on the battlefield 🎨⚔️.
- What to lean into: a heavy emphasis on cantrips and utility spells; you’re looking to maximize spell density to flood the board with Drakes while you sculpt the exile pool.
- Deckbuilding note: balance your payoff spells with enough defense and disruption to weather early game pressure while you assemble the diary’s four‑card threshold.
- Flavor note: imagine the diary as a portal to a storm of ideas, published in rapid succession by a professor of the arcane arts 🧙♂️🎲.
Fourth consideration: Kess, Dissident Mage (UB)—a spell recaster’s dream
For players who love a broader recasting strategy, adding Kess to a diary‑centric build opens the door to recasting spells from your graveyard, providing a second life to many of the same spells that first got exiled. While the Diary’s imprint is doing the heavy lifting by exiling spells cast from hand, Kess can extend your reach by letting you pay the minimum mana costs on those spells again later in the game—creating multiple layers of value from a single pick of the diary’s free cast. The pair lands you in a classic blue‑black control shell where every spell is a resource, every exile a potential surprise, and every upkeep a chance to tilt the game in your favor 🧠🔮.
- What to lean into: removal and counterspells to protect your plans; a thoughtful mix of reusable spells that you’re comfortable paying for from the graveyard or from exile.
- Deckbuilding note: ensure you have enough mana to support both the diary’s exile engine and Kess’s recasting capabilities; plan around accurate sequencing.
- Flavor note: the diary’s memory vault and Kess’s graveyard revival mesh into a lore‑worthy narrative of knowledge reclaiming power from the past 🧙♂️💎.
River Song’s Diary invites you to play a different kind of long game in Commander. It rewards planning, it rewards adaptability, and it rewards you for building a deck that loves to cast spells—then lets the diary do the rest. The Doctor Who crossover adds a rich storytelling layer to your table, turning card interactions into story beats you can narrate between turns. And if you’re scouting practical gear to accompany your table‑ready magic sessions, consider a sturdy desk companion to keep your focus sharp—this two‑piece mobile phone stand is a clever little nod to the same spirit of practical, elegant design that makes River Song’s Diary sing on the battlefield 🧙♂️🎲.
To dive deeper into the Diary’s potential, check out how these pairings can influence your next Commander night and discover other cross‑set synergies that bring a smile to your table. If you’re building around these ideas, you’ll find that the Diary’s imprint mechanic rewards thoughtful curation and strategic timing—two pillars that have always defined great games of magic.
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