Ral, Monsoon Mage Commander Deck Guide

Last updated on April 26, 2025

Ral, Leyline Prodigy | Illustration by Borja Pindado

Modern Horizons 3 delivered an immense impact on Commander with a flurry of incredible new cards and commanders. While my degenerate heart is drawn towards Winter Moon and Harbinger of the Seas, plenty of other cards from this Magic set have caught my eye.

I find Modern Horizon 3‘s cycle of flip planeswalkers intriguing. I love the storytelling opportunity they present, plus they’re fairly unique as commanders. The previous cycle from Magic Origins were all mono-colored commanders, so it’s exciting to see what players do with dual-colored, transforming commanders.

Ral, Monsoon Mage caught my eye as a particularly powerful Izzet card in the cycle, so let’s build around it!

The Deck

Okaun, Eye of Chaos | Illustration by Yongjae Choi

As one would expect from the current Izzet guildmaster, Ral encourages us to build a spellslinger strategy. I wanted to keep this EDH deck casual, so it focuses on ramping out a handful of large instants and sorceries alongside classic spellslinger payoffs. We have plenty of card draw and interaction to outgrind our opponents, another area in which having a planeswalker commander helps.

Since this is a casual list, we aren’t running cEDH staples like Rhystic Study or Jeska's Will, nor any infinite combos—though we have a few storm cards that enable thunderous turns!

The Commander: Ral, Monsoon Mage

Ral, Monsoon Mage sticks out as a spellslinger commander thanks to the juicy cost reduction ability. Baral, Chief of Compliance has the same text, but as an Izzet commander Ral adds red to the color identity, which strengthens the deck concept considerably. We now have reliable access to Goblin Electromancer every game, which isn’t particularly game-breaking but does so much for the deck’s consistency. I think it’s better than Mizzix of the Izmagnus because it’s faster and less fiddly as you don’t need to curve spells just right.

While I’m quite happy with Ral’s front side, Ral, Leyline Prodigy deserves respect as well. I appreciate that the backside maintains the cost reduction so we can flip Ral without disrupting our turn’s plan. The downtick is fine interaction that might draw a card. The ultimate is quite achievable in this deck and helps close games.

Spellslinger Payoffs

Let’s start by looking at the spellslinger payoffs that win the game. These all encourage casting multiple spells a turn to go with the literal storm cards.

Niv-Mizzet, Parun might be the least reasonable spellslinger payoff ever printed. One of the best dragons in Magic, it gives you unspeakable card advantage, board control, and a win condition that can’t even be countered! Playing a Niv-Mizzet is also a flavor win.

This deck packs plenty of card draw to turn The Locust God into a fierce finisher that floods the boards with tokens. The Insect tokens also protect Ral, Leyline Prodigy long enough to aim for the ultimate.

The combination of Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom and Okaun, Eye of Chaos unleashes a one-two punch our opponents need to deal with. These provide the only coin flip synergies in the deck. They offer great value with Ral flipping a coin whenever we cast instants and sorceries and can win the game alone.

Eris, Roar of the Storm rarely costs the full 10 mana. Generating tokens by casting spells is right up this deck’s wheelhouse. Deekah, Fractal Theorist and Geralf, the Fleshwright fill a similar role.

Chandra, Hope's Beacon fills pretty much every role in the deck as a spellslinger payoff that ramps, draws cards, and kills creatures. Copying our expensive spells is best, but even doubling up on Ponder and Prismari Command does work.

Baral and Kari Zev won’t win the game but it’s an excellent blocker to deter early pressure and the occasional free spell helps trigger cards like Geralf and Eris.

I’ll be honest: Thousand-Year Storm is more of a pet card than the ideal top-end, but isn’t that what Commander’s all about? I’m mostly interested in this for the card draw that comes with copying cantrips and stuff, but cards like Time Warp and even Lightning Bolt become potential win conditions with this enchantment.

Top-End

We covered our spellslinger payoffs, but what about the big spells we’ll cast with Ral’s cost reduction? I’m glad you asked! We have a mix of extra turns spells, storm payoffs, and a few big spells to tie the top-end together.

Time Warp and Temporal Manipulation are incredibly powerful in any deck capable of producing . That goes double for this deck with so many ways to copy them. Alchemist's Gambit will often be an expensive extra turn spell but you’ll occasionally cast it without paying the cleave cost after an explosive turn.

The token subtheme continues with our storm payoffs: Empty the Warrens and Elemental Eruption. I don’t have much to say about them; our commander makes spells cheaper, enabling easy multi-spell turns, so these cards push us over the finish line.

Aminatou's Augury is one of my favorite big spells to cast. It falls into a similar category as Thousand-Year Storm, especially with such a focus on instants and sorceries, but I couldn’t resist.

While I run Sea Gate Restoration in virtually every blue deck for utility, it deserves a special shout-out here. With cards like The Locust God and Niv-Mizzet, Parun to profit off the burst of card draw and ways to recast or copy it, this blue sorcery is a win condition!

Mizzix's Mastery rounds this section out with a card that rebuys all those awesome plays plus the ones we haven’t looked at yet.

Card Draw

Card draw is critical to spellslinger decks to ensure they have the cards to throw around and win with. Decks with storm cards need it even more.

This is the perfect list for Lock and Load, which amounts to “storm: Draw a card,” especially since we can plot it ahead of time for a free storm count.

Stella Lee, Wild Card takes over games in a flash. “Cast two spells” is trivial in this deck, and we have plenty of exciting cards to copy with the activated ability for even more card advantage.

Galvanic Relay sets up explosive turns. It works well with our extra turn spells so we can get right to the value.

Borne Upon a Wind sets up interesting turns by letting us cast board wipes and extra turn spells on our opponents’ turns, plus it cantrips.

Speaking of cantrips, we have a bunch. Ponder, Preordain, and Expressive Iteration are simply some of the best. Gitaxian Probe sets up our expensive spells by checking for interaction. The extra information also helps us aim our interaction at relevant targets.

Big Score and Unexpected Windfall are fabulous in decks that can copy them. They also work well with Ral; we can play them on turn 3 and untap with up to 7 mana for instants and sorceries on turn 4.

Interaction

It takes time for this deck to get rolling, so we have a ton of interaction to protect ourselves with. It’s a pretty standard combination of countermagic, spot removal, and board wipes.

Blasphemous Act sets the bar for red board wipes. I appreciate the flexibility of Mizzium Mortars, plus an overloaded Mortars ignores all our tokens.

Delayed Blast Fireball fills a similar role. It’s important to remember that this red instant doesn’t need to be foretold to get the extra damage, just cast from exile. Cards like Expressive Iteration, Galvanic Relay, and Stella Lee, Wild Card let you cast it for a mere 3 mana and get 5 damage. Burn Down the House is one of the few wraths that pressure planeswalkers. Finally, Cyclonic Rift is a contentious inclusion in casual decks, but as a one-sided instant board wipe, it does a lot of work at forcing our tokens through.

Flame of Anor and Prismari Command are two of my favorite spells. I don’t think I’ve built a UR+ deck without Prismari Command and I’ll put Flame of Anor into any deck with a wizard commander. The flexibility is incredible. Izzet Charm isn’t near their level but I included it because I like spells with options.

Wild Magic Surge and Chaos Warp are premium removal spells in these colors because they hit enchantments, which usually fall outside Izzet’s wheelhouse aside from bounce effects. Answering anything is invaluable.

Our counter suite includes classics and staples like Counterspell, Delay, Negate, and Swan Song. Expansion / Explosion is a jack-of-all-trades. We’ll often use it to win counterwars, but copying Lightning Bolt or draw spells provides a tangible advantage while serving as a mana sink and win condition.

The Mana Base

Mana matters in storm decks. We have the usual suspects—Sol Ring, the on-color Talisman and Signet, and so on. For 3-mana rocks, I’ve included Midnight Clock to refill our hand in three turn cycles and Worn Powerstone for a solid boost in mana.

Thunderclap Drake combats the typical weakness of Goblin Electromancer with an ability that’s relevant in the late game.

Our mana base has a handful of utility lands. Our MDFCs include Sea Gate Restoration, Shatterskull Smashing, and Valakut Awakening. Field of Ruin handles annoying lands like Field of the Dead while Otawara, Soaring City deals with anything else.

Riptide Laboratory protects Ral and Niv-Mizzet, Parun from spot removal.

Beyond this, the mana base focuses on fixing with the usual suspects and a healthy helping of basic lands in case we come across a stray Blood Moon.

The Strategy

Your opening hand should have either card draw or additional ramp, both of which are achievable. Keep a low profile in the opening turns; this deck needs time to get rolling, so you should avoid looking like a threat, at least until you can get a board wipe online to remove opposing pressure.

Let’s talk about flipping Ral, Monsoon Mage. I’ve found it’s best to keep Ral as a creature early. Players don’t often blow their removal on a mana dork and it’s easier to pressure Ral, Leyline Prodigy with random creatures. This deck doesn’t particularly care which side of Ral we have; it was built with a cheap cost reducer in mind, which both sides provide. You should look to flip it later in the game, both to preserve life and because we can start eyeing that ultimate to help us win.

Winning the game should be simple once we reach the final stages. All it takes is one explosive turn followed by Time Warp or something. Think of it like flipping a switch: You’ll go from not being a threat to having 30 tokens in play and 10 cards in hand. Try to save some countermagic for this stage of the game so your opponents can’t wreck things with a board wipe or other interaction.

Combos and Interactions

While this is a combo deck that amasses resources for a few key turns to win the game, the lack of tutors and infinite combos means it doesn’t have any developed combo lines. We aren’t trying to blitz out Brain Freeze and Thassa's Oracle. All the comboing comes down to sequencing the spells you have.

I want to explain one important interaction: storm cards plus copy spells, since we have several of both.

Firstly, storm is a triggered ability like cascade that goes on the stack when the storm card is cast. If you cast Empty the Warrens, the spell goes on the stack followed by the storm trigger. If you copy the first Empty with Stella Lee, Wild Card, you won’t get another storm trigger as the ability copies, it does not cast. In the same vein, storm cares about cards cast, not copied; copying spells with Stella Lee and similar effects won’t add to the storm count.

Rules 0 Violations Check

I consider this a casual deck. I know some people think combo and extra turn spells have no place in casual tables, but I disagree (this doesn't mean you should argue with your pod and pressure them into a game they won't enjoy!!!). This deck lacks infinite combo lines that end the game in a single turn and even after going off, it typically requires a full turn cycle to pass before it can win (unless it gets up to some nonsense with Borne Upon a Wind). Plus, it takes time for this deck to set up and playing cards like Niv-Mizzet, Parun and Thousand-Year Storm is a not-so-subtle indication you intend to go off soon. Given this deck’s slower and eminently interactable nature, I’m comfortable calling it a casual combo list, though your mileage may vary.

Budget Options

The first and best place to make budget cuts will always be the mana base. Don’t be afraid to make it work for your budget! Fetch lands, shock lands, and MDFC lands add consistency but replacing them with budget lands and basics won’t render the deck unplayable.

Temporal Manipulation and Time Warp can be replaced with a variety of budget-friendly extra turn spells like Walk the Aeons and Part the Waterveil, or replaced entirely with card draw or Dance with Calamity if extra turns are beyond your power level requirements.

You can replace Delayed Blast Fireball and Cyclonic Rift with a variety of other boards wipes, including but not limited to Storm's Wrath and Ill-Timed Explosion.

Chandra, Hope's Beacon could get swapped with Ral, Storm Conduit; it loses a lot of functionality, but we mostly care about doubling spells. If you still want a ramping planeswalker, look to Chandra, Torch of Defiance.

Swan Song is the most expensive counterspell in the deck; it’s mostly there to protect us from opposing interaction, so you could get away with Dispel or even Pyroblast.

Other Builds

While I took Ral, Monsoon Mage down the storm route, you could build it as a big spells deck that benefits from always having a 2-mana rock in its opening hand. That would adapt more spell-based top-end like Dance with Calamity and Magma Opus with cards like Zaffai, Thunder Conductor and Arcane Bombardment to get the most impact out of those spells.

This deck could also get tweaked into a much more powerful shell. I won’t go so far as saying Ral could be a cEDH commander, but this kind of mana generation can go hard and slipping in a few infinite combos alongside Brain Freeze/Thassa's Oracle nonsense wouldn’t be that hard.

Commanding Conclusion

Prismari Command | Illustration by Johannes Voss

I’m a huge fan of the new cycle of flipwalkers. They’re all novel commanders, with Ral, Monsoon Mage standing out as the one with the most potential.

Hopefully this deck gives you a taste of what can be achieved with Goblin Electromancer in the command zone. How would you have built Ral? What else from Modern Horizons 3 made it into your decks? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord.

Stay safe and thanks for reading!