Laelia, the Blade Reforged 
Legendary Creature — Spirit Warrior · Secrets of Strixhaven Commander
Haste
Whenever Laelia attacks, exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn.
Whenever one or more cards are put into exile from your library and/or your graveyard, put a +1/+1 counter on Laelia.
Plays well with: +1/+1 Counters, Graveyard, Combat, Value engine
Buy this card: TCGplayer · Cardmarket
Decklists on EDHREC View on Scryfall More Mono-Red commanders
📖 How to build Laelia, the Blade Reforged
Laelia, the Blade Reforged is a three-mana red haste creature whose value comes from attacking. Each time she attacks, you exile the top card of your library and may play it this turn. Any time cards are exiled from your library or graveyard, she gets a +1/+1 counter. The game plan is to attack early and often, growing Laelia while turning each attack into an extra card you can use that turn.
Build around her with cheap interaction and card-advantage spells that keep her attacking and let you use the exiled cards. Burn such as Lightning Bolt and Abrade can clear blockers, and Chaos Warp can remove a problem permanent. Faithless Looting and Big Score help you dig for lands and spells. Storm-Kiln Artist and Professional Face-Breaker add extra value to a red spells deck. Blasphemous Act and Vandalblast can be strong when the board is cleared.
Watch out for how fragile this plan is. Laelia does nothing unless she survives to attack, and her counters are lost if she dies, so removal and combat blocks are real threats. Any card exiled from your library that you cannot play that turn stays in exile for good, so you may lose a land or spell you needed. Her counters also grow slowly on an empty board, so she works best with support that keeps her swinging.
Deck guide written with AI assistance based on the card's rules text.
🔗 +1/+1 Counters synergy
$3.23
$9.67
$0.34
$0.34
$1.15
$0.75
$23.68
$2.66🔗 Graveyard synergy
$0.48
$0.41
$1,119.70
$0.33
$0.52
$10.35
$2.09
$32.15🔗 Combat synergy
—
$27.62
$40.65
$10.18
$134.27
$5.56
$42.55
$18.48🧩 Top staples for this deck
✔️ Auto-includes (you probably already run these): Sol Ring, Command Tower, Arcane Signet, Exotic Orchard, Reliquary Tower, Swiftfoot Boots, Lightning Greaves, Path of Ancestry.
$1.85
$0.83
$73.53$0.48
$2.52
$40.48
$0.46
—
$0.89
$1.94
——⚙️ Colorless all-stars
—
$4.93
$11.44
$105.01
$49.25
$33.79🪙 Budget picks (under $2€2)
$1.85$0.83$0.48$0.46$0.89$0.41$1.94
$0.27👑 Other Mono-Red commanders
Mono-Red · $0.62
Mono-Red · $40.72
// Mono-Red · $27.77
Mono-Red · $28.07
Mono-Red · $30.60
Mono-Red · $3.72Staples are based on how often cards are played in Commander overall (popularity data via Scryfall/EDHREC) and filtered to this commander's colors. Synergy picks match the commander's rules text.