Mairsil, the Pretender exiles artifact and creature cards to accumulate a library of activated abilities, effectively becoming a shapeshifter that combines the most powerful effects from those exiled cards into a single body. The deck focuses on loading the exile zone with creatures and artifacts that have game-winning activated abilities — such as those that generate infinite mana, enable infinite blink loops, or deal direct damage — then using Mairsil as the engine to execute those combos. Because each ability can only be used once per turn, the deck prioritizes ways to flicker or repeatedly bounce Mairsil back into play, resetting that restriction and enabling multi-activation turns that close out the game.

Mairsil, the Pretender decklist

• Marvin, Murderous Mimic
• Training Grounds
• Cryptic Trilobite
• Tree of Perdition
• Aetherling
• Glen Elendra Guardian
• Obsessive Stitcher