Legendary Creature — Bird Pirate

Francisco, Fowl Marauder

Mana value2EDHREC#6,382PartnerYes

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The Commander

Flying

Francisco can't block.

Whenever one or more Pirates you control deal damage to a player, Francisco explores.

Partner (You can have two commanders if both have partner.)

Guide

Gameplan

Francisco is a cheap, evasive Partner commander that snowballs through repeated combat damage with Pirates. Each combat where your Pirates connect, Francisco explores, growing himself while filtering lands and stocking the board. You play a wide, aggressive mono-black Pirate tribal/aggro deck that chips in for damage, then closes with overrun effects or evasive beats.

Strengths

Two-mana evasive commander that's hard to keep off the board
Repeatable explore triggers provide card advantage and +1/+1 counters
Partner slot lets you splash a second color or add another threat engine
Mono-black access to tutors, recursion, and removal supports consistency
Wide Pirate tribal base enables go-wide aggression

Weaknesses

Francisco can't block, leaving you exposed defensively
Triggers depend on Pirates connecting, so board wipes and blockers stall you
Mono-black (or two-color) limits ramp and sweeper options compared to other strategies
Pirate tribal is shallow without color support, pushing you toward generic aggro
Vulnerable to lifegain and fog effects that blunt aggressive plans

Key Cards

Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator — A premier Partner that rewards Pirate combat damage with card draw and treasure, pairing perfectly with Francisco's evasive aggression.
Coastal Piracy — Turns every Pirate connecting into a card, supercharging the same damage triggers Francisco wants.
Admiral Beckett Brass — Top-end Pirate anthem and steal engine that boosts the tribe and rewards multi-Pirate damage.
Dockside Extortionist — Explosive treasure generation that ramps your Pirate curve and fuels black tutors.
Forerunner of the Coalition — Tutors a Pirate to the top and drains opponents as Pirates enter, smoothing your tribal draws.
Skullclamp — Converts small Pirate tokens into a relentless stream of cards in an attrition-based aggro deck.

Upgrade Path

Add fast mana (Sol Ring, treasures via Dockside) and efficient black tutors (Demonic Tutor, Diabolic Intent) to find your best damage payoffs sooner. Pick a high-impact Partner—Malcolm for card draw and treasures, or Tymna the Weaver for refueling on combat damage—and lean into a low curve with evasion and 'whenever a Pirate deals damage' engines. Tighten the manabase with creature lands and protect your board with cheap interaction and recursion like Victimize or Phyrexian Reclamation.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

▸Wide Pirate swarm boosted by anthems and overrun effects
▸Repeated evasive combat damage plus drain effects like Forerunner and Bident
▸Commander damage from a grown Francisco backed by evasion enablers

Archetypes

Pirate Tribal Aggro — Francisco anthers an evasive go-wide tribe that triggers explore on combat damage.
Aristocrats — Black's sacrifice and drain engines convert dying Pirates into reach and value.
Partner Goodstuff — His Partner keyword lets you add a second commander to fix mana or add a payoff engine.