Legendary Creature — Lizard Mutant

Mona Lisa, Science Geek

Mana value3EDHREC#7,973

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The Commander

Reach

{T} : Add X mana of any one color, where X is Mona Lisa's power.

Guide

Gameplan

Mona Lisa is a mono-green mana engine: pump her power with +1/+1 counters and Auras, then tap her for a flood of single-color mana to cast oversized threats and X-spells. You ramp aggressively in the early turns, grow Mona Lisa into a 6-10 power monster, and dump that mana into hydras, eldrazi, or a game-ending X-spell while her Reach holds down fliers.

Strengths

Generates explosive bursts of mana that scale with power, enabling huge turns
Reach makes her a respectable blocker that doesn't die to evasive attackers
Mono-green keeps mana consistent and gives access to the best ramp and recursion
Cheap at 3 mana, so she comes online early and can recast affordably

Weaknesses

Highly vulnerable to removal and bounce—killing her resets your whole engine
Power-reduction effects (e.g. infect, -X/-X) shut the mana ability off entirely
Mono-green lacks interaction, card draw quality, and ways to answer combo/control
Summoning-sick the turn she enters, so you can't ramp the moment she lands

Key Cards

Hardened Scales — Amplifies every +1/+1 counter you place, snowballing her power and thus her mana output.
The Great Henge — Cheap with a big creature out, and refunds counters and cards every time you cast a creature.
Doubling Season — Doubles counters dumped onto Mona Lisa, instantly spiking her power and mana.
Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider — Doubles counter placement and is a massive payoff for the mana she produces.
Genesis Wave — The premier X-payoff—Mona Lisa's burst mana fuels a backbreaking board dump.
Inkmoth Nexus — Carries counters and protects your investment, and pairs with a beefy Mona Lisa for surprise infect kills.

Upgrade Path

Lean into counter doublers (Hardened Scales, Branching Evolution, Doubling Season) and cheap power boosters so a single turn can spike her mana into the double digits. Add protection like Heroic Intervention, Snakeskin Veil, and Blossoming Defense so removal doesn't blow you out, plus reliable recursion (Eternal Witness, Sylvan Safekeeper-style hexproof) to rebuild fast. Cap it with efficient X-payoffs—Genesis Wave, Walking Ballista, Helix Pinnacle, or Finale of Devastation—to turn her burst mana directly into a win.

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

▸Cast an enormous X-spell or Genesis Wave to overwhelm the board
▸Beat down with a huge Mona Lisa and other green fatties, often with trample
▸Convert her power into commander/infect damage via trample or Inkmoth-style finishers
▸Ramp into eldrazi or other game-ending bombs ahead of the table

Archetypes

+1/+1 Counters — Pumping her power directly increases mana, so counter synergies double as ramp and a clock.
Big Mana Ramp — She acts as a mana dork on steroids, fueling oversized creatures and X-spells.
Voltron — Auras and equipment that boost power both threaten commander damage and supercharge her mana.
Stompy — Mono-green beatdown leverages her as ramp into haymakers like trample threats and hydras.

Combos

Staff of Domination + Mona Lisa, Science Geek
→ Infinite card draw, Infinite colored mana, Infinite draw triggers
Umbral Mantle + Mona Lisa, Science Geek
→ Infinite colored mana, Infinite mana creatures you control can produce, Infinite untap of creatures you control
Aggravated Assault + Mona Lisa, Science Geek
→ Infinite colored mana, Infinite combat phases, Infinite mana creatures you control can produce
Mona Lisa, Science Geek + Freed from the Real
→ Infinite colored mana
Sword of the Paruns + Mona Lisa, Science Geek
→ Infinite colored mana, Infinite mana creatures you control can produce, Infinite untap of creatures you control