Ishai Rograkh
[[Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh]] and [[Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker]] (RogIshai) lead a Jeskai [[symbol:w]][[symbol:u]][[symbol:r]] control deck. It copies engines like [[Rhystic Study]] and [[Smothering Tithe]] and holds up free counterspells. It wins with [[Underworld Breach]] or [[Hullbreaker Horror]] into [[Brain Freeze]]. Rograkh costs [[symbol:0]] and enables mana sources such as [[Mox Amber]] and [[Springleaf Drum]]. Ishai supplies white and blue identity, with a flying combat threat available for slower games.
Core Gameplan
Cast [[Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh]] to enable cards such as [[Mox Amber]] and [[Springleaf Drum]], then establish a draw or Treasure engine. Copy [[Rhystic Study]] or [[Smothering Tithe]] when you expect the game to continue; hold counterspells for plays that threaten a win or your ability to keep up.
Use the cards and mana those engines produce to assemble Breach or Hullbreaker. An early complete combo is worth pursuing without more setup. In slower games, Ishai can pressure opponents while you keep interaction available.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Free Commander: [[Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh]] costs [[symbol:0]], so he can enable [[Mox Amber]] for red and [[Springleaf Drum]] for any color on turn one. Later he's the red creature you sacrifice to cast [[Flare of Duplication]] for free.
Copied Engines: A copy of [[Rhystic Study]] or [[Smothering Tithe]] gives you a second trigger, with a separate payment choice for each ([[Copy Enchantment]], [[Mirrormade]]).
Lots of Interaction: Free and cheap interaction supports both setup and combo turns ([[Force of Will]], [[Fierce Guardianship]], [[Mental Misstep]], [[Flusterstorm]]).
Weaknesses
Graveyard and Casting Restrictions: [[Soul-Guide Lantern]] and [[Bojuka Bog]] remove Breach fuel; [[Drannith Magistrate]] prevents escape casting. [[Hullbreaker Horror]] gets around it but costs seven.
No Black Tutors: Your tutors are narrower or riskier than [[Demonic Tutor]] ([[Gamble]], [[Enlightened Tutor]], [[Intuition]]).
Slow to Finish: A hand built around interaction and copied engines can take several turns to assemble its own win.
Core Combos
Breach Lines
[[Underworld Breach]] + [[Lion's Eye Diamond]] + [[Brain Freeze]]
Requirements: Underworld Breach in hand, Lion's Eye Diamond and Brain Freeze in hand or graveyard, [[symbol:1]][[symbol:r]] to cast Breach in your main phase, and six expendable cards between hand and graveyard. If LED starts in the graveyard, you need nine expendable cards in total, at least three of them already in the graveyard for its first escape. Do not count the combo pieces or cards reserved for the finish as fuel. These are starting requirements for the order below; later escapes need fuel from your self-mill.
Cast [[Underworld Breach]], then cast [[Lion's Eye Diamond]] or escape it by exiling three other cards.
Discard your hand and sacrifice LED for [[symbol:u]][[symbol:u]][[symbol:u]]. Brain Freeze must now be in your graveyard.
Escape LED for [[symbol:0]], exiling three other cards. Let it resolve.
Escape [[Brain Freeze]] for [[symbol:1]][[symbol:u]], exiling three other cards. Aim enough copies at yourself to supply the next escape costs; each copy mills three cards.
Repeat steps 2 - 4 while you have the fuel. Each pass leaves one more [[symbol:u]] and adds two spells to the storm count. Split later copies between yourself and your opponents as needed.
Use enough Brain Freeze copies on each opponent to mill their remaining library.
Note: This is a finite graveyard-fuel sequence, not an unlimited mana loop. Milling opponents does not make them lose until they try to draw. Graveyard hate, spell limits and forced draws can stop the line.
Hullbreaker Horror Lines
[[Hullbreaker Horror]] + [[Sol Ring]] + a free permanent
Requirements: Hullbreaker Horror and an untapped Sol Ring on the battlefield in your main phase, a free permanent in hand ([[Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh]], [[Mox Amber]] or [[Lotus Petal]]), and [[Brain Freeze]] in hand with a blue source for [[symbol:u]].
Tap [[Sol Ring]] for [[symbol:c]][[symbol:c]].
Cast the free permanent and use the [[Hullbreaker Horror]] trigger to return Sol Ring to your hand, then let the free permanent resolve.
Cast Sol Ring ([[symbol:1]]) and use the trigger to return the free permanent to your hand, then let Sol Ring resolve.
Repeat steps 1 - 3 to create [[symbol:infinity-c]] and as much storm as you want.
Cast [[Brain Freeze]] and split the copies across your opponents. See Win Conditions below.
Note: If Rograkh is already on the battlefield, return him to your hand with any Hullbreaker trigger. From your hand he costs [[symbol:0]] with no commander tax.
Win Conditions
[[Brain Freeze]]
After an [[Underworld Breach]] or [[Hullbreaker Horror]] loop builds a big storm count, the copies mill every opponent. They lose when they try to draw from an empty library. Passing the turn can finish the game, but an opponent who skips their draw step, such as with [[Necropotence]], may survive. Reshuffle effects and draw replacements can also prevent the finish. If your list runs [[Faerie Mastermind]], get it onto the battlefield and pay [[symbol:3]][[symbol:u]] to make everyone draw immediately. Keep enough cards in your own library for your draws, including any draw needed to find Mastermind; its activation makes you draw too.
[[Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker]]
Ishai flies and gets a +1/+1 counter whenever an opponent casts a spell, so in a long game it can attack for the win.
Tips for Playing RogIshai
Mulligan: Look for mana plus a draw engine or tutor, with access to blue for interaction. [[Mox Amber]] makes only red from Rograkh; [[Springleaf Drum]] and [[Relic of Legends]] can use him to supply other colors.
Go Early When You Can: With Breach's cards, casting mana, escape fuel and protection ready, you don't need another draw engine first. On that turn, [[Birgi, God of Storytelling]] adds [[symbol:r]] for each spell you cast. [[Storm-Kiln Artist]] makes a Treasure for each instant or sorcery you cast or copy.
Mastermind with Two Tithes: With two [[Smothering Tithe]]s out, a [[Faerie Mastermind]] activation pays for itself in Treasures if two opponents decline both payments. This produces no surplus mana from those four triggers, and you also draw, so it is not an unlimited draw loop.
Use Floodcaller at End of Turn: [[Valley Floodcaller]] lets you cast [[Copy Enchantment]], [[Gamble]] and other noncreature spells at an opponent's end step, so your counterspells stay up.
Plunge on the Combo Turn: [[Infernal Plunge]] sacrifices [[Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh]] for [[symbol:r]][[symbol:r]][[symbol:r]], a net gain of [[symbol:r]][[symbol:r]]. Recasting him from the command zone costs [[symbol:2]] more each time.
Protect the Breach Turn: Cast [[Silence]] or sacrifice [[Ranger-Captain of Eos]] before you start. Keep [[Force of Will]] or [[Deflecting Swat]] in hand.
Conclusion
Choose your tutor target based on the hand: an engine when you need cards, or the missing combo piece when you can already pay for and protect the line. Copying another engine is not always the best use of a turn.
Updated October 2026.
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