Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Ares, God of War
Ares, God of War
Legendary Creature — God Warrior Villain · {1}{B}{R} · Black/Red commander
Ares attacks each combat if able.
Whenever an attacking creature you control dies, return that card to its owner's hand.
Build an Ares, God of War deck →
What Ares, God of War actually does
Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.
- Triggered ability · deathWhenever an attacking creature you control dies, return that card to its owner's hand.
What an Ares, God of War deck needs
Plays as aristocrats. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- attackers with enter triggers (each one dying in an attack returns to hand)
The Ares, God of War deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 20× Creatures you are happy to sacrifice — a free sac outlet on the commander is worthless with nothing to feed it
- 9× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 10× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 3× Answer a whole board at once
- 10× Refill your hand
- 5× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- 11× Get ahead on mana
- 14× A permanent whose value is in its enter-the-battlefield trigger — the payload a blink deck reuses
Best cards for Ares, God of War
Ranked by an engine that reads what each card does — its real cost, its delay and how reliably it works — rather than counting how often other people play it.
Creatures you are happy to sacrifice — a free sac outlet on the commander is worthless with nothing to feed it
- Nurgle's Rot1 mana
- Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal // Temple of the Dead5 mana
- Phyrexian Triniform9 mana
- Exquisite Huntmaster4 mana
- Grixis Slavedriver6 mana
- Impulsive Pilferer1 mana
- Vivi's Persistence2 mana
- Liliana, Heretical Healer // Liliana, Defiant Necromancer3 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Wild Magic Surge2 mana
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
- Infernal Grasp2 mana
- Terminate2 mana
- Fatal Push1 mana
- Bitter Triumph2 mana
- Black Sun's Twilight1 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Demonic Tutor2 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Vampiric Tutor1 mana
- Imperial Seal1 mana
- Demonic Consultation1 mana
- Grim Tutor3 mana
- Tainted Pact2 mana
- Scheming Symmetry1 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Toxic Deluge3 mana
- Damnation4 mana
- Blasphemous Act9 mana
- Chain Reaction4 mana
- Bontu's Last Reckoning3 mana
- Street Spasm1 mana
- Sickening Dreams2 mana
- Crypt Rats3 mana
Refill your hand
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Black Market Connections3 mana
- Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
- Morbid Opportunist3 mana
- Phyrexian Arena3 mana
- Professional Face-Breaker3 mana
- The One Ring4 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Hexing Squelcher2 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Commander's Plate1 mana
- Mithril Coat3 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
- The Walls of Ba Sing Se8 mana
Get ahead on mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Rakdos Signet2 mana
- Palladium Myr3 mana
- Worn Powerstone3 mana
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
- Mox Diamond0 mana
- Mana Vault1 mana
A permanent whose value is in its enter-the-battlefield trigger — the payload a blink deck reuses
- Orcish Bowmasters2 mana
- Accursed Marauder2 mana
- Solemn Simulacrum4 mana
- Cauldron Familiar1 mana
- Dualcaster Mage3 mana
- Fleshbag Marauder3 mana
- Imperial Recruiter3 mana
- Plaguecrafter3 mana
Combos with Ares, God of War
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that Ares, God of War is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- Ares, God of War + Deathrender + Breath Of Fury + Raubahn, Bull Of Ala Mhigo2 decks
- Ares, God of War + Deathrender + Breath Of Fury + Halvar, God Of Battle
- Ares, God of War + Deathrender + Breath Of Fury + Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist