Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Axelrod Gunnarson
Axelrod Gunnarson
Legendary Creature — Giant · {4}{B}{B}{R}{R} · Black/Red commander
Trample
Whenever a creature dealt damage by Axelrod Gunnarson this turn dies, you gain 1 life and Axelrod Gunnarson deals 1 damage to target player or planeswalker.
Build an Axelrod Gunnarson deck →
What Axelrod Gunnarson 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 a creature dealt damage by Axelrod Gunnarson this turn dies, you gain 1 life and Axelrod Gunnarson deals 1 damage to target player or planeswalker.
- Keyword · trampletrample
What an Axelrod Gunnarson deck needs
Plays as removal payoff. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- removal, deathtouch and one-sided sweepers (its payoff is the opponents' creatures dying)
The Axelrod Gunnarson deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 8× Evasion that does NOT target or attach — for a commander your own auras and equipment cannot legally touch
- 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
- 12× Refill your hand
- 5× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- 11× Get ahead on mana
Best cards for Axelrod Gunnarson
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.
Evasion that does NOT target or attach — for a commander your own auras and equipment cannot legally touch
- Glaring Spotlight1 mana
- Cultist of the Absolute1 mana
- Inquisitorial Rosette2 mana
- Predators' Hour2 mana
- Crash Through1 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar3 mana
- Goblin War Drums3 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