Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Cao Cao, Lord of Wei
Cao Cao, Lord of Wei
Legendary Creature — Human Soldier · {3}{B}{B} · Black commander
{T}: Target opponent discards two cards. Activate only during your turn, before attackers are declared.
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What Cao Cao, Lord of Wei actually does
Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.
- Activated ability{T}: Target opponent discards two cards. Activate only during your turn, before attackers are declared.
What a Cao Cao, Lord of Wei deck wants
The plan the Forge derives for this commander: the roles it fills and how many of each.
- 15× Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- 10× Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
- 16× Makes opponents discard — the fuel a discard-punishing commander feeds on
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 7× Refill your hand
- 2× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- 11× Get ahead on mana
Best cards for Cao Cao, Lord of Wei
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.
Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- Thousand-Year Elixir3 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
- Super State7 mana
- Lavaspur Boots1 mana
- Sting, the Glinting Dagger2 mana
- Krang, Utrom Warlord9 mana
Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
- Sword of Feast and Famine3 mana
- Amulet of Vigor1 mana
- Sting, the Glinting Dagger2 mana
- Umbral Mantle3 mana
- Genji Glove5 mana
- Honor-Worn Shaku3 mana
- Tiller Engine2 mana
- Sword of the Paruns4 mana
Makes opponents discard — the fuel a discard-punishing commander feeds on
- Tinybones, Bauble Burglar2 mana
- Hopeless Nightmare1 mana
- Rankle, Master of Pranks4 mana
- Bandit's Talent2 mana
- The Raven Man2 mana
- Tourach, Dread Cantor2 mana
- Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal // Temple of the Dead5 mana
- Sheoldred // The True Scriptures5 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
- Infernal Grasp2 mana
- Fatal Push1 mana
- Bitter Triumph2 mana
- Black Sun's Twilight1 mana
- Cut Down1 mana
- Erebos's Intervention1 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Do or Die2 mana
- Force of Despair3 mana
- Accursed Marauder2 mana
- Bontu's Last Reckoning3 mana
- Innocent Blood1 mana
- Coils of the Medusa2 mana
- Forced March3 mana
- Nature's Ruin3 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Demonic Tutor2 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Vampiric Tutor1 mana
- Imperial Seal1 mana
- Insatiable Avarice1 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Grim Tutor3 mana
- Liliana Vess // Liliana Vess0 mana
Refill your hand
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Orcish Bowmasters2 mana
- Black Market Connections3 mana
- Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
- Morbid Opportunist3 mana
- Phyrexian Arena3 mana
- The One Ring4 mana
- Kederekt Parasite1 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Cryptothrall4 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
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
- Mox Amber0 mana
- Mox Diamond0 mana
- Mox Opal0 mana
- Mana Vault1 mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Wayfarer's Bauble1 mana