Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Fain, the Broker
Fain, the Broker
Legendary Creature — Human Warlock · {2}{B} · Black commander
{T}, Sacrifice a creature: Put two +1/+1 counters on target creature.
{T}, Remove a counter from a creature you control: Create a Treasure token.
{T}, Sacrifice an artifact: Create a 2/1 white and black Inkling creature token with flying.
{3}{B}: Untap Fain.
Build a Fain, the Broker deck →
What Fain, the Broker 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}, Sacrifice a creature: Put two +1/+1 counters on target creature.
- Activated ability{T}, Remove a counter from a creature you control: Create a Treasure token.
- Activated ability{T}, Sacrifice an artifact: Create a 2/1 white and black Inkling creature token with flying.
- Activated ability{3}{B}: Untap Fain.
- Keyword · treasuretreasure
What a Fain, the Broker deck wants
The plan the Forge derives for this commander: the roles it fills and how many of each.
- 8× Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- 5× Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
- 16× A creature that HAS the keyword the commander's trigger counts — a card that merely says the word is not one
- 16× Creatures you are happy to sacrifice — a free sac outlet on the commander is worthless with nothing to feed it
- 4× A team pump that actually pumps tokens
- 14× Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- 12× Make creature tokens — a static anthem or a go-wide commander needs a board to be wide
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
Best cards for Fain, the Broker
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
A creature that HAS the keyword the commander's trigger counts — a card that merely says the word is not one
- Greedy Freebooter1 mana
- Academy Manufactor3 mana
- Shambling Ghast1 mana
- Warren Soultrader3 mana
- Pitiless Plunderer4 mana
- Forsworn Paladin1 mana
- Mari, the Killing Quill3 mana
- Grim Hireling4 mana
Creatures you are happy to sacrifice — a free sac outlet on the commander is worthless with nothing to feed it
- Hangarback Walker0 mana
- Skeleton Crew4 mana
- "Lifetime" Pass Holder1 mana
- Death Tyrant5 mana
- Bastion of Remembrance3 mana
- Infestation Sage1 mana
- Nested Shambler1 mana
- Nurgle's Rot1 mana
A team pump that actually pumps tokens
- Nesting Grounds0 mana
- Zulaport Cutthroat2 mana
- Patchwork Banner3 mana
- Crashing Drawbridge2 mana
- Eldritch Immunity1 mana
- Not Dead After All1 mana
- Ayara, First of Locthwain3 mana
- Bastion of Remembrance3 mana
Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- Karn's Bastion0 mana
- Blightbelly Rat2 mana
- Contagion Clasp2 mana
- Drown in Ichor2 mana
- Yawgmoth, Thran Physician4 mana
- Glistening Sphere3 mana
- Staff of Compleation3 mana
- Sword of Truth and Justice3 mana
Make creature tokens — a static anthem or a go-wide commander needs a board to be wide
- Endless Ranks of the Dead4 mana
- Trendy Circus Pirate0 mana
- Myr Battlesphere7 mana
- Andúril, Flame of the West3 mana
- Liliana, the Last Hope3 mana
- Nest of Scarabs3 mana
- Field of the Dead0 mana
- Grave Titan6 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