Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Gríma, Saruman's Footman
Gríma, Saruman's Footman
Legendary Creature — Human Advisor · {2}{U}{B} · Black/Blue commander
Gríma can't be blocked.
Whenever Gríma deals combat damage to a player, that player exiles cards from the top of their library until they exile an instant or sorcery card. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost. Then that player puts the exiled cards that weren't cast this way on the bottom of their library in a random order.
Build a Gríma, Saruman's Footman deck →
What Gríma, Saruman's Footman 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 · deals_damageWhenever Gríma deals combat damage to a player, that player exiles cards from the top of their library until they exile an instant or sorcery card. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost. Then th
- Static ability · evasion_grantGríma can't be blocked.
What a Gríma, Saruman's Footman deck wants
The plan the Forge derives for this commander: the roles it fills and how many of each.
- 32× Mana value at or above the floor — for a cascade commander a cheap card is a DEFECT, not a bargain
- 6× Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
- 12× Exiles from your own library and lets you play it — the card flow of an exile-matters commander
- 8× A permanent whose own trigger fires on attacking — the fuel an attack-trigger doubler multiplies, and the payoff an attack commander wants beside it
- 10× Creatures you are happy to sacrifice — a free sac outlet on the commander is worthless with nothing to feed it
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
- 2× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
Best cards for Gríma, Saruman's Footman
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.
Mana value at or above the floor — for a cascade commander a cheap card is a DEFECT, not a bargain
- Excalibur, Sword of Eden12 mana
- Ancient Stone Idol10 mana
- Blightsteel Colossus12 mana
- Darksteel Colossus11 mana
- Emrakul, the Promised End13 mana
- Emrakul, the World Anew12 mana
- Flayer of Loyalties10 mana
- Funeral Room // Awakening Hall11 mana
Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
- Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive2 mana
- Gleaming Overseer3 mana
- Galerider Sliver1 mana
- Favorable Winds2 mana
- Rogue Class2 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Colossus Hammer1 mana
- Shadowspear1 mana
Exiles from your own library and lets you play it — the card flow of an exile-matters commander
- Ugin's Labyrinth0 mana
- Tinybones, Bauble Burglar2 mana
- Endless Sands0 mana
- Mimic Vat3 mana
- Bag of Holding1 mana
- Currency Converter1 mana
- Dawnhand Dissident1 mana
- Dino DNA1 mana
A permanent whose own trigger fires on attacking — the fuel an attack-trigger doubler multiplies, and the payoff an attack commander wants beside it
- Valley Rotcaller2 mana
- Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER // Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel3 mana
- Weathered Sentinels3 mana
- Bloodsoaked Champion1 mana
- Rev, Tithe Extractor4 mana
- Twenty-Toed Toad4 mana
- Grimgrin, Corpse-Born // Grimgrin, Corpse-Born0 mana
- Hostile Hostel // Creeping Inn0 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
- Chasm Skulker3 mana
- Infestation Sage1 mana
- Nested Shambler1 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Reality Shift2 mana
- Pongify1 mana
- Rapid Hybridization1 mana
- Resculpt2 mana
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
- Suspend1 mana
- Infernal Grasp2 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Do or Die2 mana
- Force of Despair3 mana
- Displacement Wave2 mana
- Accursed Marauder2 mana
- Bontu's Last Reckoning3 mana
- Innocent Blood1 mana
- Coils of the Medusa2 mana
- Forced March3 mana
Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- Pact of Negation0 mana
- Counterspell2 mana
- Three Steps Ahead1 mana
- Long River's Pull2 mana
- Force of Will5 mana
- Abjure1 mana
- Archmage's Charm3 mana
- Cancel3 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