Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Heliod, Sun-Crowned
Heliod, Sun-Crowned
Legendary Enchantment Creature — God · {2}{W} · White commander
Indestructible
As long as your devotion to white is less than five, Heliod isn't a creature.
Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature or enchantment you control.
{1}{W}: Another target creature gains lifelink until end of turn.
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What Heliod, Sun-Crowned 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 · lifegainWhenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature or enchantment you control.
- Activated ability{1}{W}: Another target creature gains lifelink until end of turn.
- Keyword · indestructibleindestructible
- AbilityAs long as your devotion to white is less than five, Heliod isn't a creature.
What a Heliod, Sun-Crowned deck needs
Plays as lifegain. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- permanents heavy in white mana pips (its text counts your devotion to white)
- enchantments (its text counts them)
- repeatable lifegain — lifelink, gain-life triggers and Food (every life gained is its trigger)
- creatures that grow with +1/+1 counters and counter payoffs (it spreads counters across your team)
The Heliod, Sun-Crowned deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 4× Evasion that does NOT target or attach — for a commander your own auras and equipment cannot legally touch
- 22× A permanent of the exact NON-creature type the commander counts — artifacts for an artifact commander, enchantments for an enchantress
- 16× Gain life repeatedly — for a commander that converts life gained into drain, the gain IS the damage
- 14× Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
- 7× Refill your hand
- 2× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
Best cards for Heliod, Sun-Crowned
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
- Akroma's Will4 mana
- Glaring Spotlight1 mana
- Abzan Falconer3 mana
- Elspeth, Storm Slayer5 mana
- The Wind Crystal4 mana
- Elspeth, Sun's Champion6 mana
- Inquisitorial Rosette2 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
A permanent of the exact NON-creature type the commander counts — artifacts for an artifact commander, enchantments for an enchantress
- Authority of the Consuls1 mana
- Land Tax1 mana
- Reconnaissance1 mana
- Sigarda's Aid1 mana
- Ajani's Welcome1 mana
- Alseid of Life's Bounty1 mana
- Cleric Class1 mana
- Deafening Silence1 mana
Gain life repeatedly — for a commander that converts life gained into drain, the gain IS the damage
- Basilisk Collar1 mana
- High Market0 mana
- Zuran Orb0 mana
- Authority of the Consuls1 mana
- Serra Ascendant1 mana
- Shadowspear1 mana
- Soul Warden1 mana
- Soul's Attendant1 mana
Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion3 mana
- Yoshimaru, Beloved Companion3 mana
- Grateful Apparition2 mana
- Metastatic Evangel2 mana
- Ainok Bond-Kin2 mana
- Generous Pup2 mana
- Martyr for the Cause2 mana
- Cenn's Tactician1 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Path to Exile1 mana
- Swords to Plowshares1 mana
- March of Otherworldly Light1 mana
- Generous Gift3 mana
- Erode1 mana
- Unwanted Remake1 mana
- Angelic Ascension2 mana
- You Cannot Pass!1 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Open the Armory2 mana
- Enlightened Tutor1 mana
- Templar Knight2 mana
- Idyllic Tutor3 mana
- Ranger-Captain of Eos3 mana
- Loyal Tutor1 mana
- Recruiter of the Guard3 mana
- Search for Glory3 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Vanquish the Horde8 mana
- Wrath of God4 mana
- Day of Judgment4 mana
- Shatter the Sky4 mana
- Split Up3 mana
- Winds of Abandon2 mana
- Depopulate4 mana
- No Witnesses4 mana
Refill your hand
- Esper Sentinel1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Archivist of Oghma2 mana
- The One Ring4 mana
- Vexing Bauble1 mana
- Caretaker's Talent3 mana
- Enduring Innocence3 mana
- Mentor of the Meek3 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Flowering of the White Tree2 mana
- Bastion Protector3 mana
- Greater Auramancy2 mana
- Codsworth, Handy Helper3 mana
- Avacyn, Angel of Hope8 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Chaplain of Alms // Chapel Shieldgeist1 mana
Combos with Heliod, Sun-Crowned
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that Heliod, Sun-Crowned is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Walking Ballista52,102 decks
- Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Triskelion6,249 decks
- Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Spike Feeder5,710 decks
- Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Shalai And Hallar4,161 decks
- Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Soul Warden + Scurry Oak2,317 decks
- Heliod, Sun-Crowned + Essence Warden + Scurry Oak1,983 decks
Build this deck in the Arcane Forge →
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