Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Joel, Resolute Survivor
Joel, Resolute Survivor
Legendary Creature — Human Survivor · {3}{B}{G} · Black/Green commander
Menace
Whenever a creature token dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Joel and draw a card. This ability triggers only once each turn.
Partner—Survivors (You can have two commanders if both have this ability.)
Build a Joel, Resolute Survivor deck →
What Joel, Resolute Survivor 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 token dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Joel and draw a card. This ability triggers only once each turn.
- Keyword · menacemenace
- Keyword · partnerpartner
- AbilityPartner—Survivors
What a Joel, Resolute Survivor deck needs
Plays as aristocrats. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- creature tokens dying each turn — token makers and sacrifice outlets (the first each turn draws and grows it)
- a Survivors partner
The Joel, Resolute Survivor deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 20× Creatures you are happy to sacrifice — a free sac outlet on the commander is worthless with nothing to feed it
- 12× Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- 8× Sacrifice a creature for no mana, repeatably
- 6× 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
- 11× Get ahead on mana
Best cards for Joel, Resolute Survivor
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.
Creatures you are happy to sacrifice — a free sac outlet on the commander is worthless with nothing to feed it
- Nurgle's Rot1 mana
- Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal // Temple of the Dead5 mana
- Phyrexian Triniform9 mana
- Old-Growth Troll3 mana
- Exquisite Huntmaster4 mana
- Grixis Slavedriver6 mana
- Enduring Vitality3 mana
- Liliana, Heretical Healer // Liliana, Defiant Necromancer3 mana
Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- Branching Evolution3 mana
- Hardened Scales1 mana
- Ozolith, the Shattered Spire2 mana
- Winding Constrictor2 mana
- Kami of Whispered Hopes3 mana
- Benevolent Hydra2 mana
- Michelangelo, Weirdness to 112 mana
- The Earth Crystal4 mana
Sacrifice a creature for no mana, repeatably
- Carrion Feeder1 mana
- Viscera Seer1 mana
- Altar of Dementia2 mana
- Spawning Pit2 mana
- Umbral Collar Zealot2 mana
- Bloodthrone Vampire2 mana
- Dark Privilege2 mana
- Ashnod's Altar3 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Assassin's Trophy2 mana
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
- Infernal Grasp2 mana
- Fatal Push1 mana
- Beast Within3 mana
- Bitter Triumph2 mana
- Nature's Claim1 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Demonic Tutor2 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Vampiric Tutor1 mana
- Green Sun's Zenith1 mana
- Imperial Seal1 mana
- Demonic Consultation1 mana
- Nature's Rhythm2 mana
- Grim Tutor3 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Toxic Deluge3 mana
- Damnation4 mana
- Bontu's Last Reckoning3 mana
- Sickening Dreams2 mana
- Crypt Rats3 mana
- Extinction Event4 mana
- Vicious Rivalry4 mana
- Endemic Plague4 mana
Refill your hand
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Sylvan Library2 mana
- Black Market Connections3 mana
- Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
- Garruk's Uprising3 mana
- Morbid Opportunist3 mana
- Phyrexian Arena3 mana
- Beast Whisperer4 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Guardian Augmenter3 mana
- Saryth, the Viper's Fang4 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Asceticism5 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Commander's Plate1 mana
- Mithril Coat3 mana
Get ahead on mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Golgari Signet2 mana
- Incubation Druid2 mana
- Palladium Myr3 mana
- Worn Powerstone3 mana
- Ilysian Caryatid2 mana
- Heritage Druid1 mana
- Llanowar Tribe3 mana