Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
Legendary Creature — Ogre Warrior · {3}{R}{R} · Red commander
Whenever a creature an opponent controls attacks, if you're the defending player, create a 3/3 red Ogre creature token unless that creature's controller pays {3}.
Build a Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs deck →
What Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs 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 · attackWhenever a creature an opponent controls attacks, if you're the defending player, create a 3/3 red Ogre creature token unless that creature's controller pays {3}.
What a Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs deck needs
Plays as punisher. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- punisher pieces and pillowfort (anyone attacking you pays {3} per creature or hands you a 3/3)
- token payoffs — anthems, sacrifice outlets and go-wide finishers (the Ogres pile up)
- forced attacks and goad (make them attack into the tax)
The Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 11× Punishes the opponents' own actions — casting, drawing, searching, attacking cost them
- 8× A tax, lock or hoser aimed at the opponents — the deck's parity break
- 15× Make creature tokens — a static anthem or a go-wide commander needs a board to be wide
- 7× A team pump that actually pumps tokens
- 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 Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
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.
Punishes the opponents' own actions — casting, drawing, searching, attacking cost them
- Curse of Opulence1 mana
- Mindcrank2 mana
- Vexing Bauble1 mana
- Scrawling Crawler3 mana
- Taurean Mauler3 mana
- Harsh Mentor2 mana
- Powerbalance2 mana
- Razorkin Needlehead2 mana
A tax, lock or hoser aimed at the opponents — the deck's parity break
- Grafdigger's Cage1 mana
- Cursed Totem2 mana
- Defense Grid2 mana
- Roiling Vortex2 mana
- Winter Moon2 mana
- Archetype of Aggression3 mana
- Crawlspace3 mana
- Rampaging Ferocidon3 mana
Make creature tokens — a static anthem or a go-wide commander needs a board to be wide
- Replicating Ring3 mana
- Omarthis, Ghostfire Initiate0 mana
- Andúril, Flame of the West3 mana
- Hanweir Garrison3 mana
- Sarkhan, Fireblood3 mana
- Field of the Dead0 mana
- Fountainport0 mana
- Phyrexian Triniform9 mana
A team pump that actually pumps tokens
- Castle Embereth0 mana
- Great Train Heist1 mana
- Heraldic Banner3 mana
- Rising of the Day3 mana
- Purphoros, God of the Forge4 mana
- Kavaron, Memorial World0 mana
- Chief of the Foundry3 mana
- Caged Sun6 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Wild Magic Surge2 mana
- Crush1 mana
- Umezawa's Jitte2 mana
- Titan's Presence3 mana
- Abrade2 mana
- Untimely Malfunction2 mana
- Chaos Warp3 mana
- Kozilek's Command2 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Imperial Recruiter3 mana
- Shield-Wall Sentinel4 mana
- Skyship Weatherlight4 mana
- Moonsilver Key2 mana
- Pattern Matcher4 mana
- Gamble1 mana
- Hoarding Dragon5 mana
- Shrine Steward5 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Blasphemous Act9 mana
- Chain Reaction4 mana
- Street Spasm1 mana
- Selective Obliteration5 mana
- Mizzium Mortars2 mana
- Delete2 mana
- Earthquake1 mana
- Apocalypse5 mana
Refill your hand
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Professional Face-Breaker3 mana
- The One Ring4 mana
- Sticky Fingers1 mana
- Vexing Bauble1 mana
- Birgi, God of Storytelling // Harnfel, Horn of Bounty3 mana
- Adaptive Omnitool2 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Hexing Squelcher2 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