Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Mai and Zuko
Mai and Zuko
Legendary Creature — Human Noble Ally · {1}{U}{B}{R} · Black/Red/Blue commander
Firebending 3
You may cast Ally spells and artifact spells as though they had flash.
Build a Mai and Zuko deck →
What Mai and Zuko actually does
Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.
- Static ability · restrictionYou may cast Ally spells and artifact spells as though they had flash.
- Keyword · firebendingfirebending
What a Mai and Zuko deck needs
Plays as ally typal. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- creatures and spells worth casting at instant speed — ambush enter triggers and end-of-turn threats (it gives them flash)
- ally creatures (its text counts them)
The Mai and Zuko deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 12× A permanent whose value is in its enter-the-battlefield trigger — the payload a blink deck reuses
- 27× A body of the exact type the commander's trigger requires — the wrong type is worthless here regardless of quality
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 2× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- 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 Mai and Zuko
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.
A permanent whose value is in its enter-the-battlefield trigger — the payload a blink deck reuses
- Orcish Bowmasters2 mana
- Accursed Marauder2 mana
- Baleful Strix2 mana
- Solemn Simulacrum4 mana
- Cauldron Familiar1 mana
- Thousand-Faced Shadow1 mana
- Dualcaster Mage3 mana
- Fleshbag Marauder3 mana
A body of the exact type the commander's trigger requires — the wrong type is worthless here regardless of quality
- Zulaport Cutthroat2 mana
- Gran-Gran1 mana
- Drana, Liberator of Malakir3 mana
- Katara, Waterbending Master2 mana
- Mai, Scornful Striker2 mana
- Zuko, Firebending Master2 mana
- Halimar Excavator2 mana
- Jwari Shapeshifter2 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Reality Shift2 mana
- Wild Magic Surge2 mana
- Pongify1 mana
- Rapid Hybridization1 mana
- Resculpt2 mana
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
- Infernal Grasp2 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Demonic Tutor2 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Vampiric Tutor1 mana
- Imperial Seal1 mana
- Demonic Consultation1 mana
- Grim Tutor3 mana
- Tainted Pact2 mana
- Scheming Symmetry1 mana
Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- Mindbreak Trap4 mana
- Fierce Guardianship3 mana
- Force of Negation3 mana
- Force of Will5 mana
- Flare of Denial3 mana
- Pact of Negation0 mana
- An Offer You Can't Refuse1 mana
- Arcane Denial2 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Toxic Deluge3 mana
- Damnation4 mana
- Blasphemous Act9 mana
- Chain Reaction4 mana
- Bontu's Last Reckoning3 mana
- Street Spasm1 mana
- Sickening Dreams2 mana
- Crypt Rats3 mana
Refill your hand
- Mystic Remora1 mana
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Curiosity1 mana
- Wizard Class1 mana
- Black Market Connections3 mana
- Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
- Herald's Horn3 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Hexing Squelcher2 mana
- Lost in the Maze2 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Commander's Plate1 mana
- Mithril Coat3 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
Get ahead on mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Dimir Signet2 mana
- Izzet Signet2 mana
- Rakdos Signet2 mana
- Palladium Myr3 mana
- Worn Powerstone3 mana
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
Combos with Mai and Zuko
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that Mai and Zuko is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- Mai and Zuko + Glen Elendra Pranksters + Phyrexian Walker + Memnite
- Mai and Zuko + Glen Elendra Pranksters + Phyrexian Walker + Ornithopter
- Mai and Zuko + Glen Elendra Pranksters + Phyrexian Walker + Shield Sphere
- Mai and Zuko + Glen Elendra Pranksters + Memnite + Ornithopter
- Mai and Zuko + Glen Elendra Pranksters + Memnite + Shield Sphere
- Mai and Zuko + Glen Elendra Pranksters + Ornithopter + Shield Sphere