Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Master Piandao
Master Piandao
Legendary Creature — Human Warrior Ally · {4}{W} · White commander
First strike
Whenever Master Piandao attacks, look at the top four cards of your library. You may reveal an Ally, Equipment, or Lesson card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Build a Master Piandao deck →
What Master Piandao 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 Master Piandao attacks, look at the top four cards of your library. You may reveal an Ally, Equipment, or Lesson card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of
- Keyword · first strikefirst strike
What a Master Piandao deck needs
Plays as ally typal. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- ally creatures (its text counts them)
- haste, evasion and protection for the commander, and extra combats (its own attack is the engine)
The Master Piandao deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 6× Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- 26× A body of the exact type the commander's trigger requires — the wrong type is worthless here regardless of quality
- 4× Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
- 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
- 11× Get ahead on mana
Best cards for Master Piandao
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.
Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- Thousand-Year Elixir3 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
- Lavaspur Boots1 mana
- Sting, the Glinting Dagger2 mana
- Haunted Cloak3 mana
- Sword of Vengeance3 mana
A body of the exact type the commander's trigger requires — the wrong type is worthless here regardless of quality
- Earth Kingdom Protectors1 mana
- Hada Freeblade1 mana
- Momo, Friendly Flier1 mana
- Momo, Playful Pet1 mana
- The Duke, Rebel Sentry1 mana
- Ondu Cleric2 mana
- South Pole Voyager2 mana
- Cliffside Lookout1 mana
Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
- Elspeth, Sun's Champion6 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
- On Wings of Gold4 mana
- Shadowspear1 mana
- Bilbo's Ring3 mana
- Cliffhaven Kitesail1 mana
- Gryff's Boon1 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
- Herald's Horn3 mana
- Archivist of Oghma2 mana
- The One Ring4 mana
- Vexing Bauble1 mana
- Caretaker's Talent3 mana
- Enduring Innocence3 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Flowering of the White Tree2 mana
- Bastion Protector3 mana
- Codsworth, Handy Helper3 mana
- Avacyn, Angel of Hope8 mana
- Coppercoat Vanguard2 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Chaplain of Alms // Chapel Shieldgeist1 mana
Get ahead on mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Palladium Myr3 mana
- Worn Powerstone3 mana
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
- Mox Diamond0 mana
- Mana Vault1 mana
- Wayfarer's Bauble1 mana