Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Szarel, Genesis Shepherd
Szarel, Genesis Shepherd
Legendary Creature — Insect Druid · {2}{B}{R}{G} · Black/Green/Red commander
What Szarel, Genesis Shepherd 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 · sacrificeWhenever you sacrifice another nontoken permanent during your turn, put a number of +1/+1 counters equal to Szarel's power on up to one other target creature.
- Static ability · restrictionYou may play lands from your graveyard.
- Keyword · flyingflying
What a Szarel, Genesis Shepherd deck needs
Plays as aristocrats. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- +1/+1 counter producers and payoffs (its text places or reads +1/+1 counters)
- free sacrifice outlets and expendable permanents (its payoff fires on every sacrifice)
- self-mill, discard and recursion (the graveyard is a resource its text reads)
The Szarel, Genesis Shepherd deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 7× Sacrifice a creature for no mana, repeatably
- 12× Creatures you are happy to sacrifice — a free sac outlet on the commander is worthless with nothing to feed it
- 15× Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- 7× Put your own cards into your graveyard as a resource
- 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 Szarel, Genesis Shepherd
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.
Sacrifice a creature for no mana, repeatably
- Carrion Feeder1 mana
- Viscera Seer1 mana
- Altar of Dementia2 mana
- Goblin Bombardment2 mana
- Spawning Pit2 mana
- Umbral Collar Zealot2 mana
- Bloodthrone Vampire2 mana
- Dark Privilege2 mana
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
- Impulsive Pilferer1 mana
- Vivi's Persistence2 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
Put your own cards into your graveyard as a resource
- Takenuma, Abandoned Mire0 mana
- Stitcher's Supplier1 mana
- Aftermath Analyst2 mana
- Ripples of Undeath2 mana
- Smuggler's Surprise1 mana
- Six3 mana
- Argoth, Sanctum of Nature0 mana
- Eden, Seat of the Sanctum0 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Assassin's Trophy2 mana
- Wild Magic Surge2 mana
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
- Infernal Grasp2 mana
- Terminate2 mana
- Fatal Push1 mana
- Beast Within3 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Entomb1 mana
- Demonic Tutor2 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Vampiric Tutor1 mana
- Green Sun's Zenith1 mana
- Imperial Seal1 mana
- Demonic Consultation1 mana
- Nature's Rhythm2 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
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Sylvan Library2 mana
- Black Market Connections3 mana
- Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
- Garruk's Uprising3 mana
- Morbid Opportunist3 mana
- Phyrexian Arena3 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Hexing Squelcher2 mana
- Innkeeper's Talent2 mana
- Guardian Augmenter3 mana
- Saryth, the Viper's Fang4 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Asceticism5 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
Combos with Szarel, Genesis Shepherd
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that Szarel, Genesis Shepherd is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- Szarel, Genesis Shepherd + Glacial Chasm + The Gitrog Monster4,928 decks
- Szarel, Genesis Shepherd + Glacial Chasm + Oracle Of Mul Daya4,165 decks
- Szarel, Genesis Shepherd + Glacial Chasm + Exploration Broodship4,097 decks
- Szarel, Genesis Shepherd + Glacial Chasm + Azusa, Lost But Seeking3,848 decks
- Szarel, Genesis Shepherd + Glacial Chasm + Exploration3,034 decks
- Szarel, Genesis Shepherd + Glacial Chasm + Dryad Of The Ilysian Grove2,729 decks
Build this deck in the Arcane Forge →
Arcane Foundry is free to join and every tool is included: the Arcane Forge deck builder, the ARCANE Analyzer that scores a deck by simulating games rather than counting staples, a card scanner, a collection vault, and live webcam Commander tables.
Read the guide · Browse all commanders · Pricing