Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Tetsuo, Imperial Champion
Tetsuo, Imperial Champion
Legendary Creature — Human Samurai · {U}{B}{R} · Black/Red/Blue commander
Whenever Tetsuo attacks, if it's equipped, choose one —
• Tetsuo deals damage equal to the greatest mana value among Equipment attached to it to any target.
• You may cast an instant or sorcery spell from your hand with mana value less than or equal to the greatest mana value among Equipment attached to Tetsuo without paying its mana cost.
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What Tetsuo, Imperial Champion 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 Tetsuo attacks, if it's equipped, choose one —
What a Tetsuo, Imperial Champion deck needs
Plays as spellslinger. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- spells at or below its mana-value cap (it casts them free; under the cap the cheap ones hit too)
- cheap instants and sorceries (every one you cast feeds it)
- auras and equipment worth moving, and bodies to carry them (its text attaches or counts them)
- haste, evasion and protection for the commander, and extra combats (its own attack is the engine)
The Tetsuo, Imperial Champion 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
- 22× Instants and sorceries — for a magecraft/prowess commander the spell COUNT is the engine
- 14× Equipment and Auras — the things a suit-up commander's trigger and plan are actually made of
- 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
- 2× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
- 7× Refill your hand
Best cards for Tetsuo, Imperial Champion
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
- Rising of the Day3 mana
- Thousand-Year Elixir3 mana
- Frostcliff Siege3 mana
- The Fire Crystal4 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Urabrask the Hidden5 mana
- Fervor3 mana
Instants and sorceries — for a magecraft/prowess commander the spell COUNT is the engine
- Pact of Negation0 mana
- An Offer You Can't Refuse1 mana
- Brainstorm1 mana
- Dark Ritual1 mana
- Faithless Looting1 mana
- Gamble1 mana
- Lightning Bolt1 mana
- Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire1 mana
Equipment and Auras — the things a suit-up commander's trigger and plan are actually made of
- Basilisk Collar1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Sword of the Animist2 mana
- Shadowspear1 mana
- Mithril Coat3 mana
- Paradise Mantle0 mana
Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
- Rogue Class2 mana
- Archetype of Imagination6 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar3 mana
- Goblin War Drums3 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
- Don Andres, the Renegade4 mana
- Archetype of Aggression3 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
- Morbid Opportunist3 mana
Combos with Tetsuo, Imperial Champion
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that Tetsuo, Imperial Champion is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- Tetsuo, Imperial Champion + Savage Beating + Mystic Retrieval + Invasion Of Arcavios + Call To Mind1 decks
- Tetsuo, Imperial Champion + Savage Beating + Mystic Retrieval + Invasion Of Arcavios + Said
- Tetsuo, Imperial Champion + Savage Beating + Mystic Retrieval + Invasion Of Arcavios + Relearn
- Tetsuo, Imperial Champion + Savage Beating + Mystic Retrieval + Swarm Intelligence + Said
- Tetsuo, Imperial Champion + Savage Beating + Mystic Retrieval + Swarm Intelligence + Call To Mind
- Tetsuo, Imperial Champion + Savage Beating + Mystic Retrieval + Swarm Intelligence + Relearn
Build this deck in the Arcane Forge →
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