Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Troyan, Gutsy Explorer
Troyan, Gutsy Explorer
Legendary Creature — Vedalken Scout · {1}{G}{U} · Green/Blue commander
{T}: Add {G}{U}. Spend this mana only to cast spells with mana value 5 or greater or spells with {X} in their mana costs.
{U}, {T}: Draw a card, then discard a card.
Build a Troyan, Gutsy Explorer deck →
What Troyan, Gutsy Explorer actually does
Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.
- Activated ability{T}: Add {G}{U}. Spend this mana only to cast spells with mana value 5 or greater or spells with {X} in their mana costs.
- Activated ability{U}, {T}: Draw a card, then discard a card.
What a Troyan, Gutsy Explorer deck needs
Plays as big mana. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- spells with mana value 5 or greater and X spells (its mana casts only those)
- haste and untap effects
The Troyan, Gutsy Explorer 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
- 4× Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
- 8× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 10× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 5× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- 3× Answer a whole board at once
- 9× Refill your hand
- 4× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- 11× Get ahead on mana
Best cards for Troyan, Gutsy Explorer
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
- Ulvenwald Oddity // Ulvenwald Behemoth4 mana
- Lavaspur Boots1 mana
- Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu2 mana
- Ellywick Tumblestrum4 mana
Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
- Bear Umbra4 mana
- Freed from the Real3 mana
- Pemmin's Aura3 mana
- Sting, the Glinting Dagger2 mana
- Umbral Mantle3 mana
- Unstoppable Plan3 mana
- Genji Glove5 mana
- Copperhorn Scout1 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Reality Shift2 mana
- Pongify1 mana
- Rapid Hybridization1 mana
- Resculpt2 mana
- Beast Within3 mana
- Nature's Claim1 mana
- Emerald Charm1 mana
- Naturalize2 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Green Sun's Zenith1 mana
- Nature's Rhythm2 mana
- Neoform2 mana
- Worldly Tutor1 mana
- Reshape2 mana
- March of Burgeoning Life1 mana
- Mask of the Mimic1 mana
- Long-Term Plans3 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
- Desynchronization4 mana
- Wave Goodbye4 mana
- Whelming Wave4 mana
- Consuming Tide4 mana
- Oversimplify5 mana
- Selective Obliteration5 mana
- Needle Storm3 mana
- Evacuation5 mana
Refill your hand
- Mystic Remora1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Sylvan Library2 mana
- Curiosity1 mana
- Wizard Class1 mana
- Garruk's Uprising3 mana
- Rhystic Study3 mana
- Faerie Mastermind2 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Guardian Augmenter3 mana
- Saryth, the Viper's Fang4 mana
- Lost in the Maze2 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Asceticism5 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Commander's Plate1 mana
Get ahead on mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Incubation Druid2 mana
- Simic Signet2 mana
- Palladium Myr3 mana
- Worn Powerstone3 mana
- Ilysian Caryatid2 mana
- Heritage Druid1 mana
- Llanowar Tribe3 mana