Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Zedruu the Greathearted
Zedruu the Greathearted
Legendary Creature — Minotaur Monk · {1}{U}{R}{W} · Red/Blue/White commander
At the beginning of your upkeep, you gain X life and draw X cards, where X is the number of permanents you own that your opponents control.
{U}{R}{W}: Target opponent gains control of target permanent you control.
Build a Zedruu the Greathearted deck →
What Zedruu the Greathearted 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 · upkeepAt the beginning of your upkeep, you gain X life and draw X cards, where X is the number of permanents you own that your opponents control.
- Activated ability{U}{R}{W}: Target opponent gains control of target permanent you control.
What a Zedruu the Greathearted deck needs
Plays as donate. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- permanents to give away — drawback permanents, curses and tokens (it draws and gains for each one opponents control)
The Zedruu the Greathearted deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 8× Make creature tokens — a static anthem or a go-wide commander needs a board to be wide
- 9× 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
- 12× Refill your hand
- 5× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- 11× Get ahead on mana
- 16× A permanent that does something every turn it is on the battlefield — the deck's body, for a commander whose text asks for nothing specific
Best cards for Zedruu the Greathearted
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.
Make creature tokens — a static anthem or a go-wide commander needs a board to be wide
- Kozilek's Unsealing3 mana
- Replicating Ring3 mana
- Elspeth, Storm Slayer5 mana
- Hero of Bladehold4 mana
- Omarthis, Ghostfire Initiate0 mana
- Elspeth, Sun's Champion6 mana
- Andúril, Flame of the West3 mana
- Cosmogrand Zenith3 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Path to Exile1 mana
- Swords to Plowshares1 mana
- Reality Shift2 mana
- Wild Magic Surge2 mana
- Pongify1 mana
- Rapid Hybridization1 mana
- Resculpt2 mana
- March of Otherworldly Light1 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Reshape2 mana
- Mask of the Mimic1 mana
- Long-Term Plans3 mana
- Open the Armory2 mana
- Whir of Invention3 mana
- Merchant Scroll2 mana
- Enlightened Tutor1 mana
- Mystical Tutor1 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
- Vanquish the Horde8 mana
- Supreme Verdict4 mana
- Wrath of God4 mana
- Blasphemous Act9 mana
- Chain Reaction4 mana
- Day of Judgment4 mana
- Street Spasm1 mana
- Shatter the Sky4 mana
Refill your hand
- Esper Sentinel1 mana
- Mystic Remora1 mana
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Curiosity1 mana
- Wizard Class1 mana
- Professional Face-Breaker3 mana
- Rhystic Study3 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Flowering of the White Tree2 mana
- Hexing Squelcher2 mana
- Bastion Protector3 mana
- Gold-Forged Thopteryx2 mana
- Codsworth, Handy Helper3 mana
- Avacyn, Angel of Hope8 mana
- Lost in the Maze2 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
Get ahead on mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Azorius Signet2 mana
- Boros Signet2 mana
- Izzet Signet2 mana
- Palladium Myr3 mana
- Worn Powerstone3 mana
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
A permanent that does something every turn it is on the battlefield — the deck's body, for a commander whose text asks for nothing specific
- Crashing Drawbridge2 mana
- Cleric Class1 mana
- Bontu's Monument3 mana
- Mirror Entity3 mana
- Oketra's Monument3 mana
- Artist's Talent2 mana
- Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei2 mana
- Roiling Vortex2 mana
Combos with Zedruu the Greathearted
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that Zedruu the Greathearted is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- Zedruu the Greathearted + Transcendence4,665 decks
- Zedruu the Greathearted + Nine Lives + Austere Command1,393 decks
- Zedruu the Greathearted + Demonic Pact660 decks
- Zedruu the Greathearted + Nine Lives + Cleansing Nova368 decks
- Zedruu the Greathearted + Lich's Mirror322 decks
- Zedruu the Greathearted + Knowledge Pool + Moderation258 decks