Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Zenos yae Galvus // Shinryu, Transcendent Rival

Zenos yae Galvus // Shinryu, Transcendent Rival

Legendary Creature — Human Noble Warrior // Legendary Creature — Dragon · {3}{B}{B} · Black commander

My First Friend — When Zenos yae Galvus enters, choose a creature an opponent controls. Until end of turn, creatures other than Zenos yae Galvus and the chosen creature get -2/-2. When the chosen creature leaves the battlefield, transform Zenos yae Galvus. Flying As this creature transforms into Shinryu, choose an opponent. Burning Chains — When the chosen player loses the game, you win the game.

Build a Zenos yae Galvus // Shinryu, Transcendent Rival deck →

What Zenos yae Galvus // Shinryu, Transcendent Rival 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 · etbWhen Zenos yae Galvus enters, choose a creature an opponent controls. Until end of turn, creatures other than Zenos yae Galvus and the chosen creature get -2/-2.
• Triggered ability · otherWhen the chosen creature leaves the battlefield, transform Zenos yae Galvus.
• Triggered ability · otherWhen the chosen player loses the game, you win the game.
• Keyword · my first friendmy first friend
• Keyword · flyingflying
• Keyword · burning chainsburning chains
• AbilityAs this creature transforms into Shinryu, choose an opponent.

What a Zenos yae Galvus // Shinryu, Transcendent Rival deck needs

Plays as ETB value. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.

• removal to kill the chosen creature (it transforms into Shinryu)
• ways to finish the chosen opponent (their loss is your win)

The Zenos yae Galvus // Shinryu, Transcendent Rival deck plan

The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.

• 6× Exile a permanent you control and return it — the button a value-ETB deck presses
• 4× A permanent whose value is in its enter-the-battlefield trigger — the payload a blink deck reuses
• 12× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
• 10× Find the exact card the plan needs
• 3× Answer a whole board at once
• 10× Refill your hand
• 5× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
• 11× Get ahead on mana

Best cards for Zenos yae Galvus // Shinryu, Transcendent Rival

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.

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