Spark of Creativity is almost certainly great for Zada storm decks, arcane or not. Trading up to instant cards for the remaining cantrips that wait until the next upkeep is worth the reduced synergy with arcane. We've even seen more ways to recur key arcane cards to hand in the form of shreds of sanity.
Considering how corner case a lot of the great spells for Zada can be, I am pleasantly surprised at the quantity of test-worthy to playable cards that have come out in the last year. Now if only Whirler Virtuoso didn't have blue, that would be a decent energy outlet.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Well, Renegade Tactics is a surprise I didn't expect to see. I've been considering rebuilding my Zada storm list recently, after playing Tazri for a while, and this and Spark of Creativity are definitely a good reason to do so.
Yes! Another one-mana-costed cantrip! Renegade Tactics is 1,000,000,000,000% going into the deck! Whew! Good thing the spoilers are all done! Now I can see what changes to make before I submit my section of the potential Primer!
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Renegade Tactics is yet another awesome addition. I want to figure out a way to break fateful showdown by chaining spells and emptying my hand as the copies resolve. It doesn't work out well for arcane, but you'd better believe that the follow up mizzix's mastery will be a blowout.
built to smash is another brute force that gives thopers trample but has a timing restriction. I might test it, but the attacking requirement makes it less synergistic with make mischief.
I said it earlier, but the number of cards being printed recently for Zada has been phenomenal between Kaladesh and Eldrich Moon.
Renegade Tactics is yet another awesome addition. I want to figure out a way to break fateful showdown by chaining spells and emptying my hand as the copies resolve. It doesn't work out well for arcane, but you'd better believe that the follow up mizzix's mastery will be a blowout.
built to smash is another brute force that gives thopers trample but has a timing restriction. I might test it, but the attacking requirement makes it less synergistic with make mischief.
I said it earlier, but the number of cards being printed recently for Zada has been phenomenal between Kaladesh and Eldrich Moon.
Fo sho! I think that it'd be good to test out Fateful Showdown because you can potentially draw an insane amount of cards. With each hand you discard, you're potentially filling your yard for Past in Flames and Mizzix's Mastery (worst case scenario is they're both in your graveyard). Although, it'd still be super hard to pull off. I'm even confused as to how it would work:
By the way, I kinda finished my Budget Section. I'm gonna email the pure text to lyonhaert so he can add it to what's already been done. I can always just post it here as a preview that way not only you guys but everyone else can see the progress. In any case, just let me know and by tomorrow it should be set. I was finally able to sit down and work on it. The struggle has been real, lol. I haven't even been able to give attention to my Sidisi primer (even though KLD brought nothing for it), my Mazirek thread or Polukranos thread. Thankfully, as you pointed out, these recent sets have been more than kind to Zada.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Have cards like Winds of Change and Collective Defiance been tested by anyone? I'm currently giving them a whirl in this deck. I'm uncertain of Collective Defiance at the moment as it's a bit expensive, but Winds of Change I've liked. This deck tends to either be looking for rituals or draw spells, and any hand without whichever of the two you're looking for isn't worth holding onto. And if you do have either of those, you're casting those instead of anything else anyways. Any thoughts?
The good thing about Winds of Change is that it shuffles your hand into your library instead of discarding. That and it only costs R. I think it's a good idea since sometimes you can draw into a bunch of cards and not find what you want (but I have cards that make my hand size limitless). That being said, that card combos great with Psychosis Crawler. Draw a ton of cards, then shuffle and draw the same amount of cards. I haven't tested it in my budget build because it's a $5 card. But I believe it could be worth testing. It helps out with the glass cannon.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Fo sho! I think that it'd be good to test out Fateful Showdown because you can potentially draw an insane amount of cards. With each hand you discard, you're potentially filling your yard for Past in Flames and Mizzix's Mastery (worst case scenario is they're both in your graveyard). Although, it'd still be super hard to pull off. I'm even confused as to how it would work:
That would not work. You exile Mastery as it resolves. What would work is simpler: flashback PiF, flashback Shreds targeting Mastery and probably something else, then overload Mastery.
Fo sho! I think that it'd be good to test out Fateful Showdown because you can potentially draw an insane amount of cards. With each hand you discard, you're potentially filling your yard for Past in Flames and Mizzix's Mastery (worst case scenario is they're both in your graveyard). Although, it'd still be super hard to pull off. I'm even confused as to how it would work:
That would not work. You exile Mastery as it resolves. What would work is simpler: flashback PiF, flashback Shreds targeting Mastery and probably something else, then overload Mastery.
Ah, yes, you're totally right. A major oversight on my part. Mizzix's Mastery exiles itself when it resolves. However, you did exactly what I had intended so it is possible - just only in that way you described, lol. So basically Zada makes a niche card like Shreds of Sanity into something ridiculous.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Okay, so here's my budget build section for the thread. It's just a preview of what's to come. Enjoy!
DementedKirby's Budget Section
Intro
Alright, now it's my turn to discuss the awesomeness of Zada, Hedron Grinder! In this section I'm going to delve deep into how to build a decently competitive build without delving deep into your pockets. Zada may grind hedrons for a living but you don't have to grind your wallet to work with it! Currently, this build is so ridiculously cheap, it can be built entirely from scratch with less than $40. Yes, you read that correctly, less than $40. Additionally, if your coffers are a bit deeper than that, you can have a much more solid build while still remaining below the $90 mark (which is the version I currently run). Notwithstanding, I'm constantly testing the budget list on Cockatrice and eliminating players out of nowhere. Zada might as well be Randy Orton disguised as a goblin giving opponents RKO's left and right from - you guess it - OUT OF NOWHERE!
Über Budget Build
Now, this build was made as an extremely budget version of crazy monkey's arcane-themed build. For some, they may feel like they're holding on to arcane spells that are taking up space in their hand when they might want to have better cards instead. Piloting Zada means you have to have one mindset: good things come to those who wait. If you're piloting it as has been explained, you're eventually going to cantrip into some ridiculous combos and some even more ridiculous plays. Then you'll be grateful that you kept a Path of Anger's Flame in your hand instead of something like Fists of the Anvil. Additionally, this build may seem like a glass cannon because it's so dependent on Zada and on being able to draw a bunch of cards in order to send the mother of all alpha strikes across the table. However, there are alternate methods to win such as insanely pumping Spikeshot Elder and then stabbing opponents to a bloody mess with it, or just having Psychosis Crawler in play as you draw practically your entire deck. However, I discuss alternatives to these two builds later on.
Again, this being a budget version of crazy monkey's deck, it's piloted in the same vein. The key to victory here is more simple for lack of some more noticeably absent cards that are not budget. Your goal is to create as many tokens as possible in order to cantrip into the mother of all hands and then produce a ton of mana to empty that hand into an out-of-this-world storm count for Haze of Rage and/or Empty the Warrens. Then just alpha strike for damage well into the dodecadigits.
Alright, so on to the decklist and then some specifics!
When what you really wanted was a legendary Ink-Treader Nephilim.
Deck Stats:
For more detailed deck information like up-to-date average card prices, average CMC, and other stats, you find my decklist here, on deckstats.net.
Card by Card Analysis:
All hail Zada!
Cost Reduction / Mana Acceleration:
Helm of Awakening: Okay, so this may also benefit your opponents. However, it's cheap to cast and will make you less of a target in the beginning of the game thanks to the grouphug effect. Also, it makes your spells cost 1 less which means more value for your mana.
Ruby Medallion: Similar to Helm of Awakening but it only benefits you. The only downside is that it only reduces the costs of your red spells so your artifacts will still cost the same. However, again, it helps you get more value out of your mana.
Skirk Prospector: This card is simply amazing in the deck. Tutorable with Goblin Matron and Goblin Recruiter. You can get that much needed extra mana by simply sacrificing a couple of goblins (hopefully you have many more still left). I've also used it comboed with Otherworldly Outburst to get mana and stronger tokens replace the goblins. This deck can become quite mana intensive once it starts rolling and this is a great way to get some R.
Treasonous Ogre: Along the same vein as Skirk Prospector, you can get R at the cost of 3 life each. Sometimes this can be negligible and I've been known to give up up to 15 life just to get mana needed to end the game. When you're using that life to win, it doesn't matter how much you drop to as long as you win. Getting mana without having to cast spells or tap permanents is incredibly useful when resources are spent or limited.
Inner Fire: An amazing ritual that goes a long way when you have a huge hand. This card alone can net you anywhere between 20 to 30 red mana if you play it at the most opportune moment.
Mana Geyser: In triple threat games this card has almost always given me 10 red mana on my fifth turn. It shines even more during mid to late game when opponents are using a lot of mana and tapping a lot of lands. This is definitely a great ritual.
Battle Hymn: The best ritual of them all, I've easily gone into the triple digits of red mana with this thing. With some great early games, you can get a lot of mana with this thanks to a field full of creatures.
Brightstone Ritual: Similar to Battle Hymn, this ritual gives you R for each goblin in play. Not as powerful as the latter, but it can still give you a bunch of mana because the most prevalent creature type in the deck and the tokens produced is definitely goblin.
Desperate Ritual: If not for requiring being spliced onto an arcane in order to get the desired effect of it, this would be the best ritual in the deck. Currently, I would consider it the second best. When paired with any of the arcane spells that can target Zada, this ritual seriously gets out of hand. You will be able to literally cast your entire deck if you drew it.
Chancellor of the Forge: This card is beyond broken here. I'm so glad it's like 50¢. Not only does it basically double the amount of creatures you have in play when it enters the battlefield, but if you reveal it in your opening hand, you start the game with a free token. I wouldn't suggest attacking anyone with that free token during your first turn because some opponents need only that to start a grudge with you, lol.
Emrakul's Hatcher: 4 creatures for 4R and 3 of those can be sacrificed for mana.
Krenko, Mob Boss: One of the best token producers in the entire deck. It's also tutorable with Goblin Matron and Goblin Recruiter. Tap for an insane amount of tokens. Not only that, but with the spells that make copies of creatures with haste, you can sac the Krenko that the copy was made from due to the state-based-action of having two legends with the same name, then tap the newly made token in order to get even more tokens. This makes an inconceivable amount of tokens.
Mogg War Marshal: 2 creatures for 1R with the added bonus of giving a 1/1 goblin token upon death.
Myr Battlesphere: 5 creatures for 7. I've honestly only ever used it to produce creatures because I've never tapped Myrs in order to boost it.
Pia and Kiran Nalaar: 3 creatures for 2RR. The only downside to this card being a legend is that when you make a copy of it, one of them gets sacrificed to the legend rule. Still, you get the thopter tokens, at least.
Pia Nalaar: 2 creatures for 2R. Unfortunately, this creature suffers the same con as Pia and Kiran Nalaar. At least it has the same pros, as well.
Precursor Golem: A similar effect as Zada but with Golem creatures. Unfortunately, the deck doesn't produce a lot of golem creatures. Can still triplicate your cantrips in a pinch (more if you've managed to make more tokens) and it gives you 3 creatures for 5.
Siege-Gang Commander: 4 creatures for 3RR. I've very rarely used it's activated ability but in games where you can generate a lot of red mana and a lot tokens but can't attack a player for some reason, you can burn them to death with it.
Young Pyromancer: With so many instants and sorceries in the deck, being able to play this creature in early game gives you a great deal of tokens. Sometimes the triggers in a Zada game are overwhelming so it's important to not forget when you have Young Pyromancer in play; it does tend to get drowned in a sea of goblin tokens.
Empty the Warrens: One of the best spells in the deck, when the deck gets going and you've casted around 20 spells so far in the turn, casting this is game-ending. All you have to do is give your creatures haste and it's game over.
Heat Shimmer: These type of spells that make tokens are incredibly broken because not only do they make tokens with haste, when they copy creatures that make tokens when they enter the battlefield, those tokens aren't exiled at the end of turn.
Make Mischief: One of the more unique token producers out there (similar to Spawning Breath), you get a Goblin Arsonist (basically) per creature at the expensive of giving each of your creatures 1 damage. Sure, it's nothing if you've pumped your creatures' toughness. However, even if you haven't, don't be afraid to use it to make tokens. It also combines well with Otherworldly Outburst.
Mogg Alarm: 2 goblins for 1RR or for free by sacrificing two mountains (preferably tapped). Great free way to produce creatures. The great thing about spells that give tokens is that these spells can be recurred with Mizzix's Mastery and Past in Flames. They also trigger Young Pyromancer.
Molten Birth: 2 tokens for 1RR with an opportunity to get it back if you're lucky. The great thing about spells that give tokens is that these spells can be recurred with Mizzix's Mastery and Past in Flames. They also trigger Young Pyromancer.
Twinflame: These type of spells that make tokens are incredibly broken because not only do they make tokens with haste, when they copy creatures that make tokens when they enter the battlefield, those tokens aren't exiled at the end of turn.
Spawning Breath: One of the more unique token producers out there (similar to Make Mischief), you get an Eldrazi Spawn per creature at the expensive of giving each of your creatures 1 damage. Sure, it's nothing if you've pumped your creatures' toughness. However, even if you haven't, don't be afraid to use it to make tokens - especially these that can self-sacrifice to give you mana.
Haze of Rage: Broken on its own thanks to the buyback, but it becomes broken after getting the ball rolling with Zada and casting over 20 spells a turn.
Reckless Charge: +3/+0 and haste for R with the possibility of recasting thanks to the flashback cost.
Brute Force: +3/+3 for R. Sure, it doesn't do much else, but many a time have a won games by turn 6 simply by using one of these and some other pumps. Besides, you can't complain for the casting cost and price tag. It also pumps toughness which some other pumps don't do, so it helps protect your creatures from spells like Zap, Flare, Make Mischief, and Spawning Breath.
Fatal Frenzy: A great pump to use after you've used all others and are going for the alpha strike. Even though this spell makes you sacrifice your creatures at end of turn, unlike Rush of Blood, it provides trample. Also, if you have to sacrifice your creatures at end of turn, you can cast Otherworldly Outburst and get a 3/2 for every creature you lost - quite the recovery!
Overblaze: The fact that this card is an arcane is just a bonus. Better than doublestrike, if you cast this multiple times, you're basically applying an exponential growth of damage when the creature hits. Also, it's not just combat damage. So Spikeshot Elder and Purphoros, God of the Forge love this card.
Path of Anger's Flame: Unfortunately, this doesn't usually do much on its own (unless you have a lot of creatures). However, when spliced onto an arcane spell that targets a creature, its effect gets copied with each creature you control and the resulting effect will require you to bring a calculator to your games or at least use your smartphone's calculator.
Titan's Strength: +3/+1 for R with the option of scry 1 for each creature you control. Though it's not scry X, you still get to filter through a great deal of your deck until you topdeck something you want.
Cantrips:
Running from your problems like...
Renegade Tactics: Pretty much just used as a cantrip because you're going to target Zada and copy for all your creatures and they don't block during your own turn.
Spark of Creativity: Choosing not to damage your own creatures makes this card into Commune with Lava where X is the amount of creatures you control. Unfortunately, similar to an overloaded Mizzix's Mastery, having your arcane spells exiled and not in your hand means you can't splice any of them. You could use cards like Shreds of Sanity to get some arcane sells back into your hand before you cast them from exile, but I feel that this is too many hoops to jump through. I'd just suck up the loss of not being able to splice and just take advantage of my new "hand" and cast all the spells I can. Unfortunately, this also exiles your lands, as well.
Accelerate: A totally fitting name for this card since it's a cantrip and haste enabler.
Boiling Blood: Usually used during the turn before yours, it doesn't matter if it's your own creatures because they can't attack that turn. Even if you use it on your own, chances are that if you get the ball rolling you're going to be attacking with everything anyways.
Rile: Similar to Zap and its ilk but it only costs 1 mana at the price of losing instant speed. However, creatures get the added bonus of trample.
Fiery Gambit: A crap-rare that really shines in this deck (and probably absolutely nowhere else) thus showing that Zada should really be called Zada, Turd Polisher. It won't always go off but with enough luck and enough copies, you can draw 9 cards and untap all lands you control. Definitely nothing to scoff at. Many a time have I been able to do such things around 6-7 times a game. Drawing 9 cards when luck is on your side is amazing. In order to take advantage of the mana it can also provide, all you have to do is tap all your lands once again after each successful Fiery Gambit in order to have all the mana available afterwards (you can't tap mana while the copy is resolving so if they're not tapped, you just wasted the opportunity).
Flare: A risky cantrip since it can potentially kill your creatures in the process. Don't hold back because of that, though; the deck makes a lot of tokens and you can easily recover your board state (the important thing is that it doesn't kill Zada).
Stun: Usually used during the turn before yours, if used at end of turn, you don't have to worry about blocking because the combat phase has passed. If used during your turn, again, you don't block during your own turn. Solid cantrip.
Zap: A risky cantrip since it can potentially kill your creatures in the process. Don't hold back because of that, though; the deck makes a lot of tokens and you can easily recover your board state (the important thing is that it doesn't kill Zada).
Discard Prevention:
Spellbook: Sometimes you just draw into half your deck but are unable to end the game. Nothing would suck more than to discard half your resources. Fortunately, this artifact is free and allows you to keep your massive hand. Score!
Recovery:
Mizzix's Mastery: Easily one of the most broken cards in the deck which will never be eliminated no matter the price. This card is ridiculous. After casting 75% of your deck you can then overload this and do it all over again. It's insane. The only downside is that since it's making copies of spells on the stack, you can't abuse the arcane interactions similar to what happens with Spark of Creativity. Still worth it, though.
Spikeshot Elder: Can't attack? No problem. Just pump this creature up as much as possible and dump all mana into its ability. Game Over.
Tutors:
Goblin Matron: Although tucking is no longer a problem in the Commander format, our most important creatures in the deck are primarily goblins - particularly Goblin Recruiter. Unless I have it in my hand, Goblin Matron always tutors for Goblin Recruiter, which in turn gets the rest of the goblins out. If I have it in my hand, then I use Goblin Matron to tutor for Krenko, Mob Boss. Also, it's a goblin which helps Krenko make goblin tokens and can be sacrificed to Skirk Prospector.
Goblin Recruiter: I've loved this card ever since the first time I cracked it in a Visions booster (been playing for a long time, lol) and for good reason. Thanks to this card, I can tutor up all the goblins in my deck and with a solid cantrip get them all in my hand afterwards. The order doesn't really matter that much unless I don't have a cantrip in my hands. If I don't have a cantrip in my hands, the order (in which you would draw them) is usually Krenko first, then the goblins that produce tokens (in ascending order of converted mana cost), followed by Spikeshot Elder, and then the goblins that don't do either things.
Arcane Facilitators*: *I will also discuss budget alternatives for those who don't want to run an arcane suite in their Zada build. There are those players out there and I will address your needs.
Into the Fray: Completely useless on its own, it's merely in the deck to provide another arcane for which to splice the arcane spells that don't target. It may seem like a dead draw, but the amount of useful (or at all) red arcane spells means you're going to be grateful when you have this in your hand and draw into Desperate Ritual or Path of Anger's Flame. We're not returning anytime soon to Kamigawa and when we eventually do, I doubt that splice will make a comeback.
Unnatural Speed: With so many other haste enablers that also do other things, more often than not this card ends up warming your hand like Into the Fray. Even though it can give your creatures haste in a pinch, it's main use is to provide an arcane splice enabler.
But crazy monkey, DementedKirby, I don't wanna use arcane spells!
Okay, the arcane suite is not to everyone's tastes. It is cool to see it in action though. It also keeps into the spirit of why I believe Zada should be renamed Zada, Turd Polisher. However, I'm openminded and I understand your qualms. These changes should more than suffice your denial of using the arcane suite. These changes just make the deck more streamline and less dependent on holding on to cards to optimize arcane. These substitutions are cheap and just continue with the strategy of token production, pump, and cantrips. The change in price on the deck is negligible.
Now, if you like arcane but feel like Unnatural Speed and Into the Fray are just wasting two potential slots, that's also understandable. My suggestion is to take them out for Assault Strobe and Iron League Steed. Assault Strobe provide double strike and Iron League Steed is 2 creatures for 4. Also, in the Additional Strategies section I mention other cards that can be used in order to scrap arcane altogther.
Building with a Bit More Budget
This was the original version that I built and it cost me $0 because, fortunately, I had all the cards lying around and a buddy of mine simply gave me a Zada for nothing (score!). However, out of curiosity, I checked the price of the deck and was pretty surprised to see that it doesn't even reach the $90 mark, amazing as it is. Also, the high price tag is in part to expensive cards like Cloudstone Curio, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Purphoros, God of the Forge, and Past in Flames. Since this build is very similar to the Über Budget Build, I will simply explain the choices for some of the more expensive cards in greater detail. Also, not all cards are absent in the Über Budget Build simply due to budget; those other cards had to be added/removed to compensate for budget. There's only a 9 card difference between to the two builds but that's enough to produce more than double the price from one deck to the other.
If a bouncy house ever needed a gargoyle this would be it.
Cloudstone Curio: If better cards that synergize more with Zada come along then I may cut this card from the deck because, in all honesty, it's just winmore. However, whenever I have this in play, things get ridiculous. Whenever a token-making creature enters the battlefield, the tokens entering trigger Cloudstone Curio. The way the triggers occur allow me to bounce the token maker back to my hand when the tokens it produces enter the battlefield. I can then cast that bounced creature again and repeat for as long as I have the mana to do so. This comboed with Purphoros, God of the Forge ends game with little effort. I have also used it to save my creatures from a wrath if I have Krenko in play. I just tap Krenko in response and, with each token that enters the battlefield, I can bounce a nontoken creature to my hand. Overall it's just an amazing card to include.
Thought Vessel: A mana rock and one of the 3 different ways to guarantee a size-less hand.
Legion Loyalist: Tutorable with Goblin Matron and Goblin Recruiter, low-costed, and provides a way to give all your attacking creatures trample and first strike for free. Either way, if facing against a similar deck that amasses hordes, creature tokens won't be able to block your creatures.
Purphoros, God of the Forge: An alternate wincon when you can't simply attack opponents to death. You can simply win the game with mere token production. Oh, and he's indestructible.
Chaos Warp: One of my favorite cards of the deck because it's fun and different. And broken. With a solid amount of creatures in play, you can shuffle them all into the deck (shuffle the nontoken creatures first so that you can potentially get them back with the Chaos Warp copies) and possibly get a permanent into play for free. Most of the time I get a lot of mountains into play thanks to this. I also get a lot of creatures, as well. One additional perk (besides the obvious fact of getting things into play for free) is that, if you get a lot of mountains into play, you're thinning your deck of lands and getting a massive mana base for casting a whole bunch of spells afterwards. Win/win/win.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: Very rarely does this land not give a lot of mana. Mid to late game it gives a whole bunch of red mana to make it easier to cast a fat hand.
Reliquary Tower: The third method to basically eliminate your discard phase. Like Spellbook, it's free but you have to make sure to not play a land before you go digging through your deck for this one. Since it's a mana producing land, you at least get for your trouble. Additionally, lands are harder to get rid of than artifacts.
Past in Flames: Similar to Mizzix's Mastery but not as broken (because you still have to pay to cast the spells' flashback cost), this allows you to recast all your instants and sorceries from your graveyard. It also has flashback allowing you to do it all over again (with other spells because flashback exiles).
Additional Strategies
This is by no means the absolute way to play Zada - and no one here expects it to be. That being said, the arcane route is by far the most effective way to play it. I will discuss some other budget cards for those who want to know what other cards I've tested and considered when building my budget decks.
But I pump and I cantrip!
Balduvian Rage: I used to run this card because even for X = 0, you still get to draw a bunch of cards at the beginning of your next upkeep. However, you can only cast it during your attack and only on an attacking creature. Meaning that you'd have to attack with Zada, which isn't always a good thing. On top of that, if you generate a lot of mana in your first main phase, it empties from your mana pool at the beginning of combat so you can't sink it all into Balduvian Rage.
Unwilling Recruit: I used this card quite extensively since it's a great mana sink, it untaps a creature, and gives it haste. This pairs excellently with cards like Spikeshot Elder and Krenko, Mob Boss. However, sometimes you don't have a whole bunch of mana to sink and you need an initial investment of RRR just to get X = 0. Ultimately, I ended up cutting it because it was too expensive to play.
Enrage: Unlike Unwilling Recruit, it doesn't give haste or untaps, but it does cost RR less and it's at instant speed. It's a good mana sink pump but, again, with Zada, you don't need an X spell to pump your creatures to a ridiculous p/t; you'll find that cards like Reckless Charge are much better.
Shreds of Sanity: This card is used by other Zada players as more of a toolbox piece. It can recover an instant and/or sorcery from your graveyard and return it to your hand. This is great for recovering any broken spell that had to be used prematurely or to just "duplicate" an instant and/or sorcery. Definitely a great card to consider.
Goblin Warrens: A great mana sink and token producer. With enough mana and a mere couple of goblins, you can amass a great horde. It's also a relatively inexpensive card and great for flavor, as well.
Aleatory, Chaotic Strike, and Panic: These are cantrips that most Zada players include simply for them being cantrips. However, as far as cantrips go, they can be a bit troublesome. Also, they require a turn to be in the combat step in order to be cast. If you want to cast them during an opponent's turn, it would have to be during combat and not at the end of their turn - so they still have something to do afterwards. If you want to use them during your turn, then you'd have to attack. I used to run them until better cantrips came along (Expedite, Renegade Tactics, and Spark of Creativity) so the swap has been pretty much permanent. However, of these three, Panic is the most viable since it only costs R.
So much potential... Oh well...
Harnessed Lightning: Will produce an insane amount of . However, the deck already runs a parasitic mechanic (splice onto arcane) so most of the times you'll have cards just waiting in your hands. That being said, if future sets provide ways to draw cards, pump creatures, or produce tokens by spending (in Zada's commander identity) then it could be worth considering. Æther Revolt provides Lightning Runner (which is currently (4/12/17) less than $1) that, when combined with Harnessed Lightning, could potentially provide with a ton of additional combat steps. Unlike Seize the Day - which only untaps once - Lightning Runner has the potential to untap all creature at the beginning of each additional combat phase. The only downside is that it's an expensive creature to cast, has a low toughness, and needs to attack for the ability to trigger. That being said, it has built-in haste and double strike. This combo is iffy, at best, but it's still pretty cool. Unfortunately, there are no viable sinks for Zada.
Fateful Showdown: Could potentially be a complicated card to use but can be great in the right situations. Be prepared to lose all your creatures to this but it allows for some insane plays. If you're going the Psychosis Crawler route, this will win you the game before you deck yourself. However, be careful as you may deck yourself if you're not running cards like Elixir of Immortality or Perpetual Timepiece. Between wheeling yourself with each copy, you are able to cast instants in response so you can at least take advantage of all the cards you're drawing to at least cast instants. Be aware though that doing so reduces the amount of cards you draw each time. If you're interested in breaking this card, you can't do so within budget because you'd need something like Vedalken Orrery to cast anything in between wheels. On budget you can potentially do things that are still cool but if you do, you should definitely run Elixir of Immortality and Psychosis Crawler along with it (and make sure both are in play before you target Zada with Fateful Showdown).
What is important to note when piloting any Zada deck is that there has to be a balance between creatures and spells. Too many creatures and you won't run enough spells to take advantage of Zada. Too few creatures and you're going to have spells sitting in your hand without being able to take full advantage of them. So, as any new set appears, the best cards to consider for Zada are those that cantrip, pump for cheap, and creatures that create tokens when they enter the battlefield. Other cards to consider are cheap spells that make tokens and other crazy fun spells like Chaos Warp and Fiery Gambit.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Great write up! Thanks for all your time and effort in making that happen. I also appreciated the non-Arcane section and the "Additional Strategies" section, so thanks for including those.
One question: Panic must be played "during combat before blockers are declared." My understanding is that there is always a combat phase even if the player decides not to attack. Can't you play Panic during an opponent's combat even if no attacks are made since it would still be before the "declare blockers" phase? I understand that that declare blockers phase is skipped if no attackers are declared, but you still would have played it before that phase in sequence, so I thought it would work.
Great write up! Thanks for all your time and effort in making that happen. I also appreciated the non-Arcane section and the "Additional Strategies" section, so thanks for including those.
One question: Panic must be played "during combat before blockers are declared." My understanding is that there is always a combat phase even if the player decides not to attack. Can't you play Panic during an opponent's combat even if no attacks are made since it would still be before the "declare blockers" phase? I understand that that declare blockers phase is skipped if no attackers are declared, but you still would have played it before that phase in sequence, so I thought it would work.
Hmm... that is a good question. I always assumed the same thing but I decided on assuming the worst in the sense that combat is optional. Since it's the active player that declares the combat step, I'm under the impression that there is none if the player just goes from main phase to end step. Can anyone with the facts enlighten us? Can Panic be used during another player's turn when that player announces the end of their turn? Can you say: "wait, before the end step, during combat..." and then cast Panic? I don't know if that sounds right.
If there are other interesting things to do with then I may add Harnessed Lightning as part of the additional strategies. For example, if a card is released within Zada's commander colors that pumps, draws cards, or produces tokens by spending then it will definitely be considered viable. So far the only thing you can do is make a very, very angry Electrostatic Pummeler.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Hmm... that is a good question. I always assumed the same thing but I decided on assuming the worst in the sense that combat is optional. Since it's the active player that declares the combat step, I'm under the impression that there is none if the player just goes from main phase to end step. Can anyone with the facts enlighten us? Can Panic be used during another player's turn when that player announces the end of their turn? Can you say: "wait, before the end step, during combat..." and then cast Panic? I don't know if that sounds right.
Combat is not optional. No part of a turn can be voluntarily skipped. If a player plays a bunch of things in the first main phase and then tries to go to the end of the turn, it's implied shorthand for "I would like to pass priority through the remaining parts of the turn if that is ok with all the other players" and if you say "no, I have something to cast during combat," they have to give you that opportunity. It is sort of awkward when that happens, so if you'd prefer to avoid that awkwardness, you can ask them to declare combat ahead of time, but you don't have to do that. Player's can't refuse to do combat any more than they can refuse to do the cleanup step.
More bizarre than that, if for some reason the player whose turn it is dies on their own turn (let's pretend there's a Nekusar at the table and they died on their draw step), you still go through all the steps of the turn without them, giving everyone else priority in all the steps they would normally. So even if the player before you concedes before combat, they still have a combat phase and you can still cast Panic. So far as I know, the only ways around a combat phase are the small pool of cards that say to skip combat, the smaller pool of cards that end the turn, and Karn's ultimate. But if someone plays Sundial of the Infinite and denies you the chance to cast Panic, they deserve it.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Zedruu: "This deck is not only able to go crazy - it also needs to do so."
Hmm... that is a good question. I always assumed the same thing but I decided on assuming the worst in the sense that combat is optional. Since it's the active player that declares the combat step, I'm under the impression that there is none if the player just goes from main phase to end step. Can anyone with the facts enlighten us? Can Panic be used during another player's turn when that player announces the end of their turn? Can you say: "wait, before the end step, during combat..." and then cast Panic? I don't know if that sounds right.
Combat is not optional. No part of a turn can be voluntarily skipped. If a player plays a bunch of things in the first main phase and then tries to go to the end of the turn, it's implied shorthand for "I would like to pass priority through the remaining parts of the turn if that is ok with all the other players" and if you say "no, I have something to cast during combat," they have to give you that opportunity. It is sort of awkward when that happens, so if you'd prefer to avoid that awkwardness, you can ask them to declare combat ahead of time, but you don't have to do that. Player's can't refuse to do combat any more than they can refuse to do the cleanup step.
More bizarre than that, if for some reason the player whose turn it is dies on their own turn (let's pretend there's a Nekusar at the table and they died on their draw step), you still go through all the steps of the turn without them, giving everyone else priority in all the steps they would normally. So even if the player before you concedes before combat, they still have a combat phase and you can still cast Panic. So far as I know, the only ways around a combat phase are the small pool of cards that say to skip combat, the smaller pool of cards that end the turn, and Karn's ultimate. But if someone plays Sundial of the Infinite and denies you the chance to cast Panic, they deserve it.
Thanks so much! A follow-up question, then: If they pass the priority of combat, I can choose to cast Panic after they've assigned to attackers? Meaning that once I cast it the current player can't choose attackers? How would I go about it? Do I say: "You can't skip combat, I will cast something during combat. Please choose attackers." and then once they choose (an) attacker(s) (or choose 0 attackers) I can then cast Panic?
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
And, just to double check, if no attackers are declared, the declare blockers phase is actually skipped, correct? In other words, Aleatory and Chaotic Strike could not be cast if no attackers were declare.
Shreds of Sanity: This card is used by other Zada players as more of a toolbox piece. It can recover an instant and/or sorcery that was exiled for whatever reason and return it to your hand. This is great for recovering Mizzix's Mastery or for getting an important arcane card into your hand when using cards like Spark of Creativity.
Read that card again. It's still a good card to have.
Shreds of Sanity: This card is used by other Zada players as more of a toolbox piece. It can recover an instant and/or sorcery that was exiled for whatever reason and return it to your hand. This is great for recovering Mizzix's Mastery or for getting an important arcane card into your hand when using cards like Spark of Creativity.
Read that card again. It's still a good card to have.
It is a great card, I just haven't had to use it or need it, so I won't find a slot for it. However, I don't rule it out of the realm of possibility for other players to use. It's still a great and versatile card. My budget build is just straightforward and to the point so I don't see a slot for it.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Shreds of Sanity: This card is used by other Zada players as more of a toolbox piece. It can recover an instant and/or sorcery that was exiled for whatever reason and return it to your hand. This is great for recovering Mizzix's Mastery or for getting an important arcane card into your hand when using cards like Spark of Creativity.
Read that card again. It's still a good card to have.
It is a great card, I just haven't had to use it or need it, so I won't find a slot for it. However, I don't rule it out of the realm of possibility for other players to use. It's still a great and versatile card. My budget build is just straightforward and to the point so I don't see a slot for it.
I think he was also trying to point out that it doesn't recover anything from exile.
As far as combat, if no attacker's are declared, the declare blockers and combat damage steps are skipped. As for casting Panic in that situation, I think you're okay with doing it before or after attackers are declared (in response to beginning of combat step or in response to declare attackers step). I'll go search/ask about it in the rulings forum.
Shreds of Sanity: This card is used by other Zada players as more of a toolbox piece. It can recover an instant and/or sorcery that was exiled for whatever reason and return it to your hand. This is great for recovering Mizzix's Mastery or for getting an important arcane card into your hand when using cards like Spark of Creativity.
Read that card again. It's still a good card to have.
It is a great card, I just haven't had to use it or need it, so I won't find a slot for it. However, I don't rule it out of the realm of possibility for other players to use. It's still a great and versatile card. My budget build is just straightforward and to the point so I don't see a slot for it.
I think he was also trying to point out that it doesn't recover anything from exile.
As far as combat, if no attacker's are declared, the declare blockers and combat damage steps are skipped. As for casting Panic in that situation, I think you're okay with doing it before or after attackers are declared (in response to beginning of combat step or in response to declare attackers step). I'll go search/ask about it in the rulings forum.
Oh damn, I don't know how I misread that. D'oh! I'll go fix it right away!
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Our combat timing question for Panic is answered here. In short, it can be cast during the beginning of combat step or during the declare attackers step (the window for which is after attackers are declared).
Our combat timing question for Panic is answered here. In short, it can be cast during the beginning of combat step or during the declare attackers step (the window for which is after attackers are declared).
Nice! So basically, Panic needs to be cast when the active player assigns no attackers. If done at the beginning of the attack step, you will be defenseless and the active player may take the opportunity to attack you.
Thankfully all the rules have been cited so in order to make it clear to readers when Panic, Chaotic Strike, and Aleatory should best be cast.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Considering how corner case a lot of the great spells for Zada can be, I am pleasantly surprised at the quantity of test-worthy to playable cards that have come out in the last year. Now if only Whirler Virtuoso didn't have blue, that would be a decent energy outlet.
Kemba | Linvala | Talrand | Geth | Krenko | Zada | Patron of the Orochi | Medomai | Athreos | Gisela | Trostani | Nin | Silumgar | Kaervek | Jarad | Xenagos | Sydri | Narset | Roon | Zurgo | Ghave | Marath | Uril | Tasigur | Animar | Riku | Riku | Sek'Kuar | Cromat
old thread
old thread
old thread
R Zada Arcane Storm
RBU Marchesa
GWU Estrid
GWR Samut?
URB Kess
(R/W)(U/B) Akiri & Silas
BWR Alesha
R Neheb Dragons
G Nylea Wurms
W Darien
U Tetsuko
Spark of Creativity is way better than panic, aleatory or balduvian rage because it nets cards during the storm turn. The printing of shreds of sanity allows someone using arcane spells to cast them, then re-cur them to their hand for splicing.
Kemba | Linvala | Talrand | Geth | Krenko | Zada | Patron of the Orochi | Medomai | Athreos | Gisela | Trostani | Nin | Silumgar | Kaervek | Jarad | Xenagos | Sydri | Narset | Roon | Zurgo | Ghave | Marath | Uril | Tasigur | Animar | Riku | Riku | Sek'Kuar | Cromat
Agreed; Spark of Creativity will definitely replace Panic in all my builds.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
built to smash is another brute force that gives thopers trample but has a timing restriction. I might test it, but the attacking requirement makes it less synergistic with make mischief.
I said it earlier, but the number of cards being printed recently for Zada has been phenomenal between Kaladesh and Eldrich Moon.
Kemba | Linvala | Talrand | Geth | Krenko | Zada | Patron of the Orochi | Medomai | Athreos | Gisela | Trostani | Nin | Silumgar | Kaervek | Jarad | Xenagos | Sydri | Narset | Roon | Zurgo | Ghave | Marath | Uril | Tasigur | Animar | Riku | Riku | Sek'Kuar | Cromat
Fo sho! I think that it'd be good to test out Fateful Showdown because you can potentially draw an insane amount of cards. With each hand you discard, you're potentially filling your yard for Past in Flames and Mizzix's Mastery (worst case scenario is they're both in your graveyard). Although, it'd still be super hard to pull off. I'm even confused as to how it would work:
do -> Flashback Past in Flames, flashback Mizzix's Mastery targeting Shreds of Sanity then targeting Mizzix's Mastery, overload Mizzix's Mastery (from your hand).
By the way, I kinda finished my Budget Section. I'm gonna email the pure text to lyonhaert so he can add it to what's already been done. I can always just post it here as a preview that way not only you guys but everyone else can see the progress. In any case, just let me know and by tomorrow it should be set. I was finally able to sit down and work on it. The struggle has been real, lol. I haven't even been able to give attention to my Sidisi primer (even though KLD brought nothing for it), my Mazirek thread or Polukranos thread. Thankfully, as you pointed out, these recent sets have been more than kind to Zada.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
old thread
old thread
old thread
R Zada Arcane Storm
RBU Marchesa
GWU Estrid
GWR Samut?
URB Kess
(R/W)(U/B) Akiri & Silas
BWR Alesha
R Neheb Dragons
G Nylea Wurms
W Darien
U Tetsuko
Ah, yes, you're totally right. A major oversight on my part. Mizzix's Mastery exiles itself when it resolves. However, you did exactly what I had intended so it is possible - just only in that way you described, lol. So basically Zada makes a niche card like Shreds of Sanity into something ridiculous.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
DementedKirby's Budget Section
Intro
Alright, now it's my turn to discuss the awesomeness of Zada, Hedron Grinder! In this section I'm going to delve deep into how to build a decently competitive build without delving deep into your pockets. Zada may grind hedrons for a living but you don't have to grind your wallet to work with it! Currently, this build is so ridiculously cheap, it can be built entirely from scratch with less than $40. Yes, you read that correctly, less than $40. Additionally, if your coffers are a bit deeper than that, you can have a much more solid build while still remaining below the $90 mark (which is the version I currently run). Notwithstanding, I'm constantly testing the budget list on Cockatrice and eliminating players out of nowhere. Zada might as well be Randy Orton disguised as a goblin giving opponents RKO's left and right from - you guess it - OUT OF NOWHERE!
Über Budget Build
Now, this build was made as an extremely budget version of crazy monkey's arcane-themed build. For some, they may feel like they're holding on to arcane spells that are taking up space in their hand when they might want to have better cards instead. Piloting Zada means you have to have one mindset: good things come to those who wait. If you're piloting it as has been explained, you're eventually going to cantrip into some ridiculous combos and some even more ridiculous plays. Then you'll be grateful that you kept a Path of Anger's Flame in your hand instead of something like Fists of the Anvil. Additionally, this build may seem like a glass cannon because it's so dependent on Zada and on being able to draw a bunch of cards in order to send the mother of all alpha strikes across the table. However, there are alternate methods to win such as insanely pumping Spikeshot Elder and then stabbing opponents to a bloody mess with it, or just having Psychosis Crawler in play as you draw practically your entire deck. However, I discuss alternatives to these two builds later on.
Again, this being a budget version of crazy monkey's deck, it's piloted in the same vein. The key to victory here is more simple for lack of some more noticeably absent cards that are not budget. Your goal is to create as many tokens as possible in order to cantrip into the mother of all hands and then produce a ton of mana to empty that hand into an out-of-this-world storm count for Haze of Rage and/or Empty the Warrens. Then just alpha strike for damage well into the dodecadigits.
Alright, so on to the decklist and then some specifics!
4 Zada, Hedron Grinder
Artifacts: 3
2 Helm of Awakening
2 Ruby Medallion
0 Spellbook
Creatures: 19
4 Beetleback Chief
7 Chancellor of the Forge
5 Emrakul's Hatcher
3 Ghirapur Gearcrafter
3 Goblin Matron
2 Goblin Recruiter
4 Krenko, Mob Boss
2 Mogg War Marshal
7 Myr Battlesphere
4 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
3 Pia Nalaar
5 Precursor Golem
5 Psychosis Crawler
5 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Spikeshot Elder
3 Thopter Engineer
4 Treasonous Ogre
2 Young Pyromancer
2 Accelerate
2 Battle Hymn
2 Blazing Shoal
3 Boiling Blood
1 Brightstone Ritual
1 Brute Force
2 Brute Strength
1 Crimson Wisps
2 Desperate Ritual
1 Expedite
3 Fatal Frenzy
3 Flare
1 Into the Fray
1 Otherworldly Outburst
4 Overblaze
3 Path of Anger's Flame
1 Rush of Adrenaline
2 Spawning Breath
2 Stun
1 Titan's Strength
1 Unnatural Speed
3 Zap
1 Rile
2 Distemper of the Blood
2 Dragon Fodder
4 Empty the Warrens
3 Fiery Gambit
2 Haze of Rage
3 Heat Shimmer
3 Hordeling Outburst
4 Inner Fire
2 Krenko's Command
3 Make Mischief
5 Mana Geyser
4 Mizzix's Mastery
3 Mogg Alarm
3 Molten Birth
1 Reckless Charge
1 Renegade Tactics
1 Spark of Creativity
2 Twinflame
Lands: 36
0 Mountain (x36)
4 Zada, Hedron Grinder
Cost Reduction / Mana Acceleration:
1 Brightstone Ritual
1 Skirk Prospector
2 Battle Hymn
2 Desperate Ritual
2 Helm of Awakening
2 Ruby Medallion
4 Inner Fire
4 Treasonous Ogre
5 Mana Geyser
Token Production:
1 Otherworldly Outburst
2 Dragon Fodder
2 Krenko's Command
2 Mogg War Marshal
2 Spawning Breath
2 Twinflame
2 Young Pyromancer
3 Ghirapur Gearcrafter
3 Heat Shimmer
3 Hordeling Outburst
3 Make Mischief
3 Mogg Alarm
3 Molten Birth
3 Pia Nalaar
3 Thopter Engineer
4 Beetleback Chief
4 Empty the Warrens
4 Krenko, Mob Boss
4 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
5 Emrakul's Hatcher
5 Precursor Golem
5 Siege-Gang Commander
7 Chancellor of the Forge
7 Myr Battlesphere
1 Brute Force
1 Reckless Charge
1 Rush of Adrenaline
1 Titan's Strength
2 Blazing Shoal
2 Brute Strength
2 Distemper of the Blood
2 Haze of Rage
3 Fatal Frenzy
3 Path of Anger's Flame
4 Overblaze
Cantrips:
1 Crimson Wisps
1 Expedite
1 Renegade Tactics
1 Rile
1 Spark of Creativity
2 Accelerate
2 Stun
3 Boiling Blood
3 Fiery Gambit
3 Flare
3 Zap
0 Spellbook
Recovery:
4 Mizzix's Mastery
Wincons:
1 Spikeshot Elder
5 Psychosis Crawler
Tutors:
2 Goblin Recruiter
3 Goblin Matron
Arcane Facilitators
1 Into the Fray
1 Unnatural Speed
Lands: 36
0 Mountain (x36)
Deck Stats:
For more detailed deck information like up-to-date average card prices, average CMC, and other stats, you find my decklist here, on deckstats.net.
Card by Card Analysis:
Running from your problems like...
- Renegade Tactics: Pretty much just used as a cantrip because you're going to target Zada and copy for all your creatures and they don't block during your own turn.
- Spark of Creativity: Choosing not to damage your own creatures makes this card into Commune with Lava where X is the amount of creatures you control. Unfortunately, similar to an overloaded Mizzix's Mastery, having your arcane spells exiled and not in your hand means you can't splice any of them. You could use cards like Shreds of Sanity to get some arcane sells back into your hand before you cast them from exile, but I feel that this is too many hoops to jump through. I'd just suck up the loss of not being able to splice and just take advantage of my new "hand" and cast all the spells I can. Unfortunately, this also exiles your lands, as well.
- Accelerate: A totally fitting name for this card since it's a cantrip and haste enabler.
- Boiling Blood: Usually used during the turn before yours, it doesn't matter if it's your own creatures because they can't attack that turn. Even if you use it on your own, chances are that if you get the ball rolling you're going to be attacking with everything anyways.
- Crimson Wisps: Cantrip and haste enabler.
- Expedite: Cantrip and haste enabler.
- Rile: Similar to Zap and its ilk but it only costs 1 mana at the price of losing instant speed. However, creatures get the added bonus of trample.
- Fiery Gambit: A crap-rare that really shines in this deck (and probably absolutely nowhere else) thus showing that Zada should really be called Zada, Turd Polisher. It won't always go off but with enough luck and enough copies, you can draw 9 cards and untap all lands you control. Definitely nothing to scoff at. Many a time have I been able to do such things around 6-7 times a game. Drawing 9 cards when luck is on your side is amazing. In order to take advantage of the mana it can also provide, all you have to do is tap all your lands once again after each successful Fiery Gambit in order to have all the mana available afterwards (you can't tap mana while the copy is resolving so if they're not tapped, you just wasted the opportunity).
- Flare: A risky cantrip since it can potentially kill your creatures in the process. Don't hold back because of that, though; the deck makes a lot of tokens and you can easily recover your board state (the important thing is that it doesn't kill Zada).
- Stun: Usually used during the turn before yours, if used at end of turn, you don't have to worry about blocking because the combat phase has passed. If used during your turn, again, you don't block during your own turn. Solid cantrip.
- Zap: A risky cantrip since it can potentially kill your creatures in the process. Don't hold back because of that, though; the deck makes a lot of tokens and you can easily recover your board state (the important thing is that it doesn't kill Zada).
Discard Prevention:*I will also discuss budget alternatives for those who don't want to run an arcane suite in their Zada build. There are those players out there and I will address your needs.
1 Blazing Shoal
1 Desperate Ritual
1 Into the Fray
1 Overblaze
1 Path of Anger's Flame
1 Unnatural Speed
1 Rush of Blood
1 Panic
1 Aleatory
1 Chaotic Strike
1 Assault Strobe
1 Iron League Steed
Okay, the arcane suite is not to everyone's tastes. It is cool to see it in action though. It also keeps into the spirit of why I believe Zada should be renamed Zada, Turd Polisher. However, I'm openminded and I understand your qualms. These changes should more than suffice your denial of using the arcane suite. These changes just make the deck more streamline and less dependent on holding on to cards to optimize arcane. These substitutions are cheap and just continue with the strategy of token production, pump, and cantrips. The change in price on the deck is negligible.
Now, if you like arcane but feel like Unnatural Speed and Into the Fray are just wasting two potential slots, that's also understandable. My suggestion is to take them out for Assault Strobe and Iron League Steed. Assault Strobe provide double strike and Iron League Steed is 2 creatures for 4. Also, in the Additional Strategies section I mention other cards that can be used in order to scrap arcane altogther.
Building with a Bit More Budget
This was the original version that I built and it cost me $0 because, fortunately, I had all the cards lying around and a buddy of mine simply gave me a Zada for nothing (score!). However, out of curiosity, I checked the price of the deck and was pretty surprised to see that it doesn't even reach the $90 mark, amazing as it is. Also, the high price tag is in part to expensive cards like Cloudstone Curio, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Purphoros, God of the Forge, and Past in Flames. Since this build is very similar to the Über Budget Build, I will simply explain the choices for some of the more expensive cards in greater detail. Also, not all cards are absent in the Über Budget Build simply due to budget; those other cards had to be added/removed to compensate for budget. There's only a 9 card difference between to the two builds but that's enough to produce more than double the price from one deck to the other.
4 Zada, Hedron Grinder
Artifacts: 6
3 Cloudstone Curio
2 Helm of Awakening
2 Ruby Medallion
1 Sol Ring
0 Spellbook
2 Thought Vessel
Creatures: 17
4 Beetleback Chief
7 Chancellor of the Forge
5 Emrakul's Hatcher
3 Goblin Matron
2 Goblin Recruiter
4 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Legion Loyalist
2 Mogg War Marshal
7 Myr Battlesphere
4 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
5 Precursor Golem
4 Purphoros, God of the Forge
5 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Spikeshot Elder
4 Treasonous Ogre
2 Young Pyromancer
2 Accelerate
2 Battle Hymn
2 Blazing Shoal
3 Boiling Blood
1 Brightstone Ritual
1 Brute Force
2 Brute Strength
3 Chaos Warp
1 Crimson Wisps
2 Desperate Ritual
1 Expedite
3 Fatal Frenzy
3 Flare
1 Into the Fray
1 Otherworldly Outburst
4 Overblaze
3 Path of Anger's Flame
1 Rush of Adrenaline
2 Spawning Breath
2 Stun
1 Titan's Strength
1 Unnatural Speed
3 Zap
1 Rile
2 Distemper of the Blood
2 Dragon Fodder
4 Empty the Warrens
3 Fiery Gambit
3 Heat Shimmer
3 Hordeling Outburst
4 Inner Fire
2 Krenko's Command
3 Make Mischief
5 Mana Geyser
4 Mizzix's Mastery
4 Past in Flames
1 Reckless Charge
1 Renegade Tactics
1 Spark of Creativity
2 Twinflame
Lands: 36
0 Mountain (x34)
0 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
0 Reliquary Tower
Differences:
Additional Strategies
This is by no means the absolute way to play Zada - and no one here expects it to be. That being said, the arcane route is by far the most effective way to play it. I will discuss some other budget cards for those who want to know what other cards I've tested and considered when building my budget decks.
What is important to note when piloting any Zada deck is that there has to be a balance between creatures and spells. Too many creatures and you won't run enough spells to take advantage of Zada. Too few creatures and you're going to have spells sitting in your hand without being able to take full advantage of them. So, as any new set appears, the best cards to consider for Zada are those that cantrip, pump for cheap, and creatures that create tokens when they enter the battlefield. Other cards to consider are cheap spells that make tokens and other crazy fun spells like Chaos Warp and Fiery Gambit.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
One question: Panic must be played "during combat before blockers are declared." My understanding is that there is always a combat phase even if the player decides not to attack. Can't you play Panic during an opponent's combat even if no attacks are made since it would still be before the "declare blockers" phase? I understand that that declare blockers phase is skipped if no attackers are declared, but you still would have played it before that phase in sequence, so I thought it would work.
Budget Modern: GStompyG | R8-WhackR
Hmm... that is a good question. I always assumed the same thing but I decided on assuming the worst in the sense that combat is optional. Since it's the active player that declares the combat step, I'm under the impression that there is none if the player just goes from main phase to end step. Can anyone with the facts enlighten us? Can Panic be used during another player's turn when that player announces the end of their turn? Can you say: "wait, before the end step, during combat..." and then cast Panic? I don't know if that sounds right.
If there are other interesting things to do with then I may add Harnessed Lightning as part of the additional strategies. For example, if a card is released within Zada's commander colors that pumps, draws cards, or produces tokens by spending then it will definitely be considered viable. So far the only thing you can do is make a very, very angry Electrostatic Pummeler.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Combat is not optional. No part of a turn can be voluntarily skipped. If a player plays a bunch of things in the first main phase and then tries to go to the end of the turn, it's implied shorthand for "I would like to pass priority through the remaining parts of the turn if that is ok with all the other players" and if you say "no, I have something to cast during combat," they have to give you that opportunity. It is sort of awkward when that happens, so if you'd prefer to avoid that awkwardness, you can ask them to declare combat ahead of time, but you don't have to do that. Player's can't refuse to do combat any more than they can refuse to do the cleanup step.
More bizarre than that, if for some reason the player whose turn it is dies on their own turn (let's pretend there's a Nekusar at the table and they died on their draw step), you still go through all the steps of the turn without them, giving everyone else priority in all the steps they would normally. So even if the player before you concedes before combat, they still have a combat phase and you can still cast Panic. So far as I know, the only ways around a combat phase are the small pool of cards that say to skip combat, the smaller pool of cards that end the turn, and Karn's ultimate. But if someone plays Sundial of the Infinite and denies you the chance to cast Panic, they deserve it.
Thanks so much! A follow-up question, then: If they pass the priority of combat, I can choose to cast Panic after they've assigned to attackers? Meaning that once I cast it the current player can't choose attackers? How would I go about it? Do I say: "You can't skip combat, I will cast something during combat. Please choose attackers." and then once they choose (an) attacker(s) (or choose 0 attackers) I can then cast Panic?
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Budget Modern: GStompyG | R8-WhackR
Read that card again. It's still a good card to have.
It is a great card, I just haven't had to use it or need it, so I won't find a slot for it. However, I don't rule it out of the realm of possibility for other players to use. It's still a great and versatile card. My budget build is just straightforward and to the point so I don't see a slot for it.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
As far as combat, if no attacker's are declared, the declare blockers and combat damage steps are skipped. As for casting Panic in that situation, I think you're okay with doing it before or after attackers are declared (in response to beginning of combat step or in response to declare attackers step). I'll go search/ask about it in the rulings forum.
old thread
old thread
old thread
R Zada Arcane Storm
RBU Marchesa
GWU Estrid
GWR Samut?
URB Kess
(R/W)(U/B) Akiri & Silas
BWR Alesha
R Neheb Dragons
G Nylea Wurms
W Darien
U Tetsuko
Oh damn, I don't know how I misread that. D'oh! I'll go fix it right away!
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
old thread
old thread
old thread
R Zada Arcane Storm
RBU Marchesa
GWU Estrid
GWR Samut?
URB Kess
(R/W)(U/B) Akiri & Silas
BWR Alesha
R Neheb Dragons
G Nylea Wurms
W Darien
U Tetsuko
Nice! So basically, Panic needs to be cast when the active player assigns no attackers. If done at the beginning of the attack step, you will be defenseless and the active player may take the opportunity to attack you.
Thankfully all the rules have been cited so in order to make it clear to readers when Panic, Chaotic Strike, and Aleatory should best be cast.
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!