Zaxara, the Exemplary

Commander / EDH BUG (Sultai)

NoxxFlame

Spell With X (32)

• 1x Altered Ego
• 1x Animist's Awakening
• 1x Biomass Mutation
• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Condescend
• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Finale of Revelation
• 1x Genesis Hydra
• 1x Hooded Hydra
• 1x Hungering Hydra
• 1x Hydroid Krasis
• 1x Icy Blast
• 1x Lifeblood Hydra
• 1x Mass Manipulation
• 1x Mind Spring
• 1x Mistcutter Hydra
• 1x Power Sink
• 1x Primal Might
• 1x Primordial Hydra
• 1x Protean Hydra
• 1x Pull from Tomorrow
• 1x Steelbane Hydra
• 1x Stonecoil Serpent
• 1x Stroke of Genius
• 1x Syncopate
• 1x Thassa's Intervention
• 1x Torment of Hailfire
• 1x Vastwood Hydra
• 1x Villainous Wealth
• 1x Voracious Hydra
• 1x Wildest Dreams

Artifact (8)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Golgari Signet
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Simic Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x The Ozolith

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Branching Evolution
• 1x Garruk's Uprising
• 1x Primal Vigor
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Unbound Flourishing
• 1x Zendikar Resurgent

Land (35)

• 1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Flooded Grove
• 5x Forest
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 4x Island
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Opulent Palace
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Sunken Ruins
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 1x Temple of Mystery
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Twilight Mire
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Woodland Cemetery
• 1x Zagoth Triome

Sorcery (17)

• 1x Animist's Awakening
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Finale of Revelation
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Mass Manipulation
• 1x Migration Path
• 1x Mind Spring
• 1x Mythos of Brokkos
• 1x Overwhelming Stampede
• 1x Primal Might
• 1x Skyshroud Claim
• 1x Torment of Hailfire
• 1x Villainous Wealth
• 1x Wildest Dreams

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner

Commander (1)

Creature (19)

• 1x Altered Ego
• 1x Corpsejack Menace
• 1x Gargos, Vicious Watcher
• 1x Genesis Hydra
• 1x Herald of Secret Streams
• 1x Hooded Hydra
• 1x Hungering Hydra
• 1x Hydroid Krasis
• 1x Kalonian Hydra
• 1x Lifeblood Hydra
• 1x Mistcutter Hydra
• 1x Nyxbloom Ancient
• 1x Primordial Hydra
• 1x Protean Hydra
• 1x Steelbane Hydra
• 1x Stonecoil Serpent
• 1x Vastwood Hydra
• 1x Voracious Hydra
• 1x Zegana, Utopian Speaker

Instant (13)

• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Biomass Mutation
• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Condescend
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Deadly Rollick
• 1x Icy Blast
• 1x Power Sink
• 1x Pull from Tomorrow
• 1x Stroke of Genius
• 1x Syncopate
• 1x Thassa's Intervention

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A casual Zaxara, the Exemplary commander deck centred playing big X spells and ramping out.

STRATEGIES:

1. RAMP: This deck relies on having a ton of mana available so cards like Farseek, Kodama's Reach, Skyshroud Claim and Animist's Awakening help us to ramp fast and Zaxara, the Exemplary themselves acts as both ramp and mana fixing. This deck also uses Zendikar Resurgent and Nyxbloom Ancient to double and triple our mana respectively.

2. PROTECTION: A few counterspells such as Power Sink help keep Zaxara, the Exemplary safe (while giving us a hydra in the process) and in case of emergency Beast Within, Assassin's Trophy and Deadly Rollick can take care of any threats. But by far the best protection comes in the form of Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves which keep Zaxara, the Exemplary safe, and let them tap for mana a turn early.

3. HYDRA HORDE: Zaxara, the Exemplary creates a hydra token with X +1/+1 counters whenever we cast a spell with X in its cost. We take full advantage of that by using 32 spells with X in their cost. That's half the non-land cards in the deck! Whenever possible you should be casting a spell for X and using as much mana as you can. Hydras such as Lifeblood Hydra are great as we get 2 for the price of one. Card draw like Mind Spring keeps our hand stocked and counterspells such as Syncopate help to deal with threats.

4. WIN CONS: There are 3 main ways this deck can win a game. Firstly, using cards like Overwhelming Stampede, Herald of Secret Streams and Zegana, Utopian Speaker you can swing in with an army of hydras which can't be chumped. Secondly using Villainous Wealth and Mass Manipulation you can steal your opponents pieces and use them against them. Finally given you have enough mana Torment of Hailfire and Exsanguinate can be used to win the game on the spot. Primal Vigor and Unbound Flourishing assist with all three of these win conditions by doubling the power of our hydras and by copying our tokens and big X spells.

Top Ranked	Achieved #12 position overall 3 years ago Achieved #10 position in Commander / EDH 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH BUG (Sultai) 3 years ago
Date added	4 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 52 - 0 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.63
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Boar 2/2 G, Hydra 0/0 G, Morph 2/2 C, Snake 1/1 G
Folders	EDH Decks, -Owned-, Copied Decks, TTS, References