cards, Cards, CARDS!
This deck utilizes cards such as Crimson Wisps and Stun in order to draw cards equal to the number of creatures we control. This is due to Zada, Hedron Grinder ability. When you cast Crimson Wisps and target Zada, Hedron Grinder with it, it will both A. give all of your creatures haste but more importantly B. draw a card for each creature you control because the entire spell will get copied, so that will include both the "haste" and the "draw a card". This deck was inspired by this video, and I would suggest you to watch it as it explains the main theme of the deck very well.
So, here's an organizer of cards below that sort of show what each cards does and how it helps the deck:
RAMP
So every deck needs the usual ramp packages and Zada is no different. Although, I do run more creature ramp as it will get more targets for Zada which is much more valuable than just a mana rock. However, we do run the usual:
Sol Ring,
Thought Vessel,
Ruby Medallion
I also run some of the lands that help us ramp:
Terrain Generator,
Myriad Landscape
Crystal Vein,
Dwarven Ruins,
Sandstone Needle
The rest of the ramp are all creatures in order to get more targets for Zada:
Iron Myr,
Plague Myr,
Ornithopter of Paradise,
Manakin,
Palladium Myr,
Dockside Extortionist,
Storm-Kiln Artist,
Treasonous Ogre
Lastly, I run a few spells that will give us TONS of red mana to use:
Battle Hymn,
Sudden Breakthrough,
Spawning Breath,
Inner Fire
REMOVAL
So, red isn't the best for removal but it does have some decent board wipes. You could also use some cards such as Zap or Flare if you needed to, but that's not their primary function. So, here are some target removal:
Chaos Warp
I run a few board wipes, as red can do that decently
Blast Zone,
Firestorm,
Meltdown,
Blasphemous Act
And then some red counterspells:
Deflecting Swat,
Red Elemental Blast,
Dualcaster Mage
I also run this card as it protects our commander from removal:
Swiftfoot Boots
Note, the card Lightning Greaves doesn't work with Zada, Hedron Grinder as shroud means we can't target the creature with spells which goes against the entire decks strategy.
TOKENS
So I run alot of ways to create many creatures in order to get as many targets for Zada so we can either draw a bunch of cards or swing in and deal lethal damage. In this deck I run all of the 0 cost creatures because, well I can:
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh,
Kobolds of Kher Keep,
Crimson Kobolds,
Crookshank Kobolds,
Ornithopter,
Phyrexian Walker,
Shield Sphere,
Memnite
The next group of spells are just ways to create multiple creatures:
Kher Keep,
Dwarven Mine,
Kuldotha Rebirth,
Krenko's Command,
Dragon Fodder,
Mogg War Marshal,
Young Pyromancer,
Hordeling Outburst,
Empty the Warrens,
Chancellor of the Forge
The next token generator has an X, letting me create as many tokens as I want:
Tempt with Vengeance
CARD DRAW
Now that you've made upwards of 10 creatures, time to draw tons of cards, Cards, CARDS! But, the usual include when you have multiple 1 toughness creatures:
Skullclamp
However, in this deck there is a better way of drawing cards that I illustrated at the top. Here are all 14 cards that do so:
Crimson Wisps,
Expedite,
Rile,
Renegade Tactics,
Accelerate,
Stun,
Boiling Blood,
Zap,
Flare,
Blindblast,
Kari Zev's Expertise,
Balduvian Rage,
Fists of Flame,
These next three have very weird windows in which you can play them. Just read the cards and you'll understand:
Panic,
Chaotic Strike,
Aleatory (NOTE: There is no "Declare Blockers Step" if no creatures attacked, meaning you can't cast these cards unless a creature is attacking)
COPY/RECURSION
If we can get one trigger off of Zada that's cool, but having two or more is so awesome! Here are some cards that help accomplish that:
Strionic Resonator
I also run a few ways to get cards back from the graveyard:
Past in Flames,
Mizzix's Mastery
WIN CONDITIONS
In this deck I do run an infinite combo simply because it is easy to get to when you're drawing tons of cards. You can switch these 3 cards out for other non combo cards, but here is the combo:
Twinflame or Heat Shimmer and Dualcaster Mage
If you don't know how the combo works, watch this video as it explains it really well, plus it gives a different deck list and maybe some better ideas for you guys
There are also 2 pump spells that can win us the game as well by just overloading the board with creatures:
Balduvian Rage,
Fists of Flame
Also Storm-Kiln Artist power can become massive over the course of the game, so definitely utilize having 6+ power on one single creature.
Lastly, these two cards are especially special and can win games very easily:
Kari Zev's Expertise lets you basically cast all of your spells from your hand for free, as each copy allows you to cast another spell with CMC 2 or less.
Mizzix's Mastery for its overload cost can get back all of our draw spells from our graveyard and cast them for free.
These win conditions/combo pieces can be tutored up by Gamble or Imperial Recruiter as well.
LANDS
Lastly, just a few lands to point out that haven't been mentioned:
Reliquary Tower,
Hammerheim (just a fun land I found and seems like it may come in handy one of these days),
And that's the deck, runs very different than most commanders but is very fun nonetheless. Also, you could go a totally different way with Zada buy using aggro. I only use a few aggro cards but some people buildtheir whole decks around it. Zada is a very fun and unusual commander I suggest this guy to any and everyone. I will have a video of my deck soon so stay tuned! Peace out.
