Storm killed Zada's friends

Commander / EDH* Creatureless Mono-Red Red Deck Wins Storm Tokens

TheJTrain

Sorcery (30)

• 1x Bonus Round
• 1x Cathartic Reunion
• 1x Devastating Summons
• 1x Dragon Fodder
• 1x Empty the Warrens
• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Fiery Gambit
• 1x Gamble
• 1x Hordeling Outburst
• 1x Infernal Plunge
• 1x Inner Fire
• 1x Krenko's Command
• 1x Kuldotha Rebirth
• 1x Magmatic Insight
• 1x Mana Geyser
• 1x Mizzix's Mastery
• 1x Mogg Alarm
• 1x Molten Birth
• 1x Past in Flames
• 1x Pirate's Pillage
• 1x Reforge the Soul
• 1x Renegade Tactics
• 1x Rite of Flame
• 1x Shreds of Sanity
• 1x Spark of Creativity
• 1x Tempt with Vengeance
• 1x Tormenting Voice
• 1x Vandalblast
• 1x Wheel of Fortune
• 1x Wild Guess

Artifact (15)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Azor's Gateway  ^Flip
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Coldsteel Heart
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Conjurer's Bauble
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Fire Diamond
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Ruby Medallion
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Thought Vessel

Land (33)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All
• 1x Forgotten Cave
• 28x Mountain
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Reliquary Tower

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Aria of Flame
• 1x Impact Tremors
• 1x Outpost Siege
• 1x Underworld Breach

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Chandra, Fire Artisan
• 1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
• 1x Jaya Ballard

Commander (1)

Instant (14)

• 1x Accelerate
• 1x Battle Hymn
• 1x Brightstone Ritual
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Crimson Wisps
• 1x Desperate Ritual
• 1x Expedite
• 1x Fists of Flame
• 1x Pyretic Ritual
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Seething Song
• 1x Stun
• 1x Thrill of Possibility

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Do you know what's better than beating your opponents with a Zada storm deck?

Doing it without any creature cards.

WELCOME TO ZADA "CREATURELESS" STORM

Why no creatures?? Show

Have you ever looked at a legendary creature you pulled from a pack and said "I wanna make you my commander"? Have you been unsatisfied with the straightforward/generic EDHREC versions of the deck? Have you ever wanted to challenge your deckbuilding skills and create something that's unique, but effective, granting you the admiration of your peers and the utmost satisfaction of piloting your own creation? That's what Zada, Hedron Grinder did for me.

Minus the admiration of my peers. Everyone hates storm.

What do you run? Show

There are three main groups of cards that are the engine for the deck.

Token generation: The backbone of the deck. Without tokens, the deck doesn't function. End of story. There's quick token generators like Krenko's Command and Hordeling Outburst to spit out goblins for mana, and then there's cards like Nuisance Engine and Kher Keep if we're really behind. Oh, and there's Goblinslide. This is the best fitted deck for Goblinslide. Triggers on 100% of spells in the library. Profit to the max

Ramp: Ramp comes in two varieties: mana rocks and fast mana. Mana rocks are self explanatory, they make it easier for me to cast lots of spells. Notable examples are Chrome Mox, Thought Vessel, and Ruby Medallion. Then there's fast mana, which gives me the capability of spitting out a mound of spells in one fell swoop. There's little boosts like Desperate Ritual and Pyretic Ritual and then heavy hitters like Battle Hymn, Brightstone Ritual, and Inner Fire. Fast mana is best utilized for steps 2 and 3 of The Gameplan, described later.

Card draw: Draw comes in two varieties: filter and mass draw. Filtering such as Cathartic Reunion and Tormenting Voice lets me ditch the cards I don't need and find the tools I do need. Filtering is an essential part of early/mid-game. Then there's mass draw. Using Zada, Hedron Grinder and can trips like Expedite and Crimson Wisps, I can draw upwards of 10+ cards, on a good day. The mass draw is what we use to finalize our tool set and end the game. There are two notable card draw spells here, which are Outpost Siege and Chandra, Pyromaster. Their purpose is to give me reliable, once a turn card draw, and with an average cmc of 2.5, I can almost guarentee I'll be able to play whatever gets exiled under it. Solid draw engines when we need them, solid filter fodder when we don't.

Finally, there's utility cards like recursion and removal, and then there's the wincons.

Wincons Show

We've got a few, because nothing says consistency like resilience!

Past in Flames/Mizzix's Mastery: The finale engines that almost always notify your opponents "I win."

Impact Tremors + Empty the Warrens = The fastest and most reliable way to win

Insurrection = May only kill one player, but is a wincon in itself

Insurrection + Descent of the Dragons = May only kill one player, but is incredibly devious

Aetherflux Reservoir = need I say more?

Goblin Bombardment + Outpost Siege(dragons mode) = I will admit I've never done this, but it's possible and most likely a burn player's wet dream

Descent of the Dragons + Expedite/Accelerate/Crimson Wisps = My absolute favorite win. Death by dragons.

Notify me if there are any more, but one of those is the ultimate goal.

The Gameplan Show

Step 1: Accumulate your tools

Early game is a lot of ramp, filter, and token generation. The goal to both create a mana and token base, all while filtering through our deck for more ramp and tokens. Ultimately we're also looking for one or two mass card draw effects for later. A great rule of thumb is to either draw some cards or make some tokens each turn, or preferably both.

Step 2: Build your foundation

One may say "Shouldn't step 1 be to build the foundation?" Well how does one build a foundation without the tools necessary? Answer: you can't. Once you've got a decent start, now's the time to use your tools to get to end game. Use a lot of fast mana and more filtering to create more tokens, fill your grave, and get those win cons. Play an Aetherflux Reservoir, use Koth of the Hammer to make a butt ton of mana, cast Zada, Hedron Grinder followed by Expedite and Renegade Tactics with 7 tokens on the field. DO THINGS. You can't win until you've done a bunch of things first. This is the fun part, when your opponent looks at you and realizes what you're capable of doing with jank.

Step 3: Tear everything down in a fiery blaze of glory

winwinwinwinwin. Typically when goldfishing, this deck wins around turn 7. On bad starts it may take up to turn 9. It's not a fast deck, no, but it's hella fun to pilot. This part is also the most creative, as you can typically win in any way you want. Do you want to shoot everyone for 50? Aetherflux Reservoir's got your back. Ever wanted to be a dragons deck? I hear a Descent of the Dragons comes quite often when goblins are around. You get to pick! It's truly a make your own adventure at the end.

The downfalls Show

Death of zada: If you have a fat enough grave, you may not even need mass card draw, but other than that, an overpriced Zada spells game over.

Graveyard hate: Because of the overabundance of wincons and cards that are alike, one can come back from a Bojuka Bog eventually, but it is a severe hinderance.

Countermagic: nothing says eff-you more like a countered Mizzix's Mastery.

Conclusion Show

I will admit I have not done a ton of in-person testing, so this is always a work in progress, but it's a creation I'm incredibly proud of and happy to share with you all. All suggestions are greatly appreciated!! Thank you, and may you find friendship with Zada as well.

Date added	8 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 17 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 32 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.22
Tokens	Elemental 1/1 R, Elemental 1/1 R w/ Haste, Elemental */* R, Emblem Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Emblem Jaya Ballard, Goblin 1/1 R, Treasure
Folders	Deck Ideas