Zada, Hedron Grinder

Legendary Creature — Goblin Ally

Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets only this, copy that spell for each other creature you control that the spell could target. Each copy targets a different one of those creatures.

Combos

• Tainted Strike + Zada, Hedron Grinder
• Okaun, Eye of Chaos + Soul's Fire + Zada, Hedron Grinder
• Polymorph + Zada, Hedron Grinder
• Shadow Rift + Zada, Hedron Grinder
• Into the Roil + Zada, Hedron Grinder
• Seize the Day + Zada, Hedron Grinder + Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom
• Fiery Gambit + Krark's Thumb + Zada, Hedron Grinder

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Freeform	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Historic Brawl	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Pre-release	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (50)

SaberTech on Dissident Storm

2 weeks ago

Alright. It's harder to pull off a storm deck in Commander but there are things you can do.

The easiest way to storm in Commander is with the Isochron Scepter + Dramatic Reversal combo. The Scepter copies the imprinted spell, but you cast the copy so it counts towards your storm count. Running this combo requires you to run a bunch more mana rocks though, because you need to be able to produce at least 2 mana off of the rocks just to get the engine going, plus more mana if you want to produce infinite mana off of the combo. I don't know what your budget is like or if your group allows proxies, but at higher level tables you'd be looking to run cards like Mana VaultGC and Grim MonolithGC since those produce 3 mana all on their own. Beyond that though, you would definitely want to be running the talismans like Talisman of Dominance. Everflowing Chalice is another good option for storm because it's on rate if you only kick it once or you can just play it for free un-kicked to increase your storm count. Whichever rocks you end up running, you'll need a good number in the deck to support the combo.

The Dramatic Scepter combo also works well with Wishclaw Talisman. Activate the Talisman, then with the ability on the stack you activate the Scepter to untap the Scepter, the Talisman, and your mana rocks. While the first ability is still on the stack, activate the Talisman again and repeat the cycle. You'll be able to use up all 3 wish counters yourself and in the end you just pass a useless Talisman to the opponent, although after tutoring three cards you should just be winning that turn. The combo also just kills if Guttersnipe is out.

Running a bunch of mana artifacts (that don't enter tapped) has another benefit in that you can run cards like Paradoxical Outcome, Hurkyl's Recall, and Retract. You get to tap your rocks for mana, bounce them back to hand, and then recast them to increase your storm count and hopefully even net extra mana, although that requires more artifacts that produce more mana than they cost like Sol Ring, Mana VaultGC, and Grim MonolithGC.

Another combo card you could be running is Chain of Smog, which combos with Professor Onyx as long as you keep targeting yourself with the Chain and its copies. The copies won't count towards your storm count, but they will get you a bunch of treasure tokens off of Storm-Kiln Artist. You would have an empty hand, but you would have the mana to cast Kess and then cast a card from your graveyard. Ideally, you would be running wheel effects like Wheel of Fortune to immediately refill your hand and keep your plays going. Storm decks typically like to run wheel effects. On the more budget end of things, you could at least be running Windfall and similar effects so that you can match your opponents' hand sizes after emptying your own.

Chain of Smog + Archmage Emeritus will basically let you mill through your deck at the cost of emptying your hand. You'll be forced to discard the cards that you draw off of Emeritus. However, If you run a copy of Unearth in the deck then you can draw and discard your deck, use Kess to cast Unearth from your graveyard, and bring back Thassa's OracleGC for the win. It's a risky line though because you won't have access to any counterspells to protect it.

Unearth is still worth considering for the deck in general since it can get back several relevant creatures in case they are countered, it's a 1 mana spell for storm count, and at worst you can cycle it away to draw a card.

Another combo I can think of based off of cards already in your deck is God-Eternal Kefnet + Scroll Rack + Time Warp (or any other extra turn card that doesn't exile itself). You use Scroll Rack to make sure that Time Warp is the top card of your deck. When you draw, Kefnet sees it and copies it. You cast the copy, and then before the end of your turn you use Scroll Rack to put Time Warp from your hand back on top of your library. Rinse and repeat for infinite turns.

Beyond that is typical storm stuff:

• Ritual Spells like Dark Ritual, Rite of Flame, and Seething Song are good for generating bursts of mana, especially since Kess can cast them again from the graveyard.
• Cheap cantrips like Ponder and Thought Scour help to dig through your deck while adding to your storm count.
• Cards like Bolas's CitadelGC and The Endstone keep the card train rolling.

If all of that is sounding really expensive, Stella Lee, Wild Card and Veyran, Voice of Duality are known commanders for their own unique storm decks. You can find lists at various budget point for them online. Zada, Hedron Grinder can also play as a budget, glass-cannon style goblin storm deck.

SaberTech on Naya tricks

1 month ago

Naya Charm, Boros Charm, Valorous Stance, and Collective Resistance have been common inclusions for me.

Trash the Town has been pretty useful in my Gargos, Vicious Watcher deck.

Green has all sorts of instants that grant indestructible like Tamiyo's Safekeeping, Gaea's Gift, and Strength of Will. There are a variety of others as well with specific additional effects that may be better for your specific deck so it is worth taking a look.

Benefactor's Draught is a surprisingly versatile tool that you can use to politic with, catch an opponent off guard with blockers they weren't expecting, or draw a bunch of cards if an opponent blocks a bunch of your creatures.

If you are running cards like Zada, Hedron Grinder and Feather, the Redeemed then Fists of Flame, Ancestor's Aid, Sudden Breakthrough, Crimson Wisps, Might of the Weak, Guided Strike, Shelter, Otherworldly Outburst, and Felonious Rage are cards worth considering.

Heroic Intervention, Dawn's Truce, Akroma's Will, and Lorehold Command are strong general options too.

NoNeedToBragoBoutIt on Zada - Goblin Grinder

7 months ago

Thanks for your input, KongMing!

I am very hesitant, when it comes to excess damage tech, since its payoff would have to be greater than losing my existing board. Goblin Negotiation would require me to have a buff already to trade up and keep Zada, Hedron Grinder, because otherwise at X=2 i would trade in my 1/1s for fresh 1/1s of the same amount. Hell to Pay is a little akward. Trading in a board for tons of tapped treasures at sorcery speed means i would need to survive until my next turn without blockers, but will likely win then. Bottle-Cap Blast is less risky, since i can blast it off EOT before my turn. But 5 mana is a lot for a deck that's built around curving out aggressively.

I might have to test run the package, but i'm not too optimistic.

When it comes to Krark, the Thumbless, i did run him for a few months, but once you go off, i found him to be too tedious to resolve in Paper. He's likely a lot better, if you have a less storm-ish approach that resolves more around single spells like Audacious Swap, Fiery Gambit or as in my build Daring Discovery.

SirFowler on Artifact Aggro on a $50 Budget

8 months ago

I actually have Zada, Hedron Grinder in my Feather deck. One of my friends had a Zada deck and it was insane. I think he was able to get damage around like 14 billion damage. It's a good deck, but it's a lot of math.

I actually have a ton of decks, like over 40 at this point, each with its own playstyle. I should definitely take apart a few, but it's an addiction.

shock7123 on Artifact Aggro on a $50 Budget

8 months ago

SirFowler

It's all good. I've built a few decks with around a $50 budget previously, so I get that the challenge can be a lot of fun in and of itself. I started off Magic as a broke college student, so it was usually a $50 starting budget that got upgraded over time, but I digress.

Feather can be fun to build on a budget, but if you want a solid budget option that can win consistently, look into Zada, Hedron Grinder as well. Mono-red pump spells with a goblin subtheme can be a gross amount of fun, especially with all the common-rarity pumps that are available. I've seen $25 builds for her that can curbstomp decks built with significantly higher budgets.

shock7123 on Imagine Dragons | Budget Rosnakht [PRIMER]

1 year ago

Have you thought about running Zada, Hedron Grinder? She'd let you copy your cheap cantrips, still get the token off your commander, and buff your entire board all at once. Dirt cheap uncommon to boot.

lil_cheez on If I control Zada, can …

1 year ago

Good evening everyone,

Zada, Hedron Grinder is an all star in my Feather, the Redeemed deck. I've been playtesting it and found a RW interaction I could not have a clear answer. Please help me if you can.

When I target Zada with a "protection from color" granting spell, like Shelter and Stave Off, the spell will be copied to each other creature I control.

Question: do I get to pick a color for each creature?

Zada's rulling says the following:
If the spell that's copied is modal (that is, it says "Choose one —" or the like), the copies will have the same mode. You can't choose a different one.

But these spells are not modal, as far as I know, so I'd like to know if they are the "or the like" or if they work diffently.

Thanks in advance and have a good one.

DadHumanPraetor on Feather, the Cruel Striker

2 years ago

So I play stuff like Zada, Hedron Grinder and Mirrorwing Dragon so that when I cast Brute Force or Built to Smash and then cast Gods Willing targeting them, ALL my creatures are unblockable (from the protection) and pumped. I think the equipment and a lot of the creatures you selected are fun value cards, but its gotta be hard to close the game. Making things big, hard to kill, and unblockable...well that can close the game easily. Young Pyromancer and Leonin Lightscribe and probably better than Electrostatic Field and the spell recursion seems to go against the current, since your spells are rarely going to the graveyard. If you want I could upload my feather deck list when I get home later and you could sort of see the direction I decided to take it. Yours seems to want to grind out value, mine is more about killing your opponents