AbzanLegendary Creature — Human SoldierAnafenza, the Foremost
Mana value3Rank#13,824
The Commander
Whenever Anafenza attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on another target tapped creature you control.
If a nontoken creature an opponent owns would die or a creature card not on the battlefield would be put into an opponent's graveyard, exile that card instead.
Guide
Gameplan
Anafenza is an aggressive Abzan counters commander who grows your board while serving as a built-in graveyard hate piece. Deploy efficient creatures, attack to distribute +1/+1 counters, and turn wide-but-tall boards into lethal damage. Her static ability passively neuters opponents' recursion, reanimation, and aristocrats strategies all game.
Strengths
- Free, always-on graveyard hate that shuts down reanimator, dredge, and aristocrats decks
- Snowballs board presence quickly by adding counters every combat
- Cheap three-mana body in efficient Abzan colors with strong support
- Hatebear identity makes her disruptive even when not actively winning
Weaknesses
- Counter only goes on an already-tapped creature you control, so it needs setup or vigilance to be efficient
- Dies to abundant removal and is a high-priority target due to her hate effect
- No evasion or protection built in, so she can stall against bigger boards
- Lacks card advantage on her own, relying on the 99 to refuel
Key Cards
- Brave the Sands — Grants vigilance so Anafenza can attack and still be tapped for her own counter, plus enables defense.
- Cathars' Crusade — Turns every creature you cast into board-wide counter growth that stacks with Anafenza's combat trigger.
- Hardened Scales — Doubles down on the counters theme, making each Anafenza trigger and counter source more impactful.
- Skullclamp — Provides relentless card advantage to refuel an aggressive go-wide counters board.
- Anduril, Flame of the West — Lets Anafenza make tokens and pile counters on attack, snowballing the board fast.
- Smothering Tithe — Generates the mana flood Abzan counters decks need to deploy threats and protection.
Upgrade Path
Add counter doublers (Doubling Season, Branching Evolution) and proliferate effects to amplify every trigger, and lean into evasion or trample (Craterhoof Behemoth, Overwhelming Stampede) to close games. Tighten the curve with efficient hatebears and mana rocks, and include protection like Heroic Intervention and Swiftfoot Boots to keep Anafenza alive. For higher power, add fast mana and tutors to assemble counter combos or land your payoffs sooner.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Beating down with an ever-growing counter-loaded board across multiple attack steps
- ▸Going wide with tokens plus Cathars' Crusade or overrun effects for a lethal alpha strike
- ▸Voltron-style growth on Anafenza or a key creature with counter doublers and trample
Archetypes
- +1/+1 Counters — Her attack trigger feeds directly into counter synergies and doublers like Hardened Scales and Doubling Season.
- Aggro/Midrange — A cheap commander that grows the board and pressures life totals across multiple combats.
- Stax/Hatebears — Her graveyard-exile static slots into a disruptive Abzan hatebear shell punishing recursion.
- Tokens — Wide token boards become threatening when Anafenza and anthems pile on counters.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BGW), by popularity.
