BantLegendary Creature — Human ArtificerBrenard, Ginger Sculptor
Mana value4Rank#9,519
The Commander
Each creature you control that's a Food or a Golem gets +2/+2 and has trample.
Whenever another nontoken creature you control dies, you may exile it. If you do, create a token that's a copy of that creature, except it's a 1/1 Food Golem artifact creature in addition to its other types and it has "
, 
, Sacrifice this token: You gain 3 life."
Guide
Gameplan
Brenard turns your creature deaths into upgraded artifact copies: when a nontoken creature dies, exile it and make a 1/1 Food Golem token copy that, thanks to Brenard, becomes a 3/3 trampler with a sac-for-life ability. Build a value engine of strong ETB/death creatures, sacrifice and recur them to flood the board with anthem-boosted Food Golems, then grind out incremental advantage before alpha striking.
Strengths
- Converts removal and combat losses into permanent upgraded copies, making the deck extremely resilient to board wipes and spot removal
- Built-in anthem (+2/+2 and trample) makes every Food/Golem token a real threat with minimal extra payoff cards
- Excellent synergy with blink, sacrifice outlets, and ETB creatures for repeatable value
- Bant colors give access to the best ramp, card draw, protection, and answers in the format
Weaknesses
- Brenard only copies nontoken creatures that die, so exile-based removal and bounce shut the engine off
- Needs a sacrifice outlet or combat trades to truly snowball; otherwise it's passive
- The commander does nothing the turn it lands and is a removal magnet
- Can be slow and lacks a fast combo finish without intentional inclusions
Key Cards
- Ashnod's Altar — Free sacrifice outlet that turns each creature death into ramp while triggering Brenard's copy ability.
- Phyrexian Altar — Sac outlet that produces colored mana and fuels endless death triggers with the tokens.
- Trading Post — Repeatably sacrifices Food Golems for value and creates more Goats/Food to feed Brenard.
- Cauldron Familiar — Pairs with Witch's Oven and any Food to drain the table while feeding the Food theme.
- Eternal Witness — A nontoken creature that, when it dies, both copies itself and lets you rebuy your sac outlets and removal.
- Skullclamp — Turns your 1/1-base tokens and dying creatures into a relentless card-draw engine that also triggers Brenard.
Upgrade Path
Add free or cheap sacrifice outlets (Ashnod's Altar, Viscera Seer, Carrion Feeder) so you can fire Brenard on demand rather than waiting for combat. Lean into ETB/death value creatures and blink effects (Eternal Witness, Sun Titan, Restoration Angel) plus token doublers like Anointed Procession to explode your board. Top-end with Craterhoof Behemoth or Tooth and Nail and tighten the manabase with fast rocks and dual lands to outpace faster tables.
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
- ▸Alpha strike with a wide board of +2/+2 trampling Food Golems
- ▸Incremental life drain via Cauldron Familiar loops and the tokens' sacrifice ability
- ▸Overrun-style finishers (Craterhoof Behemoth, Overwhelming Stampede) on a token-flooded board
- ▸Grinding opponents out of resources with infinite value loops then closing with any threat
Archetypes
- Aristocrats — Sacrifice outlets repeatedly kill creatures to fire Brenard's copy trigger and the tokens' life-gain sac.
- Tokens — Every nontoken death spawns a buffed Food Golem, building a wide, anthem-boosted board.
- Blink/Value — Strong ETB creatures plus Brenard's reanimation-via-copy reward repeatedly recurring bodies.
- Food Tribal — Brenard anthems Food and Golems, slotting neatly into a Cauldron Familiar/Trading Post drain shell.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (GUW), by popularity.
