The Commander
Whenever Combustion Man attacks, destroy target permanent unless its controller has Combustion Man deal damage to them equal to his power.
Guide
Gameplan
Suit up Combustion Man as a punisher-Voltron threat: every attack forces an opponent to either lose a key permanent or eat damage equal to his power, so you swing in repeatedly to grind boards while pressuring life totals. Pump his power and grant evasion/extra combats to make the 'damage' option lethal and the 'destroy' option backbreaking. You win by either dismantling the table's mana and blockers or by funneling huge unblocked hits into one player.
Strengths
- Built-in repeatable removal that hits any permanent type, including lands, planeswalkers, and artifacts
- Lose-lose for opponents: they sacrifice value or take potentially lethal damage
- Scales hard with power buffs and extra-combat effects in mono-red
- Mono-color consistency makes mana and color fixing trivial
Weaknesses
- Effect only triggers on attack, so he must survive and connect each turn
- High commander tax and removal-magnet status make recasting costly
- Mono-red lacks card advantage and struggles against heavy lifegain and fogs
- Opponents can simply choose to take the damage when their boards matter more
Key Cards
- Embercleave — Cheap to cast off attackers and the double strike effectively doubles the damage opponents must pay to save permanents.
- Aggravated Assault — Untaps for extra combats so you can fire the destroy trigger multiple times each turn.
- Fireshrieker — Double strike doubles the damage clause, making the 'take damage' option far more punishing.
- Rogue's Passage — Guarantees he connects, ensuring the trigger fires against the player you want to punish.
- Berserk — A massive temporary power boost turns the damage clause into a one-shot kill or forces a permanent to die.
- Hammer of Nazahn — Indestructible plus a free equip protects your attacker and stacks more power onto the trigger.
Upgrade Path
Lean into double strike (Fireshrieker, Embercleave) and extra-combat enablers (Aggravated Assault, Combat Celebrant, Moraug) to multiply triggers, and add evasion plus protection like Rogue's Passage, Whispersilk Cloak, and Swiftfoot Boots so he reliably connects. Round out with mono-red card advantage (Outpost Siege, Wheel of Misfortune) and ramp (Sol Ring, Jeska's Will) to recast him through commander tax and keep pressure consistent.
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
- ▸Commander damage from a buffed, evasive Combustion Man
- ▸Forcing opponents to take huge attack-trigger damage repeatedly until dead
- ▸Dismantling the table's mana base and blockers, then closing with the team
Archetypes
- Voltron — Stacking equipment and power buffs makes both halves of his trigger devastating while threatening commander damage.
- Stax/Control — Repeatable destroy-any-permanent removal lets you grind down lands, mana rocks, and threats every combat.
- Aggro Punisher — Extra combats and evasion let you force lethal damage choices across multiple opponents.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (R), by popularity.
