The Commander
Whenever you scry, put a +1/+1 counter on each of up to X target creatures, where X is the number of cards looked at while scrying this way.
Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, you may draw a card.
Guide
Gameplan
Elrond turns every scry into a counter-distribution engine, fattening your whole board while the second ability punishes opponents for trying to interact with your beefed-up creatures. You ramp into scry payoffs early, snowball wide and tall counter synergies in the mid-game, and close with an overwhelming counter-heavy battlefield or a few oversized threats backed by card advantage.
Strengths
- Turns cheap, repeatable scry effects into board-wide stat growth
- Built-in card draw discourages opponents from removing your creatures
- Scales counters as wide as your board (up to X creatures)
- Blue-green gives access to premium ramp, draw, and counter synergies
Weaknesses
- Board wipes erase your counter investment in one card
- Relies on scry enablers actually being on the battlefield to function
- Counters alone don't grant evasion or protection without support
- Can be slow to come online if you lack early scry sources
Key Cards
- Hardened Scales — Doubling counters from every scry trigger massively accelerates Elrond's snowball.
- Branching Evolution — Multiplies the +1/+1 counters placed by each scry, turning small looks into huge swings.
- Conclave Mentor — Cheap counter doubler that also gains life as your board grows.
- Inexorable Tide — Proliferate every time you cast a spell stacks beautifully with all the counters you generate.
- Cathars' Crusade — Pairs with the creatures you grow to flood the board with even more counters.
- Crystal Ball — Repeatable scry 2 every turn reliably triggers Elrond for counters.
Upgrade Path
Add more counter multipliers (Doubling Season, Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider) and cheap repeatable scry sources (Soothsaying, Mystic Speculation, Halimar Depths) to maximize trigger density. Lean into proliferate and protection (Heroic Intervention, Inspiring Call) to defend your counter investment from wipes. For a faster clock, include evasion and a counter-combo finisher like Walking Ballista with Inexorable Tide to convert your engine directly into damage.
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
- ▸Overwhelming the table with a wide board of counter-boosted creatures
- ▸Commander damage or a single oversized evasive threat
- ▸Counter-payoff finishers like Walking Ballista or Cathars' Crusade swarms
- ▸Out-grinding opponents on cards via the draw trigger then closing with combat
Archetypes
- +1/+1 Counters — Every scry distributes counters, making Elrond the engine for a go-wide counters deck.
- Proliferate — Scry-generated counters become exponential when proliferate effects amplify them each turn.
- Voltron — You can dump scry counters onto a single evasive creature to win through commander damage.
- Value Midrange — The draw trigger and counter growth let you grind incremental advantage while building a dominant board.
Combos
- Elrond, Master of Healing + Sylvan Anthem + Herd Baloth
→ Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature, Infinite creature tokens, Infinite ETB
- Elrond, Master of Healing + Season of Growth + Herd Baloth
→ Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature, Infinite creature tokens, Infinite ETB
- Elrond, Master of Healing + Season of Growth + Scurry Oak
→ Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature, Infinite creature tokens, Infinite ETB
- Elrond, Master of Healing + Sylvan Anthem + Scurry Oak
→ Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature, Infinite creature tokens, Infinite ETB
Combos via Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (GU), by popularity.
