Zalto, Fire Giant Duke

Gameplan

Resolve Zalto, attack with trample, and intentionally take/deal damage to him to chain ventures through dungeons each turn. You build a midrange-to-aggro red board while the dungeon engine grinds out card advantage, treasure, and incidental value, eventually clearing the Lost Mine of Phandelver or Undercity multiple times for repeatable payoffs.

Key Cards

• Lost Mine of Phandelver — Best venture dungeon for Zalto, generating treasure, damage, and card draw on repeated runs.
• Pixie Guide — Doubles your venture by triggering an extra dungeon roll/advance and adds advantage.
• Power Word Kill — Cheap mono-color-friendly interaction to protect your board or stop key threats.
• Spikefield Hazard — Repeatable, cheap way to ping Zalto and trigger venture at will.
• Pyrohemia — Repeatable self-damage engine that pings Zalto every turn to chain ventures while sweeping small creatures.
• Hammer of Bogardan — Recurring direct damage you can aim at Zalto to guarantee a venture each turn.
• Acererak the Archlich — Loops the Tomb of Annihilation for repeatable venture synergy and a potential mill-out finish.

Upgrade Path

Add venture density and cost reducers like Acererak the Archlich plus reliable repeatable damage sources (Pyrohemia, Walking Ballista, Spikefield Hazard) so you always venture each turn. Lean into mono-red staples for card advantage and ritual ramp—Wheel of Misfortune, Underworld Breach, and treasure makers—to push toward the Acererak mill combo as a real wincon. Tighten interaction with Abrade, Chaos Warp, and fast mana like Mana Crypt to raise the floor against faster tables.