The Commander
Horsemanship (This creature can't be blocked except by creatures with horsemanship.)
Whenever Zhang He attacks, each other creature you control gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Guide
Gameplan
A mono-black aggro/go-wide deck that uses Zhang He as a nearly unblockable beater while pumping your whole board on each attack. You flood the battlefield with creatures, then swing wide with the anthem effect for big alpha strikes, leaning on horsemanship to push damage through. Black's removal and recursion keep the path clear while you grind opponents down.
Strengths
- Horsemanship makes Zhang He virtually unblockable in most pods, ensuring reliable commander damage.
- The repeatable team pump turns even small token boards into lethal attacks.
- Mono-black gives access to the format's best targeted removal, tutors, and recursion.
- Cheap commander tax (5 MV) and aggressive curve let you apply pressure early.
Weaknesses
- Color-restricted to black means no access to counterspells, blue card draw, or red burn.
- The anthem only triggers when Zhang He attacks, so removing or blocking him stalls the plan.
- Board wipes are devastating to a go-wide strategy.
- Lacks evasion for the rest of the team unless you build for it, leaving creatures choppable.
Key Cards
- Coat of Arms — Massively amplifies a wide creature board on top of Zhang He's attack pump for explosive damage.
- Skullclamp — Converts your expendable tokens and small creatures into a relentless card-draw engine.
- Whispersilk Cloak — Grants unblockable and shroud, protecting Zhang He and guaranteeing his attack trigger lands.
- Bitterblossom — Generates a steady stream of fliers to fuel the go-wide anthem strategy each turn.
- Dictate of Erebos — Punishes opponents for blocking or removing your creatures, keeping your board advantage intact.
Upgrade Path
Add fast mana like Sol Ring and Dark Ritual to deploy threats ahead of schedule, and include protection such as Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots to keep Zhang He attacking. Tighten the curve with efficient token producers and aristocrat payoffs, and add black tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor) to find your anthems and finishers consistently. Incorporate recursion like Reassembling Skeleton and Liliana, Dreadhorde General to recover from board wipes.
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, pumped board using Zhang He's anthem plus effects like Coat of Arms.
- ▸Unblockable commander damage from Zhang He suited up with equipment and evasion enablers.
- ▸Aristocrats drain via effects like Blood Artist and Zulaport Cutthroat off sacrificed tokens.
- ▸Overrun-style finishers stacking with the attack pump for game-ending swings.
Archetypes
- Aggro Go-Wide — The attack-triggered +1/+0 anthem rewards flooding the board with creatures for alpha strikes.
- Tokens — Cheap token generators maximize the value of Zhang He's team pump every combat.
- Voltron — Horsemanship makes Zhang He hard to block, so equipment and auras can close games with commander damage.
- Aristocrats — Black sacrifice payoffs and recursion let you grind value while your wide board attacks.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (B), by popularity.
