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Zhang Liao, Hero of Hefei
BBlackLegendary Creature — Human Soldier

Zhang Liao, Hero of Hefei

Mana value6Rank#29,113
BuildCard details

The Commander

Whenever Zhang Liao deals damage to an opponent, that opponent discards a card.

Guide

Gameplan

Suit up Zhang Liao with evasion and pump so his combat damage forces opponents to discard, grinding the table's hands down while you beat face. You play a disruptive mono-black control-aggro game, picking off threats and answers before they're cast, then close with a buffed commander or a discard-payoff finisher.

Strengths

  • Turns commander damage into repeatable hand disruption, attacking the game on two axes
  • Mono-black gives access to premium tutors, removal, and recursion for consistency
  • Cheap to recast and naturally pressures multiple opponents over several turns
  • Pairs aggression with the symmetry-breaking power of black's card advantage engines

Weaknesses

  • A 6-mana vanilla-statted body that does nothing the turn it lands and dies to any removal
  • Discard is weak against empty hands and late-game topdecks
  • No evasion or protection built in, so he's easily chump-blocked or chump-killed
  • Mono-color means no access to blue counters or green ramp/fight removal

Key Cards

  • Whispersilk Cloak — Grants unblockable plus shroud so Zhang Liao connects every turn and survives targeted removal.
  • Rogue's Passage — Reliable repeatable way to make him unblockable and trigger his discard ability.
  • Megrim — Punishes every forced discard with direct damage, turning his trigger into a kill engine.
  • Liliana of the Veil — Stacks symmetric and targeted discard to empty hands faster than opponents can refill.
  • Lightning Greaves — Haste and protection let him attack immediately and dodge removal.
  • Bloodchief Ascension — Snowballs off discards into life loss and mill, closing games once active.

Upgrade Path

Add fast mana (Sol Ring, talismans) and more unblockable enablers so he connects every turn earlier. Lean into discard payoffs (Waste Not, Bloodchief Ascension) and efficient black tutors (Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor) to assemble your engine, and include reanimation/recursion 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

  • ▸Commander damage via an evasive, equipped Zhang Liao
  • ▸Discard payoffs like Megrim/Liliana's Caress dealing incremental damage
  • ▸Grinding all opponents into topdeck mode then closing with recurring threats

Archetypes

  • Voltron — His ability scales with connecting in combat, rewarding evasion and pump equipment/auras.
  • Discard/Hand Disruption — His trigger anchors a stax-lite plan that strips opponents' resources every turn.
  • Control — Black removal plus relentless discard keeps the table resource-starved while you grind out a win.

Combos

No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.

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