RakdosLegendary Creature — Human SoldierZhao, Ruthless Admiral
Mana value4Rank#15,163
The Commander
Firebending 2 (Whenever this creature attacks, add . This mana lasts until end of combat.)
Whenever you sacrifice another permanent, creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
Guide
Gameplan
Zhao is an aggressive Rakdos sacrifice deck that turns your own permanents into combat damage. Sacrifice fodder—tokens, treasures, expendable creatures—to repeatedly pump your whole team +1/+0, then swing in with Firebending mana fueling extra spells or activated abilities mid-combat. You go wide with tokens, sacrifice them in bursts, and overwhelm the table before they stabilize.
Strengths
- Anthem stacks per sacrifice, so a few sac outlets plus token generators create explosive, lethal swings
- Firebending 2 gives free red mana on attack to cast combat tricks, reactivate sac outlets, or fire off burn
- Synergizes with aristocrats payoffs (Blood Artist effects) for inevitability even when blocked
- Cheap four-mana commander that pressures opponents early and recasts easily
Weaknesses
- +1/+0 only boosts power, not toughness, so board wipes and chump blocks blunt the plan
- Requires both sac fodder and sac outlets online; missing either half stalls the engine
- Color identity lacks card advantage and protection compared to other Rakdos shells
- Vulnerable to fogs, lifegain, and decks that go over the top with bigger life totals
Key Cards
- Mayhem Devil — Pings damage on every sacrifice, converting your anthem triggers into direct reach and removal.
- Ashnod's Altar — Free sac outlet that pumps the team and ramps colorless mana to dump your hand mid-combat.
- Pitiless Plunderer — Turns each sacrifice into a Treasure, fueling more sacrifices and snowballing the anthem.
- Mahadi, Emporium Master — Generates Treasures on death, providing endless fodder and mana for repeated Zhao pumps.
- Goblin Bombardment — No-mana, instant-speed sac outlet that pumps your team and throws bodies at faces for the kill.
- Bastion of Remembrance — Each sacrifice drains the table, giving a non-combat win path alongside the attack-based plan.
Upgrade Path
Add free and repeatable sac outlets (Viscera Seer, Carrion Feeder, Phyrexian Altar) and token engines (Bitterblossom, Ophiura tokens, Endrek Sahr) to maximize anthem triggers per turn. Layer in drain payoffs (Zulaport Cutthroat, Cruel Celebrant) and recursion (Mortician/Reassembling Skeleton, Squee) so the engine never runs dry. For higher power, lean into Treasure loops with Pitiless Plunderer plus a free sac outlet and Mayhem Devil for a near-infinite damage combo.
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 after stacking multiple +1/+0 anthem triggers across a wide board
- ▸Aristocrat drain loops via Blood Artist and Bastion of Remembrance effects
- ▸Mayhem Devil pinging the table out through repeated sacrifices
- ▸Firebending-fueled burn and combat tricks pushing through unblocked attackers
Archetypes
- Aristocrats — Repeated sacrifices trigger the anthem while death payoffs like Blood Artist drain opponents.
- Tokens — Wide boards of expendable bodies provide both attackers and sacrifice fodder for big swings.
- Sacrifice Aggro — Zhao directly rewards sacrificing permanents with team pumps, making fast aggressive starts brutal.
- Treasure Combo — Treasure generators feed sac outlets to chain triggers for massive single-turn pump or drain loops.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BR), by popularity.
