Zaxara by ElderSlug

Format: Commander

Commander: Zaxara, the Exemplary

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 45

Deck overview

This Sultai deck focuses on Zaxara, the Exemplary to convert every X-spell into scaling Hydra tokens while accelerating mana production. The primary game plan uses low-cost ramp on Turns 1 and 2 to deploy Zaxara on Turn 3. Once Zaxara is active on Turn 4, the deck leverages its two-mana tap ability to cast massive X-spells like Hydroid Krasis, Genesis Hydra, and Awaken the Woods, quickly overwhelming opponents with counter-doubling effects from Unbound Flourishing, Branching Evolution, and Doubling Season. The deck's most lethal line revolves around enchanting Zaxara with Freed from the Real or Pemmin's Aura to generate infinite colored mana, which immediately fuels a game-ending Exsanguinate or forces opponents to draw out with Blue Sun's Zenith. Supported by an efficient package of counterspells and spot removal, the deck transitions smoothly between explosive combo finishes and resilient midrange combat pressure.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Adrix and Nev, Twincasters
  • 1 Alchemist's Refuge
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Awaken the Woods
  • 1 Beast Within
  • 1 Benevolent Hydra
  • 1 Birds of Paradise
  • 1 Bloom Tender
  • 1 Blue Sun's Zenith
  • 1 Branching Evolution
  • 1 Champion of Lambholt
  • 1 Chord of Calling
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Corpsejack Menace
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cultivate
  • 1 Disallow
  • 1 Doubling Season
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Eternal Witness
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Exsanguinate
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Farseek
  • 1 Flooded Grove
  • 9 Forest
  • 1 Freed from the Real
  • 1 Garruk's Uprising
  • 1 Genesis Hydra
  • 1 Geometer's Arthropod
  • 1 Goldvein Hydra
  • 1 Golgari Charm
  • 1 Herald of Secret Streams
  • 1 Heroic Intervention
  • 1 Hinterland Harbor
  • 1 Hooded Hydra
  • 1 Hungering Hydra
  • 1 Hydroid Krasis
  • 1 Ingenious Prodigy
  • 1 Invasion of Ikoria // Zilortha, Apex of Ikoria
  • 8 Island
  • 1 Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
  • 1 Kodama's Reach
  • 1 Krosan Grip
  • 1 Lair of the Hydra
  • 1 Lifeblood Hydra
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Long River's Pull
  • 1 Mana Reflection
  • 1 Muddle the Mixture
  • 1 Nature's Lore
  • 1 Negate
  • 1 Nyxborn Hydra
  • 1 Pemmin's Aura
  • 1 Pongify
  • 1 Primordial Hydra
  • 1 Protean Hydra
  • 1 Rampant Growth
  • 1 Rapid Hybridization
  • 1 Reality Shift
  • 1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
  • 1 Steelbane Hydra
  • 1 Stonecoil Serpent
  • 1 Sunken Ruins
  • 8 Swamp
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Talisman of Curiosity
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Resilience
  • 1 Terrasymbiosis
  • 1 Tireless Provisioner
  • 1 Twilight Mire
  • 1 Unbound Flourishing
  • 1 Villainous Wealth
  • 1 Voracious Hydra
  • 1 Woodland Cemetery
  • 1 Zaxara, the Exemplary