Quick Links
Zurgo, Thunder’s Decree is a unique commander fromMagic: The Gathering’sTarkir: Dragonstorm set. Zurgo has had various cards throughout Magic’s history, with this iteration having Zurgo as the leader of the Mardu (red/white/black) in the lore.
Mechanically, Zurgo, Thunder’s Decree is the perfect commander if you’re looking to build a commander deck built around the mobilize mechanic (also introduced in Tarkir: Dragonstorm). If you love mobilize and turning cards sideways to attack with, Zurgo has about everything you want out of a commander, with the ability to snowball very quickly if your opponents' decks are too slow to keep up.
Avenger of the Fallen
Chief of the Edge
Will of the Mardu
Helm of the Host
x4 Mountain
x4 Plains
x4 Swamp
Vault of the Archangel
Windbrisk Heights
The decklistcontains 30 creatures, four sorceries, six instants, 13 artifacts, 11 enchantments,and35 lands. Since the deck is so combat-heavy, creatures make up the majority of the deck, while the rest of the cards support them in combat.
Key Cards
Zurgo, Thunder’s Decree
The commander, Zurgo, Thunder’s Decree is the most important card in the deck. Itprevents your Warrior tokens from being sacrificed, so the tokens you make from mobilize will stick around.
Zurgo only prevents your Warrior tokens from being sacrificed at the end step. Other cards may force the tokens to be sacrificed at the end of combat, so Zurgo will not prevent those sacrifices.
Since Zurgo only costs three mana, you’re able to get Zurgo on the battlefield as early as turn two. Youwant to cast Zurgo as quickly as possible, as it allows you toquickly flood the battlefield with Warrior tokensto make it easier to go wide and overpower your opponents.
Isshin, Two Heavens As One
Isshin, Two Heavens as One essentiallyacts as your secondary commander. All of yourmobilize effects are triggered abilities, so Isshin will cause them to trigger twice. This is especially strong with cards that create multiple tokens withtheir mobilize effects.
Generally,you only want Isshin on the battlefield once you have mobilize creatures there. On its own, Isshin doesn’t do anything since there are no combat triggers going off. It’shard to get Isshin back if it gets removed, so only cast Isshin if you’re able to take advantage of its effect.
Bone-Cairn Butcher
Bone-Cairn Butcher isyour tokens' best friend. It makes themall into threats that can’t be chump blocked by giving them deathtouch. Normally, a 1/1 creature isn’t something your opponent has to worry about, but Bone-Cairn Butcher makes it so they can’t block unless they’re fine with losing a creature to do so.
Your tokens will only have deathtouch while they are attacking. It is not a static ability.
Bone-Cairn Butcher has mobilize on its own, letting the tokens it creates become threatening too.You do not have to attack with Bone-Cairn Butcher for its effect, so if attacking would put it in danger, it’s best to leave it back and let your tokens do all the heavy lifting.
Mirkwood Bats
With how many tokens you create, Mirkwood Bats can deal a ton of burn damage. Ittriggers when a token is created or sacrificed. So if Zurgo isn’t around, and you mobilize, thattoken will give two triggers for the price of one.
Mirkwood Bats isbest when Zurgo isn’t on the battlefield, but even if it is, you’ll still get burn damage from the tokens being created. Mirkwood Bats is so important as ithelps to push life totals down quicker to make it easier to win through combat.
Cathars' Crusade
Cathars' Crusade is one of the strongest cards you’re able to include in a Zurgo, Thunder’s Decree Commander deck, so long as you can deal with the headache of constantly adding counters to your creatures.Every token created from mobilize turns into all your creatures getting a +1/+1 counter.
Notably, Cathars' Crusade triggersfor every creature that enters, so if you attack with a creature that has mobilize three,all of your creatures will get three +1/+1 counters on them. This can lead to massive swings in damage, and turn even your weakest creatures into massive threats with just a few triggers.
How To Play The Deck
A Zurgo, Thunder’s Decree Commander deckwants to always be attacking, especially with creatures that have mobilize. The deck loads up your side of the battlefield with a ton of creature tokens that you want to keep attacking with. Zurgois a very aggressive Commander deck, so you generallyalways want to be attacking.
Mobilize is important, but the creatures with them can be fragile. Dolmen Gate and Iroas, God of Victory both help to prevent damage from being dealt to attacking creatures that will keep all your attackers safe.
You can create tokens through other means outside of mobilize. Some cards can create creature copies that are sacrificed at the end step, but with Zurgo on the battlefield,you can create the copy and have it stick around permanently. You usually can’t copy legendary creatures, but there are plenty of powerful nonlegendary ones that make for great targets.
Theprimary win condition is winning through combat. With mobilize and Zugo, you can flood the battlefield with tokens that you can keep swinging with every turn.Starry-Eyed Skyridercan give your attacking tokens flying, andBone-Cairn Butcherprovides them with deathtouchto make them harder to block. You canalso win through burn damage, which the deck has a ton of different ways to deal bursts amount of damage, such as sacrificing tokens toGoblin Bombardmentor burning withMirkwood Bats.
Thebiggest weakness of the deck is how low the stats of your creatures are. While mobilizing is great, especially if the tokens stick around, at the end of the day, they are still 1/1 creatures. However, cards likeShared Animosity, Cathars' Crusade, and Renewed Solidarityall help to boost their stats up to higher amounts to make them much more threatening. Youmay also struggle with ramp, and Mardu doesn’t have many good options for it.
