Zurgo Stormrender serves as the commander for the Magic: The Gathering Mardu Surge preconstructed Commander deck. Although the original deck is strong, Zurgo truly shines when leading a deck designed specifically around him.
A Zurgo Stormrender Commander deck is highly aggressive, generating numerous tokens and allowing them to be sacrificed for card draws or burn damage. Unlike many combat-oriented decks that seek to keep their creatures alive, Zurgo thrives when his creatures die. If you’re interested in a token-based Commander deck with a unique strategy, a Zurgo Stormrender deck might be your ideal choice.
Decklist
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Commander: Zurgo Stormrender |
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Adeline, Resplendent Cathar |
Agate Instigator |
Ainok Strike Leader |
Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon |
Avenger of the Fallen |
Bartolome del Presidio |
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Blood Artist |
Bone-Cairn Butcher |
Caesar, Legion’s Emperor |
Commissar Severina Raine |
Cruel Celebrant |
Dalkovan Packbeasts |
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Dualcaster Mage |
Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim |
Enduring Courage |
Garna, Blood of Keld |
Goldlust Triad |
Goldnight Commander |
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Hero of Bladehold |
Kambal, Profiteering Mayor |
Legion Warboss |
Loyal Apprentice |
Mirkwood Bats |
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Ogre Battledriver |
Pitiless Plunderer |
Purphoros, God of the Forge |
Redoubled Stormsinger |
Thalisse, Reverent Medium |
Twilight Drover |
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Venerated Stormsinger |
Viscera Seer |
Blasphemous Act |
Molten Duplication |
Ruinous Ultimatum |
Chaos Warp |
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Corrupted Conviction |
Deadly Dispute |
Generous Gift |
Grand Crescendo |
Path to Exile |
Saw in Half |
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Swords to Plowshares |
Village Rites |
Will of the Mardu |
Arcane Signet |
Ashnod’s Altar |
Blade of Selves |
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Fellwar Stone |
Idol of Oblivion |
Infantry Shield |
Skullclamp |
Sol Ring |
Talisman of Conviction |
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Talisman of Hierarchy |
Urabrask’s Forge |
All-Out Assault |
Assemble the Legion |
Bastion of Remembrance |
Divine Visitation |
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Goblin Bombardment |
Impact Tremors |
Rabble Rousing |
Warleader’s Call |
Within Range |
Battlefield Forge |
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Castle Ardenvale |
Caves of Koilos |
Clifftop Retreat |
Command Tower |
Dalkovan Encampment |
Dragonskull Summit |
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Exotic Orchard |
Fetid Heath |
Haunted Ridge |
Isolated Chapel |
Minas Tirith |
x3 Mountain |
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Nomad Outpost |
x4 Plains |
Rogue’s Passage |
Rugged Prairie |
Shattered Sanctum |
Smoldering Marsh |
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Sulfurous Springs |
Sundown Pass |
x4 Swamp |
Tainted Field |
Tainted Peak |
Vault of the Archangel |
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Windbrisk Heights |
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This decklist features 32 creatures, three sorceries, ten instants, 11 artifacts, nine enchantments, and 34 lands. Most permanents either generate tokens or gain advantages from tokens entering or leaving the battlefield.
Key Cards
Zurgo Stormrender
Zurgo Stormrender provides a lot of value to the deck. Whenever a creature leaves the battlefield while attacking, you draw a card. Mardu, being a combination of red, white, and black, often lacks sufficient card draw options, making this ability extremely useful for maintaining a full hand.
Creatures are considered attacking throughout the entire combat phase once declared as attackers. Even after damage is dealt, there’s a window before the next main phase begins where you can sacrifice them, and they’re still treated as attacking.
Alternatively, Zurgo Stormrender can deliver significant burn damage. This deck creates a vast quantity of tokens, allowing you to sacrifice them for considerable damage bursts to bring games to a quick conclusion.
Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim
Throughout a game, you’ll have many creatures die and enter the battlefield. Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim is a fantastic way to leverage this. Whenever a creature enters, you gain life, and when one dies, your opponent loses life, perfectly aligning with your deck’s strategy.
Elas il-Kor aids in recovering from early attacks and playing a role in finishing games with burn damage. Its effect triggers for every creature entering or leaving the battlefield, so if several creatures change zones at once, Elas il-Kor will trigger for each one individually.
Dualcaster Mage
If you’re searching for a straightforward route to victory, look no further than Dualcaster Mage. This card can create combos leading to an infinite number of tokens, which can be combined with other permanents for a direct win.
You only need Dualcaster Mage and either Saw in Half or Molten Duplication to set up the combo, which is straightforward to execute. In the case of Saw in Half, it can even be done at instant speed. Here’s how the combo plays out:
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Prerequisites: Have Dualcaster Mage and Saw in Half/Molten Duplication in hand. |
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Step 1: Cast Saw in Half/Molten Duplication on a creature. |
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Step 2: After casting, hold priority and cast Dualcaster Mage, targeting Saw in Half/Molten Duplication with its enter-the-battlefield trigger. |
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Step 3: Target Dualcaster Mage with the copy. |
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Step 4: New copies of Dualcaster Mage enter; copy Saw in Half/Molten Duplication again. |
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Step 5: Repeat steps 3-4. |
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Results: You create an infinite number of token copies of Dualcaster Mage, triggering countless enter-the-battlefield effects and infinite death triggers if you use Saw in Half. |
Mirkwood Bats
Mirkwood Bats significantly enhances your ability to deal damage to all opponents. Every token sacrificed or created inflicts one damage to each opponent. While that may not seem substantial at first, when you generate a large number of tokens each turn, it accumulates quickly.
If a token is removed without being sacrificed, such as those created through myriad, it’s advisable to sacrifice them to a sac outlet to ensure Mirkwood Bats’ burn trigger activates when they die.
Mirkwood Bats will only trigger its burn effect if the creature is sacrificed and not if it simply dies. Creatures created from mobilize and other permanents that are sacrificed during the end step will ensure Mirkwood Bats deals maximum burn damage.
How to Play the Deck
A Zurgo Stormrender Commander deck revolves around generating numerous tokens and dealing damage while sacrificing them for extra value or burn. This deck is explosive, capable of hitting all opponents with massive damage in a single turn.
Thanks to its relatively low mana curve, you can bring impactful permanents onto the battlefield quickly.
Creatures consistently enter and leave the battlefield. Cards that deal burn damage when creatures enter, such as Agate Instigator, Impact Tremors, and Warleader’s Call, are essential to this deck’s strategy.
Many tokens created in the deck come with haste, allowing for immediate attacks that can quickly reduce your opponents’ life points. Since several token generators produce increasing numbers of tokens, you become a larger threat as the game progresses.
Your two main paths to victory involve combat and burn damage. With a plethora of attacking creature tokens, you have a strong chance of eliminating opponents through traditional attacks. Additionally, Zurgo Stormrender and burn cards like Mirkwood Bats and Warleader’s Call can deliver significant damage if your opponents are overwhelmed by creatures.
The major drawback of this deck is its heavy reliance on creatures. Being in Mardu limits your options for protecting permanents. A well-timed board wipe can disrupt your game plan and hinder your progress since the deck lacks easy ways to bounce back from such setbacks.
Permanents that regularly produce tokens, like Assemble the Legion and Urabrask’s Forge, do help mitigate this, but they serve primarily as temporary fixes. The deck also struggles with ramping up, so you might find yourself casting only one spell per turn. However, the low mana curve minimizes the impact of this issue.
