Zada, Hedron Grinder | Let's try EDH

Commander / EDH* Aggro Burn Combo Horde Magic Mono-Red Multiplayer Storm

patricklvanduyse

Bulk (23)

• 1x Assault Strobe
• 1x Brute Force
• 1x Brute Strength
• 1x Built to Smash
• 1x Crowd's Favor
• 1x Daring Escape
• 1x Downhill Charge
• 1x Expanded Anatomy
• 1x Explosive Entry
• 1x Fit of Rage
• 1x Furious Resistance
• 1x Infuriate
• 1x Lunar Frenzy
• 1x Raze the Effigy
• 1x Reckless Charge
• 1x Run Amok
• 1x Rush of Adrenaline
• 1x Samut's Sprint
• 1x Stolen Vitality
• 1x Storm Strike
• 1x Sure Strike
• 1x Temur Battle Rage
• 1x Titan's Strength

Burn (14)

• 1x Call In a Professional
• 1x Electrostatic Field
• 1x Firebrand Archer
• 1x Geistflame Reservoir
• 1x Grapeshot
• 1x Guttersnipe
• 1x Harsh Mentor
• 1x Impact Tremors
• 1x Insult / Injury
• 1x Lightning Volley
• 1x Soul's Fire
• 1x Thermo-Alchemist
• 1x Thundering Raiju
• 1x Wild Slash

Ramp (11)

• 1x Alena, Kessig Trapper
• 1x Birgi, God of Storytelling  ^Flip
• 1x Fire Diamond
• 1x Goblin Warchief
• 1x Hedron Crawler
• 1x Helm of Awakening
• 1x Iron Myr
• 1x Runaway Steam-Kin
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Storm-Kiln Artist
• 1x Walking Atlas

Lands (37)

• 1x Dwarven Mine
• 1x Forgotten Cave
• 1x Ghitu Encampment
• 1x Mishra's Factory
• 1x Mobilized District
• 30x Mountain
• 1x Spinerock Knoll
• 1x Temple of the False God

Hulks (4)

• 1x Horde of Boggarts
• 1x Pyroceratops
• 1x Spellgorger Weird
• 1x Taurean Mauler

Horde (22)

• 1x Battle Cry Goblin
• 1x Dragon Fodder
• 1x Empty the Warrens
• 1x Genesis Chamber
• 1x Goblin Instigator
• 1x Goblinslide
• 1x Goldhound
• 1x Hordeling Outburst
• 1x Impulsive Pilferer
• 1x Krenko's Command
• 1x Krenko, Mob Boss
• 1x Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
• 1x Kuldotha Rebirth
• 1x Make Mischief
• 1x Mishra's Self-Replicator
• 1x Mogg War Marshal
• 1x Molten Birth
• 1x Ornithopter
• 1x Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh
• 1x Siege of Towers
• 1x Spawning Breath
• 1x Young Pyromancer

Removal (18)

• 1x Chandra's Incinerator
• 1x Deface
• 1x Enchanter's Bane
• 1x Goblin Cratermaker
• 1x Ingot Chewer
• 1x Introduction to Annihilation
• 1x Lightning Axe
• 1x Mizzium Mortars
• 1x Mogg Salvage
• 1x Outnumber
• 1x Reckless Air Strike
• 1x Seismic Strike
• 1x Shivan Harvest
• 1x Smelt
• 1x Soul-Scar Mage
• 1x Spitting Earth
• 1x Stingscourger
• 1x Vandalblast

Recursion (9)

• 1x Ardent Elementalist
• 1x Dermotaxi
• 1x Efreet Flamepainter
• 1x Elixir of Immortality
• 1x Feldon of the Third Path
• 1x Invoke Calamity
• 1x Krark, the Thumbless
• 1x Past in Flames
• 1x Thran Foundry

Untappers (7)

• 1x Involuntary Employment
• 1x Kari Zev's Expertise
• 1x Mark of Mutiny
• 1x Mascot Interception
• 1x Traitorous Blood
• 1x Traitorous Greed
• 1x Wrangle

Win-Conditions (3)

• 1x Arcbond
• 1x Fiery Gambit
• 1x Spreading Insurrection

Commander (1)

Card-Advantage (20)

• 1x Academic Dispute
• 1x Accelerate
• 1x Ancestral Anger
• 1x Balduvian Rage
• 1x Blindblast
• 1x Boiling Blood
• 1x Chaotic Strike
• 1x Expedite
• 1x Fists of Flame
• 1x Flame Channeler  ^Flip
• 1x Hazoret's Monument
• 1x Kick in the Door
• 1x Mindmoil
• 1x Panic
• 1x Renegade Tactics
• 1x Rile
• 1x Spark Jolt
• 1x Stun
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Zap

Protection (13)

• 1x Bolt Bend
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Diamond Mare
• 1x Dualcaster Mage
• 1x Goblin Chirurgeon
• 1x Otherworldly Outburst
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Reiterate
• 1x Ricochet Trap
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Transmogrify
• 1x Wild Ricochet

Rituals (9)

• 1x Battle Hymn
• 1x Brightstone Ritual
• 1x Infernal Plunge
• 1x Inner Fire
• 1x Mana Geyser
• 1x Open the Omenpaths
• 1x Simian Spirit Guide
• 1x Skirk Prospector
• 1x Sudden Breakthrough

Acceleration (4)

• 1x Flamekin Herald
• 1x Goblin Matron
• 1x Harmonic Prodigy
• 1x Mirrorwing Dragon

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Maybeboard

Aquire-board (17)

• 1x Aria of Flame
• 1x Burning Prophet
• 1x Fiery Confluence
• 1x Goblin Bushwhacker
• 1x Invigorated Rampage
• 1x Manakin
• 1x Possibility Storm
• 1x Pyre Hound
• 1x Relic Amulet
• 1x Rionya, Fire Dancer
• 1x Seething Song
• 1x Spark of Creativity
• 1x Staff of the Flame Magus
• 1x Storm Entity
• 1x Unleash Fury
• 1x Unwilling Recruit
• 1x Welding Sparks

Price (17)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Blinkmoth Nexus
• 1x Chancellor of the Forge
• 1x Dreadhorde Arcanist
• 1x Electrodominance
• 1x Finale of Promise
• 1x Heat Shimmer
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Kher Keep
• 1x Krark's Thumb
• 1x Mizzix's Mastery
• 1x Mogg Infestation
• 1x Plague Myr
• 1x Reverberate
• 1x Tilonalli's Summoner
• 1x Treasonous Ogre
• 1x Twinflame

Arcane (6)

• 1x Blazing Shoal
• 1x Desperate Ritual
• 1x Glacial Ray
• 1x Into the Fray
• 1x Strange Inversion
• 1x Unnatural Speed

New-Considerations (5)

• 1x Burn at the Stake
• 1x Emrakul's Hatcher
• 1x From the Ashes
• 1x Mirari
• 1x Strionic Resonator

Uncertain (5)

• 1x Aleatory
• 1x Charmbreaker Devils
• 1x Cinder Pyromancer
• 1x Hellrider
• 1x Siege-Gang Commander

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General Notes

Introduction

This is a deck focused on getting Zada, Hedron Grinder out quickly (or biding your time in the background waiting for the right moment) then using any of the dozens of gimmicks in the deck to spiral into an unstoppable force over a single explosive turn. Most of my comments below are on multiplayer games, as 1v1 games don't require nearly as much timing finesse.

It's still a work in progress, but all of the cards included are cards I either own or have ordered. I am building this deck on a tight budget, so for recommendations, please keep it below $1 unless it's quite good, and below $5 unless it's absolutely bonkers. With that, I'm also optimizing this more for fun than competition, so you may notice gimmicks that, while not optimal with the meta, are likely to leave my opponents baffled.

You'll note that it has significantly more than the 100 cards in a typical deck. I am in the process of breaking it down into a 70-card core, with 5 to 8 10-card modules. The idea is that you could grab any three modules, throw them in with the core, and the deck would work.

This is in part because I typically play with the same 4-5 players, usually in multiplayer games, and the ability to change up to speed and/or strategy of the deck between play sessions should allow me to keep things interesting. It should allow some variety without needing to build another two or three decks. Most of their decks run blue, and I have yet to play a multiplayer game with them where there weren't at least 1 or 2 blue decks on the field, all of which run a decent amount of counterspells. As such, I've grabbed any/all counterspells and responses I could find (many of which involve changing the target of a counterspell) to make sure that I can get Zada, Hedron Grinder on the field safely.

Additionally, this deck can snowball to extremes, and (if it runs Elixir of Immortality) can theoretically result in an endless turn as you draw your deck, play it, and shuffle it right back in again and again. If you're playing this deck and have enough to win, don't drag it on too much longer. Sure, it can be super fun to push the deck into the realm of the obscene, but the more extreme you go before you win, the more of a perceived threat the deck will be in future games. Always try to make it seem like you're barely squeezing past the finish line and almost ran out of steam. See "Win-Conditions" for more notes.

How does it play?

Make sure your opening hand has land and at least 1 draw cantrip: Fists of Flame, Expedite, Rile, Ancestral Anger, etc.. Whatever you do, always keep at least one in hand (ideally an instant) until you are ready to unleash Zada, which (if you've set it up) will be the last turn of the game.

Early on you are trying to build up your board to a point where Zada can build off of it, without drawing your opponents' ire. In some games, you'll get enough Ramp/Ritual cards before your opponents get set up that you can safely cast him early and aggro your way to victory. In most games, however, you'll want to keep a low profile, building up some utility and manabase while keeping your high-threat combo pieces close to your chest (Storm-Kiln Artist, Harmonic Prodigy, Impact Tremors, Krenko, Mob Boss, Young Pyromancer, etc). You'll have to gauge which cards your playgroup finds threatening, and which ones they might overlook. If you have options to spare, it is occasionally smart to play one or two high-threat cards the turn before bringing Zada out to draw out removal/counterspells they might be holding on to.

Once you have a decent creature base (3 to 5 creatures are enough to start, most of the time) enough mana to cast Zada, Hedron Grinder, enough counterspell-responses, a card draw cantrip, and a means of generating mana (Sudden Breakthrough, Runaway Steam-Kin, Spawning Breath, Alena, Kessig Trapper, Storm-Kiln Artist or Treasonous Ogre) you're ready to start. Watch your opponents' hand sizes, open mana, and whether they've recently used counterspells when deciding how many counterspell-responses are enough.

At that point the pattern typically goes: 0. Play any rituals necessary to get the required mana. Unless you're going for an Arcbond play, Treasonous Ogre can also be a good way to kick things off.
1. Play any on-cast mana sources or discounters you've held on to (Runaway Steam-Kin, Birgi, God of Storytelling  , Goblin Warchief, Helm of Awakening, etc.)
2. Play Swiftfoot Boots before Zada (if possible).
3. Cast Zada, Hedron Grinder and respond as necessary to get him on the field. If that fails either stop there and wait it out or (if you have mana to spare for it) cast Zada again right away.
4. If you suspect your opponents have removal, you will want to get whatever protection active you can. If there are no ETB triggers, equipping Swiftfoot Boots or playing Goblin Chirurgeon could be good options. (See "Zada Interactions" for comments on his ETB & the stack)
5. If you haven't yet, and you have him in hand, now is a good time to play Storm-Kiln Artist.
6. Play any hoard cards you have on hand that you can afford.
7. Play a card-draw cantrip.
8. Start to snowball. Play card-draw, horde, untappers and ritual/ramp cards as necessary to expand your board.
9A. Once satisfactory, start playing bulk cards to turn your horde into a tidal wave of massive creatures with first or double strike, trample, and haste. Once the horde is large enough, swing for victory. Don't push too far beyond that point or you'll paint a target on your back for future games.
9B. Alternatively, play your burners while snowballing and burn your opponents to death or use an Arcbond (see the Win-Conditions category). Unless going for an Arcbond win avoid playing more bulk cantrips than necessary to keep your creatures alive.
10. If that wasn't enough to win this turn and you need to discard for hand size, leave yourself some mana options (treasures, untapped lands, rituals, etc), boardwipe responses, a card-draw cantrips and some defensive buff cantrips. These will be invaluable in keeping yourself alive to win the next turn. Once it's your turn again, go back through these steps to re-setup as necessary. Unless you got boardwiped, you can't afford to wait things out and will need to go for the snowball again.

Zada Interactions

Zada, Hedron Grinder is an interesting card. Somewhat simple to explain, but with a lot of nuances once you start looking at how he interacts with the stack, priority, and responses your opponents may have.

Cantrips

Here, I use the term "cantrip" to refer to any spell that gets copied by Zada, Hedron Grinder. I know that the term is typically used to refer to all low mana value instants and sorceries. However, there is enough overlap that for my purposes I will exclude low mana value instant and sorcery spells that don't target (just) Zada (Brightstone Ritual, Smelt, etc.), and include some of the higher mana value cards that do (Fiery Gambit, Introduction to Annihilation, etc.)

Casting and Copying

• Note the distinction between cards, spells and permanents. AFAIK anything on the stack is either an ability or a spell (a creature spell, an instant spell, an enchantment spell, etc.), anything on the field is a permanent (a creature, enchantment, artifact, etc.), and anything in the library, hand, graveyard, or exile is a card (creature card, instant card, sorcery card, etc.). All cards and abilities are explicit on whether they affect cards, spells, or permanents (for certain cards this might require looking at their oracle text on ).
• When a card is cast, any decisions made are inherent to the spell and cannot be changed if the spell is copied unless the copying effect specifies it can (such as changing targets). If a card has multiple options, you cannot choose another option when copying the spell, as you are copying the spell, not the card, and the spell only contains the effects selected on casting. In addition, if a card could have more than a single target, but the spell only targets Zada, Hedron Grinder, his ability will trigger, and copies placed on the stack by his ability will only target the creature it was copied in reference to. You cannot select additional or alternative targets.
• Several cards mention "Up to one/two/X targets." This will often allow you to use cards as cantrips or non-cantrips. A good example is Explosive Entry. You can use it for artifact removal if necessary, but if you cast it with 0 artifact targets and 1 creature target (Zada) then it counts as a cantrip spell and Zada's ability will trigger.
• Zada's ability is not a may effect. You cannot cast a cantrip spell targeting only Zada and choose to only copy it for some creatures, or not copy it at all. If an instant or sorcery spell you cast targets only Zada, then his ability will trigger.
• Zada's ability will only trigger on cast. If you target Zada with a copy of a cantrip spell his ability will not trigger (See [Krark, the Thumbless] or [Dualcaster Mage]). If you cast a copy of a cantrip card and target Zada, his ability will trigger (See Mizzix's Mastery). Always look to see if the wording of an effect specifies casting a copy.
• Zada's ability triggers on cast and ignores any/all changes made while the cantrip spell is on the stack. A cantrip spell targeting Zada when you cast it will still trigger his ability if the spell is countered or altered while on the stack to no longer target (only) Zada. Similarly, if you cast a cantrip spell but don't target Zada, then alter it to target Zada while it's still on the stack, his ability will not trigger. This can be useful if you want a cantrip to only target Zada and is part of why the deck has so many ways to copy spells and/or alter their targets.

The Stack

I'm going to start by describing what happens to the stack when you cast a spell. If you are already familiar with the nuances of the stack, feel free to skip down to the Zada-specific interactions.

General Resolution

• When someone cast a spell, the spell is placed on the stack and any abilities that are triggered on cast need to be placed on the stack. If there are multiple triggered abilities then the active player places the triggered abilities he controls on the stack in whatever order he chooses, and then the non-active players do the same following turn order (APNAP order, i.e. active player non-active player order). This is a process very similar to resolving priority. Once all triggered abilities are on the stack, we check for new triggers (if there are any, place the triggered abilities on the stack in similar fashion) then start to resolve the stack, starting with whichever ability was placed on it most recently. Note that this means that the abilities will resolve in reverse to APNAP with the active player's triggered abilities resolving last.
• Before any ability or spell resolution priority is passed around in APNAP order and players have the opportunity to cast at instant-speed and/or activate abilities. If any new abilities or spells are placed on the stack, triggers are checked and priority restarts with the active player. Once priority goes full circle without anyone placing anything on the stack, the effect of whichever spell or ability was last placed on the stack resolves and any triggers from its resolution are placed on the stack. This is often referred to as "resolving priority" and "resolving an ability/spell".
• This process is repeated until the stack is empty, at which point priority resolves again, with the active player being able to can cast at either instant or sorcery speed.

Zada-specific Resolutions

• When you cast a cantrip targeting Zada, Hedron Grinder the cantrip goes on the stack and any abilities that are triggered on cast need to be placed on the stack, including Zada's ability. Note that you will often have other abilities that trigger on cast, and you get to choose what order they resolve in. Of note are Storm-Kiln Artist, Birgi, God of Storytelling  , Runaway Steam-Kin, Krark, the Thumbless, and burners like Thermo-Alchemist. This means that priority will be resolved before you get the mana/treasure, flip a coin, untap, etc.. This will rarely be relevant unless your opponents have the ability to counter abilities (in which case it is extremely relevant). The order the abilities trigger, however, might be relevant if resolving any of the triggered abilities would trigger any other abilities. Typically speaking, you will want to resolve the mana-related abilities first so you have access to the mana if necessary.
• Once Zada's ability resolves it places copies of the cantrip spell on the stack, in whichever order you would like. This means that you technically need to choose the order prior to resolving any of the copies and that the original cantrip spell (targetting Zada) will always resolve last. Most groups won't require you to state the order before resolving the first ability, however, so don't feel pressure to keep track of all that (the stack will get massive at times).
• Note that his ability will still resolve if the cantrip spell is countered or altered after it enters the stack. This makes it extremely hard to counter cantrips targetting Zada, as your opponent will either need to counter Zada's ability (which isn't a spell and thus isn't a valid target for most counterspells), counter the cantrip spells (original and copies) individually, or remove their targets before they resolve. That last one is typically your primary concern. This also means that you can cast a spell like Chaos Warp or Transmogrify on Zada (typically applicable when you have a token-heavy board) and then counter or redirect any of the individual cantrip spells without interfering with the others. Again, part of why cards like Ricochet Trap, Wild Ricochet, and Bolt Bend are in the deck.
• This also means that it is often completely viable to cast an instant cantrip spell targeting Zada in response to a boardwipe or other ability/spell that would remove or cripple Zada, Hedron Grinder or other permanents that synergize with his presence, such as Storm-Kiln Artist or Young Pyromancer. Keeping a card-draw instant on hand is frequently enough to make sure you can draw a response before Zada is removed/crippled. Worst case scenario, you snowball as much as you need to using only instant-speed spells, either allow the removal effect to resolve or use Chaos Warp to remove him to your advantage, then either re-cast Zada (if prior snowballing has left you with plenty of mana to use, which it easily can) or swing for victory (if you managed to bulk up the horde to satisfaction prior to Zada's removal). If your opponents rely heavily on removal as opposed to counterspells, it may be wise to replace sorcery-speed cards for similar (if less effective) instant-speed cards. See also my notes on Invoke Calamity.
• While you can't respond to removal effects with sorceries, it is worth noting that once Zada enters the battlefield, you are the first player to have priority, and if there are no ETB triggers, the stack will be empty and you will be able to activate an ability or play a spell at sorcery-speed before any of your opponents can respond to Zada entering the battlefield. Note that they will still be able to respond prior to that ability or spells' resolution. This can be useful if you want to cast a spell such as Fiery Gambit, Kari Zev's Expertise, Traitorous Greed, Kick in the Door or one of the sorcery-speed card-draw cantrip spells before your opponents have a chance to remove Zada, but won't allow you to get Swiftfoot Boots equipped before they have a chance to remove Zada.

Individual cards and combos:

Acceleration

Flamekin Herald is an interesting card to consider. She allows you to make the most of casting Zada, Hedron Grinder. However, since the ability resolves prior to Zada entering the battlefield there could be some missed opportunities if you flip over a cantrip. It can be a decent asset, however, if scrying is involved.

Goblin Matron allows you to pull Krark, the Thumbless, Krenko, Mob Boss, Goblin Warchief, Goblin Chirurgeon, or Skirk Prospector to hand, depending on your need at the moment.

Harmonic Prodigy is probably one of the most busted cards in the deck. It's prowess body makes it extremely hard to kill via damage, and its passive ability touches on so many of the deck's combos: It doubles Guttersnipe and Thermo-Alchemist's damage, Storm-Kiln Artist's treasures, Soul-Scar Mage's prowess bulk, Krark, the Thumbless's flips, Ardent Elementalist, Dreadhorde Arcanist and Efreet Flamepainter's recursion, Dualcaster Mage's copies, and Young Pyromancer and Rionya, Fire Dancer's token creation.

Mirrorwing Dragon functions as a back-up Zada. Should Zada have been removed enough times that bringing her back is ridiculously expensive, Mirrorwing provides a 5-drop alternative that your opponents can also use, but otherwise functions exactly how Zada does. He is also less vulnerable to removal, as any single-target removal your opponents use on Mirrorwing is liable to wipe their own board, and you may find your opponents opting to leave him on the field to use cantrips of their own on him (which has it's risks, but their decks aren't built around the mechanic).

Bulk

Most of these are straightforward, so I'm going to list them by effect, for ease of access. Some of these cards are listed in another category than Bulk due to a different primary functions.

First Strike: Crowd's Favor, Daring Escape, Fit of Rage, Furious Resistance, Lunar Frenzy, Stolen Vitality (defence only), Storm Strike, Sudden Breakthrough, Sure Strike

Double Strike: Assault Strobe, Temur Battle Rage

Trample: Ancestral Anger, Brute Strength, Fists of Flame, Lunar Frenzy, Rile, Run Amok, Rush of Adrenaline, Stolen Vitality, Temur Battle Rage, Traitorous Blood

Haste: Accelerate, Expedite, Involuntary Employment, Kari Zev's Expertise, Kick in the Door, Mark of Mutiny, Mascot Interception, Reckless Charge, Traitorous Blood, Traitorous Greed, Wrangle

Vigilance: Expanded Anatomy

Reach: Academic Dispute

3+ Power boost: Balduvian Rage, Brute Force, Brute Strength, Built to Smash, Downhill Charge, Fists of Flame, Fit of Rage, Furious Resistance, Lunar Frenzy, Reckless Charge, Run Amok, Stolen Vitality, Sure Strike, Titan's Strength, Unleash Fury

Toughness boost: Brute Force, Brute Strength, Built to Smash, Chaotic Strike, Expanded Anatomy, Explosive Entry, Fit of Rage, Kick in the Door, Mark of Mutiny, Raze the Effigy, Run Amok, Rush of Adrenaline, Stolen Vitality, Titan's Strength

+1/+1 counters: Expanded Anatomy, Explosive Entry, Kick in the Door, Mark of Mutiny

Scry 1: Daring Escape, Storm Strike, Titan's Strength

Attack only: Built to Smash, Raze the Effigy, Run Amok

Reserve for Defence: Chaotic Strike, Crowd's Favor (Convoke allows you to pull this out of nowhere despite being tapped out.), Furious Resistance

Burn

Broad Burn: First off, you have cards that allow you to chip away at your opponents' life totals. (Guttersnipe, Harsh Mentor, Impact Tremors, Thermo-Alchemist, Thundering Raiju) These have the advantage of doing so evenly (so no individual player feels targetted) and as a result of some other primary action (so it doesn't feel like you're doing it aggressively, but as a side effect).

Targetted Burn: These are spells that allow you to hit a specific target (creature, player, and sometimes planeswalker) for a significant amount. (Geistflame Reservoir, Grapeshot, Lightning Volley, Soul's Fire). Best used in 1v1 scenarios, to take down a "common threat", or for pointed removal.

Anti-Fog: These spells counter spells which would prevent damage, allowing you to make sure that you don't find your winning turn halted by a fog. (Call In a Professional, Insult / Injury, Wild Slash). While these cards have additional effects, they will rarely be the reason you would cast them.

Particular Notes: Soul's Fire is not a cantrip unless you have Zada deal damage equal to its power to itself. It is used instead after you have used Zada to bulk up your creatures to obsene power levels.

Card-Advantage

The bread and butter of the deck, and largely the reason it can be as successful as it is. Be aware that most of these effects are not may effects. If you play Expedite on Zada while you have 20 creatures on the board, you will need to draw 20 cards, even if you only have 19 left in your library. Be careful not to mill yourself out, and if necessary use Elixir of Immortality or Thran Foundry to beef your library back up.

Cantrip:

1-Drop Draw: Ancestral Anger, Expedite, Renegade Tactics, Rile

2-Drop Draw: Accelerate, Chaotic Strike, Fists of Flame, Stun

3-Drop Draw: Blindblast, Boiling Blood, Zap

Delayed Draw: Balduvian Rage, Panic

Alternative: Academic Dispute (Learn), Daring Escape (Scry 1), Kick in the Door (Venture into the Dungeon), Spark Jolt (Scry 1), Storm Strike (Scry 1), Titan's Strength (Srcy 1)

Instant Draw: Accelerate, Blindblast, Boiling Blood, Expedite, Fists of Flame, Stun, Zap

Sorcery Draw: Ancestral Anger, Kick in the Door, Renegade Tactics, Rile

Phase-Limited Draw: Balduvian Rage, Chaotic Strike, Panic

Pinging Draw: Blindblast, Rile, Spark Jolt, Zap

Debuff Draw: Blindblast, Boiling Blood, Panic, Renegade Tactics, Stun

Non-Cantrip

Flame Channeler   is an interesting card. Getting her flipped should be no trouble, and flame counters will not be hard to find. It essentially gives you a reusable 1 card/mana you can use prior to Zada entering the field, though the fact that the card is exiled if not played immediately can make it a very risky card.

Thought Vessel on the other hand is a great card to play, as it allows you to build up a decent bit of card advantage prior to the explosive turn, or if you find myself ending the turn despite Zada's entry.

Horde

Since Zada, Hedron Grinder's cantrips are multiplied for each creature, pretty soon the limiting factor becomes how many creatures are on the field. These are cards that are optimum from a creature/card standpoint (Empty the Warrens or Goblinslide) and/or a creature/mana standpoint (Ornithopter, Rograkh, Son of Rogahh) to accommodate boardstates that are limited by hand size or by mana pool. Some of these are single-use, others a recurring utility.

Summons (Instant and sorcery spells): Dragon Fodder, Empty the Warrens, Hordeling Outburst, Krenko's Command, Kuldotha Rebirth, Molten Birth, Spawning Breath
(These combo well with card like Storm-Kiln Artist, Guttersnipe, Thermo-Alchemist, Krark, the Thumbless, Goblinslide and Young Pyromancer along with most of the recursion I have access to)

Cheap creatures and creatures that make tokens on ETB: Goblin Instigator, Goldhound, Impulsive Pilferer, Mogg War Marshal, Ornithopter, Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh
(Synergize well with cards like Chaos Warp, Transmogrify, and Feldon of the Third Path by tipping the balance more towards a permanent heavy deck)

Tokens as an activated or triggered ability: Battle Cry Goblin, Goblinslide, Krenko, Mob Boss, Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin, Young Pyromancer

Other Notes

Siege of Towers is a card thrown in to fit the gamble theme. You use any spare mana you have to turn a certain number of lands into creatures, making your board much more vulnerable to boardwipes, but also allowing for a much wider board and a lot more untap shenanigans.

Ornithopter and Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh find their way into the deck due to the ease with which you can play them after drawing a pile of cards. Mana or no mana, they go on, potentially opening up more mana to keep playing cards. Examples:
Rograkh entering when you have Birgi, God of Storytelling   and/or Runaway Steam-Kin on the field.
Playing Ornithopter to give you an artifact to drop Kuldotha Rebirth with. Playing either or both of them to bring Battle Hymn or Sudden Breakthrough past its threshold.

Hulks

These creatures act primarily as lightning rods to pull some removal away from Zada and other combo pieces, and as fuel for Alena, Kessig Trapper or Soul's Fire. In addition to Horde of Boggarts, Storm Entity, Spellgorger Weird and Taurean Mauler, the prowess cards (Harmonic Prodigy and Soul-Scar Mage) also fit into this role, though less effectively.
Prior to your explosive turn, Taurean Mauler is the best of the three to play, as he feeds off of your opponents' actions.
Horde of Boggarts is best played when Alena is on the field and you have enough red permanents that he comes on with a massive body. Spellgorger Weird is best played either right before, or at the beginning of the explosive turn, allowing him to stay fairly inconspicuous until it matters, at which point he grows expansively. And Storm Entity fits in as a back-up piece should you find your board getting wiped. Sure, it's just one creature, but playing a 25/25 with haste for 2 mana is still a decent comeback. And yes, the storm count will get that high.

Lands

Running Mono-Red there isn't much need for non-basic lands. The ones I've grabbed are primarily lands that can be activated as creatures, allowing me to increase my body count when Zada, Hedron Grinder comes onto the field without being easily removable prior to the explosive turn. It is worth noting that Siege of Towers essentially does the same thing "en masse" which makes it both effective and risky. Note that nothing requires the lands to be untapped.

Ghitu Encampment and Mishra's Factory essentially behave the same way. Cheap creatures when I need them. Blinkmoth Nexus as well, though its $2.50 price tag didn't feel warranted for what I want it for.

Given enough legendary creatures on the board, Mobilized District very quickly goes from expensive to cheap to free. Vigilance is also a really plus on a creature you can tap for mana.

Dwarven Mine is a great turn 4+ drop as it gives you an extra body roughly at the same time you can start playing Zada.

Spinerock Knoll on the other hand gives you the ability to drop an expensive card for what is essentially 2 mana. With the burn engines we have, 7 or more damage in a turn really isn't much, at least not on the turn where we are most likely to want a cheap cast.

Protection

Ahh, yes protection. This largely falls under three categories: 1. Get Zada on the field. 2. Keep Zada on the Field, and 3. Boardwipe/Cripple Recovery

1. Get Zada on the field (Counterspell-responses)

First off we have two anti-blue counterspells which double as removal: Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast. Considering my biggest concerns in this category are blue (and most of my friends run blue in most of their decks) these are never cards you are sad to see in hand.

And then we have our redirection/copying spells: Ricochet Trap (which, again, works well against blue), Wild Ricochet (expensive, but more versatile), Bolt Bend (which can easily be cast for 1 mana) and Dualcaster Mage (which gives us an extra body, doubles with Harmonic Prodigy and could combo off of cards like Twinflame and Heat Shimmer if they weren't so expensive).

2. Keep Zada on the Field (Removal-responses)

Most of the responses in section 1 are still viable here, though you may start finding the redirectors more useful than the anti-blue counterspells.

You can also add Swiftfoot Boots and Goblin Chirurgeon to the list. While Swiftfoot Boots isn't fast enough to stop your opponents from playing removal right on ETB, give Goblin Chirurgeon enough goblin tokens to work with and he can definitely keep Zada (and himself) alive for a decent bit.

3. Boardwipe/Cripple Recovery

This is a strange category. Essentially, these are card you hold on to until either A. you see a golden opportunity to use them elsewhere, or B. a boardwipe gets played, and you don't have any ways of stopping it.

Chaos Warp works extremely well at removing permanents you would otherwise have a hard time removing (so... enchantments) but doubles as a boardwipe response. Play it on Zada, and you essentially get to flip over a bunch of cards from your library, placing permanents revealed on the battlefield. Under most boardwipe circumstances, the new creatures would still get destroyed, but their ETB triggers could be relevant, and they may give you more options. Enchantments, artifacts, and lands however are typically unaffected by the boardwipes you would worry about. Transmogrify plays a similar role, though being sorcery speed, will rarely be played as a direct response. It is extremely useful, however, when dealing with Zada + a boardful of tokens and very few (if any) non-token creatures. Which brings me to....

Otherworldly Outburst is a card that few people would see as a boardwipe response. However, it helps make sure that even if you lose most of your utility, you body count still stay high. Follow it up with Transmogrify, however, and you've potentially replaced a mixed board of token and non-token creatures with a board completely composed of non-token creatures. Only applicable if you've already ballooned you manabase to extreme proportions and casting Zada a 3rd and 4th time right away isn't too severe a mana drain. Additionally, activating an Elixir of Immortality or Thran Foundry first will ensure that you have enough creature cards in your deck to replace each token creature with a non-token creature.

Finally, I placed Diamond Mare in this category because I didn't know where else to put it. Diamond Mare is primarily in the deck to keep Treasonous Ogre and Arcbond viable cards, as well as a low-threat way of staying in the game long enough to balloon with Zada.

Ramp

Ramp - Reuseable sources of mana and/or cast discounts.

Tapable

Sol Ring is a staple in most decks, and for good reasons. Combined with a Simian Spirit Guide, Walking Atlas, and/or Treasonous Ogre in your opening hand and you can get a decently quick start.

Iron Myr and Alena, Kessig Trapper, Walking Atlas**.

Recursion

WIP

Removal

WIP

Rituals

WIP

Untappers

WIP

Win Conditions

WIP Consider using an Arcbond and a single point of damage once your life total is above your opponents' to spiral into a game of "last man standing". This could be a good way of underplaying the deck: making it seem like you ran out of steam and went for the desperate gamble instead of allowing your opponents to wipe you out before your next turn. Note that white players may have responses that would allow them to outlive you (life-gain, "can't lose", etc.)

Date added	2 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	3 - 0 Mythic Rares 33 - 0 Rares 44 - 0 Uncommons 85 - 0 Commons
Cards	195
Avg. CMC	2.37
Tokens	Copy Clone, Devil 1/1 R, Dungeon: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Dungeon: Lost Mine of Phandelver, Dungeon: Tomb of Annihilation, Dwarf 1/1 R, Eldrazi Horror 3/2 C, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Elemental 1/1 R, Goblin 1/1 R, Myr 1/1 C, Skeleton 1/1 B, The Atropal, Treasure
Based on	Zada, Hedron Grinder | The Commander's Quarters commandersquarters EDH