Whether you’re playing Limited, Commander, or even constructed, Deathtouch is an extremely annoying MTG mechanic. No matter how massive your creature is, without removal, it can get stopped in its tracks by a little 1/1 Frog. This is already enough to make Deathtouch a valuable mechanic, but it can be pushed much further. Zagras, Thief of Heartbeats is perhaps one of the best examples of this, using the mechanic to create infinite combos.
MTG Zagras, Thief of Heartbeats
Zagras, Thief of Heartbeats is an absolute nightmare for Superfriends decks, making it almost impossible to keep Planeswalkers alive. While this is a nice side effect, Zagras’s focus is on the Deathtouch it grants your team. Throw in his built-in cost reduction, and Zagras can hit the ground running quicker than you expect.
With this in mind, the best creatures for this Commander are Party members who turn into removal with Deathtouch. Blood Cultist and Prodigical Pyromancer are great examples of this, fulfilling the Wizard role in your party while offering repeatable removal. Pair these cards with an untap effect like Sting, Glinting Dagger, and you can remove one creature every turn. Heck, you can even use cards like Viridian Longbow to turn all of your creatures into removal pieces.
While these cards can control the board continually, Zagras also creates some one-sided board wipes with on-theme Party members. Goblin Chainwhirler and Dagger Caster, for example, become one-sided board wipes for the low cost of three mana. Throw in some effects to reanimate these creatures, and keeping threats around for your opponents becomes a nightmare.
Since your opponent’s creatures will be dying often, running cards that can benefit from that can do a lot of work. Grave Betrayal, for example, can pick up any creatures that your Deathtouch Pingers pick off, while Black Market can make a boatload of mana. Even Revel in Riches can double as a win condition that makes you some extra mana.
Sadly, despite Zagras’s built-in cost reduction, the Commander will still get quite expensive after dying a few times. Because of this, having some backup cards that can grant your team Deathtouch, like Basilisk Collar and Archetype of Finality, can make your game plan a lot more consistent. Alternatively, cards like Campfire and Command Beacon can help when Zagras’s Commander Tax gets expensive.
Infinite Deathtouch Loops
While Zagras can keep the board clear relatively easily, winning the game is another question entirely. Fortunately, by using Dread Slaver, there are a few infinite combos that can lead to a game win. Alongside Pandemonium or Warstorm Surge, for example, Dread Slaver can kill itself over and over with Zagras in play. This will create infinite enters and leaves effects, allowing a Blood Artist effect to close the game.
If you fail to find Dread Slaver, Zagras can also win the game by using Inferno Titan and Scythe of the Wretched. Once you have all three cards in play, and Scythe of the Wretched is attached to Inferno Titan, use its effect to deal one damage to itself and two damage to your opponents. Since Inferno Titan has Deathtouch, it will die, allowing Scythe of the Wretched to bring it back. This will trigger Inferno Titan’s enters effect, repeating the loop.
Killing Everything
Thanks to all of Zagras’s tricks, Commander decks trying to win the game with Planeswalkers or creatures should have a miserable time. Considering that this is the vast majority of bracket 3 decks, it’s surprising Zagras isn’t more popular. With only 642 decks according to EDHREC, this Commander sees barely any play at all.
On the plus side, thanks to this unpopularity, Zagras, and many of his core cards are rather cheap to acquire. Despite only having one printing in Zendikar Rising, you can grab this Vampire Rogue for as little as $0.29, making him an interesting budget build-around. With that in mind, there’s little stopping you from keeping your opponents’ boards clear with Deathtouch.
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