Zenos Yae Galvus has one of the strangest MTG abilities we’ve ever seen. To make things even weirder, this card appears in the main set, rather than in Final Fantasy Commander. Killing one player will obviously end a two-player game, but Zenos Yae Galvus also offers an instant win in multiplayer formats like Commander.
This is both incredibly flavorful and rather powerful, at least as far as casual Commander goes. That said, the conditions to set this win condition up aren’t exactly easy. The good news, at least, is that Zenos isn’t the worst MTG card otherwise.
Zenos Yae Galvus
If you want to win the game by knocking out just one targeted player, Zenos Yae Galvus asks you to jump through a few hoops. This card, without all the bells and whistles, functions as a board wipe on a creature. Unfortunately, Zenos only hits the board with -2/-2, which is a bit disappointing for five mana.
Weirder yet, one creature your opponent controls won’t be affected by Zenos’s ability. This is a fantastic and flavorful nod to Zenos’ relationship with the Warrior of Light in Final Fantasy XIV. Turning our attention back to MTG, you’ll want to pick the creature you want to kill the most, since its death will transform Zenos into Shinryu, Transcendant Rival.
Once this massive 8/8 Behemoth enters play, you can designate an opponent to die. Once that opponent falls, Shinryu will cut your Commander game short, winning the game on the spot.
This win condition is rather flexible. You can achieve it in a ton of different ways, as all you need to do is kill one opponent. While this may make Shinryu seem like a whole new world to try, this card will probably play a lot worse than it looks.
Worse Than You Think
As powerful as this may seem, Shinryu’s ability is deceptively weak, especially in cEDH. Killing one player is still a massive task. It would be much easier to use an infinite combo that just wipes out the whole table.
Worse yet, your opponents have every opportunity to remove Shinryu before your designated foe falls. A simple removal spell like Go For the Throat is all you need for your work to be for naught. Imagine getting your creature removed right before you’re about to kill your chosen opponent.
As far as Standard goes, Zenos sees little to no chance of seeing play, either. Not only is Shinryu less relevant in two-player Magic, but Harvester of Misery is a Standard-legal creature that does everything Shinryu does, but better. Not only will Harvester of Misery give everything -2/-2, but it has a better stat line, has Menace, and can discard itself for two mana to remove a creature. Zenos is far too slow for any other competitive format.
Some players are particularly frustrated about Zednos appearing in the main set. Zednos’s flashy ability only works in Commander, and the card has a strictly better alternative in Standard. This may have been a card to include in a Commander precon instead of as a Standard-legal rare.
Where to Play Zenos Yae Galvus
One place that Zenos might be particularly strong, however, is in Goad Commander decks. Goad has a massive issue once only two players remain: Goaded creatures can attack the player Goading them. While there is a win condition that circumvents this, reliably getting Hot Pursuit every game is not realistic. Zenos can also help avoid the one-on-one showdown since the game shouldn’t continue to a two-player one.
One player mentioned throwing Zenos in a Harmless Offering deck. You can gift your opponent Demonic Pact and force them to lose the game. Adding Shinryu to the MTG Foundations combo means that the entire game ends.
This card is similarly hilarious alongside Door to Nothingness. Instead of just one player losing the game, you win the game. Any other ‘lose the game’ effects like Etrata, the Silencer, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Sinner’s Judgment, and Phage, the Untouchable will find an unexpected ally in Zenos Yae Galvus.
An Incredibly Fun and Flavorful Crossover
While Zenos Yae Galvus might not be the strongest Magic card ever, it passes the flavor check with flying colors. Now, you can obsess over your player character in EDH, and can even experience the alternate ending of Zenos being the last one standing.
At the end of the day, this is a very easy win condition to try and achieve, which could mean that lots of players will try to do it. I would expect this Final Fantasy card to be rather popular in the early weeks of release.
