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There are many ways to win inMagic: The Gatheringand one of the best ways is to simply outgrow your opponents. Draw more cards, play more lands, produce more mana, and cast more spells. Do that enough and you’ll be so far ahead that your foes have no chance to catch up.
Blue and green (referred to as Simic in Magic color parlance) best exemplify this strategy of endless, unrestricted growth, and perhaps no other commander best typifies this ethos than Prime Speaker Zegana. Bigger creatures, more cards, and counter-manipulation will pave the path to victory with Zegana.
The Commander: Prime Speaker Zegana
Prime Speaker Zegana is a fairly simple commander. First, shegains +1/+1 counters equal to the highest power among creatures you controlwhen she’s cast, and then youdraw cards equal to that number plus one. Even if you only have a 2/2 on the board, that means you’re paying six mana to have a 3/3 that draws three cards.
Zegana gets much better once you have something with a little heft around—or better yet, something that grows to the size you want it to be by the time you can cast Zegana. If you play Chasm Skulker or Lorescale Coatl on turn three, then by turn six, they’ll be a 4/4 or a 5/5, respectively, meaning Zegana will be a 5/5 that draws five cards or a 6/6 that draws six cards.
That’s a lot of cards to draw all at once. APrime Speaker Zegana deck is encouraged to go all-out, playing as many creatures and spells as it can in the early game with the expectation that you’ll essentially draw an entirely new hand by the time you cast Zegana.
Ramp spells will play an important rolein any potential Zegana deck, helping to get Zegana out quickly and also providing a solid mana base to case future spells.
Zegana provides two very good things: cards and +1/+1 counters.More cards mean more options, and counters mean more combat power. With a little help, those counters can also provide more mana, more cards, or even outright win the game on their own (lookin' at you, Twenty-Toed Toad).
Building Your Prime Speaker Zegana Commander Deck
There are several components to a good Prime Speaker Zegana deck.The first arecards that grow with the more cards you draw. Creatures of this type both provide power to help draw cards, and once Prime Speaker Zegana is cast, they also grow more powerful with each card drawn.
The second thing Zegana wants is ramp. Six mana isn’t the cheapest, and the sooner you get to casting Zegana, the better. More mana also means you’re better prepared to cast all those spells Zegana lets you draw.
After that,some cards that synergize well with all those +1/+1 countersand somegood old-fashioned Simic (blue-green) stapleswill set Zegana up for success.
Growing Threats
Cards that get larger with every card you draw synergize extremely wellwith Prime Speaker Zegana. If you play Lorescale Coatl early on, you’ve got a great target for Zegana and an enormous threat after she’s cast.
Chasm Skulker, Forgotten Ancient, Kianne, Corrupted Memory, Pollywog Prodigy, Fathom Mage, and Zimone, Paradox Sculptorare just a few examples of cards that grow over time to help empower Zegana. Then there are cards like Master Biomancer, Kalonian Hydra, Vorel of the Hull Clade, and Tishana, Voice of Thunder that just keep growing over time, forcing your opponents to deal with them or else succumb to repeated assaults.
There are also non-creature ways to grow your power.Wizard Class, Innkeeper’s Talent, Branching Evolution, and Powerfistare all great ways to grow lots of +1/+1 counters quickly.
Counter Manipulation
Having all those +1/+1 counters is great on its own, but there areplenty of cards that offer more than just power and toughnesswith a counter on them.
Plaxcaster Froglinggives critters with counters shroud. Evolution Witness retrieves cards from your graveyard.Herald of Secret Streamsmakes all your counter creatures unblockable. Zegana, Utopian Speaker gives them trample.Forgotten Ancientlets you distribute power amongst your forces, andThe Ozolithensures death doesn’t mean the loss of all those +1/+1 counters.
There are alsospells that take advantage of counters on creatures. Inspiring Call can draw four or five cards easily, Mutational Advantage protects every creature with a counter (and gives them more), and Wave Goodbye tosses all creatures without counters back to their owner’s hands.
Special mention for Twenty-Toed Toad and Simic Ascendency. Both of these cardsprovide an alternate win conditionif you’re able to amass enough +1/+1 counters.
Ramp
Expensive commanders require a bit of help to get reliably on the board. There are the usual mana rocks like Sol Ring, Arcane, and Simic Signets, and green spells like Farseek, Cultivate, Birds of Paradise, and Llanowar Elves.
On top of those, you can addIncubation Druid, Gyre Sage, Rishkar, Peema Renegade, Kami of Whispered Hopes, Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle, Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter, and Ozolith, the Shattered Spire. All of these can ensure your deck has plenty of mana to keep up with all the cards you draw.
Zegana is likely to draw so many cards that you’ll exceed the seven-card maximum hand size.Thought Vessel, Reqliquary Tower, Body of Knowledge, Tishana, Voice of Thunder, and Proft’s Eidetic Memory all remove the maximum hand sizeso you can draw cards to your heart’s content.
Simic Staples
Playing green and blue means you shouldtake advantage of a few staple cards only available to Simic mages.Oko, Thief of Crowns is chief among them. This guy can be utterly oppressive in Commander play, so if you can use him, do so.
Rapid Hybridization and Beast Withinprovide some removal,Voidslime and Counterspellkeep the worst of your foe’s spells from resolving, andCurse of the Swine and Cyclonic Riftkeep the board clear.
Body of Research provides a massive body that could result in an instant winif you’ve got Herald of Secret Streams or Rogue’s Passage on the table.
Rhystic Study is always a must-haveif you’ve got it, but if not, we’ll discuss some budget substitutions in the next section.
Prime Speaker Zegana Commander Deck List
With all that in mind,here’s a recommended Prime Speaker Zegana Commander deck list.
Curse of the Swine
Island (6)
Budget Substitutions
There are a few cards in the suggested deck list that might be out of reach for the average Magic newcomer.Here are a few cards that are more affordableto keep things casual.
Overbeing of Myth, Kruphix, God of Horizons
Oko, Thief of Crowns
Kiora, the Crashing Wave, Kiora, Master of the Depths, Garruk, Primal Hunter
Primal Empathy, Decanter of Endless Water
Rhystic Study
Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner, Garruk’s Uprising, Hadana’s Climb, Bred for the Hunt, Nerd Rage
Lonely Sandbar, Mystic Sanctuary
Breeding Pool
Tangled Islet, Thornwood Falls, Overflowing Basin, Simic Guildgate, Rimewood Falls, Restless Vinestalk
