Hello and welcome to Daily Commander!

Today we are going to be talking about Zaxara, the Exemplary!

Zaxara is a four mana 2/3 with deathtouch, can tap to add two mana of any one color, and whenever you cast a a spell with X in its mana cost then you create a 0/0 green Hydra token with X +1/+1 counters on it.

A combination of X spell payoffs, big mana, and going wide with massive Hydra tokens sounds like a great time, but while it is always great to have one Zaxara to generate a ton of tokens, what if we had multiple?

The goal of this deck is to get as many copies of Zaxara in play so that when we cast our X spells we get even more value from them, as well as being able to cast even more X spells with having multiple Zaxara to make mana for.

So the first thing we need to do is guarantee that we can actually have multiple Zaxara on the battlefield.

Cards like Mirror Box are great for this because it allows us to inform the legend rule and has the bonus ability of if a nontoken creatures has the same name as other creatures then that creature gets a +1/+1 bonus for each instance of that occurrence while also giving a +1/+1 to legendary creatures we control.

There is also Mirror Gallery which just ignores the legend rule and Sakashima of a Thousand Faces which enters as a copy of another creature you control and permanents you control ignore the legend rule, but those tend to be higher it price.

We can also use other cards that make token copies and clone cards like Irenicus’s Vile Duplication and Spark Double as ways to make token copies that can ignore the legend rule.

Since we should ideally have a lot of mana at our disposal, then Helm of the Host should also be something worth consideration since we should be able to attach it to Zaxara to create a token copy of it at the beginning of combat on our turn in order to slowly start accumulating some value.

Quantum Misalignment is one of the best versions of creating a token copy of a creature since it also has Rebound, which allows us to cast it again at the beginning of our upkeep without spending any mana, meaning we get two copies of Zaxara for only four mana.

The next thing we need to do for this to work is to get a decent number of protection spells in order to amass a Hydra army.

Ideally any spell that can protect us that has X in the cost is worth consideration because it lets us make a Hydra token. Counter spells like Power Sink are worth some consideration because we can have a bunch of mana up to dump into spell to stop a removal spells, tap an opponent out, and make a decently sized Hydra in the process.

Repulsive Mutation is also something to look at because not only does it make a creature we control stronger, but it also counters a spell if a its controller doesn’t pay mana equal to the strongest creature we have in play, which if we only pay 1 into the X and only have Zaxara means that an opponent has to pay three extra mana for a removal spell.

We can use Erebos’s Intervention in order to kill an indestructible creature while gaining life or getting rid of problematic cards from the graveyard, Tyvar’s Stand to give Zaxara hexproof and indestructible and +X/+X until end of turn, and Icy Blast in order to to tap down a large number of creature our opponents control.

Silkguard is also one of the better pieces of protection because it not only gives +1/+1 counters to X number of creatures, but gives modified creatures, Auras, and Equipment hexproof until the end of the turn in order to better protect our things.

Lastly we need the other X spells that will help give us some massive Hydra tokens and get us into a winning position.

While not an X spell, Unbound Flourishing is definitely something that we need to include in the deck because it effectively doubles the value of X for any X spell we cast and if we cast an instant or sorcery or activated ability that have X in the mana cost we get a copy of that spell or activated ability.

Other Hydra spells are some of the prime cards we play, Primordial Hydra being a Hydra that doubles its +1/+1 counters at the beginning of our upkeep and gains trample when it gets ten, Steelbane Hydra to use its counters to remove artifacts and enchantments, and Hydroid Krasis to draw a bunch of cards and gain some life.

We can use Animist’s Awakening to do a massive amount of ramping and use the lands immediately if we have two or more instants and sorceries in the graveyard, Villainous Wealth to steal cards from our opponents, Exsanguinate to drain a massive amount of life, and Doppelgang to potentially get even more Zaxara to get even more Hydra tokens.

And if we want to guarantee that our Hydras can go through and deal damage, then we also have access to Herald of Secret Streams, which makes all creatures we control with +1/+1 counters unblockable.

Zaxara is a value Commander in that they want you to play X spells to get more creatures in play, which can often lead to the same sort of play patterns. If you add in a clone or creature copy package on the other hand, then you can get more value from Zaxara.

This strategy does hinge on you making sure that Zaxara is protected, but it can lead to much more interesting games in my opinion.

Thank you for reading, see you tomorrow for the next Daily Commander!

Peace,

From, J.M. Casual