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Picard, Leading by Example
Legendary Creature — Human Officer
{1}, {T}: Another target creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is Picard's power. Activate only as a sorcery.
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“Modest pump-engine that turns your creatures into surprise threats.”
Midrange
Intermediate
Combat damage, Tokens swarm
Tokens, Counters, Voltron
Strategy
Picard is a humble but flexible pump engine that rewards you for building around efficiency and creature synergies. His main appeal is that he can turn any creature into a temporary threat while scaling with his own power—so the deck naturally wants to grow Picard himself through counters, equipment, or anthem effects. You're looking to create a lean, focused combat deck where Picard pumps attackers at instant-speed sorcery windows, turning awkward utility creatures into lethal damage dealers.
The gameplan revolves around a modest creature base with good synergies: small efficient flyers, creatures with evasion, or utility bodies that don't need to attack themselves. Pair Picard with cards that buff him (like Adaptive Automaton for Humans or Intrepid Adversary for +1/+1 counters), and suddenly his activation becomes a genuine finisher. Equipment like Bonesplitter or Kraz-Thun, Tyrant Drinker turn him into a real threat himself, while token makers give you more targets to pump. The deck wins through consistent combat pressure, turning a bunch of small creatures into a sudden alpha strike when Picard has grown large enough.
Strategy generated by Tapped Decks AI. Not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.
Key Synergies
Budget Build
Skip expensive planeswalkers; instead use Intrepid Adversary and Celestial Colonnade for budget threats, and swap pricey utility lands for Plains and basic mana.
Signature Cards
Inclusion = % of Picard, Leading by Example decks running this card. +lift = percentage-point boost over the format average.
Community Decks
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