Zhao, the Moon Slayer

Zhao, the Moon Slayer is a land-hosing commander that punishes greedy mana bases while slowly building into a mid-game threat. Your primary gameplan is to drop Zhao early, apply pressure with his menace ability, and force opponents to stumble on mana by turning their nonbasic lands into Mountains once you've accumulated a conqueror counter. This transforms utility lands into dead weight and shuts down color-fixing, which is especially devastating in multiplayer where mana consistency matters.

The deck wants to ramp efficiently with basics and cheap red spells while stalling the game until you can activate Zhao's counter ability around turn 5–7. Once online, Zhao becomes a land-destruction engine that cripples opponents relying on dual lands, fetches, or utility creatures. You win through commander damage combined with red's direct damage suite, or by simply grinding out value while opponents' mana bases crumble. Lean into artifact ramp, red creatures with evasion, and aggressive utility that doesn't require complex mana.

Strategy generated by Tapped Decks AI. Not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.