Mardu Surge

Summary

Mardu Surge is a Commander deck led by Zurgo Stormrender. Key cards include Abrade, Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, Ainok Strike Leader, and Angel of Invention. Explore this public list on MTG Master for strategy ideas, upgrades, and table fit planning.

Commander

Zurgo Stormrender

Commander background
Deck description
Mardu Surge is a Mardu (red-white-black) Commander deck led by Zurgo Stormrender, an attacker that turns every swing into extra Warriors and then pays you back when those tokens leave the battlefield. The list leans into combat steps and disposable bodies, chaining pressure through cards like Hero of Bladehold, Legion Warboss, Adeline, Resplendent Cathar, and Tempt with Vengeance while keeping the gas flowing with token-friendly draw engines such as Skullclamp, Tocasia’s Welcome, Morbid Opportunist, and Deadly Dispute. Games tend to move at a brisk pace: the board develops quickly, attacks happen early, and opponents get squeezed by both combat damage and steady life loss when nonattacking tokens are cashed in. Resilience comes from layered synergies and recursion (Sun Titan), plus protection and recovery tools like Grand Crescendo and Hour of Reckoning. Upgrades naturally point toward tighter token doublers, more sacrifice outlets, and additional payoffs like Bastion of Remembrance to convert every wave of tokens into a closing drain.
Deck total
$76.58
Missing cost
Deck cards
100
Run an AI analysis to unlock power metrics.
AI
MTG Master AI

Commander (1)

  • 1
    {R}{W}{B}

Planeswalkers (1)

  • 1
    {1}{W}{B}

Creatures (31)

  • 1
    {1}{W}{W}
  • 1
    {1}{W}
  • 1
    {3}{W}{W}
  • 1
    {W}{W}{B}
  • 1
    {2}{R}{R}
  • 1
    {3}{B}
  • 1
    {3}{B}
  • 1
    {2}{W}{W}
  • 1
    {1}{B}{B}
  • 1
    {4}{R}
  • 1
    {3}{W}
  • 1
    {R}{R}
  • 1
    {2}{W}{W}
  • 1
    {3}{W}
  • 1
    {2}{R}
  • 1
    {1}{R}
  • 1
    {1}{B}
  • 1
    {2}{B}
  • 1
    {7}
  • 1
    {2}{R}{W}{B}
  • 1
    {2}{R}{R}
  • 1
    {2}{B}
  • 1
    {2}{R}
  • 1
    {1}{W}
  • 1
    {3}{R}{R}
  • 1
    {4}
  • 1
    {4}{W}{W}
  • 1
    {3}{W}{B}
  • 1
    {2}{W}
  • 1
    {B}
  • 1
    {2}{B}

Sorceries (6)

  • 1
    {4}{B}
  • 1
    {4}{W}{W}{W}
  • 1
    {2}{W}
  • 1
    {3}{W}
  • 1
    {W}{B}
  • 1
    {X}{R}

Instants (7)

  • 1
    {1}{R}
  • 1
    {1}{B}
  • 1
    {1}{B}
  • 1
    {X}{W}{W}
  • 1
    {2}{W}
  • 1
    {W}
  • 1
    {2}{W}

Artifacts (11)

  • 1
    {2}
  • 1
    {2}
  • 1
    {2}
  • 1
    {2}
  • 1
    {2}{R}
  • 1
    {2}
  • 1
    {1}
  • 1
    {1}
  • 1
    {2}
  • 1
    {2}
  • 1
    {1}

Enchantments (6)

  • 1
    {2}{B}
  • 1
    {2}{W}{W}
  • 1
    {3}{W}{W}
  • 1
    {6}{W}{W}
  • 1
    {2}{W}
  • 1
    {3}{B}

Lands (37)

  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 1
  • 1
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1
  • 1

Mana pressure & alignment

How your colored demand lines up with the mana base during your game.

Color pressure

Demand vs support share by color.

{W}White
Critical
Demand: 51%Support: 33%
{B}Black
Surplus
Demand: 26%Support: 30%
{R}Red
Surplus
Demand: 23%Support: 28%
{C}Colorless
Surplus
Demand: 0%Support: 9%
{W}Delta-5.3Critical
{B}Delta+2.6Surplus
{R}Delta+2.8Surplus
{C}Delta+3.3Surplus

Mana integrity

Overall alignment score for your mana base.

84Score
Grade
Good
Highlights
  • Mana integrity is in a good spot.
  • White sources are under-supported for this deck.
Warnings
  • Early-game White commitments are heavy.
  • Many mana sources enter tapped; early turns may slow down.
Recommendations
  • Swap tapped White sources for untapped options.
  • Reduce early White triple-pip spells or move them up the curve.

Early turn stress

Where color requirements cluster across turns.

White
Black
Red
Colorless
1
2
3
4
5
6
7+

Mana Base

Benchmark-backed view of how the deck develops mana, fixes colors, and reaches commander timing in the first turns.

medium
Main bottleneck: Turn 1 live color via Tapped-land tempo

Mana readiness snapshot

Compact early-game checks for whether the mana base turns on cleanly.

Turn 1 live color
Live colored mana for turn-1 plays.
43%
2 mana by turn 2
Keeps the early curve on schedule.
91%
All colors by turn 3
Gets the full color mix online early.
76%
Double pip by turn 3
Checks early UU, BB, RR, or GG requirements.
66%
Benchmark target: Grand Crescendo
Higher percentages mean the mana base supports the deck's early asks more consistently.

Commander and color timing

Shows when the mana base turns colors on and when commander timing becomes reliable.

  • All colors online
  • Commander castable
T3T4T5T60255075100
Main bottlenecks

Benchmarks that miss most often, plus the dominant reasons behind those misses.

57% Main bottleneck: Turn 1 live color via Tapped-land tempo
Tapped-land tempo: 98%No untapped color source: 4%
Want the full opener diagnosis?

Open the full analysis for mulligans, risky openers, benchmark miss causes, and the complete why-hands-fail breakdown.

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