Szarel, Genesis Shepherd
EOC · mythic · Released 2025-08-01
Power
Tier shown as baseline → best-case (in its ideal shell).
Derived from the 7 atoms below.
below rate
minor value alone
needs a shell
can take over a game
one mode
situational
easily answered
Commander Bracket
Archetypes
No active conflicts.
Roles
Risks
Mechanics
—
Typal
—
Structural
Rationale
Szarel is a 5cmc Jund legendary that rewards sacrificing nontoken permanents by distributing +1/+1 counters equal to its own power onto another creature, creating a self-reinforcing growth loop; it also lets you replay lands from your graveyard, making it a signature piece in sacrifice-aristocrats and lands-matter shells. Flying gives it evasion for voltron-style counter accumulation. It's a strong mythic commander/value engine but requires a dedicated sacrifice shell and graveyard density to shine, limiting its raw power to tier-2 in most contexts.
Learnings (3)
Szarel's counter trigger is based on its power AT THE TIME the trigger resolves, not at sacrifice time — if it has accumulated counters, each sacrifice distributes that many counters, creating an exponential snowball effect.
tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6
The 'play lands from your graveyard' ability synergizes strongly with self-mill and fetchlands: fetched lands that went to the graveyard via cycles or discard can be replayed, providing incidental ramp in Jund colors.
tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6
Szarel only triggers when sacrificing during YOUR turn, so flash-sac outlets or opponent-turn shenanigans won't generate counters — this is a notable restriction compared to similar aristocrat engines.
tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6
Popularity
- EDHREC rank: #4,426