Skip to content

Zidane, Tantalus Thief

FIN · uncommon · Released 2025-06-13

Power

brawl
trapStrong stapletrap
commander
trapStrong stapletrap

Tier shown as baseline → best-case (in its ideal shell).

Derived from the 7 atoms below.

under

below rate

incremental

minor value alone

modular

fits anywhere

scales

scales up

rigid

one mode

broad

broadly useful

fragile

easily answered

Commander Bracket

1Precon2Core3Upgraded4Optimized5cEDH

Archetypes

positive:
theft-temporarytreasurearistocrats
negative:

No active conflicts.

Roles

theft-temporaryetb-triggertreasure-generatorlifegain-payoffhaste-granter

Risks

etb-onlyremoval-magnetslow-setup

Mechanics

mech-treasure

Typal

synergy:
humanscout
anti:

Structural

triggered-ability

Rationale

Zidane is a 5cmc Boros legendary that temporarily steals a creature on ETB (with lifelink and haste for an immediate swing) and generates Treasure whenever an opponent takes your permanents — a secondary effect that combos with "political" exchange effects or theft-the-other-way triggers. The ETB theft is solid value in creature-heavy metas, and the Treasure trigger rewards flicker or theft-reciprocal shells, but the 3/3 body for 5 and sorcery-speed dependency on the ETB keep it from top-tier status.

Learnings (3)

  • Zidane's Treasure trigger fires when an opponent gains control of YOUR permanents — this creates a political deterrent against theft effects, or can be exploited by effects that intentionally give away permanents (e.g. Zedruu the Greathearted) to generate mana.

    tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6

  • The ETB theft grants lifelink AND haste, meaning the stolen creature attacks immediately for life gain — pair with high-power fatties in the opponent's board for maximum swing value.

    tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6

  • Zidane's Treasure trigger is a replacement for being stolen from, not a symmetrical trigger — decks built around intentional self-gifting (donate effects) can stack multiple Treasure rewards in a single turn.

    tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6

Popularity

  • EDHREC rank: #8,808