Saruman of Many Colors
LTR · mythic · Released 2023-06-23
Power
Tier shown as baseline → best-case (in its ideal shell). The score (-8 to 19) is a rank signal derived from tier + kind + atoms; browse by it on the cards page.
Derived from the 7 atoms below.
above rate
minor value alone
wants support
can take over a game
one mode
broadly useful
hard to remove
Commander Bracket
Archetypes
Roles
Risks
Mechanics
Typal
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Structural
Rationale
Saruman of Many Colors is a 6cmc 5/4 legendary spellslinger engine: casting a second spell each turn mills each opponent 2 cards and lets you exile and free-cast a matching instant/sorcery/enchantment from any milled graveyard. The ward cost (discard a spell) makes him unusually resilient for a legendary creature. Signature in spellslinger, control, and mill shells where casting multiple spells per turn is natural and opponents' graveyards become your resource pool. The triple-color pip cost and 6cmc limit him to dedicated shells, and his mill trigger needs opponents to mill relevant cards to actually generate value.
Learnings (3)
Saruman's ward cost (discard an enchantment, instant, or sorcery) pairs naturally with his own trigger — a spellslinger deck always has fresh spell cards to discard, making the ward effectively much harder to pay for opponents than it appears.
tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6
The exile-from-graveyard step requires the milled card to have equal or lesser MV than the spell you cast second — casting a cheap second spell may whiff on milling anything castable; build with mid-to-high MV spells as your second spell to maximize free-cast potential.
tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6
Saruman generates value from opponents' graveyards, so he incidentally denies reanimator or flashback targets — he can serve as soft graveyard hate in the right pod.
tagging · claude-sonnet-4-6
Popularity
- EDHREC rank: #11,727