Hidden Gems for Nadu, Winged Wisdom

11 Jun
by Adam Berg

Nadu, Winged Wisdom

Nadu, Winged Wisdom just might be one of the best card drawing commanders to ever make it to print. If you stuff your deck with cards that target for free (like Lightning Greaves) and create creatures when a land enters the battlefield under your control (like Scute Swarm), you can churn through your deck at lightning speed.

Your win conditions can vary from emptying your library and playing Thassa's Oracle or getting a huge land army into play and attacking with them from a Sylvan Awakening. But what hidden gems might you want to consider? We’ll skip the cards listed on EDHREC and jump straight into a handful of recommendations as you assemble your own Nadu deck.

Nadu, Winged Wisdom
Nadu, Winged Wisdom (Foil Etched)
Nadu, Winged Wisdom (Borderless)

#1. Dosan the Falling Leaf

If you’re playing a combo deck that heavily relies on your commander, you’ll need protection. Fortunately, blue can give you counterspells and green offers ways to give Nadu hexproof and indestructible (and it triggers his ability). But Dosan can be another line of defense. With him on the board, you’ll know if the coast is clear to combo off. See also: City of Solitude, though Dosan doesn’t shut down abilities like the enchantment does, which makes me lean in his direction over City. Gotta get as many of those Nadu triggers as we can. 

Dosan the Falling Leaf

#2. Treasure Hunt & Mana Severance

If you’re speedrunning through your deck, you don’t want to get clogged up with too many lands or hit nothing but lands. These two spells can let you manipulate the contents of your deck to allow smoother sailing. If you have enough creatures and triggers, play Treasure Hunt for however many lands you want to get first and then continue on the deck. If you find that in your games you hit too many lands and run out of triggers, consider Mana Severance as an option.

Treasure Hunt
Treasure Hunt
Mana Severance

#3. Rude Awakening

I love this card. It resets your mana, gives you lots more creatures to target, and can even be a win condition. There’s nothing this card can’t do! Just don’t attack a player with a Quicksilver Amulet and open mana. They will have a Sunblast Angel 100% of the time. Ask me how I know.

Rude Awakening
Rude Awakening

#4. The Monumental Facade

When Nadu puts lands into play, he does not tap them! So, if your lands can target your creatures, they can keep you going. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of lands that 1) are in Nadu’s colors, 2) enter untapped, and 3) target a creature. But then there’s The Monumental Facade. It’s a free trigger! Other options to include, though they need help untapping are Littjara Mirrorlake and Mirrorpool. They can use your wealth of mana to copy a useful creature for a trigger and a new creature to target. Huzzah!

The Monumental Facade
The Monumental Facade (Extended Art)

That’s all for this edition of Hidden Gems. Hope you all enjoy Nadu, Winged Wisdom while you can. Part of me fears he is so good that he’s practically begging to be banned. But we won’t worry about that right now. Don’t forget to check out our Premium Membership for more market insights and entertainment!

Further Reading:

The Top 10 Cards from Modern Horizons 3

The History of MTG Finance

Adam Berg
Adam Berg

Adam started playing Magic on his 14th birthday, when Judgment just released and the game's first Gorgon was born (It's a girl!). Since then, he's delved deep into Commander, written for television and film, and learned how to drive. He's published two YA Fantasy novels, Rainbringer and The Broken Pantheon. His favorite card is Repay In Kind, which is really all you need to know.


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