Gríma, Saruman's Footman
Legendary Creature — Human Advisor
Gríma can't be blocked.
Whenever Gríma deals combat damage to a player, that player exiles cards from the top of their library until they exile an instant or sorcery card. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost. Then that player puts the exiled cards that weren't cast this way on the bottom of their library in a random order.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Tales of Middle-earth Commander
- Price
- $6.15
- EDHREC rank
- #3152
Gríma, Saruman's Footman taxes every opponent's first spell each turn by making them discard a card, which is a symmetry-breaking pressure engine that compounds fast at a four-player table. At two mana for a 1/2, the body is irrelevant — you're paying for the effect, and it overdelivers.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Tasha, the Witch Queen
Tasha, the Witch Queen rewards opponents casting spells from outside their hand, so Gríma, Saruman's Footman's forced discards push opponents toward topdecking and then casting those cards — feeding Tasha's exile-and-cast trigger directly.
Saruman of Many Colors
Saruman of Many Colors cares about casting spells on each opponent's turn, and Gríma, Saruman's Footman's discard tax slows opponents down enough that Saruman's permission backup matters more, making Gríma a natural fit in the same control shell.
Don Andres, the Renegade
Don Andres, the Renegade profits when opponents discard, turning every trigger Gríma, Saruman's Footman generates into incremental card advantage or resource denial that Don Andres can convert into treasure or tempo.
Sauron, Lord of the Rings
Sauron, Lord of the Rings wants opponents resource-starved and on the back foot, and Gríma, Saruman's Footman's per-turn discard pressure stacks cleanly with Sauron's own drain effects to keep opponents from developing threats.
Nathan Drake, Treasure Hunter
Nathan Drake, Treasure Hunter leans on opponents losing resources so stolen or misdirected value lands harder, and Gríma, Saruman's Footman's steady discard attrition keeps opponents from holding up the interaction that would otherwise stop Nathan Drake's gameplan.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Gríma, Saruman's Footman is built to live — the discard trigger hits three opponents simultaneously, so each turn cycle strips up to three cards from the table before anyone gets a free spell. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but irrelevant; two mana for a soft tax that opponents can simply pay by discarding a land does nothing against the redundancy and speed of those formats. Oathbreaker gives it a similar multi-opponent context to Commander, and in a four-player Oathbreaker pod it functions identically.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Liliana's Caress and Megrim are the closest budget stand-ins — they don't generate the discard themselves but turn every trigger Gríma, Saruman's Footman would produce into direct damage, so they're better run alongside it than instead of it. If you need pure discard pressure on a budget, Painful Quandary asks opponents to pay five life or discard whenever they cast a spell, which is a harder tax but costs more mana and hits only one opponent at a time.
Price Context
Current price
$6.15 mid tier
At $6.15, Gríma, Saruman's Footman sits in mid-tier pricing for a two-mana Commander staple with broad application across Dimir and Grixis discard shells. That price is supported by genuine demand across multiple popular commanders rather than hype, so it's unlikely to crater.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.