Zalto, Fire Giant Duke
Legendary Creature — Giant Barbarian
Trample
Whenever Zalto is dealt damage, venture into the dungeon. (Enter the first room or advance to the next room.)
- CMC
- 5
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Promos
- Price
- $0.20
- EDHREC rank
- #17740
Zalto, Fire Giant Duke turns every attack into a damage multiplier — when he deals combat damage to a player, he puts a charge counter on himself and deals damage equal to the counter total to any target, which chains brutally with Blazing Sunsteel's ability to stack additional damage onto that same trigger. The cost is a 6/6 body at five mana that does nothing until he connects, making him dead weight against any board that can chump or kill him before he swings.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Zalto, Fire Giant Duke actually lives — the format's longer games give him time to stack counters, and 40-life totals mean the exponential damage curve becomes lethal before opponents stabilize. In Legacy, Modern, and Pioneer he's technically legal but practically irrelevant; five mana for a creature with no immediate impact and no protection doesn't survive contact with counterspells, Fatal Push, or Prismatic Ending. Vintage is the same story at higher speed. Zalto is a build-around in Commander and a bulk rare everywhere else.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Zalto, Fire Giant DukeBlazing Sunsteel
Infinite ventures into the dungeon; Infinite card draw; Near-infinite +1/+1 counters; Near-infinite lifegain; Near-infinite lifeloss; Near-infinite lifegain triggers; Near-infinite ETB; Infinite draw triggers; Near-infinite colored mana; Near-infinite creature tokens; Near-infinite Treasure tokens; Cast a subset of spells in your library
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$0.20 bulk tier
At $0.20, Zalto, Fire Giant Duke is deep bulk — easy to pick up as a throw-in or from a bulk box without a second thought. The price reflects his narrow Commander application; he won't climb unless a new combo or commander pushes the trigger into a top-tier line.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.