Zhao, Ruthless Admiral
Legendary Creature — Human Soldier
Firebending 2 (Whenever this creature attacks, add 
. This mana lasts until end of combat.)
Whenever you sacrifice another permanent, creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BR
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Price
- $0.17
- EDHREC rank
- #15261
Zhao, Ruthless Admiral turns every attacking creature into a drain trigger, which is a lot of free reach stapled to a three-mana body. The cost is that it does nothing without a board state, so it lives or dies on whether you can maintain pressure.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Ozai, the Phoenix King
Ozai, the Phoenix King builds wide and attacks often, making Zhao, Ruthless Admiral a natural fit — every swing drains the table while Ozai is already incentivizing you to turn creatures sideways.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Zhao, Ruthless Admiral is a Commander card through and through — the drain trigger scales with the multiplayer table in ways that a one-on-one format simply can't replicate. In 60-card formats like Modern or Pioneer, a three-mana 3/3 that requires an attack to do anything is too slow and too conditional to compete with proactive threats. Legacy and Vintage have the raw card quality to make it obsolete before it matters. Commander is where Zhao, Ruthless Admiral earns its slot: three opponents, a go-wide board, and a few combat steps turns incremental life drain into a real win condition.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.17 bulk tier
At $0.17, Zhao, Ruthless Admiral is pure bulk — easy to acquire, easy to throw into a build without budget consideration. Bulk rares with narrow Commander applications rarely climb unless a new commander pushes them into the spotlight, so don't expect the price to move.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.