Legendary Creature — Human Advisor

Gríma, Saruman's Footman

Mana value4EDHREC#3,168

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The Commander

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.

Guide

Gameplan

Connect with an unblockable Gríma every turn to dig through opponents' libraries and cast their instants and sorceries for free, generating value, removal, and counterspells out of their own decks. You play a controlling game in the early turns, protect Gríma, and pile on evasion and extra-combat triggers to snowball card and tempo advantage until you take over the game.

Strengths

Built-in unblockable evasion makes the trigger reliable every combat with no extra investment
Generates raw card advantage and free spells from opponents' decks, scaling in pods full of powerful instants/sorceries
Functions as a 'taxes-free' Thieving Skydiver of spells, often casting removal or counters back at the table
Cheap four-mana commander that fits a low-curve control/tempo shell

Weaknesses

Whiffs if you hit a player whose top cards are creatures, lands, or artifacts before any instant/sorcery
The free spell is targeted/random — you can't choose what you get and may cast something useless
Fragile body (small, dies to any removal or chump-style board wipes) and the deck stalls if Gríma is repeatedly killed
Combat-damage dependence makes it vulnerable to fog effects, lifegain-irrelevant pillowfort, and decks without spells to steal

Key Cards

Rogue's Passage — Redundant unblockable enabler if you want to swing other threats, and a backup if Gríma somehow gets blockers.
Aqueous Form — Cheap aura granting unblockable plus scry to set up your own draws while protecting the combat trigger.
Sword of Feast and Famine — Untaps your lands on combat damage and protects Gríma from black/green removal, letting you double-spend mana.
Whispersilk Cloak — Grants unblockable and shroud, locking in the combat trigger while protecting your commander from targeted removal.
Thassa, Deep-Dwelling — Blinks Gríma to dodge sorcery-speed removal and can untap him for extra value alongside her devotion.
Aggravated Assault — Repeatable extra combat steps multiply Gríma's trigger to cast several free spells per turn.
Cyclonic Rift — Premier blue control finisher that resets the board so you can swing freely and pull ahead.
Rhystic Study — Engine card advantage that keeps your controlling shell stocked while you grind with Gríma.

Upgrade Path

Lean harder into cheap evasion and protection (Aqueous Form, Whispersilk Cloak, the Swords) so Gríma connects every turn, and add fast mana plus efficient interaction (Mana Drain, Mystic Remora, Fierce Guardianship) to control the table. Push the power ceiling with extra-combat enablers (Aggravated Assault, Hellkite Charger) and tutors like Mystical Tutor to set up game-ending stolen spells, and consider a compact wincon such as Thassa's Oracle plus Demonic Consultation as a backup.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

▸Grind out the table with stolen removal and counters, then close with a finisher like Cyclonic Rift into an alpha strike
▸Equip Gríma with a voltron package (Swords, Whispersilk Cloak) and chip opponents down over many turns
▸Chain extra combats with Aggravated Assault to cast a flurry of free spells and overwhelm the board
▸Use stolen and owned counterspells to lock opponents out, then win via incremental commander damage

Archetypes

Control — BU gives access to counters, removal, and card draw to protect Gríma and dictate the game while his trigger refuels you.
Tempo/Evasion — Cheap unblockable commander plus auras and equipment lets you chip in repeatedly and snowball spell advantage.
Theft/Value — Casting opponents' instants and sorceries for free is a built-in resource-denial and value engine.
Extra Combats — Repeated combat steps each trigger an additional free spell, turning Gríma into an explosive value generator.