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Heliod, Sun-Crowned

Heliod, Sun-Crowned

Legendary Enchantment Creature — God

Heliod wants a deck that gains life over and over and gets rewarded for it. It also suits a deck that keeps making its creatures bigger turn after turn.

  • Mana cost2 genericwhite
  • White ()
  • Power / toughness5 / 5
  • RarityMythic

Indestructible

As long as your devotion to white is less than five, Heliod isn't a creature.

Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature or enchantment you control.

1 genericwhite: Another target creature gains lifelink until end of turn.

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Cards That Fit Heliod, Sun-Crowned

Picked for what they do in Heliod's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Heliod's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

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The 6 Cards

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The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Heliod, Sun-Crowned

explain how Heliod works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

A noncreature enchantment with a +1/+1 counter on it will be unaffected by that counter until it becomes a creature, at which time it will get +1/+1 for that counter.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

As a God enters the battlefield, your devotion to its color will determine whether any replacement effects that affect creatures entering the battlefield apply to that God. Because replacement effects are considered before the God is on the battlefield, the mana symbols in its mana cost won't be counted when determining this.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

Colorless and generic mana symbols ({C}, {0}, {1}, {2}, {X}, and so on) in mana costs of permanents you control don't count toward your devotion to any color.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

Counters put on a God remain on it while it's not a creature, even if they have no effect.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

Heliod can be the target of its own triggered ability.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

Heliod's triggered ability triggers just once for each life-gaining event, whether it's 1 life from Daxos, Blessed by the Sun or 3 life from Cling to Dust. If you gain an amount of life "for each" of something or "equal to the number" of something, that life is gained as one event and Heliod's ability triggers only once.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

Hybrid mana symbols, monocolored hybrid mana symbols, and Phyrexian mana symbols do count toward your devotion to their color(s).

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

If a creature is dealt lethal damage at the same time that you gain life, it can't receive a counter from Heliod's ability in time to save it.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

If a God is attacking or blocking and it stops being a creature, it will be removed from combat. It won't rejoin combat if it resumes being a creature later during that combat.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

If a God stops being a creature, it loses the type creature and the creature type God. It continues to be a legendary enchantment.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

If an activated ability or triggered ability has an effect that depends on your devotion to a color, you count the number of mana symbols of that color among the mana costs of permanents you control as the ability resolves. The permanent with that ability will be counted if it's still on the battlefield at that time.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

If an effect causes a God to lose all abilities, its ability that causes it to stop being a creature still applies if appropriate.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

If you put an Aura on an opponent's permanent, you still control the Aura, and mana symbols in its mana cost count towards your devotion.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

In a Two-Headed Giant game, life gained by your teammate won't cause the ability to trigger, even though it caused your team's life total to increase.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

Mana symbols in the text boxes of permanents you control don't count toward your devotion to any color.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

The abilities of Gods function as long as they're on the battlefield, regardless of whether they're creatures.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

The type-changing ability that can make a God not be a creature functions only on the battlefield. It's always a creature card in other zones, regardless of your devotion to its color. It's always a creature spell while it's on the stack.

Wizards of the Coast 24 Jan 2020

When a God enters the battlefield, your devotion to its color (including the mana symbols in the mana cost of the God itself) will determine if a creature entered the battlefield or not for abilities that trigger whenever a creature enters the battlefield.

Wizards of the Coast 28 Jul 2023

Each creature with lifelink dealing combat damage causes a separate life-gaining event. For example, if two creatures you control with lifelink deal combat damage at the same time, Heliod's ability will trigger twice. However, if a single creature you control with lifelink deals combat damage to multiple creatures, players, planeswalkers, and/or battles at the same time (perhaps because it has trample or was blocked by more than one creature), the ability will trigger only once.

20 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Heliod, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryWPlayers write colors as letters: W for white.LifegainLifegain decks gain life over and over and use cards that reward each gain with extra cards, creatures or damage to opponents. Everyone starts at 40 life in Commander, so the extra life also keeps you safe while you set up.Open the Lifegain pageLifegain PayoffTurns life gain into an actual effect: draining opponents, drawing cards, or growing creatures each time you gain life. Without one of these, gaining life mostly just delays things. Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, Sanguine BondOpen the Lifegain Payoff pageCounter EngineAdds +1/+1 counters over and over rather than once. A counter here is a small permanent marker that raises a creature's power and toughness for good. It is not a counterspell, which is a different thing entirely. Something that adds them every turn makes your whole board bigger and keeps it that way. Hardened Scales, Corpsejack MenaceOpen the Counter Engine page+1/+1 Counters+1/+1 counter decks put small markers on their creatures that make each one permanently bigger, and keep adding more every turn. Each +1/+1 counter adds one to a creature's power (the damage it deals) and toughness (the damage it can take).Open the +1/+1 Counters page+1/+1 CountersPuts +1/+1 counters on creatures, permanently raising their power and toughness. Unlike a temporary boost that wears off at end of turn, these markers stay put and stack up over a long game. Hardened Scales, The Great HengeOpen the +1/+1 Counters pageProtectionA creature with protection from something, like a color, is safe from anything with that quality. It cannot be damaged, enchanted or equipped, blocked, or targeted by it, and players remember the four with the word DEBT. It does not stop effects that neither target nor damage, like a board wipe that destroys every creature. ProgenitusOpen the Protection pageGods / DevotionGods, and cards that count your devotion: the number of mana symbols of one color among the costs of your permanents. The Theros Gods cannot be destroyed, and only become creatures when your devotion to their color is high enough.Open the Gods / Devotion pageMana SinkGives you somewhere useful to spend spare mana, usually through an ability you can activate again and again. Rogue's Passage, Mind StoneOpen the Mana Sink page