Iroh wants a deck that helps every player at the table, itself included. It also suits a deck that keeps making its creatures bigger turn after turn.
Mana cost
White, Red ()
Power / toughness2 / 2
RarityRare
When Iroh enters, create a Food token.
At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may have target opponent gain control of target permanent you control. When you do, create a 1/1 white Ally creature token. Put a +1/+1 counter on that token for each permanent you own that your opponents control.
Picked for what they do in Iroh's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Iroh'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.Open the full glossary
explain how Iroh 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 Coast2 Oct 2025
Food is an artifact type. Even though it appears on some creatures, it's never a creature type.
Wizards of the Coast2 Oct 2025
If an effect refers to a Food, it means any Food artifact, not just a Food artifact token. For example, you can sacrifice Tough Cookie (an Artifact Creature — Food Golem) to activate Bosco, Just a Bear's ability (an ability with "Sacrifice a Food" in its cost). You can't sacrifice a Food to pay multiple costs. For example, you can't sacrifice a Food token to activate its own ability and also to activate Bosco, Just a Bear's ability.
Wizards of the Coast2 Oct 2025
If an opponent leaves the game, all permanents you gave to them will return to your control.
Wizards of the Coast2 Oct 2025
If either the opponent or the permanent you control becomes an illegal target by the time Iroh's second ability resolves, the ability does nothing and you cannot choose to have the opponent gain control of the permanent.
Wizards of the Coast2 Oct 2025
If you leave the game, all permanents you own leave the game with you.
Wizards of the Coast2 Oct 2025
Some spells and abilities that create Food tokens may require targets. If each target chosen is an illegal target as that spell or ability tries to resolve, it won't resolve. You won't create any Food tokens.
Wizards of the Coast2 Oct 2025
Whatever you do, don't eat the delicious cards.
Wizards of the Coast2 Oct 2025
You will choose targets for Iroh's second ability at the beginning of every combat, even if you aren't feeling generous. The decision to have the opponent gain control of the permanent isn't made until the ability resolves.
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 glossaryWRPlayers write colors as letters: W for white, R for red.Group HugGroup Hug decks give every player extra cards, mana or life, making friends at the table while they quietly work toward their own win. The trick is to be the player best placed to use all that extra.Open the Group Hug pageDonateGives an opponent control of one of your own permanents. Sometimes the gift is generous, sometimes it is a cursed object; either way the card changes hands on purpose. Zedruu the Greathearted, Akroan Horse, Harmless OfferingOpen the Donate pageToken MakerCreates one or more tokens. Different cards make very different ones: creatures Grave Titan, Treasures Smothering Tithe, Clues Tireless Tracker or Food Gilded Goose. This is one of our largest tags, so pair it with an archetype or theme when you are hunting a specific kind.Open the Token Maker pageToken EngineMakes tokens again and again rather than once. A token is a creature or other permanent created by a card, with no card of its own. Something that makes one token gives you a body; something that makes them every turn gives you a board you can keep rebuilding after it is cleared. Grave Titan, Bitterblossom, OphiomancerOpen the Token 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 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 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 pageTokensToken decks fill the battlefield with small creatures made by their cards, then attack with all of them or make them all bigger at once. A token is a creature (or other object) that a card creates, not a card from your deck.Open the Tokens pageAlliesAllies range from Zendikar's adventurers to the heroes of Magic's Avatar: The Last Airbender cards. Many Zendikar Allies get a bonus whenever another Ally enters the battlefield under your control.Open the Allies page
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