Skip to content
Commander Nexus
  1. Commander Nexus
  2. Commanders
  3. Strong, the Brutish Thespian

Command zone

Strong, the Brutish Thespian

Strong, the Brutish Thespian

Legendary Creature — Mutant Berserker

Strong wants a deck that hurts its own creatures on purpose to set off their abilities. It also suits a deck that keeps making its creatures bigger turn after turn.

  • Mana cost4 genericgreengreen
  • Green ()
  • Power / toughness7 / 7
  • RarityRare

Ward 2 generic

Enrage — Whenever Strong is dealt damage, you get three rad counters and put three +1/+1 counters on Strong.

You gain life rather than lose life from radiation.

Build a deck with Strong Find it in the app

Themes

Cards That Fit Strong, the Brutish Thespian

Picked for what they do in Strong's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Strong'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

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Strong, the Brutish Thespian

explain how Strong 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 8 Mar 2024

Any effects (such as proliferate) that interact with counters a player gets, has, or loses can interact with rad counters.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Mar 2024

If a player has fewer cards remaining in their library than the number of rad counters they have when the triggered ability resolves, they’ll mill as many cards as they can.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Mar 2024

If lethal damage is dealt to Strong, its enrage ability triggers. Strong leaves the battlefield before that ability resolves, so you won’t put three +1/+1 counters on it. In this or any other case where Strong is no longer on the battlefield when its enrage ability resolves, you’ll still get three rad counters.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Mar 2024

If multiple sources deal damage to Strong at the same time, most likely because multiple creatures blocked it, its enrage ability will trigger only once.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Mar 2024

In a game using the shared team turns option, such as an Archenemy or Two-Headed Giant game, the inherent triggered ability associated with rad counters triggers once for each player on the active team that has rad counters. Each instance of that ability is controlled by one of those players.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Mar 2024

Keep track of how many rad counters each player has. Potential ways to track this include writing them down on paper or using dice, but any method that is clear and mutually agreeable is fine.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Mar 2024

Rad counters are a kind of counter that a player may have. They’re not associated with any specific permanents.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Mar 2024

Rad counters don’t go away as steps, phases, or turns end. They only go away when an effect instructs a player to remove rad counters from themselves.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Mar 2024

Strong’s last ability changes what happens when the inherent triggered ability associated with having rad counters resolves. You’ll still mill cards equal to the number of rad counters you have, and you’ll still remove a rad counter from yourself for each nonland card you milled, but instead of losing life, you’ll gain 1 life for each nonland card you milled.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Mar 2024

The cards are milled all at once, which means abilities that trigger “whenever one or more nonland cards are milled” will trigger exactly once as long as at least one nonland card was milled.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Mar 2024

There is an inherent triggered ability associated with having rad counters. This triggered ability has no source and is controlled by the active player. The full text of this ability is “At the beginning of the precombat main phase of a player with rad counters, that player mills cards equal to the number of rad counters they have. For each nonland card milled this way, that player loses 1 life and removes one rad counter from themselves.”

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

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Strong, 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 glossaryGPlayers write colors as letters: G for green.EnrageEnrage decks use creatures that do something every time they are dealt damage, then damage them on purpose to set it off. A card that damages every creature can set off all of them at once.Open the Enrage pageEnrageTriggers when this creature is dealt damage, so hurting it hands you something instead. It turns blocking and burn spells into a decision your opponents would rather not have to make. Some of these were printed under the ability word Enrage; this tag covers the whole family, named or not. Boros Reckoner, Truefire Captain, Coalhauler SwineOpen the Enrage 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 pageRad Counters / FalloutRad counters come from Magic's Fallout cards. At the start of your first main phase, you put one card from the top of your deck into your graveyard for each rad counter, then lose 1 life and one rad counter for each of those cards that is not a land.Open the Rad Counters / Fallout page