Art: Magali Villeneuve · ™ & © Wizards of the Coast

Rowan, Scion of War

Legendary Creature — Human Wizard · from $0.43

Menace {T}: Spells you cast this turn that are black and/or red cost {X} less to cast, where X is the amount of life you lost this turn. Activate only as a sorcery.

Build with this commander Start with a starter shell Card details, printings & prices

A typical Commander deck

A starting template, not a rule — counts to fill in around the commander.

Lands3736–38 for most decks; fewer with cheap curves
Ramp10mana rocks, dorks, land ramp — mostly 2–3 mana
Card draw10repeatable engines beat one-shot cantrips
Targeted removal6answers for creatures AND artifacts/enchantments
Board wipes3sweepers reset boards you've lost
Synergy & win conditions33the deck's actual plan

Staples in these colors

The 100 cards that fit this color identity in the most EDHREC decklists (EDHREC rank via Scryfall).

Budget

57 of 100 at $5 or less · 39 at $1 or less

#	Card	Type	MV	Price
1	Sol Ring	Artifact	1	$1.07
2	Command Tower	Land	0	$0.26
3	Arcane Signet	Artifact	2	$0.34
4	Exotic Orchard	Land	0	$0.19
5	Reliquary Tower	Land	0	$4.28
6	Swiftfoot Boots	Artifact	2	$1.43
7	Lightning Greaves	Artifact	2	$3.86
8	Path of Ancestry	Land	0	$0.16
9	Fellwar Stone	Artifact	2	$0.47
10	Rogue's Passage	Land	0	$0.31
11	Evolving Wilds	Land	0	$0.09
12	Thought Vessel	Artifact	2	$2.23
13	Blasphemous Act	Sorcery	9	$0.72
14	Bojuka Bog	Land	0	$1.12
15	Terramorphic Expanse	Land	0	$0.10
16	Chaos Warp	Instant	3	$0.32
17	Myriad Landscape	Land	0	$0.25
18	Mind Stone	Artifact	2	$0.21
19	Dark Ritual	Instant	1	$0.44
20	Polluted Delta	Land	0	$19.85
21	Flooded Strand	Land	0	$12.78
22	Skullclamp	Artifact	1	$4.85
23	Solemn Simulacrum	Creature	4	$0.27
24	Misty Rainforest	Land	0	$35.98
25	Bloodstained Mire	Land	0	$14.54
26	Fabled Passage	Land	0	$0.65
27	Windswept Heath	Land	0	$11.19
28	Wooded Foothills	Land	0	$17.96
29	Verdant Catacombs	Land	0	$29.16
30	Scalding Tarn	Land	0	$36.86
31	Marsh Flats	Land	0	$32.04
32	Commander's Sphere	Artifact	3	$0.19
33	Reanimate	Sorcery	1	$6.56
34	Arid Mesa	Land	0	$31.40
35	Demonic Tutor	Sorcery	2	$62.80
36	Toxic Deluge	Sorcery	3	$5.04
37	Blood Crypt	Land	0	$8.68
38	Ancient Tomb	Land	0	$56.94
39	Deflecting Swat	Instant	3	$70.85
40	Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth	Land	0	$56.13
41	Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth	Land	0	$16.76
42	Temple of the False God	Land	0	$0.19
43	Dragonskull Summit	Land	0	$0.45
44	Chromatic Lantern	Artifact	3	$0.38
45	Feed the Swarm	Sorcery	2	$0.19
46	Smoldering Marsh	Land	0	$0.27
47	City of Brass	Land	0	$9.17
48	The One Ring	Artifact	4	$109.88
49	Faithless Looting	Sorcery	1	$0.36
50	Vandalblast	Sorcery	1	$1.74
51	Phyrexian Arena	Enchantment	3	$1.92
52	Jeska's Will	Sorcery	3	$39.58
53	Deadly Rollick	Instant	4	$26.52
54	Cavern of Souls	Land	0	$47.72
55	Vampiric Tutor	Instant	1	$48.13
56	Mana Confluence	Land	0	$34.75
57	Urza's Saga	Enchantment	0	$34.67
58	Lotus Petal	Artifact	0	$35.11
59	Wayfarer's Bauble	Artifact	1	$0.31
60	Talisman of Indulgence	Artifact	2	$0.47
61	Black Market Connections	Enchantment	3	$10.78
62	Victimize	Sorcery	3	$0.57
63	Deadly Dispute	Instant	2	$0.29
64	Roaming Throne	Creature	4	$47.06
65	Ashnod's Altar	Artifact	3	$8.15
66	Big Score	Instant	4	$0.41
67	War Room	Land	0	$0.79
68	Blood Artist	Creature	2	$2.78
69	Sulfurous Springs	Land	0	$0.49
70	Abrade	Instant	2	$0.17
71	Herald's Horn	Artifact	3	$2.88
72	Mana Vault	Artifact	1	$91.59
73	Chrome Mox	Artifact	0	$51.19
74	Lightning Bolt	Instant	1	$0.75
75	Luxury Suite	Land	0	$8.62
76	Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx	Land	0	$45.68
77	Reflecting Pool	Land	0	$5.50
78	Rakdos Signet	Artifact	2	$0.31
79	Three Tree City	Land	0	$29.09
80	Gemstone Caverns	Land	0	$62.05
81	Night's Whisper	Sorcery	2	$0.23
82	Command Beacon	Land	0	$7.99
83	Idol of Oblivion	Artifact	2	$2.40
84	Prismatic Vista	Land	0	$28.10
85	Buried Ruin	Land	0	$0.38
86	Phyrexian Tower	Land	0	$29.06
87	Thran Dynamo	Artifact	4	$1.94
88	Storm-Kiln Artist	Creature	4	$1.74
89	Fell the Profane // Fell Mire	Instant	4	$5.80
90	Cabal Coffers	Land	0	$20.77
91	Impact Tremors	Enchantment	2	$2.52
92	Patchwork Banner	Artifact	3	$1.52
93	Village Rites	Instant	1	$0.30
94	Mox Amber	Artifact	0	$86.45
95	Karn's Bastion	Land	0	$2.51
96	Professional Face-Breaker	Creature	3	$4.99
97	Ash Barrens	Land	0	$0.15
98	Thrill of Possibility	Instant	2	$0.17
99	Secluded Courtyard	Land	0	$0.31
100	Ornithopter of Paradise	Creature	2	$0.35

Curve of these staples

Most played with Rowan, Scion of War

The 25 most-played cards in 176 settled top-16 lists running Rowan, Scion of War (any pairing) at 16+ player events since Mar 5, 2026, ranked by lists played — top-4 counts shown for context. Results from Topdeck.gg.

#	Card	Played in	Top 4
1	Dark Ritual	99% · 175 of 176	47
2	Dismember	99% · 174 of 176	47
3	Sol Ring	99% · 174 of 176	46
4	Storm-Kiln Artist	99% · 174 of 176	47
5	Sulfurous Springs	99% · 174 of 176	46
6	Blood Crypt	98% · 173 of 176	46
7	Pinnacle Monk // Mystic Peak	98% · 173 of 176	46
8	Simian Spirit Guide	98% · 173 of 176	46
9	Tarnished Citadel	98% · 173 of 176	46
10	Blood Pet	98% · 172 of 176	47
11	Gemstone Caverns	98% · 172 of 176	46
12	Birgi, God of Storytelling // Harnfel, Horn of Bounty	97% · 171 of 176	46
13	Bloodstained Mire	97% · 171 of 176	46
14	City of Brass	97% · 171 of 176	46
15	Inspired Tinkering	97% · 171 of 176	46
16	Lotus Petal	97% · 171 of 176	46
17	Mount Doom	97% · 171 of 176	45
18	Badlands	97% · 170 of 176	45
19	Chrome Mox	97% · 170 of 176	45
20	Demonic Tutor	97% · 170 of 176	45
21	Rite of Flame	97% · 170 of 176	45
22	Searing Touch	97% · 170 of 176	46
23	Deflecting Swat	96% · 169 of 176	46
24	Jeska's Will	96% · 169 of 176	45
25	Mana Confluence	96% · 169 of 176	46

Combos with Rowan, Scion of War

The 10 most popular of 63 combos (by EDHREC decklist count) using this commander that fit its color identity, from Commander Spellbook.

Exsanguinate + Rowan, Scion of War + Wall of Blood
Near-infinite lifegain · Near-infinite lifeloss
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Exsanguinate + Rowan, Scion of War + Treasonous Ogre
Near-infinite lifegain · Near-infinite lifeloss · Near-infinite red mana
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Blood Celebrant + Exsanguinate + Rowan, Scion of War
Near-infinite lifegain · Near-infinite lifeloss
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Exsanguinate + Necropotence + Rowan, Scion of War
Near-infinite lifegain · Near-infinite lifeloss
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Doom Whisperer + Exsanguinate + Rowan, Scion of War
Near-infinite lifegain · Near-infinite lifeloss
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Exsanguinate + Immolating Souleater + Rowan, Scion of War
Near-infinite lifegain · Near-infinite lifeloss
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Rowan, Scion of War + Searing Touch + Storm-Kiln Artist
Infinite artifact ETB · Infinite artifact LTB · Infinite damage · Infinite magecraft triggers · Infinite storm count
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Arco-Flagellant + Exsanguinate + Rowan, Scion of War
Near-infinite lifegain · Near-infinite lifeloss
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Exsanguinate + Rowan, Scion of War + Souldrinker
Near-infinite lifegain · Near-infinite lifeloss
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Exsanguinate + Mischievous Poltergeist + Rowan, Scion of War
Near-infinite lifegain · Near-infinite lifeloss
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo

Top finishes

The 8 most recent of 188 finishes placing top 16 at 16+ player events with this commander. Results from Topdeck.gg.

2nd of 27 — Demonic Battlegrounds 3 - cEDH Tournament 2026 on Topdeck.ggOct 10, 2026 · 2–2–1 · by Paul Schrade
10th of 16 — Holding Court - 19 - BFF on Topdeck.ggOct 6, 2026 · 0–1–0 · by Brian Tran
4th of 22 — TEMPLO cEDH on Topdeck.ggOct 3, 2026 · 1–1–3 · by Lluc Noguera
7th of 62 — Commander Invitational Qualifier - Gamer Geeks on Topdeck.ggOct 3, 2026 · 2–3–1 · by Joseph Key [LTB]
15th of 62 — CEDH Dual Tournament 9 - October 3rd on Topdeck.ggOct 3, 2026 · 1–2–3 · by Logan Guenther
2nd of 17 — FNM Commander on Topdeck.ggOct 2, 2026 · 2–1–0 · by JayeAlan
12th of 19 — Oahu Commander Invitational Qualifier Ser4S2W12 on Topdeck.ggSep 28, 2026 · 1–4–0 · by Clayton Matsuoka
3rd of 26 — Rule Them All - cEDH Tournament 2026 on Topdeck.ggSep 27, 2026 · 2–1–4 · by Barba

All 188 finishes →

Card data and images courtesy of Scryfall; popularity ranking from EDHREC decklist data included in Scryfall bulk. Combo data courtesy of Commander Spellbook. Tournament results courtesy of Topdeck.gg. Deckwarden is unofficial Fan Content and is not endorsed by Wizards of the Coast.

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