Etali, Primal Conqueror // Etali, Primal Sickness
Color Identity
Details
Mana Value
7
Popularity
#30
of 3,466 commanders · via EDHREC
Card Text
Legendary Creature — Elder Dinosaur // Legendary Creature — Phyrexian Elder Dinosaur
Trample
When Etali enters, each player exiles cards from the top of their library until they exile a nonland card. You may cast any number of spells from among the nonland cards exiled this way without paying their mana costs.
{9}{G/P}: Transform Etali. Activate only as a sorcery.
//
Trample, indestructible
Whenever Etali deals combat damage to a player, they get that many poison counters. (A player with ten or more poison counters loses the game.)
7/7
Playstyle
Aggro · Late-game · Group influence · Wins by combat
- Aggression
- 4 of 5
- Speed
- 3 of 5
- Interaction
- 3 of 5
- Combat
- 5 of 5
- Engine
- 3 of 5
- Complexity
- 4 of 5
Card Price
Strategy Guides
Combo Strategy Guide
Combo decks are for players who enjoy finding a narrow line, protecting it, and ending the game with specific cards working together. This strategy wants to assemble combo commanders, tutors, draw, and compact two-card or three-card packages, using infinite combos or deterministic loops, to win in one decisive moment. Unlike Spellslinger it is not paid for every spell cast, unlike Storm it does not need a long chain turn, and unlike Big Mana it does not rely on casting one enormous payoff. The best combo decks EDH players build balance speed with enough interaction to survive the table's disruption.
Ramp Strategy Guide
Ramp decks are for players who want to spend the early game accelerating so later turns happen ahead of schedule. This strategy wants to build more mana than the table, using mana ramp EDH staples, extra land drops, dorks, and rocks, to win through earlier threats, large spells, or a resource lead opponents must answer. Ramp is different from Landfall because acceleration is the point, and different from Big Mana because it is the engine rather than the payoff. The best ramp commanders reward extra mana sources while still giving you something meaningful to cast.
Aggro Strategy Guide
Aggro decks are for players who want to commit threats early, attack often, and make combat math matter every turn. This strategy wants to pressure all opponents with efficient attackers, using anthems, haste, attack triggers, extra combats, and aggro commanders, to win through repeated combat damage before slower engines stabilize. In Commander that still means pushing through 120 total damage, so go-wide aggro EDH decks need refueling and scaling damage rather than only fast starts. Aggro differs from Tokens because it focuses on attacking with the bodies, from Voltron because it spreads pressure across many creatures, and from Infect because it deals life-total damage instead of poison.
Infect Strategy Guide
Infect decks are for players who want life totals to matter less than reaching ten poison on each opponent. This strategy wants to connect with infect and toxic creatures, using pump spells, evasion, protection, and infect commanders, to win through poison counter decks EDH opponents have to answer early. In the Counters, Proliferate, and Infect overlap, Counters grows creatures, Proliferate multiplies many counter types, and Infect is the poison win condition that proliferate can accelerate. The social cost is real: once poison appears, the table often treats you as the first threat, and some pods restrict the mechanic before deck selection.
Appears in These Collections
Similar Commanders
Popular Commanders
| # | Commander | Identity | Strategy | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Syr Konrad, the Grim |  | Mill | $1.76 |
| 02 |  Etali, Primal Storm | | Extra Combats | $0.66 |
| 03 |  Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer | | Treasure | $41.73 |
| 04 |  Braids, Arisen Nightmare | | Aristocrats | $4.61 |
| 05 |  Azusa, Lost but Seeking | | Lands Matter | $13.07 |
| 06 |  Loran of the Third Path |  | Group Hug | $7.26 |
| 07 |  Toski, Bearer of Secrets | | Equipment | $7.99 |
| 08 |  Kutzil, Malamet Exemplar | | +1/+1 Counters | $2.70 |