Nethroi's Hateful Toolbox [Casual]

Commander / EDH BGW (Abzan, Junk) Casual Mutate Reanimator Sacrifice Tokens

Kazierts

Creature (59)

• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Delighted Halfling
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Gilded Goose
• 1x Haywire Mite
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Stitcher's Supplier
• 1x Archivist of Oghma
• 1x Armored Scrapgorger
• 1x Blanchwood Prowler
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Charismatic Conqueror
• 1x Dauthi Voidwalker
• 1x Fauna Shaman
• 1x Fiend Artisan
• 1x Gaddock Teeg
• 1x Hermit Druid
• 1x Intrepid Paleontologist
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Satyr Wayfinder
• 1x Twitching Doll
• 1x Aven Interrupter
• 1x Boggart Trawler  ^Flip
• 1x Endurance
• 1x Liliana's Standard Bearer
• 1x Loran of the Third Path
• 1x Lurrus of the Dream-Den
• 1x Ruthless Lawbringer
• 1x Skullwinder
• 1x Springbloom Druid
• 1x Vryn Wingmare
• 1x Wood Elves
• 1x Yavimaya Dryad
• 1x Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
• 1x Blossoming Tortoise
• 1x Body Launderer
• 1x Dirge Bat
• 1x Erebos, Bleak-Hearted
• 1x Gemrazer
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
• 1x Angel of Invention
• 1x Cataclysmic Gearhulk
• 1x Deep Forest Hermit
• 1x Deranged Hermit
• 1x Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines
• 1x Maw of the Obzedat
• 1x Overlord of the Balemurk
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Trostani Discordant
• 1x Captain of the Watch
• 1x Magister of Worth
• 1x Sawtusk Demolisher
• 1x Sun Titan
• 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
• 1x Bringer of the Last Gift
• 1x Karador, Ghost Chieftain

Land (33)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Boseiju, Who Endures
• 1x Canopy Vista
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 4x Forest
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Haunted Mire
• 1x Indatha Triome
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Lush Portico
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Murmuring Bosk
• 1x Nurturing Peatland
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Plains
• 1x Sandsteppe Citadel
• 1x Scattered Groves
• 1x Shadowy Backstreet
• 1x Silent Clearing
• 2x Swamp
• 1x Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Twilight Mire
• 1x Underground Mortuary
• 1x Undergrowth Stadium
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

Commander (1)

Planeswalker (4)

• 1x Grist, the Hunger Tide
• 1x Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler
• 1x Vraska, Golgari Queen
• 1x Vivien on the Hunt

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Rite of Oblivion
• 1x Living Death

Artifact (1)

• 1x Birthing Pod

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Maybeboard

Creature (61)

• 1x Aftermath Analyst
• 1x Bartolome del Presidio
• 1x Bramble Familiar
• 1x Emperor of Bones
• 1x Kataki, War's Wage
• 1x Marvin, Murderous Mimic
• 1x Orcish Bowmasters
• 1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
• 1x Trailtracker Scout
• 1x White Orchid Phantom
• 1x Wight of the Reliquary
• 1x Archon of Emeria
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Callous Bloodmage
• 1x Clifftop Lookout
• 1x Darkstar Augur
• 1x Guardian of Faith
• 1x Honest Rutstein
• 1x Mirror Entity
• 1x Ranger-Captain of Eos
• 1x Recruiter of the Guard
• 1x Skyclave Apparition
• 1x Tyvar, the Pummeler
• 1x Undercity Informer
• 1x Warren Soultrader
• 1x Drana and Linvala
• 1x Grief
• 1x Grim Servant
• 1x Luminous Broodmoth
• 1x Selvala, Eager Trailblazer
• 1x Vizier of the Menagerie
• 1x Witch Enchanter  ^Flip
• 1x Angel of Sanctions
• 1x Ao, the Dawn Sky
• 1x Cavalier of Night
• 1x Doom Whisperer
• 1x God-Eternal Bontu
• 1x Karmic Guide
• 1x Maja, Bretagard Protector
• 1x Ravos, Soultender *f-etch*
• 1x Sadistic Hypnotist
• 1x Shilgengar, Sire of Famine
• 1x Silverquill Lecturer
• 1x Angel of Indemnity
• 1x Archon of Valor's Reach
• 1x Bane of Progress
• 1x Disciple of Freyalise  ^Flip
• 1x Doomsday Excruciator
• 1x Gruff Triplets
• 1x Izoni, Thousand-Eyed
• 1x Regal Behemoth
• 1x Shepherd of the Cosmos
• 1x Woodland Bellower
• 1x Chancellor of the Annex
• 1x Darksteel Splicer
• 1x Hornet Queen
• 1x Serra's Emissary
• 1x Threefold Thunderhulk
• 1x Torsten, Founder of Benalia
• 1x Trostani's Summoner
• 1x Vorinclex, Voice of HungerGC

Land (5)

• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Horizon Canopy
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Birthing Ritual
• 1x The Hunger Tide Rises

Instant (1)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Diabolic Intent

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Many people's first thought when it comes to Nethroi, Apex of Death is abusing it's ability to reanimate an untold number of creatures with 0 power or using its quirk with Scourge of the Skycles to bring some more powerful. I opted for neither of those. I tried using a bit of 0 power creatures at the beginning, but it felt like it doesn't really work unless you go completely on this theme. Scourge of the Skyclaves also felt a bit lackluster if I wansn't aiming to focus on abusing it. This made land on this current list, a pod that slows the game a bit, or at least tries to disrupt it, while climbing into answers need for many given situations. It's definetly not perfect, as I haven't even had time/money to buy this deck and playtest this with real people. However, I feel very comfortable with the result, even if there's still many cards I'd like to add.

Now that the introduction is over, let me get more into the meat of the stuff.

Commander and Secret Commander

Nethroi, Apex of Death

Unlike many commanders, Nethroi does not want to be cast willy nilly. It's very common to hear him be thought of as a Sorcery mass reanimation spell, which is correct in most cases. Think of him as a less powerful but less mana restrictive Eerie Ultimatum. Yes, you won't get every single permanent in your graveyard, but this where I thinka lot of people make a mistake. You don't need every permanent. I opted to focus on targets I'd like to reanimate often and together. Trostani Discordant, Captain of the Watch, Deranged Hermit and Deep Forest Hermit can fill a board and be a threat by themselves. Another option can be to reanimate creatures to sacrifice them again purely for value. Even if there are mostly mana dorks in grave, Yawgmoth, Thran Physician would very much enjoy 8 creatures to sacrifice and draw 8 while potentially removing creatures from the opponent's board(s). All of this to say don't be shy to pull the trigger if it's not an instant win. Sometimes just huge value is enough to put you in control of the game.

There are also two things I mentioned above I'd like to delve in a bit. While Nethroi is considered a mass reanimation spell, he isn't. This is important because sometimes it can be beneficial to cast him as a creature by paying a combined of {5} in one turn and {3} or {4} on a following turn with creatures such as Sawtusk Demolisher or Gemrazer. It's also worth to mention Karador, Ghost Chieftain, the "secret commander", can reuse Nethroi from grave. The other important thing, wihch is still a bit weird to me that WOTC decied to do this to the mutate mechanic, is that humans can screw plans over. I tried the best I could to include as few of them as possible, even if the best option would be to include them. The few of them left, such as the goth doctor, are there because I think they are extremely important, useful or both. That's why I replaced Avacyn's Pilgrim with Gilded Goose but am not willing to cut Intrepid Paleontologist, due to it being a mana dork that's a graveyard hate mana sink easily tutorable.

Overall, it's important to recognize Nethy has a few niche situations which can make a huge difference during a game.

Karador, Ghost Chieftain

The main reason I say Karador is the secret commander is because he work almost as well as Nethroi. It mostly depends on playstyle. I honestly like Nethroi's overall design and ability, but Karador can be a bit more consistent and easier to get on the board.

I don't much to say for him that I either haven't said already about the proper commander or that people don't know about him. The most important thing is he allows the deck to reuse mutate. It's possible use his once per turn to cast a Sawtusk Demolisher, Dirge Bat or Gemrazer to re-trigger Nethroi, which is better than sacrificing and re-casting him from the command zone. Another neat interaction is with Bringer of the Last Gift. Because WOTC decided to not give him the "cast from hand" clause, this means it's possible to use it multiple times over the course of a game thanks to Karador.

Another point to mention is it can be hard to climb to him with any of the pods. The easiest way is with Fiend Artisan, but that's still {8}{BG}. The only target to use to climb to him is Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, which might not be the best idea. Putting this here to note maybe it would be best to include another {7} drop to be climb fodder.

Differently from what I did on some of my decks on TappedOut, I'll try talking about the categories rather than specific cards. This is to make things a bit more concise and not too rambly, but I'l still try to talk a little bit about specifics of specifc cards.

Pods

This can be divided into two categories: True pods and Not-so-true pods.

The first one is easy. Birthing Pod, the namesake of the pod strategy, and Vivien on the Hunt. Both serve a very simple purpose. Sacrifice creatures to climb into bigger costed ones. Not much else to say.

Win conditions

Ramp

Mill

Recursion/Reanimation

Mass Reanimation

Boardwipes

Bullets (Toolbox aspect)

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	19 - 0 Mythic Rares 51 - 0 Rares 11 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.40
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Companion Zone, Emblem Vraska, Golgari Queen, Food, Insect 1/1 BG, Plot, Rhino Warrior 4/4 G, Servo 1/1 C, Soldier 1/1 W, Soldier 1/1 W w/ Lifelink, Spider 2/2 G, Squirrel 1/1 G, Vampire 1/1 W