Eight Legs for my Eighth Commander

Commander / EDH BG (Golgari) Casual

Cadois

Creature (23)

• 1x Arachnus Spinner
• 1x Arasta of the Endless Web
• 1x Brood Weaver
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Chainweb Aracnir
• 1x Deadly Recluse
• 1x Doom Weaver
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Jungle Weaver
• 1x Kessig Recluse
• 1x Mirkwood Spider
• 1x Nyx Weaver
• 1x Penumbra Spider
• 1x Rotwidow Pack
• 1x Ruins Recluse
• 1x Shelob, Child of Ungoliant
• 1x Shelob, Dread Weaver
• 1x Silklash Spider
• 1x Skyfisher Spider
• 1x Sporeweb Weaver
• 1x Sweet-Gum Recluse
• 1x Twin-Silk Spider
• 1x Watcher in the Web

Artifact (8)

• 1x Conjurer's Closet
• 1x Helm of the Host
• 1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
• 1x Panharmonicon
• 1x Perpetual Timepiece
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Vanquisher's Banner
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Land (35)

• 1x Blighted Woodland
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Field of Ruin
• 13x Forest
• 1x Grim Backwoods
• 1x High Market
• 1x Miren, the Moaning Well
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Sanctum of Eternity
• 7x Swamp
• 1x Swarmyard
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Enchantment (12)

• 1x Arachnus Web
• 1x Assault Formation
• 1x Cryptolith Rite
• 1x Curse of Clinging Webs
• 1x Doubling Season
• 1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip
• 1x Journey to Eternity  ^Flip
• 1x Myth Unbound
• 1x Parallel Lives
• 1x Vessel of Nascency
• 1x Wilderness Reclamation
• 1x Zendikar Resurgent

Commander (1)

Instant (14)

• 1x Arachnogenesis
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Constant Mists
• 1x Deathsprout
• 1x Druid's Deliverance
• 1x Grapple with the Past
• 1x Grisly Salvage
• 1x Harrow
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Putrefy
• 1x Roiling Regrowth
• 1x Second Harvest
• 1x Sudden Reclamation

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Bala Ged Recovery  ^Flip
• 1x Boundless Realms
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Kindred Dominance
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Tempt with Discovery
• 1x Triumph of the Hordes

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Maybeboard

Creature (11)

• 1x Blex, Vexing Pest  ^Flip
• 1x Blightwidow
• 1x Drider
• 1x Hatchery Spider
• 1x Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
• 1x Obelisk Spider
• 1x Oran-Rief Recluse
• 1x Sporecap Spider
• 1x Stingerfling Spider
• 1x Treetop Snarespinner
• 1x Webspinner Cuff

Instant (7)

• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Golgari Charm
• 1x Hagra Mauling  ^Flip
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Pause for Reflection
• 1x Terrifying Presence
• 1x Windgrace's Judgment

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Casualties of War
• 1x Creeping Renaissance
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x In Garruk's Wake
• 1x Overwhelming Stampede
• 1x Rites of Spring
• 1x Scale Up
• 1x Seasons Past
• 1x Spider Spawning
• 1x Traverse the Ulvenwald

Land (5)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Verdant Catacombs

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Lolth, Spider Queen

Artifact (8)

• 1x Eldrazi Monument
• 1x Lithoform Engine
• 1x Netherborn Altar
• 1x Obelisk of Urd
• 1x Rings of Brighthearth
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x The Great Henge
• 1x Vat of Rebirth

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Deathreap Ritual
• 1x Font of Fertility
• 1x Moldervine Reclamation
• 1x Perilous Forays
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Sylvan Library

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This deck theme song is Spider Dance, by Toby Fox (from Undertale).

Here's my personal take on a spider deck. I'm not focusing in playing tribal, maybe because I have too many of those... And because spiders aren't a strong tribe. I'm trying to abuse of Ishkanah's ETB trigger and activated ability. This means I want to achieve victory by the numbers, very much like using Overrun effects to take half my opponents life total and then taking the other half activating my commander. I could use this strategy in a big variety of other decks, but I always thought Ishkanah, Grafwidow looks cool. I think spiders should be much cooler and stronger, both in MtG and RPGs.

Ron Weasley would hate this deck.

- Delirium
About playing the deck, the first thing I want is to achieve delirium by turn 5. Or earlier. I mean, to have delirium online as soon as I can possibly play Ishkanah. For this I'm using a lot of early sacrificable permanents like Wayfarer's Bauble, Burnished Hart, Renowned Weaver, Vessel of Nascency and lands like Evolving Wilds, Blighted Woodland and even cycling cards like Ash Barrens or Jungle Weaver.

- Graveyard Recursion
Cards like Grapple with the Past and Sudden Reclamation are very good both because they help with delirium and because they get back a card from your GRAVEYARD, not from among the cards revealed. At instant speed. That's why I'm overlooking cards like Benefaction of Rhonas who're slow and rely on the luck of the revealed cards. Also, both green and black Confluences are good and versatile options.

- Mana and Ramp
Ishkanah's activated ability is expensive as truck. Ramping and generating mana is pretty much obligatory. Early sorceries like Far Wanderings and Cultivate will help both with the ramp and getting a early sorcery into your delirium score. Double points for Harrow in this matter! Then Cryptolith Rite, Boundless Realms, Zendikar Resurgent and Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun   will do the heavy lifting. The last one is specially good 'cause the commander already is/are four creatures, so it can be insta-flipped to a $400 worth cardboard piece like Gaea's Cradle!

- Commander's Arsenal
There are a few weird cards here just to test out how they interact with my commander, like Helm of the Host to have Ishkanah enter the battlefield, trigger the token spawning, and then have a backup body in case she's killed. In most scenarios I even sac the original just to play it again. Conjurer's Closet and Strionic Resonator are here for the same ETB thing, while Illusionist's Bracers are for her second ability. I even used a Blade of Selves at early tests, but it was cut out.

- Answers
Being green and black, you can destroy most things. Artifacts and enchantments? Krosan Grip. Creatures? Putrefy. Indestructible creatures? Wretched Confluence. Noncreature permanents? Terastodon. Any permanent? Beast Within. I know I should be playing a few more removals, mainly black stuff, and I'll try my best to fit them. I'm just a lil' sad about not having the space for some thematic flying-hate like Gloomwidow's Feast, Eaten by Spiders and Aerial Predation.

- Kinda Tribal
Then there's a small selection of the best spiders and cards to help them to be a better tribe, like Assault Formation, Door of Destinies, Vanquisher's Banner and Eldrazi Monument.

- Honorary Spiders?
Don't find it weird if you noticed a few nonspidery creatures. Terastodon is too good to be left out, I chose Skullwinder over Eternal Witness because it's closer to a spider with its higher toughness and deathtouch, and I literally used Acidic Slime to replace a Naturalize, not a spider. :)

- Card Draw
Finally, I have a small engine to keep going with Wretched Confluence, Lifecrafter's Bestiary, Vanquisher's Banner, Deathreap Ritual, Zendikar Resurgent and Grim Backwoods, kinda. In desperate times, Strionic Resonator can double the value of SOME of the above mentioned.

- "Something in the mist took John Lee!"
One fun thing about this deck that I discovered while playing is that it is unexpectedly resilient and tough to fall. Spiders make great blockers even against trampling damage, and I can run a lot of thematic fogs like Arachnogenesis, Druid's Deliverance and Terrifying Presence. xD

Upvote to give your opponents night terrors!

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EDIT

I submitted this deck to the Commander Vs. Series from Star City Games YouTube channel, and it was actually played by Jeremy Noel in S16E4! :D

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Also, if you liked it, check out my other commanders:

Unblockabruna (Auras / Voltron / Control) Bruna, Light of Alabaster

Brago, King Blink182 (ETB triggers / Combo / Control) Brago, King Eternal

Sliver: the Gathering (Aggro / Combo / Sliver tribal) Sliver Overlord

Giant Stomp (High CMC / Aggro / Giant tribal) Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas

Kitchen Table Kitten Fable (Low CMC / Aggro / Cat tribal) Arahbo, Roar of the World

Captain Beckett Brass (Steal theme / Cruel Control / Pirate tribal) Admiral Beckett Brass

Yes, This Deck is For Real (I don't even know where to start) Chisei, Heart of Oceans

Kokusho, the Kamikaze Star (Lifegain / Lifedrain / Reanimator) Kokusho, the Evening Star

Sevinne's Summer Camp (Flashback / Spellslinger / Pillowfort) Sevinne, the Chronoclasm

Ping [300ms] (Ping / Untap / I'LL F-ING DO IT AGAIN) Reveka, Wizard Savant

Kroxa, Dark Souls Boss (Discard / Pain for you / Gain for me) Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger

For the Horde! (Aggro / Value / Elemental tribal) Horde of Notions + Jegantha, the Wellspring

Dwarves & Dragons (Dwarf tribal / Dragon tribal / Treasure tribal) Magda, Brazen Outlaw

Go Go-Shintai Rangers (Shrine tribal / Enchantress / Play Alone) Go-Shintai of Life's Origin

N'ghathrod's Horrorshow (Horror tribal / Mill / Steal theme) Captain N'ghathrod

Ukkima no Ninpouchou!! (Ninja tribal / Casual / +1/+1 Counters) Ukkima, Stalking Shadow   & Cazur, Ruthless Stalker  

Splicey and Dicey (Splicer tribal / Tokens / Golem tribal) Ich-Tekik, Salvage Splicer & Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker

Date added	6 years
Last updated	1 month
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	1 - 0 Mythic Rares 35 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 19 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.54
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Food, Saproling 1/1 G, Spider 1/2 G, Spider 2/4 B
Folders	edh, Potential EDH Decks, Awesome EDH, EDH - Cats, Favorites, Inspiration, Need to Build, Future, To Build, 1 - My EDH Decks