Queen of the Graveyard

Commander / EDH* BUG (Sultai) Reanimator

LordShadowZ

Creature (35)

• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Caustic Caterpillar
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Dreamborn Muse
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Glen Elendra Archmage
• 1x Hedron Crab
• 1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
• 1x Krosan Restorer
• 1x Laboratory Maniac
• 1x Lotus Cobra
• 1x Merciless Executioner
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar
• 1x Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
• 1x Oracle of Mul Daya
• 1x Rampaging Baloths
• 1x Ramunap Excavator
• 1x Roil Elemental
• 1x Satyr Wayfinder
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Shriekmaw
• 1x Siren Stormtamer
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Spore Frog
• 1x Sylvan Safekeeper
• 1x Taigam, Sidisi's Hand
• 1x Tatyova, Benthic Druid
• 1x The Gitrog Monster
• 1x Titania, Protector of Argoth
• 1x Vampire Hexmage
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x World Shaper
• 1x Yavimaya Elder

Land (34)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Crystal Vein
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Fetid Pools
• 6x Forest
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 3x Island
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Opulent Palace
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 4x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Isle
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 1x Temple of Mystery
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Life from the Loam
• 1x Regrowth
• 1x Splendid Reclamation
• 1x Torment of Hailfire

Planeswalker (4)

• 1x Jace Beleren
• 1x Kiora, Master of the Depths
• 1x Kiora, the Crashing Wave
• 1x Liliana, Death's Majesty

Commander (1)

Enchantment (11)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Elephant Grass
• 1x Exploration
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Pernicious Deed
• 1x Retreat to Hagra
• 1x Seal of Primordium
• 1x Seal of Removal
• 1x Sinister Concoction

Artifact (9)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mesmeric Orb
• 1x Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1x Sol Ring

Instant (1)

• 1x Cyclonic Rift

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Maybeboard

Creature (6)

• 1x Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 1x Body Double
• 1x Mirror-Mad Phantasm
• 1x Necrotic Ooze
• 1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded
• 1x River Kelpie

Land (1)

• 1x Glacial Chasm

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Journey to Eternity  ^Flip
• 1x Necromancy

Artifact (2)

• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Lion's Eye Diamond

Instant (1)

• 1x Entomb

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Primal Surge
• 1x Scapeshift
• 1x Villainous Wealth

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Nissa of Shadowed Boughs

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Welcome to the Grave!

Out of all the deck archetypes in Magic, reanimator and graveyard shenanigans was one of the ones I had the least experience with before making this deck. Now it might be one of my favorites, just because of how ridiculous it can be. I couldn't be happier with the fact that I pulled a promo foil Muldrotha, the Gravetide at the Dominaria pre-release.

The Core of Muldrotha

Since I had virtually no experience in the archetype, this was one of the most difficult and time consuming decks I ever built. I knew the deck needed to take as much advantage of Muldrotha's abilities as possible which led me down the rabbit hole of using almost nothing but permanents. This was a fascinating restriction and forced me to be creative, and do a lot of research. I found as many cards as I could that had strong ETB or sacrifice effects that become borderline broken once they're able to be brought back to play every turn. I also found and fell in love with the idea of using low CMC planeswalkers with extremely good minus abilities who were also able to kill themselves with it and then could be played again for cheap and do it all over again. Unfortunately I'm not using anyone too crazy but at least I'm getting to use a few walkers I wouldn't normally play otherwise.

I got to play the deck as it was a few times, and as a value engine it was great, but it was lacking serious ability to win quickly. So I went and decided to rework the deck. I removed a lot of redundancies and weak cards and added a new theme to the deck: Lands Matter. Loads of Landfall and powerful cards that rely on sacrificing and playing lands, something else Muldrotha excels at, and now I believe this deck can truly become a force to be reckoned with.

The Four Pillars

The Graveyard

Let's start by talking about the most obvious strategy Muldrotha, the Gravetide wants to build around. Getting your library into your graveyard and effectively turning it into a massive, secondary hand. This means including tons of self-mill and reanimation effects. Basically, you want to get as many cards into your graveyard as quickly as possible so you can choose what you need and when you need it.

• Self-Mill: Mesmeric Orb is the true powerhouse of the deck. It makes opponents more hesitant to tap mana to play spells but we can go all in without fear. Dreamborn Muse is another high potential mill that makes opponents hesitate because most people don't like milling their deck.
• Draw + Mill: While not as fast or efficient, I've included stuff like Taigam, Sidisi's Hand and Kiora, Master of the Depths who essentially let me draw a card and mill three more. This way my hand doesn't run out and my graveyard continues to grow.
• Reanimation: There's a number of ways outside of Muldrotha to pluck what I need out of the grave. Animate Dead, Regrowth, and Liliana, Death's Majesty just to name a few. It will be a rare occasion where I can't resurrect what I need.
• Kokusho, the Evening Star: Kokusho is one of the primary graveyard-based win-cons of the deck. He can be tormented through a sac-engine like Viscera Seer and be brought back as much as twice a turn to output some serious damage.
• Laboratory Maniac: The other major graveyard win-con, he lets me win simply through milling myself out. It's high risk but there's protection built into the deck that can defend the Lab-Man from turning an instant win into an instant loss.

Lands Matter

Brand new to this deck is a theme of lands having a real impact. Before this revision of the deck, it wasn't out of place for it to have 80% of its lands out by mid-game, so why not take advantage of that fact? Most of the 17 newly added cards introduce all sorts of Landfall and land based shenanigans that can truly devastate opponents, and just adds another level of power and complexity to an already strong deck.

• Landfall: Landfall is a very powerful mechanic, and Muldrotha is a commander that can really take advantage of it. Hedron Crab boosts my ability to self-mill, Lotus Cobra for additional free mana, and Tatyova, Benthic Druid gives me draw and life. Let's not forget Rampaging Baloths which gives me an army to use as I so choose.
• All the Lands: What kind of person only plays one land per turn? Someone lame, unlike Muldrotha who is awesome. Exploration and Kiora, the Crashing Wave give me ways to play several lands per turn, and The Gitrog Monster does too but also gives me an outlet to sacrifice lands to bring back and trigger more landfalls.
• Bring Lands Back: With all these landfall abilities on the field just waiting to be triggered, we must have a way to win through them. World Shaper and Splendid Reclamation can bring absolutely everything back and trigger so many landfalls that your opponents will explode, either from blood loss caused by Ob Nixilis, the Fallen or Avenger of Zendikar's massive army of plants.
• I Am Groot: Multani has to be mentioned. Because this deck has such an incredible ability to get lands both on the field and into the grave, he will always be very, very powerful and able to Groot Smash™ opponents into submission.

Gaining Advantage

In running a below average number of lands and mana rocks, the deck needs something to make sure it doesn't run out of gas too early. That's why the deck has a significant portion of it dedicated to creating advantage through card draw, non-land mana sources, and land searches. This way the deck is capable of digging lands out of the deck, producing all the necessary mana, and constantly drawing cards to fuel everything.

• More Cards: The best draw spells of the deck are ones that also synergize extremely well with Muldrotha. Mulldrifter is a draw 2 for 3 mana each turn, Mystic Remora lets me draw off other player's spells and can be disposed of and brought back for cheap whenever I want, and Jace Beleren's -1 ability gives me cards and he can be easily brought back for cheap.
• Mana Makers: Here we have mana rocks and mana dorks. The most important rock is Lotus Petal which is a 0 cost mana of any color any turn I want it. Deathrite Shaman is rather underutilized in the deck but he can still gain value from my opponents being milled, giving me consistent fuel for his abilities.
• Ramp: There's actually not a lot of traditional ramp in the deck. It's mostly limited to Expedition Map, Yavimaya Elder, and Solemn Simulacrum, which bring out more lands. Then we have a few of the poor man's fetches like Terramorphic Expanse which are also repeatable searches with Muldrotha. The rest of the deck's ramp comes mostly in the form of draw power and being able to bring stuff out of the graveyard.
• No Tutors: Running almost exclusively permanents means there are no traditional tutors. This deck is limited to Birthing Pod which gives me another sac-engine and turn a creature into a slightly better creature. There is also Buried Alive which is basically a 3 card tutor.

Protective Toolbox

This is where the concept of my Muldrotha deck was born, utilizing cheap permanents that hinder and harm opponents, protect my field, and have a low enough cost that I can replay them from the graveyard as needed. These spells have such a wide variety of effects that it becomes a pseudo-toolbox of control effects that is capable of doing almost everything to keep the deck protected and thriving while also being almost fully playable from the graveyard.

• Removal: Does an opponent have something you'd really like to be dead? Have no fear! Play Sinister Concoction to murder them, Caustic Caterpillar to naturalize an interesting relic, or Vampire Hexmage to deny the existence of a particularly problematic planeswalker!
• Sacrifice: Are your opponents running high numbers of creatures? Never fear! Merciless Executioner has your back! Have a sac-engine out? Throw a scapegoat under the bus and make Grave Pact do your dirty work for you! Want to become a super-villain and make people suffer through eternal damnation? Torment of Hailfire!
• Field Wipes: Cheap permanents that can recur from the graveyard that also clear the board? Behold Nevinyrral's Disk and Pernicious Deed! Nothing will be left standing!
• Protection: Is an opponent swinging for lethal? Spore Frog! Need to keep something alive? Seal of Removal and play it again for more ETB triggers or use Sylvan Safekeeper to fizzle the effect! Need to cast Muldrotha again but don't like paying taxes? Command Beacon! Playing blue? Cyclonic Rift!
• Counters: Counters printed on permanents? You'd better believe it! Siren Stormtamer and Glen Elendra Archmage. They don't cover everything but who cares? This isn't a counter deck!

Suggestions

I'm very interested to see what people think of the deck now that I've given it one hell of a rework and refined it into a hopefully more focused and much more powerful deck. Do you see a card that has no place being in the deck or do you see a glaring omission for something that should be a must include? Please let me know. I welcome any and all suggestions in the goal of making this deck the best that I can. Thanks for stopping by!

Date added	6 years
Last updated	1 month
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Mythic Rares 31 - 0 Rares 28 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.09
Tokens	Beast 4/4 G, Elemental 5/3 G, Emblem Kiora, Master of the Depths, Emblem Kiora, the Crashing Wave, Kraken 9/9 U, Octopus 8/8 U, Plant 0/1 G, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	LordShadow's EDH Decks, decks