Awesome deck list! I personally prefer Varina because she gives you access to Wayward Servant and Corpse Knight and her looting ability lets you draw into combo pieces very quickly. But Wilhelt is definitely a strong commander. Plus he has cool artwork. Innistrad is such a cool plane.

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Glad you liked it! Varina is definitely another amazing zombie tribal commander. But what I love about Wilhelt over Varina is (even though you lose access to white), you have strict game-ending combo potential right in the command zone.

I have him as the helm of my zombie tribal aristocrat deck and I've built it in a way to where I always have 5-7 cards in hand with draw. It is a great combo deck for a casual table!

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

For sure!

Aside from Empty the Laboratory, Polymorph effects work great, converting those decayed tokens into better zombies from the deck. I'm currently experimenting with Proteus Staff.

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

Sounds interesting!

I run Mikaeus the Unhallowed in my Wilhelt deck. Even without his usual combo pieces, giving undying to all of my other zombies means I get twice as much value when they die. I even add Putrid Goblin for persist/undying shenanigans with Mikaeus while still remaining on the tribal theme (zombies with persist/undying are always good with Wilhelt anyway).

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

Nice! Mikaeus is definitely an allstar in zombie and aristocrat decks, so it's definitely exception here. Excellent suggestion!

Poppet stitcher also goes good with blasting station and don't forget about altar of dementia and tutors tutors tutors

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

It's been some time since I decided to purposefully cut down on tutors in my decks (especially tutors that can search for any card). But that's just a personal preference, naturally anyone can include as many tutors as they want in their own decks.

I've just put together Wilham too! (or whatever the name was) I'm testing out Mystic Reflection in mine just to see how it does. In magic Christmas land I'm hoping to make something like 13 Undead Warchiefs. But even if I get a decayed token creature upgraded, or disrupt an opponent, I'm sure it will be fine

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

Oof!! Multiplying Undead Warchiefs is definitely the dream!

Tombstone Stairwell is insane w this commander

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

A couple of people have already commented that but it requires a lot of setup. You need to have enough creatures in your graveyard for it to be worth it. Especially since your opponents get zombies too if they have creatures in their graveyard. But you're the only one paying the cumulative upkeep cost. I had it in the deck when I started tested it and wasn't convinced by it at all. So I took it out.

Sacrificing a 7/7 to Gisa would make 7 2/2 zombies, not 7 7/7 zombies

Nice! that is some added Fire! So Where would Tombstone Stairwell fit into this? is it too slow?

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I considered it, but it didn't perform as well as I expected. It's slow if you don't have enough creatures in your graveyard and there're much better ways of getting zombies to then reuse with Wilhelt.

I cut down on the tribal cards a bit. I just focussed on the whole sacrificing zombies theme and draining people for a ton through diregraf captain type effects. Dictate of erebos is good too, acererak and rooftop storm and gravecrawler and phyrexian altar do rlly well in this deck

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, you can definitely just dedicate Wilhelt to be purely stax and combo. That's what I love so much about this card: the versatility. It's not just another tribal commander.

@DorianTheReaper

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheCommanderTavern me too, its my second ever commander deck and the first one i actually tried rlly hard to make it good. I've playtested a lot and even switched out wilhelt as commander in favor of scarab god. I quickly reversed that decision tho. At first i wanted nothing more than to make a lot of big zombie tokens, give them keywords and attack. Stuff like Ghoulcaller Gisa was what i wanted to play. I kinda ran into a wall with that strategy tho, i noticed i almost never used wilhelt's sacrifice ability. Furthermore attacking with decayed tokens just feels bad so i was like okay let's make that decayed ability into an advantage. They might not be able to block but it's rlly easy to have them die so blood artist and dictate of erebos really shine with that. Since i have phyrexian arena and dreadhorde invasion i also decided to put whip of erebos so i have even more life gain. It turns out that this strategy is rlly durable. It also enables infinite combos which i kind of hesitate to use because i dont think its fun to end every game by turn 6.

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

@@DorianTheReaper Same thing happened when I was testing my deck. I found that all I really needed was the lords and not a lot of other fluff zombies. I shifted more towards stax and combo. The improvement was palpable.

@jamesrenegade1010

2 жыл бұрын

Could you send me your deck listing mate?

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

@@jamesrenegade1010 The link to the decklist is in the description.

This is my current casual deck

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

Nice! How's it running?

Fun decklist! Definitely want to try a lot of these cards in my list. What do you think about replacing Gravespawn Sovereign with Havengul Lich? It costs one less mana, and let’s you cast from every graveyard. Gravespawn CAN pop off if you have a board, but topdecking or low on zombies Lich might have better value.

@TheCommanderTavern

Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Glad you liked it! You can definitely add Havengul Lich if you wanted to. I don't think I'd cut Gravespawn Sovereign for it, though. That card does an insane amount of work here. Sure, it can be a bit a slow, but it's not like you're taking this deck to a competitive table ;)

raise the palisade is good in this deck

@TheCommanderTavern

9 ай бұрын

100%

I've watched a lot of videos on wilhelt and I think your list most closely resembles what I have in my mind. The main difference being that I want a few less of the Lord's and a few more combo pieces. It's been awhile since you did this video, have you updated the list at all? Would love to see where you are at with it these days.

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Glad you liked it! I'd have to revisit it. Not many sets have come out since then with zombies in them. If I were to add anything - off the top of my head - possibly An Offer You Can't Refuse just because it's a 1-cost counterspell.

Since you mentioned the countermagic pack, it's important to remember the standard blue drawing pack of Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora. Also, Sidisi, Undead Vizier for tutoring.

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

I don't feel like every blue deck needs to run Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora. That's just my opinion but I'd rather either draw synergistically throughout a game or draw a ton of cards with an X-draw instant spell. They're still good cards, but I'd rather play them in stax decks than any other blue deck.

Not much sac outlet to benefit grave pact and dictate thou. Wonder if there are other recommended sac outlet beside phyrexian altar?

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

Wilhelt is already a sacrifice outlet in the command zone (end of turn trigger). Plus he creates zombie tokens with decayed, which is a built-in sacrifice effect keyword.

@gohengcheong7097

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheCommanderTavern thanks! Will be forming a zombie tribal! Can trigger between wilhelt or gringrim

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

@@gohengcheong7097 Nice!

@stevegoudreau7973

2 жыл бұрын

Carrion feeder, ashnod's altar, blasting station, viscera seer, grimgrin, Yawgmoth, thran physician, altar of dementia, are all good sac outlets that can be used without paying per sac.

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

@@stevegoudreau7973 All useful suggestions!

I think I’d rather have god eternal Bontu and kefnet in the deck rather than Erebos and gravespawn sovereign. Both gods are also considered zombies, and they also have decent effects for getting off extra spells and sacking more zombies.

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

Those are still decent suggestions as well. But I'd still keep Erebos for the card draw and Gravespawn Sovereign for the free reanimation.

@davidblass3767

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheCommanderTavern that’s true, but in the case of Erebos, he’s not a zombie, and can’t be a target for a lot of the beneficial abilities in the deck like all of the lords buffing the creatures. Plus, in kefnet’s case, he can also act as a flying beat stick.

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

@@davidblass3767 Not every creature needs to be a zombie, though. Either way, I don't really have to worry about Erebos anyways because of the indestructible. The indestructible might seem like a nice bonus but it's super useful.

I have a Wilhelt liste myself but i don't like Acererak in it because by himself he is too slow, you are paying 3 mana to venture and I feel it's to much. i like when my combo pieces are good by themself and I feel Acererak is lackluster . Popett stitcher is very good tought.

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

Acererak is definitely a bit slow on its own. But you can still use it to venture through Tomb of the Archlich, it'll then be a zombie that creates zombies on attack. But it's potentially a cut if you were to need to find a slot for a better card.

Where is Gray Merchant and massive reanimation spells?

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

My deck isn't dependent on reanimation but on comboing off. Had I gone in that direction, then those cards would've definitely been in here. Gray Merchant of Asphodel in particular is actually not that good in this deck since most of the permanents in play are tokens and thus my devotion to black wasn't ever that high.

Only problems I see is low draw cards and very high cmc. This might be fun at a low power pod with no aggro players, but once you sit down with a fast aggro player (goblins & elves) plus someone with control/counter cards the high cmc will hurt.

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, this is meant to be a bit more casual since it prioritizes tribal versus combo and aristocrats, so it's meant to be more midrange. No tribe will ever outpace goblins nor elves, so that's not a fair bar to gauge other tribal decks to. Also, goblins and elves - if fast enough - can beat combo decks before they go off anyways.

@thewhitestallion7824

2 жыл бұрын

I run cards that take advantage of the sac triggers from decayed zombies. For example, smothering abomination, species specialist, dark prophecy and undead augr are great ways to refill your hand for sub optimal decayed tokens.

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

@@thewhitestallion7824 All great suggestions!

You forgot the Mikaeus & triskelion combo 🥺

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

I didn't want to add it since that can go in any deck with black. Plus, Triskelion doesn't do anything on its own here. I'd rather slot in something like Necroduality, which got release in the following set (Crimson Vow) than Triskelion.

I’ve watched too many undead unleashed upgrades 💀💀💀

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

While the precon seems to be the better of the 4, most of the cards I mention here aren't from the precon, so at least it wasn't too much like another "precon upgrade" video for you to watch :P

Ghoulcaller Gisa only makes 2/2 zombies unfortunately.

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, but if the 2/2 zombie token you sacrificed was 7/7 because of the lords pumping it, then the seven 2/2's she creates will also be 7/7 for the same reason.

@korymov

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheCommanderTavern Oh ok, gotcha. I thought you meant a zombie with base power 7. Yeah, that's a good play.

@TheCommanderTavern

2 жыл бұрын

@@korymov No worries! I should've been more specific that you're sacrificing a pumped zombie and thus your zombie tokens are also pumped. But yeah, that's the gist of maximizing the use out of Gisa's ability.

endless ranks of undead is too slow. easy cut

@TheCommanderTavern

Жыл бұрын

Sure, cut it if you want.

lucille is terrible 6 mana to equipped at artifact that creats 1 token on attack. ew

@TheCommanderTavern

Жыл бұрын

Sure, cut it if you want.

decklist pretty shit ngl. this is the only list I've seen that's happy to include huge six, seven drops and expensive sorceries without thinking about how much value you actually get out of it. yikes.

@TheCommanderTavern

Жыл бұрын

To each their own 🤷‍♂