The first Zombie deck I built had every lord I owned and lost to the first board wipe of every game. I'd built it like Elves — go wide, pump, swing — and Zombies are bad at being Elves.

What they're good at is not staying dead. The tribe's best cards pay you when a Zombie dies and then hand the body back, so the deck is strongest in the long, wrath-heavy games that sink other creature decks. Here are the three commanders that do it best, and the 99 I'd put behind them.

What makes a Zombie deck work in Commander?

Three jobs: bodies that come back, a way to kill them on purpose, and something that pays you each time. A Zombie deck missing any one of the three is a pile of 2/2s.

Card spotlight

One mana, and you may cast it from your graveyard as long as you control a Zombie. That's the tribe's whole argument on one card: Gravecrawler is a body you can sacrifice every turn and buy back for , for as long as the game lasts. With Phyrexian Altar and any second Zombie it loops as many times as you like — the deck's most famous combo, and one to mention before the game at a casual table.

The count I build to: about 30 Zombies, 36 lands, ten ramp pieces, four or five sacrifice outlets and eight ways to draw. Carrion Feeder is the outlet I'd play first, because it's free and it's a Zombie itself. Phyrexian Altar is the best outright, at a price — about $34 — I wouldn't ask a new deck to pay. The rest are sorted in the sacrifice outlets guide.

The recent budget version is Project Deathlok Soldier from Marvel Super Heroes: a Zombie that returns from your graveyard to your hand for . Four mana a lap where Gravecrawler charges one, but it needs no other Zombie on the battlefield and costs six cents.

Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver: the best Zombie commander overall

If you want one answer, it's this one. Wilhelt is the face of Undead Unleashed, the Midnight Hunt Commander precon a lot of people already own, so there's a good chance the deck is half-built on your shelf.

Card spotlight

Whenever another Zombie you control dies, if it didn't have decayed, you get a 2/2 Zombie with decayed. At your end step you may sacrifice a Zombie to draw a card. So every Zombie dies twice, and the second death can be a card. Wilhelt is why a board wipe against this deck still leaves you with a board.

Build him as a sacrifice deck, not a combat deck: decayed tokens can't block and are sacrificed after they attack, so their job is to feed his end step or an altar. Grimgrin, Corpse-Born is the other blue-black option if you'd rather the commander be the sacrifice outlet and the removal spell, and Gisa and Geralf if you want to cast a Zombie out of your graveyard every turn. Neither rebuilds a board the way Wilhelt does.

The Scarab God: the best Zombie commander for stronger tables

The Scarab God isn't a Zombie. It's the commander that turns every Zombie you control into a clock, and everyone's graveyard into your toolbox.

Card spotlight

At your upkeep each opponent loses life equal to the number of Zombies you control, and you scry that many. Ten Zombies is ten life from each opponent, with no attack step. For it exiles a creature card from any graveyard and makes a 4/4 Zombie copy of it — the best thing anyone at the table has lost, now counting toward your drain. And when The Scarab God dies you can leave it in the graveyard and it returns to your hand at the next end step, so a destroy effect costs you no commander tax. Exile still does.

The activation is mana-hungry, so run more rocks, and it draws removal the moment it lands. Token makers matter more than lords here, because the drain counts heads, not power. This is the build I'd bring to a table already playing strong decks.

Varina, Lich Queen: the best three-colour Zombie commander

Varina is the combat option, and the only one of the three with white.

Card spotlight

Whenever you attack with one or more Zombies, you draw that many cards, discard that many, and gain that much life. Attack with six and you loot six. The discards aren't a cost in this deck — the Zombies you pitch are the ones you'll bring back — and Varina turns the leftovers into tapped 2/2 Zombies for and two exiled graveyard cards each.

White is why you pick her: Wayward Servant drains the table whenever another Zombie enters, Corpse Knight takes 1 from each opponent for any creature of yours, and you get white's removal on top. The price is a three-colour mana base and a deck that has to attack. She's worse than Wilhelt into a table full of blockers and better at digging you out when you're behind.

Blessed Ghoul from Reality Fracture could have been printed for her: a Zombie with lifelink that returns from your graveyard to your hand for . Discard it to Varina, buy it back. The hybrid symbol counts as both colours, so it's legal here and not in Wilhelt's deck.

The best Zombie lords: which anthems are worth a slot

Lords are where Zombie lists go wrong, mine included. Five or six is plenty. Play the ones that do a second thing.

Card spotlight

Other Zombies you control get +1/+1 and deathtouch, and so do your Skeletons. The deathtouch is the half that matters: it makes a board of 2/2s impossible to block profitably and miserable to attack into. Death Baron is the one lord that changes what your creatures do instead of how big they are.

Diregraf Captain is the automatic second in blue-black, since it takes 1 life from an opponent whenever another Zombie of yours dies. Undead Warchief gives +2/+1 and makes Zombie spells cost less — the strongest pump of the lot, at nearly five dollars. Lord of the Accursed is ten cents and taps with to give Zombies menace for the turn. I've cut Lord of the Undead: its bonus reaches opponents' Zombies too, and at over four dollars the recursion is cheaper elsewhere.

New Zombie lords are rare. The newest creature that does it is Gisa, the Hellraiser from Outlaws of Thunder Junction: +1/+1 and menace for your Zombies and Skeletons, plus two tapped Zombie tokens the first time each turn you commit a crime. Good in a deck full of cheap targeted removal, ordinary without it.

Zombie card draw and recursion engines

This is the section that decides whether the deck is still playing on turn eight. You need deaths that turn into cards, and a graveyard that works as a second hand.

Card spotlight

Whenever it or another Zombie you control dies, you draw a card and lose 1 life. Tokens count — that's the difference between Undead Augur and Midnight Reaper, which only sees nontoken creatures. Eighteen cents. Watch your life total when a wrath resolves, because the draw isn't optional.

Cryptbreaker taps three Zombies to draw a card for 1 life, and since that isn't a cost, summoning-sick tokens can pay it. Headless Rider replaces every nontoken Zombie that dies with a 2/2. Zul Ashur, Lich Lord taps to let you cast a Zombie from your graveyard, costs two mana and under a dollar, and goes in every list. In blue, Rooftop Storm makes Zombie creature spells free — six mana to set up, then absurd with Gravecrawler or Zul Ashur — and Necroduality copies every nontoken Zombie that enters. Buy Rooftop Storm first.

The recent one is Grim Reaper's Scythe from Marvel Super Heroes Commander, which makes a 2/2 Zombie whenever one or more creature cards leave your graveyard. Recasting Gravecrawler does it. So does any Zombie you cast with Zul Ashur, and so does The Scarab God exiling something of yours. Still proving itself, but at 73 cents it's in my Wilhelt list now.

Token makers and drain: how a Zombie deck actually wins

Combat damage from 2/2s won't close a four-player game. Zombies win by going wide and then charging the table for every body that enters or dies.

Card spotlight

Whenever you cast a Zombie spell, you get a tapped 2/2 Zombie. Three mana, and every Zombie after it is two bodies — including Gravecrawler each time it comes back. Diregraf Colossus also enters with a +1/+1 counter for each Zombie card in your graveyard, so late in the game it's a threat by itself. It says cast, not enters: reanimation doesn't trigger it.

For drain, Plague Belcher and Vengeful Dead each take 1 life from every opponent when another Zombie dies. Gray Merchant of Asphodel is a Zombie, which people forget, and still ends games. For mass bodies, Endless Ranks of the Dead grows the board by half each upkeep and is the best of them at four mana. Zombie Apocalypse returns every Zombie from your graveyard tapped and destroys all Humans — your Gisa included — and is the card that makes a board wipe backfire.

The recent addition is Undead Hand Ninja from Marvel Super Heroes Commander: a two-mana deathtouch Zombie that drains each opponent for 1 whenever creature cards leave your graveyard. Narrower than Plague Belcher, but a fine extra copy in a Gravecrawler or Zul Ashur deck.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best Zombie commander in EDH?

Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver. He replaces every other non-decayed Zombie of yours that dies and can draw a card each turn, which covers the tribe's two biggest needs from the command zone. The Scarab God is stronger at high-power tables, and Varina, Lich Queen is the pick if you want white.

What colours are best for a Zombie Commander deck?

Blue-black. Black holds nearly every Zombie worth playing, and blue adds Rooftop Storm, Necroduality and Diregraf Captain. Mono-black is the budget route.

What is the best mono-black Zombie commander?

Ghoulcaller Gisa. She sacrifices another creature to make 2/2 Zombies equal to its power, so any lord-pumped body becomes three or four. The recent alternative is The Ghoul, Gunslinger from a Secret Lair drop, which hands out rad counters whenever a nontoken Zombie dies and pays you a Treasure when you take them yourself, but it runs about eleven dollars.

How does a Zombie deck beat board wipes?

By getting paid for them. Wilhelt, Undead Augur and Plague Belcher all trigger when the board dies together, and Zombie Apocalypse rebuilds from the graveyard in one card. Wipes that exile are the real problem, so hold your recursion until after one.

Is Gravecrawler plus Phyrexian Altar an infinite combo?

Yes, with one other Zombie on the battlefield. Sacrifice Gravecrawler for , recast it from the graveyard with that mana, repeat. The loop alone does nothing; with Diregraf Captain or Plague Belcher out, it drains the whole table.

Which Zombie commander should you build first?

Wilhelt. He's the cheapest of the three to build well, the hardest to wipe, and the deck that teaches you how the tribe wins. Move to The Scarab God when your table gets sharper, or to Varina if you'd rather attack. Whichever you choose, start the 99 with Gravecrawler, Undead Augur, Death Baron and Diregraf Colossus — about five dollars for all four.

Carl will build the list with you in the deck builder and show you where the Zombie or outlet count is thin. And for the timing questions — which triggers you get when a wrath takes Wilhelt and his Zombies at once is the one I had to ask about — Trisha handles rulings in chat.