Art by Heonhwa
Commander deckB
Braids, Arisen Nightmare
Grind down opponents through recurring sacrifice fodder and Braids' end-step trigger, punishing opponents with life loss and card advantage while draining them out with aristocrats synergies.
Asked for“Build a 100-card Commander deck with Braids, Arisen Nightmare as the commander, black mono-color identity. Strategy: graveyard midrange, using sacrifice outlets and recursion to fuel Braids' end-step sacrifice engine. Build primarily around the player's provided card list, filling gaps with legal black cards and colorless artifacts. Budget: none specified, prioritize the player's existing cards.”
Deck anatomy
What this list actually runs on: how cheaply it casts things, and whether it has enough ramp, card draw and interaction to keep up at the table. Each block is one card — hover for its name.
Mana curve · 62 nonland cards
The working parts
Counted from Scryfall’s community card tags, not from the builder’s own labels. A card that does two jobs counts twice, so these add up to more than the deck. The hatched band is a common rule of thumb, not a law — combo decks run leaner, battlecruiser decks heavier.
Colored mana symbols
Commander
1Braids, Arisen Nightmare
1BBLegendary Creature — Nightmare
Chosen commander for the requested strategy.
Ramp
10
Crypt Ghast
3BCreature — Spirit
Doubles black mana generation from Swamps with extort utility
Solemn Simulacrum
4Artifact Creature — Golem
Fetches a basic land and draws when sacrificed
Wayfarer's Bauble
1Artifact
Puts an extra land into play and can be sacrificed early
Card Draw
9
Skullclamp
1Artifact — Equipment
Turns recurring one-toughness creatures into massive card advantage
Morbid Opportunist
2BCreature — Human Rogue
Reliable steady draw whenever any creature dies each turn
Midnight Reaper
2BCreature — Zombie Knight
Draws cards whenever nontoken creatures die
Grim Haruspex
2BCreature — Human Wizard
Draws a card for each nontoken creature you sacrifice
Deadly Dispute
1BInstant
Sacrifices an artifact or creature to draw two and make a Treasure
Black Market Connections
2BEnchantment
Yields card draw, ramp, and disposable creature tokens every turn
Removal
10
Feed the Swarm
1BSorcery
Rare mono-black enchantment removal that also handles creatures
Bitter Triumph
1BInstant
Low-cost removal for creatures and planeswalkers that also discards reanimation targets
Grave Pact
1BBBEnchantment
Forces opponents to sacrifice creatures whenever yours die
Dictate of Erebos
3BBEnchantment
Flash edict effect that dismantles enemy boards during sacrifice turns
Fleshbag Marauder
2BCreature — Zombie Warrior
Edict creature that triggers death payoffs and fuels Braids
Demon's Disciple
2BCreature — Human Cleric
Forces creature and planeswalker sacrifices while acting as sacrifice fuel
Plaguecrafter
2BCreature — Human Shaman
Forces sacrifices or discards from each opponent
Threats/Wincons
24
Gravecrawler
BCreature — Zombie
Easily recurred creature from the graveyard to feed sacrifice outlets
Bloodghast
BBCreature — Vampire Spirit
Returns itself freely on landfall triggers to be sacrificed again
Reassembling Skeleton
1BCreature — Skeleton Warrior
Infinite instant-speed sacrifice fodder for Braids
Nether Traitor
BBCreature — Spirit
Self-recurring creature whenever another creature dies
Cult Conscript
BCreature — Skeleton Warrior
One-drop creature that easily recurs from the graveyard
Persistent Specimen
BCreature — Skeleton
Reusable sacrifice target that recurs directly to the battlefield
Ophiomancer
2BCreature — Human Shaman
Provides a fresh Snake token on every player's upkeep
Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia
1BLegendary Creature — Human Wizard
Spawns a decayed Zombie token each turn for Braids to consume
Bitterblossom
1BKindred Enchantment — Faerie
Generates flying Faerie tokens every upkeep to fuel Braids
Dreadhorde Invasion
1BEnchantment
Continuous source of disposable Zombie tokens every turn
Ayara, First of Locthwain
BBBLegendary Creature — Elf Noble
Drains opponents upon black creature entry and provides card draw via sacrifice
Zulaport Cutthroat
1BCreature — Human Rogue Ally
Drains each opponent whenever your creatures perish
Blood Artist
1BCreature — Vampire
Pungent drain effect whenever any creature on the battlefield dies
Marionette Apprentice
1BCreature — Human Artificer
Provides an extra token and drains opponents on creature and artifact deaths
Syr Konrad, the Grim
3BBLegendary Creature — Human Knight
Pings opponents whenever creatures die, mill, or leave graveyards
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
3BBCreature — Zombie
Massive devotion-based life drain and lethal win condition
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
2BBLegendary Creature — Phyrexian Praetor
Punishes opponents for drawing while rewarding your own extra draws
Sheoldred, Whispering One
5BBLegendary Creature — Phyrexian Praetor
Continual reanimation engine that forces opponents to sacrifice attackers
Massacre Wurm
3BBBCreature — Phyrexian Wurm
Wipes opposing small tokens and severely punishes opponents with life loss
Chthonian Nightmare
1BEnchantment
Repeatable energy-based reanimation engine that sacrifices fodder
Animate Dead
1BEnchantment — Aura
Cheap reanimation aura to bring back major threats
Victimize
2BSorcery
Sacrifices a token to revive two high-impact creatures simultaneously
Living Death
3BBSorcery
Massive game-ending board wipe and team reanimation spell
Utility
9
Ashnod's Altar
3Artifact
Free sacrifice outlet that converts creatures into colorless mana
Phyrexian Altar
3Artifact
Free sacrifice outlet providing colored mana to chain spells
Lightning Greaves
2Artifact — Equipment
Protects Braids and grants haste to key utility creatures
Swiftfoot Boots
2Artifact — Equipment
Gives hexproof and haste to keep your commander alive
Ichor Wellspring
2Artifact
Draws on entry and when sacrificed to Braids as an artifact
Nihil Spellbomb
1Artifact
Graveyard hate that cantrips and serves as cheap artifact sacrifice fodder
Bolas's Citadel
3BBBLegendary Artifact
Enables casting off the top of the deck and provides a mass-sacrifice win condition
Tortured Existence
BEnchantment
Low-cost repeatable engine to swap creatures between hand and graveyard
Spawning Pit
2Artifact
Free sacrifice outlet that banks counters to create new Spawn tokens
