Art by Slawomir Maniak
Commander deckBGW
Nethroi, Apex of Death
Fill the graveyard with high-toughness, low-power creatures and mass-reanimate them all at once with Nethroi's 10-power mutate trigger, then close out the game by assigning combat damage with toughness and allowing defenders to attack.
Asked for“Abzan commander deck using Nethroi, apex of death as the commander, while filling the graveyard with big toughness/small power creatures. And also using cards that deal damage with their toughness and give creatures with defender the ability to attack”
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
1Nethroi, Apex of Death
2WBGLegendary Creature — Cat Nightmare Beast
Chosen commander for the requested strategy.
Ramp
10
Overgrown Battlement
1GCreature — Wall
High-toughness wall that produces tons of green mana
Axebane Guardian
2GCreature — Human Druid
Wall that fixes all colors based on defender count
Birds of Paradise
GCreature — Bird
Efficient non-Human mana dork and mutate target
Card Draw
10
Wall of Blossoms
1GCreature — Plant Wall
Low-power cantrip wall that enters and reanimates for zero power
Welcoming Vampire
2WCreature — Vampire
Draws cards whenever low-power creatures enter
Deadbridge Chant
4BGEnchantment
Mills ten cards upfront and generates continuous recursion
Beast Whisperer
2GGCreature — Elf Druid
Draws cards for casting your creature spells
Shamanic Revelation
3GGSorcery
Massive draw and lifegain after reanimating a wide board
Removal
10
Slaughter the Strong
1WWSorcery
Asymmetrical wipe that spares almost all of your high-toughness creatures
Fell the Mighty
4WSorcery
Wipes opposing boards by targeting a 0-power creature you control
Wave of Reckoning
4WSorcery
Board wipe where high-toughness, low-power creatures survive their own power damage
Expel the Interlopers
3WWSorcery
Flexible board wipe that spares your small-power creatures
Threats/Wincons
23
Doran, the Siege Tower
WBGLegendary Creature — Treefolk Shaman
Core enabler that makes all creatures deal combat damage with toughness
Ancient Lumberknot
2BGCreature — Treefolk
Allows creatures with toughness greater than power to deal toughness damage
Rasaad yn Bashir
2WLegendary Creature — Human Monk
Massively boosts toughness of attacking creatures and enables toughness damage
Baldin, Century Herdmaster
4WWLegendary Creature — Human Warrior
Pumps your team's toughness by the number of cards in defending player's hand
Belligerent Brontodon
5GWCreature — Dinosaur
Global toughness-based damage assigner on a large body
Tree of Perdition
3BCreature — Plant
Zero power for Nethroi's limit while possessing 13 toughness and life manipulation
Unhallowed Phalanx
4BCreature — Zombie Soldier
Takes only 1 power of Nethroi's allowance while providing 13 toughness
Indomitable Ancients
2WWCreature — Treefolk Warrior
Massive 2/10 body that attacks for 10 under toughness enablers
Shield Sphere
0Artifact Creature — Wall
Free 0/8 creature that costs zero power toward Nethroi's reanimation limit
Nyx-Fleece Ram
1WEnchantment Creature — Sheep
Zero-power 0/5 enchantment creature that buffers life total
Wall of Junk
2Artifact Creature — Wall
Zero-power 0/7 defender that hits for 7 damage
Perimeter Captain
WCreature — Human Soldier
Zero-power 0/4 defender that gains massive life when walls block
Disowned Ancestor
BCreature — Spirit Warrior
Low-power 0/4 that can grow its toughness with outlast
Catapult Fodder // Catapult Captain
2BCreature — Zombie // Creature — Zombie
Taps to fling high toughness creatures directly at opponents' life totals
Wingmantle Chaplain
3WCreature — Human Cleric
Floods the board with flying Bird tokens based on your defender count
Towering Titan
4GGCreature — Giant
Grows exponentially with defenders and grants trample
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
5WWLegendary Creature — Phyrexian Praetor
Only uses 4 power for Nethroi while devastating enemy boards and buffing yours
Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
6WWLegendary Creature — Elder Dinosaur
Keywords soup with 8 toughness that easily fits inside Nethroi's 10-power pool
Golgari Grave-Troll
4GCreature — Troll Skeleton
0 power in the graveyard for Nethroi and provides huge self-mill via dredge
Stinkweed Imp
2BCreature — Imp
1-power recurring deathtouch blocker that dredges five cards
Weathered Sentinels
3Artifact Creature — Wall
Defender that gains vigilance, trample, and attack ability when opponents swing
Resolute Watchdog
WCreature — Dog
Cheap high-toughness non-Human mutate target that sacrifices to grant indestructible
Sapling of Colfenor
3BGBGLegendary Creature — Treefolk Shaman
Indestructible non-Human treefolk that draws cards and gains life off high toughness
Utility
9
Assault Formation
1GEnchantment
Assigns damage with toughness and allows defenders to attack
Wakestone Gargoyle
3WCreature — Gargoyle
Allows all creatures with defender to attack
Bedrock Tortoise
3GCreature — Turtle
Enables toughness-based combat damage and protects attackers with hexproof
Rolling Stones
1WEnchantment
Classic enchantment enabling Wall creatures to attack
Walking Bulwark
1Artifact Creature — Golem
Cheap artifact creature that lets defenders attack with toughness damage
Altar of Dementia
2Artifact
Sacrifice outlet to mill your deck or opponents using toughness/power
Buried Alive
2BSorcery
Tutors three key high-toughness pieces straight to the graveyard
Hermit Druid
1GCreature — Human Druid
Rapidly fills the graveyard with reanimation targets
