Art by Darren Tan
Commander deckBG
Nog, Ambitious Cadet
Promote Nog through his career stages to surveil cards into the graveyard, then abuse his ability to play multiple lands directly from the graveyard to trigger massive landfall and reanimation payoffs.
Asked for“Nog, Ambitious Cadet commander deck”
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
1Nog, Ambitious Cadet
BGLegendary Creature — Ferengi Rogue
Chosen commander for the requested strategy.
Ramp
10
Arcane Signet
2Artifact
Efficient two-mana rock providing both black and green mana
Sakura-Tribe Elder
1GCreature — Snake Shaman
Puts lands onto the battlefield and into the graveyard
Harrow
2GInstant
Sacrifices a land to fetch two, feeding Nog's graveyard recursion
Roiling Regrowth
2GInstant
Sacrifices a land into the graveyard to search for two tapped basics
Card Draw
10
Sylvan Library
1GEnchantment
Topdeck manipulation that pairs well with Nog's surveil triggers
Tireless Tracker
2GCreature — Human Scout
Investigates on landfall to provide constant card advantage
Beast Whisperer
2GGCreature — Elf Druid
Draws cards for casting your creature spells
Morbid Opportunist
2BCreature — Human Rogue
Draws cards whenever creatures die across the board
The Gitrog Monster
3BGLegendary Creature — Frog Horror
Draws cards when lands hit the graveyard and gives extra land drops
Greater Good
2GGEnchantment
Sacrifice outlet that digs deep and fills the graveyard
Braids, Arisen Nightmare
1BBLegendary Creature — Nightmare
Sacrifices lands to draw cards while draining opponents
Removal
10
Threats/Wincons
24
Scute Swarm
2GCreature — Insect
Floods the board with insect copies as lands are played
Avenger of Zendikar
5GGCreature — Elemental
Creates an army of Plants and buffs them with landfall triggers
Rampaging Baloths
4GGCreature — Beast
Generates 4/4 Beast tokens on every land drop
Titania, Protector of Argoth
3GGLegendary Creature — Elemental
Creates 5/3 Elementals whenever lands enter the graveyard
Lord of Extinction
3BGCreature — Elemental
Grows massive from all the cards in graveyards
Wight of the Reliquary
BGCreature — Zombie Knight
Grows with graveyards and tutors lands into play
Six
2GLegendary Creature — Treefolk
Retraces nonland permanents from the graveyard while milling lands
Conduit of Worlds
2GGArtifact
Redundant land recursion from graveyard and permanent cast option
Aftermath Analyst
1GCreature — Elf Detective
Self-mills and returns all lands from the graveyard to the battlefield
Blossoming Tortoise
2GGCreature — Turtle
Self-mills lands, recurs them, and reduces ability activation costs
Lumra, Bellow of the Woods
4GGLegendary Creature — Elemental Bear
Huge reach creature that returns all lands from the graveyard on ETB
Bristly Bill, Spine Sower
1GLegendary Creature — Plant Druid
Places and doubles +1/+1 counters on landfall triggers
Greensleeves, Maro-Sorcerer
3GGLegendary Creature — Elemental Sorcerer
Scales with land count and spawns 3/3 Badgers on landfall
Ancient Greenwarden
4GGCreature — Elemental
Doubles all landfall triggers and allows playing lands from the yard
Undergrowth Recon
1GGEnchantment
Returns a land from the graveyard to the battlefield each upkeep
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
3BBLegendary Creature — Demon
Drains life and grows with each land played from Nog
Syr Konrad, the Grim
3BBLegendary Creature — Human Knight
Pings opponents whenever creatures leave graveyards or get surveilled
Mirkwood Bats
3BCreature — Bat
Drains opponents when land-based tokens enter or leave play
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
BBGGLegendary Creature — Zombie Elf
Fling outlet that threatens lethal burn with high-power graveyard creatures
Cultivator Colossus
4GGGCreature — Plant Beast
Massive trampler that chains multiple land drops into play
Spelunking
2GEnchantment
Ensures all recurring lands enter the battlefield untapped
Springheart Nantuko
1GEnchantment Creature — Insect Monk
Landfall creates Insect tokens or copies your best creature
Centaur Vinecrasher
3GCreature — Plant Centaur
Enormous trampling threat that recurs itself whenever lands hit the bin
Wrenn and Realmbreaker
1GGLegendary Planeswalker — Wrenn
Fixes mana, animates lands, and grants full graveyard access
Utility
8
Heroic Intervention
1GInstant
Protects Nog and your key permanents from board wipes and removal
Lightning Greaves
2Artifact — Equipment
Gives haste to Nog so he can attack and tap to trigger surveil immediately
Swiftfoot Boots
2Artifact — Equipment
Provides hexproof protection and immediate attack capability
Crop Rotation
GInstant
Puts a land into the graveyard at instant speed to tutor any utility land
Constant Mists
1GInstant
Buyback fog that sacs lands that Nog can replay each turn
Eternal Witness
1GGCreature — Human Shaman
Retrieves any key milled or surveilled nonland card back to hand
Squandered Resources
BGEnchantment
Sacrifices lands for burst mana to be immediately replayed with Nog
