Art by Nicky Barkla
Commander deckBG
Vash, Freelance Archaeologist
Fill the graveyard with mill and surveil, then trigger Vash on both your turn and opponents' turns by returning, exiling, or reanimating cards from the graveyard for steady card advantage.
Asked for“Vash, Freelance Archaeologist 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 · 61 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
1Vash, Freelance Archaeologist
1BGLegendary Creature — Human Rogue Scientist
Chosen commander for the requested strategy.
Ramp
10
Sakura-Tribe Elder
1GCreature — Snake Shaman
fetches a basic land and puts a creature into the graveyard
Card Draw
10
Life from the Loam
1GSorcery
dredges cards into the graveyard and repeatedly triggers Vash by returning lands
Insidious Roots
BGEnchantment
creates Plant tokens and mana acceleration whenever creature cards leave the graveyard
Desecrated Tomb
3Artifact
generates flying Bat tokens when cards leave the graveyard
Chalk Outline
3GEnchantment
creates Clue and Detective tokens whenever cards leave your graveyard
Morbid Opportunist
2BCreature — Human Rogue
steady creature death card draw on each turn
Greater Good
2GGEnchantment
sacrifices large graveyard threats for massive card draw and discard
Skullclamp
1Artifact — Equipment
converts small utility creatures and tokens into raw card advantage
Braids, Arisen Nightmare
1BBLegendary Creature — Nightmare
sacrifices recurrable permanents for draw and opponent disruption
Removal
10
Culling Ritual
2BGSorcery
wipes low-mana tokens and rocks while generating massive mana
Toxic Deluge
2BSorcery
premier scalable board wipe that gets around indestructible
Reclamation Sage
2GCreature — Elf Shaman
naturalize on a creature body that can be easily recurred
Threats/Wincons
23
Syr Konrad, the Grim
3BBLegendary Creature — Human Knight
drains opponents whenever creatures enter or leave the graveyard
Scavenging Ooze
1GCreature — Ooze
instant-speed graveyard exile that triggers Vash on opponents' turns
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
BBGGLegendary Creature — Zombie Elf
scales with graveyard size and flings big creatures to finish the table
Izoni, Thousand-Eyed
2BBGGLegendary Creature — Elf Shaman
produces an army of insects based on graveyard creature count
Underrealm Lich
3BGCreature — Zombie Elf Shaman
replaces card draws with selective graveyard loading and protects itself
Necromancy
2BEnchantment
instant-speed reanimation to trigger Vash on an opponent's turn
Dread Return
2BBSorcery
reanimates a creature from the hand or flashed back from the graveyard
Victimize
2BSorcery
trades one creature to reanimate two key threats from the yard
Oversold Cemetery
1BEnchantment
free creature recursion at the beginning of each upkeep
Massacre Wurm
3BBBCreature — Phyrexian Wurm
punishes token boards and provides heavy life loss when reanimated
Sepulchral Primordial
5BBCreature — Avatar
steals the best creature from each opponent's graveyard
Golgari Grave-Troll
4GCreature — Troll Skeleton
massive dredge engine and scalable creature threat
Stinkweed Imp
2BCreature — Imp
repeatable deathtouch blocker with dredge 5 to fuel the graveyard
Sheoldred, Whispering One
5BBLegendary Creature — Phyrexian Praetor
reanimates creatures each upkeep while forcing opponent sacrifices
Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis
5BGBGLegendary Creature — Avatar
delves cards out of the graveyard to cast a massive trampler
Eternal Witness
1GGCreature — Human Shaman
returns any key card from your graveyard to hand to trigger Vash
Timeless Witness
2GGCreature — Human Shaman
redundant Regrowth creature with eternalize from the graveyard
Genesis
4GCreature — Incarnation
recurs creatures from your graveyard to hand during your upkeep
Old Stickfingers
XBGLegendary Creature — Horror
mills creatures directly into your graveyard and acts as a massive threat
Lord of Extinction
3BGCreature — Elemental
massive creature that grows with all graveyards combined
Utility
8
Stitcher's Supplier
BCreature — Zombie
mills six cards total across entry and death triggers
Altar of Dementia
2Artifact
free sacrifice outlet that self-mills to fuel reanimation
Tortured Existence
BEnchantment
repeatable one-mana instant-speed creature swap to trigger Vash on any turn
Deathrite Shaman
BGCreature — Elf Shaman
planeswalker-like utility that exiles cards at instant speed
Conduit of Worlds
2GGArtifact
plays lands and casts permanent spells directly from the graveyard
Swiftfoot Boots
2Artifact — Equipment
hexproof protection for your commander and key engine pieces
