(Tormod, the Desecrator | Art by Grzegorz Rutkowski)

(Zul Ashur, Lich Lord | Art by Raluca Marinescu)

Bring Out Your Dead

Hello fellow brewer and welcome back to Brew For Your Buck, where we swap out the top 10 most expensive cards in a deck with 10 budget cards that add a unique twist. I am writing this article the day before Halloween 2024, so I wanted to go with something spooky, even though you're not reading this until November. By then I'm sure Christmas will have infected most of society (at least in the US) well before it should (the weekend after Thanksgiving) so here's me giving Halloween some more love.

At the time of writing, Foundations is almost done being previewed this week, and it will be bringing us a new Zombie legend with Zul Ashur, Lich Lord:

It's also been a while since we did a Hot Swap deck (formally known as Mayhem decks), where we use two commanders from the same list and add cards that work with both, essentially giving you two decks in one! I'm also building a mono-black cube so my head's been in that space lately too, making Zombie Hot Swap the perfect sounding deck to build.

Zul Ashur's decks already have some crazy expensive cards in the $423.22 average list, so let's remove those, pick another commander, and find some new synergistic cards for both.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. The Meathook Massacre ($45.10)
               2. Demonic Tutor ($33.06)
               3. Liliana, Dreadhorde General ($13.72)
               4. Undead Warchief ($10.45)
               5. Grave Pact ($10.43)
               6. Entomb ($9.77)
               7. Altar of Dementia ($9.40)
               8. Haunted One ($8.87)
               9. Relentless Dead ($8.62)
               10. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed ($7.75)

Total Value of Cuts: $157.17

Mono-black probably has the most expensive mana base for monocolored decks, with cards like Urborg, Nykthos, and Cabal Coffers/Stronghold. Replacing these and a few others with Swamps will give us an additional $132.59 in savings, for a total of $289.76. One more quick note: Liliana, Dreadhorde General is seeing a reprint in Foundations, so give it some time and you might be able to get a copy a bit more cheaply.

With the removals out of the way, we've got two more legendary creatures in the deck: Tormod and Sidisi. While Sidisi is powerful, it's not the most exciting commander to build around, so we'll have our Hot Swap commanders be Zul and Tormod.

Additions

BFYB Staples

Honestly, how many of you guessed that Mausoleum Secrets ($0.83) was going to make another appearance? Both of these commanders want creatures in the graveyard, so this is just a no-brainer replacement for Demonic Tutor. It's easily the most added card in the entire series, so please leave your favorite Maus-Rets (yea, it's a thing now) story down in the comments below.

Another card I often suggest for graveyard-based decks is Songs of the Damned ($1.74). This can be an insane burst of mana in the mid- to late-game, accelerating you past your opponents and into the win column. Songs has been creeping up in price since I started suggesting it in articles since last year, so get one quick before it crosses the $2 threshold and I can't suggest it anymore!

Dredge as a new toy

I mentioned that our commanders and the above cards want to have a big graveyard, so look no further than dredge cards to get the job done. If you haven't played with dredge before, this is a great place to start. The broken mechanic works with both commanders, finding things for Zul to cast and triggering Tormod when they leave the graveyard. Dakmor Salvage ($0.48) can be an extra land if you need it; Stinkweed Imp ($0.76) and Golgari Thug ($0.29) are fragile enough to die naturally or are easily sacrificed to the other cards in the deck. Who needs a hand when you have your entire graveyard?

Backups

It's always nice to have backups for your commander, and we get one for each.

Newly printed Osteomancer Adept ($0.44) can function like Zul does, though at the expense of adding a finality counter and exiling three cards in the graveyard (we have no way to make Food). The exiling will indeed trigger Tormod, and when you cast the creature from your yard it'll trigger again, making this a great effect if you're playing a game with Tormod in the command zone.

An even newer card, Defiled Crypt // Cadaver Lab ($0.11), works well as a second copy of Tormod, enabling a go-wide strategy and providing sacrifice fodder even if they aren't Zombies. Like I've said before about Adventures, I really like Rooms as ways to squeeze "extra" cards into the deck, giving you access to more than your opponents. This seems like a great spot to try this one along with the extremely powerful Funeral Room // Awakening Hall that is already in the list.

Casting from the 'yard

No matter which commander is heading up your deck in a particular game, both want us to be casting things out the graveyard. Our next grouping of cards will make that a lot easier.

First of all, this is the perfect spot for Lord of the Forsaken ($0.49). This extremely cheap mythic rare allows you to pay life instead of mana for all of the generic requirements in the Zombies that you're casting from the graveyard. If you haven't had the pleasure, paying life for mana is one of the more busted things you can do in Magic, especially in Commander where you have so much of it.

Vile Entomber ($0.32) is next, which is exactly Entomb on a Zombie. This is maybe even better than the namesake card that we removed at the top, since we can use it multiple times by sacrificing and recurring it over and over again. Doing so will allow us to tutor specific cards straight into the bin so we can cast them as needed.

Finally, Gravebreaker Lamia ($0.43) is a bit of a combo of the other two, putting a card from your library into the graveyard and making it easier to cast things out the graveyard. It's a decent body too, being a 4/4 lifelinker, too bad it's not a Zombie to boot!

Honorable Mentions

I found a LOT of cards that could go in this deck, so here's just a few of my favorites that you might consider:

• Additional Entomb effects like Unmarked Grave & Corpse Connoisseur (also a Zombie!)
• Desecrated Tomb as another Tormod effect, trading creature type and power/toughness for flying.
• Sting, the Glinting Dagger as a way to untap Zul and give it haste, letting you activate it twice on the turn that it enters!

Wrap Up & Savings

Let's see what we saved:

Two-third of the initial cost is gone, and you've got two decks in one for your trouble. I guess it's the Christmas season after all...

Let me know what you think of the deck(s), what commander you want me to feature, and what you think of Hot Swap decks in the comments below. I've also been writing some beginner-focused content recently! It's all about deckbuilding if you need to brush up, so check that out soon on EDHREC as well. I hope you had a Happy Halloween, and I'll see you next time when we brew for your buck!

Follow me on Twitter @BrewForYourBuck

Please note: card prices listed in this article are accurate at the time of writing, but prices can vary over time and between locations.

Read more:

Brew for Your Buck - Mary Read and Anne Bonny Budget Combo

Technically Playable - Mikaeus, the Unhallowed

Brian Cain

Brian played Magic intermittently between 2003 and 2017 when he fully embraced his love for Commander. Finding ways to maximize the value of each piece of cardboard in the deck is one of his favorite things to explore, especially if it involves putting lands in the graveyard! Outside of Magic, Brian works as a consultant in the marine industry, turning his passion for boats and ships into a career.