Muldrotha, the GravetideMuldrotha, the Gravetide | Art by Jason Rainville

Hello everyone! I’m Levi from The Thought Vessel, and this is Hidden Gems, the series that looks at cards for a commander that might be flying under the radar. For a card to qualify as a hidden gem, it has to show up in fifteen percent or less of decks for a particular commander here on EDHREC.

This time, we're looking at an all-time Commander great in the reanimation space: Muldrotha, the GravetideMuldrotha, the Gravetide.

Muldrotha was first printed in Dominaria in 2018. It quickly became a popular choice amongst Commander players due to its supporting colors of blue, black, and green (Sultai), and its ability to get permanents back from the graveyard, not just creatures. In its prime, Muldrotha’s popularity rivaled Atraxa, Praetors' VoiceAtraxa, Praetors' Voice for the top commander spot. But time and power creep have not been friendly to our favorite Elemental Avatar, as Muldrotha is all the way down to number 30 among commanders built in the last two years and number three amongst Sultai commanders.

As wild as it might be to say, six mana for a value engine isn’t as impactful as it used to be. Today, however, is Muldrotha’s day in the sun as we have ten hidden gems to bring a spark of life into a neat commander.

Honorable Mention- Irma, Part-Time MutantIrma, Part-Time Mutant (0.3%)

One card that I did want to speak on is Irma, Part-Time MutantIrma, Part-Time Mutant. It's a new card from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and probably the one that I was most excited for. At the start of combat, Irma turns into one of our creatures with the exception being that it retains its name, Irma, Part-Time MutantIrma, Part-Time Mutant, and gets to rack up +1/+1 counters.

This means we can have a second copy of Muldrotha that will get gradually bigger each turn. After only one turn, it would be a 7/7.

We could also change the creature we are copying every turn to what fits our play the best. This could be Spore FrogSpore Frog, Doc Aurlock, Grizzled GeniusDoc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius, or even something like Teval, the Balanced ScaleTeval, the Balanced Scale. The possibilities of this card are truly endless, and I have included it in several decks to date.

With our honorable mention out of the way, let’s get into our list with number ten.

10. Insidious Roots (12%)

Starting our list is Insidious RootsInsidious Roots. This card has two different parts that work well together in this list. The first part allows us to have our creature tokens tap for mana. In a deck that wants to cast multiple things from the graveyard every turn, this burst of mana production can really help grease the wheels of our engine.

The second part of Insidious RootsInsidious Roots answers the question of where these tokens are going to come from. Of course, this type of deck can play Field of the DeadField of the Dead, Scute SwarmScute Swarm, or a litany of other token makers, but every time one or more of our creatures leave the graveyard, we make a 0/1 Plant creature token.

This can also be a slow-burning win condition, as whenever we make that token, we can also put a +1/+1 counter on each Plant we control. Between enchantment creatures, artifact creatures, and just creatures, this card can trigger multiple times each turn, building up an army. Not bad for a two mana enchantment.

9. Executioner's CapsuleExecutioner's Capsule (9.9%)

We’re taking a page out of Glissa, the TraitorGlissa, the Traitor’s playbook as we add Executioner's CapsuleExecutioner's Capsule. This is a repeatable removal spell that Muldrotha can get back for us by using up the artifact slot each turn.

Having this kind of engine available can really put our opponents on the back foot because they will be hesitant to play out their best nonblack creatures, as they would simply be targets for the Capsule. Anything that forces our opponents to play worse is worth an inclusion.

8. Birthing PodBirthing Pod (6.5%)

There are some cards in this game that are simply cursed by their ceiling. People see a card that can be used in a completely broken way and are tempted to always take it in that direction, such as Food ChainFood Chain and Underworld BreachUnderworld Breach. Birthing PodBirthing Pod is one of these cards.

As the namesake of its own archetype, Birthing Pod is a toolbox-style card, letting us sacrifice a creature to bring one from our deck into play that is exactly one mana greater. This is usually to find a combo piece or to chain triggers together to win on the spot. In this deck, we have plans, but they are far less sinister.

With Birthing Pod, we can recast any creature we sacrifice, essentially giving us a creature card from our deck right into play for free. This cheating effect, combined with versatility and a sacrifice outlet, makes for a very potent card for this kind of deck without being a game-ender like in other Commander games.

7. Gifts UngivenGifts Ungiven (5.3%)

In the same breath as Birthing PodBirthing Pod, we have our recently unbanned Game Changer, Gifts UngivenGifts Ungiven. Gifts Ungiven tutors up four cards of our choice, then an opponent decides which two of them go into our graveyard and which go into our hand. With Muldrotha in play, this is essentially the exact same thing, as we can get our cards back with consistency.

Normally, this is used to find a combo line or a counterspell in a pinch, but we can use it just to find some value pieces in permanent types we aren’t currently taking advantage of in the game, like planeswalker, battle, or enchantment.

This allows us to use even more of our ability consistently, as we can cast four or five cards per turn with Muldrotha.

6. Fauna ShamanFauna Shaman (5.0%)

Fauna ShamanFauna Shaman has an activated ability that has us discard a creature to tutor a creature into our hand. With Muldrotha, this essentially becomes “Pay one green mana, tutor up a creature once per turn.” We can consistently find creatures that will help us on that particular turn to gain footing in the game.

Muldrotha typically isn’t an aggressive commander - unless you're on a combo plan - but rather an economic deck. Muldrotha wants to bury the rest of the table in value and resources over multiple turns until it is simply too big to fail. Anything we can do to make our turns as profitable as possible is going to be a huge priority for us.

5. Fell the ProfaneFell the Profane (3.3%)

This can also go for a lot of the MDFC lands. We can cast Fell the ProfaneFell the Profane to remove a creature, and on a later turn, we can play the land right out of our graveyard.

Typically, these cards are very popular among veteran Commander players because they can give us options on what we need at the moment. Muldrotha allows us to have and do both, which isn’t the most explosive thing we can be doing, but it is always useful.

4. Fang, Fearless l'CieFang, Fearless l'Cie (2.9%)

Once per turn, Fang lets us draw a card and lose one life whenever one or more cards leave our graveyard. This is a great card draw engine that can fly under the radar because it isn’t as much of a household name as a card like NecropotenceNecropotence would be.

Since we’re on the economic plan, we are more than happy with a steady flow of cards.

We can also have the side quest of playing Vanille, Cheerful l'CieVanille, Cheerful l'Cie. Vanille also works well with the deck as it enters play, mills us multiple cards, and returns a card to our hand. If we have both Fang and Vanille in play, we can meld them together to play Ragnarok, Divine DeliveranceRagnarok, Divine Deliverance.

It isn't the most powerful thing that we can be doing with Muldrotha, but it can be fun to have a side quest in the game to go for things we can accomplish in the game outside of just winning.

3. Springheart NantukoSpringheart Nantuko (2.5%)

Muldrotha decks tend to play a lot of fetch lands or similar things like Terramorphic ExpanseTerramorphic Expanse because Muldrotha allows us to replay them. These double landfall triggers make cards like Springheart NantukoSpringheart Nantuko that much better. Every time a land enters play, we can pay to make a token copy of whatever Springheart Nantuko is bestowed upon. If we don’t want to pay the mana, we make a 1/1 Insect instead.

Either way we go with this card, it can generate a lot of value. We can either have a horde of chump blockers to soak up damage, or we can get constant value from the token copies with something like Gray Merchant of AsphodelGray Merchant of Asphodel.

We also have the added benefit of Springheart Nantuko being an enchantment creature, so when it inevitably winds up in the graveyard, we can play it as our enchantment for a turn instead of a creature, freeing up our options.

2. OublietteOubliette (2.4%)

These tying-down enchantments are incredibly valuable in Commander. OublietteOubliette phases out a creature until it leaves play. One important thing to note is that when a creature is phased out, it technically isn’t changing zones. This means that if we target an opponent’s commander, they can’t elect for it to go into the command zone instead. So we can target a commander and hold it hostage until they can remove the Oubliette.

Removing an enchantment is not the easiest thing to do in a lot of colors. Red might have spells like Chaos WarpChaos Warp, but they are few and far between. Black has also gotten some options as well, but they are less efficient. To make matters worse, a lot of these effects might say destroy instead of exile. If that is the case, we can simply recast it from our graveyard and start the prison sentence all over again.

Unlike Imprisoned in the MoonImprisoned in the Moon, there is also no tradeoff with Oubliette. There is no indestructible creature or land left behind to work with. The creature is simply gone until Oubliette can be dealt with.

1. Lunar ForceLunar Force (0.82%)

This might be one of the most maddening cards to play against in a Muldrotha deck. In a deck like Zur the EnchanterZur the Enchanter, this card is dropped in and forces a hostage situation because the next spell played by an opponent is going to be countered. The next opponent in turn order is presented with three choices: play a spell that will be countered, pass the turn and play something at instant speed later, or simply do nothing and avoid wasting a card.

The math on this completely changes in games where Lunar ForceLunar Force can be replayed by Muldrotha. This is a wildly punishing card that will either work as a lock or severely hamper the next opponent in rotation. While it may be too spiky for some, if you really want to get the most out of your Muldrotha deck, this is a fantastic inclusion and a very budget-friendly card at that.

Wrapping Up

Ultimately, in Commander, we have a tendency to constantly look ahead. There is always a new, sweet, legendary creature on the horizon to build around. This is great, because it always gives us something to build, but there are also thousands of really neat commanders that get forgotten way before their time should be up.

Muldrotha is a deck that you can constantly upgrade and change your list around because of how many cards work well with it. She can be just as effective in a niche strategy like Shrines as it can be as a goodstuff pile. A deck can be as unique as you want it to be, regardless of how popular the commander is across the community.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the hidden gems for Muldrotha; there are plenty of amazing cards in the mines. Let us know your favorite hidden gems for Muldrotha in the comments below! We are here to celebrate fun cards, good vibes, and neat game design. Until next time, happy brewing!