The Wretched Ranks Commander deck contains the following:

• 1 Ready-to-play 100-card Commander deck
• 1 Traditional foil face commander with borderless art
• 99 Non-foil cards
• 10 Non-foil double-sided tokens
• 1 Reference card
• 1 Deck box

Ghoulcaller GisaGhoulcaller Gisa

I'll preface by saying this: our commander won't be coming down early with that mana value of five, but she does have a cool ability. We pay one, and sacrifice a creature, then we get Zombies equal to the sacrificed creature's power. So, if we sacrifice a 2/2 to her ability, we get not one, but two Zombies for our trouble. Her 3/4 stat line is not too shabby, either. Note, however, that her activated ability requires us to turn her sideways (i.e. tapping), so we can only do the ability once per turn (unless she can untap). Her lack of protective abilities like hexproof (can't be the target of stuff our opponents control) makes her a real target.

Shiny Reprints from the Grave

Withering TormentWithering Torment: I find it surprising that this got reprinted because past precons came with Feed the SwarmFeed the Swarm in the past (and we're in mono-black, so why not both?). Torment, being an instant instead of a sorcery, plus losing only two life, is a huge deal.

Kalitas, Traitor of GhetKalitas, Traitor of Ghet: He's actually a neat choice. He keeps graveyard decks honest by removing their creatures when they die, and we get a Zombie for it. This is especially good if there's a board wipe, because that will trigger for all of your opponents' creatures, effectively letting us rebuild our board. Neat!

Undead WarchiefUndead Warchief: I'll admit I was shocked when I learned of this reprint (and the next one, too). This card carried a hefty price tag for a reason. Not only does it make our Zombies slightly cheaper, it gives them a +2/+1 buff, two abilities that are really good for four mana. Remember that board wipe, when Kalitas made all of those Zombies? They're now 4/3s, ready to do some damage.

Noxious GhoulNoxious Ghoul: Speaking of board wipes, the more Zombies we put into play, the stronger this card's effect becomes. Giving creatures -1/-1 gets around indestructible, which is a valuable tool to have access to. Yes, it does cost five mana, but Gisa is likely going to be up and running when you use her ability. She will die from the effect, but so will most of the board if you sacrifice the right creature.

Lord of the UndeadLord of the Undead: One of those cards we call a "Lord" (comes from the ancient, outdated creature type Lord, a creature that gives a buff to creatures of the same type), this is one of the more valuable ones for Zombies. We're likely never going to attack with this, which is good because we can use the activated ability to get a Zombie from our graveyard back to our hand.

Do you know how in all those zombie movies, all the zombies are slow, then they speed up at the scent (or sight) of flesh? That's basically the game plan here. We're going to be a bit slow starting up, but then we overwhelm the board with a critical mass of Zombies. Also, don't be afraid to sacrifice our creatures for an effect: we're in the color most likely to get them back, and in the color best suited to take advantage of sacrificing said creatures. In short, we're working with a Zombie deck with a side dish of sacrifice (or what we call Aristocrats).

• Carrion FeederCarrion Feeder: A free sacrifice outlet is always the first thing to look out for (more on that in the Upgrades section). Yes, this won't be able to block, but it can get big quite quickly. A good way to utilize the effect is to sacrifice a creature that's about to die, be it in combat or removal spell, or especially if it's about to get exiled. Keep it well-fed, and it'll be a big attacker later on. It'll also fuel some other effects in the deck, such as Midnight ReaperMidnight Reaper, which draws us a card if we do use the Feeder's ability.
• Ayara, First of LocthwainAyara, First of Locthwain: With all of the Zombies coming in, Ayara will drain out opponents for quite a lot. Bonus is that she triggers it on entry, even though she's not a Zombie. We shouldn't attack with her because we can tap her to sacrifice a black creature to draw a card. Again, useful in the cases I mentioned above. Note that the creatures coming in have to be black (not relevant to the precon, but it will be for upgrades) to get her effect. A casting cost is rough, but not in this deck, where we can easily cast her.
• Army of the DamnedArmy of the Damned: Now that's a horde. Thirteen Zombies is a lot, but like I said with the game plan, it'll take a full turn before we can utilize this army of tokens. Our opponents will likely be scrambling to find a board wipe to answer it. Throw in something like Undead WarchiefUndead Warchief, and you could end the game. Note that this can be cast once more from our graveyard (because it'll be exiled afterward), so we can effectively cast this card twice.

As expected from a beginner-level precon, there are no real combos to be found here. That said, there's plenty of neat tricks and synergies we can pull off here.

• Oversold CemeteryOversold Cemetery: This has some uses. For one, we can keep looping Gray Merchant of AsphodelGray Merchant of Asphodel by sacrificing it to the Carrion FeederCarrion Feeder. Then, provided we have four or more creatures in our graveyard, we can return the Merchant to our hand with the Cemetery's ability to play it again. This is what we call an "engine," where we can get value from doing the same thing over and over. This one is a bit slow, but it does teach us about them. Watch our for graveyard exile effects, though.
• GravecrawlerGravecrawler: Continuing our theme of engines, this creature is a centerpiece to a lot of them. Sacrifice it to our commander each turn for Zombies, sacrifice it and recast it from the yard to trigger Ayara for however much mana as we have, get a bunch of tokens from Diregraf ColossusDiregraf Colossus or Headless RiderHeadless Rider, and so many more. When playing this deck, be on the lookout for more ways to benefit from looping this card. Just note you will need ways to sacrifice it. Carrion FeederCarrion Feeder is the best one, because it's free.
• CryptbreakerCryptbreaker: If we time it right (perhaps on the end step before our turn), we can discard a card to get a token through the ability, then return it to our hand the following turn if we have something like Lord of the UndeadLord of the Undead. Also, if a board wipe were to happen while we have a bunch of untapped Zombies, we can tap them to draw cards in response, meaning we get something out of them before they inevitably die.

Some lands and mana rocks (artifacts that ramp us) can go a long way for us. Here's some notable ones:

• Bontu's MonumentBontu's Monument: Not a mana rock, per se, but the cost reduction will go a long way to help cast cards in this deck. In addition, each black creature we cast will make each opponent lose 1 life while we gain 1. Say, what was it I said about GravecrawlerGravecrawler in the previous section?
• Infernal IdolInfernal Idol: It's a simple mana rock that we can cash in later for two cards, but we lose 2 life. Important lesson to learn here: your life total is a resource when in black. The only life point that matters is your last one. And yes, our graveyard, too, is a resource, acting as a "second hand."
• Castle LocthwainCastle Locthwain: Getting this land in untapped is easy enough, but don't get greedy with that activated ability. The more cards we have, the more punishing the effect will be on us. It's best to use it when the number of cards in hand are low.
• Bojuka BogBojuka Bog: The premier graveyard removal card in black, getting rid of an entire graveyard can ruin someone's day (even our own, if used against us). Entire strategies can center around the graveyard, and taking that away from them will set them back. Such power for the small price of entering tapped.

So, what will be the best way to upgrade this precon? First, we should cut a few cards. Here's the first five I'd recommend.

• Moan of the UnhallowedMoan of the Unhallowed: Army of the DamnedArmy of the Damned, but weaker. Plus, four mana (or seven, if casting it from the graveyard) for a pair of Zombie tokens is not the best rate. Go big or go home.
• Commander's SphereCommander's Sphere: Yes, you'll see me rag this card quite a bit. Back when it was released in 2014, it was a big deal. Nowadays, we can do much better for three mana.
• Marchesa's DecreeMarchesa's Decree: Monarch is fun, but the effect does nothing for our deck. Don't worry, there is a monarch card that is a Zombie. We'll get to that below.
• Infernal IdolInfernal Idol: Like the Sphere above, we can do better, even with that bit of card draw.
• Bad MoonBad Moon: We will encounter other decks that use black, and this will buff their creatures too. We need asymmetrical effects, not symmetrical.

Next, we have five cards we can add on a budget, coming in at no more than $5.

• Custodi LichCustodi Lich: Our new monarch card, plus it forces an opponent to sacrifice a creature. Just don't target the player with so many tokens that they can sac one and laugh off the trigger.
• Feed the SwarmFeed the Swarm: Familiar? Black has a lot of trouble dealing with enchantments, and this is one of the only ways to do so.
• Zombie ApocalypseZombie Apocalypse: See that big pile of Zombies in our graveyard? Now, put them back into the battlefield, and voila, we have a board!
• Dark RitualDark Ritual: For a measly one mana, we get three, allowing us to jump way ahead of the curve for one turn. Great for powering out a card that costs a lot.
• VictimizeVictimize: We can sacrifice one of our many tokens to get back two much better creatures from our graveyard for the small cost of three mana. Great way to help build your board.

Instead, if you're swimming in coffers filled with money, here are five cards you can add instead.

• Jet MedallionJet Medallion: For two mana, every black card we cast costs one fewer generic mana. This speeds up the game plan significantly, and allow us to get our Zombies our faster than we normally would.
• ReanimateReanimate: For a mere one mana, we can bring any creature back from our graveyard (in this deck, preferably a Zombie), but we lose life equal to the mana value of that creature. Choose wisely.
• Liliana, Dreadhorde GeneralLiliana, Dreadhorde General: That first minus ability is a doozy, letting us soften up our opponents. We also get to draw cards if our creatures (including tokens) bite the dust, and the plus ability nets us a Zombie token. Lots to love here.
• Mikaeus, the UnhallowedMikaeus, the Unhallowed: Suddenly, those Zombies our opponents tried to kill come straight back, slightly stronger than before. He's also a Zombie, too, so he benefits from all of our synergies there.
• Warren SoultraderWarren Soultrader: For a small price, we can turn those measly Zombie tokens into ramp, so we can do more stuff later on.

If you wish to seek out more power, like other black mages, then here's what you can do to make the jump into Bracket 3. I would begin with adding a few tutors. Two of our Game Changers happen to be the best of the best in Demonic TutorDemonic Tutor and Vampiric TutorVampiric Tutor. We'll be using these to bring together some combos (more on that in a moment). Our third Game Changer, Bolas's CitadelBolas's Citadel, lets us use our life total to cast stuff from the top of our library. Don't sleep on the activated ability, which can end the game outright if life totals are low enough.

As for the combos, we'll want Phyrexian AltarPhyrexian Altar so we can combo with GravecrawlerGravecrawler. Sacrifice it to the Altar to get one black mana, then use that mana to cast the Zombie from our graveyard, then rinse and repeat. With the right payoff, like Ayara, First of LocthwainAyara, First of Locthwain, we can win the game! Go onto Commander Spellbook, which is bound to have more combos waiting for you to discover. For faster mana, look no further than cards like Cabal CoffersCabal Coffers, which adds a black mana for each Swamp we have. That's a lot of mana!

This is a great buy for the new player who wants to use every possible resource and loves a template to start doing some combos down the line. Not so much an experienced player, who will likely use a different commander for the job. But, hey, if they're missing some Zombie pieces found in the precon (or need a base to work with), this is a nice start, though they should be consider buying singles if the number of cards they need is too few. There are also a lot of surprising reprints here, ensuring the value is high.

For the newer players, I'd give this deck a B/B+, but for experienced players, a B-. The reprints go a long way to buoy the grade for the latter group