Sacrifice decks are MTG decks that rely on intentionally sending their own permanents to the graveyard for positive effects. Decks built around sacrificing creatures are sometimes called like Aristocrat decks because of cards Falkenrath aristocrat And Vampire Aristocrat that have sacrifice effects that empower them. Though it might seem counterintuitive to intentionally get rid of your own permanents, cards like Deadly quarrel And Ashnod’s Altar can ensure the reward is worth the cost. Here are 10 of the best commanders to build around if you want to try a sacrificial strategy.
10. Ashnod the Indifferent
The newest commander on our list was released in the Mishra’s Burnished Banner Brothers War Commander deck just last November. Ashnod the Indifferent allows you to copy activated abilities of creatures and artifacts that require sacrifice. Your Burnished Harts will bring you four lands, yours mind slaves lets you control two different enemies and yours time sieves gives you two extra turns! The restriction on Ashnod not being able to duplicate mana abilities exists only to prevent her from completely destroying the game with treasure tokens. Even if she’s new Ashnod the indifferent is definitely a commander to watch out for.
9. Baba Lysaga, Night Witch
Baba Lysaga, Night Witch or “Baby Lasagna” as the community calls her, is a commander that opens up some really creative deck building opportunities. Baba Lysaga can be knocked down to sacrifice up to three permeants. If those permanents are three or more card types, each opponent loses three life, you gain three life, and draw three cards. The key to making a Baba Lysaga deck work is to fill it up with permanents of as many card types as possible. like cards Mishra’s factory And Inkmoth Nexus work great in Baba Lysaga decks because they can have three card types at once, allowing their effect with just a single sacrifice. Make sure you have a few cards such as Patriarch Seal And Millennial Elixir in the deck so you can activate Baba Lysaga’s effect multiple times in one turn.
8. Shirei, Shizo’s caretaker
Shirei, Shizo’s caretaker is the oldest card on our list, dating back to the 2005 Traitors of Kamigawa set. Shirei returns all creatures with power one or less that went from the battlefield to the graveyard this turn. A Shirei deck wants to be filled with as many one or null creatures you can find, with powerful ins-game effects or death triggers. Take cards like bone shredder, Serrated Scorpion And Sling Gang Lieutenantmix them up with some sacrificial outlets like Deadly quarrel, Gut SeerAnd Bola’s citadel and you have what it takes to be a Shirei deck. Notably, Shirei returns creatures from the graveyard during both your end step and the end step of your opponents’ turns. Don’t be afraid to use your horde of 1/1s to chump blocks or sacrifice them repeatedly.
7. Juri, Master of Revue
Yuri, master of the revue Decks have a simple game plan, but one that’s undeniably effective. Each time you sacrifice a creature, Juri gets a +1/+1 counter, if Juri dies at any point he will deal damage equal to his power to any target. For as little as two mana, Yuri can be popped out very early in the game. You can make Juri very strong very quickly by making a few sacrifices and then punch through and finish off opponents with Commander damage. In an emergency or to end the game, you can even use one of your sacrifice exits to kill Juri himself, activating his death trigger and dealing potentially great damage to an opponent.
6. Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
The Sub-Commander of the Precon 2015 “Waking the Graves”. Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest is a five-mana 2/2 flyer that gives each creature you control a +1/+1 counter when a creature is sacrificed. A thing that makes mazirek Notably, its ability triggers whenever a player sacrifices a permanent. This is great to combine with cards like Plaguecrafter And Meatbag Marauder which grants each creature you control four +1/+1 counters in a four-player game where each player sacrifices at least one creature. Mazirek decks require you to strike the right balance between going far and reliably having enough creatures to sacrifice to activate Mazirek’s ability. If you can thread that needle, you can brew some really powerful decks around this insect shaman.
5. Ziatora, the cremator
Ziatora, the cremator is the draconian mastermind of the Riveteers, one of New Capenna’s crime families. Ziatora is a bit unusual as a sacrifice commander because she wants you to sacrifice powerful creatures. Most sacrificial commanders end up sacrificing a lot of 1/1s and weak tokens because they don’t cost much mana to generate. It’s certainly possible to sacrifice Ziatora 1/1, but her ability rewards you for sacrificing stronger creatures. like cards phytotitanium, malignancyAnd Daemogoth Titan are all great targets that can be sacrificed to Ziatora to deal real damage. The treasures generated by Ziatora also allow you to build some artifact synergies into your deck or even subtract one Revel in riches win.
4. Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Yawgmoth, Thran PhysicianOne of the most impactful cards released in Modern Horizons, which was a very powerful set. Yawgmoth combines sacrifice strategies and counter-based strategies as it is a sacrifice exit that also has a strong proliferation effect. Use Yawgmoth’s first ability to cover your opponents’ creatures with -1/-1 counters, then spawn to build up those counters until they reduce threats to zero. If you can put some poison counter generating cards like Infectious investigation And Ichor Rats into your deck, Yawgmoth can propagate these as well, although doing so runs the risk of making you public enemy number one at your table.
3. Teisa Karlov
Teisa Karlov doubles all your death triggers and also boosts all your creature tokens. By building a sacrifice-focused deck around Teysa, you can activate these death triggers at will. This card debuted in Ravnica Allegiance and was designed to support the afterlife mechanic in the set and double the number of spirit tokens generated when cards like Minister of Obligation And Executor of Orzhov die and also give these tokens some useful keyword abilities. With the vastly expanded map pool in Commander, there’s so much more Teysa can do. Drain 10 life from each opponent when you Kokusho, the evening star dies, or create two Treasures if anything dies with it Ruthless Raider. The possibilities are endless.
2. Meren of Clan Nel Toth
Meren of Clan Nel Toth was the chief commander of the Precon 2015 “Waking the Graves”. Meren is a far more popular commander than Mazirek, and it’s easy to see why. Meren gives you an experience counter when a creature you control dies, meaning it’s very easy to generate a large number of these counters in a sacrifice deck. Then during your end step, Meren revives a creature in your graveyard with a mana value less than or equal to the number of experience counters you have. With some self-mill or discard effects, getting a powerful creature like one is easy Butcher of Malakir into your graveyard and then reanimate it with Meren way before you could cast it harsh. With Meren you can also bring powerful loop effects into play or death triggers by repeatedly reviving and then sacrificing your creatures.
1. Korvold, king of the fairies
Throne of Eldraine was an incredibly powerful set, and that was especially true for the brawl decks that released alongside it. Korvold, king of the fairies is the 10th most popular Commander of all time according to EDHREC data at the time of writing. what does corvold is so powerful that the card is both a sacrifice enabler and a payout. Korvold sacrifices a creature when it enters the battlefield or attacks, then rewards you for sacrificing a creature by drawing a card and gaining a +1/+1 counter. Drawing a card every time a creature is sacrificed is an extremely powerful effect that shouldn’t be underestimated, and Korvold decks should never have problems with card advantage as long as they keep sacrifices fluid.
Ziatora, the cremator is quite a powerful card, but when it comes to sacrificial draconic commanders, Korvold is the one true king.
Read more: Top 10 MTG Best Commander Cards in Phyrexia: All Will Be One
