“You won’t live to see your world destroyed.”
Art:Corpse Knight
by Karl Kopinski
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Corpse Knight is an awesome Orzhov commander who fits perfectly within a token shell. Getting Corpse Knight out early and doing a ton of damage helps to whittle down our opponents and not even have to attack sometimes. We are an Orzhov deck, so we have a lot of removal/interaction and a great amount of card draw, which can be a great way to refill our hands after casting many cards. Like most PDH decks, this deck is perfect for a player of any skill level. This deck would likely be a great introduction and fun for a brand-new player! I am very excited to showcase this one. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Corpse Knight Tokens!
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Why Corpse Knight?
Corpse Knight is an integral part of our deck. They can come down early on turn two and greatly impact the game. I would expect some eyes to come your way when Corpse Knight drops since it can quickly snowball into a ton of damage, and your opponents find themselves low on health. Corpse Knight is the perfect commander for a token deck.
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! I also highlighted some of my favorite cards in the deck!
Creatures:
Antler Skulkin
is a very powerful card that I think often gets overlooked in PDH. In testing, I have found this card to impact the game profoundly. Anointer Priest
is an auto-include since we are a token strategy. This card helps us against any deck but is especially strong against aggressive decks. Since we make many tokens like Celebrity Fencer
, it is a great way to have a big blocker/attacker on the board. We also have two huge cards for the deck in Mirkwood Bats
and Nadier's Nightblade
, which are both huge payoffs for all of our token creation. Saltskitter
is nothing more than a consistent ETB to trigger Corpse Knight. I’m still testing if this card is that good, but I have been having so much fun with it.
Instants:
Our instant package is where nearly all of our removal lies with strong spells like Go for the Throat
, Doom Blade
, and Cast Down
, which are great ways to deal with various threats our opponents have. If we are being overwhelmed by aggressive strategies or any combat deck Darkness
is a great way to save us for a turn, which often is all we need. We also have some instant speed tokens which can be awesome blockers if we need them, Raise the Alarm
and Master's Call
, even if they are just blockers triggering Corpse Knight is more than enough value. Death Denied
is a great way to recover after our board gets destroyed.
Sorceries:
We have a lot of strong token producers like Battle Screech
, Triplicate Spirits
, and Call to the Feast
. We also have a bunch of sorcery speed draws like Read the Bones
, Sign in Blood
, and Night's Whisper
, which are all great ways to refill our hands and keep the token engine going. While we don’t go to combat that often, we always can, and since we have a ton of 1/1’s cards like Silverflame Ritual
is a perfect way to give our creatures a buff and some vigilance. Settle Beyond Reality
is one of my favorite cards in the format since we can re-ETB one of our big token producers and exile an opponent’s creature, all for only five mana.
Artifacts:
We have a decent amount of mana rocks/ramp like Marble Diamond
, Charcoal Diamond
, and Arcane Signet
. Greatsword of Tyr
is an amazing card that I find myself including more and more in any white deck. It is a very strong card for not a ton of mana investment.
Enchantments:
We are an Orzhov deck, I think I might go to jail if I don’t include Oubliette
, one of black’s best options in Pauper EDH. Journey to Nowhere
and Oblivion Ring
are great enchantment-based removal that is absolutely perfect for commanders! Fanatical Devotion
is one of the best ways we have to protect Corpse Knight. Ill-Gotten Inheritance
is a great way to bleed our opponents on a turn and gain some life back, perfect against aggressive strategies.
Land Base:
As many of you have come to expect, we have the brand new “Hidden” lands, which are great mid-late-game ways to get some free cards. We also have some strong cycling lands like Drifting Meadow
and Barren Moor
. These are all great ways to get extra cards if we don’t need the mana. Bojuka Bog
is a strong land that can be very good against various strategies. Beyond that, we have some Orzhov duals and Basics to round out our land base. Even though we have a pretty low mana cost overall, I found that 35 lands are the “magic” number, if you will. All bad jokes aside, it is efficient and a great way to have a consistent landbase.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Can end games without ever going to combat
- Strong against aggressive strategies
- Decent amount of interaction
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Weak to creature hate
- Weak to Control Strategies / Spellslinger style decks
- Not a ton of recursion built into the deck
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
There are no infinite combos or loops within the deck. We can often win without attacking since we can take advantage of Corpse Knight ‘s ability. Cards like Battle Screech and Triplicate Spirits can be great ways to “Bolt” out our opponents. We have a ton of ways to produce tokens from spells and from our creatures.
Conclusion:
Corpse Knight is an awesome Orzhov commander who fits perfectly into a token shell. Corpse Knight has many advantages, like being only two mana, so he can come down early and make an impact, and if he dies to single target removal, we can get him back with relative ease as well. We are an Orzhov tokens deck through and through, and you will find many of the cards you expect to in this deck. I have had an absolute blast with this one and enjoyed it very much. Thanks for reading to the end and for all your support.