“Do Not Enter is written on the doorway.”
Art:Unraveling Mummy
by Tomasz Jedruszek
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Even though there are a plethora of amazing options for Zombie commanders in Pauper EDH, I find myself finding more and more commanders that don’t get enough love. Unraveling Mummy is absolutely underrated, and with only a couple of decks present on the internet, this card deserves way more love. We get a ton of benefits, like being in Orzhov, which allows us to play additional removal, as well as white zombies, which are great defensive creatures. Our commander is an absolute powerhouse for only three mana, and being able to give our creatures lifeline or deathtouch on command, makes our opponents fearful of blocking and can really help us against aggressive strategies. This deck looks a lot like a typical zombies deck, but combining the strong abilities of our commander, which make us very strong in combat, and all of the greatness that comes with a normal zombie deck, this deck is an absolute blast. Without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Unraveling Mummy Zombies!
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Why Unraveling Mummy?
Unraveling Mummy is such a strong commander; while there are a ton of upsides, the biggest downside is that they are typically a removal magnet for our opponents because of how much fear they put into the combat steps and any kind of aggressive or creature-based strategies try to kill our commander so we don’t get a lot of lifelink and invalidate our strategy. Negatives aside, Unraveling Mummy is extremely strong and is an amazing commander for the deck; just having the option to give lifelink or deathtouch to an attacking creature is extremely strong.
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:
We are super heavy on creatures, and while some of them are nothing more than zombies that are a pile of stats, we have a lot of great ones that help a ton with shutting down our opponents, like Binding Mummy
, this card is cheap and amazing way to take our opponents best attackers out of the equation, this can allow us to prioritize lifelink over deathtouch and help us be even better against creature-based strategies. If you have been playing zombies in Pauper EDH, we had to include some absolute classics like Shepherd of Rot
, Gempalm Polluter
and Gray Merchant of Asphodel
all of these are great damage dealers and can easily end an opponents game when they are activated. Either one of these with a decently full board is crazy and can swing the game in our favor with ease. Karfell Kennel-Master
is a very cool zombie that is just a powerhouse; even against tough combat situations, they allow us to freely swing and provide a little buff; that’s a ton of value for a five mana 4/4. While we have some great early-game creatures like Doomed Dissenter
and Khenra Eternal
, we, of course, have some absolute bombs in the late-game like Writhing Necromass
and Lotleth Giant
. If cast in the late-game, I have had many games where a lotleth giant was a kill-shot for an opponent, and having that ability to deal a ton of non-combat damage allows us to get some benefit out of all of the zombies that die.
Instants:
In Oketra's Name
is by far the best card we have at instant speed; for only two mana, being able to aggressively buff our zombies, is a great finisher for the deck and can easily overwhelm our opponents. In Oketra’s Name is something I almost always save till we have a big board and can deal some huge damage. A good majority of our instant package is removal; there really isn’t much in the format that we can’t take out; having this much removal allows us to keep our opponents at bay and fight back if they keep trying to kill our commander. There really is no right time to use this removal. I typically wait and see, and if opponents begin to threaten my board or me, I take action and remove the biggest and worst creature/permanent they have.
Sorceries:
We have a lot of recursion at sorcery speed like Wander in Death
, which we can easily cycle if we have nothing strong to recur, which is a great way to turn a dead draw into something great. Feed the Swarm
is one of the few pieces of enchantment removal within the deck, so this should be saved and at least used on a high-value enchantment. Being able to make opponents fearful of our attacks is great, but attacking their hands and leaving them with nothing is even better, enter No Way Out
, which is a little more expensive than the classic Hymn to Tourach
, but it makes a great attacker which helps us further the gameplan and threaten deathtouch in combat even more. We have a lot of supplemental card draw within our sorcery package; because of the high density of cheap creatures and spells within the deck, we can easily run through our hand in the late-game, so being able to draw cards is great, it gets even better since we can give a creature lifelink we rarely care about the downsides of cards like Night's Whisper
and Sign in Blood
.
Artifacts:
There isn’t really much to say about any of our artifacts as they are all mana rocks. Mana rocks are great in this deck not only to cast more and more on a turn but being able to have extra mana to activate our commander and being able to threaten lifelink or deathtouch on an opponent can help influence their decisions and make us scary to attack.
Enchantments:
While we do have a lot of creatures, many of our zombies are not that impressive, at least in their stats; because of this, we are running Endless Scream
and Shade's Form
. Since our commander is quite the removal magnet, I typically put Shade’s Form on our commander since we can get quite aggressive and attack with them and protect them at least once from removal. Both of these cards are great no matter what creature they are on. The rest of our enchantment package contains removal, which is also a big benefit of being in Orzhov since we have access to cards like Journey to Nowhere
and Oblivion Ring
, which are cheap sources of removal.
Land Base:
Our landbase is effective for our deck; I have tested multiple iterations of the landbase and found that thirty-five lands is certainly the magic number for this deck; while this deck does not have a ton of extremely expensive creatures it is nice to be able to cast a bunch of zombies or spells within one turn. We are running both deserts, which is a pretty flavorful choice due to the theme of the deck, but they are also great pieces of utility, and having additional cards is great. I also really like Mortuary Mire
and Witch's Cottage
, which are both great sources of recursion, whether one of our key creatures fall victim to removal early or die in combat, bringing back creatures is great. I like this landbase a lot and find it to be very effective for the deck.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Because of our commander’s ability, we are naturally well-positioned against aggressive or creature-based strategies, as they really won’t want to block no matter how much damage we throw at them.
- Being in mono-white gives us access to some amazing creatures as well as some amazing pieces of removal like Oblivion Ring
as well as some amazing creatures like Binding Mummy, which can be a great way to tap down opponents best blockers. - We have a ton of removal within the deck, and there are very few creatures that we can’t kill with our suite of removal.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Generally weak to creature hate, as we have very few ways to stop removal from our opponents.
- Our commander has great abilities, which makes them a removal magnet, and against control strategies, it can be hard to keep them on the board.
- Control decks, especially ones that control combat, can be very hard for us.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
There are no infinite combos or loops within the deck. We are a combat deck through and through, and our greatly helped by our commander; the ability to give lifelink or deathtouch on command helps us survive aggressive or any creature-based strategies and make those same decks fear blocking our creatures, especially for small damage since we can easily kill whatever they block with. Since we have so many creatures, the threat of giving pretty much any of them deathtouch is a great thing to have, as it typically forces our opponents to make some pretty bad blocks.
Conclusion:
Unraveling Mummy is so much fun, as someone who has played a ton of the mono-black zombies decks within the format, I honestly didn’t realize just how much fun this deck could be and how much awesome is support is available in Orzhov zombies. If you love zombies in other formats or have played the mono-black counterparts in Pauper EDH and you haven’t built this one yet, you are seriously missing out! If you have a list for this one id love to see it. Thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support!