Anafenza (A Deck Made to Hate Your Graveyard)

Commander / EDH BGW (Abzan, Junk) Competitive Control

Sergal

Creature (17)

• 1x Agent of Erebos
• 1x Angel of Finality
• 1x Archfiend of Depravity
• 1x Athreos, God of Passage
• 1x Courser of Kruphix
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Dragonlord Dromoka
• 1x Dryad Militant
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 1x Novablast Wurm
• 1x Pharika, God of Affliction
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1x Sigarda, Heron's Grace
• 1x Teneb, the Harvester
• 1x Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts
• 1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar

Instant (14)

• 1x Abrupt Decay
• 1x Abzan Charm
• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Doom Blade
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Mortify
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Putrefy
• 1x Return to Dust
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Utter End
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Land (37)

• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 5x Forest
• 1x Gavony Township
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 8x Plains
• 1x Sandsteppe Citadel
• 1x Secluded Steppe
• 1x Sunpetal Grove
• 10x Swamp
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Tranquil Thicket
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Enchantment (10)

• 1x Blind Obedience
• 1x Darksteel Mutation
• 1x Ghostly Prison
• 1x Leyline of the Void
• 1x Lignify
• 1x Necrogenesis
• 1x Painful Quandary
• 1x Pernicious Deed
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Song of the Dryads

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion

Commander (1)

Sorcery (15)

• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Beseech the Queen
• 1x Diabolic Revelation
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Duneblast
• 1x Explosive Vegetation
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Phyrexian Rebirth
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Sadistic Sacrament
• 1x Smallpox
• 1x Vindicate
• 1x Wrath of God

Artifact (5)

• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Crawlspace
• 1x Relic of Progenitus
• 1x Sol Ring

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Graveyard hate... what a good way to handle the bitch that is Meren of Clan Nel Toth.

Who else hates Meren? I strongly believe that she is the best commander wizards has ever intended to be a commander. She is ridiculous. Now, I do think she is strong, and I do respect Meren decks, but God do I hate playing against them.

So, after seeing multiple multiple multiple Graveyard strategies being played at our local meta, me and my buddies decided Anafenza, the Foremost was the best way to handle it. Myself, gonki and fredsamboyo each concocted our own GY hate strategies, and this is mine.

Now I know what you are thinking. Sergal, you are crazy, why make a deck to hate on just one commander? But I can answer that with this:

A List Of Commanders Affected By GY Hate

Adun Oakenshield

Alesha, Who Smiles at Death

Asmira, Holy Avenger

Balthor the Defiled

Bladewing the Risen

Cabal Patriarch

Dralnu, Lich Lord

Feldon of the Third Path

Geth, Lord of the Vault

Glissa, the Traitor

Horde of Notions

Iname, Death Aspect

Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni

Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  

Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord

Karador, Ghost Chieftain

Lazav, Dimir Mastermind

Pharika, God of Affliction

Reya Dawnbringer

Scion of the Ur-Dragon

Sedris, the Traitor King

Sharuum the Hegemon

Sheoldred, Whispering One

Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker

Sidisi, Brood Tyrant

Tariel, Reckoner of Souls

Tasigur, the Golden Fang

Teneb, the Harvester

The Mimeoplasm

Titania, Protector of Argoth

Toshiro Umezawa

Tymaret, the Murder King

Varolz, the Scar-Striped

Wort, Boggart Auntie

And last but certainly not least

Meren of Clan Nel Toth

So it should be becoming more apparent that graveyard hate is a very very powerful and often overlooked strategy in commander. There are just so many commanders that use their graveyard to function. And then there are a fuckton of commanders that don't rely on graveyards, but have decks built around them involving graveyard interaction. I'm not even going to attempt a list of those.

If you see a lot of karador, or meren, or jarad, or any one of those commanders i listed, I strongly recommend using Anafenza. She's just so good.

If you like the deck, upvote it, it means a lot! Thanks for taking the time to read the description, and feel free to leave any and all feedback in the comments! Thanks!

Top Ranked	Achieved #20 position overall 8 years ago
Date added	8 years
Last updated	7 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 31 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.52
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Emblem Elspeth, Sun's Champion, Enchantment Snake 1/1 BG, Human Soldier 1/1 W, Phyrexian Horror X/X C, Saproling 1/1 G, Soldier 1/1 W, Spirit 1/1 WB, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	EDH (Control), Commander, Deck Ideas, EDH, fun commander decks, Abzan, Potential Future Decks, Commander, Commander