Mazirek's Kraul Swarm

Commander / EDH Aggro BG (Golgari) Counters Midrange Scapeshift Tokens

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Creature (28)

• 1x Archfiend of Depravity
• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Ghoulcaller Gisa
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Hangarback Walker
• 1x Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
• 1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Mycoloth
• 1x Ophiomancer
• 1x Pentavus
• 1x Phyrexian Obliterator
• 1x Plaguecrafter
• 1x Priest of Forgotten Gods
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded
• 1x Reclamation Sage
• 1x Reyhan, Last of the Abzan
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Wayward Swordtooth
• 1x Woodfall Primus
• 1x Yavimaya Elder
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Garruk Relentless  ^Flip
• 1x Vraska, Golgari Queen

Enchantment (16)

• 1x Asceticism
• 1x Attrition
• 1x Awakening Zone
• 1x Bitterblossom
• 1x Cryptolith Rite
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Doubling Season
• 1x Fecundity
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Greater Good
• 1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip
• 1x Hardened Scales
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Parallel Lives
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Killing Wave
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Reprocess
• 1x Scapeshift
• 1x Torment of Hailfire

Artifact (7)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Eldrazi Monument
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Nim Deathmantle
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Spawning Pit

Commander (1)

Land (35)

• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 10x Forest
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 14x Swamp
• 1x Swarmyard
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Instant (4)

• 1x Abrupt Decay
• 1x Harrow
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Putrefy

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ADD: + Hangarback Walker + Walking Ballista

REMOVE: - Smothering Abomination - Cauldron of Souls

UPDATE (10/20): I have taken a hiatus from Magic. At first glance, nothing from Throne of Eldraine has really piqued my fancy to include in this deck.

About

Mazirek was my first deck I built by myself when I began to play Magic about the summer of 2018. Since then, he has gone through a great many changes as I have learned more about the game, which cards work, and which do not. I wanted to try out an Aristocrats theme for my deck, and found that Golgari really fit the bill on what I was looking for.

Mazirek can be built in one of two ways form my experience, that being centered around reanimation and dredging, with the help of cards like Dread Return , Life from the Loam , Reanimate , Victimize , and Meren of Clan Nel Toth OR one built for creating mass amounts of tokens. Mine is built for the latter, simply because I wanted to try a different commander for a reanimation theme. This deck can also be changed minimally to function as a Ghave, Guru of Spores deck.

Another thing to note; while Mazirek is my most played and analyzed commander by far, I am not an expert on playing him. Other decks on this site have helped inspire me to include cards I had not thought of before. There is always room to improve and learn new tactics. This decklist is not the be-all end-all, merely a guideline for how I think he should be built. If you do not agree with some of my choices, that's okay! Find what works for you when building Mazirek. Constructive feedback is always welcome! :)

Field Notes

The thing to understand with Mazirek is that he is your win-con above all else. Unless you have a strong hand or a strong board state to build off of that would benefit by having him on the board, wait to play him. There is no reason to have your commander die unnecessarily.

• Scapeshift or Reprocess should be able to net you the game. They can also help you to fetch important lands like Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and draw a mass amount of cards, respectively.
• Ghoulcaller Gisa and Mycoloth can both get out of hand incredibly quickly. If you are wondering how Mycoloth works, yes it does work like that. Devouring two creatures with Mazirek on the board will give Mycoloth 6 counters. He is very often a target for Swords.
• I really would not recommend having any lower than 35 lands. While there are many ways to make mana and use creatures for mana, having enough mana in the first few hands is essential.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Win-Cons

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Combos

• Ashnod's Altar + Grave Titan + Nim Deathmantle
• Ashnod's Altar + Doubling Season + Spawning Pit
• Ashnod's Altar + Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest + Pentavus
• Puppeteer Clique OR Woodfall Primus + Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest + any sac outlet

Important Note about Cauldron Combo: The Cauldron combo is not infinite as it might seem to be, as the creatures that are sacrificed and returned to the board are seperate instances that do not have the keyword of persist. I have removed the Cauldron from my deck because I have found cards that generate more value, namely Hangarback Walker . Cauldron would work in a cheaper Mazirek deck, because it can still help generate a big board state. Cards such as Pawn of Ulamog or Catacomb Sifter would work well with the Cauldron combo, however I find them to be comparatively rather weak in this deck aside from this purpose.

• Cauldron Combo: Cauldron of Souls + Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest + your choice of; Grave Titan , Blood Artist , Reclamation Sage , Avenger of Zendikar , Zulaport Cutthroat , Yavimaya Elder , or Plaguecrafter for value or any other creature for infinite mana + any sac outlet

Cuts and Exclusions

Cards listed below are cards I have previously tried in the deck and cut for various reasons, mainly being I found them to be too slow, have little value without the commander on the board, too expensive, too weak, etc. Feel free to ask in the comments about why I cut any of these cards specifically.

Creatures

• Brood Monitor
• Butcher of Malakir
• Catacomb Sifter
• Corpsejack Menace
• Creakwood Liege
• Deathrite Shaman
• Demon of Death's Gate : Was more for novelty, use Razaketh instead.
• Emrakul's Evangel
• Fertilid
• Flesh-Eater Imp
• Gyre Sage
• It That Betrays
• Josu Vess, Lich Knight
• Korozda Guildmage : His ability to make saprolings is very strong, but I found myself never spending the mana on the ability.
• Merciless Executioner AND Fleshbag Marauder : I prefer Plaguecrafter .
• Pawn of Ulamog
• Phyrexian Soulgorger
• Pitiless Plunderer
• Reassembling Skeleton
• Sadistic Hypnotist
• Savra, Queen of the Golgari
• Thallid Soothsayer
• Torgaar, Famine Incarnate
• Utopia Mycon
• Vigor
• Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
• Vulturous Zombie
• Whisper, Blood Liturgist
• Winding Constrictor
• Yahenni, Undying Partisan

Artifacts

• Altar of Dementia
• Birthing Pod
• Grafted Exoskeleton
• Mindcrank
• Phyrexian Vault
• Smokestack
• Whip of Erebos

Enchantments

• Black Market
• Death's Presence
• Fallen Ideal
• From Beyond : If you cannot afford Bitterblossom, go with this instead.
• Infernal Tribute
• Perilous Forays
• Rite of Belzenlok
• Vampiric Rites : If you cannot afford Necropotence, go with this instead.

Instants & Sorceries

• Barter in Blood
• Death Cloud : Swapped this out for Torment of Hailfire.
• Dread Return
• Innocent Blood
• Inspiring Call
• Maelstrom Pulse
• Pox
• Reanimate
• Rite of Consumption
• Skulltap
• Smallpox
• Tribute to the Wild
• Victimize
• Vona's Hunger
• Wave of Vitriol

Other

• Bojuka Bog
• Ghost Quarter
• High Market
• Miren, the Moaning Well
• Vraska, Relic Seeker

Date added	5 years
Last updated	3 years
Key combos	Ashnod's Altar + Grave Titan + Nim Deathmantle Ashnod's Altar + Doubling Season + Spawning Pit Ashnod's Altar + Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest + Pentavus
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	16 - 0 Mythic Rares 38 - 0 Rares 14 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.34
Tokens	2/2 C Artifact Creature Spawn, City's Blessing, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Emblem Vraska, Golgari Queen, Faerie Rogue 1/1 B, Pentavite 1/1 C, Plant 0/1 G, Saproling 1/1 G, Snake 1/1 B, Thopter 1/1 C, Wolf 1/1 B, Wolf 2/2 G, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Mazirek, mazi