Eminence Necromancers (Budget)

Commander / EDH Budget Casual Reanimator UBR (Grixis) Wizards

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Creature (28)

• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Apprentice Necromancer
• 1x Augur of Bolas
• 1x Naban, Dean of Iteration
• 1x Stonybrook Banneret
• 1x Thought Courier
• 1x Timestream Navigator
• 1x Vedalken AEthermage
• 1x Voidmage Prodigy
• 1x Watcher for Tomorrow
• 1x Champion of Wits
• 1x Jace's Archivist
• 1x Magus of the Wheel
• 1x Sage of Fables
• 1x Sea Gate Oracle
• 1x Archaeomancer
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Marchesa, the Black Rose
• 1x Stunt Double
• 1x Thalakos Deceiver
• 1x Venser, Shaper Savant
• 1x Wonder
• 1x Azami, Lady of Scrolls
• 1x Bloodline Necromancer
• 1x Corpse Connoisseur
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Wanderwine Prophets
• 1x Galecaster Colossus

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Intruder Alarm

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Jace, Wielder of Mysteries

Land (36)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Cascade Bluffs
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Crumbling Necropolis
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Graven Cairns
• 1x Grixis Panorama
• 9x Island
• 1x Izzet Boilerworks
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Riptide Laboratory
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Smoldering Marsh
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 3x Swamp
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Unclaimed Territory

Artifact (9)

• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Crystal Shard

Commander (1)

Instant (11)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Izzet Charm
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Reality Shift
• 1x Thrill of Possibility
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Wizard's Retort
• 1x Dig Through Time

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Gamble
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Exhume
• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Victimize
• 1x Windfall
• 1x Devastation Tide
• 1x Final Parting
• 1x Haunting Voyage

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Maybeboard

Creature (24)

• 1x Faerie Seer
• 1x Hapless Researcher
• 1x Deranged Assistant
• 1x Information Dealer
• 1x Magus of the Bazaar
• 1x Phantasmal Image
• 1x Sea Scryer
• 1x Stonybrook Banneret
• 1x Vedalken Mastermind
• 1x AEther Adept
• 1x Anathemancer
• 1x Magus of the Will
• 1x Sedraxis Alchemist
• 1x Sigil Tracer
• 1x Spawnbroker
• 1x Trophy Mage
• 1x Riptide Director
• 1x Vindictive Lich
• 1x Docent of Perfection  ^Flip
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Vela the Night-Clad
• 1x Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur

Instant (13)

• 1x Chain of Vapor
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1x Negate
• 1x Terminate
• 1x Forbid
• 1x Long-Term Plans
• 1x Thirst for Knowledge
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Evacuation
• 1x Misdirection

Artifact (6)

• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence
• 1x Skull of Orm
• 1x Panharmonicon

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Dance of the Dead
• 1x Intruder Alarm
• 1x Necromancy
• 1x Kindred Discovery

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Careful Study
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Unearth
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Stitch Together
• 1x Compulsive Research
• 1x Footsteps of the Goryo
• 1x Beacon of Unrest

Land (10)

• 1x Choked Estuary
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Darkwater Catacombs
• 1x Desolate Lighthouse
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Grand Coliseum
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Shadowblood Ridge
• 1x Shivan Reef
• 1x Underground River

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*Description Updated: September 4, 2017*

I'm back with more budget Commander this time with Inalla, Archmage Ritualist . There's a lot of expensive Inalla decks here at TappedOut, but if you're like me and don't want to spend $500-$1000+ for a Commander deck, but instead $100-$200 then this deck is for you. Budget Commander with Inalla using a tribal Wizard theme with a focus on Wizards with good enter the battlefield abilities or tap abilities to take advantage of Inalla's eminence ability. The goal is for this deck to be a viable budget option for players that want to play and have a good shot at winning with Inalla, but not break the bank.

This deck is midrange, Wizard tribal with a reanimator theme using Apprentice Necromancer and Bloodline Necromancer to reanimate Wizards. There's some artifact ramp to help to better eminence Wizards and two different infinite combos are possible. It's shown as three color Grixis , but it's mostly Dimir because I'm only using red for five cards including Inalla. is the primary color and is secondary. Each color has an identity: blue is for draw, counterspells, and the majority of Wizards, black is for the Necromancer Wizards and graveyard interactions and red is for Inalla and Gamble . It uses a $40 manabase with five lands which come into play tapped. This deck wins with the tribal synergies of Wizards through reanimation, with one of the infinite combos or Inalla and Intruder Alarm .

Note: To reduce the price of this deck even more, cut the cards labeled above with a "A" next to them. These are the most expensive cards in the deck and they can be replaced with more budget options. Ask me in a comment about budget replacements for these cards.

Inalla is very unique as a Commander because her best ability can be used while she's in the Command Zone. She doesn't have to ever leave this Zone to use eminence. It's crazy to think Inalla doesn't have to leave the Command Zone while still giving me tremendous untouchable value. Inalla can be cast and go to the battlefield, when this happens I can continue to use eminence while also using her tap Wizards ability. This second ability is the weakness of the two, but having access to it is still nice. If I have a full battlefield of Wizards I can cast Inalla and start tapping them as well as her to make opponents lose life. Eminence makes Inalla a very versatile Commander because I can use it to get additional enter the battlefield abilities from my Wizards and since the copied token Wizard has haste I can also use tap abilities. Her eminence is extremely powerful because the token Wizard gains haste. Haste lets me attack or tap to use an ability of a token Wizard the turn it's created. Inalla is Grixis colors, but due to the budget I'm essentially cutting red and only using it to cast Inalla which is only possible because of eminence. Cutting the majority of red lets me focus entirely on blue and black.

The Necromancer Wizards

Bloodline Necromancer and Apprentice Necromancer are two of the strongest Wizards with Inalla's eminence. Bloodline because of it's excellent enters the battlefield ability and Apprentice for it's great tap ability. Both these Wizards reanimate a creature, putting it directly into play and in the case of Bloodline it can only reanimate a Wizard, but Apprentice can reanimate any creature. Both also have synergy with each other because they're both Wizards, either one can reanimate the other. Alone as well as together these Wizards give me great resiliency in a game. I'm using them as reanimation engines; I want them to continuously go to the graveyard. The majority of the supporting cards in this deck help to find them as well as put them and other creatures into the graveyard.

Bloodline Necromancer is a part of an infinite combo with Ashnod's Altar and eminence, but it doesn't need a combo to be amazing. For six mana I can cast and eminence Bloodline reanimating two other Wizards, this alone is powerful for six mana. Where Bloodline really shines is reanimating it with less mana, two and four mana then the value can get out of hand. Bloodline has a drawback, if I'm not using it for an infinite combo then it requires that I have other Wizards in the graveyard to do anything.

Apprentice Necromancer is also incredible with eminence for four mana, this includes two black mana, I can cast Apprentice, eminence him and then tap and sac the token copy to reanimate any creature from my graveyard. The creature I reanimate has haste which makes it even better. Being able to reanimate a Wizard and then use it's tap ability or attack depending on the Wizard, this can be game changing. The reanimated creature is then saced at the end of turn. Since it's saced and not exiled it goes back to the graveyard able to be reanimated again. Since most of the time I'm first sacing a token copy of Apprentice to reanimate this leaves the original Necromancer still in play to do it again the next turn. Apprentice is great with Shapeshifter clone creatures because he can reanimate them and they can become a Wizard when they enter the battlefield, they can trigger eminence. This is great with Bloodline as a way to chain Bloodlines into play and reanimate a ton of Wizards.

There are a lot of great Wizards, but lots of them are legendaries. Legendary Wizards aren't great with eminence because of this I have limited the use of only two of them, Azami and Venser. I can pay the eminence cost to copy a legendary Wizard, but then I must choose and pick one of them, either the original legendary or the copy token of it. To get value from eminence I have to pick the token copy because the copy gains haste, but then the original legendary dies. A reanimation strategy lets me takes advantage of eminence and a legendary because the Necromancers and additional graveyard interaction can get them back. It's fine if a legendary Wizard goes to the graveyard because I still got value from it with eminence and I can now reanimate it. Using a majority of Wizards who aren't legendary is better with eminence.

Other Wizards to Reanimate

The point of reanimation of Wizards is to skip the high mana casting cost of some of them. If I can put a Wizard from the graveyard into play for a cheaper mana cost than it's original cost then eminence gives me incredible mana efficient value as well as allowing the costly infinite combos to be reduced. Bloodline Necromancer really benefits from reanimation because it cost six mana to cast and eminence for value. There are other Wizards that benefit from reanimation. Wanderwine Prophets is part of an infinite turns combo with Inalla, but this combo requires nine mana to complete this includes eminencing Wanderwine three times. If I can reanimate Wanderwine for a much cheaper cost, two then I can complete the combo for only five mana. Galecaster Colossus is another Wizard who's a top reanimation target. Reanimating and eminencing him for three mana is powerful. He also has synergy with Wanderwine. If I can reanimate both at the same time then I can use Galecaster's bounce non-permanent ability to clear the way for the Wanderwine token to attack and hit a player thus helping to complete the infinite turns combo. I'm choosing to only reanimate Wizards not other non-Wizard creatures keeping with the tribal theme taking the best advantage of Inalla's eminence.

Infinite Combos with Inalla

Inalla's eminence ability can be used to create some infinite combos with Wizards and she never has to leave the Command Zone for these combos to work which is a major reason to use her as a Commander. There's two combos in this deck as well as many others not included because they're not budget options. Both these combos require a lot of mana. Reanimation helps by cheating these creatures into play. I pay less mana for them thus making the combos much more mana efficient making them more powerful.

The first combo is with Bloodline Necromancer , Ashnod's Altar and Inalla, Archmage Ritualist . This combo works by sacrificing Bloodline with Altar to make infinite colorless mana and infinite 3/2 Bloodline token copies with haste by continuously sacrificing, eminencing and reanimating Bloodline. How the combo works is I need Altar in play and if casting Bloodline from hand mana, five for the casting cost of Bloodline and one to eminence with Inalla. When Bloodline enters the battlefield I pay for eminence putting the trigger on the stack. I then sacrifice Bloodline with Altar making colorless mana, this puts Bloodline into the graveyard. Next, I resolved the eminence trigger making a Wizard token copy of Bloodline when the token enters the battlefield I reanimate the original Bloodline. This cycle results in a new token Bloodline and colorless mana each time it's used.

The second combo is with Wanderwine Prophets and Inalla, Archmage Ritualist for infinite turns. If casting Wanderwine from hand the combo requires . This combo is restrictive because for it to work the eminence Wizard token copy of Wanderwine has to do combat damage to an opponent. In multiplayer Commander I have a lot of opponents to choose from to attack, it's more than likely one of them will have an empty battlefield of creatures letting Wanderwine hit them. The drawback is this combo does nothing without being able to do combat damage with the Wanderwine token copy.

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This combo is complex due to the order I have to stack the Wanderwine triggers on the stack. Inalla's eminence trigger from Wanderwine must resolve from the stack before the champion trigger of Wanderwine:

1. Step one: Wanderwine enters the battlefield resulting in both champion and Inalla's eminence triggering.
2. Step two: I put the Champion trigger on the stack first, then the Inalla trigger on top of it.
3. Step three: eminence now resolves. I pay to create a token copy of Wanderwine, causing the token copy to trigger champion.
4. Step four: The champion trigger from the token copy now resolves, I champion the original Wanderwine.
5. Step five: I let the original Wanderwine champion trigger fizzle from the stack since the original Wanderwine doesn't exist anyone because it's been championed by the token copy.
6. Step six: I attack with the haste token copy of Wanderwine. If I do combat damage to a player I then go to next step.
7. Step seven: sacrifice the token copy of Wanderwine to take an extra turn. Sacing the token copy then returns the original Wanderwine back into play again triggering champion and Inalla's eminence.
8. Step eight: I again pay to make another token copy of Wanderwine with Inalla, championing the original Wanderwine with the token copy.
9. Step nine: On the end step of this turn, the token Wanderwine gets exiled by Inalla, returning the original Wanderwine back to play. Now, just like in the last step I pay to make another token copy with Inalla, championing the original Wanderwine with the token copy.
10. In my new turn, I attack with the token copy of Wanderwine and make new token copies as necessary to take infinite turns. This combo costs for eminence on the first turn and on every turn after that.

When reanimating Wanderwine I still must have mana to use to eminence him three different times to complete the combo. Using Animate Dead or Dance of the Dead to reanimate him does work even though once either becomes unattached from a creature the creature must be sacrificed, but Wanderwine will not be in play when this sacrifice triggers because the original Wanderwine is championed by the token copy of Wanderwine. As a result the sacrifice trigger will fizzle from the stack.

Other Combos

There's other combos that are not infinite combos, but can still be powerful with Wizards. Intruder Alarm with Inalla, Archmage Ritualist on the battlefield with four other Wizards can make an opponent lose up to 21 life from playing a single Wizard. How this works is start out with all Wizards including Inalla untapped. Tap five Wizards to make an opponent lose 7 life. Then play a Wizard triggering eminence and thanks to Alarm this then untaps all Wizards. Before resolving the eminence trigger from the stack again tap five Wizards making an opponent lose 7 life. Eminence resolves making a token copy which enters the battlefield triggering Alarm again, untapping all Wizards. I can then tap five Wizards for a last time making an opponent lose an additional 7 life. Alarm also works on my opponent's turns when a creature enters the battlefield by any anyone Alarm is triggered letting me untap Wizards so they can be tapped again to use Inalla's ability.

Alarm is also crazy good with Azami, Lady of Scrolls and Galecaster Colossus and other Wizards. Both these Wizards also have a tap Wizards ability just like Inalla.

Venser, Shaper Savant and Inalla, Archmage Ritualist is a combo. Venser with eminence for is repeatable bounce of any permanent or spell on the stack. It's repeatable because I can bounce the original Venser back to my hand after first putting the eminence trigger on the stack and the original Venser trigger on top of it. Letting the original Venser trigger resolve first skips the legendary rule of Venser because there's not another Venser in this case a copy of him yet in play. The token copy of Venser doesn't need to see the original Venser in play to make a copy of Venser. Once I pay for eminence and put the trigger on the stack I've already chosen what Wizard to copy. The Wizard that I'm copying therefore doesn't need to be in play for eminence to resolve. This gives me two instances of his bounce. The first one is used to bounce himself back to my hand and the second comes from the token copy of him from eminence.

The Other Wizards

There are two one drop Wizards and each has a unique purpose. Viscera Seer is a no cost sac outlet; he has many uses for a one drop Wizard. When Inalla makes a token copy of a Wizard the copy is exiled at the end of my turn. I can sac this token with Seer before this happens getting additional value from the token. Seer can protect the Necromancer Wizards from exile removal because in response to the exile I can sac them putting them in the graveyard. Hapless Researcher is better as a two drop with eminence because then I can sac the copy for value. He's being used as one drop Wizard who I can sac to draw a card and then put a possible Wizard for reanimation into the graveyard.

The two drop Wizards are loaded with interesting abilities; some I want to eminence while others, most, it's better not to. Deranged Assistant and Sea Scryer are two drop ramp Wizards they can be used to help to pay for eminence for other creatures. Eminence adds another to the casting cost of a Wizard. This essentially makes two drops become three drops, three drops become four drops, etc. Having ramp either creature or artifact is very beneficial to being able to eminence Wizards. Some Wizards such Magus of the Bazaar I want to eminence because the copy of him has haste, I can use the token copies tap ability right away. Bazaar, Assistant and Thought Courier are excellent two drop graveyard enabler Wizards for the reanimation strategy.

Other two drop Wizards, Stonybrook Banneret can be additional ramp because it takes away from the casting cost of a Wizard. With her in play eminence is essentially free. Information Dealer is excellent card filtering with Wizards. He's better with eminence because then I can use the copy right away to filter, but still fine as a two drop because I'll always know what cards I'm about to draw with him in play giving me a huge advantage in what I draw. Voidmage Prodigy is good with a reanimation strategy because I don't feel too bad sacing Wizards to counter spells if I can reanimate them. Eminence tokens are exiled at the end of turn. I can't use them to counter spells on my opponent's turns, but they can protect me during my turn. Having a repeatable counterspell on a Wizard is very good at controlling the game and protecting vital cards.

The most important three drop Wizard is Vedalken AEthermage . His wizardcycling ability to tutor for any single Wizard in my library at instant speed and put it right into my hand. He can get either of the Necromancers or the Wizards to reanimated which then using other cards lets me discard them getting them into the graveyard. The other three drop Wizards are better as four/five drops because I want to eminence them.

Jace's Archivist is repeatable Windfall with a Wizard body. For five mana I can cast him eminence him and then tap the copy to Windfall. The Windfall ability is one of the best abilities for a reanimator strategy because it puts the most cards into my graveyard at one time while also letting me draw a possible whole new hand. AEther Adept can bounce any creature even one I control for three mana, but for four mana she can bounce two different ones, which is amazing. The Adept token copy can bounce the original Adept or any other Wizard I control allowing me to play it again and eminence again. This same trick with eminence can also be used with Sedraxis Alchemist and he's powerful because he can bounce any non-land pernament not just a creature. Bounce is a very good strategy with Wizards and eminence because bouncing a second pernament for only one mana is good. Champion of Wits is a graveyard enabler who can also be eternalized later in the game. Trophy Mage can tutor for Ashnod's Altar .

Just like the three drops I want to also eminence the four drops. Apprentice Necromancer is the most important four drop and although he's actually a two drop I want to both eminence him and be able to use the copies activated ability, this requires two additional mana to do. Venser, Shaper Savant is the exception when it comes to legendary Wizards because I can eminence copy him and then use the original Venser to bounce himself back to my hand getting to use two instances of bounce. Flash is pretty broken with Inalla's eminence being able to eminence at instant speed is the logical next step to take the power level of this deck. But for now Venser and Stunt Double are the only flash Wizards being played.

Archaeomancer is the only Wizard who can get back a non-creature instant or sorcery spell from the graveyard and for five mana I can eminence her and get back two spells. She's a great Wizard to bounce back to my hand and to reanimate because she can then get back a reanimation spell, enabler or powerful tutor. Disciple of Bolas has an incredible enters the battlefield ability which makes him a prime target for eminence. He's a way to gain life which can be repeatable. The only other way to gain life is with the infinite combo of Bloodline Necromancer and Ashnod's Alar creating infinite lifelink Bloodlines with haste.

I'm limiting the number of five drops, six drops and seven drops and the reason for this is because if the reanimation strategy fails I need the deck to be able to function without getting hands clogged with high casting cost creatures who I can't cast or eminence. Bloodline Necromancer is the most important five drop because he's such an integral part of this deck. Azami, Lady of Scrolls has proven herself as the best draw engine with Wizards and once she's in play any Wizard I play or eminence or both can draw a card. Ramp is very good with Azami. If I'm able to ramp her into play she can take over a game with her draw power. Intruder Alarm can be excellent with Azami because her ability lets me tap Wizards being able to untap them multiple times a turn can draw a lot of cards. Corpse Connoisseur is another five drop, he's an enabler for the reanimation strategy because I can eminence him and tutor for two Wizards and put them in the graveyard. Unearth makes Connoisseur pretty versatile. His unearth cost is only four mana, one less than his original casting cost and I can still eminence him when he's unearthed. This makes him a great Wizard to discard to the graveyard with a variety ways including Wizards to draw and discard cards from my hand.

One six drop and one seven drop are the top end for the Wizards. Wanderwine Prophets is a single card infinite combo with Inalla making it pretty important. Reanimating it, bypassing it's high casting cost and total combo cost is one of the main reasons for the reanimation strategy.

The most powerful Wizard to reanimate is Galecaster Colossus . Not only is he big 5/6, but he has a crazy good tap Wizards ability. This guy is nuts with eminence because he can bounce any of my opponent's non-land permanents and tapping a single Wizard bounces a single non-land permanent. A few Wizards with him can lock out my opponents from having anything on the battlefield. His seven casting cost means he's a prime target to be reanimated not cast from hand, but being able to reanimate him and then eminence him is a finishing goal in this deck. Like Inalla and Azami, Galecaster is also great with Intruder Alarm tapping and untapping Wizards multiple times a turn bouncing all my opponent's non-land permanents.

A Shapeshifter clone doesn't count as a Wizard, but it can enter the battlefield as one. Clones are great with eminence because the token copy can then become any creature including a Wizard, but also creatures who my opponent's have on the battlefield. Clones can also be reanimated and although they don't count as Wizards in the graveyard this deck is using other reanimation spells that don't have the Wizard creature restriction. Two clones, Phantasmal Image and Stunt Double support Wizards. Double has flash like Venser, it lets me at instant speed clone a Wizard and eminence.

Top Ranked	Achieved #30 position overall 6 years ago
Date added	6 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 30 - 0 Rares 27 - 0 Uncommons 25 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.98
Tokens	Champion of Wits 4/4 B, City's Blessing, Copy Clone, Manifest 2/2 C, Morph 2/2 C
Folders	Good EDH, Marchesa, Inalla Upgrades, commander, Budget, Commander, decks-to-watch, Neato, edh, commander