Geralf's Budget Cuts

Commander / EDH* Budget Control Eldrazi Jank Mill Mono-Blue Tokens Value Engine

GrimlockVIII

Creature (28)

• 1x Amphin Mutineer
• 1x Arcanis the Omnipotent
• 1x Archaeomancer
• 1x Augury Owl
• 1x Bane of Bala Ged
• 1x Body Double
• 1x Breaker of Armies
• 1x Conduit of Ruin
• 1x Diluvian Primordial
• 1x Eldrazi Skyspawner
• 1x Eternal Scourge
• 1x Fatestitcher
• 1x Geralf's Masterpiece
• 1x Inkwell Leviathan
• 1x Kederekt Leviathan
• 1x Kelpie Guide
• 1x King Crab
• 1x Misthollow Griffin
• 1x Mulldrifter
• 1x Scourge of Fleets
• 1x Skaab Ruinator
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Stormtide Leviathan
• 1x Thryx, the Sudden Storm
• 1x Ulamog's Crusher
• 1x Ulamog's Reclaimer
• 1x Vizier of Many Faces
• 1x Wonder

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Kasmina, Enigmatic Mentor

Instant (14)

• 1x Aetherspouts
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Bury in Books
• 1x Cackling Counterpart
• 1x Circular Logic
• 1x Commit / Memory
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Essence Flux
• 1x High Tide
• 1x Long-Term Plans
• 1x Memory Lapse
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Reality Ripple
• 1x Rewind

Artifact (8)

• 1x Conjurer's Closet
• 1x Gate to the Afterlife
• 1x God-Pharaoh's Gift
• 1x Key to the City
• 1x Sky Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Wand of Denial

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Artful Dodge
• 1x Call to Mind
• 1x Coax from the Blind Eternities
• 1x Curse of the Swine
• 1x Deep Analysis
• 1x Dream Cache
• 1x Mass Diminish
• 1x Ravenform

Commander (1)

Land (35)

• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Castle Vantress
• 1x Coral Atoll
• 1x Drownyard Temple
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 23x Island
• 1x Lonely Sandbar
• 1x Moonring Island
• 1x Mystic Sanctuary
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Temple of the False God

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Ever-Watching Threshold
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Mystic Redaction
• 1x Psychic Surgery
• 1x Vanishing

---

Maybeboard

Creature (16)

• 1x Advanced Stitchwing
• 1x Artisan of Kozilek
• 1x Cavalier of Gales
• 1x Colossus of Akros
• 1x Coral Fighters
• 1x Deceiver of Form
• 1x Desolation Twin
• 1x Ghostly Pilferer
• 1x Merfolk Observer
• 1x Misthollow Griffin
• 1x Orvar, the All-Form
• 1x Spawnsire of Ulamog
• 1x Thassa, Deep-Dwelling
• 1x Thought-Knot Seer
• 1x Vodalian Illusionist
• 1x Wharf Infiltrator

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Annex
• 1x Arcane Adaptation
• 1x Field of Dreams
• 1x Precognition
• 1x Quest for Ancient Secrets
• 1x Soothsaying

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Argivian Restoration
• 1x Careful Study

Artifact (3)

• 1x Brittle Effigy
• 1x Loxodon Warhammer
• 1x Maskwood Nexus

Instant (2)

• 1x Spy Network
• 1x Whisk Away

---

This deck was simultaneously easy but fun to brew due to how weird Geralf is as a commander. He's a little underwhelming at first glance since there's a bunch of Blue Commanders that can mill waaay better than he can.

However, his token generating ability is actually kind of unique, and so I decided to lean into creating big buff zombie tokens with the extra benefit of removing my opponent's threats before they can even see play. This approach to deck building made me look into cheap and obscure cards that you don't really see in commander that often which was pretty sick.

The fact that he's mono-blue also really makes me not have to worry about investing into an expensive mana base as much.

This deck aims to recycle the cards I mill and exile with Geralf in various ways. It also aims to select what he specifically can mill to ensure his cadavers are as roided as humanly possible.

Note: Will go more into detail on how the deck theoretically functions, but rn I just wanted to post this before going to bed.

Aight, so here's how the deck should ideally function.

We got big creatures on our own end that we can mill with Geralf to make some big zombies. They're also solid cards on their own in case we can't access Geralf's ability for some reason. That's probably the simplest part of our gameplan. However, things get a bit more interesting from here on out.

There's a reason why I'm running Eldrazi creatures, and it's not just because they're known for having large bodies. You see, there's this neat card called Coax from the Blind Eternities that can retrieve any Eldrazi creature from you own exile. This provides the catalyst for a recursive value engine, as we can bring back any Eldrazi we exile with Geralf. I also use cards like Misthollow Griffin and Eternal Scourge because they can just straight-up summon themselves out of exile after I use one or both of them to stitch together a cadaver.

I can use cards like Augury Owl , Mystic Redaction , and Long-Term Plans to make sure I hit the big creatures I want to use for Geralf. Scrying is also just good in general tho. Brainstorm is a no-brainer, but it can actually synergize with Geralf as well as just exist as a good card.

But what about my opponents? I want to make sure I hit their high-value creatures with Geralf, so how do I ensure that? Well, the options are kind of limited, but Wand of Denial , Moonring Island , and Halimar Depths provide consistent intel gathering for Geralf. Psychic Surgery and King Crab also help exist as recurring Geralf enablers, albeit with conditional stipulations. Other instants and sorceries like Memory Lapse , Aetherspouts , and Bury in Books double as creature removal and one-time Geralf enablers.

I also included Conjurer's Closet as a means to give Geralf and my non-token creatures pseudo-vigilance as well as reuse the Etbs of some of my other creatures. Thassa, Deep-Dwelling also works for this purpose, but I wanted to keep things under 80 bucks.

Date added	3 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	3 - 0 Mythic Rares 30 - 0 Rares 27 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.94
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Bird 1/1 U, Boar 2/2 G, Copy Clone, Eldrazi Scion 1/1 C, Foretell, Vizier of Many Faces 0/0 W, Wizard 2/2 U, Zombie */* U
Folders	Commander/EDH