Underworld Hermit

Creature — Human Peasant

When this enters the battlefield, create a number of 1/1 green Squirrel creature tokens equal to your devotion to black. (Each {B} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to black.)

Tokens

• Squirrel 1/1 G

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (8)

paperhead on EDH - Chained

2 months ago

Underworld Hermit
Erebos, God of the Dead
Marshmist Titan
Mogis's Marauder

DreadKhan on Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest

6 months ago

I've always loved Mazirek, such a cool Commander! I think Make an Example would probably do some work in here, and it's little brother Do or Die would probably be decent as well.

Mitotic Slime is a good source of creatures-from-a-creature, the only ones that can compete are cards like Underworld Hermit, which makes an army of squirrels equal to your devotion to Black. There are things like Grismold, the Dreadsower that can make a lot of bodies (it gives them to opponents as well, but if you can force them to sacrifice those tokens both Grismold and Mazirek go nuts), Grismold even offers a backup Commander of a sort for long games when you might not be able to recast Mazirek.

I'm not sure if you're interested in reanimation effects, but Hell's Caretaker is a free sac each upkeep, and he can bring back your best creature in exchange for your worst. Coffin Queen can reanimate from any graveyard, but it's especially useful to reanimate your opponent's stuff because it gets exiled when it dies. If you want a repeatable reanimation effect there is Demon of Dark Schemes, this offers a small wipe and it works very well with Pitiless Plunderer and something like the aforementioned Mitotic Slime.

Since your Commander cares about sacrifice effects, have you thought about using Diligent Farmhand and Dawntreader Elk in here? There is also Burnished Hart, all of these ramp you and can trigger Mazirek if he's out. There is also Ordeal of Nylea that would work with Mazirek later game (or anything that can get in early). I'm not sure if it comes up very much, but I put Forsworn Paladin in my Golgari deck because it had Haakon, but what I noticed was that it's also a useful way to ramp in Black, which importantly can fix your mana (to let you cast Green ramp), it's very low to the ground and can generate triggers for Mazirek or help recast Mazirek later.

Have you ever tried Sadistic Hypnotist? This offers a free and infinite sac outlet, and the effect can be pretty strong if you've got a bunch of creatures to burn through. Another really versatile sac outlet is Infernal Tribute, this lets you sacrifice any non-token permanent (it has to be an actual card) to draw a new card. I'm not 100% on it being a fit, but Savra, Queen of the Golgari is a pretty impressive payoff if you regularly have creatures being sacrificed, it can put a lot of pressure on an opponent's board.

It can get very out of hand with Mazirek, but I feel like I have to mention One with the Kami, it's very good on Mazirek with a free sac outlet. Similarly any creatures you can find with Persist will work very well with Mazirek and sac outlets, though again, this might be more pushed than what you're looking for. I took a gander and Aerie Ouphes might be interesting, and there is always Woodfall Primus, these might help support your Puppeteers!

If you ever want to throw in something pricier, I think Old Gnawbone would be absolutely hilarious in here.

DreadKhan on EDH Merens Reanimator

1 year ago

If you're interested in playing fair, then you might like Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest. This can take a board full of utility creatures and make them very formidable very quickly. Hell's Caretaker is a card I find useful that doesn't go infinite with anything I know of, it just lets you sneak stuff in once per turn. If you don't include anything like Pitiless Plunderer you can set up repeatable sacrifice loops to generate XP for Meren, probably to reanimate a Protean Hulk or someting else juicy. For this you might use Gravecrawler or Haakon, Stromgald Scourge and probably a 1 drop Knight to have something you can keep killing over and over. Any card that cares about creatures dying will go off, so some stuff that draws on death might be nice, Liliana, Dreadhorde General is a versatile card that fits the bill.

In my experience, the best thing you can tutor up is usually Protean Hulk, Sidisi, or Razaketh, any of these tends to spiral out of control in a deck that can reanimate them on the end step or sooner. Hulk can find various creatures to solve whatever problems you have, but you probably need a sac outlet to ensure it dies right away, the others are more generous. Razaketh notoriously likes abusing Life / Death to set up a pretty quick win when you're ready, you can find stuff like rituals to generate enough mana to go off.

If you want another reanimator that isn't picky, there is Demon of Dark Schemes that helps clear the board of weenies, and as long as you don't have cards that generate mana the Demon won't go infinite with something like Mitotic Slime or Underworld Hermit, they'll just give you lots of triggers for your extra mana. Demon also likes Merciless Executioner type creatures, they can easily generate Energy. Another reanimator I often forget reanimates stuff is Liliana, Death's Majesty, this brings back stuff as a Zombie if you don't want the ultimate, and she survives some wipes as a PW that can make 2/2s while milling you. Some people don't like PWs so ymmv.

I suspect that if you're not sure if you need more wipes, you might want to try one or two more. In Black there is Make an Example that is very brutal as you always hit your priority target for each opponent. It won't clear the board, but it can help manage it, and you can follow it up with a bunch of forced sacrifice. One card that likes seeing a wipe happen (that makes running extra feel less problematic) is Ogre Slumlord, if you run enough 'pay life'effects you might want Sangromancer, and if you think you can kill enough of your opponent's permenants then Kothophed, Soul Hoarder might work out, that can turn a Damnation into a big draw spell.

If your deck is finding it hard to stay alive, you can use Dawnstrider to save you on needing to reanimate a Spore Frog, though I use both as I find Meren can be annoying to certain players.

If you like Phyrexian Arena and aren't using 'win on the spot combos', have you considered Protection Racket? This can draw plenty of non-land cards or deal damage to your opponents, both seem good as long as you don't care if you lose some random 1-3 drops. There is also Black Market Connections, this can provide various resources without being as busted/all-or-nothing as Necropotence.

Hope some of this is helpful! Any Commander that requires a lot of tutoring is very frustrating to learn to play, Commander is incredibly hard to master, but it's easy to get better with practice!

ThatWeirdPerson on It's Just a Flesh Wound ($100 Meren)

1 year ago

I am swapping in Dread Summons for Underworld Hermit because it will create 8 2/2s instead of X 1/1s for the same cost. It was a very close call but Dread Summons puts cards into my graveyard and is very flexible with the X.

DreadKhan on It's Just a Flesh Wound ($100 Meren)

1 year ago

It's an infinite combo engine in my Meren deck, but I will say you need 2 or more cards to actually go infinite with it, a way to generate mana from bodies, and a way to generate bodies. The mini-wipe ETB offers a way to get enough energy to hopefully start the chain, but you really want a creature that makes lots of bodies you can reanimate, and something like Pitiless Plunderer or Phyrexian Altar (or Ashnod's Altar and Bog Initiate if you're weird) to make it infinite. I use Mitotic Slime as my main source of bodies, and the ability to reanimate anything after I've got infinite mana/reanimations is pretty consistently good enough to win the game. I often use Blood Artist or similar to win on the spot at this point.

It gains some viability points from the fact that Golgari is very good at tutoring the Demon up, as well as combo pieces. It's rare that I don't win if I can set this combo up, but it is possible to have infinite mana/reanimations and have nothing else worth reanimating, and no cards in hand, so you'd just be stuck hoping to draw Zulaport Cutthroat or similar to close. This can happen if everyone's graveyards are exiled, which Farewell can do (and which people should be running more and more often).

In my deck, I have other reanimation sources that can power up Demon of Dark Schemes to use it to reanimate Sidisi, Undead Vizier or Protean Hulk (or something similar) in order to win, so even if it's not infinite, it's ability can still be very powerful. If your playgroup has lots of players that use big creatures, the Demon can reanimate them for you as well, which can sometimes close the game.

It's biggest weakness is that you can't really dig it out with Protean Hulk, it's MV is so high it'd feel pretty bad to just find that in many cases. If you're not ever going to go infinite with it, going finite can still be pretty good, it's only 2B to reanimate a creature, and something like Underworld Hermit or Avenger of Zendikar can bring plenty of bodies along, allowing you to build up an army. If you've got lots of Aristocrat payoffs, just generating the Energy for your next reanimation can be powerful.

DreadKhan on It's Just a Flesh Wound ($100 Meren)

2 years ago

If you like Avenger of Zendikar, Mitotic Slime comes out earlier and will make an astounding number of bodies for you to sacrifice. Underworld Hermit might work as well. You might want to take a look at Demon of Dark Schemes, which can reanimate whatever you want for mana and energy, making it not infinite (you'd need something like Phyrexian Altar or Pitiless Plunderer probably) but very good with a decent amount of lands. I use it as an infinite reanimation source in my Meren deck, where it's -2/-2 effect is also sometimes relevant.

If you want a 'win con' that doesn't involve your Graveyard and only requires you to run a bajillion creatures in your deck, Lurking Predators might be interesting. Even if people only play 1 spell each, that can easily be 1 or 2 creatures for free, and you can scry away chaff. If this sticks around, people can't reasonably play small spells and will struggle to deal with your growing board, and you just keep playing as normal with a free creature or 2 each cycle. I run it with well over 50 creatures, and sometimes all it takes is one player ignoring it to win you the game via free bodies.

Yavimaya Granger is decent, dying the turn after it's cast normally, and will net you a land. It's available to reanimate (to get another land), and it can technically chump for you. Wood Elves is pretty good, but it doesn't die on it's own.

Callous Bloodmage is pretty good value, offering a way to hate on an opponent's graveyard that can alternatively draw you a card or make a Pest, sneakily good card. Nether Traitor is a nice way to get an extra body to sacrifice, it can recur itself.

Neat to see Budget Meren, her decks tend to be pretty pricey, so many people love building Meren.

DreadKhan on Sheoldred, Whispering One (Commander) Mono-Black

2 years ago

Coffin Queen is pretty good reanimation that can hit any graveyard, so you can use it to exile stuff from opponent's graveyard. Ophiomancer is a source of bodies you can use to block or to sacrifice, with potentially one per upkeep. Ayara, First of Locthwain is a nice lower-budget Yawgmoth, Thran Physician, clearly worse but still relevant.

Have you thought about Gravecrawler as a repeatable reanimation effect? Wins with an Aristocrats payoff, even if you're not infinite (you do have Black Market, which isn't quite infintie but is probably close enough after a turn or 2). If you don't mind ending up infinite, Phyrexian Altar or Pitiless Plunderer very easily go infinite with Gravecrawler, and your Rider can generate bodies off it, since it's not a token. Something like Midnight Reaper can draw off the deaths, as can Grim Haruspex.

Ashnod's Altar is a very good card to look at, even if it's just generating mana. Demon of Dark Schemes can do some crazy stuff with a creature like Underworld Hermit, especially with some sacrifice driven mana generation this can be a mana/energy positive transaction, so it can go infinite potentially.

If you're not against tutoring, you could look at Expedition Map to help find Cabal Coffers or Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Black has lots of other good tutors, but not everyone likes playing with them.

Housegheist on Snacky Squirrels

2 years ago

MH2 got some support for Squirrels and some nice anthem-effects e.g. the new spoiled Sylvan Anthem, Drey Keeper , Underworld Hermit , Ravenous Squirrel and/or Squirrel Sovereign .

Adaptive Automaton , Vanquisher's Banner , Coat of Arms and Beastmaster Ascension for example could make your 1/1s very scary. Ohran Frostfang can draw you card or force opponents to trade creatures. Avenger of Zendikar would create some plants and chatterfang that many Squirrels. Maskwood Nexus can turn all your creatures into squirrels which then would gain profit from the mentioned anthem effects. Ruxa, Patient Professor can pump your tokens and you could choose either to maybe kill cretures or deal straight dmg.