10 Useful Graveyard Hate Cards You Should Try in Commander

Graveyards in Commander are like a second hand. In many decks, they end up being the anchor of the strategy, whether that’s reanimating creatures, looping spells, or enabling anything from cost reduction to card draw. Kristen has 10 Graveyard Hate cards to share that can be pretty useful and easy to slot into a deck.

Graveyard decks are amongst my favorite in Magic. Living Death might even be my favorite sorcery. They’re also extremely powerful archetypes, and need to be kept in check. Letting a graveyard deck get set up is dangerous. Heck, even if you’re playing a Living Death yourself, you’ll want to make sure you aren’t getting blown out when it resolves. 

While I’ve been a big advocate for cards like Farewell lately – and Scavenger Grounds always –  I want to talk this time about the little roleplayers that can slot into your build and pull their weight no matter the game.

The cards I’m less interested in talking about today are the “known quantities”. Tormod’s Crypt and Soul-Guide Lantern, or Stone of Erech, especially in legends-matters decks. We both know they’re great. 

10 USEFUL GRAVEYARD HATE CARDS

10. KAYA’S GUILE

Kaya’s Guile has long been something of a pet card for me, and it’s one that I can still surprise people with from time to time. The instant speed effect coupled with flexible modes can provide you with exactly what’s good for you in the moment. 

I like to play it with white cards that make tokens when I gain life, or alongside cards like Black Market and Life Insurance that can help to produce mana. In decks with token doublers or even a cheeky Divine Visitation, that 1/1 Spirit can also go a long way. 

Remember that the modes play out in the order printed; the sacrificed creatures will hit the grave before the graveyard is exiled. Neat.

9. KOZILEK’S COMMAND

From one “Command” to another, Kozilek’s Command is a colorless one that most players probably slotted into their Eldrazi deck and forgot about. It’s not strictly an Eldrazi card, though. It’s flexible, and it can slot into any deck playing enough mana rocks and colorless lands, any deck that wants to make large amounts of mana.

You can exile a bunch of cards from yards with this, and the other modes are all useful. Exiling a creature? Sweet. Digging for what you need? Pretty good. Using it as a layaway ritual effect by making a bunch of Eldrazi Spawn? Yeah, that’s actually quite cool too. 

Don’t let the “Kindred Instant – Eldrazi” put you off. This is just decent and can be cast off of just having a Sol Ring in play. 

8. NAUTILOID SHIP

Nautiloid Ship is familiar for anyone who has played the excellent Baldur’s Gate 3, and for those who haven’t had the pleasure, they might not know what it’s doing in Magic. Well, do you necessarily need to know? This well-costed vehicle is from Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate, and it has a very strong effect. 

After it enters and nukes a graveyard, you get to crew it, and then when it connects? You straight up get to put a creature into play from among cards exiled by it. If you’re a deck that cares about vehicles you’re likely already running this, but if you are in the realms of extra combats, double strike, flying, or flicker? Well worth a look.

7. SANCTIFIER EN-VEC

I think Protection is really underrated in Commander, and especially so on creatures that can jam in or block in the early to mid game. Protection helps you get free attacks, and it also stops attacks coming in to you. It’s why I take Auriok Champion very high when I want a Soul Sister effect – both it and this Cleric en-Vec have protection from red damage wraths, too, making them a little more survivable. 

When you have a strong effect on a smaller creature, you get to load it up with +1/+1 counters, Auras, or Equipment cards, and benefit from that Protection. It’s why Mirran Crusader can be so strong, and it’s why I think that aspect should be explored more. 

6. CANOPTEK SCARAB SWARM

I was looking at a potential Wandering Rescuer deck the other day, and cards like Canoptek Scarab Swarm were high on my list. Being able to summon a bunch of flying tokens is huge, and can prove to be pretty game-tipping as far as effects go. 

It’s a 1/1 flier itself, and chances are you can get a good 3-4 bodies with this at the floor, and potentially many more. If you want to use tokens, if you want to play some flicker or reanimator effects, and if you care about power or toughness 1 creatures (which is weirdly a thing, now), then this little 40k card might be up your street.

5. RAKDOS CHARM

Going wide with tokens is in vogue right now, so pack yourself a tasty little Rakdos Charm to help close games. If your opponents are going too far wide for you to handle, Rakdos Charm can annihilate them with their own creatures… provided those creatures don’t have lifelink, I guess.

Rakdos Charm will always be useful. Keeping access to some graveyard hate on such a multi-functional spell is excellent. 

4. ARMORED SCRAPGORGER

Armored Scrapgorger should top your lists for mana dorks if you’re not concerned with having an on-theme creature type. After Birds of Paradise, you’ll maybe consider Bloom Tender for decks with many colors, or maybe Ornithopter of Paradise if you want to get some attack triggers in Mardu colors. Scrapgorger should be on your radar otherwise, though.

It’s an 0/3 that eventually becomes a 3/3, which blocks really well (and even attacks, if you need to). 

More importantly, every time you tap it for mana, you’re exiling something from a graveyard. 

3. GHOST VACUUM

New hotness Ghost Vacuum is one I’ve got my eye on (and so have 60-card players, apparently). 

Every turn, you can snipe a problem card from a graveyard. While pruning one card at a time might feel a little slower than other one mana options, it’s the prize in the mid to late game that’s the exciting part. Paying {6} for what amounts to a Storm of Souls but for creatures from around the whole table is enough to get me very, very excited. 

If you’re playing Hofri, you definitely need to look at this. 

2. EMPEROR OF BONES

I think the sheer amount of product that gets released means that cards sometimes fly under the radar more than they should. Emperor of Bones is cracked. 

If you only ever adapt this once, it’s still two mana to reanimate an opponent’s creature, stapled to a hatebear. I  mean, sure, you can also exile your stuff, if you want, but it’s pruning our opponents’ yards that’s the goal here.

I want to jam this in +1/+1 counters decks. Have you played with it yet?

1. CEMETERY PROWLER

You know, in a lot of green decks these days, I think I’d rather slam this than play a Cultivate. It enters on turn three and munches something immediately. You then end up with a 3/4 Vigilance Wolf, which attacks and blocks great for that stage in the game. Especially if your deck plays deep on enchantments or artifacts, this one is a solid addition to your curve. 

END STEP

Keeping on top of graveyards is of paramount importance in Commander, as they’ll overtake you if you’re not careful. While it can sometimes feel like adding graveyard hate eats into your “fun” cards, or your ramp/draw, it doesn’t have to be that way. There are plenty of neat ways to add a little cheeky removal to your deck.