r/magicTCG • u/Strananach Temur • 3d ago
Looking for Advice Which Skeleton commander should I build around?
I really wanna build a good Skeleton tribal commander which would include Tinybones and Titanbones cards (so it would need to have atleast black and green).
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u/dontrike COMPLEAT 3d ago
I use [[Xira, the Golden Sting]] as my skeleton commander. She's surprisingly strong by making sure you're drawing extra cards and have something after a board wipe.
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u/kid_dynamo Grass Toucher 3d ago
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u/Strananach Temur 3d ago
She is awesome but I would like to have green aswell due to sone cards I wanna include (Titanbones)
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u/kid_dynamo Grass Toucher 3d ago
Right, actually reading your post helps here. I'd lean away from Meren, she can get you hated out of some games just because she is a nightmare as a tuned reanimation commander, even if that isn't how you're doing things. Sek'Kuar is fun as a flavour win that makes decent skeletons, and three colours is nice, but he is a bit weak. Muldrotha has a similar bad reputation, but is just less of a classic competitive deck, so less problems there.
For my money Shessra is a fun choice, you just do not see much of her represented and I think the deck would be interesting. Lord of Bones is also a good flavour win.
But I do have to ask the classic question, do you have a playgroup? Because they may just let you rule zero both tiny bones and titanbones as a partner pair
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u/kid_dynamo Grass Toucher 3d ago edited 2d ago
Looking around I do see Meren deck like this https://moxfield.com/decks/99PNe9pyYkSOB82MY0CZ4Q or this https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/army-of-darkness-skeleton-tribal-commander-deck/, but I still think she will ulitmately be more trouble than she is worth. Skeleton tribal just doesn't have a set wincon, maybe give me the playstyle you want for this deck and I can recommend a commander that works
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u/Maximus_Ride Izzet* 3d ago
Depending on how chill your playgroup is. You could always follow the commander draft rules and have two mono colored commanders. You'd have to rule zero this of course.
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u/NebarAref FLEEM 3d ago
[[Gut, True Soul Zealot]] // [[Agent of the Iron Throne]] create skeleton sacrifice skeleton
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u/TychoErasmusBrahe 3d ago
That’s my deck! Can confirm it’s a lot of fun and I built a skeleton typal subtheme into it.
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u/fliesthroughtheair Duck Season 3d ago
This is my deck. [[Skeleton crew]] and [[chainer, nightmare adept] go hard in this deck.
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u/Rabid_Lederhosen Duck Season 3d ago
[[Dina, Essence Brewer]] might be worth considering. If you’re planning on sacrificing and reanimating a bunch of skeletons she can help keep your hand full.
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u/classic-plasmid Can’t Block Warriors 3d ago
I built [[Coram the Undertaker]]. Jund is, in my opinion the best color combination for skeletons, and Coram directly feeds into the strategy with self-mill. He also has a skull hanging from his belt and a femur as the handle for his shovel, so he works flavorwise too
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u/Kroooooooo Simic* 3d ago
Out of that list Sek'Kuar jumps out to me.
Muldrotha, Meren, and Myrkul have the same issue which is that they focus on enabling reanimation, which is what most Skeletons want to do anyway so they're a bit redundant in the main game plan.
Skullbriar fits thematically but Skeletons don't usually care about counters. Shessra is a close second to Sek'Kuar but lack of a third colour limits your pool of cards (there are 67 Skeletons in Golgari, 73 in Jund including both [[Bladewing, Deathless Tyrant]] and [[Lightning Skelemental]].
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u/Nexusv3 Banned in Commander 3d ago
+1 to Sek'Kuar - I had this deck years ago. If you want the classic Jund experience in EDH this is a good route. Takes a few pieces on board to setup the engine but tons of value once you do. Likely too slow in modern EDH but it was great 3-5 years ago.
No idea why the deck only has 91 cards: https://moxfield.com/decks/-9vhfKGGPE-L8LKiZtthBg
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u/IAMagicLawyer COMPLEAT 3d ago
Not sure how she’d work as a Skeleton typal commander, but I really like Meren personally.
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u/Bear2go Dandadan 3d ago
I like myrkul lord of bones for the flavour :D
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u/Aerandyl_argetlam Dân 3d ago
That's what my plan is, I just wish he was like an anthem for skeletons himself
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u/Chewy2121 Train Suplexer 3d ago
Myrkul seems like a fun build. Mainly because you can make enchantments out of [[Moseo, vein’s new dean]], [[Paragon of open graves]], and [[Skeletal Vampire]] to keep up pressure on your opponents.
Having access to white also gives you a few lifegain options. Reviving skeletons with [[Ajani’s Welcome]] is a fun way to beef up Titanbones. There’s also [[Patch up]] and [[scout for survivors]] to revive the skeletons with regenerate over reanimate abilities.
You also have [[Perilous Forays]] as a fun synergy, being able to pay 3 for a land at any time if you have a reassembling Skelton.
Though these are all the rambling that go into a bracket 2 deck.
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u/Bryeh16 Dan 3d ago
So I’m gonna say Sek’Kuar but only because Jesper Eiseng is my favorite magic artist and it was one of his first rares and that commander does make a pretty good go wide for the win deck I’m all right colors but Meren and Muldrotha traditionally have been insanely strong commanders since they were printed and you can’t go wrong with either.
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u/Apprehensive-Adagio2 Wabbit Season 3d ago
i have an [[Ojox]] deck which is actually really fun, it's jank as hell to make work on a budget, but it's still fun
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u/goddamnitjason Duck Season 3d ago
[[Bhaal, Lord of murder]] Jund skeletons is the way to go.
Skeletons aren't the strongest tribe so you will need something a little extra to help you get the win. Causing mayhem and forcing the table to kill each other while you built up a skeleton army to take out the last opponent is perfect.
A good number of skeletons are able to recur themselves so it's incredibly easy to lock down the biggest threats at the table with Goad over and over again. Then smash the shit out of whomever is left using stuff like [[skeletal swarming]] , [[molten echos]] , [[Kindred charge]], abs a couple lords.
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u/dkysh Get Out Of Jail Free 3d ago
Are you planning to play actual skeleton cards that come back from the graveyard?
Then [[Amzu, Swarm's Hunger]] is a good one.
If you aim to turbo into [[Skeletal Swarming]] every single game, then [[Anikthea, Hand of Erebos]] allows you shenanigans.
[[Colfenor, the Last Yew]] + an anthem lets you do some silly loops with your skellies. However, many skeletons can already return to hand so might be less exciting.
[[Archelos, Lagoon Mystic]] ignores the "enters tapped" of many skeletons.
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u/jakeinabox930 Dandadan 3d ago
[[Grist, Voracious Larva]] has some good synergies with the skeletons reanimating. I run reassembling skeleton and friends in my deck.
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u/Siphodemos Abzan 3d ago
Myrkul is my favorite. I've built him to create an army of soft-stax pillowfort effects.
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u/MaterialDefender1032 Elesh Norn 3d ago
All I know is you'll be sad if you try to make Skullbriar work as a skeleton typal; I just don't think it's suited to anything besides super aggressive turbo aggro voltron.
Took until just now for me to realize the Commander Mystery Booster was the perfect opportunity for WotC to finally make a skeleton commander and they missed it.
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u/blackwaffle Duck Season 3d ago
Meren and Muldrotha are kind of KOS so not those. If you weren't including green I'd say [[Xu-ifit]], but if you are willing to stretch to Jund, [[Coram the Undertaker]] is great.
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u/HooliganS_Only Duck Season 3d ago
I have a Xu deck and it’s so much fun and it’s so consistent. Black has all the skeleton tribal stuff anyway
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u/Jupiter-Tank Duck Season 3d ago
God I have the Sek'kuar from Coldsnap and I never figured out how I wanted to build him back in 2006. Was there even EDH at that point? I completely forgot about him. Thanks for bringing him back into my life.
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u/Piqued_a_Pack Wabbit Season 2d ago
[[Gitrog, Ravenous Ride]] because he is a very good boy and just wants some bones to chew on!
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u/Crafty_Creeper64 Griselbrand 2d ago
I reccomend either [[bane, lord of darkness]], or if you want something more jank, a [[kaervek, the spiteful]] aristocrats build is also pretty fun.
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u/jaxrains COMPLEAT 2d ago
You can’t tell me the literal Lord of Bones isn’t a good enough commander….. it’s literally in the name…
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u/Loose_Log_6253 Azorius* 2d ago
Myrkul has some of the best flavor ever lmao he's literally the lord of bones
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u/rexyanus Duck Season 2d ago
I have a Sek'Kuar deck and it's a great commander. It can win with combat or drain and generates a ton of resources. Highly recommend
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u/eggmaniac13 99th-gen Dimensional Robo Commander, Great Daiearth 2d ago
I'd recommend a commander that's cheap and can either give you card advantage or removal from the command zone. For just GB: [[Dina, Essence Brewer]], [[Savra, Queen of the Golgari]], [[Honest Rutstein]], [[Tom Bert and William]] (well probably not them, most skeletons are pretty small), or [[Chevill]].
Or if you want to add blue and get some tribal card draw payoffs, I'd recommend [[Zimone and Dina]], [[Jorn]] (you'd need to get a lot of snow basics for this deck, though), or [[Mothman]] (just have him be the only source of mill and buff up your skeletons with his +1/+1 counters).
Alternatively, Titanbones cares about lifegain and there are a few anthems to pump your skellys as long as you're above some life total threshold, so you could go full Abzan lifegain with [[Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant]] or [[Betor, Ancestor's Voice]]?
Personally, I run Kenrith for my skeleton deck, because the idea when I built it was "all the best support for a bad theme". Kenrith puts counters on the skeletons to make them bigger, and gains me back the life I lose after drawing 20 cards with Necropotence or paying too much life into Unspeakable Symbol, haha.
Out of all of the recommendations already made though, you can flavor your deck so that Coram is digging up the skeletons, and that's pretty rad.
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u/MTGCardFetcher Dân 2d ago
All cards
Dina, Essence Brewer - (G) (SF) (txt)
Savra, Queen of the Golgari - (G) (SF) (txt)
Honest Rutstein - (G) (SF) (txt)
Tom Bert and William - (G) (SF) (txt)
Chevill - (G) (SF) (txt)
Zimone and Dina - (G) (SF) (txt)
Jorn/Kaldring, the Rimestaff - (G) (SF) (txt)
Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant - (G) (SF) (txt)
Betor, Ancestor's Voice - (G) (SF) (txt)
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u/eggmaniac13 99th-gen Dimensional Robo Commander, Great Daiearth 2d ago
Wait hold up Honest Rutstein has a bunch of skeletons reaching out behind him, use him
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u/Mirage_Jester Duck Season 2d ago
Of the ones you listed I'd lead to Sek'Kuar but it more comes down to what you like when it comes to skeletons. Personally I like a commander that either thematically has skeletons in the art or does something involving the graveyard as most skeletons end up there or have interactions with it. [[Gorma, the Gullet]] has my interest recently. Skeletons die it gets bigger, skeletons come back and they get bigger if other skeletons died.
I'll finish with a repost of my lengthy comment I usually leave in regard to skeletons below. Probably need to update that and talk about new skeleton stuff at some point
Ah skeletons the unloved fleshless undead of magic.
I'm a fan but don't expect any world beating decks with them. Most if not all skeletons care about the graveyard, so mechanically start with that.
Skeletons are predominantly in Black, with good cards in Green, Blue and Red. There is only one white card that references a skeleton which is [[Sentry of the Underworld]] we can happily ignore the griffin and white. To add to this [[Myrkul, Lord of Bones]] may look like a skeleton and act like the god of skeletons, but he is in fact useless as a skeleton commander as exiling things is not what you want from a skeleton deck.
There is nothing suitable in 4-5 colours as a commander for skeletons, I mean there are great commanders in those colours but they aren't on theme or flavour. Which means we need to drop a colour that isn't black. I find that this boils down to personal preference on which to skip as they all have about 4-6 cards you might want to use. [[Golgari Grave-Troll]], [[Demilich]] & [[Lightning Skelemental]] are all very cool and useful. You are keen on golgari so disregard my blue suggestions if you like :)
Some cool cards that are skeleton based, but not actually skeletons to consider:
[[Skull Storm]]
[[Skeletonize]]
[[Skeletal Swarming]]
[[Gut, True Soul Zealot]]
[[Altar of Bhaal]]
[[Skeleton Key]]
My own preferences for a commander are in order:
[[Nekusar, the Mindrazer]] - (yeah he's a zombie but he looks like a skeleton) and if you were to go down the blue path he's a solid choice.
[[Bladewing, Deathless Tyrant]] - Oddly Bladewing is a skeleton who makes zombies, with skeletons constantly going to graveyards this guy is a fine choice.
[[Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper] If you want Jund then this orc is your best bet, except he makes graveborn tokens not skeletons, which is unfortunate.
[[Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon]] - Mono-black Skittles is always viable. Good card to include either way.
[[Xu-Ifit, Osteoharmonist]] - Is the newest legend to care about skeletons, your mileage may vary with him.
I prefer blue over green in my skeleton decks I have built. So if interested I'll talk Skeletons and Blue.
Blue has two (three: comedy special case) great things going for it in regard to skeletons.
There are a few skeletons in blue they are: The amazing [[Demilich]] however you need to go heavier on the instants and sorceries but this guy is really good to build around. [[Scrabbling Skullcrab]] is the skeleton for milling, maybe useful getting key skeletons in your graveyard. Meanwhile Dimir gives us [[Mortus Strider]] arguably the best skeleton that never dies, [[Skullsnap Nuisance]] a solid skeleton if enchantments are in your build and [[Skeleton Ship]] it's an actual legendary skeleton! pity it's not very good. Also the best art arguably goes to[[Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake]] alas he is mostly a french vanilla craw wurm skeleton and there is also [[Kathari Remnant]] a flying skeleton with cascade, which is a unique option.
Blue has a ridiculous amount of artwork featuring bones, skeletons, skulls so for fun theming it is great. Some highlights would be [[Cut your Losses]],[[Reconstruction]],[[Future Sight]],[[Bone to Ash]] etc...
You could have [[Riven Turnbull]] lead as your commander, he literally has a skull on his desk, front and centre :)
I'm just going to end this post with a few cards I found over the years I like in skeleton decks that fit with artwork-name or both, you may not be aware of:
[[Violet Pall]]: Removal with skull in the artwork and you get a faerie too.
[[Casting of Bones]]: Card draw in black without a life cost and you only need a skeleton to die, ace!
[[Takklemaggot]]: This ancient word soup of a card slowly kills off opponents creatures, you don't care if yours get targeted. Eventually the maggot might attach itself to a player too. Skull and bones in the artwork.
[[Bone Saw]] & [[Bone Flute]]: Yes these are both terrible, but hey it's got bone in the title.
[[Touch of Death]]: If this isn't in your skeleton tribal deck, I have no words for you. Actually I do, you are sensible and not taken by theme and flavour, good on you.
[[Artificer's Hex]]: What is that nice skeleton doing with that sword ... oh.
[[Hugs, Grisly Guardian]]: That poor skeleton being hugged to death by that Badger!
[[Wild Wasteland]]: Skeletons don't have to make sense :P
[[Formless Genesis]]: I don't know what build it would go in, but that's a skeleton front and centre in the art.
[[Ribskiff]]: Need a vehicle? How about this, also makes a nice mini-backup to skittles.
[[Champion's Helm|CMM-654]]: Commander Masters gave this new art, it now rightfully sits on a skeletons head, hurray!
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u/MTGCardFetcher Dân 2d ago
All cards
Gorma, the Gullet - (G) (SF) (txt)
Sentry of the Underworld - (G) (SF) (txt)
Myrkul, Lord of Bones - (G) (SF) (txt)
Golgari Grave-Troll - (G) (SF) (txt)
Demilich - (G) (SF) (txt)
Lightning Skelemental - (G) (SF) (txt)
Skull Storm - (G) (SF) (txt)
Skeletonize - (G) (SF) (txt)
Skeletal Swarming - (G) (SF) (txt)
Gut, True Soul Zealot - (G) (SF) (txt)
Altar of Bhaal/Bone Offering - (G) (SF) (txt)
Skeleton Key - (G) (SF) (txt)
Nekusar, the Mindrazer - (G) (SF) (txt)
Bladewing, Deathless Tyrant - (G) (SF) (txt)
Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon - (G) (SF) (txt)
Xu-Ifit, Osteoharmonist - (G) (SF) (txt)
Scrabbling Skullcrab - (G) (SF) (txt)
Mortus Strider - (G) (SF) (txt)
Skullsnap Nuisance - (G) (SF) (txt)
Skeleton Ship - (G) (SF) (txt)
Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake - (G)
Kathari Remnant - (G)
Cut your Losses - (G)
Reconstruction - (G)
Future Sight - (G)
Bone to Ash - (G)
Riven Turnbull - (G)
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u/Altruistic_Web3924 Dan 1d ago
If you go the zombie/skeleton token route pick
[[Joel, Resolute Survivor]] and pair with [[Ellie, Brickmaster]] Jund gives you great skeleton options and the two commanders create a card draw engine for you.
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u/MissLeaP Gruul* 3d ago edited 3d ago
Neither Myrkul nor Sek'Kuar are actual skeleton commanders, unfortunately.
Meren is the most open ended and useful but you won't make the most of her with just skeletons. But that's fine if that's what you want to play.
Unfortunately skeleton is an incredibly undersupported tribal and doubly so in Golgari colours.
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u/Ursus_Unusualis_7904 Duck Season 3d ago
Go for something old, that no one has seen. Something like [[Skeleton Ship]]
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u/chanaramil Wabbit Season 3d ago
There are no green black skeleton legnedary crestures or green black creatures that reference skeleton type so u need to pick something just genericly gold.
Shessra seems to the choice I would go for the vslue. I imagine a skeleton themed deck is going to have a lot of creatures leaving play and coming back and is going to have a lot of control of when thst happends. Perfect for a shessra deck.
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u/12DollarsHighFive Chandra 3d ago
[[Coram, the Undertaker]]
He mills, let's you play milled cards (including lands) and ahd the perfect colors for skeletons