The Best MTG Zombies in Commander, Ranked

Ever since Magic: The Gathering came onto the scene in 1993, the humble Zombie has been a part of it. Much like their horror movie inspirations, Zombies are all about swarming the board and using the graveyard to pull off brutal wins.

The Zombie type has gone from strength to strength over the years, too, and there are now over 620 creatures bearing the type in total. Today, we’re breaking down the very best of them: the MTG Zombies you want in your corner, or command zone, at your next game night.

The Best MTG Zombies in the 99

5 | Mikaeus, the Unhallowed

In a rare case of a horror sequel being better than the original, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed far, far surpasses its predecessor Mikaeus, the Lunarch Mikaeus, the Lunarch Mikaeus enters with X +1/+1 counters on it.
{T}: Put a +1/+1 counter on Mikaeus.
{T}, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Mikaeus: Put a +1/+1 counter on each other creature you control. in Commander. This is pretty much entirely down to that second ability, which does a terrifying amount of work in all manner of decks.

Giving all your non-Human creatures Undying is a huge boost to your resilience, letting you better withstand removal and board wipes alike. More crucially, it also serves as a spicy combo enabler, going infinite with a Persist creature like Putrid Goblin Putrid Goblin Persist (When this creature dies, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a -1/-1 counter on it.) and a sacrifice outlet.

Add in an incidental Human hate ability that only gets better with every Human-centric Universes Beyond set that drops, and Mikaeus is a stone-cold classic. Its $22 price tag, and its inclusion in over 122,000 Commander decks, is testament to that.

4 | Gray Merchant of Asphodel

Affectionately known as ‘Gary’ in the MTG community, Gray Merchant of Asphodel is one of the strongest mass drain effects we’ve ever seen for Commander. At minimum, you’re draining each opponent for two and gaining six when it enters, but that quickly scales up with the other black permanents you have in play.

This makes Gary reasonable to play on its own in most Mono-Black lists, but it gets even better when you can recycle its enters trigger. Blink engines like Conjurer’s Closet Conjurer’s Closet At the beginning of your end step, you may exile target creature you control, then return that card to the battlefield under your control. , and repeatable reanimation like The Soul Stone The Soul Stone Indestructible
{T}: Add {B}.
{6}{B}, {T}, Exile a creature you control: Harness The Soul Stone. (Once harnessed, its ∞ ability is active.)
∞ — At the beginning of your upkeep, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. , can turn Gray Merchant from a strong one-off to a genuine long-term win condition.

As a ‘drain on entry’ creature, Gary also has a ton of combo potential for those interested. Looping it with Yawgmoth, Thran Physician Yawgmoth, Thran Physician Protection from Humans
Pay 1 life, Sacrifice another creature: Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature and draw a card.
{B}{B}, Discard a card: Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) , our ol’ pal Mikaeus, the Unhallowed Mikaeus, the Unhallowed Intimidate (This creature can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or creatures that share a color with it.)
Whenever a Human deals damage to you, destroy it.
Other non-Human creatures you control get +1/+1 and have undying. (When a creature with undying dies, if it had no +1/+1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a +1/+1 counter on it.) , and one other non-Human can win the day. You can also just copy the card a bunch, using Rite of Replication Rite of Replication Kicker {5} (You may pay an additional {5} as you cast this spell.)
Create a token that's a copy of target creature. If this spell was kicked, create five of those tokens instead. or Orthion, Hero of Lavabrink Orthion, Hero of Lavabrink {1}{R}, {T}: Create a token that's a copy of another target creature you control. It gains haste. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step. Activate only as a sorcery.
{6}{R}{R}{R}, {T}: Create five tokens that are copies of another target creature you control. They gain haste. Sacrifice them at the beginning of the next end step. Activate only as a sorcery. , and the total drain should be enough to take down most pods.

3 | Wight of the Reliquary

A relatively new addition to Magic’s Zombie horde, Wight of the Reliquary shambled in as part of the notoriously powerful Modern Horizons 3. It more than lives up to that set’s lofty reputation, too, combining a powerful land tutor with a scaling threat.

Sacrificing a creature is fairly trivial for most Golgari lists these days, and in exchange Wight gives you access to any land from your deck. This can ramp you and fix your mana at a base level, but it’s also great for grabbing specific payoff lands like Field of the Dead Field of the Dead This land enters tapped.
{T}: Add {C}.
Whenever this land or another land you control enters, if you control seven or more lands with different names, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token. and Gaea’s Cradle Gaea’s Cradle {T}: Add {G} for each creature you control. .

Since it works at instant speed, you can even use cards like Bojuka Bog Bojuka Bog This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, exile target player's graveyard.
{T}: Add {B}. and Talon Gates of Madara Talon Gates of Madara When this land enters, up to one target creature phases out.
{T}: Add {C}.
{1}, {T}: Add one mana of any color.
{4}: Put this card from your hand onto the battlefield. as interaction on opponents’ turns.

This ability alone makes Wight an easy add to a ton of Golgari lists, but it’s particularly strong in graveyard-focused decks due to its stat scaling. Commanders that go heavy on the self-mill, like Karador, Ghost Chieftain Karador, Ghost Chieftain This spell costs {1} less to cast for each creature card in your graveyard.
Once during each of your turns, you may cast a creature spell from your graveyard. and Muldrotha, the Gravetide Muldrotha, the Gravetide During each of your turns, you may play a land and cast a permanent spell of each permanent type from your graveyard. (If a card has multiple permanent types, choose one as you play it.) , for example, can use Wight as a legitimate threat, too.

Thanks to Vigilance, Wight can even attack and use its ability in the same turn cycle, making it a true all-rounder in Commander.

2 | Gravecrawler

Gravecrawler has the dubious honor of being one of the best combo Zombies, nay, creatures in general, that MTG has ever seen. When paired with Phyrexian Altar Phyrexian Altar Sacrifice a creature: Add one mana of any color. , Warren Soultrader Warren Soultrader Pay 1 life, Sacrifice another creature: Create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.") , or Pitiless Plunderer Pitiless Plunderer Whenever another creature you control dies, create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.") and a sacrifice outlet, Gravecrawler’s death can pay for you to immediately re-cast it from the graveyard.

Add in any kind of Blood Artist Blood Artist Whenever this creature or another creature dies, target player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. effect, and you’ve got an easy infinite loop that wipes out the whole pod in one turn. While you do need another Zombie in play to pull this off, there are plenty of generically good options that most decks can run, and Soultrader even fulfills this condition itself.

Combo lines aside, Gravecrawler is also just a very solid value creature in any deck with a decent Zombie presence. Re-casting it to cash it in with Skullclamp Skullclamp Equipped creature gets +1/-1.
Whenever equipped creature dies, draw two cards.
Equip {1} is fantastic, for example, and it’s great alongside burn-on-entry effects like Impact Tremors Impact Tremors Whenever a creature you control enters, this enchantment deals 1 damage to each opponent. .

In terms of both flavor and function, Gravecrawler is a top-shelf Zombie in MTG.

1 | Warren Soultrader

As alluded to in our last entry, Warren Soultrader is a bit of a legend when it comes to combo decks. Essentially serving as a second copy of Phyrexian Altar Phyrexian Altar Sacrifice a creature: Add one mana of any color. , this card enables all manner of infinite loops, mainly with cards like Gravecrawler Gravecrawler This creature can't block.
You may cast this card from your graveyard as long as you control a Zombie. and Forsaken Miner Forsaken Miner This creature can't block.
Whenever you commit a crime, you may pay {B}. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. (Targeting opponents, anything they control, and/or cards in their graveyards is a crime.) .

If you can believe it, Soultrader may actually be better than Phyrexian Altar when it comes to playing a general role in the 99, too. Converting creatures into Treasures is better than static mana, letting you save up for a key turn and trigger synergies with cards like Reckless Fireweaver Reckless Fireweaver Whenever an artifact you control enters, this creature deals 1 damage to each opponent. . It can even win you the game out of nowhere in Treasure decks, with the help of Revel in Riches Revel in Riches Whenever a creature an opponent controls dies, create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.")
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control ten or more Treasures, you win the game. .

On top of that, Warren Soultrader also has three highly relevant creature types: Goblin, Wizard, and Zombie. This lets you easily tutor it up with cards like Goblin Matron Goblin Matron When this creature enters, you may search your library for a Goblin card, reveal that card, put it into your hand, then shuffle. and Step Through Step Through Return two target creatures to their owners' hands.
Wizardcycling {2} ({2}, Discard this card: Search your library for a Wizard card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.) , as well as all the usual creature tutor options like Formidable Speaker Formidable Speaker When this creature enters, you may discard a card. If you do, search your library for a creature card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
{1}, {T}: Untap another target permanent. .

It’s accessible, it’s flexible, and it’s dangerous: Warren Soultrader is undoubtedly the best Zombie in MTG for the Commander 99.

The Best MTG Zombie Commanders

5 | Grimgrin, Corpse-Born

Hailing from the original Innistrad set, Grimgrin is an oldie, but still very much a goodie when it comes to Zombie Commanders in MTG. The big draw here is getting a free sacrifice outlet in the command zone, something that’s still uncommon today.

This ability is fantastic in a Zombies deck, letting you cash in blocked tokens for value, or put value Zombies like Relentless Dead Relentless Dead Menace (This creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.)
When this creature dies, you may pay {B}. If you do, return it to its owner's hand.
When this creature dies, you may pay {X}. If you do, return another target Zombie creature card with mana value X from your graveyard to the battlefield. into the bin to use their graveyard abilities. It’s also great with Gravecrawler Gravecrawler This creature can't block.
You may cast this card from your graveyard as long as you control a Zombie. , giving you an easy way to convert black mana into counters and death triggers on a whim.

There are even some nice infinite combos available here, if you rope in Rooftop Storm Rooftop Storm You may pay {0} rather than pay the mana cost for Zombie creature spells you cast. and Plague Belcher Plague Belcher Menace
When this creature enters, put two -1/-1 counters on target creature you control.
Whenever another Zombie you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life. to give your Gravecrawler loop a lethal edge.

If you’d rather play things fair, Grimgrin can more than handle straightforward Commander damage wins with its ever-growing stats. Its removal-on-attack ability is also great, for sniping opposing Commanders or utility creatures.

4 | Temmet, Naktamun’s Will

Temmet really leans into the aggressive, go-wide aspect of Zombies as an archetype, rewarding you for building up the biggest horde of undead possible. At a baseline, all of your Zombies will get a +2/+2 buff from Temmet each turn, factoring in your regular draw and the loot-on-attack ability, which is a pretty stellar start.

Add in some burst draw effects, like the on-theme Varina, Lich Queen Varina, Lich Queen Whenever you attack with one or more Zombies, draw that many cards, then discard that many cards. You gain that much life.
{2}, Exile two cards from your graveyard: Create a tapped 2/2 black Zombie creature token. and Prophet of the Scarab Prophet of the Scarab Vigilance
When this creature enters, draw cards equal to the number of Zombies you control or the number of Zombie cards in your graveyard, whichever is greater. , and you’re looking at a buff that surpasses even Craterhoof Behemoth Craterhoof Behemoth Haste
When this creature enters, creatures you control gain trample and get +X/+X until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control. . While Temmet doesn’t provide its own evasion, cards like On Wings of Gold On Wings of Gold Creatures you control that are Zombies and/or tokens get +1/+1 and have flying.
Whenever one or more cards leave your graveyard, create a 1/1 white Zombie creature token. and Wonder Wonder Flying
As long as this card is in your graveyard and you control an Island, creatures you control have flying. can solve that problem.

Temmet’s power very much lies in its simplicity. All you need to do is set up a board of Zombies and Zombie tokens, draw a bunch of cards as above, and you’ve got an early win. There’s a ton of explosive power here, and you don’t need to dip into infinite combos to use it, which makes Temmet great for lower-bracket pods.

3 | The Scarab God

The Scarab God was actually efficient enough to see some Standard play in its heyday, and that efficiency translates beautifully into the command zone. All three abilities here are incredibly relevant, with the first, a scaling mass damage and Scry that rewards a big Zombie board, weirdly being the least impressive.

The real highlight with The Scarab God is that activated ability, which lets you convert any creature in a graveyard into a 4/4 Zombie token. This lets you play a traditional Reanimator strategy pretty well, bringing back the likes of Archon of Cruelty Archon of Cruelty Flying
Whenever this creature enters or attacks, target opponent sacrifices a creature or planeswalker of their choice, discards a card, and loses 3 life. You draw a card and gain 3 life. and Consecrated Sphinx Consecrated Sphinx Flying
Whenever an opponent draws a card, you may draw two cards. from your own graveyard for big value.

Since it’s instant-speed, you can also use it to snipe key creatures from opponents’ yards when the opportunity arises.

To top it all off, The Scarab God even dodges Commander tax for the most part, since it returns to your hand during the end step after death. This makes it easy to keep in play despite its relatively high initial cost, making it one of the more resilient Zombie strategies you can run in Commander.

2 | Varina, Lich Queen

If you’re looking to capitalize on the ‘graveyard shenanigans’ side of Zombie Typal in Commander, then Varina is the legend for you. Even attacking with just a couple of Zombies gets you a very solid looting effect here, and it only scales up as you build out your board.

Getting to draw and discard so many cards lets you easily find your recursion engines like Zul Ashur, Lich Lord Zul Ashur, Lich Lord Ward—Pay 2 life. (Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays 2 life.)
{T}: You may cast target Zombie creature card from your graveyard this turn. , while throwing away Zombies like Prized Amalgam Prized Amalgam Whenever a creature enters, if it entered from your graveyard or you cast it from your graveyard, return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped at the beginning of the next end step. that offer value from the ‘yard. The mass discard also offers some very potent synergy with cards like Bone Miser Bone Miser Whenever you discard a creature card, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
Whenever you discard a land card, add {B}{B}.
Whenever you discard a noncreature, nonland card, draw a card. and Monument to Endurance Monument to Endurance Whenever you discard a card, choose one that hasn't been chosen this turn —
• Draw a card.
• Create a Treasure token.
• Each opponent loses 3 life. .

Easy access to so much looting ensures Varina has a solid supply of cards to exile for that second ability, creating another Zombie to feed the next looting trigger. You can also capitalize on this in other ways, with Delve spells like Treasure Cruise Treasure Cruise Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for {1}.)
Draw three cards. , and powerhouse creatures like Abhorrent Oculus Abhorrent Oculus As an additional cost to cast this spell, exile six cards from your graveyard.
Flying
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, manifest dread. (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put one onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature and the other into your graveyard. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it's a creature card.) .

Factor in a reasonable mana cost and a color identity that allows for a ton of flexibility, and Varina really is the Queen of Zombie Commanders in Magic. Who’s the King, I hear you ask? Well…

1 | Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver

Wilhelt is the most powerful Zombie Commander by a fairly significant margin, and one of the better precon Commanders overall to boot. Both abilities here are fantastic for any kind of Zombie deck, with the first essentially doubling all your Zombies by giving them a Decayed life after death.

This ability works with tokens as well, so even the regular 2/2 Zombies that cards like Diregraf Colossus Diregraf Colossus This creature enters with a +1/+1 counter on it for each Zombie card in your graveyard.
Whenever you cast a Zombie spell, create a tapped 2/2 black Zombie creature token. create will get you bonus tokens here. Add in Necroduality Necroduality Whenever a nontoken Zombie you control enters, create a token that's a copy of that creature. , and every Zombie you play represents at least four bodies on the board, letting you grind out opponents with ease.

If you want to get fancy with it, this ability can even go infinite alongside a transformed Poppet Stitcher Poppet Stitcher Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token with decayed. (It can't block. When it attacks, sacrifice it at end of combat.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control three or more creature tokens, you may transform this creature. and a sacrifice outlet. Stitcher’s back side removes Decayed from all your tokens, meaning you can sacrifice them over and over, and Wilhelt will keep replacing them. This allows for instant wins with something like Zulaport Cutthroat Zulaport Cutthroat Whenever this creature or another creature you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. , or infinite mill with Altar of Dementia Altar of Dementia Sacrifice a creature: Target player mills cards equal to the sacrificed creature's power. .

As if this ability wasn’t enough to secure Wilhelt’s crown, it also lets you sacrifice a Zombie on your end step for a card. This doesn’t have to be a nontoken Zombie, so all those Decayed tokens that can’t block make great fodder here. Offering value, a win condition, and card advantage in the command zone, there’s no better pick for a Zombie Typal Commander than Wilhelt.

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