Total deck price: $98 — this week’s Budget Brew is a full Commander deck built around Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver, and every single card in it is a common, uncommon, or bulk rare.

Wilhelt turns every zombie you lose into a free 2/2 zombie token, and lets you sacrifice a zombie at end step to draw a card. That’s a two-for-one engine that keeps running even after a board wipe — exactly the kind of resilience a budget deck needs when you can’t out-spend an opponent’s answers.

The Value Pitch

This build leans on cheap zombie lords (Lord of the Accursed, Death Baron, Diregraf Captain), a handful of mass-reanimation sorceries (Dread Summons, Empty the Laboratory, Living Death), and just enough interaction to survive to the mid-game. It’s an approachable, resilient shell for anyone who wants a real Commander deck without a real Commander budget.

Full Decklist — $98 Total

Commander: Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver

Lands (36): 15 Swamp, 13 Island, Command Tower, Path of Ancestry, Dismal Backwater, Choked Estuary, Tainted Isle, Submerged Boneyard, Terramorphic Expanse, Evolving Wilds

Ramp (10): Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Charcoal Diamond, Dimir Signet, Sky Diamond, Mind Stone, Fellwar Stone, Thought Vessel, Wayfarer’s Bauble, Commander’s Sphere

Removal & Interaction (8): Go for the Throat, Murder, Infernal Grasp, Tragic Slip, Feed the Swarm, Negate, Counterspell, Murderous Rider

Card Advantage (3): Midnight Reaper, Deadly Dispute, Deep Analysis

Board Wipe / Reanimation (2): Crippling Fear, Living Death

Zombie Payoff Sorceries (4): Empty the Laboratory, Dread Summons, Dark Salvation, Ghouls’ Night Out

Creatures (36): Diregraf Captain, Lord of the Accursed, Cemetery Reaper, Gleaming Overseer, Gisa and Geralf, Undead Augur, Eternal Skylord, Fleshbag Marauder, Death Baron, Diregraf Colossus, Ravenous Rotbelly, Tomb Tyrant, Cleaver Skaab, Gravespawn Sovereign, Hordewing Skaab, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Liliana’s Devotee, Gravecrawler, Champion of the Perished, Corpse Augur, Overseer of the Damned, Forgotten Creation, Archghoul of Thraben, Undead Alchemist, Vengeful Dead, Butcher of Malakir, Bladestitched Skaab, Headless Rider, Vizier of the Scorpion, Geralf Visionary Stitcher, Zul Ashur Lich Lord, Stitcher Geralf, Gorex the Tombshell, Plague Belcher, Carrion Feeder, Grimgrin Corpse-Born

Strategy Guide

Early (turns 1-3): Prioritize mana rocks to hit your 4-drop a turn early. Gravecrawler and Carrion Feeder are free sac fodder even before a payoff is online. Hold removal for anything that threatens to wipe your board before Wilhelt lands.

Mid (turns 4-7): Land Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver and start sacrificing zombies at end step to draw cards. Death Baron and Lord of the Accursed turn your token army into real threats. Midnight Reaper and Forgotten Creation refill your hand as creatures trade.

Late (turns 8+): Dread Summons and Empty the Laboratory dump your graveyard into a lethal wave of zombie tokens. Living Death is your one-sided board wipe/reanimation spell once the graveyard is stacked. Grimgrin, Corpse-Born can close games outright with extra combat steps.

Win Conditions & Combos

  • Go wide with Dread Summons / Empty the Laboratory, then pump the team with Lord of the Accursed and Death Baron for a lethal alpha strike.
  • Grimgrin, Corpse-Born plus any sac outlet grinds out extra combat steps each turn.
  • Gray Merchant of Asphodel after a wide zombie board can drain an opponent out of nowhere.
  • Wilhelt’s card draw from sacrificing decayed-free zombies means you rarely run out of gas.

Upgrade Path

  • The Scarab God ($6-10) — a second reanimation/card-draw engine that also steals opposing graveyards.
  • Cryptbreaker ($3-5) — a second cheap draw engine, especially good with Gravecrawler.
  • Diregraf Colossus and more Zombie ETB/death triggers to push the tribal synergy further.
  • Rooftop Storm / Zombie Apocalypse — dedicated zombie support that scales as the curve gets denser.
  • Shocklands/fetches to replace the budget dual lands once color consistency matters more than price.

Grab the paste-ready import block and the full write-up in the linked deck tech. 💰 Budget Brew Wednesday — a new budget deck every Wednesday. Follow Mana Riot Games for next week’s brew.