At a glance
- Format: Brawl (100-card)
- Commander: Zurgo, Thunder’s Decree
- Colors: White / Black / Red (WBR)
- Archetype: Mardu sacrifice / aristocrats midrange
- Power tier: mid-high
- Competitive Brawl: ✅ Legal
Strategy
Zurgo mints two expendable Warrior tokens every time it attacks, giving you a renewable supply of bodies to feed sacrifice outlets. The plan is death-by-a-thousand-cuts aristocrats: dump cheap creatures and tokens, then sacrifice them to drain engines (Zulaport Cutthroat, Bastion of Remembrance, Judith, Kardur) so every creature that dies clips the opponent and gains you life. Backed by one of the deepest cheap-removal suites in the format — single-target kill spells at every mana value plus board wipes like Languish and Massacre Wurm that you can rebuild from. Recursion (Sidisi, Graveshifter, Live or Die, Fiendish Panda) and card-draw sac payoffs (Village Rites, Midnight Reaper, High-Society Hunter) keep the gas flowing through grindy games. You win by going wide and draining out, or by alpha-striking with an anthemed token army.
Upgrade path
Everything in the 99 plus the commander is OWNED — all three Ravnica shocklands (Blood Crypt, Godless Shrine, Sacred Foundry), every fastland/painland, and the aristocrats payoffs are in the collection. No crafts required to play. UPGRADE MENU (rare/mythic crafts Mik could add later, NOT in this list): (1) Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim or a second Blood-Artist-on-a-stick for redundant drain; (2) Sheoldred, the Apocalypse as a payoff/threat that punishes both players’ draws and your own lifegain; (3) Mondrak, Glory Dominus to double every token Zurgo and the go-wide creatures make. Any of those three meaningfully raises the ceiling but the deck is fully functional owned-only.
Cards
Decklist
Paste straight into MTG Arena (or Moxfield/Archidekt):
Commander
1 Zurgo, Thunder's Decree
Deck
1 A-Blood Artist
1 Zulaport Cutthroat
1 Bastion of Remembrance
1 Judith, the Scourge Diva
1 Kardur, Doomscourge
1 Garna, Bloodfist of Keld
1 Midnight Reaper
1 High-Society Hunter
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Etched Familiar
1 Bile-Vial Boggart
1 Callous Inspector
1 Infestation Sage
1 Dwarven Castle Guard
1 Outlaw Medic
1 Crow of Dark Tidings
1 Stinging Hivemaster
1 Hangarback Walker
1 Zhao, Ruthless Admiral
1 Malakir Cullblade
1 Vampire Gourmand
1 Beetle-Headed Merchants
1 Swarm Culler
1 Lord Skitter's Butcher
1 Hungry Ghoul
1 Buzzard-Wasp Colony
1 June, Bounty Hunter
1 Hei Bai, Spirit of Balance
1 Sidisi, Regent of the Mire
1 Preacher of the Schism
1 Sanguine Syphoner
1 Sneering Shadewriter
1 Perforating Artist
1 Fiendish Panda
1 Graveshifter
1 Vampire Soulcaller
1 Arbiter of Woe
1 Leonin Warleader
1 Invasion Reinforcements
1 Goblin Gang Leader
1 Village Rites
1 Corrupted Conviction
1 Vampiric Rites
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Tolls of War
1 Bitter Triumph
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Murder
1 Mortify
1 Heartless Act
1 Infernal Grasp
1 Bake into a Pie
1 Feed the Swarm
1 Long Goodbye
1 Deadly Precision
1 Eaten Alive
1 Worthy Cost
1 Silverquill Charm
1 Live or Die
1 Languish
1 Salt Road Skirmish
1 Let's Play a Game
1 Blood Crypt
1 Godless Shrine
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Command Tower
1 Bloodfell Caves
1 Scoured Barrens
1 Sun-Blessed Peak
1 Shattered Sanctum
1 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Inspiring Vantage
1 Foreboding Ruins
1 Insomnia, Crown City
1 Misty Palms Oasis
1 Temple of Malice
1 Temple of Silence
1 Temple of Triumph
1 Blazemire Verge
1 Bleachbone Verge
1 Restless Fortress
1 Den of the Bugbear
1 Starting Town
1 Rumble Arena
4 Plains
7 Swamp
4 Mountain
Card images & data via Scryfall.