Muldrotha, the Gravetide

At a glance

  • Format: Brawl (100-card)
  • Commander: Muldrotha, the Gravetide
  • Colors: Black / Blue / Green (BUG)
  • Archetype: Sultai recursion value (Brawl, 100)
  • Power tier: competitive
  • Competitive Brawl: ✅ Legal

Strategy

Grind every game into the late turns where Muldrotha turns your graveyard into a second hand, replaying a land plus a permanent of each type every turn. Plan: mulligan toward ramp + interaction, trade resources 1-for-1 with a deep removal suite, and feed the yard (surveil/self-mill/loot) so Muldrotha re-buys it all. Mana dorks (Badgermole Cub, Druid of the Cowl) plus land ramp hit Muldrotha turn 5-6, then sac-and-return engines (Cauldron of Essence, Sidisi, Rat King, Defiled Crypt, Northampton Farm, Eden) loop value permanents. Planeswalkers (Kaito, Oko) and draw enchantments refill; owned bombs (Koma, Dragonlord Silumgar, Koh, Sothera, Gix) close. Because removal, dorks, and engines are nearly all permanents, almost every card Muldrotha can recur, so the deck is near-impossible to grind out.

Upgrade path

REVAMP 2026-07-08 (keep pure grind identity, upgrade weak filler + manabase). RARE LAND CRAFTS (3, approved as reusable branch-out fixing, count toward Miks ~3 land budget; usable in any of his BUG/adjacent decks): Wastewood Verge (BG), Willowrush Verge (GU), Llanowar Wastes (BG) — completes the untapped Verge cycle alongside owned Gloomlake Verge (UB) and cuts 3 tap-duals (Dismal Backwater, Jungle Hollow, Thornwood Falls). ZERO rare/mythic SPELL crafts: all spell adds are OWNED — Midnight Reaper (own2, card-advantage-on-death engine), Darkstar Augur (own1, evasive draw), Loot Exuberant Explorer (own1, extra land + dig), Qarsi Revenant (own2, flying DTL + renew recursion), Raven Eagle (own4, evasive GY-hate + Clues), Arcanis the Omnipotent (own1, {T} draw 3 + self-bounce = repeatable card advantage, absurd w/ Muldrotha), Vein Ripper (mythic own2, evasive drain finisher), Ouroboroid (mythic own3, go-wide counters finisher — Mik added in Arena). CUT as low-impact filler: Curious Forager (forage exiles own yard, anti-Muldrotha), Dundoolin Weaver, Vampire Soulcaller, Cheerful Osteomancer, April Reporter, Long Feng, Abyssal Harvester (redundant slow recursion), Bake into a Pie (weakest removal). REANIMATOR PASS 2 (2026-07-08, from Miks 4c reanimator list): +Bringer of the Last Gift (rare craft, one-sided wipe + mass reanimate your yard), +Awaken the Honored Dead (rare craft, 3-mana removal+mill+reanimate Saga, Muldrotha-recastable), +Overlord of the Balemurk (MYTHIC craft, repeatable mill+recur 6/6 flyer), +Ardyn the Usurper (OWNED x3, each-combat exile a GY creature 5/5 hasty lifelink menace Demon copy), +Town Greeter (OWNED, mill4+land enabler). Cut excess ramp/filler: Foraging Wickermaw, Ornithopter of Paradise, Valgavoths Faithful, Graveshifter, Vampire Nighthawk. NOT TAKEN: Terror of the Peaks (red, off-identity). ADDED LATER: Superior Spider-Man aka “Kavaero, Mind-Bitten” (BU, {2}{U}{B}, enters as a 4/4 copy of any creature in any graveyard — Mik crafted it 2026-07-08; swapped in over Inga Rune-Eyes. NOTE: mtga.db snapshot 2026-06-29 has stale/blank arena data for this card; needs a collection resync). TOTAL NEW CRAFTS THIS DECK: 5 rare lands+spells (Wastewood Verge, Willowrush Verge, Llanowar Wastes [lands, reusable] + Bringer, Awaken) + 1 mythic (Overlord). FUTURE UPGRADES: further tapland trims (still 8 unconditional taplands — more Verges/Pathways/checklands as rares allow); a BUG triome if printed to Standard.

Cards

Decklist

Paste straight into MTG Arena (or Moxfield/Archidekt):

Commander
1 Muldrotha, the Gravetide

Deck
1 Badgermole Cub
1 Druid of the Cowl
1 Arcane Signet
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Seedship Agrarian
1 Sidisi, Regent of the Mire
1 Rat King, Verminister
1 Undead Butler
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Alpharael, Dreaming Acolyte
1 Kiora, the Rising Tide
1 Jadzi, Steward of Fate
1 Matoya, Archon Elder
1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
1 Lazav, Familiar Stranger
1 Lord Dregg, Insect Invader
1 Syr Konrad, the Grim
1 Koh, the Face Stealer
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
1 Emet-Selch, Unsundered
1 Junji, the Midnight Sky
1 Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor
1 Koma, Cosmos Serpent
1 Kaito, Bane of Nightmares
1 Oko, Lorwyn Liege
1 Cauldron of Essence
1 Bastion of Remembrance
1 Sothera, the Supervoid
1 Enduring Curiosity
1 Elemental Bond
1 Defiled Crypt // Cadaver Lab
1 Sidequest: Hunt the Mark
1 Summon: Primal Odin
1 The Legend of Kuruk
1 Annihilating Glare
1 Bitter Triumph
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Infernal Grasp
1 Heartless Act
1 Epic Downfall
1 Come Back Wrong
1 Live or Die
1 Deadly Cover-Up
1 Flusterstorm
1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
1 Essence Scatter
1 Command Tower
1 Watery Grave
1 Gloomlake Verge
1 Undercity Sewers
1 Dreamroot Cascade
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Temple of Malady
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Meditation Pools
1 Serpent's Pass
1 Restless Reef
1 Soulstone Sanctuary
1 Three Tree City
1 Eden, Seat of the Sanctum
1 Northampton Farm
1 Conduit Pylons
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
5 Forest
6 Swamp
4 Island
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Dismember
1 Midnight Reaper
1 Darkstar Augur
1 Loot, Exuberant Explorer
1 Qarsi Revenant
1 Raven Eagle
1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
1 Vein Ripper
1 Ouroboroid
1 Wastewood Verge
1 Willowrush Verge
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Bringer of the Last Gift
1 Awaken the Honored Dead
1 Ardyn, the Usurper
1 Town Greeter
1 Overlord of the Balemurk
1 Superior Spider-Man

Card images & data via Scryfall.