Xavier Sal by DerpTheBugbear

Format: Commander

Commander: Xavier Sal, Infested Captain

Bracket: 2

DeckCheck Threat Index: 27

Deck overview

This Sultai deck is helmed by Xavier Sal, Infested Captain and focuses on building a resilient midrange engine centered on +1/+1 counters, token generation, and aristocrat payoffs. During the opening turns, the deck deploys land ramp and low-cost enablers like Insidious Roots and Innkeeper's Talent before casting Xavier Sal on Turn 3. By Turn 4, Xavier begins populating tokens and proliferating counters. The midgame transitions into explosive board states through compounding centerpieces such as Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest, Railway Brawler, and Scurry Oak. While the deck features powerful recursion spells like Necromancy and Animate Dead to shrug off sweepers, it runs a low land count of 31 and lacks instant-speed counterspells, making it reliant on proactive board growth and selective removal like Assassin's Trophy and Sludge Monster to close games around Turn 8.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Ancient Adamantoise
  • 1 Animate Dead
  • 1 Ashnod's Altar
  • 1 Assassin's Trophy
  • 1 Astral Cornucopia
  • 1 Awakening Zone
  • 1 Bilbo, Thief in the Night
  • 1 Blood Artist
  • 1 Bonny Pall, Clearcutter
  • 1 Cauldron of Essence
  • 1 Chatterfang, Squirrel General
  • 1 Colossal Grave-Reaver
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Cryptolith Rite
  • 1 Dancing from Dark to Dawn
  • 1 Deathcap Glade
  • 1 Demon of Dark Schemes
  • 1 Dina, Essence Brewer
  • 1 Dreamroot Cascade
  • 1 Dreamtide Whale
  • 1 Echo, Perceptive Prodigy
  • 1 Echocasting Symposium
  • 1 Emeritus of Woe // Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Everflowing Chalice
  • 1 Evolution Sage
  • 1 Evolution Witness
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Flooded Grove
  • 5 Forest
  • 1 Forgotten Ancient
  • 1 Germination Practicum
  • 1 Grave Researcher // Reanimate
  • 1 Gyre Sage
  • 1 Hinterland Harbor
  • 1 Illusionist's Bracers
  • 1 Innkeeper's Talent
  • 1 Insidious Roots
  • 5 Island
  • 1 Kami of Whispered Hopes
  • 1 Karn's Bastion
  • 1 Kiora's Follower
  • 1 Lithoform Engine
  • 1 Llanowar Wastes
  • 1 Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
  • 1 Mirrormind Crown
  • 1 Monster Manual // Zoological Study
  • 1 Mutational Advantage
  • 1 Nature's Lore
  • 1 Necromancy
  • 1 Ojer Kaslem, Deepest Growth // Temple of Cultivation
  • 1 Opulent Palace
  • 1 Pattern of Rebirth
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 1 Professor Dellian Fel
  • 1 Protean Hulk
  • 1 Quest for Renewal
  • 1 Radstorm
  • 1 Railway Brawler
  • 1 Rampant Growth
  • 1 Rejuvenating Springs
  • 1 Replicating Ring
  • 1 Rikku, Resourceful Guardian
  • 1 Ripples of Potential
  • 1 Scurry Oak
  • 1 Shield Broker
  • 1 Storm of Saruman
  • 1 Sunken Hollow
  • 5 Swamp
  • 1 Syr Konrad, the Grim
  • 1 Tekuthal, Inquiry Dominus
  • 1 Tezzeret's Gambit
  • 1 The Eternity Elevator
  • 1 Three Visits
  • 1 Thundering Mightmare
  • 1 Tidal Force
  • 1 Turbulent Fen
  • 1 Twilight Diviner
  • 1 Twilight Mire
  • 1 Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler
  • 1 Verdant Sun's Avatar
  • 1 Vernal Fen
  • 1 Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose
  • 1 Waterlogged Grove
  • 1 Woodland Cemetery
  • 1 Xavier Sal, Infested Captain
  • 1 Yavimaya Coast