The Briar by Celestron

Format: Commander

Commander: Skullbriar, the Walking Grave

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 35

Deck overview

This Golgari deck is an aggressive +1/+1 counters Voltron list centered on Skullbriar, the Walking Grave. The primary game plan aims to cast Skullbriar on Turn 2, attack immediately with haste, and steadily grow its power through combat damage and a dense suite of counter multipliers such as Hardened Scales, Branching Evolution, and Hydra's Growth. Because Skullbriar retains all counters as it moves between public zones and the command zone, it maintains accumulated power through most removal spells and board wipes. Evasion pieces like Trailblazer's Boots and Fireshrieker enable Skullbriar to threaten lethal commander damage starting around Turn 5. The deck also contains an incidental infinite combo between Basking Broodscale and Tarrian's Soulcleaver. While the deck possesses explosive combat lethality and resilient commander growth, it features limited interaction and minimal reactive protection against bounce and tuck effects.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Ancient Animus
  • 1 Basking Broodscale
  • 1 Benevolent Hydra
  • 1 Biogenic Upgrade
  • 1 Blade of the Oni
  • 1 Branching Evolution
  • 1 Brass Squire
  • 1 Briar Hydra
  • 1 Cliffhaven Kitesail
  • 1 Cobbled Wings
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Corpsejack Menace
  • 1 Cursed Wombat
  • 1 Deepwood Denizen
  • 1 Dormant Grove // Gnarled Grovestrider
  • 1 Dreg Mangler
  • 1 Drix Fatemaker
  • 1 Duskshell Crawler
  • 1 Explorer's Cache
  • 1 Final Act
  • 1 Fireshrieker
  • 16 Forest
  • 1 Forgotten Ancient
  • 1 Gaea's Gift
  • 1 Go for the Throat
  • 1 Golgari Signet
  • 1 Grafted Growth
  • 1 Grave Endeavor
  • 1 Grave Researcher // Reanimate
  • 1 Grim Backwoods
  • 1 Hardened Scales
  • 1 Harmonize
  • 1 Haunted Cloak
  • 1 Haunted Mire
  • 1 Hierophant Bio-Titan
  • 1 Hydra's Growth
  • 1 Invigorating Surge
  • 1 Kaldra Compleat
  • 1 Kalonian Hydra
  • 1 Leech Gauntlet
  • 1 Leyline Axe
  • 1 Necropolis Regent
  • 1 Necrosynthesis
  • 1 Nesting Grounds
  • 1 New Horizons
  • 1 Night's Whisper
  • 1 Nightshade Harvester
  • 1 Nissa's Judgment
  • 1 Noxious Newt
  • 1 Nyxborn Hydra
  • 1 Ozolith, the Shattered Spire
  • 1 Primeval Bounty
  • 1 Retreat to Kazandu
  • 1 Ring of Kalonia
  • 1 Rogue's Passage
  • 1 Ruinous Intrusion
  • 1 Scale the Heights
  • 1 Scythecat Cub
  • 1 Search for Tomorrow
  • 1 Skullbriar, the Walking Grave
  • 1 Slippery Bogbonder
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spry and Mighty
  • 1 Strangled Cemetery
  • 1 Stumpsquall Hydra
  • 9 Swamp
  • 1 Tarrian's Soulcleaver
  • 1 Temple of the False God
  • 1 Thunderfoot Baloth
  • 1 Trailblazer's Boots
  • 1 Verdurous Gearhulk
  • 1 Vernal Fen
  • 1 Village Rites
  • 1 Visions of Dominance
  • 1 Vorinclex // The Grand Evolution
  • 1 Warden of the Grove
  • 1 Wren's Run Hydra