Zenos yae Galvus by Jamiro

Format: Commander

Commander: Zenos yae Galvus // Shinryu, Transcendent Rival

Bracket: 2

Deck overview

This is a mono-black reanimator value deck helmed by Zenos yae Galvus // Shinryu, Transcendent Rival. The primary game plan is to ramp into high-impact demons and dragons, then use a dense recursion package (Reanimate, Animate Dead, Victimize) to cheat them from the graveyard onto the battlefield. The commander offers a unique alternate-win condition through its transformation into an 8/8 flying dragon that can end the game when a chosen opponent loses, but the deck's main strength lies in its overwhelming board presence and drain effects. Win conditions include Exsanguinate, Gray Merchant of Asphodel devotion, Sorin Markov's life-setting ability, and combat damage from large flyers like Kokusho, the Evening Star and Sheoldred, Whispering One. The deck lacks fast combo lines but compensates with inevitability through recursion.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Abyssal Persecutor
  • 1 Accursed Witch // Infectious Curse
  • 1 Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal // Temple of the Dead
  • 1 Activated Sleeper
  • 1 Ambition's Cost
  • 1 Ancient Craving
  • 1 Angel of Suffering
  • 1 Animate Dead
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archfiend of Spite
  • 1 Blood on the Snow
  • 1 Charcoal Diamond
  • 1 Coldsteel Heart
  • 1 Commander's Sphere
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Demon of Dark Schemes
  • 1 Dread Return
  • 1 Elbrus, the Binding Blade // Withengar Unbound
  • 1 Erebos, God of the Dead
  • 1 Everflowing Chalice
  • 1 Exsanguinate
  • 1 Feed the Swarm
  • 1 Ghoulcaller Gisa
  • 1 Gilded Lotus
  • 1 Gisa, Glorious Resurrector
  • 1 Go for the Throat
  • 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
  • 1 Head Games
  • 1 Hedron Archive
  • 1 Hero's Downfall
  • 1 Infernal Grasp
  • 1 Invasion of Fiora // Marchesa, Resolute Monarch
  • 1 Jet Medallion
  • 1 Junji, the Midnight Sky
  • 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
  • 1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
  • 1 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
  • 1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
  • 1 Massacre Wurm
  • 1 Mind Stone
  • 1 Night's Whisper
  • 1 Noxious Gearhulk
  • 1 Overkill
  • 1 Persist
  • 1 Phage the Untouchable
  • 1 Phyrexian Arena
  • 1 Read the Bones
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Rune-Scarred Demon
  • 1 Sepulchral Primordial
  • 1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
  • 1 Sign in Blood
  • 36 Snow-Covered Swamp
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sorin Markov
  • 1 Summon: Primal Odin
  • 1 Thran Dynamo
  • 1 Throne of Eldraine
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Victimize
  • 1 Vilis, Broker of Blood
  • 1 Vorpal Sword
  • 1 Wayfarer's Bauble
  • 1 Worn Powerstone
  • 1 Zenos yae Galvus // Shinryu, Transcendent Rival