This deck is the result of my friends in my commander playgroup said they would like to play a mono-blue deck. My MTG collection is pretty big, so when I get together with friends I bring a good variety of decks so those new to commander who don’t yet have a deck, or those who want a break from their normal commander, can borrow one of my decks and join in.
I try to aim for building a decks that are somewhere between casual and competitive, so that people who are relatively inexperienced can pick up my deck and navigate it well enough to do something splashy, while keeping the deck complex enough that experienced players have something to sink their teeth into.
So when several of my friends asked if I had a blue commander deck and I didn’t have one for them to play I decided to build one. However this was a conundrum for me. Which mono-blue commander do I choose? While being the most powerful color in Magic, blue is also the most complicated to play correctly. This meant a full on control deck was out. I toyed with the idea of trying to put together blue Voltron, but considering I already have a Ruhan of the Fomori dedicated voltron deck I didn’t want to do another (besides that I also only have one copy of each of the “sword of * and * “ cycle). Then when looking through my binders while trying to build a Lazav, Dimir Mastermind commander deck I came across Stitcher Geralf and realized he was an almost perfect mono-blue commander for my playgroup. His gameplan is instantly grokkable to beginners, he has semi-broken “combo” potential for experienced players and more importantly didn’t force the inexperienced players to play control.
So what’s the “combo”? If you hadn’t guessed from the thread title, it’s Geralf’s ability combined untappers & artifact creature manadorks with Intruder Alarm. Players do the normal thing in the early game and cast untappers & mana dorks to ramp into Geralf and then they play intruder alarm after and go to town. Every time a zombie token enters, it untaps all creatures and then the deck’s manadorks & untappers allow them to make another Zombie token. Soon they’ve assembled a zombie army and can smash face.
When assembling this list I really went back and forth a lot on how to build it, ultimately I decided it was best to try to make roughly one third of the deck creatures to minimize the chance of creating 0/0 tokens after Intruder Alarm is played. It is true that Geralf can combo-mill out with mana dorks, Intruder Alarm and no other creatures ever getting exiled by his ability (he always creates a token even if no creatures are exiled, its just that the token will be a 0/0). Makeing the deck composed of at least 33 creature means that I don’t have to rely on any of my opponents’ decks being creature heavy to assemble an army if the mill plan goes ary. This is why cards like Hypnotic Siren is being played over the more traditional Control Magic and why I’m playing the full cycle of the blue artifact tutor mages, from Trinket Mage to Treasure Mage, over the more common cantrips and the like. Also this deck really has no reliable way to search for Intruder Alarm. I debated putting in Ring of Three Wishes & Planar Portal, But decided that I’d try playing a version with more generic draw spells in their place.
Also keep in mind that some of the more obvious inclusions in this deck like Academy Ruins, Spellseeker & Narset, Parter of Veils (to pair with Commit//Memory and Echo of Eons) are not here simply because I don’t own them and I was trying to build a deck that was assembled entirely of cards I owned.
Here is the Deck as it is so far, I will probably be making more additions like adding Vizier of Tumbling Sands and Expel from Orazca as soon I can find or trade for them.
Sorry for the odd formatting, Decklist tags were breaking on me (perhaps because I’m posting in a mobile browser) and I finally gave up and went with card tags.
Card choices
Creatures:
Hypnotic Siren: The obligatory blue theft effect. I went with the siren because she can always come down as a one drop to help out devotion if needed and I like that she gives the stolen creature a mild pump and flying. Though I wonder if the versatility of Agent of Treachery is still better for this slot?
Phyrexian Dreadnought: I had one and always wanted to find a deck for it, this deck seemed to fit the bill especially since it’s a meaty target for Geralf. Trinket mage can also tutor it up if I have a brainstorm effect or happen to be holding Stifle.
Silver Myr: The closest thing to an ideal mana dork for this deck, too bad there aren’t more colorless 2 drops that fit in this deck, I did toy with the idea of using Deranged Assistant and Plague Myr, but decided that sources that produce blue mana were better, even if they’re 3 drops.
Snapcaster Mage: Not a large hit for Geralf, but still a hit and helps with keeping the deck interactive.
Alloy Myr: A 3 mana manadork that produces blue, not much else to say.
Champion of Wits: Card draw/filtering that has graveyard synergies and also keeps the creature count high, pretty much perfect for this deck.
Gadwick, The Wizened Amazing late game draw that can also add a ton of devotion and can be repeatable draw if it is bounced with Crystal Shard or hit with one of the several submerge effects.
Nimble Obstructionist: Testing this out as creature based instant speed interaction, it really is too bad it only hit the opponents’ abilites and can’t be used as a second Stifle for the Phyrexian Dreadnought. It probably would be replaced by Brazen Borrower if I had one.
Opaline Unicorn: Again a mana dork that makes blue mana, it might be replaced with Scuttlemutt as soon as I can find one, since Geralf cares about power, not toughness.
Thassa, God of the Sea: A sizeable Geralf hit that also can be an indestructible 5/5 that can smooth out the deck’s draws and can make gigantic zombies unblockable, she’s perfect.
Fatestitcher: Untaps Geralf most of the time, plus it can be the only mana dork the deck needs if it untaps Nykthos Shrine to Nyx when comboing with intruder alarm if there’s enough devotion. The unearth ability is icing on an already good card for this deck.
Glen Elendra Archmage: I looked at a lot of creature based counterspells, this is the only one that I think is good enough for the 99. Voidmage Prodigy might have found a place in this deck as well if I owned a copy since the deck naturally seems to have a lot of Wizards.
Havengul Runebinder: This card seems like it could be a fun anthem effect so I’m trying him out, but I’m still on the fence about including it.
Solemn Simulacrum: An all around value staple that happily ramps and chumps.
Undead Alchemist: Even though this deck isn’t fully in on the mill plan unless it finds Intruder Alarm, this guy just seemed too nifty to pass up trying.
Vizier of Many Faces: It’s 0/0 stats means it’s a sad Geralf hit, but the truth is that I looked at several clone effects that work from the graveyard like Quasiduplicate and Cackling Counterpart, this card beats those because it can clone any creature, not just ones you control.
Wonder: Never meant to be cast and it is the main reason why the deck runs several looting effect. Who can say no to giving flying to your huge zombies?
Geralf’s Masterpiece: I’m not sure this belongs, it’s in the deck because it’s on the beefier side of creature for Geralf to exile and because it felt correct for flavor reasons.
Glyph Keeper: Mainly here to up the number of cards that are relevant in the graveyard. I don’t know if this 5/3 is worth it, but I’ll try it out.
Magus of the Future Adds a bunch of devotion and card “draw”, as well as being a Geralf hit and letting us get a sneak peak at future hits for our commander.
Archetype of Imagination: Pretty much says “all creatures you control are unblockable” since reach really isn’t a thing in commander.
Soul of New Phyrexia: It’s relevant in the graveyard and gives protection against opposing sweepers when counters are not in hand; it also can let our battlefield swing in fearlessly.
Colossus of Akros: A chonking 10/10 dude for Geralf that treasure mage can also find in the late game to play, because it’s pretty much a given that if this deck has access to 8 mana then it probably can pay for the monstrous cost the next turn.
Artisan of Kozilek: I decided to try the Artisan because of it’s graveyard synergies.
Emrakul, the Promised End: Largest of all targets in the deck to hit with Geralf’s ability, plus she just felt correct to play in a graveyard based deck with a commander from Innistrad. There’s a total of 6 out of a possible 7 card types to mill, though the deck will most likely only ever have 4 or maybe 5 types in the yard since there’s 4 enchantments (three of them enchantment creatures) and one planeswalker. Still a 13/13 flying, trample mindslaver on a stick for 8 or 9 mana is impossible to pass up.
Notable exclusions and/or Possible Considerations:
(Aka cards I own but have chosen to leave out)
Diluvian Primordial: It seems like it could be great here, but I’m not sure my playgroup’s decks have enough spells to ensure I’d always get value when casting it.
Kederekt Leviathan: Even though it seems great in a graveyard based deck, I’m not sure how often I’d be willing to bounce my own board when there are other non-universal bounces in the deck. Maybe it will come in after I get a chance to actually playtest instead of just goldfishing.
Master Of Waves: While he can really flood the board, my 4 drop slot is crowded already and he doesn’t lend himself well to enter the battlefield trigger abuse with things like Crystal Shard since all his 1/0 tokens die when his anthem ceases to be in effect.
Riftwing Cloudskate: I never was a huge fan of suspended creatures and 5 mana it too much for what will most of the time be a creature bounce spell.
Aethersnipe: While it has a nice 4/4 body, the sorcery speed nature of the card feels clunky.
Karn, Silver Golem: I like that he can turn the mana rocks into creatures so Intruder Alarm can untap them, but in the end he was cut because I felt he had too few targets.
Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy: While useful, his 0/2 stats are a miss for Geralf when Comboing, and while a 0/0 token is always enough to trigger Intruder Alarm I feel it’s against the spirit of what the deck is trying to do.
Azami, Lady of Scrolls: There are a lot of Wizards in this deck, but Azami I feel needed to be left out for much the same reason baby jace was, she’s a bad Geralf hit.
Crashing Drawbridge: The only way I could think of to give a huge amount of Zombies haste in mono-blue colors outside of Akroma’s memorial (which is in another deck). I left the drawbridge out because it’s an 0/4, but I might end up testing it anyway sometime in the future since it tutorable with a Tribute mage and fabricate plus it can be retrieved from the graveyard with Buried Ruin. Also it’s ability can be activated the turn I cast it if I have Thousand-Year Elixir on the battlefield.
Laboratory Maniac: Seems like a do-nothing card most of the time and if the deck is combo-ing out then it’s probably going to win with a Zombie horde if not from milling out it’s opponents. Also its not a great when paired with memory of Commit // Memory and Echo of Eons.
Chrome Mox: Trying this out since after some goldfishing made me wish for another mana rock. It replaced Anchor to the Aether because Anchor felt awkward as a sorcery.
Sensei’s Divining Top: I only own one copy and this deck seems like the best choice for it since it cares the most about the top three cards. I’m still undecided about including Evolving Wilds & Terramorphic Expanse in as extra shuffle effects since the deck already has a ton of tutors and the like.
Sol Ring: The most efficient mana rock available outside of moxes and crypts, No explanation needed.
Mind Stone: Settled on this as my 2 drop mana rock because it cycles and can be used to dig a little when I’m doing top deck manipulation with top, jace, brainstorm and the like.
Swiftfoot Boots: It is an awkward commander protection card, but it narrowly beat out Lightning Greaves since shroud works against the deck’s targeted untapping effects.
Crystal Shard: It made the cut because there seems to be enough Enter the Battlefield triggers to make it worth it, also is nice as a form of creature protection. Not to mention the ability to bounce the opponents’ creatures if their controllers are tapped out.
Rings of Brighthearth: I only have one copy and this seems like the best deck for it.
Thousand-Year Elixir: Trying this out, not sure how relevant it will be since I don’t think this deck will ever have enough mana to activate Geralf the turn he’s cast, but it does make the mana dorks and creature based untappers better.
Crucible of worlds: It would be nice to not have to worry about land drops after Geralf gets rolling, but I opted for more Geralf enablers like Thousand-Year Elixir. If I do decide the deck needs it, then Elixir is probably the cut.
Grimoire of the Dead: While in theory it seems a good idea, I’m not sure if my opponent’s graveyards will be well stocked enough after Geralf has raided them to give the Grimoire a slot. It also is a negative that it’s casting cost puts it in the realm where none of the 3 drop tutor mages can grab it.
Mycosynth Lattice and Unwinding Clock. I thought it would be a funny make-your-own Seedborn muse combo, but Lattice I think is probably too easily broken in commander even by your opponents so I decided to leave it out. They might come in if I feel like ditching the combo-mill plan for a zombie beatdown one.
Wish List:
Mana Crypt: Because its amazing and I can never afford it. You may ask “Really, you can’t afford it when you have JTMS, Force of Will as well as a ton of other expensive cards?” My answer to that is while I do have these cards, I didn't buy them. I opened them in packs. I’ve been playing MTG off and on since 4th edition and never could convince myself to sell my collection.
Brainstorm: The only Cantrip that made the cut because of the ability to put back the Deck’s 10/10-and-up targets for Geralf to mill.
Mystical Tutor: Pretty much a great toolbox effect, Just make sure to activate Geralf first.
Stifle: It’s mostly here for me to live the turn one Chrome Mox into Island and Phyrexian Dreadnought dream, but it also comes in handy way more than expected in Commander.
Memory Lapse: Seems like the best 2 mana counter, since most of the time for Geralf topping the card that is countered is a bonus, not a drawback.
Commit // Memory: Commit’s ability to tuck a non-land permanent or spell is good enough to include by itself. Then the memory half is amazing when paired with any of the deck’s mass bounce effects.
Cryptic Command: I went with versatility of this over counterspell despite the 4 mana cost since every mode is going to be relevant at some point in the game.
Aetherspouts: Seems like a more ideal instant speed board wipe than Evacuation. They Either have to top their attackers and let Geralf mill them or bottom them and hope to draw something else.
Force of Will: I only have one copy and this deck seems the perfect fit.
Long Term Plans: I had totally forgot this card existed and then found a copy when looking through a box of unsorted cards in my collection. I just don’t know what to cut to make room, since it seems perfect for the deck. It can find Intruder Alarm at the end of an opponent’s turn which the deck then hopefully scrys, brainstorms, or Sensei’s Divining Tops it to be the next draw and it’s also great if a giant zombie is needed over alarm or if the deck needs to find any card it really wants to mill.
Wish list:
Expel from Orazca: It seems ideal for this deck, I just don’t have a copy and I don’t think it’s in demand enough for my LGS to have it in their stock lists.
Mindbreak Trap and/or Flusterstorm: I don’t own either and while I’d certainly like to have them I’m not sure they’d make the cut. I do have one Storm deck which is an unorthodox Athreos, God of Passage list. I feel if one of my lesser experienced friends is comboing out with that convoluted mess of a deck then I’d kinda feel bad raining on their parade.
Force of Negation & Pact of Negation could also make their way into the deck if I owned either, as more ways of protecting the combo. Pact being the more likely inclusion if I had a Spellseeker in the deck.
Sorceries:
Merchant Scroll: A more narrow Mystical Tutor that at least puts the card in hand. This is mostly why the deck favors instants over sorceries apart from the normal reasons.
Echo of Eons: It felt appropriate to include this since it’s useful in the graveyard and gives the deck a second timetwister effect to pair with all the bounce and submerge effects. The Timetwister effects are also the only way the deck can retrieve a milled Intruder Alarm.
Set Adrift: In the deck because it most of the time is a one mana sorcery speed submerge that will fuel Geralf’s ability.
Enchantments:
Intruder Alarm: The other namesake of the deck’s combo and the only non-creature enchantment.
Possible considerations:
Leyline of Anticipation: I did toy with putting it in since there are so many creatures that would be nice to be able to flash in, but couldn’t decide on a cut.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor: My only JTMS, and I feel he’s the perfect fit here even though 90% of the time he’ll be repeatable brainstorm. I would probably include Narset, Parter of Veils if I had a copy, though I do wonder if perhaps she’d be too feelbad for my friends.
Karn, the Great Creator: I briefly thought about using him as a hate piece with the Lattice as a lock, and because his +1 lets Intruder Alarm untap one of my mana rocks , but decided against it.
Lands:
Boseiju, Who Shelter’s All: I have around 7 copies of Boseiju, so it’s kind of an auto-include in all of my commander decks. It might come out if I grow tired of paying 2 life to activate Geralf.
Buried Ruin: One of the better utility lands, helpful in retrieving any artifact that was accidentally milled, Academy Ruins would be in the deck as well if I owned a copy.
Castle Vantress: It seems like the perfect deck for this, even if it’s effect is somewhat mana hungry to activate.
Cephalid Coliseum: An all-star looter of a land, helping dump Wonder and other graveyard relevant cards that the player has accidentally drawn.
Drownyard Temple: In here in place of a Wastes for Kozilek casting purposes. I thought I’d try it out and see how I like it since it can also be played when milled or discarded.
Geier Reach Sanitarium: Another looting effect that allows the player to dump cards they‘ve drawn and would prefer to have in their graveyard.
Ghost Quarter: A cheap answer to problematic lands that the opponents’ control, I prefer it over Strip Mine because my playgroup doesn’t like land destruction. I would also run Field of Ruin if I had a copy.
Lonely Sandbar: A good utility land and it can turn Expedition Map into an expensive~ish cantrip if the deck is flooding out a bit.
Mystic Sanctuary: I’m experimenting with this even though it’s inconvenient when self milling with Geralf. I thought about putting fetchlands like Polluted Delta and Flooded Strand in the deck to be able to fetch this after activating Geralf, but decided that the deck already had too many shuffle effects which slow down the game.
Seat of the Synod: A land that the artifact tutors can grab if a land is what’s needed the most.
Soldevi Excavations: A cheap Scry 1 effect on a sol-land that can be untapped for extra mana with Fatestitcher and the like. I just hope there’s enough islands to not worry about paying for it’s sacrifice cost.
Temple of the False God: A pretty decent sol-land, and helps pay for Kozilek’s colorless demand.
Blighted Cataract and Memorial to Genius: I don’t really think they’re necessary since they cut down on the island count even more, but they could go in if more draw is really needed.
Homeward Path: It doesn’t feel worth playing, since the deck has a lot of bounce effect available to nullify opposing players stealing its threats.
Miren, the Moaning Well: I only have one copy and it’s in another deck, but I could almost see it having a place here as a way to gain life when that’s what’s needed, especially if it’s sacrificing a giant zombie token that is about to die anyway.
Polluted Delta and Flooded Strand: They mostly are not here because I feel this deck already has too many search and shuffle effects, but still it could be useful to fetch Mystic Sanctuary when needed as well as shuffle after brainstorming two useless cards back to the top of the deck (I don’t own any of the enemy fetchlands, otherwise I’d mention them here as well).
Ancient Tomb: It’s mostly not here to minimize on the pain lands, if I find this deck doesn’t really need to worry about opposing counterspells then it would almost certainly replace Boseiju, Who Shelter’s All.
Shelldock Isle: It currently really doesn’t fit, if this deck decided to go much more toward the death by 1000 cuts mill plan rather than combo mill, then I could see it’s inclusion.
Eldrazi Temple and Eye of Ugin: Both are almost appropriate here, but I can’t justify their inclusion when the deck has only two Eldrazi. Eye of Ugin might just about be worth it for it’s activated ability, but it also cannot tap for mana so it would be a spell more than a land and I think drawing it in the early game would just feel bad.
Wish List:
Academy Ruins: Easily one of the most glaring omissions from my list, I might just need to bite the bullet and get a copy.
I try to aim for building a decks that are somewhere between casual and competitive, so that people who are relatively inexperienced can pick up my deck and navigate it well enough to do something splashy, while keeping the deck complex enough that experienced players have something to sink their teeth into.
So when several of my friends asked if I had a blue commander deck and I didn’t have one for them to play I decided to build one. However this was a conundrum for me. Which mono-blue commander do I choose? While being the most powerful color in Magic, blue is also the most complicated to play correctly. This meant a full on control deck was out. I toyed with the idea of trying to put together blue Voltron, but considering I already have a Ruhan of the Fomori dedicated voltron deck I didn’t want to do another (besides that I also only have one copy of each of the “sword of * and * “ cycle). Then when looking through my binders while trying to build a Lazav, Dimir Mastermind commander deck I came across Stitcher Geralf and realized he was an almost perfect mono-blue commander for my playgroup. His gameplan is instantly grokkable to beginners, he has semi-broken “combo” potential for experienced players and more importantly didn’t force the inexperienced players to play control.
So what’s the “combo”? If you hadn’t guessed from the thread title, it’s Geralf’s ability combined untappers & artifact creature manadorks with Intruder Alarm. Players do the normal thing in the early game and cast untappers & mana dorks to ramp into Geralf and then they play intruder alarm after and go to town. Every time a zombie token enters, it untaps all creatures and then the deck’s manadorks & untappers allow them to make another Zombie token. Soon they’ve assembled a zombie army and can smash face.
When assembling this list I really went back and forth a lot on how to build it, ultimately I decided it was best to try to make roughly one third of the deck creatures to minimize the chance of creating 0/0 tokens after Intruder Alarm is played. It is true that Geralf can combo-mill out with mana dorks, Intruder Alarm and no other creatures ever getting exiled by his ability (he always creates a token even if no creatures are exiled, its just that the token will be a 0/0). Makeing the deck composed of at least 33 creature means that I don’t have to rely on any of my opponents’ decks being creature heavy to assemble an army if the mill plan goes ary. This is why cards like Hypnotic Siren is being played over the more traditional Control Magic and why I’m playing the full cycle of the blue artifact tutor mages, from Trinket Mage to Treasure Mage, over the more common cantrips and the like. Also this deck really has no reliable way to search for Intruder Alarm. I debated putting in Ring of Three Wishes & Planar Portal, But decided that I’d try playing a version with more generic draw spells in their place.
Also keep in mind that some of the more obvious inclusions in this deck like Academy Ruins, Spellseeker & Narset, Parter of Veils (to pair with Commit//Memory and Echo of Eons) are not here simply because I don’t own them and I was trying to build a deck that was assembled entirely of cards I owned.
Commander (1):
Stitcher Geralf
Creatures (34):
Artifacts (11):
Instants (13):
Sorceries (4):
Enchantments (1):
Intruder Alarm
Planeswalkers (1):
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Lands (35):
Sorry for the odd formatting, Decklist tags were breaking on me (perhaps because I’m posting in a mobile browser) and I finally gave up and went with card tags.
Hypnotic Siren: The obligatory blue theft effect. I went with the siren because she can always come down as a one drop to help out devotion if needed and I like that she gives the stolen creature a mild pump and flying. Though I wonder if the versatility of Agent of Treachery is still better for this slot?
Phyrexian Dreadnought: I had one and always wanted to find a deck for it, this deck seemed to fit the bill especially since it’s a meaty target for Geralf. Trinket mage can also tutor it up if I have a brainstorm effect or happen to be holding Stifle.
Silver Myr: The closest thing to an ideal mana dork for this deck, too bad there aren’t more colorless 2 drops that fit in this deck, I did toy with the idea of using Deranged Assistant and Plague Myr, but decided that sources that produce blue mana were better, even if they’re 3 drops.
Snapcaster Mage: Not a large hit for Geralf, but still a hit and helps with keeping the deck interactive.
Alloy Myr: A 3 mana manadork that produces blue, not much else to say.
Burnished Hart: An EDH staple and also can fetch out 4 lands if combined with either Rings of Brighthearth or Illusionist’s Bracers
Champion of Wits: Card draw/filtering that has graveyard synergies and also keeps the creature count high, pretty much perfect for this deck.
Gadwick, The Wizened Amazing late game draw that can also add a ton of devotion and can be repeatable draw if it is bounced with Crystal Shard or hit with one of the several submerge effects.
Nimble Obstructionist: Testing this out as creature based instant speed interaction, it really is too bad it only hit the opponents’ abilites and can’t be used as a second Stifle for the Phyrexian Dreadnought. It probably would be replaced by Brazen Borrower if I had one.
Opaline Unicorn: Again a mana dork that makes blue mana, it might be replaced with Scuttlemutt as soon as I can find one, since Geralf cares about power, not toughness.
Palladium Myr: A worn powerstone as a creature, it’s great.
Thassa, God of the Sea: A sizeable Geralf hit that also can be an indestructible 5/5 that can smooth out the deck’s draws and can make gigantic zombies unblockable, she’s perfect.
Treasure Mage: Keeps the creature count high and can find the magic mirror for draw or Colossus of Akros or Soul of New Phyrexia depending on which one we need.
Tribute Mage: Finds a whole host of stuff, from a cantrip in mind stone to Silver myr and the deck’s two equipment Illusionist’s Bracers & Swiftfoot Boots.
Trinket Mage: In the early game this finds Sol Ring for ramp or Seat of the Synod for a land drop; Expedition Map if a specific land is needed like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. In the late game it’s targets become Phyrexian Dreadnought and Sensei’s Divining Top to help manipulate Geralf’s mill targets.
Trophy Mage: Searches out pretty much every other kind of artifact the deck has like Thousand-Year elixir, Rings of Brighthearth and Crystal Shard. This card makes me wonder if Oblivion Stone might have a place in this deck, but can’t really think of which non-creature to cut.
Fatestitcher: Untaps Geralf most of the time, plus it can be the only mana dork the deck needs if it untaps Nykthos Shrine to Nyx when comboing with intruder alarm if there’s enough devotion. The unearth ability is icing on an already good card for this deck.
Glen Elendra Archmage: I looked at a lot of creature based counterspells, this is the only one that I think is good enough for the 99. Voidmage Prodigy might have found a place in this deck as well if I owned a copy since the deck naturally seems to have a lot of Wizards.
Havengul Runebinder: This card seems like it could be a fun anthem effect so I’m trying him out, but I’m still on the fence about including it.
Profaner of the Dead: A one-sided Mass bounce in creature form, particularly nasty/funny when paired with Echo of Eons and the memory half of Commit // Memory.
Solemn Simulacrum: An all around value staple that happily ramps and chumps.
Undead Alchemist: Even though this deck isn’t fully in on the mill plan unless it finds Intruder Alarm, this guy just seemed too nifty to pass up trying.
Vizier of Many Faces: It’s 0/0 stats means it’s a sad Geralf hit, but the truth is that I looked at several clone effects that work from the graveyard like Quasiduplicate and Cackling Counterpart, this card beats those because it can clone any creature, not just ones you control.
Wonder: Never meant to be cast and it is the main reason why the deck runs several looting effect. Who can say no to giving flying to your huge zombies?
Geralf’s Masterpiece: I’m not sure this belongs, it’s in the deck because it’s on the beefier side of creature for Geralf to exile and because it felt correct for flavor reasons.
Glyph Keeper: Mainly here to up the number of cards that are relevant in the graveyard. I don’t know if this 5/3 is worth it, but I’ll try it out.
Magus of the Future Adds a bunch of devotion and card “draw”, as well as being a Geralf hit and letting us get a sneak peak at future hits for our commander.
Archetype of Imagination: Pretty much says “all creatures you control are unblockable” since reach really isn’t a thing in commander.
Soul of New Phyrexia: It’s relevant in the graveyard and gives protection against opposing sweepers when counters are not in hand; it also can let our battlefield swing in fearlessly.
Scourge of Fleets: Another one-sided mass bounce that’s fun with timetwister effects.
Colossus of Akros: A chonking 10/10 dude for Geralf that treasure mage can also find in the late game to play, because it’s pretty much a given that if this deck has access to 8 mana then it probably can pay for the monstrous cost the next turn.
Artisan of Kozilek: I decided to try the Artisan because of it’s graveyard synergies.
Kozilek, the Great Distortion: It’s a 12/12 that refills my hand, testing it out even without any Wastes in the deck for Burnished Hart to find. It might be replaced with Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger if I feel the need for a higher impact card.
Emrakul, the Promised End: Largest of all targets in the deck to hit with Geralf’s ability, plus she just felt correct to play in a graveyard based deck with a commander from Innistrad. There’s a total of 6 out of a possible 7 card types to mill, though the deck will most likely only ever have 4 or maybe 5 types in the yard since there’s 4 enchantments (three of them enchantment creatures) and one planeswalker. Still a 13/13 flying, trample mindslaver on a stick for 8 or 9 mana is impossible to pass up.
(Aka cards I own but have chosen to leave out)
Diluvian Primordial: It seems like it could be great here, but I’m not sure my playgroup’s decks have enough spells to ensure I’d always get value when casting it.
Kederekt Leviathan: Even though it seems great in a graveyard based deck, I’m not sure how often I’d be willing to bounce my own board when there are other non-universal bounces in the deck. Maybe it will come in after I get a chance to actually playtest instead of just goldfishing.
Master Of Waves: While he can really flood the board, my 4 drop slot is crowded already and he doesn’t lend himself well to enter the battlefield trigger abuse with things like Crystal Shard since all his 1/0 tokens die when his anthem ceases to be in effect.
Riftwing Cloudskate: I never was a huge fan of suspended creatures and 5 mana it too much for what will most of the time be a creature bounce spell.
Aethersnipe: While it has a nice 4/4 body, the sorcery speed nature of the card feels clunky.
Karn, Silver Golem: I like that he can turn the mana rocks into creatures so Intruder Alarm can untap them, but in the end he was cut because I felt he had too few targets.
Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy: While useful, his 0/2 stats are a miss for Geralf when Comboing, and while a 0/0 token is always enough to trigger Intruder Alarm I feel it’s against the spirit of what the deck is trying to do.
Azami, Lady of Scrolls: There are a lot of Wizards in this deck, but Azami I feel needed to be left out for much the same reason baby jace was, she’s a bad Geralf hit.
Crashing Drawbridge: The only way I could think of to give a huge amount of Zombies haste in mono-blue colors outside of Akroma’s memorial (which is in another deck). I left the drawbridge out because it’s an 0/4, but I might end up testing it anyway sometime in the future since it tutorable with a Tribute mage and fabricate plus it can be retrieved from the graveyard with Buried Ruin. Also it’s ability can be activated the turn I cast it if I have Thousand-Year Elixir on the battlefield.
Laboratory Maniac: Seems like a do-nothing card most of the time and if the deck is combo-ing out then it’s probably going to win with a Zombie horde if not from milling out it’s opponents. Also its not a great when paired with memory of Commit // Memory and Echo of Eons.
The creatures that I would almost certainly find a slot for in this deck if I owned them are Torrential Gearhulk, Spellseeker, Vizier of Tumbling sands, Brazen Borrower, Voidmage Prodigy and Aphetto Alchemist. There are probably more, but those are the ones that I can think of off the top of my head.
Chrome Mox: Trying this out since after some goldfishing made me wish for another mana rock. It replaced Anchor to the Aether because Anchor felt awkward as a sorcery.
Expedition Map: Pretty much an auto-include in every one of my EDH Decks. Will be finding Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx most of the time.
Sensei’s Divining Top: I only own one copy and this deck seems like the best choice for it since it cares the most about the top three cards. I’m still undecided about including Evolving Wilds & Terramorphic Expanse in as extra shuffle effects since the deck already has a ton of tutors and the like.
Sol Ring: The most efficient mana rock available outside of moxes and crypts, No explanation needed.
Mind Stone: Settled on this as my 2 drop mana rock because it cycles and can be used to dig a little when I’m doing top deck manipulation with top, jace, brainstorm and the like.
Swiftfoot Boots: It is an awkward commander protection card, but it narrowly beat out Lightning Greaves since shroud works against the deck’s targeted untapping effects.
Crystal Shard: It made the cut because there seems to be enough Enter the Battlefield triggers to make it worth it, also is nice as a form of creature protection. Not to mention the ability to bounce the opponents’ creatures if their controllers are tapped out.
Rings of Brighthearth: I only have one copy and this seems like the best deck for it.
Illusionist’s Bracers: This is Rings of Brighthearth copy #2 with the added bonus of being tutorable with a different Mage.
Thousand-Year Elixir: Trying this out, not sure how relevant it will be since I don’t think this deck will ever have enough mana to activate Geralf the turn he’s cast, but it does make the mana dorks and creature based untappers better.
The Magic Mirror: Testing this out here as artifact based card draw and therfore tutorable with Treasure Mage and Fabricate.
Crucible of worlds: It would be nice to not have to worry about land drops after Geralf gets rolling, but I opted for more Geralf enablers like Thousand-Year Elixir. If I do decide the deck needs it, then Elixir is probably the cut.
Ring of Three Wishes and Planar Portal could also find a home in this deck. Planar Portal is the most likely addition since Treasure Mage can tutor for it and it would probably take The Magic Mirror‘s slot.
Grimoire of the Dead: While in theory it seems a good idea, I’m not sure if my opponent’s graveyards will be well stocked enough after Geralf has raided them to give the Grimoire a slot. It also is a negative that it’s casting cost puts it in the realm where none of the 3 drop tutor mages can grab it.
Mycosynth Lattice and Unwinding Clock. I thought it would be a funny make-your-own Seedborn muse combo, but Lattice I think is probably too easily broken in commander even by your opponents so I decided to leave it out. They might come in if I feel like ditching the combo-mill plan for a zombie beatdown one.
Mana Crypt: Because its amazing and I can never afford it. You may ask “Really, you can’t afford it when you have JTMS, Force of Will as well as a ton of other expensive cards?” My answer to that is while I do have these cards, I didn't buy them. I opened them in packs. I’ve been playing MTG off and on since 4th edition and never could convince myself to sell my collection.
Grim Monolith & Mana Vault: I only own one copy of each and my big mana ramp Kozilek, the Great Distortion commander deck has greater need of them.
Brainstorm: The only Cantrip that made the cut because of the ability to put back the Deck’s 10/10-and-up targets for Geralf to mill.
Mystical Tutor: Pretty much a great toolbox effect, Just make sure to activate Geralf first.
Stifle: It’s mostly here for me to live the turn one Chrome Mox into Island and Phyrexian Dreadnought dream, but it also comes in handy way more than expected in Commander.
Cyclonic Rift: As much of an auto-include in EDH as Sol Ring, if the deck is blue.
Memory Lapse: Seems like the best 2 mana counter, since most of the time for Geralf topping the card that is countered is a bonus, not a drawback.
Commit // Memory: Commit’s ability to tuck a non-land permanent or spell is good enough to include by itself. Then the memory half is amazing when paired with any of the deck’s mass bounce effects.
Cryptic Command: I went with versatility of this over counterspell despite the 4 mana cost since every mode is going to be relevant at some point in the game.
Aetherspouts: Seems like a more ideal instant speed board wipe than Evacuation. They Either have to top their attackers and let Geralf mill them or bottom them and hope to draw something else.
Force of Will: I only have one copy and this deck seems the perfect fit.
Mystic Confluence: A go-to toolbox card. An instant speed draw effect, Mana Leak or mini mass-bounce, tutorable with Merchant Scroll and Mystical tutor.
Submerge: Seems like half of the time this will be free spell and amazing with a mill focused commander.
Vanishment: Not too sure about this, but it’s here because it in theory synergizes with this deck’s top deck manipulation cards.
Dig Through Time: I feel Dig’s late game card selection probably beats out Visions of beyond‘s draw three.
Long Term Plans: I had totally forgot this card existed and then found a copy when looking through a box of unsorted cards in my collection. I just don’t know what to cut to make room, since it seems perfect for the deck. It can find Intruder Alarm at the end of an opponent’s turn which the deck then hopefully scrys, brainstorms, or Sensei’s Divining Tops it to be the next draw and it’s also great if a giant zombie is needed over alarm or if the deck needs to find any card it really wants to mill.
Expel from Orazca: It seems ideal for this deck, I just don’t have a copy and I don’t think it’s in demand enough for my LGS to have it in their stock lists.
Mindbreak Trap and/or Flusterstorm: I don’t own either and while I’d certainly like to have them I’m not sure they’d make the cut. I do have one Storm deck which is an unorthodox Athreos, God of Passage list. I feel if one of my lesser experienced friends is comboing out with that convoluted mess of a deck then I’d kinda feel bad raining on their parade.
Force of Negation & Pact of Negation could also make their way into the deck if I owned either, as more ways of protecting the combo. Pact being the more likely inclusion if I had a Spellseeker in the deck.
Merchant Scroll: A more narrow Mystical Tutor that at least puts the card in hand. This is mostly why the deck favors instants over sorceries apart from the normal reasons.
Fabricate: Grabs any artifact the player needs including Seat of the synod for a land drop. It is mostly here so the player can indirectly tutor for a ton of stuff with Mystical Tutor & Merchant scroll.
Echo of Eons: It felt appropriate to include this since it’s useful in the graveyard and gives the deck a second timetwister effect to pair with all the bounce and submerge effects. The Timetwister effects are also the only way the deck can retrieve a milled Intruder Alarm.
Set Adrift: In the deck because it most of the time is a one mana sorcery speed submerge that will fuel Geralf’s ability.
Intruder Alarm: The other namesake of the deck’s combo and the only non-creature enchantment.
Leyline of Anticipation: I did toy with putting it in since there are so many creatures that would be nice to be able to flash in, but couldn’t decide on a cut.
March of the Machines: It was on my radar when considering doing the Mycosynth Lattice, Karn, The Great Creator lock, but I just can’t bring myself to do that to my playgroup. It does turn all the deck’s non-creature mana rocks into creatures so Intruder Alarm can untap them, but it also immediately kills Chrome Mox.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor: My only JTMS, and I feel he’s the perfect fit here even though 90% of the time he’ll be repeatable brainstorm. I would probably include Narset, Parter of Veils if I had a copy, though I do wonder if perhaps she’d be too feelbad for my friends.
Jace, Wielder of Mysteries: I could see him in this deck if it pivoted toward a Laboratory Maniac style of win-con. He’s not only a maniac back-up, but also steady draw and a huge source of devotion for Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx.
Karn, the Great Creator: I briefly thought about using him as a hate piece with the Lattice as a lock, and because his +1 lets Intruder Alarm untap one of my mana rocks , but decided against it.
Boseiju, Who Shelter’s All: I have around 7 copies of Boseiju, so it’s kind of an auto-include in all of my commander decks. It might come out if I grow tired of paying 2 life to activate Geralf.
Buried Ruin: One of the better utility lands, helpful in retrieving any artifact that was accidentally milled, Academy Ruins would be in the deck as well if I owned a copy.
Castle Vantress: It seems like the perfect deck for this, even if it’s effect is somewhat mana hungry to activate.
Cephalid Coliseum: An all-star looter of a land, helping dump Wonder and other graveyard relevant cards that the player has accidentally drawn.
Drownyard Temple: In here in place of a Wastes for Kozilek casting purposes. I thought I’d try it out and see how I like it since it can also be played when milled or discarded.
Geier Reach Sanitarium: Another looting effect that allows the player to dump cards they‘ve drawn and would prefer to have in their graveyard.
Ghost Quarter: A cheap answer to problematic lands that the opponents’ control, I prefer it over Strip Mine because my playgroup doesn’t like land destruction. I would also run Field of Ruin if I had a copy.
Lonely Sandbar: A good utility land and it can turn Expedition Map into an expensive~ish cantrip if the deck is flooding out a bit.
Mystic Sanctuary: I’m experimenting with this even though it’s inconvenient when self milling with Geralf. I thought about putting fetchlands like Polluted Delta and Flooded Strand in the deck to be able to fetch this after activating Geralf, but decided that the deck already had too many shuffle effects which slow down the game.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: The best ramp the deck has outside of Sol Ring and can combo out with Fatestitcher, Intruder Alarm and 5 or more devotion.
Seat of the Synod: A land that the artifact tutors can grab if a land is what’s needed the most.
Soldevi Excavations: A cheap Scry 1 effect on a sol-land that can be untapped for extra mana with Fatestitcher and the like. I just hope there’s enough islands to not worry about paying for it’s sacrifice cost.
Temple of the False God: A pretty decent sol-land, and helps pay for Kozilek’s colorless demand.
Tolaria West: Another tutor for Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and it can also cantrip by fetching Lonely Sandbar if the player is flooding out.
21x Islands: Jokingly called the most powerful card in MTG, though it’s hard to argue with it. I’ve tried to keep the Island count above 20 for Soldevi Excavations, Mystic Sanctuary and Scourge of Fleets.
Blighted Cataract and Memorial to Genius: I don’t really think they’re necessary since they cut down on the island count even more, but they could go in if more draw is really needed.
Homeward Path: It doesn’t feel worth playing, since the deck has a lot of bounce effect available to nullify opposing players stealing its threats.
Miren, the Moaning Well: I only have one copy and it’s in another deck, but I could almost see it having a place here as a way to gain life when that’s what’s needed, especially if it’s sacrificing a giant zombie token that is about to die anyway.
Polluted Delta and Flooded Strand: They mostly are not here because I feel this deck already has too many search and shuffle effects, but still it could be useful to fetch Mystic Sanctuary when needed as well as shuffle after brainstorming two useless cards back to the top of the deck (I don’t own any of the enemy fetchlands, otherwise I’d mention them here as well).
Ancient Tomb: It’s mostly not here to minimize on the pain lands, if I find this deck doesn’t really need to worry about opposing counterspells then it would almost certainly replace Boseiju, Who Shelter’s All.
Shelldock Isle: It currently really doesn’t fit, if this deck decided to go much more toward the death by 1000 cuts mill plan rather than combo mill, then I could see it’s inclusion.
Eldrazi Temple and Eye of Ugin: Both are almost appropriate here, but I can’t justify their inclusion when the deck has only two Eldrazi. Eye of Ugin might just about be worth it for it’s activated ability, but it also cannot tap for mana so it would be a spell more than a land and I think drawing it in the early game would just feel bad.
Academy Ruins: Easily one of the most glaring omissions from my list, I might just need to bite the bullet and get a copy.
Minamo, School at Water’s Edge: Another land that is glaringly absent. I wish they’d reprint it in a commander set.
Inventor’s Fair: I don’t own a copy, if I did then I certainly would consider putting it in here.