Upgrading Wretched Ranks: Ghoulcaller Gisa
The Wretched Ranks precon from Foundations Commander is a mono-black Zombies deck led by Ghoulcaller Gisa, built to grow a Zombie army and recur it from the graveyard.
Not owned yet? Check the full decklist or pick it up on ManaPool.
How the Deck Wants to Play
Before choosing upgrades, it helps to know what the deck cares about:
- Zombie count - Lords and token makers reward a wide board, so more Zombie bodies means a faster clock.
- Recursion - Your graveyard is a second hand; cards that bring creatures back keep the army coming.
- Sacrifice payoffs - Drain effects turn every dying Zombie into damage and life.
Budget Upgrades (~$19 total)
Budget Upgrades for this deck. The price shown is the cheapest paper printing found today.
Cards to Add
- Rotting Regisaur (~$2.02) - A 7/6 for three mana that dominates early combat. Great on turn three.
- Relentless Dead (~$12.45) - A Zombie that returns when it dies and can bring back other Zombies.
- Blood Artist (~$2.77) - Drains every time a creature dies. A must-have in a deck that sacrifices Zombies.
- Zulaport Cutthroat (~$1.23) - Another drain on death. Two copies of the effect make your sacrifices lethal.
- Diregraf Ghoul (~$0.06) - A one-mana Zombie that comes in tapped; cheap fodder that keeps your curve smooth and feeds your lords.
- Village Rites (~$0.34) - Sacrifice a creature for two cards. Cheap and fuels your recursion.
Cards to Cut
These are the lowest-impact slots in the precon for this plan, so they are the first to go:
- Oversold Cemetery
- Necrotic Hex
- Razorlash Transmogrant
- Withering Torment
- Syphon Flesh
- Consuming Corruption
Premium Upgrades (~$143 total)
Premium Upgrades for this deck. The price shown is the cheapest paper printing found today.
Cards to Add
- Liliana, Death's Majesty (~$0.37) - Makes a 2/2 Zombie every turn and reanimates your best creature. A natural fit for the deck.
- Toxic Deluge (~$4.99) - A flexible sweeper: pay life to set the board to your preference and rebuild from the graveyard.
- Skullclamp (~$4.85) - Turns any 1-toughness Zombie into two cards. Absurd with tokens.
- Vampiric Tutor (~$51.82) - Finds your best card for one mana. Pure consistency.
- Demonic Tutor (~$63.10) - Finds any card in your deck. The cleanest tutor in black.
- Damnation (~$17.45) - Another sweeper, perfect before you rebuild with Gisa.
Cards to Cut
These are the lowest-impact slots in the precon for this plan, so they are the first to go:
- Infernal Idol
- Bontu's Monument
- Mire Triton
- Undead Butler
- Marchesa's Decree
- Wight of Precinct Six
Swap one tier at a time and keep the land count intact. Each upgrade list below has a ManaPool buy list so you can pick everything up in one order.