Uchbenbak, the Great MistakeUchbenbak, the Great Mistake | Art by Daarken

Skeletons are an integral part of getting into the Halloween spirit. Every year, when I was in elementary school, we would watch a cartoon version of Danse macabre, a symphonic poem by Camille Saint-Saens. It was a beautiful and haunting depiction of skeletons rising from their graves, playing music, and dancing, and it’s stayed with me ever since, inspiring today’s kindred build.

The first deck I ever built was Skeletons and Demons, using the regenerating Drudge SkeletonsDrudge Skeletons to clog up the ground while the foil Kuro, PitlordKuro, Pitlord from my first-ever booster pack beat down. Like last week’s Hypnotic SpecterHypnotic Specters, my first deck was powered by Dark RitualDark Rituals to enable the Demon beatdown plan. 

The Skeleton of that deck can make an interesting kindred Commander deck, but there are some holes to address when trying to make them a centerpiece. Small, regenerating creatures do a great job of defense, but there’s a reason I needed Demons for offense. If we’re going to cut the Demons, we need to have some sort of a plan.

This is where our commander, Uchbenbak, the Great MistakeUchbenbak, the Great Mistake comes in. While the name may evoke the humorous “French Mistake” dance sequence from Blazing Saddles, the card is no joke, and neither is this Commander deck tech.

What Does Uchbenbak, the Great MistakeUchbenbak, the Great Mistake Do?

The Skeleton Horror is a conglomeration of Skeleton pieces capable of reanimating itself from the grave, operating on a similar level to Reassembling SkeletonReassembling Skeleton. It requires mana to activate this ability, as well as eight or more permanent cards in the graveyard. A threat that can return itself over and over is quite deadly, although it does enter with a finality counter that would exile it upon death if returned this way.

One of the most important elements of our commander is its raw stats. Most Skeletons only have one or two power, but our commander is a bunch of Skeletons bundled together, so it’s much bigger than any one body. No, our commander is a 6/4 with vigilance and menace, making it a powerhouse on offense and defense. Now we can beat in on opponents while holding the ground with regenerators.

But how do we actually win? Armies of the undead tend to be slow and inevitable, but those types of decks, while good at winning, are rarely exciting. We could build this deck to use the regeneration with board wipes to outlast opponents, and that could be effective. This version, though, is much more grandiose: what if we did what Reassembling SkeletonReassembling Skeleton does, but on a grander scale?

You see, there are other creature types that interact with the graveyard, like Zombies. How are Skeletons different from Zombies? Is the little bit of flesh that clings to Zombies enough to make them functionally unique from Skeletons?

Key Cards for Uchbenbak, the Great MistakeUchbenbak, the Great Mistake

While Zombies tend to care about the graveyard, we’re going all-in. Since our commander cares about permanents in the grave, and we want to Reassembling SkeletonReassembling Skeleton on a massive scale, we need ways to fill the grave. MillikinMillikin and Deranged AssistantDeranged Assistant are solid ways to fill the grave while ramping, enabling explosive starts.

Once we have a full grave, we want to return all the Skeletons at once. Reassembling SkeletonReassembling Skeleton is cute and has solid synergy with sacrifice effects, but Patriarch's BiddingPatriarch's Bidding and Living DeathLiving Death are win conditions that can provide dramatic swings in momentum. These swings are what enables us to go wide while maintaining a solid defense.

Speaking of sacrificing, both black and blue have ways to sacrifice creatures for fun and profit. We can draw cards with Deadly DisputeDeadly Dispute or VivisectionVivisection, or remove creatures with Bone Shards and Bone Splinters. Either way, we get bodies into the grave without milling.

Our nonbasic lands involve the grave, sacrificing, and even Skeletons! Phyrexian TowerPhyrexian Tower and Crypt of AgadeemCrypt of Agadeem are ways to generate large amounts of mana, while Spawning PoolSpawning Pool happens to animate into a Skeleton and is another excellent way to follow up a board wipe.

How Does This Uchbenbak, the Great MistakeUchbenbak, the Great Mistake Commander Deck Win?

Our goal is to load our grave with Skeletons and then bring them all back in a glorious and horrifying display of necromantic power. We can bide time by clogging the ground with recursive defenders as we mill and sacrifice our way to a full grave.

Uchbenbak, the Great MistakeUchbenbak, the Great Mistake Commander Decklist

Conclusion

Skeletons are a lot of fun as a support type, but even more so as a focus. Yes, they need some work to become a threat, but, once they get going, they can be truly frightening.

But how would you build Skeletons? And is building around board wipes better than mass reanimation?