<p style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake" href="#" target="_blank">Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.daarken.com/">Daarken</a></span></i></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Drudge Skeletons"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kuro, Pitlord"></div></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hypnotic Specter"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dark Ritual"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first deck I ever built was Skeletons and Demons, using the regenerating <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Drudge Skeletons" href="#" target="_blank">Drudge Skeletons</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to clog up the ground while the foil <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kuro, Pitlord" href="#" target="_blank">Kuro, Pitlord</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> from my first-ever booster pack beat down. Like last week’s <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hypnotic Specter" href="#" target="_blank">Hypnotic Specter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s, my first deck was powered by <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dark Ritual" href="#" target="_blank">Dark Ritual</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s to enable the Demon beatdown plan. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is where our commander, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake" href="#" target="_blank">Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> 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.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake"></div></div>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">What Does <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake" href="#" target="_blank">Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Do?</span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Reassembling Skeleton"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Skeleton Horror is a conglomeration of Skeleton pieces capable of reanimating itself from the grave, operating on a similar level to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reassembling Skeleton" href="#" target="_blank">Reassembling Skeleton</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. 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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reassembling Skeleton" href="#" target="_blank">Reassembling Skeleton</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> does, but on a grander scale?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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?</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Key Cards for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake" href="#" target="_blank">Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></span></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Millikin"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Deranged Assistant"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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 <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reassembling Skeleton" href="#" target="_blank">Reassembling Skeleton</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on a massive scale, we need ways to fill the grave. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Millikin" href="#" target="_blank">Millikin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deranged Assistant" href="#" target="_blank">Deranged Assistant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are solid ways to fill the grave while ramping, enabling explosive starts.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Patriarch&#039;s Bidding"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Living Death"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once we have a full grave, we want to return all the Skeletons at once. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reassembling Skeleton" href="#" target="_blank">Reassembling Skeleton</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is cute and has solid synergy with sacrifice effects, but <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Patriarch&#039;s Bidding" href="#" target="_blank">Patriarch&#039;s Bidding</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Living Death" href="#" target="_blank">Living Death</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are win conditions that can provide dramatic swings in momentum. These swings are what enables us to go wide while maintaining a solid defense.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Deadly Dispute"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Vivisection"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speaking of sacrificing, both black and blue have ways to sacrifice creatures for fun and profit. We can draw cards with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Deadly Dispute" href="#" target="_blank">Deadly Dispute</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vivisection" href="#" target="_blank">Vivisection</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, or remove creatures with Bone Shards and Bone Splinters. Either way, we get bodies into the grave without milling.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Phyrexian Tower"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Crypt of Agadeem"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Spawning Pool"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our nonbasic lands involve the grave, sacrificing, and even Skeletons! <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phyrexian Tower" href="#" target="_blank">Phyrexian Tower</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crypt of Agadeem" href="#" target="_blank">Crypt of Agadeem</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are ways to generate large amounts of mana, while <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spawning Pool" href="#" target="_blank">Spawning Pool</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> happens to animate into a Skeleton and is another excellent way to follow up a board wipe.</span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">How Does This <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake" href="#" target="_blank">Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span></span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Commander Deck Win?</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p>
<h2><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake" href="#" target="_blank">Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Commander Decklist</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake Commander Deck Tech" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="&nbsp;
[Commander]
*1 Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake
[/Commander]
&nbsp;
[Creatures]
*1 Bone Dragon
*1 Carrionette
*1 Champion of Stray Souls
*1 Clattering Augur
*1 Death Baron
*1 Death Tyrant
*1 Death-Priest of Myrkul
*1 Deranged Assistant
*1 Dimir House Guard
*1 Drudge Skeletons
*1 Emperor of Bones
*1 Ghastly Death Tyrant
*1 Gutless Plunderer
*1 Gutterbones
*1 Hunted Bonebrute
*1 Kathari Remnant
*1 Manor Skeleton
*1 Millikin
*1 Mortus Strider
*1 Ozox, the Clattering King
*1 Paragon of Open Graves
*1 Persistent Specimen
*1 Reassembling Skeleton
*1 Restless Dead
*1 Sanitarium Skeleton
*1 Scrabbling Skullcrab
*1 Screaming Swarm
*1 Skeletal Vampire
*1 Skeleton Crew
*1 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
*1 Tenacious Dead
*1 Underworld Sentinel
[/Creatures]
&nbsp;
[Enchantments]
*1 Cemetery Tampering
*1 Corpses of the Lost
*1 Out of the Tombs
*1 Oversold Cemetery
*1 Ripples of Undeath
[/Enchantments]
&nbsp;
[Artifacts]
*1 Altar of the Wretched // Wretched Bonemass
*1 Grimoire of the Dead
*1 The Grim Captain&#039;s Locker
[/Artifacts]
&nbsp;
[Instants]
*1 Another Chance
*1 Deadly Dispute
*1 Death Denied
*1 Eviscerator&#039;s Insight
*1 Nasty End
*1 Village Rites
[/Instants]
&nbsp;
[Sorceries]
*1 Bone Shards
*1 Bone Splinters
*1 Boneyard Parley
*1 Call of the Death-Dweller
*1 Command the Dreadhorde
*1 Dread Return
*1 Haunting Voyage
*1 Incarnation Technique
*1 Living Death
*1 Patriarch&#039;s Bidding
*1 Skulltap
*1 Victimize
*1 Vivisection
[/Sorceries]
&nbsp;
[Lands]
*1 Accursed Duneyard
*1 Cavern of Souls
*1 Crypt of Agadeem
*1 Hostile Hostel // Creeping Inn
*10 Island
*1 Path of Ancestry
*1 Phyrexian Tower
*1 Rogue&#039;s Passage
*1 Spawning Pool
*1 Spymaster&#039;s Vault
*20 Swamp
*1 Tomb Fortress
[/Lands]
&nbsp;"></span></div></span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;">Conclusion</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But how would you build Skeletons? And is building around board wipes better than mass reanimation?</span></p>


regenerate

Building Skeleton Kindred with Uchbenbak, the Great Mistake