OrzhovLegendary Creature — Dwarf ClericBarrowin of Clan Undurr
Mana value4Rank#10,034
The Commander
When Barrowin enters, venture into the dungeon. (Enter the first room or advance to the next room.)
Whenever Barrowin attacks, return up to one creature card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield if you've completed a dungeon.
Guide
Gameplan
Barrowin venturing each time she enters means you steadily complete dungeons, then her attack trigger reanimates a 3-or-less-MV creature every combat. Build an aristocrats/sacrifice shell of cheap value creatures, dungeon-venture engines, and recursion so each swing rebuys an ETB or sac fodder while you grind opponents to death.
Strengths
- Repeatable free reanimation of efficient ETB creatures every combat once a dungeon is completed
- Built-in card advantage from venture triggers (especially Lost Mine of Phandelver and the Dungeon of the Mad Mage)
- BW gives access to the best removal, recursion, and sacrifice payoffs in the format
- Cheap, recastable commander that immediately advances a dungeon on each cast
Weaknesses
- Reanimation is gated behind completing a dungeon and on attacking, so it's slow to come online
- Restricted to creatures with mana value 3 or less, capping ceiling on reanimation targets
- Relies on Barrowin connecting in combat, vulnerable to removal, fogs, and chump blocks
- Can be grindy and low-impact without a defined sacrifice or combo payoff
Key Cards
- Acererak the Archlich — Repeatedly ventures and self-bounces to complete Tomb of Annihilation, and combos to mill out the table once you have a death payoff.
- Blood Artist — A cheap reanimation target whose ETB and death triggers turn your sacrifice loops into incremental drain.
- Zulaport Cutthroat — Another sub-3-MV drain payoff that converts Barrowin's recurred bodies into guaranteed life loss.
- Viscera Seer — Free sacrifice outlet that lets you reuse ETB creatures every turn and enables aristocrats loops.
- Karmic Guide — At MV 3 it's a recurrable reanimator itself, chaining bigger creatures back from the yard each loop.
- Reveler's Throng — Cheap venture enabler that helps you finish dungeons fast to switch Barrowin's reanimation online.
- Pitiless Plunderer — Turns each sacrificed reanimated creature into Treasure, fueling recast loops and mana for the deck.
Upgrade Path
Add fast mana and efficient sacrifice outlets (Ashnod's Altar, Phyrexian Altar) plus a free sac engine so reanimated creatures convert into closing loops. Tighten the curve toward sub-3-MV value creatures and tutors like Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor to assemble Acererak or Blood Artist combos, and include protection (Teferi's Protection, Heroic Intervention) to keep Barrowin attacking.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Aristocrats drain via Blood Artist/Zulaport Cutthroat loops fueled by recurred creatures
- ▸Acererak the Archlich loops to mill or drain the entire table
- ▸Grinding incremental advantage then beating down with a recurring creature army
- ▸Dungeon completion payoffs plus reanimated threats overwhelming a depleted board
Archetypes
- Aristocrats — Reanimate cheap ETB/death-trigger creatures each attack and sacrifice them for repeatable value and drain.
- Reanimator — Her attack trigger gives recurring free reanimation of small creatures, supplemented by full reanimation spells.
- Value Midrange — Venture triggers plus recursion grind out card advantage and pick the board apart over time.
- Combo — Acererak with sacrifice and life-loss payoffs assembles infinite venture/drain loops to close games.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BW), by popularity.
