BlackLegendary Creature — Vampire VillainMorlun, Devourer of Spiders
Mana value2Rank#10,287
The Commander
Morlun enters with X +1/+1 counters on him.
When Morlun enters, he deals X damage to target opponent.
Guide
Gameplan
Cast Morlun for a big X, dropping a lifelinking beater that pings an opponent for X on the way in. Then loop him via blink, sacrifice, and reanimation so each re-entry repeats that direct damage while you gain life, grinding the table down with a mix of commander damage and burn.
Strengths
- ETB damage that hits players directly is repeatable and dodges most creature-based defenses
- Lifelink keeps you out of burn/aggro range and fuels life-payment effects
- Cheap base cost (X plus B) means he scales with your mana on every recast
- Mono-black gives elite tutors, ramp, and recursion to assemble the loop
Weaknesses
- His damage and stats are entirely tied to mana available, so he's weak under stax or early
- Single-target damage is slow against three opponents and easy to ignore in multiplayer
- Relies on graveyard/blink engines that fold to graveyard hate or exile removal
- Mono-black struggles to interact with artifacts and enchantments
Key Cards
- Conjurer's Closet — End-step blinks Morlun every turn to re-trigger the X damage and reset counters for free.
- Phyrexian Reclamation — Cheaply returns Morlun from the graveyard so you can recast him for another big X each turn.
- Cabal Coffers — Doubletap with Urborg to flood mana into Morlun's X for huge entry damage.
- Sword of Feast and Famine — Untaps your lands on combat damage, effectively letting you cast a second big Morlun or pump the next one.
- Ashnod's Altar — Sacrifice Morlun for mana, then recast him to repeat the ping and convert his body into more X.
Upgrade Path
Prioritize big mana (Cabal Coffers, Nyxbloom Ancient, Nykthos) so every Morlun cast deals lethal-sized chunks, and add cost-reducers or rituals to chain casts. Lock in repeatable blink (Conjurer's Closet, Thassa, Deep-Dwelling) and cheap recursion (Phyrexian Reclamation, Skullclamp value) to guarantee a trigger each turn. Round out with mono-black tutors (Demonic/Vampiric Tutor) and protection so your engine survives removal.
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
- ▸Repeated ETB damage from blinking or recasting Morlun for large X
- ▸Commander damage from a counter-stacked, equipped lifelinking Morlun
- ▸Grinding life totals down with aristocrats drains while you stay safe via lifelink
Archetypes
- Blink — Flicker effects re-trigger his enter ability to repeatedly burn an opponent.
- Reanimator/Recursion — Cheap return-to-hand and reanimation loops let you recast a big Morlun every turn.
- Lifegain/Aristocrats — Lifelink plus sacrifice outlets turn Morlun into a recurring life engine and removable token of damage.
- Voltron — His +1/+1 counters and lifelink make him a credible 21-damage commander threat with equipment.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (B), by popularity.
