Deck overview
This is a mono-black artifact graveyard midrange deck built around Imotekh the Stormlord.
The deck has one central plan: move artifact cards out of the graveyard through separate, efficient events. Each time one or more artifact cards leave our graveyard, Imotekh creates two 2/2 black Necron Warrior artifact creature tokens.
The deck then converts those tokens into:
- Combat pressure
- Sacrifice material
- Vehicle crew
- Mana
- Card advantage
- Cranial Plating power
- Direct damage through Necron Overlord
This is not a collection of unrelated Necron cards and it is not a generic mono-black Commander deck. Its creatures, self-mill, recursion, artifact payoffs and finishers are all selected to support the same engine.
Why Imotekh
Najeela has a stronger standalone combat ability, but Warhammer cannot provide the untapped five-color mana base or the density of efficient Warriors needed to build a consistent Najeela deck.
Imotekh offers the strongest complete construction:
- A completely reliable black mana base
- A deep artifact-creature pool
- Seven creatures with natural unearth
- Multiple ways to mill or sacrifice artifacts
- Several independent recursion effects
- A commander that turns recursion into an immediate battlefield
- A functional artifact midrange plan when the graveyard is unavailable
Imotekh costs four mana and does not provide value merely by entering the battlefield. It should normally be cast when an artifact is ready to leave the graveyard or when the opponent is unlikely to remove it before the next turn.
Mana base
The deck contains 38 lands:
- 35 Swamp
- Path of Ancestry
- Tomb Fortress
- Vault of Whispers
Every land produces black mana. Thirty-six enter untapped; only Path of Ancestry and Tomb Fortress always enter tapped.
Path of Ancestry
The deck contains 19 Necron creature spells counting Imotekh.
Path of Ancestry scries whenever one of those creatures is cast. It does not trigger when a Necron is returned through unearth or reanimation because those effects do not cast the creature.
The repeated card selection is worth one tapped-land slot.
Tomb Fortress
Tomb Fortress is the second tapped land.
In the late game, it can exile itself to:
- Mill four cards.
- Return any creature from the graveyard to the battlefield.
- Trigger Imotekh if the returned card is an artifact.
The returned creature does not need to be one of the four cards just milled.
Vault of Whispers
Vault of Whispers is an untapped black source and an artifact.
Its main benefits are:
- Increasing Cranial Plating's bonus
- Counting toward Necron Overlord
- Counting toward Their Number Is Legion's life gain
- Triggering Psychomancer if it leaves the battlefield for the graveyard or exile
- Being a legal target for Beacon of Unrest if returning a land is necessary
Vault of Whispers is not a Swamp. The deck still retains 35 Swamps, enough to support all of its basic-land payoffs.
Excluded nonbasic lands
Barren Moor is the closest exclusion. Cycling is useful when flooded, but the deck already plays two tapped lands and needs to cast two-mana rocks or interaction on schedule.
Command Tower is worse than Swamp in mono-black because it does not improve color production and does not support Defile, Mutilate, Endless Atlas or Sceptre of Eternal Glory.
Myriad Landscape, Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse cost too much tempo. Reliquary Tower, Temple of the False God and Cave of Temptation introduce unnecessary colorless sources.
Ramp
The early acceleration package is:
- Sol Ring
- Wayfarer's Bauble
- Arcane Signet
- Fellwar Stone
- Mind Stone
- Thought Vessel
- Everflowing Chalice
- Dark Ritual
Fellwar Stone is not guaranteed to produce black. It is still useful because most of the deck's spells contain generic mana in their costs.
Sceptre of Eternal Glory normally produces three black mana because the deck controls many basic lands with the same name.
Illuminor Szeras and The Golden Throne convert expendable creatures into additional mana.
The Golden Throne
The Golden Throne is not included merely as a defensive Commander card.
Imotekh produces expendable 2/2 artifact Warriors. The Throne converts one of those creatures into three mana, allowing the deck to chain several recursion effects during the same turn.
It can also sacrifice a creature marked by Cryptek. The creature returns tapped, Imotekh creates two Warriors and the three generated mana remains available.
Do not sacrifice an unearthed creature expecting a death trigger. Unearth replaces any attempt to move that permanent anywhere other than exile, so the creature is exiled rather than dying.
Mulligan guide
A normal keep should contain:
- Two to four lands
- An early mana source or relevant two-drop
- An artifact creature, graveyard enabler or interaction
- A realistic route to Imotekh by turn three or four
Keep two-land hands with:
- Sol Ring
- Wayfarer's Bauble
- Arcane Signet
- Fellwar Stone
- Mind Stone
- Thought Vessel
- Everflowing Chalice
A two-land hand with Dark Ritual is acceptable when it also contains Imotekh and a useful follow-up.
Mulligan:
- Two-land hands without acceleration
- Five or more lands without a card-advantage engine
- Several expensive recursion spells but no creatures
- Graveyard payoffs without a way to fill the graveyard
- Hands that do nothing if Imotekh is removed once
- Hands with Ghost Ark but no creatures, crew or graveyard setup
Early turns
Turn one
The preferred plays are:
- Sol Ring
- Wayfarer's Bauble
- Skullclamp
- Holding Defile or Bone Splinters against an explosive commander
Turn two
Develop:
- A two-mana rock
- Chronomancer
- Psychomancer
- Triarch Praetorian
- Endless Atlas or Mask of Memory in a slower matchup
Turn three
With acceleration, Imotekh may already be the correct play.
Without acceleration, prepare the engine with:
- Flayed One
- Convergence of Dominion
- Out of the Tombs
- Night Scythe
- Illuminor Szeras
Turn four
Cast Imotekh naturally when there is a realistic chance of generating value before the opponent can remove it.
The ideal sequence is not simply “cast Imotekh and pass.” It is “cast Imotekh, then move an artifact out of the graveyard.”
Filling the graveyard
The principal graveyard enablers are:
- Flayed One
- Out of the Tombs
- Convergence of Dominion
- Szarekh, the Silent King
- Necron Deathmark
- Technomancer
- Tomb Fortress
- Creatures sacrificed to Bone Splinters, Illuminor Szeras, Dread Return or The Golden Throne
Out of the Tombs mills an increasing number of cards every upkeep: two, then four, then six and so on. It is the most powerful sustained self-mill engine, but it should not be played while under immediate lethal pressure.
Natural unearth package
The deck contains seven creatures with natural unearth:
- Chronomancer
- Triarch Praetorian
- Skorpekh Lord
- Canoptek Tomb Sentinel
- Lokhust Heavy Destroyer
- Royal Warden
- Hexmark Destroyer
Each unearth activation is performed separately. Each resolved activation therefore creates its own Imotekh trigger and two Warriors.
Unearthed creatures gain haste and are exiled at the beginning of the next end step. If they would leave the battlefield for another zone, they are exiled instead.
Ghost Ark and Convergence of Dominion
Ghost Ark gives unearth {3} to every artifact creature card in the graveyard when its crew trigger resolves.
Convergence of Dominion reduces activated abilities of cards in the graveyard by {2} while Imotekh is under our control. It cannot reduce a cost below one mana and does not grant any new abilities.
With Imotekh, Ghost Ark and Convergence:
- Crew Ghost Ark.
- Its trigger gives the current artifact creatures in the graveyard unearth
{3}. - Convergence reduces each activation to
{1}. - Activate each unearth ability separately.
- Every returned artifact creates two Warriors through Imotekh.
The engine is finite. It is limited by the number of artifact creatures in the graveyard and the available mana.
Artifact creatures entering the graveyard after the Ghost Ark trigger resolves do not gain unearth unless Ghost Ark becomes crewed again.
Biotransference
Biotransference makes all our creatures, creature spells and creature cards outside the battlefield into artifacts.
This incorporates the few nonartifact creatures into the main engine:
- Merciless Executioner
- Tallyman of Nurgle
- Poxwalkers
With Biotransference:
- Ghost Ark can give them unearth
- Their departure from the graveyard triggers Imotekh
- Mystic Forge can cast them from the top of the library
- Canoptek Spyder can draw when they enter
- Casting any creature creates another 2/2 artifact Warrior
Each artifact spell cast while Biotransference is active costs one life through its trigger. Life must be managed carefully in a 20-life format.
Individual recursion
The best Imotekh triggers come from moving one artifact at a time.
The individual recursion package includes:
- Unearth
- Cryptek
- Dread Return
- Beacon of Unrest
- Anrakyr the Traveller
- Redemptor Dreadnought
- Tomb Fortress
Cryptek
Cryptek marks another artifact creature. If that creature dies during the turn, it returns tapped.
Useful sacrifice outlets include:
- Bone Splinters
- Illuminor Szeras
- The Golden Throne
- Dread Return
- Canoptek Wraith
When the marked artifact returns, Imotekh creates two Warriors.
Anrakyr the Traveller
When Anrakyr attacks, it can cast an artifact from the hand or graveyard by paying life equal to its mana value instead of paying mana.
Casting an artifact from the graveyard triggers Imotekh.
Strong targets include:
- Ghost Ark
- Cranial Plating
- Mystic Forge
- Night Scythe
- Canoptek Tomb Sentinel
- Royal Warden
- Skysovereign
Anrakyr cannot play Vault of Whispers because a land is not an artifact spell.
Redemptor Dreadnought
Redemptor Dreadnought can exile an artifact creature from the graveyard as an additional casting cost.
That artifact leaves the graveyard before Redemptor resolves, immediately triggering Imotekh. This produces two Warriors even if Redemptor is later countered.
Mass recursion
Living Death and Technomancer may return several artifact creatures simultaneously.
When several artifact cards leave the graveyard at the same time, Imotekh triggers only once. These cards are included because they rebuild the battlefield, not because they create a trigger for every returned creature.
Living Death
Living Death is both a sweeper and a mass-recursion spell.
Its symmetry can be managed by:
- Filling our graveyard more efficiently than the opponent
- Exiling the opponent's graveyard with Canoptek Scarab Swarm
- Sacrificing our battlefield before it resolves
- Rebuilding with artifact creatures that provide immediate value
Poxwalkers
Poxwalkers returns tapped whenever a spell is cast from outside the hand.
Relevant triggers include:
- Imotekh from the command zone
- Dread Return through flashback
- Their Number Is Legion from the graveyard
- Artifacts cast from the graveyard through Anrakyr
- Artifacts cast from the top through Mystic Forge
With Biotransference active, Poxwalkers is an artifact in the graveyard. Returning it then triggers Imotekh.
Card advantage
The principal card-advantage engines are:
- Skullclamp
- Mask of Memory
- Endless Atlas
- Mystic Forge
- Tallyman of Nurgle
- Canoptek Spyder
- Szarekh, the Silent King
Skullclamp
Imotekh's Warriors are 2/2, so Skullclamp does not kill them automatically.
It is best used on:
- One-toughness creatures
- Creatures being sacrificed
- Creatures expected to die in combat
- Creatures about to be swept by Mutilate
- A Warrior before sacrificing it to Bone Splinters, Dread Return, Illuminor Szeras or The Golden Throne
Canoptek Spyder
Canoptek Spyder draws whenever another nontoken artifact creature or Vehicle enters the battlefield.
This includes creatures returned through:
- Unearth
- Cryptek
- Dread Return
- Beacon of Unrest
- Living Death
- Technomancer
- Tomb Fortress
Winning the game
Warrior pressure
Every Imotekh trigger produces four power across two artifact bodies.
Skorpekh Lord gives the other artifact creatures +1/+0 and menace. Imotekh gives another artifact creature +2/+2 and menace at the beginning of combat.
Several separate recursion events rapidly produce a lethal battlefield.
Cranial Plating
The deck contains 47 printed artifact cards and creates additional artifact tokens.
The best Cranial Plating carriers are:
- Canoptek Wraith, which cannot be blocked
- Canoptek Scarab tokens
- Ghost Ark
- Night Scythe
- A creature with menace
- Any disposable token when combat damage is sufficient
Royal Warden
Returning Royal Warden through unearth produces:
- Royal Warden with haste
- Two Warriors from Imotekh
- Two additional tapped Warriors from Royal Warden
The four tokens are not automatically attacking. Only Royal Warden gains haste from unearth.
Necron Overlord
Necron Overlord gives the deck a noncombat finish.
By paying {X} and tapping X untapped artifacts, it makes the opponent lose X life. This turns excess Warriors, Vehicles and utility artifacts into direct damage.
It is particularly effective:
- In stalled combat positions
- After producing a large unearth turn
- At the opponent's end step
- In response to a mass artifact-removal spell
Their Number Is Legion
Their Number Is Legion can be cast from the graveyard.
It creates X tapped 2/2 Necron Warrior artifact tokens and gains life equal to the number of artifacts controlled. Because it is a sorcery rather than an artifact, casting it from the graveyard does not trigger Imotekh.
Its roles are:
- Rebuilding after a sweeper
- Producing a finishing army
- Recovering life
- Converting excess mana into permanent resources
Interaction
The cheap removal package is:
- Defile
- Bile Blight
- Go for the Throat
- Bone Splinters
Additional interaction comes from:
- Merciless Executioner
- Necron Deathmark
- Canoptek Tomb Sentinel
- Skysovereign
- Unstable Obelisk
- Canoptek Scarab Swarm
Defile and Mutilate
The 35 Swamps make Defile and Mutilate reliable despite the three utility lands.
Mutilate also places our artifact creatures in the graveyard, allowing the deck to rebuild through unearth or mass recursion.
Their Name Is Death
Their Name Is Death destroys every nonartifact creature.
Most of our creatures are naturally artifacts, and Biotransference makes the remaining creatures artifacts as well. It is therefore the closest thing the deck has to a one-sided sweeper.
Unstable Obelisk
Unstable Obelisk is slower than the other mana artifacts, but mono-black has very few ways to remove enchantments.
It provides:
- Additional mana in normal games
- A late answer to any nonland permanent
- A necessary out to graveyard hate and other restrictive enchantments
Playing against aggression
Prioritize:
- Defile
- Bile Blight
- Go for the Throat
- Merciless Executioner
- Cheap artifact creatures as blockers
- Mutilate
Do not spend the early turns on Endless Atlas, Out of the Tombs or expensive setup while the opponent is presenting a lethal clock.
Venomcrawler and Tallyman of Nurgle provide relevant lifelink. Their Number Is Legion can restore a large amount of life later.
Playing against control
Do not commit every creature or artifact to the battlefield.
Prioritize persistent engines:
- Out of the Tombs
- Mystic Forge
- Endless Atlas
- Mask of Memory
- Szarekh
Try to cast Imotekh immediately before an artifact can leave the graveyard. This reduces the opponent's opportunity to remove it without allowing at least one trigger.
Playing against graveyard hate
The deck can continue as artifact midrange through:
- Cranial Plating
- Mystic Forge
- Night Scythe
- Skysovereign
- Canoptek Spyder
- Skorpekh Lord
- Biotransference
- Necron Overlord
Do not continue investing mana into the graveyard while a permanent graveyard-exile effect is active. Remove it through Unstable Obelisk or Canoptek Tomb Sentinel.
Main weaknesses
The deck is vulnerable to:
- Repeated removal of Imotekh
- Graveyard exile
- Mass artifact destruction
- Fast spell-based combo
- Restrictive enchantments
- Very aggressive openings before the engines are established
The basic-heavy mana base ensures that mass artifact destruction does not also remove most of the lands.
No infinite combo
The deck contains no deterministic infinite combo.
Ghost Ark and Convergence of Dominion form a powerful finite engine. The number of artifact creatures in the graveyard and the available mana limit the number of unearth activations.
The deck wins by repeatedly exchanging resources, rebuilding more efficiently than the opponent and converting every recursion event into additional pressure.