Dismantling and Rebuilding: The Deckbuilder's Dilemma
Published on HivePostify by @jacobtothe · Wed Jul 22 2026
I'm building a new Commander deck for Magic: The Gathering, and in doing so, I have set aside two others from my collection to take apart in the process. Sometimes an idea seems fun at first, but loses appeal in practice. Other times, there is a germ of an idea that fails to deliver. And finally, there are old ideas to be revisited.
https://gatherer-static.wizards.com/Cards/medium/DEED0143C23BC65E9F8DF9E2A464106278CBBA6632DF5D9F7C0F13B0B0B63689.webp
Ages ago on the beta blockchain, I [wrote](https://peakd.com/games/@jacobtothe/bug-zombies-a-budget-deck-for-magic-the-gathering) about trying to build a deck using [Sidisi, Brood Tyrant](https://gatherer.wizards.com/KTK/en-us/199/sidisi-brood-tyrant) (pictured at right, courtesy of Gatherer), but found it not particularly interesting to play. I've always wanted to revisit using her as a commander, and now with a larger card collection and more experience, I think it's time.
In the process, however, I have started taking apart the mono-black deck I [already](https://peakd.com/hive-188270/@jacobtothe/how-i-build-magic-decks) [wrote](https://peakd.com/hive-188270/@jacobtothe/i-slit-my-wrists-to-win) [about](https://peakd.com/hive-188270/@jacobtothe/new-deck-new-sleeves-a-review) three times. I also raided a Golgari landfall deck I may not have written about, built around [The Gitrog Monster.](https://gatherer.wizards.com/SOI/en-us/245/the-gitrog-monster) My old mill deck may eventually be retired and dismantled as well.
Why?
First, some of these decks are just not fun to play, either for me because they're so one-dimensional, or for my opponents because the gameplan is at odds with the friendly-ish casual nature of my group. Some folks want cut-throat tournament games, and I have a couple decks I am slowly building to that level, but I like "kitchen-table Magic."
Second, sometimes a deck idea feels like a process with no payoff, so when the deck "does its thing," a lot of game actions occur, but no real progress is made toward actually winning the game. This may be casual, but the goal is still to do something effective.
So, let's look at this card and see how I can use it. The official [Oracle text](https://gatherer.wizards.com/CMM/en-us/355/sidisi-brood-tyrant) with updates not printed on the piece of cardboard reads as follows.
> Legendary Creature – Snake Shaman (Rare) Whenever Sidisi enters or attacks, mill three cards. Whenever one or more creature cards are put into your graveyard from your library, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.
This tells me that an effective deck will include at least some of the following synergy features:
1. Self-mill more to generate extra 2/2 Zombie tokens from Sidisi's second ability, perhaps with [Dredge](https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Dredge) keyword cards 2. Add other self-mill payoffs like the aforementioned Gitrog Monster 3. Play more "enters" effects to benefit from the zombies entering the battlefield 4. Enhance those Zombie tokens to make them more effective as a combat win condition 5. Use those zombies for other effects, such as [Exploit,](https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Exploit) other "aristocrat" sacrifice strategies, crewing vehicles, etc. 6. Graveyard exploitation, such as playing cards which can be cast from the graveyard, or using the [Delve](https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Delve) and [Scavenge](https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Scavenge) keywords.
I can't build a deck to focus on all of these strategies at once, to say nothing of any themes I didn't list, but I can pick a few themes and build from there. This color combination of black, blue, and green also has potential for a fairly powerful deck with extra turns, infinite combos, and aggressive ramp. As of this post, I have a very rudimentary [decklist on Moxfield,](https://moxfield.com/decks/ilqfAcnDoHmiBsE3S0MG8Q) although it remains in its initial brainstorm stage. I haven't updated it because I want to wait until more refinement and playtesting occur.
Should I try to push it into Bracket 3 or 4 territory? That depends on whether I enjoy this deck, and how the group responds. Maybe I'll decide this isn't the kind of deck I want to play, and it may be set aside or dismantled in turn when inspiration strikes again. Or maybe I'll decide it gets bumped up in power for special occasions. Stay tuned!
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Tags: #magic#magicthegathering#mtg#commander#edh#sultai