Precon Upgrade Guide
Plunder the Graves Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Golgari graveyard precon from Commander 2015, commanded by Meren of Clan Nel Toth.
Commander 2015
Plunder the Graves
One of the best-known reanimator commanders, but tracking experience counters takes bookkeeping. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Plunder the Graves on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Plunder the Graves has one of the best engines of any older precon. Meren of Clan Nel Toth returns a creature from your graveyard every turn, so each creature with a useful enters or dies ability becomes a repeatable effect. The deck's problem is that it doesn't have enough cheap ways to sacrifice creatures on demand, and it spends too many slots on seven- and eight-mana creatures that Meren can't return to the battlefield until very late. Fixing those two things makes it much stronger.
TurnZero HQ rates Plunder the Graves a 3 out of 5 on difficulty and a 4 out of 5 on power, as it comes in the box. That is our editorial read, not an official Wizards rating. The full hundred cards are on the Plunder the Graves decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Meren of Clan Nel Toth gives you an experience counter whenever another creature you control dies. At the beginning of your end step, you choose a creature card in your graveyard. If its mana value is at most your experience count, it returns to the battlefield; otherwise it goes to your hand. Either way you get a creature back every turn, and as experience grows the returns go straight to the battlefield.
The best targets are creatures that do something when they enter or die. Sakura-Tribe Elder ramps each time it is sacrificed, Shriekmaw can be evoked for two mana to destroy a creature and then return at full value, and Eternal Witness brings back any card. Skullclamp draws two cards whenever the equipped creature dies.
Sacrifice outlets connect it all. Blood Bairn , Phyrexian Plaguelord , Eater of Hope and Altar's Reap turn creatures into experience, and Butcher of Malakir makes every opponent sacrifice a creature whenever one of yours dies.
What works out of the box
Meren of Clan Nel Toth ↗
Returns a creature from your graveyard every end step, to the battlefield once your experience is high enough. Any creature with an enters or dies ability becomes a repeatable effect.
Skullclamp ↗
Equip a 1-toughness creature and it dies at once, drawing two cards. With Meren returning creatures, it is a steady card engine.
Butcher of Malakir ↗
Every creature you sacrifice also makes each opponent sacrifice one. It turns the deck's sacrifice loops into removal.
Shriekmaw ↗
Evoke it for two mana to destroy a creature, and Meren returns it later to destroy another.
Sakura-Tribe Elder ↗
Sacrifice it for a land, gain experience, and bring it back with Meren to do it again.
Eternal Witness ↗
Returns any card from your graveyard to hand. With Meren it can retrieve a key spell every turn.
What needs improvement
The deck's sacrifice outlets mostly cost mana or come with conditions. Korozda Guildmage needs four mana per activation and Altar's Reap is a one-time spell. Without a free outlet you can't sacrifice a creature in response to removal, and it's harder to gain experience on your own schedule.
The top of the curve is heavy. Verdant Force , Caller of the Pack and Thief of Blood cost six to eight mana, so Meren only returns them to your hand for most of the game. The deck gets more from cheap creatures with an effect Meren can reuse.
Upgrade ideas
Each upgrade below starts from something the deck does poorly and says what a replacement card has to do. The cards named are examples, not the only answer: if you own something else that does the same job, or a newer printing does it better, it goes in the same slot. Make one change at a time and play a few games between them, so you can tell which change helped. The general method is in how to upgrade a Commander precon →
1. Add free sacrifice outlets
Meren rewards every creature that dies, and Skullclamp and Butcher of Malakir reward it again. A free outlet lets you sacrifice at instant speed whenever it helps.
What to look for Cheap creatures or artifacts that let you sacrifice a creature at no mana cost, ideally with a small bonus each time.
Cut, for example
Korozda Guildmage Its sacrifice ability costs four mana and only takes nontoken creatures. A free outlet does the job without the mana.
Great Oak Guardian A six-mana flash 4/5 whose effect is a one-turn pump. It doesn't do anything when it dies or returns.
Add, for example
Viscera Seer ↗
One mana: sacrifice a creature to scry 1. A free outlet that also sets up your draws.
Carrion Feeder ↗
One mana: sacrifice a creature to put a +1/+1 counter on it. It grows into a threat over a long game.
Ashnod's Altar ↗
Sacrifice a creature to add two colorless mana. Each sacrifice pays for the next creature or Meren's recast.
2. Lower the curve with creatures Meren can loop
Meren only returns creatures to the battlefield when their mana value is at or below your experience. Cheap creatures with strong enters effects come back far sooner.
What to look for Creatures costing four or less with an enters or dies ability that removes a threat, draws a card or returns a card.
Cut, for example
Verdant Force Eight mana. Meren needs eight experience to return it to the battlefield, so it mostly sits in your hand.
Caller of the Pack A seven-mana 8/6 with no enters or dies ability. Nothing about it improves when it is recycled.
Thief of Blood Six mana, and it removes every counter from every permanent, including your own Mycoloth's and Bloodspore Thrinax's.
Add, for example
Fleshbag Marauder ↗
Three mana: each player sacrifices a creature. You sacrifice a spare body for experience and each opponent loses one.
Ravenous Chupacabra ↗
Four mana: destroys a creature an opponent controls when it enters. With Meren, that is removal every turn.
Gravedigger ↗
Four mana: returns a creature card from your graveyard to your hand when it enters, giving you two returns a turn with Meren.
3. Untap the mana base
The deck wants to cast a creature and still have mana for a sacrifice outlet or Skullclamp equip. Lands that enter tapped make that harder.
What to look for Black-green lands that enter untapped in normal play.
Cut, for example
Polluted Mire A Swamp that always enters tapped. Its cycling cost of two is expensive for what it gives back.
Slippery Karst The green version: a tapped Forest with cycling.
Golgari Guildgate Always enters tapped and has no other ability.
Add, for example
Woodland Cemetery ↗
Enters untapped if you control a Swamp or Forest and taps for black or green.
Llanowar Wastes ↗
Always enters untapped. It taps for colorless for free or black or green for 1 damage.
Necroblossom Snarl ↗
Enters untapped if you reveal a Swamp or Forest from your hand and taps for black or green.
4. Get paid for every creature that dies
The deck sacrifices creatures constantly, but outside of Skullclamp it rarely gets cards or mana for it. A death trigger engine turns each loop into card advantage.
What to look for Creatures or permanents that draw a card or make mana whenever one of your creatures dies.
Cut, for example
Vulturous Zombie A five-mana 3/3 flier that grows when cards go to an opponent's graveyard. It doesn't interact with the sacrifice plan.
Win conditions
The upgraded deck wins by grinding. Sacrifice creatures for value every turn, let Meren of Clan Nel Toth bring back the best one at each end step, and let Butcher of Malakir and Fleshbag Marauder wear down every opponent's board. Once the table is empty, Kessig Cagebreakers , Mycoloth or Overwhelming Stampede turn your graveyard and token count into a lethal attack.
Who should buy this precon
A good fit for a player who likes value engines and long games and is comfortable tracking several triggers each turn. Knowing when to sacrifice, which creature to return with Meren, and when to hold back takes practice, so it is a step up from a simple attack-focused deck. A beginner can still pilot it, but will improve noticeably with a few games.
Checked against the printed decklist on October 10, 2026.
Track how the upgrades actually perform.
TurnZero HQ keeps a win rate per deck version, so you can change a few cards, play some games, and see the difference instead of guessing.
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