Graveyard Hate You Should Be Running in Commander

If you're not running graveyard hate in your Commander deck, someone at your table is thanking you for it.

Graveyard strategies are everywhere in EDH. Reanimator, flashback, dredge, escape, kindred recursion — nearly every deck uses the graveyard as a resource at some level. Even that generic goodstuff deck across the table is running Eternal Witness and Sun Titan. The graveyard isn't a discard pile anymore. It's a second hand.

The problem is that most players don't pack enough answers. They'll run twelve pieces of creature removal and zero ways to deal with a stacked graveyard. Then they act surprised when the Meren of Clan Nel Toth player assembles a loop on turn six because nobody touched the yard.

You don't need to dedicate five slots to graveyard hate. You need one or two cards that cost you almost nothing in deck space and give you a panic button when things spiral. Here's what to run, sorted by what they actually ask from you.

The zero-cost options

These cards slot into decks without costing you a meaningful card slot or any mana.

Bojuka Bog

A land that exiles a graveyard. You were going to play a land this turn anyway. Bojuka Bog enters tapped, which is a real cost in faster metas, but in most Commander games the tempo loss is barely noticeable. It wipes one player's entire graveyard, no mana required, and it's tutorable with anything that finds lands.

If you're in black and your deck isn't hyper-aggressive about its mana curve, run this. Around eighty-nine cents for the cheapest printing.

Tormod's Crypt

Zero mana to cast. Zero mana to activate. Tormod's Crypt sits on the battlefield and threatens any graveyard at the table. The sacrifice cost means it's a one-shot, but the fact that it's completely free makes it absurdly easy to include. Drop it early and hold it until someone tries to reanimate something disgusting. About thirty-four cents.

Soul-Guide Lantern

One mana to play, and it draws a card when you sacrifice it. Soul-Guide Lantern gives you a targeted exile on entry (one card from one graveyard) and a full board wipe of all graveyards on activation. The card draw means it replaces itself even if nobody at the table is doing anything graveyard-heavy. Worst case scenario, it's a one-mana cantrip. Eighteen cents.

This is probably the single best "I don't know what my meta looks like" graveyard hate card in the format.

The staple artifacts

Colorless options that go in literally anything.

Grafdigger's Cage

Grafdigger's Cage doesn't exile graveyards — it prevents creatures from entering the battlefield from graveyards or libraries. That distinction matters. It shuts down reanimation, Collected Company, Birthing Pod, and any commander that cheats creatures into play from hidden zones. It does nothing against flashback, escape, or other cast-from-graveyard mechanics.

At $2.16 for the cheapest printing, it's a permanent answer that stays on the board until someone deals with it. Just make sure it doesn't accidentally hose your own deck.

Weathered Runestone

Two mana for a broader version of the Cage effect. Weathered Runestone prevents all permanents from entering the battlefield from graveyards or libraries — not just creatures. That catches a lot of artifact and enchantment recursion that Cage misses. About thirty-five cents and barely anyone runs it, which is criminal.

Relic of Progenitus

One mana to cast, one mana to exile a card from a single graveyard, or two mana and a sacrifice to exile everything. Relic of Progenitus hits all graveyards — including yours — which matters if you're doing your own recursion. The targeted activation lets you snipe key cards without going nuclear, and like Soul-Guide Lantern, it draws you a card when you crack it. Currently around $4.40, which is steep for a role-player, but the flexibility earns the slot.

Unlicensed Hearse

A two-mana artifact that taps to exile up to two cards from a single graveyard — and it grows into a threat as it eats cards. Unlicensed Hearse is repeatable graveyard hate that doubles as a beater once it's accumulated enough counters. It doesn't sacrifice itself, so you can keep chipping away at graveyards turn after turn. Thirty-three cents. If you want a graveyard hate card that also pressures life totals, this is it.

The color-locked powerhouses

These require specific colors but hit harder than the generic options.

Rest in Peace

The nuclear option. Rest in Peace replaces all graveyards with exile. Cards don't go to the graveyard at all — they get exiled instead. Two white mana and the entire graveyard axis of the game ceases to exist. For forty-nine cents, you get permanent, passive hate that requires enchantment removal to deal with.

The catch is obvious: this also exiles your stuff. Don't run it in a deck that cares about its own graveyard unless you're specifically trying to lock other people out of theirs.

Dauthi Voidwalker

Two black mana for a 3/2 with shadow that exiles cards that would go to opponents' graveyards. Dauthi Voidwalker is offensive graveyard hate — it prevents opponents from using their graveyards while threatening to steal the best card it exiled. Shadow makes it nearly unblockable, so it's also chipping in for damage every turn.

At $4.70 it's the most expensive card on this list, but it does so much. Play this on turn two and suddenly the reanimator player has nothing to work with.

Ashiok, Dream Render

A three-mana planeswalker in blue-black that exiles all cards from a target player's graveyard and prevents opponents from searching their libraries. Ashiok, Dream Render combines graveyard exile with tutor hate, which is a brutal combination in Commander. The minus ability is -1, so you get three full activations before Ashiok dies. $1.56 and doesn't see nearly enough play.

Nihil Spellbomb

One mana to play, exile a graveyard for one black mana, and draw a card in the process if you're in black. Nihil Spellbomb is the black-inclusive Soul-Guide Lantern. Without black mana, you can still sacrifice it to exile a graveyard — you just don't get the card draw. About $1.42. The floor is a one-mana graveyard wipe; the ceiling is a one-mana cantrip that also wipes a graveyard. Either side is fine.

Farewell

Six mana, white, and you get to choose any combination of artifacts, creatures, enchantments, and graveyards — and exile all of them. Farewell isn't graveyard hate in the traditional sense. It's a board wipe that also cleans up graveyards. The exile clause is what separates it from other sweepers. Nobody's getting their stuff back after a Farewell resolves.

$4.01, and if you're already considering a six-mana board wipe in white, Farewell should be the one you choose. The graveyard mode is just upside on an already strong card.

The land slot

Scavenger Grounds

A colorless utility land that exiles all graveyards for

and a tap, sacrificing a Desert in the process. Scavenger Grounds is the only card on this list that eats a land slot and produces colorless mana, which is a real consideration in three-plus color decks. But in one or two color lists, it's close to free. Run it alongside other Desert lands (yes, the basic land "Desert" is a card) to give yourself extra activations. Thirty cents.

How many pieces should you run?

Depends on your meta. A general guideline:

• Casual tables with some recursion: 1-2 pieces. Bojuka Bog plus one artifact.
• Regular EDH with at least one graveyard deck: 2-3 pieces. Mix of one-shot and permanent options.
• High-power or graveyard-heavy metas: 3-4 pieces. Include at least one permanent effect like Rest in Peace or Grafdigger's Cage alongside surgical options.

The mistake most people make isn't running zero graveyard hate. It's running one piece and never drawing it. Two to three pieces means you'll see one in most games.

Picking the right tool

Not all graveyard hate does the same thing. Match the answer to the problem.

One-shot exile (Bojuka Bog, Tormod's Crypt, Soul-Guide Lantern): Good against decks that spend several turns loading up their graveyard before going off. You wait for the right moment and pull the trigger.

Permanent prevention (Rest in Peace, Grafdigger's Cage, Weathered Runestone): Good against decks that use the graveyard incrementally every turn. Muldrotha, the Gravetide, Karador, Ghost Chieftain, and similar commanders need their graveyard accessible constantly. A permanent shuts them down until they find removal.

Repeatable, targeted exile (Unlicensed Hearse, Relic of Progenitus, Dauthi Voidwalker): Good against decks that rely on specific cards in the graveyard rather than volume. Snipe the Anger, the Wonder, or the reanimation target without nuking everything.