Lathril, Blade of the Elves is the most built Golgari commander, with 36,445 decks on EDHREC, ahead of Chatterfang, Squirrel General (28,343) and Ygra, Eater of All (23,282). Golgari is black and green: graveyards, tokens, sacrifice and recursion. The top 12 range from Elf armies to a Frog that eats your lands. Here they are ranked by decks, with today’s prices, the best budget picks and two Nauctis previews made for graveyard decks.
My take: Lathril is the easy first deck. It costs $1.33, Elves are cheap, and tapping ten of them drains every opponent for 10. If you’d rather play the graveyard, Meren of Clan Nel Toth ($2.56) is the classic that never goes out of style.
Updated November 14, 2026. Deck counts: EDHREC’s Golgari commanders page, November 14. Prices: TCGplayer market price of each card’s cheapest regular printing, via Scryfall, November 14.
Table of Contents
The 12 best Golgari commanders
| Commander | Decks | Price |
|---|---|---|
| #1 Lathril, Blade of the Elves Elf tokens, then drain 10 | 36,445 | $1.33 |
| #2 Chatterfang, Squirrel General Token doubling | 28,343 | $8.90 |
| #3 Ygra, Eater of All Every creature is Food | 23,282 | $11.30 |
| #4 Meren of Clan Nel Toth Graveyard recursion | 22,784 | $2.56 |
| #5 Witherbloom, the Balancer Cheap spells with creatures | 18,819 | $2.78 |
| #6 High Perfect Morcant Elves and -1/-1 counters | 18,768 | $1.14 |
| #7 Blech, Loafing Pest Lifegain grows small creatures | 14,471 | $0.31 |
| #8 Shelob, Child of Ungoliant Spiders and Food copies | 13,853 | $1.67 |
| #9 Dina, Essence Brewer Sacrifice for cards | 12,546 | $2.56 |
| #10 Hazel of the Rootbloom Copy tokens every turn | 12,348 | $4.27 |
| #11 Rendmaw, Creaking Nest Goaded Birds for everyone | 12,215 | $1.13 |
| #12 The Gitrog Monster Lands and card draw | 10,322 | $0.52 |
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36,445 decks · $1.33
28,343 decks · $8.90
23,282 decks · $11.30
22,784 decks · $2.56
18,819 decks · $2.78
18,768 decks · $1.14
14,471 decks · $0.31
13,853 decks · $1.67
12,546 decks · $2.56
12,348 decks · $4.27
12,215 decks · $1.13
10,322 decks · $0.52
Tap any card to see it on TCGplayer.
Why the top 3 lead
Lathril, Blade of the Elves (#1, $1.33) has menace and makes a 1/1 Elf Warrior for each point of combat damage it deals to a player. Once you have ten untapped Elves, tap Lathril and those ten to make each opponent lose 10 life while you gain 10. It’s cheap and aggressive, with a clear finish.
Chatterfang, Squirrel General (#2, $8.90) adds the same number of 1/1 Squirrels whenever you make tokens, so every Treasure, Food or Clue comes with a friend. Its activated ability costs black mana, so it counts as a Golgari commander even though it only costs green to cast.
Ygra, Eater of All (#3, $11.30) turns every other creature on the battlefield, including your opponents’, into a Food artifact. Whenever a Food goes to a graveyard, Ygra gets two +1/+1 counters, so every creature that dies makes it bigger.
Next come three very different decks. Meren of Clan Nel Toth (#4, $2.56) gets an experience counter whenever another creature of yours dies. At the end of your turn it returns a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield, or to your hand if it costs more than your experience count. Witherbloom, the Balancer (#5, $2.78) from Secrets of Strixhaven is a flying, deathtouch Elder Dragon that gets cheaper for each creature you control and gives your instants and sorceries the same discount. High Perfect Morcant (#6, $1.14) from Lorwyn Eclipsed makes each opponent put a -1/-1 counter on one of their creatures whenever an Elf enters on your side, and taps three Elves to proliferate.
The rest of the top 12:
- Blech, Loafing Pest (#7, 14,471 decks, $0.31): whenever you gain life, every Pest, Bat, Insect, Snake and Spider you control gets a +1/+1 counter.
- Shelob, Child of Ungoliant (#8, 13,853 decks, $1.67): gives your Spiders deathtouch and ward 2, and creatures your Spiders kill come back on your side as Food copies that keep their abilities.
- Dina, Essence Brewer (#9, 12,546 decks, $2.56): draws a card the first time you sacrifice a creature each turn, and turns sacrificed creatures into life and +1/+1 counters.
- Hazel of the Rootbloom (#10, 12,348 decks, $4.27): taps your tokens for mana and copies a token at the end of your turn, or two copies if it’s a Squirrel.
- Rendmaw, Creaking Nest (#11, 12,215 decks, $1.13): every player gets a flying 2/2 Bird that has to attack each combat, and has to attack someone other than you if it can, whenever you play a card with two or more card types.
- The Gitrog Monster (#12, 10,322 decks, $0.52): an extra land drop each turn and a card whenever lands hit your graveyard; you feed it a land every upkeep.
Golgari commanders from other worlds
Shelob (#8) is the highest-ranked crossover commander in Golgari, and The Lord of the Rings set added a second one. These four are also popular, and none costs more than $2.98:
$0.35
$1.15
$0.35
$2.98
- Sméagol, Helpful Guide (#17, 7,847 decks, $0.35): from The Lord of the Rings: if a creature of yours died this turn, the Ring tempts you at your end step, and each time it does, an opponent reveals cards until a land, which you steal while the rest go to their graveyard.
- Jenova, Ancient Calamity (#19, 7,467 decks, $1.15): from Final Fantasy: each combat it puts +1/+1 counters equal to its power on another creature, and when those Mutants die on your turn you draw that many cards.
- The Serpent Society (#29, 5,153 decks, $0.35): from the Marvel Super Heroes set: whenever another deathtouch creature of yours dies, each opponent sacrifices a nontoken creature.
- Agent Frank Horrigan (#45, 2,785 decks, $2.98): from Fallout: a 7-mana trampler that proliferates twice whenever it enters or attacks.
Budget Golgari commanders under $1
Blech ($0.31) and The Gitrog Monster ($0.52) are already in the top 12 for under a dollar. These six popular picks cost under $1 too:
$0.42
$0.98
$0.25
$0.37
$0.23
$0.29
- Grist, the Hunger Tide ($0.42, #16 with 8,198 decks): a planeswalker that counts as a 1/1 Insect creature everywhere but the battlefield, so it can be your commander. It makes Insects, removes creatures and drains for every creature card in your graveyard.
- The Mycotyrant ($0.98, #15 with 9,303 decks): a trampler as big as your Fungi and Saprolings that, at the end of your turn, makes a Fungus token for every permanent card that hit your graveyard that turn.
- Dina, Soul Steeper ($0.25, #13 with 9,618 decks): a 2-mana lifegain drainer: every time you gain life, each opponent loses 1.
- Winter, Cynical Opportunist ($0.37, #20 with 6,789 decks): mills three on every attack, then cheats a permanent out of your graveyard once you have delirium.
- Slimefoot, the Stowaway ($0.23, #21 with 6,570 decks): makes Saprolings for 4 mana, and every one that dies drains each opponent for 1.
- Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons ($0.29, #22 with 6,148 decks): makes a 1/1 deathtouch Snake whenever you put -1/-1 counters on a creature.
Coming in Nauctis: two graveyard previews
Two of the cards Wizards showed at MagicCon Atlanta fit Golgari graveyard decks. Abyssal Lotus is a colorless 0-mana artifact that adds three mana of one color once you have eight or more permanent cards in your graveyard. Tecton, Malignant Ruin is a black 5/5 with menace and deathtouch that costs 1 less for each permanent card in your graveyard and draws a card whenever you sacrifice another permanent. Both are easy adds to Meren, Gitrog or Winter decks when Nauctis comes out on February 5, 2027. Here’s every Nauctis card revealed so far.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Golgari commander?
By number of decks, Lathril, Blade of the Elves is the most popular Golgari commander, with 36,445 decks on EDHREC as of November 14, 2026. Chatterfang, Squirrel General and Ygra, Eater of All are second and third.
What is the best budget Golgari commander?
Blech, Loafing Pest ($0.31) and The Gitrog Monster ($0.52) are top-12 picks under a dollar. Grist, the Hunger Tide ($0.42) is the best value: a planeswalker commander for the price of a common.
What colors are Golgari?
Golgari is black and green. The name comes from the Golgari Swarm guild on Ravnica, which is all about death, decay and regrowth.
Can Chatterfang be a Golgari commander?
Yes. Chatterfang only costs green to cast, but its activated ability uses black mana, which gives it a black-green color identity.
More color guides: best Simic commanders, best Gruul commanders, best Rakdos commanders, best mono-black commanders, and the best commander for every color combination.
Golgari commanders
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