Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Bhaal, Lord of Murder
Bhaal, Lord of Murder
Legendary Creature — God · {2}{B}{R}{G} · Black/Green/Red commander
As long as your life total is less than or equal to half your starting life total, Bhaal has indestructible.
Whenever another nontoken creature you control dies, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature and goad it.
Build a Bhaal, Lord of Murder deck →
What Bhaal, Lord of Murder actually does
Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.
- Triggered ability · deathWhenever another nontoken creature you control dies, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature and goad it.
- AbilityAs long as your life total is less than or equal to half your starting life total, Bhaal has indestructible.
What a Bhaal, Lord of Murder deck needs
Plays as aristocrats. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- expendable creatures and free sacrifice outlets (its payoff is creatures dying)
- creatures that grow with +1/+1 counters and counter payoffs (it spreads counters across your team)
The Bhaal, Lord of Murder deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 18× Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- 15× Creatures you are happy to sacrifice — a free sac outlet on the commander is worthless with nothing to feed it
- 8× Sacrifice a creature for no mana, repeatably
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
- 7× Refill your hand
- 2× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- 11× Get ahead on mana
Best cards for Bhaal, Lord of Murder
Ranked by an engine that reads what each card does — its real cost, its delay and how reliably it works — rather than counting how often other people play it.
Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- Branching Evolution3 mana
- Hardened Scales1 mana
- Ozolith, the Shattered Spire2 mana
- Winding Constrictor2 mana
- Kami of Whispered Hopes3 mana
- Benevolent Hydra2 mana
- Michelangelo, Weirdness to 112 mana
- The Earth Crystal4 mana
Creatures you are happy to sacrifice — a free sac outlet on the commander is worthless with nothing to feed it
- Nurgle's Rot1 mana
- Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal // Temple of the Dead5 mana
- Phyrexian Triniform9 mana
- Old-Growth Troll3 mana
- Exquisite Huntmaster4 mana
- Grixis Slavedriver6 mana
- Impulsive Pilferer1 mana
- Vivi's Persistence2 mana
Sacrifice a creature for no mana, repeatably
- Carrion Feeder1 mana
- Viscera Seer1 mana
- Altar of Dementia2 mana
- Goblin Bombardment2 mana
- Spawning Pit2 mana
- Umbral Collar Zealot2 mana
- Bloodthrone Vampire2 mana
- Dark Privilege2 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Assassin's Trophy2 mana
- Wild Magic Surge2 mana
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
- Infernal Grasp2 mana
- Terminate2 mana
- Fatal Push1 mana
- Beast Within3 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Demonic Tutor2 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Vampiric Tutor1 mana
- Green Sun's Zenith1 mana
- Imperial Seal1 mana
- Demonic Consultation1 mana
- Nature's Rhythm2 mana
- Grim Tutor3 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Toxic Deluge3 mana
- Damnation4 mana
- Blasphemous Act9 mana
- Chain Reaction4 mana
- Bontu's Last Reckoning3 mana
- Street Spasm1 mana
- Sickening Dreams2 mana
- Crypt Rats3 mana
Refill your hand
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Sylvan Library2 mana
- Black Market Connections3 mana
- Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
- Garruk's Uprising3 mana
- Morbid Opportunist3 mana
- Phyrexian Arena3 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Hexing Squelcher2 mana
- Innkeeper's Talent2 mana
- Guardian Augmenter3 mana
- Saryth, the Viper's Fang4 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Asceticism5 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
Get ahead on mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Rakdos Signet2 mana
- Golgari Signet2 mana
- Gruul Signet2 mana
- Incubation Druid2 mana
- Palladium Myr3 mana
- Worn Powerstone3 mana
- Ilysian Caryatid2 mana
Combos with Bhaal, Lord of Murder
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that Bhaal, Lord of Murder is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- Bhaal, Lord of Murder + Viscera Seer1,170 decks
- Bhaal, Lord of Murder + Goblin Bombardment942 decks
- Bhaal, Lord of Murder + Ashnod's Altar874 decks
- Bhaal, Lord of Murder + Carrion Feeder723 decks
- Bhaal, Lord of Murder + Phyrexian Altar495 decks
- Bhaal, Lord of Murder + Woe Strider404 decks