Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
Legendary Creature — Zombie Warrior · {3}{U}{B} · Black/Blue commander
Grimgrin enters tapped and doesn't untap during your untap step.
Sacrifice another creature: Untap Grimgrin and put a +1/+1 counter on it.
Whenever Grimgrin attacks, destroy target creature defending player controls, then put a +1/+1 counter on Grimgrin.
Build a Grimgrin, Corpse-Born deck →
What Grimgrin, Corpse-Born actually does
Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.
- Activated abilitySacrifice another creature: Untap Grimgrin and put a +1/+1 counter on it.
- Triggered ability · attackWhenever Grimgrin attacks, destroy target creature defending player controls, then put a +1/+1 counter on Grimgrin.
- AbilityGrimgrin enters tapped and doesn't untap during your untap step.
What a Grimgrin, Corpse-Born deck needs
Plays as combat trigger. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- expendable creatures and tokens to sacrifice (the commander is a sacrifice outlet)
- +1/+1 counter producers and payoffs (its text places or reads +1/+1 counters)
- haste, evasion and protection for the commander, and extra combats (its own attack is the engine)
The Grimgrin, Corpse-Born deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 6× Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- 16× Creatures you are happy to sacrifice — a free sac outlet on the commander is worthless with nothing to feed it
- 4× Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
- 14× Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 2× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
- 7× Refill your hand
Best cards for Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
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 haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- Thousand-Year Elixir3 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
- Lavaspur Boots1 mana
- Sting, the Glinting Dagger2 mana
- Haunted Cloak3 mana
- Sword of Vengeance3 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
- The Scarab God5 mana
- Endless Evil3 mana
- Exquisite Huntmaster4 mana
- Grixis Slavedriver6 mana
- Liliana, Heretical Healer // Liliana, Defiant Necromancer3 mana
Make the commander connect — a body that never deals combat damage never triggers
- Herald of Secret Streams4 mana
- Rogue Class2 mana
- Archetype of Imagination6 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar3 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
- Infiltrator's Magemark3 mana
- Hagra Constrictor3 mana
Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
- Thrummingbird2 mana
- Blightbelly Rat2 mana
- Scheming Aspirant2 mana
- Vexing Radgull2 mana
- Voidwing Hybrid2 mana
- Venser, Corpse Puppet2 mana
- Kid Loki1 mana
- Dreamtide Whale3 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Reality Shift2 mana
- Pongify1 mana
- Rapid Hybridization1 mana
- Resculpt2 mana
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
- Infernal Grasp2 mana
- Fatal Push1 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Demonic Tutor2 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Vampiric Tutor1 mana
- Imperial Seal1 mana
- Demonic Consultation1 mana
- Grim Tutor3 mana
- Tainted Pact2 mana
- Scheming Symmetry1 mana
Answer a spell or ability before it resolves
- Mindbreak Trap4 mana
- Fierce Guardianship3 mana
- Force of Negation3 mana
- Force of Will5 mana
- Flare of Denial3 mana
- Pact of Negation0 mana
- An Offer You Can't Refuse1 mana
- Arcane Denial2 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Toxic Deluge3 mana
- Damnation4 mana
- Bontu's Last Reckoning3 mana
- Sickening Dreams2 mana
- Crypt Rats3 mana
- Extinction Event4 mana
- Endemic Plague4 mana
- Desynchronization4 mana
Refill your hand
- Mystic Remora1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Curiosity1 mana
- Wizard Class1 mana
- Black Market Connections3 mana
- Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
- Morbid Opportunist3 mana
- Phyrexian Arena3 mana
Combos with Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that Grimgrin, Corpse-Born is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- Grimgrin, Corpse-Born + Gravecrawler + Rooftop Storm17,703 decks
- Grimgrin, Corpse-Born + Mikaeus, The Unhallowed10,088 decks
- Grimgrin, Corpse-Born + Mikaeus, The Unhallowed + Plague Belcher4,617 decks
- Grimgrin, Corpse-Born + Necroduality + Rot Hulk3,802 decks
- Grimgrin, Corpse-Born + Gravecrawler + Pitiless Plunderer2,194 decks
- Grimgrin, Corpse-Born + Liliana, Untouched By Death + Shambling Ghast655 decks