Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Totentanz, Swarm Piper
Totentanz, Swarm Piper
Legendary Creature — Human Warlock Bard · {1}{B}{R} · Black/Red commander
What Totentanz, Swarm Piper 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 Totentanz or another nontoken creature you control dies, create a 1/1 black Rat creature token with "This token can't block."
- Activated ability{1}{B}: Target attacking Rat you control gains deathtouch until end of turn.
What a Totentanz, Swarm Piper deck wants
The plan the Forge derives for this commander: the roles it fills and how many of each.
- 33× A body of the exact type the commander's trigger requires — the wrong type is worthless here regardless of quality
- 8× A team pump that actually pumps tokens
- 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 1× Answer a whole board at once
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 7× Refill your hand
- 2× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- 11× Get ahead on mana
Best cards for Totentanz, Swarm Piper
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.
A body of the exact type the commander's trigger requires — the wrong type is worthless here regardless of quality
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer1 mana
- Greedy Freebooter1 mana
- Impulsive Pilferer1 mana
- Blightbelly Rat2 mana
- Burglar Rat2 mana
- Dire Fleet Daredevil2 mana
- Fanatical Firebrand1 mana
- Freya Crescent1 mana
A team pump that actually pumps tokens
- Nesting Grounds0 mana
- Zulaport Cutthroat2 mana
- Patchwork Banner3 mana
- Castle Embereth0 mana
- Fire Nation Palace0 mana
- Crashing Drawbridge2 mana
- Hexing Squelcher2 mana
- Crash Through1 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Wild Magic Surge2 mana
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
- Infernal Grasp2 mana
- Terminate2 mana
- Fatal Push1 mana
- Bitter Triumph2 mana
- Black Sun's Twilight1 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Do or Die2 mana
- Force of Despair3 mana
- Blasphemous Act9 mana
- Accursed Marauder2 mana
- Bontu's Last Reckoning3 mana
- Innocent Blood1 mana
- Breaking Point3 mana
- Coils of the Medusa2 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Demonic Tutor2 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Vampiric Tutor1 mana
- Imperial Seal1 mana
- Insatiable Avarice1 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Grim Tutor3 mana
- Liliana Vess // Liliana Vess0 mana
Refill your hand
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Orcish Bowmasters2 mana
- Black Market Connections3 mana
- Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
- Morbid Opportunist3 mana
- Phyrexian Arena3 mana
- The One Ring4 mana
- Kederekt Parasite1 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Hexing Squelcher2 mana
- Cryptothrall4 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Eldrazi Monument5 mana
- Commander's Plate1 mana
- Mithril Coat3 mana
- Akroma's Memorial7 mana
Get ahead on mana
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
- Mox Amber0 mana
- Mox Diamond0 mana
- Mox Opal0 mana
- Mana Vault1 mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Wayfarer's Bauble1 mana
Build this deck in the Arcane Forge →
Arcane Foundry is free to join and every tool is included: the Arcane Forge deck builder, the ARCANE Analyzer that scores a deck by simulating games rather than counting staples, a card scanner, a collection vault, and live webcam Commander tables.
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