The Swarmweaver
BGLegendary Artifact Creature — Scarecrow

The Swarmweaver

Mana value4EDHREC#6,194

The Commander

When The Swarmweaver enters, create two 1/1 black and green Insect creature tokens with flying.

Delirium — As long as there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, Insects and Spiders you control get +1/+1 and have deathtouch.

Guide

Gameplan

Flood the board with Insect and Spider tokens, then flip on Delirium to turn the whole swarm into +1/+1 deathtouch attackers that trade up and swing for lethal. Early turns you fuel the graveyard with diverse card types (creatures, lands, artifacts, enchantments, instants, sorceries) via self-mill and sacrifice, then go wide and overrun.

Strengths

  • Free two-flyer value on every cast, so even a removed commander leaves bodies behind
  • Deathtouch on the entire swarm makes blocking suicidal and trades up against bombs
  • Cheap to recast at four mana and recurs its own token engine
  • Operates well in the often-underexplored Insect/Spider tribal space with strong token payoffs

Weaknesses

  • Delirium can be inconsistent early and graveyard hate (Rest in Peace, Bojuka Bog) shuts off the anthem entirely
  • Token swarms are vulnerable to board wipes and sweepers
  • Reliant on tribal payoffs that are narrow if disrupted
  • BG lacks evasion outside flyers and can stall against fogs or strong blockers

Key Cards

  • Stinging LionfishOne of several ways to support the niche, but more importantly any Insect/Spider lord stacks with the deathtouch anthem to push damage.
  • Grist, the Hunger TideGenerates a stream of Insect tokens and helps fill the graveyard for Delirium.
  • SkullclampTurns your endless 1/1 (or 2/2 with Delirium) tokens into a relentless card-draw engine.
  • Mesmeric OrbRapidly self-mills diverse card types to switch on Delirium reliably.
  • Cathars' CrusadeEach token entering pumps your whole board, snowballing the go-wide plan out of control.
  • Craterhoof BehemothThe classic finisher that turns a wide swarm of deathtouch tokens into instant lethal.

Upgrade Path

Add reliable Delirium enablers (Mesmeric Orb, Satyr Wayfinder, fetchlands, cycling lands) so the anthem comes online by turn three or four. Layer in token doublers (Doubling Season, Parallel Lives) and a closing overrun (Craterhoof Behemoth, Triumph of the Hordes) for explosive finishes, plus Skullclamp and Grim Hireling for grind. Round out with protection like Heroic Intervention and a sacrifice-value subtheme to insulate against board wipes.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

Archetypes

  • TokensThe commander generates flyers on entry and rewards going extremely wide with tribal Insects and Spiders.
  • AristocratsExpendable tokens fuel sacrifice outlets while fattening the graveyard for Delirium.
  • Graveyard/DeliriumThe whole anthem hinges on stocking four-plus card types, pushing a self-mill and recursion shell.
  • Counters/Go-Wide AggroWith anthems and +1/+1 effects, the swarm becomes a fast aggressive board state.

Combos

No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.

Related Commanders

Same color identity (BG), by popularity.

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