Art: Alexander Ostrowski · ™ & © Wizards of the Coast

Zask, Skittering Swarmlord

Legendary Creature — Insect · from $25.93

You may play lands and cast Insect spells from your graveyard. Whenever another Insect you control dies, put it on the bottom of its owner's library, then mill two cards. (Put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard.) {1}{B/G}: Target Insect gets +1/+0 and gains deathtouch until end of turn. ({B/G} can be paid with either {B} or {G}.)

Build with this commander Start with a starter shell Card details, printings & prices

A typical Commander deck

A starting template, not a rule — counts to fill in around the commander.

Lands3736–38 for most decks; fewer with cheap curves
Ramp10mana rocks, dorks, land ramp — mostly 2–3 mana
Card draw10repeatable engines beat one-shot cantrips
Targeted removal6answers for creatures AND artifacts/enchantments
Board wipes3sweepers reset boards you've lost
Synergy & win conditions33the deck's actual plan

Staples in these colors

The 100 cards that fit this color identity in the most EDHREC decklists (EDHREC rank via Scryfall).

Budget

54 of 100 at $5 or less · 34 at $1 or less

#	Card	Type	MV	Price
1	Sol Ring	Artifact	1	$1.07
2	Command Tower	Land	0	$0.26
3	Arcane Signet	Artifact	2	$0.34
4	Exotic Orchard	Land	0	$0.19
5	Reliquary Tower	Land	0	$4.28
6	Swiftfoot Boots	Artifact	2	$1.43
7	Lightning Greaves	Artifact	2	$3.86
8	Path of Ancestry	Land	0	$0.16
9	Fellwar Stone	Artifact	2	$0.47
10	Rogue's Passage	Land	0	$0.31
11	Evolving Wilds	Land	0	$0.09
12	Cultivate	Sorcery	3	$0.38
13	Thought Vessel	Artifact	2	$2.23
14	Farseek	Sorcery	2	$0.42
15	Bojuka Bog	Land	0	$1.12
16	Beast Within	Instant	3	$0.49
17	Nature's Lore	Sorcery	2	$2.15
18	Rampant Growth	Sorcery	2	$0.39
19	Heroic Intervention	Instant	2	$9.28
20	Terramorphic Expanse	Land	0	$0.10
21	Myriad Landscape	Land	0	$0.25
22	Mind Stone	Artifact	2	$0.21
23	Dark Ritual	Instant	1	$0.44
24	Birds of Paradise	Creature	1	$4.98
25	Polluted Delta	Land	0	$19.85
26	Kodama's Reach	Sorcery	3	$1.55
27	Flooded Strand	Land	0	$12.78
28	Three Visits	Sorcery	2	$5.55
29	Skullclamp	Artifact	1	$4.85
30	Solemn Simulacrum	Creature	4	$0.27
31	Misty Rainforest	Land	0	$35.98
32	Bloodstained Mire	Land	0	$14.54
33	Fabled Passage	Land	0	$0.65
34	Windswept Heath	Land	0	$11.19
35	Wooded Foothills	Land	0	$17.96
36	Verdant Catacombs	Land	0	$29.16
37	Scalding Tarn	Land	0	$36.86
38	Marsh Flats	Land	0	$32.04
39	Commander's Sphere	Artifact	3	$0.19
40	Reanimate	Sorcery	1	$6.56
41	Arid Mesa	Land	0	$31.40
42	Llanowar Elves	Creature	1	$0.24
43	Demonic Tutor	Sorcery	2	$62.80
44	Toxic Deluge	Sorcery	3	$5.04
45	Ancient Tomb	Land	0	$56.94
46	Overgrown Tomb	Land	0	$8.00
47	Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth	Land	0	$56.13
48	Boseiju, Who Endures	Land	0	$50.48
49	Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth	Land	0	$16.76
50	Temple of the False God	Land	0	$0.19
51	Chromatic Lantern	Artifact	3	$0.38
52	Garruk's Uprising	Enchantment	3	$0.39
53	Feed the Swarm	Sorcery	2	$0.19
54	City of Brass	Land	0	$9.17
55	The One Ring	Artifact	4	$109.88
56	Elvish Mystic	Creature	1	$0.35
57	Phyrexian Arena	Enchantment	3	$1.92
58	Deadly Rollick	Instant	4	$26.52
59	Cavern of Souls	Land	0	$47.72
60	Woodland Cemetery	Land	0	$0.62
61	Sakura-Tribe Elder	Creature	2	$0.30
62	Vampiric Tutor	Instant	1	$48.13
63	Mana Confluence	Land	0	$34.75
64	Urza's Saga	Enchantment	0	$34.67
65	Lotus Petal	Artifact	0	$35.11
66	Eternal Witness	Creature	3	$1.10
67	Assassin's Trophy	Instant	2	$1.01
68	Wayfarer's Bauble	Artifact	1	$0.31
69	Black Market Connections	Enchantment	3	$10.78
70	Victimize	Sorcery	3	$0.57
71	Deadly Dispute	Instant	2	$0.29
72	Roaming Throne	Creature	4	$47.06
73	Ashnod's Altar	Artifact	3	$8.15
74	Llanowar Wastes	Land	0	$0.59
75	War Room	Land	0	$0.79
76	Blood Artist	Creature	2	$2.78
77	Delighted Halfling	Creature	1	$25.91
78	Herald's Horn	Artifact	3	$2.88
79	Mana Vault	Artifact	1	$91.59
80	Chrome Mox	Artifact	0	$51.19
81	Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx	Land	0	$45.68
82	Reflecting Pool	Land	0	$5.50
83	Worldly Tutor	Instant	1	$26.58
84	Undergrowth Stadium	Land	0	$5.20
85	Three Tree City	Land	0	$29.09
86	Return of the Wildspeaker	Instant	5	$1.51
87	Gemstone Caverns	Land	0	$62.05
88	Night's Whisper	Sorcery	2	$0.23
89	Command Beacon	Land	0	$7.99
90	Hardened Scales	Enchantment	1	$1.85
91	Tireless Provisioner	Creature	3	$2.33
92	Doubling Season	Enchantment	5	$29.62
93	Idol of Oblivion	Artifact	2	$2.40
94	Prismatic Vista	Land	0	$28.10
95	Buried Ruin	Land	0	$0.38
96	Phyrexian Tower	Land	0	$29.06
97	Thran Dynamo	Artifact	4	$1.94
98	Mosswort Bridge	Land	0	$0.21
99	Fell the Profane // Fell Mire	Instant	4	$5.80
100	Cabal Coffers	Land	0	$20.77

Curve of these staples

Combos with Zask, Skittering Swarmlord

The 10 most popular of 26 combos (by EDHREC decklist count) using this commander that fit its color identity, from Commander Spellbook.

Ashnod's Altar + Verdant Succession + Zask, Skittering Swarmlord + Green Nontoken Insect
Infinite self-mill · Near-infinite creature ETB · Near-infinite creature LTB · Near-infinite death triggers · Near-infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Near-infinite colorless mana
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Altar of Dementia + Verdant Succession + Zask, Skittering Swarmlord + Green Nontoken Insect
Infinite self-mill · Near-infinite creature ETB · Near-infinite creature LTB · Near-infinite mill · Near-infinite death triggers · Near-infinite creature sacrifice triggers
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Azusa, Lost but Seeking + Glacial Chasm + Zask, Skittering Swarmlord
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you · Lock
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Glacial Chasm + Zask, Skittering Swarmlord + Zuran Orb
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you · Lock
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Phyrexian Altar + Verdant Succession + Zask, Skittering Swarmlord + Green Nontoken Insect
Infinite self-mill · Near-infinite creature ETB · Near-infinite creature LTB · Near-infinite death triggers · Near-infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Near-infinite colored mana
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Dross Hopper + Verdant Succession + Zask, Skittering Swarmlord
Infinite self-mill · Near-infinite death triggers · Near-infinite creature ETB · Near-infinite creature LTB · Near-infinite creature sacrifice triggers
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Aluren + Ashnod's Altar + Zask, Skittering Swarmlord + Insect with MV<=3
Infinite creature LTB · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Infinite death triggers · Infinite self-mill · Infinite colorless mana · Infinite storm count
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Aluren + Phyrexian Altar + Zask, Skittering Swarmlord + Insect with MV<=3
Infinite creature LTB · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite colored mana · Infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Infinite death triggers · Infinite self-mill · Infinite storm count
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Altar of Dementia + Aluren + Zask, Skittering Swarmlord + Insect with MV<=3
Infinite creature LTB · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Infinite death triggers · Infinite mill · Infinite self-mill · Infinite storm count
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Verdant Succession + Viscera Seer + Zask, Skittering Swarmlord + Green Nontoken Insect
Infinite self-mill · Near-infinite creature ETB · Near-infinite creature LTB · Near-infinite death triggers · Near-infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Near-infinite scry 1
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo

Card data and images courtesy of Scryfall; popularity ranking from EDHREC decklist data included in Scryfall bulk. Combo data courtesy of Commander Spellbook. Deckwarden is unofficial Fan Content and is not endorsed by Wizards of the Coast.

Commanders