Zul Ashur, Lich Lord

Legendary Creature — Zombie Warlock · from $0.29

Ward—Pay 2 life. (Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays 2 life.) {T}: You may cast target Zombie creature card from your graveyard this turn.

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

53 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	Thought Vessel	Artifact	2	$2.23
13	Bojuka Bog	Land	0	$1.12
14	Terramorphic Expanse	Land	0	$0.10
15	Myriad Landscape	Land	0	$0.25
16	Mind Stone	Artifact	2	$0.21
17	Dark Ritual	Instant	1	$0.44
18	Polluted Delta	Land	0	$19.85
19	Flooded Strand	Land	0	$12.78
20	Skullclamp	Artifact	1	$4.85
21	Solemn Simulacrum	Creature	4	$0.27
22	Misty Rainforest	Land	0	$35.98
23	Bloodstained Mire	Land	0	$14.54
24	Fabled Passage	Land	0	$0.65
25	Windswept Heath	Land	0	$11.19
26	Wooded Foothills	Land	0	$17.96
27	Verdant Catacombs	Land	0	$29.16
28	Scalding Tarn	Land	0	$36.86
29	Marsh Flats	Land	0	$32.04
30	Commander's Sphere	Artifact	3	$0.19
31	Reanimate	Sorcery	1	$6.56
32	Arid Mesa	Land	0	$31.40
33	Demonic Tutor	Sorcery	2	$62.80
34	Toxic Deluge	Sorcery	3	$5.04
35	Ancient Tomb	Land	0	$56.94
36	Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth	Land	0	$56.13
37	Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth	Land	0	$16.76
38	Temple of the False God	Land	0	$0.19
39	Chromatic Lantern	Artifact	3	$0.38
40	Feed the Swarm	Sorcery	2	$0.19
41	City of Brass	Land	0	$9.17
42	The One Ring	Artifact	4	$109.88
43	Phyrexian Arena	Enchantment	3	$1.92
44	Deadly Rollick	Instant	4	$26.52
45	Cavern of Souls	Land	0	$47.72
46	Vampiric Tutor	Instant	1	$48.13
47	Mana Confluence	Land	0	$34.75
48	Urza's Saga	Enchantment	0	$34.67
49	Lotus Petal	Artifact	0	$35.11
50	Wayfarer's Bauble	Artifact	1	$0.31
51	Black Market Connections	Enchantment	3	$10.78
52	Victimize	Sorcery	3	$0.57
53	Deadly Dispute	Instant	2	$0.29
54	Roaming Throne	Creature	4	$47.06
55	Ashnod's Altar	Artifact	3	$8.15
56	War Room	Land	0	$0.79
57	Blood Artist	Creature	2	$2.78
58	Herald's Horn	Artifact	3	$2.88
59	Mana Vault	Artifact	1	$91.59
60	Chrome Mox	Artifact	0	$51.19
61	Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx	Land	0	$45.68
62	Reflecting Pool	Land	0	$5.50
63	Three Tree City	Land	0	$29.09
64	Gemstone Caverns	Land	0	$62.05
65	Night's Whisper	Sorcery	2	$0.23
66	Command Beacon	Land	0	$7.99
67	Idol of Oblivion	Artifact	2	$2.40
68	Prismatic Vista	Land	0	$28.10
69	Buried Ruin	Land	0	$0.38
70	Phyrexian Tower	Land	0	$29.06
71	Thran Dynamo	Artifact	4	$1.94
72	Fell the Profane // Fell Mire	Instant	4	$5.80
73	Cabal Coffers	Land	0	$20.77
74	Patchwork Banner	Artifact	3	$1.52
75	Village Rites	Instant	1	$0.30
76	Mox Amber	Artifact	0	$86.45
77	Karn's Bastion	Land	0	$2.51
78	Ash Barrens	Land	0	$0.15
79	Secluded Courtyard	Land	0	$0.31
80	Ornithopter of Paradise	Creature	2	$0.35
81	Animate Dead	Enchantment	2	$7.34
82	Pitiless Plunderer	Creature	4	$3.03
83	Sensei's Divining Top	Artifact	1	$36.48
84	Mirkwood Bats	Creature	4	$1.08
85	Sign in Blood	Sorcery	2	$0.25
86	Sword of the Animist	Artifact	2	$2.79
87	Zulaport Cutthroat	Creature	2	$1.27
88	Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire	Instant	1	$13.49
89	Mithril Coat	Artifact	3	$27.09
90	Mox Opal	Artifact	0	$229.58
91	Gray Merchant of Asphodel	Creature	5	$0.61
92	Takenuma, Abandoned Mire	Land	0	$10.47
93	Unclaimed Territory	Land	0	$0.30
94	Morbid Opportunist	Creature	3	$0.22
95	Mox Diamond	Artifact	0	$1108.66
96	Foundry Inspector	Creature	3	$0.28
97	Everflowing Chalice	Artifact	0	$0.28
98	Basilisk Collar	Artifact	1	$2.73
99	Viscera Seer	Creature	1	$0.47
100	Orcish Bowmasters	Creature	2	$43.42

Curve of these staples

Combos with Zul Ashur, Lich Lord

10 combos using this commander that fit its color identity, from Commander Spellbook.

Carrion Feeder + Shambling Ghast + Thornbite Staff + Zul Ashur, Lich Lord
Infinite creature LTB · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Infinite death triggers · Infinite storm count · Infinite +1/+1 counters on a creature
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Ashnod's Altar + Shambling Ghast + Thornbite Staff + Zul Ashur, Lich Lord
Infinite creature LTB · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Infinite death triggers · Infinite colorless mana · Infinite storm count
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Altar of Dementia + Shambling Ghast + Thornbite Staff + Zul Ashur, Lich Lord
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
Shambling Ghast + Thornbite Staff + Viscera Seer + Zul Ashur, Lich Lord
Infinite creature LTB · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Infinite death triggers · Infinite scry 1 · Infinite storm count
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Blasting Station + Shambling Ghast + Thornbite Staff + Zul Ashur, Lich Lord
Infinite creature LTB · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Infinite death triggers · Infinite damage · Infinite storm count
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Shambling Ghast + Thornbite Staff + Umbral Collar Zealot + Zul Ashur, Lich Lord
Infinite creature LTB · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Infinite death triggers · Infinite storm count · Infinite surveil
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Shambling Ghast + Spawning Pit + Thornbite Staff + Zul Ashur, Lich Lord
Infinite charge counters on a permanent · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature LTB · Infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Infinite death triggers · Infinite storm count
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Shambling Ghast + Thornbite Staff + Woe Strider + Zul Ashur, Lich Lord
Infinite creature LTB · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Infinite death triggers · Infinite scry 1 · Infinite storm count
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Bloodthrone Vampire + Shambling Ghast + Thornbite Staff + Zul Ashur, Lich Lord
Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature LTB · Infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Infinite death triggers · Infinite storm count · Infinitely large creature until end of turn
How it works on Commander Spellbook
Build around this combo
Shambling Ghast + Thornbite Staff + Yahenni, Undying Partisan + Zul Ashur, Lich Lord
Infinite creature LTB · Infinite creature ETB · Infinite creature sacrifice triggers · Infinite death triggers · Infinite storm count
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