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    Teval, the Balanced Scale
    Commander Guide

    Teval, the Balanced Scale Commander Deck Guide

    B manaG manaU mana

    Teval, the Balanced Scale turns attacks into graveyard fuel and land recovery, then rewards cards leaving your graveyard with Zombie Druids.

    Last updated: October 20262 min read

    What Teval, the Balanced Scale does

    Teval, the Balanced Scale turns attacks into graveyard fuel and land recovery, then rewards cards leaving your graveyard with Zombie Druids.

    For {1}{B}{G}{U}, you get a flying commander with two connected engines. Whenever Teval attacks, you mill three cards, then may return a land card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped. That land leaving your graveyard also triggers Teval's second ability, creating a 2/2 black Zombie Druid. You don't need to connect with a player to get the attack trigger.

    The deck builds around filling your graveyard, recovering useful resources, and spending spare cards on delve spells. Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time turn that stockpile into cards in hand while adding a token. The appeal is getting several useful results from ordinary game actions: an attack develops your mana, a recovery spell rebuilds your board, and both can grow your creature count. Just remember that several cards leaving together produce one token, not one per card.

    How Teval, the Balanced Scale plays

    Early game, develop your mana with Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, or Farseek. Stitcher's Supplier and Aftermath Analyst mill cards to prepare Teval's first attack. Look for an opening hand that can establish your colors rather than relying entirely on graveyard setup.

    Mid game, attack when Teval can survive combat. Recover a land, make a Zombie Druid, and use Treasure Cruise or Dig Through Time to refill your hand. Keep useful lands and creatures available rather than automatically exiling them to delve.

    Win through repeated combat with Teval and an expanding token board. After removal, land recovery and Victimize help rebuild. You want sustained resource gains, not one oversized graveyard that you never use.

    Build Teval, the Balanced Scale from your collection

    The builder starts with Teval, the Balanced Scale as your commander and fills the 99 from cards you own.

    Build Teval, the Balanced Scale from your collection

    Key staples

    Synergy pieces

    • Culling Ritual

      Culling Ritual

      Clears nonland permanents with mana value 2 or less and supplies black or green mana; plan around losing your own cheap permanents and Zombie Druids.

    • Stitcher's Supplier

      Stitcher's Supplier

      Mills three on entry and again on death, stocking lands for Teval and spare cards for delve.

    • Dig Through Time

      Dig Through Time

      Uses graveyard cards to reduce its generic cost, finds two cards from your top seven, and triggers Teval once if you delve.

    • Aftermath Analyst

      Aftermath Analyst

      Mills three on entry, then can sacrifice itself for {3}{G} to return all your graveyard lands tapped, generating one Teval token if any return.

    • Treasure Cruise

      Treasure Cruise

      Draws three cards and can spend graveyard cards on its generic cost, adding one Zombie Druid if Teval sees you delve.

    • Beast Within

      Beast Within

      Appears in both builds, but no oracle text was supplied, so its specific role isn't detailed here.

    • Flusterstorm

      Flusterstorm

      Contests an instant or sorcery with a {1} payment requirement and storm copies, giving the upgraded build a way to defend key turns.

    Staples in these colors

    • Sol Ring

      Sol Ring

      Produces {C}{C} to accelerate generic costs, though it doesn't supply Teval's three colored requirements.

    • Arcane Signet

      Arcane Signet

      Produces black, green, or blue mana, helping assemble Teval's casting cost.

    • Fellwar Stone

      Fellwar Stone

      Provides mana in colors opposing lands could produce; check the table before counting on it for a particular color.

    • Farseek

      Farseek

      Finds a Plains, Island, Swamp, or Mountain card and puts it onto the battlefield tapped to develop your mana.

    • Victimize

      Victimize

      Trades a creature for two creature cards returned tapped from your graveyard, with their simultaneous return triggering Teval once.

    Card images and card data courtesy of Scryfall. Magic: The Gathering is © Wizards of the Coast. ManaBuilder is unaffiliated with Wizards of the Coast.

    The numbers

    • 8 Draw
    • 12 Ramp
    • 37 Lands
    • 30 Theme
    • 1 Wipes
    • 11 Removal
    • 1 Commander

    Draw

    Count
    8

    Ramp

    Count
    12

    Lands

    Count
    37

    Theme

    Count
    30

    Wipes

    Count
    1

    Removal

    Count
    11

    Commander

    Count
    1

    Reference build for Teval, the Balanced Scale: 100 cards including the commander.

    Sample decks

    Budget build (~$46)

    For the budget build, start with Arcane Signet, Fellwar Stone, or Farseek, then use Stitcher's Supplier to stock the graveyard. Teval's attacks recover lands while building a Zombie Druid board. A token can pay Victimize's sacrifice requirement, returning two milled creatures tapped and producing a replacement token if Teval remains in play. Aftermath Analyst provides a larger land-recovery turn when several lands have accumulated. Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time keep your hand moving, but preserve cards you intend to recover. Use Culling Ritual before rebuilding your small-permanent board when possible, then spend its mana on your next play.

    Decklist · 100 cards

    Commander (1)

    • 1 Teval, the Balanced Scale

    Artifacts (5)

    • 1 Sol Ring
    • 1 Arcane Signet
    • 1 Fellwar Stone
    • 1 Perpetual Timepiece
    • 1 Collector's Vault

    Creatures (27)

    • 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
    • 1 Skull Prophet
    • 1 Aftermath Analyst
    • 1 Solemn Simulacrum
    • 1 Stitcher's Supplier
    • 1 Satyr Wayfinder
    • 1 Nyx Weaver
    • 1 Wight of the Reliquary
    • 1 Shigeki, Jukai Visionary
    • 1 The Gitrog Monster
    • 1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
    • 1 Tireless Tracker
    • 1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
    • 1 Muldrotha, the Gravetide
    • 1 Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar
    • 1 Rampaging Baloths
    • 1 Avenger of Zendikar
    • 1 Augur of Autumn
    • 1 Evolution Witness
    • 1 Timeless Witness
    • 1 Brawn
    • 1 Spore Frog
    • 1 Morbid Opportunist
    • 1 Haywire Mite
    • 1 Reclamation Sage
    • 1 Ravenous Chupacabra
    • 1 Accursed Marauder

    Sorceries (13)

    • 1 Cultivate
    • 1 Farseek
    • 1 Rampant Growth
    • 1 Splendid Reclamation
    • 1 Regrowth
    • 1 Night's Whisper
    • 1 Treasure Cruise
    • 1 Feed the Swarm
    • 1 Culling Ritual
    • 1 Decree of Pain
    • 1 Ezuri's Predation
    • 1 Overwhelming Stampede
    • 1 Victimize

    Enchantments (4)

    • 1 Wild Growth
    • 1 Zendikar's Roil
    • 1 Moldervine Reclamation
    • 1 Garruk's Uprising

    Instants (13)

    • 1 Harrow
    • 1 Growth Spiral
    • 1 Grisly Salvage
    • 1 Frantic Search
    • 1 Fact or Fiction
    • 1 Dig Through Time
    • 1 Deadly Dispute
    • 1 Beast Within
    • 1 Putrefy
    • 1 Tear Asunder
    • 1 Reality Shift
    • 1 Negate
    • 1 Snakeskin Veil

    Lands (37)

    • 1 Command Tower
    • 1 Exotic Orchard
    • 1 Path of Ancestry
    • 1 Opulent Palace
    • 1 Evolving Wilds
    • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
    • 1 Fabled Passage
    • 1 Ash Barrens
    • 1 Escape Tunnel
    • 1 Bojuka Bog
    • 1 Sunken Hollow
    • 1 Hinterland Harbor
    • 1 Drowned Catacomb
    • 1 Woodland Cemetery
    • 1 Yavimaya Coast
    • 1 Llanowar Wastes
    • 1 Underground River
    • 1 Dreamroot Cascade
    • 1 Choked Estuary
    • 1 Temple of Mystery
    • 1 Temple of Malady
    • 1 Temple of Deceit
    • 1 Simic Growth Chamber
    • 1 Golgari Rot Farm
    • 1 Dimir Aqueduct
    • 1 Dakmor Salvage
    • 1 Drownyard Temple
    • 1 Blighted Woodland
    • 1 Myriad Landscape
    • 1 Barren Moor
    • 1 Tranquil Thicket
    • 1 Lonely Sandbar
    • 1 Island
    • 1 Swamp
    • 3 Forest
    Build this from your collection

    Upgraded build (~$493)

    For the upgraded build, anchor your sequencing around Teval, Stitcher's Supplier, Aftermath Analyst, and the two delve spells. Establish colored mana with Arcane Signet and Farseek rather than treating Sol Ring as complete fixing. Once Teval is active, alternate land recovery with card selection to keep both your battlefield and hand supplied. Flusterstorm gives you a way to contest an instant or sorcery during an important turn, especially after other spells have been cast. Victimize can rebuild two creatures at once, while Culling Ritual converts a crowded board of cheap permanents into mana. Preserve enough graveyard material for recovery after spending cards on delve.

    Decklist · 100 cards

    Commander (1)

    • 1 Teval, the Balanced Scale

    Artifacts (6)

    • 1 Sol Ring
    • 1 Arcane Signet
    • 1 Skullclamp
    • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
    • 1 Lightning Greaves
    • 1 Fellwar Stone

    Creatures (19)

    • 1 Birds of Paradise
    • 1 Deathrite Shaman
    • 1 Lotus Cobra
    • 1 Dryad of the Ilysian Grove
    • 1 Bloom Tender
    • 1 Six
    • 1 Ramunap Excavator
    • 1 Ancient Greenwarden
    • 1 Aftermath Analyst
    • 1 Eternal Witness
    • 1 Stitcher's Supplier
    • 1 Tireless Provisioner
    • 1 Scute Swarm
    • 1 Springheart Nantuko
    • 1 Avenger of Zendikar
    • 1 Blood Artist
    • 1 Mirkwood Bats
    • 1 Zulaport Cutthroat
    • 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel

    Sorceries (12)

    • 1 Nature's Lore
    • 1 Three Visits
    • 1 Farseek
    • 1 Windfall
    • 1 Treasure Cruise
    • 1 Life from the Loam
    • 1 Reanimate
    • 1 Diabolic Intent
    • 1 Living Death
    • 1 Toxic Deluge
    • 1 Culling Ritual
    • 1 Victimize

    Instants (17)

    • 1 Crop Rotation
    • 1 Dig Through Time
    • 1 Noxious Revival
    • 1 Entomb
    • 1 Mystical Tutor
    • 1 Pact of Negation
    • 1 Swan Song
    • 1 Flusterstorm
    • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
    • 1 Counterspell
    • 1 Assassin's Trophy
    • 1 Abrupt Decay
    • 1 Nature's Claim
    • 1 Heroic Intervention
    • 1 Veil of Summer
    • 1 Beast Within
    • 1 Arcane Denial

    Enchantments (8)

    • 1 Mystic Remora
    • 1 Black Market Connections
    • 1 Animate Dead
    • 1 Ripples of Undeath
    • 1 Greater Good
    • 1 Propaganda
    • 1 Hardened Scales
    • 1 Wild Growth

    Lands (37)

    • 1 Command Tower
    • 1 Watery Grave
    • 1 Breeding Pool
    • 1 Overgrown Tomb
    • 1 Rejuvenating Springs
    • 1 Undergrowth Stadium
    • 1 Hinterland Harbor
    • 1 Drowned Catacomb
    • 1 Woodland Cemetery
    • 1 Dreamroot Cascade
    • 1 Shipwreck Marsh
    • 1 Deathcap Glade
    • 1 Yavimaya Coast
    • 1 Underground River
    • 1 Llanowar Wastes
    • 1 Fabled Passage
    • 1 Undercity Sewers
    • 1 Underground Mortuary
    • 1 Hedge Maze
    • 1 Fetid Pools
    • 1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
    • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
    • 1 Bojuka Bog
    • 1 Shifting Woodland
    • 1 Cephalid Coliseum
    • 1 Urza's Cave
    • 1 Swamp
    • 2 Forest
    • 1 Exotic Orchard
    • 1 Reliquary Tower
    • 1 Path of Ancestry
    • 1 Rogue's Passage
    • 1 Evolving Wilds
    • 1 Demolition Field
    • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
    • 1 Myriad Landscape
    Build this from your collection

    Teval, the Balanced Scale FAQ

    Frequently Asked Questions

    No. Its ability triggers whenever one or more cards leave, so cards leaving together produce one trigger. Returning several lands with Aftermath Analyst or two creatures with Victimize produces one Zombie Druid, not one for each card.
    Yes. You mill three first, then may return a land card from your graveyard tapped. A land milled by that same trigger is available, and returning it triggers the token ability.
    Yes, if you exile cards from your graveyard to pay for the spell while Teval is on the battlefield. Exiling multiple cards to delve a single Treasure Cruise or Dig Through Time produces one token trigger.
    No. The ability triggers when Teval attacks. Blocking Teval doesn't stop that trigger, though you still need to consider whether the attack will cost you your commander.
    Yes. Teval's tokens have mana value 0, so Culling Ritual destroys them and adds mana for each one destroyed. It also hits Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and Fellwar Stone, so account for your own losses before casting it.

    Teval, the Balanced Scale leads the Sultai Arisen precon — see the upgrade guide

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