ManaBuilder
    Ghoulcaller Gisa
    Precon Upgrade Guide

    Wretched Ranks Upgrade Guide (Foundations Commander)

    B manaReleased October 2, 2026

    Wretched Ranks is a mono-black precon led by Ghoulcaller Gisa, who sacrifices another creature to create 2/2 black Zombies equal to that creature’s power. This guide makes ten swaps to sharpen that sacrifice-and-token plan, with the listed additions totaling $87.44.

    See which upgrades you already own
    Last updated: October 20262 min read

    The full decklist

    100 cards, led by Ghoulcaller Gisa.

    Commander (1)

    • 1 Ghoulcaller Gisa

    Lands (39)

    • 1 Barren Moor
    • 1 Bojuka Bog
    • 1 Castle Locthwain
    • 1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
    • 1 Memorial to Folly
    • 33 Swamp
    • 1 Witch's Cottage

    Enchantments (7)

    • 1 Bad Moon
    • 1 Endless Ranks of the Dead
    • 1 Liliana's Mastery
    • 1 Marchesa's Decree
    • 1 Open the Graves
    • 1 Oversold Cemetery
    • 1 Phyrexian Arena

    Sorceries (9)

    • 1 Ambition's Cost
    • 1 Army of the Damned
    • 1 Cemetery Recruitment
    • 1 Moan of the Unhallowed
    • 1 Mutilate
    • 1 Necrotic Hex
    • 1 Night's Whisper
    • 1 Sign in Blood
    • 1 Syphon Flesh

    Artifacts (8)

    • 1 Arcane Signet
    • 1 Bontu's Monument
    • 1 Charcoal Diamond
    • 1 Commander's Sphere
    • 1 Infernal Idol
    • 1 Mind Stone
    • 1 Patchwork Banner
    • 1 Sol Ring

    Creatures (31)

    • 1 Ayara, First of Locthwain
    • 1 Carrion Feeder
    • 1 Cemetery Reaper
    • 1 Champion of the Perished
    • 1 Cryptbreaker
    • 1 Death Baron
    • 1 Diregraf Colossus
    • 1 Eternal Taskmaster
    • 1 Fleshbag Marauder
    • 1 God-Eternal Bontu
    • 1 Grave Titan
    • 1 Graveborn Muse
    • 1 Gravecrawler
    • 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
    • 1 Headless Rider
    • 1 Josu Vess, Lich Knight
    • 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
    • 1 Liliana's Reaver
    • 1 Lord of the Accursed
    • 1 Lord of the Undead
    • 1 Midnight Reaper
    • 1 Mire Triton
    • 1 Noxious Ghoul
    • 1 Razorlash Transmogrant
    • 1 Soulless One
    • 1 Undead Augur
    • 1 Undead Butler
    • 1 Undead Warchief
    • 1 Vengeful Dead
    • 1 Wight of Precinct Six
    • 1 Zul Ashur, Lich Lord

    Instants (5)

    • 1 Consumed by Greed
    • 1 Consuming Corruption
    • 1 Go for the Throat
    • 1 Tendrils of Corruption
    • 1 Withering Torment

    What to cut / what to add

    These swaps keep Gisa’s Zombie plan intact while shifting support toward card access, mana, interaction, and value from sacrifices. The goal is to make building and spending your creature supply more productive, rather than change how the deck plays. Wight of Precinct Six, Liliana’s Reaver, and Eternal Taskmaster are potential sacrifices for Gisa, but those slots give way to a more varied support package instead of simply preserving creature count. You’re keeping the commander and the bulk of the original list, so this is a focused adjustment rather than a rebuild.

    Cut

    • Infernal Idol

      Infernal Idol

      Make room for Skullclamp.

    • Tendrils of Corruption

      Tendrils of Corruption

      Make room for The Meathook Massacre.

    • Wight of Precinct Six

      Wight of Precinct Six

      Make room for Diabolic Intent.

    • Marchesa's Decree

      Marchesa's Decree

      Make room for Crypt Ghast.

    • Cemetery Recruitment

      Cemetery Recruitment

      Make room for Pitiless Plunderer.

    • Moan of the Unhallowed

      Moan of the Unhallowed

      Make room for Mirkwood Bats.

    • Liliana's Reaver

      Liliana's Reaver

      Make room for Blood Artist.

    • Commander's Sphere

      Commander's Sphere

      Make room for Black Market Connections.

    • Bad Moon

      Bad Moon

      Make room for Victimize.

    • Eternal Taskmaster

      Eternal Taskmaster

      Make room for Feed the Swarm.

    Add

    • Skullclamp

      Skullclamp

      Zombie tokens turn into two cards while also triggering your death payoffs.

    • The Meathook Massacre

      The Meathook Massacre

      This adds a scalable board wipe and converts creature deaths into life swings.

    • Diabolic Intent

      Diabolic Intent

      A spare token becomes the best card in your deck while triggering sacrifice synergies.

    • Crypt Ghast

      Crypt Ghast

      Doubling Swamp mana accelerates Gisa and fuels her sacrifice ability.

    • Pitiless Plunderer

      Pitiless Plunderer

      Your sacrificed creatures now generate Treasures for explosive follow-up turns.

    • Mirkwood Bats

      Mirkwood Bats

      Every token Gisa creates or sacrifices now drains all opponents.

    • Blood Artist

      Blood Artist

      Blood Artist converts every creature death into reach and life gain without needing combat.

    • Black Market Connections

      Black Market Connections

      This supplies cards, Treasure, or sacrifice fodder every turn instead of one-shot value.

    • Victimize

      Victimize

      One expendable creature becomes two reanimated threats for a major tempo gain.

    • Feed the Swarm

      Feed the Swarm

      This gives mono-black efficient enchantment interaction while still answering creatures.

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

    Wretched Ranks FAQ

    Frequently Asked Questions

    It’s worth considering if you enjoy turning creatures into a Zombie army. Out of the box, Gisa gives the creature-heavy list a clear plan and a repeatable way to build your board. The supplied upgrade plan identifies resource flow, interaction, and getting more value from sacrifices as the areas needing attention. The roughly $87 of swaps on this page target those weaknesses without replacing the deck’s core strategy.
    Ghoulcaller Gisa leads the deck. Her ability costs one black mana, tapping her, and sacrificing another creature. It creates X 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens, where X is the sacrificed creature’s power.
    The ten additions total $87.44 at the supplied prices. The Meathook Massacre is the most expensive addition at $24.59, while Feed the Swarm is the least expensive at $0.25.
    Consider the sacrificed creature’s power, what you’re giving up, and whether you need the Zombies now. Higher power means more tokens from the same activation. You also need to leave one black mana available and be able to tap Gisa, so having a creature to sacrifice is only part of the setup.

    How to Build a Commander Deck

    Step by step: pick a commander, follow color identity, fill the quota template.