“Your graveyard is your second hand” is one of those MTG phrases that sounds like a meme… until you sit across from Muldrotha, Meren, Karador, Chainer, or any random value pile that keeps buying back cards for free.
And the table knows it.
That’s why graveyard hate shows up everywhere in Commander proxies. Sometimes it’s a polite little Soul-Guide Lantern that replaces itself. Sometimes it’s Rest in Peace and you can practically hear your decklist crying.
This post is about the 10 hate pieces you should expect to see most often, and the practical answers that keep your graveyard deck from folding.
What counts as a “graveyard deck” in Commander?
If your game plan assumes your graveyard will keep its cards, you’re a graveyard deck. That includes:
- Reanimator (Entomb → Reanimate lines, big bombs, cheat mana costs)
- Recursion/value (replay creatures/spells every turn)
- Self-mill (fill the yard as a resource)
- Aristocrats (things dying is part of the engine)
- Cast-from-graveyard mechanics (flashback, escape, disturb, etc.)
You don’t need to be all-in. Even “fair” decks that reuse a few key cards can get wrecked by the wrong hate piece at the wrong time.
The three types of graveyard hate you’ll face
Most hate falls into one of these buckets:
- Static shutdowns (a permanent sits there and says “no”): Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void, Grafdigger’s Cage
- One-shot nukes (the graveyard gets deleted once): Bojuka Bog, Tormod’s Crypt
- Repeatable pressure (they keep sniping or threaten to nuke): Relic of Progenitus, Scavenger Grounds
Your answers change depending on the bucket. So let’s talk about the big ones.
The 10 hate pieces you must respect (and how to beat each one)
1) Rest in Peace
What it does: Exiles all graveyards when it enters, and then replaces future graveyard entries with exile.
Why it’s brutal: This isn’t “graveyard hate.” This is “your deck is now a pile of fair cards.” It also shuts off death triggers that rely on cards going to the graveyard.
Best answers:
- Remove it immediately. You need enchantment removal (or bounce + counter backup).
- Counter it if you can. This is one of the few hate pieces worth spending a real counterspell on.
- Don’t overextend into it if you suspect it’s coming. Keep a reanimation target in hand until you know the coast is clear.
Play pattern tip: If your deck is soft to this, build with that in mind. Run more “from hand” threats so you can still function while you find removal.
2) Leyline of the Void
What it does: Replaces your cards going to the graveyard with exile (usually from the start of the game).
Why it’s brutal: The worst part is timing. If it starts in play, your normal early setup (loot, mill, discard value) can just vanish.
Best answers:
- Mulligan decisions matter. Keep hands that can operate without the graveyard for a few turns.
- Enchantment removal again, but with urgency.
- Bounce is often good enough to steal one big turn (then you can dump/mill and go off).
Play pattern tip: Treat a Turn 0 Leyline like a warning label. You can still win, but you may need to pivot into a slower value line until you remove it.
3) Dauthi Voidwalker
What it does: Exiles opponents’ cards that would hit the graveyard, then later can sacrifice itself to cast one of those cards.
Why it’s brutal: It both shuts off your graveyard and threatens to steal your best spell. That’s rude efficiency.
Best answers:
- Kill it on sight if you’re graveyard-based.
- Prefer exile removal when possible (don’t let them loop it).
- If you can’t remove it right away, avoid feeding it your best cards. Sometimes that means holding a bomb instead of looting it away.
Play pattern tip: If the Voidwalker player is leaving mana up and grinning, assume they want to eat your big turn and then use your card to win.
4) Grafdigger’s Cage
What it does: Stops creatures from entering the battlefield from graveyards/libraries, and stops casting spells from graveyards/libraries.
Why it’s brutal: It bricks classic reanimator lines and a ton of “cheat into play” plans.
Best answers:
- Artifact removal is your cleanest answer.
- Bounce buys a turn.
- Know what it doesn’t stop. Some graveyard decks can switch to lines that don’t “enter from the graveyard” (depends on your list).
Play pattern tip: If your deck can win through the graveyard or through a normal combat/value plan, Cage becomes annoying instead of fatal.
5) Bojuka Bog
What it does: A land that exiles a target player’s graveyard on entry.
Why it’s brutal: It costs a land drop, it’s hard to interact with, and it hits at the most annoying time.
Best answers:
- Respond to the trigger. The exile is a triggered ability that uses the stack. You can fire off instant-speed recursion or grab key pieces before it resolves.
- Counter the trigger if you have access to effects that can do that.
- Don’t dump everything into the yard if a black deck has an unexplained land drop coming.
Play pattern tip: Build with recovery in mind. The graveyard will get wiped sometimes. Make sure your deck can rebuild instead of needing the same exact pile of cards every game.
6) Scavenger Grounds
What it does: A land that can exile all graveyards (and it’s repeatable if they have deserts to feed it).
Why it’s brutal: It sits there as a threat. You can’t just “wait until later.” Later might never happen.
Best answers:
- Force them to use it early by presenting a medium threat. If they pop it, you reload and go for the real push.
- Land interaction helps (when your deck can afford it).
- Activated-ability hate (think “turning off the button”) can buy you time.
Play pattern tip: Watch the table’s mana. If they can activate it and you can’t respond, you’re living dangerously.
7) Soul-Guide Lantern
What it does: Exiles a card on entry, then later can exile opponents’ graveyards, and it can cash itself in so it’s not dead. It’s one of the best “safe includes” hate pieces.
Why it’s brutal: It’s low cost, flexible, and it doesn’t feel like a dead draw. That means people actually run it.
Best answers:
- Make them crack it for small value. If you can bait it into wiping early, you often get a window to rebuild.
- Artifact removal when you’re ready to go big.
- Sequence your recursion so your key card is the last thing you put in the graveyard, not the first.
Play pattern tip: Lantern punishes sloppy timing more than anything. Be deliberate about when you load the yard.
8) Relic of Progenitus
What it does: Picks off single cards over time, then can exile all graveyards and replace itself.
Why it’s brutal: The slow pressure matters. It keeps your graveyard from ever becoming “fully stocked.”
Best answers:
- If your deck uses the graveyard, don’t fight Relic fair. Remove it or bait the activation.
- Use the stack. When they go for the full wipe, respond by reanimating or retrieving the one card that matters most.
- Consider running a few redundant pieces so losing one key card doesn’t end your plan.
Play pattern tip: Relic is a patience test. If you panic-load your yard, you’re doing their job for them.
9) Tormod’s Crypt
What it does: Free artifact that can exile a graveyard at instant speed.
Why it’s brutal: Zero mana means it hits the table early, and it’s easy to hold up forever. You’ll see it in decks that have no business paying mana for interaction.
Best answers:
- Respect the threat. Don’t start your big reanimate line until you can remove it or bait it.
- Bait the activation with a smaller reanimation target.
- Remove it right before your “real” turn (so they can’t just respond and blow you out).
Play pattern tip: Crypt is the classic “gotcha” button. If you’re walking into it, slow down and make them blink first.
10) Endurance
What it does: Flash creature that can be evoked, and it shuffles a player’s graveyard into their library.
Why it’s brutal: It’s the ambush. You think you’re safe because there’s no permanent on board… then your graveyard is gone in response to your setup.
Best answers:
- Play as if they have it when green mana is up and you’re about to win.
- Counter the trigger or the creature if your deck can.
- Don’t rely on one graveyard pile as your only plan. Endurance punishes “all-in” lines hard.
Play pattern tip: If you can win without putting your entire game plan in the graveyard first, do it. Endurance is at its best when you telegraph everything.
The real secret: build your “anti-hate” package, not just your graveyard package
If you play graveyard decks a lot, you don’t need to fear hate. You need to plan for it.
Here’s what that looks like in a normal Commander list:
- More removal that hits artifacts and enchantments. Not “some.” Enough that you actually draw it.
- Instant-speed interaction. So you can respond to Bog/Crypt/Relic activations.
- Redundancy. Multiple ways to reanimate, multiple payoffs, multiple engines.
- A backup win plan. It can be simple. Creatures + beats is fine. You just need something that still functions when the graveyard is offline.
And yes, this is why good graveyard decks often look “less cute” than you want. The cute cards are fun. The answer cards are how you still get to play when the table shows up prepared.
Quick cheat sheet: what answers work best?
| Hate piece | Type | What it punishes | Best answers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rest in Peace | Enchantment (static) | Everything graveyard-related | Enchantment removal, counters, bounce |
| Leyline of the Void | Enchantment (static) | Setup turns + ongoing value | Enchantment removal, bounce, pivot plan |
| Dauthi Voidwalker | Creature (static + steal) | Any yard plan, plus your bombs | Kill it, exile removal, stop feeding it |
| Grafdigger’s Cage | Artifact (static) | Reanimator + cast-from-yard lines | Artifact removal, bounce, alternate lines |
| Bojuka Bog | Land (triggered) | Stocked graveyards | Respond to trigger, rebuild, don’t overdump |
| Scavenger Grounds | Land (activated) | “Wait until later” plans | Bait activation, land answers, ability answers |
| Soul-Guide Lantern | Artifact (activated) | Timing mistakes | Remove it, bait it, careful sequencing |
| Relic of Progenitus | Artifact (repeatable) | Slow yard building | Remove it, respond to wipe, redundancy |
| Tormod’s Crypt | Artifact (one-shot) | Big reanimate turns | Bait it, remove it, don’t telegraph |
| Endurance | Creature (flash/ambush) | All-in piles | Play around open mana, counters, backup plan |
Conclusion
Graveyard decks are powerful because they turn the “discard pile” into a resource. But that power comes with a tax: people will come prepared.
If you remember nothing else, remember this:
- Static hate (Rest in Peace, Leyline, Cage) wants hard answers like removal or counters.
- One-shot hate (Bog, Crypt) wants patience and stack awareness.
- Repeatable hate (Relic, Grounds) wants you to bait activations and keep your deck flexible.
Do that, and you’ll stop losing games to one card you “couldn’t beat.” You’ll still get hated out sometimes (it’s Commander), but you’ll also steal a lot more wins through hate than your opponents expect.