Operating as a 1/1 Insect creature in every zone except the battlefield allows Grist, the Hunger Tide from Modern Horizons 2 to bypass standard commander restrictions and serve as a premiere Golgari Planeswalker commander.
Costing just three mana (), Grist’s static rule modification means creature-tutoring spells like Green Sun’s Zenith and creature recursion like Reanimate interact directly with your Planeswalker. Grist’s +1 ability generates 1/1 Insect tokens while self-milling cards; whenever an Insect is milled, Grist gains an extra loyalty counter and repeats the process. Combined with sacrifice outlets, graveyard recursion, and lethal graveyard-count drain effects, Grist swiftly overwhelms enemy battlefields.
Here is the strategic operational blueprint of Moxfield’s premier Grist list, detailing how to stock your graveyard with Insects, generate infinite loyalty, and drain opponents out in a single activation.
1. Core Mechanics & Strategic Phases
Succeeding with Grist requires high Insect density, rapid self-mill engines, Golgari creature tutors, and mass graveyard drain payoffs.
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Early Game (Turns 1–2): Ramp with mana dorks like Birds of Paradise or Insect enablers like Haywire Mite. Deploy graveyard tutors or self-mill engines.
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Mid Game (Turns 3–4): Cast Grist for . Activate +1 to generate Insect tokens and mill cards, or use -2 for non-land targeted removal.
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Late Game (Turns 4+): Loop creatures into your graveyard using Hermit Druid or Survival of the Fittest. Execute a mass graveyard drain with Grist’s ultimate (-5) or assemble an instant Protean Hulk / Bolas’s Citadel combo finish.
2. Moxfield Highlights: Creature-Planeswalker Synergy & Self-Mill
The highest-rated community lists on Moxfield optimize Grist by abusing his unique creature classification across tutors and graveyard reanimator spells.
Green Sun’s Zenith / Chord of Calling / Finale of Devastation
The creature tutor suite. Because Grist is an Insect creature while in your library, green creature tutors fetch Grist directly onto the battlefield for minimal mana costs.
Hermit Druid / Stitcher’s Supplier / Undead Butler
High-velocity self-mill engines. Loads your graveyard rapidly to maximize Grist’s ultimate -5 ability and fuel reanimation targets like Protean Hulk.
Reanimate / Animate Dead / Living Death
Graveyard loop package. Brings back key threats—or Grist himself—directly from the graveyard if targeted removal lands.
Delightful Sore / Assassin’s Trophy / Abrupt Decay
Golgari interaction suite. Clears hostile hate pieces and graveyard exile effect permanents before executing your win condition.
3. Copy & Paste Grist, the Hunger Tide 100-Card Decklist
Use the text box below to copy the complete highly-optimized community list. It contains exactly 1 Commander and 99 mainboard cards, calibrated for an error-free import into Moxfield.
1 Grist, the Hunger Tide
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Animate Dead
1 Arcane Signet
1 Assassin's Trophy
1 Bayou
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Bolas's Citadel
1 Boseiju, Who Endures
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Chord of Calling
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Culling the Weak
1 Dark Ritual
1 Dauthi Voidwalker
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Demonic Intent
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Eldritch Evolution
1 Elves of Deep Shadow
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Entomb
1 Fiend Artisan
1 Finale of Devastation
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Gemstone Caverns
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Haywire Mite
1 Hermit Druid
1 Imperial Seal
1 Jeweled Lotus
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Confluence
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mox Amber
1 Mox Diamond
1 Mox Opal
1 Nature's Claim
1 Orcish Bowmasters
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Polluted Delta
1 Protean Hulk
1 Reanimate
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Sol Ring
1 Stitcher's Supplier
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Sylvan Library
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Undergrowth Stadium
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Viscera Seer
1 Walking Ballista
1 Wild Growth
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Zombie Infestation
15 Swamp
15 Forest
Summary: Creature-Planeswalker, Swarm & Conquer
Moxfield’s top deck builders prioritize Grist, the Hunger Tide because his unique static rule turns him into the most tutor-friendly Planeswalker in Commander history. By pairing fast self-mill with green creature tutors and massive graveyard drain payoffs, Grist converts insect tokens and dead creatures into absolute table domination. Copy the flawless 100-card decklist above, mill your library, and dominate your next Commander pod.
