Tarkir: Dragonstorm brings forth a new Sultai legend that has my graveyard-loving heart doing backflips in the dirt. Teval, the Balanced Scale is a Spirit Dragon Sultai-colored dream: milling, recurring lands, and spawning an army of Zombie Druids from graveyard shenanigans. A 4/4 flying commander that fuels its own engine? Now that's what I call a beautiful corpse.

Let's dig up some dirt (pun very much intended) and see where Teval soars in the Commander format.

Graveyard Synergies: A Corpse's Best Friend

Teval wants your cards in the graveyard. More importantly, it rewards you when those cards leave it. Here's why this is a big deal: most graveyard commanders care about what's inside the yard (ex. Muldrotha, the Gravetide, Meren of Clan Nel Toth), but Teval actually pays you for taking things out. This opens up a new angle - one that takes advantage of effects that exile, reanimate, or otherwise interact with the yard in ways other decks don't.

Your game plan is:

1. Mill yourself (preferably A LOT).
2. Attack with Teval to get lands back for value.
3. Exile stuff from your graveyard (delve, reanimation, etc.).
4. Profit in the form of 2/2 Zombie Druids (which, flavor-wise, are probably cursed monks that got too deep into Sultai necromancy).

Dragon Synergy (Not Tribal, But Big Game)

Teval isn't here for Dragon tribal - but that doesn't mean you can't use some of the best dragons in EDH to bolster its strategy.

• Old Gnawbone - If your graveyard recursion isn't enough, why not add Treasures into the mix?
• Kura, the Boundless Sky - When it dies, it tutors for lands, fueling Teval's land recursion.
• Keiga, the Tide Star - When it dies, you steal the best creature on the board. Classic value, and you want things in your graveyard anyway.

Since Teval attacks to trigger its mill ability, it benefits from big threats that demand removal--which Dragons do best.

Dredging Up The Good Stuff (y'know, Lands)

Teval's "mill three and return a land" clause is more than just a side effect - it's a key enabler for land recursion decks.

Cards to abuse? Here's the cream of the crop.

• The Gitrog Monster - Mill lands, sac lands, replay lands. Rinse and repeat.
• Life from the Loam - A staple in land recursion decks. Fill your graveyard, get lands back, profit.
• Walk-In Closet // Forgotten Cellar - A Green Crucible with a six-mana Yawgmoth's WIll attached to it
• Crucible of Worlds - Fetchlands and cycling lands become pure, unfiltered value.

Teval's effect helps lands-matter strategies go wide while also setting up its graveyard recursion engine.

Best Cards to Pair with Teval

Since Teval rewards you for exiling your own graveyard, you'll want cards that munch on your 'yard for fun and profit.

Mill & Self-Fill (to feed Teval's recursion)

• Mesmeric Orb - Every untap step is another meal for your graveyard.
• Ripples of Undeath - Hear me out: this is Sylvan Library but in Black (and for graveyard decks). Amirite?
• Stitcher's Supplier - Dumps a ton of cards into the graveyard for dirt cheap.
• Satyr Wayfinder - Early game value and a land for Teval to recur.

Exile Your Own Graveyard (To Trigger Zombie Druids)

• Tasigur, the Golden Fang - Delve fuels Teval's token generation.
• Dig Through Time / Treasure Cruise - Exile dead cards, draw into gas, trigger Zombies.
• Scavenging Ooze - Targets anyone's graveyard, but with Teval, you get extra value.
• Deathrite Shaman - A mana dork that exiles lands for ramp or spells for burn.

Reanimator Shenanigans

• Reanimate - Bring back a monster for 1 mana.
• Necromancy - Instant-speed reanimation to grab the biggest threat.
• Living Death - The classic graveyard nuke-and-repopulate play.
• Eternal Witness / Timeless Witness - Recursion that keeps bringing back gas.

Teval Is a Graveyard General Worth Digging Up

As a die-hard graveyard EDH player (shoutout to my first-ever deck, Karador, Ghost Chieftain), I can confidently say that Teval is the fresh dirt we've been waiting for. It's a self-sustaining engine, plays nice with lands-matter, and rewards you for doing the things you already love in a graveyard deck - milling, recurring, and exiling.

Whether leading its own deck or lurking in the 99 of Muldrotha, the Gravetide or The Mimeoplasm Teval is the real deal. What do you think? Will Teval make it into your graveyard rotation, or will it be doomed to the eternal torment of a Leyline of the Void on turn zero?

What other commander cards from Tarkir: Dragonstorm are you hyped about?