Commander Deck Guide: Hashaton, Scarab's Fist

The living proof that Amonkhet takes worship so seriously it defies death is Hashaton, Scarab's Fist, our commander for today!

In this article, we'll show you two decks commanded by this Zombie: one with several interesting creatures you can copy, and another that leans more into the Zombie theme and, as such, plays the best Zombies around.

Without further ado, let's go!

As soon as Hashaton, Scarab's Fist was revealed in the Aetherdrift spoiler season, he was added to many wishlists, particularly by those players who enjoy Zombies and Discard/Reanimate.

Hashaton is cheap and can access all the card draw, reanimate, discard, and "copy" support in Esper . With him, you'll discard your cards to create tokens that are copies of them, but they'll also be 4/4 Zombies.

With all of this support, we'll be free to explore many decks with this commander and test out our lists with many different creatures. Hashaton will most certainly be at the center of many incredibly consistent, as well as fun, lists.

So, let's start exploring one of the lists players instantly wanted to try when Hashaton was revealed: the one with the big, useful creatures!

Consider this: an Angel of the Ruins that, for just 3 mana, exiles an enchantment like Purphoros, God of the Forge and/or an artifact like Darksteel Forge. Even better, how about you do all of this using Plainscycling so you can get a plain too?

In this list, you'll find a true toolbox that leans on Hashaton's activated ability to create Zombies that are copies of the big, powerful creatures you'll discard into your graveyard.

Discard

To make this deck work, you'll need to discard creatures from your hand. As Hashaton doesn't do this on his own, we added several cards to support him in this endeavor.

Out of all of these cards, Putrid Imp definitely stands out, as it is a low-cost Zombie Imp with an activated ability that also needs you to discard one card in your hand. Ghostly Pilferer's ability also needs you to discard a card, but it passively draws cards for you when your opponents cast cards from anywhere but their hand.

Rhet-Tomb Mystic gives cycling to all the cards in your hand, so, with it, you'll be able to discard all of them easily and get even more value from it. Psychic Frog, in turn, is a friendly Frog that gains +1/+1 counters when you discard a card.

Reanimate

When Hashaton creates a copy, the original card doesn't go to exile: it remains in your graveyard. So, we also added some spells to reanimate all the creatures you discarded.

Many players' favorite Praetor, Sheoldred, Whispering One, is in this list for three reasons: she reanimates one of your creatures at the beginning of your upkeep, forces your opponents to sacrifice creatures on their upkeep, and is the type of card no one likes to face.

Picture this: you use Kitsa, Otterball Elite's effect as your opponent passes the turn to you, and discard a Sheoldred. Next, you use Hashaton's ability and start your turn with a copy of Sheoldred in play so you can bring other creatures from your graveyard.

As your graveyard will probably be the biggest on the table, Living Death plays an important part in this list. This spell is a boardwipe and also returns to your board all the resources you left in the graveyard. It is a great option if you end up losing your tokens to enemy removals.

Because Metamorphosis Fanatic is a creature, you can discard and create one copy of it with your commander's effect so you can, later on, reanimate the original card with a spell like Victimize. This way, you'll be able to return another creature to your board.

Counters

This deck isn't exactly control, but, as it does have the right colors for this, we added a few spells to counter anything that might possibly threaten your game plan. Particularly if the card in question will exile your graveyard and/or prevent you from reanimating your creatures in any way.

With these spells, you'll be able to answer most threats in your way.

Big Creatures

Now, let's get to the very core of this list: big creatures!

These cards have many effects, from protecting your board to creating "locked" game states for your opponents, like Stax strategies.

Other Praetors you'll use to scare your opponents are Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite and Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur. The first one buffs your creatures and nerfs your opponents', and the second reduces their maximum hand size by seven cards.

Avacyn, Angel of Hope is incredibly popular. She protects all your permanents from cards that could destroy them, and is usually difficult to remove, particularly if Lightning Greaves is attached to her.

As this deck creates tokens, we added Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation and Mondrak, Glory Dominus, as they both increase the number of tokens you create. Besides them, we also added Anointed Procession for the same reason.

Lastly, we'd like to highlight Archon of Cruelty. This creature is quite powerful and, as its effect happens when it enters or attacks, it will quickly drain your opponents' lives and resources.

Curiously, Hashaton, Scarab's Fist was first released in the Eternal Might Precon, which is commanded by Temmet, Naktamun's Will.

So, we decided to add a Zombie list that goes really well with Hashaton's actual origin.

Zul Ashur, Lich Lord is essential for this list because it lets you cast Zombies straight from your graveyard.

Besides this creature, this list plays many valuable lords, like Death Baron, Zombie Master, Ratadrabik of Urborg, Lost Monarch of Ifnir, and Cemetery Reaper. They'll both support the other creatures in this list and the tokens Hashaton creates.

However, this list is a bit less aggressive, and caters more to Zombie fans that enjoy mowing down opponents with their undead army.

Hashaton, Scarab's Fist was rightfully popular when he was first released. After all, his colors can perfectly support any deck with him as the commander.

Even if you use the Aetherdrift precon as a base, you'll still be able to build a very competent list. You'll only need to change it a bit if you're playing in more competitive tables and don't want to just stand there and "watch the game". There's definitely room to do a lot with it.

What did you think of this list? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!