Legendary Creature — Zombie Knight

Josu Vess, Lich Knight

Mana value4EDHREC#7,106

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The Commander

Kicker {5} {B} (You may pay an additional {5} {B} as you cast this spell.)

Menace

When Josu Vess enters, if it was kicked, create eight 2/2 black Zombie Knight creature tokens with menace.

Guide

Gameplan

Cast Josu Vess early as a menace beater, or wait to kick him for {5} {B} and flood the board with eight 2/2 menace Zombie Knights. The deck builds a wide, hard-to-block army then converts it into damage with anthems and overrun effects, while leaning on mono-black ramp and recursion to repeat the kicked payoff. You grind value through sacrifice, drain, and reanimation in the long game.

Strengths

Kicked Josu produces a massive 16 power across nine bodies in one cast
Menace makes the whole army difficult to chump-block profitably
Mono-black gives unmatched tutors, recursion, and card draw consistency
Zombie/Knight tribal synergies are deep and cheap

Weaknesses

Kicker is mana-hungry, so an unkicked Josu is just a 4/4 menace
Heavily reliant on the commander and vulnerable to board wipes
No native card advantage or evasion beyond menace
Mono-black struggles to interact with artifacts and enchantments

Key Cards

Cabal Coffers — With Urborg it generates the explosive mana needed to recast a kicked Josu repeatedly.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth — Turns all lands into Swamps, supercharging Coffers and black mana ramp.
Coat of Arms — Massively pumps the wide Zombie Knight army for lethal swings.
Cavern of Souls — Names Zombie or Knight to protect Josu from counterspells.
Phyrexian Reclamation — Repeatedly returns Josu to hand to re-trigger the kicked token swarm.

Upgrade Path

Prioritize big black mana (Cabal Coffers, Urborg, Nykthos, Crypt Ghast) so kicking Josu is reliable, then add recursion (Phyrexian Reclamation, Living Death) to repeat the trigger. Layer in payoff anthems and finishers like Coat of Arms, Eldrazi Monument, and Door of Destinies, plus tribal support such as Lord of the Undead and Cemetery Reaper. Round out with fast mana (Dark Ritual, Sol Ring), efficient removal, and protection like Cavern of Souls to keep the engine online.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

▸Alpha strike with menace tokens pumped by anthems or Coat of Arms
▸Overrun effects like Overwhelming Stampede or Craterhoof-style finishers (Eldrazi Monument, Living Death loops)
▸Aristocrats drain via Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat, and mass sacrifice
▸Commander damage from a buffed, evasive Josu Vess

Archetypes

Zombie/Knight Tribal — Josu is a Zombie Knight that makes Zombie Knight tokens, enabling double tribal lords and anthems.
Go-Wide Tokens — The kicked ETB instantly creates a board of eight evasive bodies to overrun with.
Aristocrats — The wide token army feeds sacrifice engines for drain and value.
Reanimator — Black recursion repeatedly returns and replays Josu for the kicked payoff.