Best Cards for Korvold, Fae-Cursed King (2026)
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King is the undisputed king of sacrifice strategies in Commander. This Jund dragon turns every sacrificed permanent into a +1/+1 counter AND a card, creating an unstoppable value engine that can win through commander damage, aristocrats triggers, or simply burying opponents in card advantage. If you love turning your own permanents into fuel for absolute domination, Korvold is your commander.
Whether you're building from scratch or upgrading an existing list, this guide covers the most powerful cards for Korvold in 2026. Ready to start brewing? Use our Card Editor to create custom tokens for your sacrifice fodder, or print proxy versions of expensive staples with our Proxy Printer.
Understanding Korvold's Power
Korvold's abilities synergize perfectly with sacrifice strategies:
- Whenever Korvold enters or attacks, you sacrifice another permanent.
- Whenever you sacrifice a permanent, put a +1/+1 counter on Korvold and draw a card.
This means Korvold rewards you for doing exactly what Jund aristocrats decks want to do anyway—sacrifice permanents for value. The card draw is especially critical, as it prevents you from running out of gas in a strategy that often empties its board.
Essential Sacrifice Outlets
Free, repeatable sacrifice outlets are the backbone of any Korvold deck. These let you sacrifice at will, triggering Korvold (and other payoffs) on demand.
1. Phyrexian Altar
Mana Cost:
Type: Artifact
The gold standard of sacrifice outlets. Phyrexian Altar lets you sacrifice a creature to add one mana of any color. In Korvold, this turns your creatures into cards AND mana, enabling combo turns and massive value chains. It's also a key piece in several infinite combos.
Why it's essential:
- Free sacrifice outlet that generates mana
- Enables infinite combos with Gravecrawler or persist creatures
- Korvold trigger + card draw + mana = pure value
2. Viscera Seer
Mana Cost:
Type: Creature — Vampire Wizard
For just one mana, Viscera Seer provides a free sacrifice outlet that also lets you scry 1. The scry might seem minor, but when you're sacrificing 5+ creatures per turn, you're essentially reading your entire deck. A format staple that belongs in every Korvold list.
Why it's essential:
- Only costs
- Free, instant-speed sacrifice
- Scry 1 adds up quickly
3. Goblin Bombardment
Mana Cost:
Type: Enchantment
Goblin Bombardment is a two-mana enchantment that lets you sacrifice creatures to deal 1 damage to any target. This turns your sacrifice fodder into removal OR a finisher. With enough creatures, you can machine-gun down blockers or finish off opponents directly.
Why it's essential:
- Sacrifice = damage to anything
- Removes utility creatures or finishes players
- Enchantment is harder to remove than creatures
4. Greater Good
Mana Cost:
Type: Enchantment
Greater Good lets you sacrifice a creature to draw cards equal to its power, then discard three cards. With Korvold, this is absurd—sacrifice Korvold himself (a 10/10), draw TEN cards (plus one from Korvold's trigger), discard three, then recast Korvold from the command zone. The card advantage is obscene.
Why it's essential:
- Massive card draw based on Korvold's power
- Fill your graveyard for recursion
- Enables explosive reanimation lines
5. Ashnod's Altar
Mana Cost:
Type: Artifact
Ashnod's Altar sacrifices creatures for
Why it's essential:
- Two mana per sacrifice
- Enables big mana turns
- Combo piece with token generators
Premium Sacrifice Fodder
These cards provide expendable permanents to fuel Korvold's hunger.
6. Dockside Extortionist
Mana Cost:
Type: Creature — Goblin Pirate
Dockside Extortionist creates Treasure tokens equal to the number of artifacts and enchantments your opponents control. In a typical game, this means 5-15 Treasures for two mana. Each Treasure can then be sacrificed to Korvold for a +1/+1 counter and a card. Dockside is banned-worthy power that singlehandedly enables explosive Korvold turns.
Why it's essential:
- Creates massive amounts of Treasures
- Each Treasure = Korvold trigger
- Combines with blink effects for even more value
7. Pitiless Plunderer
Mana Cost:
Type: Creature — Human Pirate
Whenever another creature you control dies, create a Treasure token. Pitiless Plunderer turns your sacrifice engine into a mana engine. Sacrifice a creature, get a Treasure, sacrifice the Treasure, get another Korvold trigger. The value multiplies rapidly.
Why it's essential:
- Creature death = Treasure
- Creates infinite loops with certain combos
- Treasures feed Korvold's ability
8. Bloodghast
Mana Cost:
Type: Creature — Vampire Spirit
Bloodghast returns to the battlefield whenever a land enters under your control. With consistent land drops (or fetchlands), Bloodghast becomes endlessly recurring sacrifice fodder. Sacrifice it, play a land, it comes back—repeat ad nauseam.
Why it's essential:
- Returns from graveyard automatically
- Free, recurring sacrifice fodder
- Landfall trigger is easy to enable
9. Tireless Provisioner
Mana Cost:
Type: Creature — Elf Scout
Whenever a land enters under your control, create a Treasure or Food token. In Korvold, each token represents a sacrifice opportunity. With fetchlands and ramp spells, Tireless Provisioner generates massive amounts of fodder while ramping you ahead.
Why it's essential:
- Landfall = Treasure/Food tokens
- Tokens are perfect Korvold fodder
- Green's best token generator
10. Sakura-Tribe Elder
Mana Cost:
Type: Creature — Snake Shaman
Steve (as fans call him) is a classic that shines in Korvold. Sacrifice it to find a basic land—triggering Korvold in the process. It's ramp, a creature, and a sacrifice outlet all in one efficient package.
Why it's essential:
- Ramp that triggers Korvold
- Self-sacrificing creature
- Finds any basic land
Deadly Payoffs
These cards punish opponents whenever you sacrifice, turning your engine into a win condition.
11. Mayhem Devil
Mana Cost:
Type: Creature — Devil
Mayhem Devil deals 1 damage to any target whenever ANY player sacrifices a permanent. Your sacrifices ping opponents; their sacrifices ping them too. In Korvold, where you're sacrificing constantly, Mayhem Devil becomes a machine gun that clears boards and finishes games.
Why it's essential:
- Each sacrifice = 1 damage anywhere
- Punishes opponents' sacrifices too
- Removes small creatures or closes games
12. Zulaport Cutthroat
Mana Cost:
Type: Creature — Human Rogue Ally
Whenever another creature you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. This is the classic "aristocrats" payoff—sacrifice creatures, drain opponents. With enough sacrifices, Zulaport Cutthroat ends games efficiently.
Why it's essential:
- Creature death = life drain
- Only costs
- Stacks with multiple copies/similar effects
13. Blood Artist
Mana Cost:
Type: Creature — Vampire
Blood Artist triggers on ANY creature death—yours OR opponents'. This adds up incredibly quickly in Commander, where board wipes and sacrifices are common. Combined with Zulaport Cutthroat, the life drain becomes lethal.
Why it's essential:
- Triggers on ALL creature deaths
- Gains life while draining opponents
- Two-mana win condition
14. Grave Pact
Mana Cost:
Type: Enchantment
Whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent sacrifices a creature. Grave Pact turns your sacrifice engine into one-sided board control. Opponents can't keep creatures on the board while you're sacrificing yours, and their sacrifices just fuel your engine further.
Why it's essential:
- Locks opponents out of the board
- Synergizes with Mayhem Devil
- Devastating in creature-heavy metas
15. Dictate of Erebos
Mana Cost:
Type: Enchantment
Dictate of Erebos is Grave Pact with flash. The ability to flash it in during combat or in response to a board wipe makes it even more devastating. Play both for maximum oppression.
Why it's essential:
- Flash timing is powerful
- Stacks with Grave Pact
- Controls the board effortlessly
Combo and Value Pieces
16. Old Gnawbone
Mana Cost:
Type: Legendary Creature — Dragon
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, create that many Treasure tokens. Attack with Korvold (often a 7/7 or larger), create 7+ Treasures, then sacrifice them all for 7+ cards and counters. Old Gnawbone accelerates Korvold to absurd sizes.
Why it's essential:
- Combat damage = massive Treasure production
- Treasures fuel Korvold
- Dragon tribal synergy with Korvold
17. Awakening Zone
Mana Cost:
Type: Enchantment
During each of your upkeeps, create a 0/1 Eldrazi Spawn token that can sacrifice for
Why it's essential:
- Free sacrifice fodder every turn
- Tokens provide mana if needed
- Low investment, high long-term value
18. Syr Konrad, the Grim
Mana Cost:
Type: Legendary Creature — Human Knight
Syr Konrad deals damage whenever creatures die, enter the graveyard from anywhere, or leave the graveyard. In a sacrifice-heavy deck, Konrad racks up damage incredibly fast. He also has an activated ability to mill, which can trigger himself.
Why it's essential:
- Damage on creature deaths
- Damage on graveyard recursion
- Secondary win condition
19. Eternal Witness
Mana Cost:
Type: Creature — Human Shaman
Eternal Witness returns any card from your graveyard to your hand. In Korvold, this means recurring your best sacrifice payoffs, removal spells, or combo pieces. The body is also sacrifice fodder, making this pure value.
Why it's essential:
- Returns any card from graveyard
- Creature for sacrifice
- Staple in any green EDH deck
20. Korvold Combo Package
For players who want to close games definitively, consider these combos:
Persist Combo:
- Korvold + Phyrexian Altar + Woodfall Primus/Puppeteer Clique + a way to remove -1/-1 counters (like Rhythm of the Wild or Melira, Sylvok Outcast) = infinite sacrifices, infinite card draw, and infinite destruction/reanimation.
Gravecrawler Loop:
- Phyrexian Altar + Gravecrawler + any Zombie (or sacrifice outlet that makes zombies) = infinite mana, infinite Korvold triggers, infinite life drain with Blood Artist.
Building Your Korvold Deck
When constructing Korvold, balance these elements:
- Sacrifice Outlets (8-12 cards): Viscera Seer, Phyrexian Altar, Goblin Bombardment
- Sacrifice Fodder (15-20 cards): Tokens, recursive creatures, Treasures
- Payoffs (8-12 cards): Mayhem Devil, Zulaport Cutthroat, Grave Pact
- Recursion (5-8 cards): Eternal Witness, Animate Dead, Living Death
- Removal/Interaction (8-10 cards): Beast Within, Assassin's Trophy, Abrade
- Mana Base (35-38 lands + ramp): Include fetchlands for Bloodghast triggers
Korvold generates so much card advantage that you rarely run out of gas. Focus on redundancy in your sacrifice outlets and payoffs to ensure consistency.
Conclusion
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King rewards you for embracing the Jund philosophy: everything is expendable, and sacrifice is just another resource. The combination of card draw, ever-growing commander damage, and aristocrats synergies makes Korvold one of the most powerful (and fun) commanders in the format.
Want to proxy some of these expensive staples? Visit our Proxy Printer to create high-quality proxies for cards like Dockside Extortionist and Phyrexian Altar. Or design custom sacrifice tokens with our Card Editor—because your Treasure tokens deserve to look as good as they function.
Now go sacrifice some permanents!
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