Wretched Ranks Upgrade Guide — Budget & Baller Swaps for Gisa (MTG Commander)

Wretched Ranks already has the Zombies. What it needs is a better payday. We upgraded Ghoulcaller Gisa twice: a $19.32 Budget package and a $299.06 Baller package. Your Zombies should pay you twice—when the army grows, and when you cash it in. This is Budget & Baller: strengthen the deck while keeping its identity. Fifteen swaps per build, every addition AND cut, three alternatives each, and an honest look at what upgrading in stages actually costs. We also tackle a stock-deck trap: Gisa is Human, so Noxious Ghoul can take your commander down with the opposing board. All 100 stock cards and exact FDC printings were checked against the official decklist, MTGJSON and Scryfall. Every addition is absent from stock; every cut is present. Research includes EDHREC upgrade trends and verified rules text. Prices are an October 21, 2026 snapshot, using accessible English nonfoil printings and Scryfall USD price data. Upgrade costs exclude the owned precon, shipping and tax. Printings and prices vary; check your cart before buying. CHAPTERS 0:00 Your Zombies should pay you twice 0:31 Keep the good bones 1:07 Gisa is Human: the Noxious Ghoul problem 1:35 The $19.32 Budget package 2:53 Make sacrifice pay 4:00 Answer, bank, rebuild 4:32 Three Budget alternatives 5:04 Budget: every addition and cut 5:23 The $299.06 Baller package 6:44 Invest in the mana engine 7:17 Control what dies and what returns 8:22 Three Baller alternatives 8:54 Baller: every addition and cut 9:10 The real cost of upgrading in stages 9:46 Which build fits your table? BUDGET PACKAGE — $19.32 / $20 CAP (15 swaps) Rotting Regisaur; Unbreathing Horde; Plague Belcher; Swiftfoot Boots; Sting, the Glinting Dagger; Feed the Swarm; Victimize; Skullclamp; Mirkwood Bats; Syr Konrad, the Grim; Deadly Dispute; Supernatural Stamina; Living Death; Lashwrithe; Crowded Crypt. BALLER PACKAGE — $299.06 / $300 CAP (15 swaps) Cabal Coffers; Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth; Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx; Phyrexian Tower; Crypt Ghast; Thousand-Year Elixir; The Meathook Massacre; Roaming Throne; Liliana, Dreadhorde General; Skullclamp; Sting, the Glinting Dagger; Plague Belcher; Living Death; Reanimate; Deadly Rollick. HONORABLE MENTIONS — substitutions, not extra purchases Budget: Morbid Opportunist instead of Unbreathing Horde ($19.27 revised package); Liliana, Death's Majesty instead of Crowded Crypt ($19.27); Graf Harvest instead of Lashwrithe ($18.97). Baller: Black Market Connections instead of Crypt Ghast ($298.76); Imp's Mischief instead of Deadly Rollick ($281.14); Tomb Tyrant instead of Liliana, Dreadhorde General ($291.79). UPGRADING IN STAGES Skullclamp, Sting, Plague Belcher and Living Death carry forward: $11.22 of Budget purchases. Completing the exact Baller list then needs 11 new purchases totaling $287.84. Buying both stages costs $307.16 overall before shipping/tax—more than buying Baller directly. Restore Josu Vess, Consumed by Greed, Eternal Taskmaster, Moan of the Unhallowed, Syphon Flesh and Wight of Precinct Six from your stock cuts. Use the full IN/OUT screens; don't combine both packages. Which would you build: Budget or Baller? Tell us your first upgrade, and subscribe for more Commander guides that respect your wallet. RESEARCH Official stock decklist: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/ann... Deck data: https://mtgjson.com/api/v5/decks/Wret... Upgrade trends: https://edhrec.com/precon/wretched-ranks Card text and printings: https://scryfall.com Singles + sealed: https://arcanearena.net Written by Rob, founder of Arcane Arena. Narration: Kai. Unofficial fan content. Magic: The Gathering is © Wizards of the Coast. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. #MTG #Commander #GhoulcallerGisa