MTG Salvation

Hi long time viewer of this site but first time posting something. I've been looking for ways to improve my EDH deck and open to any suggestions to make it more competitive. Been back to Magic for about six or seven months and I have fell in love with the EDH format. Currently I am running Teneb over Karador as I have to deal with flying commanders coming out by turn three. The deck is based around having a jack of all trades with heavy reliance in recursion.



Here is the link to my EDH deck on tappedout: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/tenebus-gravedigging-tendencies-combo/

Lately I haven't been able to keep up with my meta as they try to shut me down on the get go I am able to survive if I play passively but I have to deal with both aggro and control commanders.

My meta is currently:
Friend A:
Progenitus (Superfriends/No Counters)
Sliver Queen (Superfriends/Token Gen)
Mayael the Anima (Angel/Dragon Goodstuff)
Friend B:
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic (Creatureless/Wrath Control)
Teysa, Orzhov Scion (Multiple Infinite Combo)
Friend C:
Aurelia, the Warleader (Hyper Aggro One Shot Kill)
Narset, Enlightened Master (Aggro/Extra Turns)
Friend D:
Sigarda, Host of Herons (Aggro/Hatebears)
Daretti, Scrap Savant (Bosh Control)
Friend E:
Azami, Lady of Scrolls (Heavy Control)
Arcum Dagsson (Nevinyrral's Disk Lockdown)
Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker (Land Destruction/Lockdown)

TL;DR Deck can't handle the hate, need suggestions to make the deck more competitive.

The list looks very combo oriented. Meaning that you like to play combos to set up for early reanimation for early BAM lol nothing wrong with that but that's where your problem is. I think you either need a few more better creatures so you can protect the combo/lockdown pieces or you remove the combo and just make it midrange reanimator.
There is a teneb thread a few spaces down that me and Rhakee have been working through for months. You're more than welcome to drop down so he can help you out. He's better than I am lol

Alright thanks I'll check it out!

The only reason why I chose to go fast combo orient is due to the fact in my meta, they already know I am the biggest threat therefore they will reserve some form of denial to not let me through. For instance the Aurelia player in my group will always choose to swing at me first, and Aurelia sets up really quick in his style, so by turn 2 or 3 it is possible to have Aurelia out on the field already. The usual politics in my group go half and half as usually when I talk my way out of it I end up winning the game, and in that part they tend not to let me through sadly. The other reason why I go through heavy combo is due to the fact that we have plenty of control players, so if they take away one of my combos I always know there is a back up one and many baits to lure out the counters.

I feel like you'd be better off running Karador and then playing more removal to deal with those flying generals you spoke of. You appear to be very removal light currently, anyway.

Also, I don't think you're running enough lands for Exploration and Burgeoning to be worthwhile. You'd probably be better off with ramp that puts lands into play rather than letting you play extras.

Also also, playing a combo focused deck means that if the rest of the table is focusing on shutting you down, it's really easy. I think you'd be much better off, and probably happier, building a solid creature toolbox, with a bunch of awesome effect creatures. Build the kind of deck that has answers for everything (which is really easy in Junk/Abzan), and lots of ways to get those answers.

Lastly, having to click another link to an external site is really annoying when people try to come in to look at your deck. You should always put the deck in your post, in deck tags.

Alright I'll fix the link, I have been having mixed results in running Burgeoning as of lately. The reason I ran all the extra play extra spells was due to the Strip Mine + Crucible of Worlds synergy. I think I will switch it over to Azusa, Lost but Seeking once I get my hands on one. The reason I chose to run Teneb over Karador is due to the fact that my friend got me a foiled version of it before he left and I would like to pay homage to him in respect of that. That and I prefer Teneb over Karador as he is a 6/6 flier and doesn't rely too much interaction with the grave to do its job.

Thanks for your insight! What cards would you recommend if I were to make it a more worthwhile creature build?

Well, there are lots of things you'd want to be running if you were going for a creature build. Kinda too much to list out here. Would probably be easier for you to just check out some people's Karador threads and whatnor.

At the moment I am thinking of adding more removal spells. I know I should definitely add in a Path to Exile somewhere in the deck. Is it justifiable to run the other instant speed removals also? Such as cards like Putrefy, Mortify, and Abrupt Decay?

It largely ends up being a preference call. Junk colours give you access to a ton of good removal, and there's only space for so much of it.
Personally, I tend to favour the catch-all stuff. Vindicate, Utter End, Beast Within. And then of course [cards]Swords to Plowshares[/card] and Path to Exile, because they're the best creature removal. And then frequently Hero's Downfall.

If it comes down to cutting any of those in favour of things like Putrefy, Mortify, etc, I would say don't do it. But if you are trying to go up in your removal count, they're fine additions to have along side those others.

I think I am fine in removal in the current build I am running, as I tend to combo out by turn 5 or 6 consistently. I think I will however drop Avacyn, Angel of Hope in return for a Path to Exile. The only problem I have with the deck so far is having the people try to gun me down before I can attempt to combo out. However I think its just the cards I am mulling. Today I was able to get a couple good games in, only lost two games due to the fact Narset is quite evil when no one can stop her.

On an afterthought dropping Avacyn will probably make the deck run more smooth as I don't really have a use for her in this deck besides her being a heavy hitter and protecting my creatures from boardclears.