"The best servants are made from those who died without a scratch." -Sidisi, khan of the Sultai
After playing Jarad Zombie Tribal for a while and getting bored with it, I decided I wanted to try something new. There were a few other commanders I wanted to use as a Zombie general. Grimgrin, Corpse-Born and Sedris, the Traitor King were the first, but after contemplating a bit and some suggestions from M:TG Salvation users, I decided to try Sidisi, Brood Tyrant instead. I actually had lists built for both Grimgrin and Sedris but didn't like how they turned out. I went to Sidisi mainly because of that green but also because of my playgroup. With the way the deck is built, I could use Purphoros, God of the Forge in pair with Sedris while still having access to my black and blue zombies, but I also lose some pretty nice fetch cards that comes with green. I took the gamble and liked how the deck turned out. Ultimately, if I had to choose between Grimgrin and Sedris, I'd probably go with Sedris.
If you have any suggestions or ideas, I'd be more then welcome to hear them!
Corpse Harvester: It tutors almost all of our creature base on top of getting a swamp, and that swamp doesn't have to be a basic swamp either! Since this deck likes sacrificing things, I think it's a win-win.
Diregraf Captain: One of our pieces to combo out the game. Works great with zombie token sacrificing or using the Gravecrawler shenanigans. It even gives our zombies a little boost too!
Dralnu, Lich Lord: The double-edged sword. If you can set him up correctly, his first ability isn't as threatening to you. Even so, keep him up for a turn and you can bring tutors back and speed up your deck. This would actually be the first thing I am looking at to replace, maybe for a Kokusho, the Evening Star. If the deck moves too fast for Dralnu to be effective, then into the bucket he goes, but it's always nice to have around if your table runs counterspells upon counterspells.
Eternal Witness: Better then Dralnu in every way since he hits everything! The bonus? Bringing everything back with the Nim Deathmantle combo. One of the reasons I took green as she's practically an auto add.
Geralf's Messenger+ Geralf's Mindcrusher: This is a free win if you have the cards needed to combo them out. Thanks to their undying ability, we can sacrifice him to Ashnod's Altar twice, have enough mana to use Nim Deathmantle's ability to bring him back after the first undying is used up, and repeat the process. Messenger is safer, while Mindcrusher still gives your opponents time to react before they draw out plus if they run the Eldrazi Lords, they get their deck shuffled back in. If I ran a Bloodchief Ascension, then it wouldn't be an issue.
Geth, Lord of the Vault: You can combo with him if you have both altar's on the field plus a way to generate infinite mana. Dump everything in their grave and take it all for yourself. Deadlier if your opponents run ETB effects. Even by itself it's still something to be reckoned with.
Grave Titan + Maalfeld Twins: One is an ETB trigger and the other is a graveyard trigger, but for the purpose of using either altar, they both get the same result. Both are 6 CMC and both are needed for our infinite mana combos.
Rotlung Reanimator: Like our two giants above, he does the same thing barring the one extra zombie token. Get Bridge from Below in your graveyard and he essentially does the same thing. By himself, he can still abuse enter the grave triggers, like Diregraf Captain and Vengeful Dead with Nim Deathmantle.
Gravecrawler: One of the main combo components. Generally better with Phyrexian Altar and other triggers but with Bridge or Undying, he can be used with Ashnod's.
Havengul Lich: I LOVE this card. Use it on your own creatures or use it on an opponents. It's a better Coffin Queen. The amount of crazy stuff you can do with this card is insane.
Liliana, Heretical Healer/Liliana, Defiant Necromancer: I like Origins Lily in this deck since you basically get to flip her for free on top of getting a free token. Her discard shines but not as brightly as her -X ability. If you can manage to get her ult off, then it's pretty much GG.
Lord of the Undead: Gives our zombies a little boost and he can bring our guys from the graveyard to the hand. What's not to love?
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed: He's an instant threat and I don't have to tell you why. Sure our Eternal Witness (or Lily if she doesn't flip) suffers from his ability, but who cares?
Sedraxis Alchemist: He's a great bouncer. The downside? That blue permanent requirement. Oh wait, our commander has blue. Combo it to bounce the entire field. Honestly though, I might replace him. We'll see how well he survives the trials.
Sidisi, Undead Vizier: A combo-able tutor card! What else is there to say? Oh, the downside is exploit. Even without enough zombies on the field to combo her, she's still a tutor.
Soul of Innistrad: Good graveyard dumper, discard fodder, or a blocker. It's useful with this deck it more ways than one.
Vengeful Dead: For 1 CMC more you can use him as a combo piece rather then having other material to set him up like Diregraf Captain. Oh, he hits everyone too.
Swan Song: A cheap counter that I specialized over Counterspell mostly due to the fact that creatures shouldn't pose a threat to us (unless it's something like Angel of Finality).
Stroke of Genius: Works well with Ashnod combo and great elsewhere.
Bitter Ordeal: I actually was reminded of this card looking at someone else's deck. Your opponents will be confused when you multi-sac your Gravecrawler (or any other combo) and nothing triggering form it... until you drop this from your hand. Exile your opponents entire deck!
Bring to Light: The new kid on the block. Fetch your kids, your wife, anything really. Most of your go-to combos will be in it's cost range and you get to free cast it too. Otherwise you can tutor a tutor.
Buried Alive/Jarad's Orders: Put your things into the grave to get it back later. Jarad's I like better since I can just dump Genesis and grab a freebie, but both are good if your dumping Genesis. Oh, and that free zombie token from your general!
Villainous Wealth: The other reason while I took Sidisi. It's a single target Bitter Ordeal that takes all of your opponents stuff. It's disgusting. If your allowed to cast this, you pretty much win the game.
Black Market: Another way to get infinite mana... but colored! Needs a turn to set it up, but well worth it provided it doesn't die.
Bridge from Below: Great with Rotlung Reanimator, best with your other token spawners. Sadly, the hard part is getting it in your graveyard. Sidisi makes that a little bit easier. Best if used on your turn.
Contamination: This was a hard choice, but since our card base is mostly black, it doesn't hurt us as much as it would hurt your opponents, especially if they don't run black at all. Need to keep something to feed it every turn, but that's a small downside compared to keep the table locked.
Evolutionary Leap: Nice way to fill the board or draw out your deck so you have better chances getting your combo pieces out.
Monastery Siege: Either choice is a good choice, but what choice to use is really based on field state and your hand. Good way to get Bridge from Below into your graveyard, but also a nice dampener to keep your stuff safe. If your not playing against heavy control decks, the first option always wins.
Akroma's Memorial: In the off chance that you don't have your other pieces but your massive zombie hoard is on the field, you can simply drop this and swing to win. Fog abilities will only give your opponent one more turn to knock you out.
Altar of Dementia: Mindcrusher in an artifact. Pray your opponent doesn't have the Eldrazi Lords.
Carnage Altar: Great if we have the pieces out to utilize it, ok when we don't.
Chromatic Lantern: Lantern to me a is staple for any deck 3+ colors and 2 color decks that heavily favor another color. Not running one will slow your deck down.
Nim Deathmantle: Another one of our "glue" cards. Although not needed for some combos, it's still one of the things we'll tutor for.
Skullclamp: You can combo it with infinite mana on top of infinite draw. For any sac decks, it's nice to have.
Mana Rocks: I took Gilded Lotus over Thran Dynamo to fix colors better. The rest are pretty straight forward.
Academy Ruins: Gets our artifacts back if they get blown up.
Phyrexian Tower: Great way to get some easy mana and get ahead early.
Reliquary Tower: EDH staple for most, if not all decks. I personally don't like it, but here it's great.
Unholy Grotto/Volrath's Stronghold: Volrath's for those non zombies (or no Grotto) and Grotto for everything undead. If you can't afford Volrath's, I would definitely pick up Grotto.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: If you are playing black and don't have this, you're doing it wrong. With that said, turns your poop 1 colorless lands into deadly black producing machines.
Scry Lands: Some people hate them while I'm the opposite. It may slow your mana base down but it can speed your deck up, even by a little. In low CMC decks, I think they're amazing.
Liliana Vess: I don't like her +1 as much as Defiant's +2. Her tutor is what makes her shine and her ult is just nuts if you can get it off.
Possible 'Walkers:
Garruk Relentless: His flipped -1 is the only thing I would consider using, but even then, he's slow to get rolling.
Garruk, Caller of Beasts: I'd use him over Relentless any day. His +1 ability isn't terrible and his ultimate is just bonkers.
Jace Beleren: He's cheap and his +2 isn't bad, but helps your opponents as well.
Jace, the Living Guildpact: Poop jace isn't so poopy. He gives us another way to put Bridge from Below into our graveyard and he has a bounce ability with his -3. Hell, I'd consider him over any Jace minus Vryn's.
Kiora, Master of the Depths: Her +1 gives some ramp but we don't have many tap creatures to use the creature part of the effect. Her -2 isn't bad but risks putting our combo pieces in our graveyard, specifically out artifacts.
Kiora, the Crashing Wave: Her +1 gives us a one creature fog to stop a fatty from knocking us around. Her -1 is a better ability for use but her 2 loyalty makes it problematic.
Liliana of the Dark Realms: A slight cheaper version of Liliana Vess. Her +1 can grab us some dual lands which is always nice. She's a go-to replacement for Heretical for a more budgety build.
Teferi, Temporal Archmage: Great to speed up your deck or even get a little extra mana during your turn with his -1.
Tezzeret the Seeker: Another decent walker on the -X ability alone. Another way to recur our artifact combos. His +1 is nice as well as it untaps our mana rocks.
Vraska the Unseen: She might be useful. Her -3 is the only thing I'd consider using, however.
Phyrexian Altar+Gravecrawler+Any Zombie+Bitter Ordeal: Single target deck exile. Any recursion combo can also work, though this is the cheapest way in terms of mana cost.
Kokusho, the Evening Star: I can easily swap this with one dead card and give my deck a nice power boost. I want run tests and whichever I cut will get replaced with Kokusho.
My YouTube Channel: The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
The only reason I don't run Aluren is because my playgroup can abuse it more then I could. They have more stuff then I do that can go infinite. So it's a safer non add in. However, outside of my playgroup, I would probably end up keeping a copy on the side. The combo works better with Phyrexian Altar and deadly with Skullclamp.
Anyway, played two games today, won the first as Oloro wasn't able to combo out, Sidgara scooped due to time (and Oloro was doing some nasty things at the time), Gisela got milled, and Ezuri had no lands while I had one land left after Oloro scooped since his combo pieces were gone. Sidgara had Angel of Jubilation on the field so I couldn't combo out with Nim Deathmantle, Geralf's Messenger, and Ashnod's Altar and Avacyn being freecasted with Show and Tell the turn earlier didn't help either. I had a Cyclonic Rift tutor'd from Liliana Vess and became a victim of Sphinx's Tutelage before I could use it. Crazy game overall, but I could of won it way earlier if Jubilation wasn't out on the field. Rest in Peace was also on the field so Rift was the card I wanted. Omniscience with Show and Tell is dumb. Second game, played in a different group, Nekusar and Gisela with Gisela turn 1'ing Serra Ascendant and turn 2'ing Student of Warfare. Needless to say Student slapped my *****. If I wasn't getting pounded in, I would of won the game in two turns. Had Liliana in my hand as well as Bring to Light with Diabolic Tutor as my next card (LGS didn't have Vampiric). Overall, went 1-1 with Sidisi and very pleased with how the deck is working so far. Played my Kaalia that night as well and went 1-2, which a strong start first game but everyone shutting me down a few turns later, mediocre start second game, and perfect hand 3rd game.
After playing Jarad Zombie Tribal for a while and getting bored with it, I decided I wanted to try something new. There were a few other commanders I wanted to use as a Zombie general. Grimgrin, Corpse-Born and Sedris, the Traitor King were the first, but after contemplating a bit and some suggestions from M:TG Salvation users, I decided to try Sidisi, Brood Tyrant instead. I actually had lists built for both Grimgrin and Sedris but didn't like how they turned out. I went to Sidisi mainly because of that green but also because of my playgroup. With the way the deck is built, I could use Purphoros, God of the Forge in pair with Sedris while still having access to my black and blue zombies, but I also lose some pretty nice fetch cards that comes with green. I took the gamble and liked how the deck turned out. Ultimately, if I had to choose between Grimgrin and Sedris, I'd probably go with Sedris.
If you have any suggestions or ideas, I'd be more then welcome to hear them!
1x Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
Planeswalker (1)
1x Liliana Vess
Land (37)
1x Academy Ruins
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Buried Ruin
1x Cabal Coffers
1x Cavern of Souls
1x City of Brass
1x Command Tower
1x Darkwater Catacombs
1x Dimir Aqueduct
1x Drowned Catacombs
1x Evolving Wilds
1x Exotic Orchard
2x Forest
1x Golgari Rot Farm
2x Island
1x Mana Confluence
1x Mortuary Mire
1x Opulent Palace
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Phyrexian Tower
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Sunken Hallow
4x Swamp
1x Temple of Deceit
1x Temple of Malady
1x Temple of the False God
1x Unholy Grotto
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Volrath's Stronghold
1x Woodland Cemetary
1x Necromancy
1x Animate Dead
1x Black Market
1x Bridge from Below
1x Contamination
1x Evolutionary Leap
1x Monastery Siege
Creature (23)
1x Corpse Harvester
1x Diregraf Captain
1x Dralnnu, Lich Lord
1x Eternal Witness
1x Gempalm Polluter
1x Genesis
1x Geralf's Messenger
1x Geralf's Mindcrusher
1x Geth, Lord of the Vault
1x Grave Titan
1x Gravecrawler
1x Gravespawn Sovereign
1x Havengul Lich
1x Liliana, Heretical Healer
1x Lord of the Undead
1x Maalfeld Twins
1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1x Rotlung Reanimator
1x Sedraxis Alchemist
1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1x Soul of Innistrad
1x Vengeful Dead
1x Wurmcoil Engine
Sorcery (10)
1x Bitter Ordeal
1x Bring To Light
1x Buried Alive
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Diabolic Intent
1x Exsanguinate
1x Fabricate
1x Ghoulcaller's Chant
1x Jarad's Orders
1x Villainous Wealth
1x Akroma's Memorial
1x Altar of Dementia
1x Ashnod's Altar
1x Carnage Altar
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Dimir Signet
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Golgari Signet
1x Nim Deathmantle
1x Phyrexian Altar
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
Instant (9)
1x Abrupt Decay
1x Capsize
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Dissipate
1x Mystical Tutor
1x Stroke of Genius
1x Swan Song
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Wordly Tutor
The Cards:
- Liliana Vess: I don't like her +1 as much as Defiant's +2. Her tutor is what makes her shine and her ult is just nuts if you can get it off.
Possible 'Walkers:Our Combos
Possible Cards
Revisions
Lymphoma Cancer Survivor!
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
My YouTube Channel:
The Commander Tavern - a channel I just started where I'll post deck techs and gameplays. Please support by checking it out. Maybe you'll like its content and subscribe! Thanks!
Anyway, played two games today, won the first as Oloro wasn't able to combo out, Sidgara scooped due to time (and Oloro was doing some nasty things at the time), Gisela got milled, and Ezuri had no lands while I had one land left after Oloro scooped since his combo pieces were gone. Sidgara had Angel of Jubilation on the field so I couldn't combo out with Nim Deathmantle, Geralf's Messenger, and Ashnod's Altar and Avacyn being freecasted with Show and Tell the turn earlier didn't help either. I had a Cyclonic Rift tutor'd from Liliana Vess and became a victim of Sphinx's Tutelage before I could use it. Crazy game overall, but I could of won it way earlier if Jubilation wasn't out on the field. Rest in Peace was also on the field so Rift was the card I wanted. Omniscience with Show and Tell is dumb. Second game, played in a different group, Nekusar and Gisela with Gisela turn 1'ing Serra Ascendant and turn 2'ing Student of Warfare. Needless to say Student slapped my *****. If I wasn't getting pounded in, I would of won the game in two turns. Had Liliana in my hand as well as Bring to Light with Diabolic Tutor as my next card (LGS didn't have Vampiric). Overall, went 1-1 with Sidisi and very pleased with how the deck is working so far. Played my Kaalia that night as well and went 1-2, which a strong start first game but everyone shutting me down a few turns later, mediocre start second game, and perfect hand 3rd game.
Lymphoma Cancer Survivor!