Decks based around this synergy have been around for years, but I only obtained full playsets of the necessary cards recently. I'm putting this together now to play next Saturday.
My playgroup is very aggro-oriented. Most of the time I'm up against either madness Vampires or regenerating Zombies. So I focused heavily on early- to mid-game removal to slow my opponent down until the deck's synergies kick in.
Diabolic Edict is a placeholder until I acquire a spare playset of Geth's Verdict. I figure that Crumbling Ashes is redundant with all this removal, and I'm worried that playing Blowfly Infestation could force a draw with Flourishing Defenses on the field.
If you've run a Necroskitter deck before, I'd love to hear your impressions!
Hm. A bit of goldfishing suggests that the deck may be running slow. Maybe pull a Kulrath Knight and a couple of Consuming Vapors, and replace them with Grim Affliction?
While more on theme than cheaper removal, I think Grim Affliction is built more for mid game plays than speed. The -2/-2 effect costs B with Disfigure, so you're pushing your action back by two turns for Proliferate. Which is good if you've built up other counters, but inefficient if you just need removal.
On the one hand, Consuming Vapors is a bit slow, and it lacks the flexibility of Putrefy or the -1/-1 counter synergy of Grim Affliction. On the other hand, it is really strong in actual play. For the moment, I'm thinking of cutting one Consuming Vapors and all of the Kulrath Knights, and swapping in two more Flourishing Defenses and three copies of one of the cheaper kill spells. No one runs any artifacts, so Putrefy would be a waste, so I'm thinking of Geth's Verdict, Grim Affliction, or Dismember.
(I might regret pulling the Kulrath Knights if I face off against someone with lots of really big fliers, especially if the guy with the Sigarda, Host of Herons deck ever breaks it out again. But at the moment it seems like a weaker play than Flourishing Defenses.)
Won a three-player game vs. Esper angel/sphinx lifegain and mono-B zombie tribal, despite never managing to pull off the Necroskitter / Black Sun's Zenith combo. I almost decked myself drawing cards off of Dusk Urchins / BSZ, but managed to eke out a win with an empty library.
Best moment of the game: The zombie player dropped Tombstone Stairwell with Vengeful Dead on the table. There were enough creatures in all graveyards for Vengeful Dead to kill both other players when all the Stairwell zombies were sacrificed at the end of my turn. I drew Necroskitter, played it, then played Skinrender to kill Vengeful Dead and bring it back on my side of the table. Knocked off half the Esper player's life total and killed the zombie player in one go.
I considered both, but cut them from consideration because A) they hit my own creatures as well as my opponents', and B) I already have enough 4-drops. I'd give them another look if I felt I was lacking sources of -1/-1 counters, but so far I seem to have enough.
How much value are you getting from Flourishing Defenses? Because with Blowfly Infestation, you can soft lock the opponent with Kulrath Knight. When older stuff dies, -1/-1 counters get spread to newer creatures so they can't attack either... until they too die and spread their counters. That might hold off aggro better than 1/1 Elf chump blockers. Or there's the removal chain with Blowfly Infestation+Crumbling Ashes. Either way, it seems like Infestation has a lot to offer this deck. Is Defenses good enough to splash a second color and not play Infestation?
4 Dusk Urchins (3)
4 Kulrath Knight (5)
4 Necroskitter (3)
4 Oona’s Gatewarden (1)
4 Skinrender (4)
4 Black Sun’s Zenith (X)
4 Consuming Vapors (4)
1 Demonic Tutor (2)
INSTANTS
4 Diabolic Edict (2)
2 Flourishing Defenses (5)
2 Glistening Oil (2)
LANDS
4 Jungle Hollow
15 Swamp
4 Tainted Wood
Diabolic Edict is a placeholder until I acquire a spare playset of Geth's Verdict. I figure that Crumbling Ashes is redundant with all this removal, and I'm worried that playing Blowfly Infestation could force a draw with Flourishing Defenses on the field.
If you've run a Necroskitter deck before, I'd love to hear your impressions!
Is the life gain off of Consuming Vapors worth the high cmc? If you're dealing with aggro, it seems like lower cost removal may be better for you.
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It's less about the life gain and more about the rebound.
Three mana can wipe out pretty much any single threat, offer the reuse you like in Vapors, or erase the first few turns.
It might need a little more G in the mana base, but Viridian Emissary or Sakura-Tribe Elder could be good speed bumps that help ramp up your game.
Edit: Emissary, not Zealot
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On the one hand, Consuming Vapors is a bit slow, and it lacks the flexibility of Putrefy or the -1/-1 counter synergy of Grim Affliction. On the other hand, it is really strong in actual play. For the moment, I'm thinking of cutting one Consuming Vapors and all of the Kulrath Knights, and swapping in two more Flourishing Defenses and three copies of one of the cheaper kill spells. No one runs any artifacts, so Putrefy would be a waste, so I'm thinking of Geth's Verdict, Grim Affliction, or Dismember.
(I might regret pulling the Kulrath Knights if I face off against someone with lots of really big fliers, especially if the guy with the Sigarda, Host of Herons deck ever breaks it out again. But at the moment it seems like a weaker play than Flourishing Defenses.)
Best moment of the game: The zombie player dropped Tombstone Stairwell with Vengeful Dead on the table. There were enough creatures in all graveyards for Vengeful Dead to kill both other players when all the Stairwell zombies were sacrificed at the end of my turn. I drew Necroskitter, played it, then played Skinrender to kill Vengeful Dead and bring it back on my side of the table. Knocked off half the Esper player's life total and killed the zombie player in one go.
Or instead of Putrefy, what about Hero's Downfall? Out of budget?
How much value are you getting from Flourishing Defenses? Because with Blowfly Infestation, you can soft lock the opponent with Kulrath Knight. When older stuff dies, -1/-1 counters get spread to newer creatures so they can't attack either... until they too die and spread their counters. That might hold off aggro better than 1/1 Elf chump blockers. Or there's the removal chain with Blowfly Infestation+Crumbling Ashes. Either way, it seems like Infestation has a lot to offer this deck. Is Defenses good enough to splash a second color and not play Infestation?