MTG Salvation

This is my Grimgrin list. It's the first commander deck I put together with just cards I had lying around, and it still bears some hallmarks of that (like still never having put a Sol Ring in!)

Deck Strategy:
This deck is a bit flexible. It's mostly keyed around killing with commander damage, with 2 swords and lots of ways to make Grimgrin unblockable (Thassa, Rogue's Passage, Vela, Shizo). It also can control/win the game with recursion and combos, which is frequently necessary as there are a few pillowfort decks kicking around my meta. Usually I win if I play Rise of the Dark Realms, as a few players in my meta like filling the graveyard with the likes of Memory Jar and wrath effects.

See combos and synergies for the skinny on the combos.

Grimgin's Cousin, that other corpse-beater:
You could make a deck a lot like this one with Thraximundar. Thrax is a bit more vulnerable to tokens and can't "pick what he kills" like Grimgrin, but he doesn't have to deal with needing sac fodder to untap AND has haste, and his sac effect is nice if you play against lots of indestructible and hexproof. But he's not a sac outlet, so you will need to rely on a non-commander sac outlet if you want the combos.

Red gives you some other options that help with commander damage or other combos, like Aggravated Assault (which combos oh so nicely with Sword of Feast and Famine.)

Possible Changes:
It's been very successful, but it honestly can use more tuning than my Roon deck I put up recently.

My current debates:

As with my Roon, I generally hesitate to spend more than $10 on a card unless it really is going to help bring the deck together. So for now, I'll list this deck as budget, though those looking at this deck for ideas might notice I have a few cards that aren't cheap.

The Decklist:


Combos and Synergies

Change Log:

Considering:

I recently cut Avatar of Woe from my similar deck and mine is more focused on mill than commander damage. It is just too high variance for my taste.

In a dedicated Grimgrin deck, I'd probably want to run Grave Pact and Dark Prophecy.

Good call on Grave Pact. Would be great to swap in for Call to the Grave.

Dark Prophecy seems good, but it would lock me out of playing the infinite sac combos.

Depends on how often you can recur Gary. If you can play him multiple times after drawing a bunch of cards, it offsets it substantially.

Depends on how often you can recur Gary. If you can play him multiple times after drawing a bunch of cards, it offsets it substantially. Also, you can run a Bloodchief Ascension to come out ahead and add to the combo.

(sidenote: I see we tend to build the same types of decks!)

Below are suggestions from my experience playing a Lord of Tresserhorn zombie-themed EDH deck. Though different, we have some similarities, and I hope you find some cards that would help your deck.

+Frantic Search, -Muldrifter
Reasoning: Muldrifter is great, but Frantic Search, in a heavy recursion deck like yours, is will be a draw effect, yard filler, and tempo play. If you decide to add more utility land (and I'll suggest some later on!), it will only get more degenerate.

+Read the Runes, -Rooftop Storm
Reasoning: Unless you start switching heavily into more zombies, your current decklist is heavy in noncreature spells and quite a few of your creatures aren't even zombies. You have a very high average CMC, so I think this will help reduce that while giving you another great source of card draw and yard filling.

+Volrath's Stronghold, -Evolving Wilds
Reasoning: Wonderful recursion on a land.

+Phyrexian Arena, -Diluvian Primordial
Reasoning: I know in another thread of yours I poo-poo'd this primordial, and I am a creature of habit. Joking aside, your average CMC is very high, and the arena is one of the best card advantage engines in black. I'd consider the area, even if you must cut elsewhere.

+Braids, Cabal Minion, -Call to the Grave
Reasoning: This is really a personal choice, but with as much recursion as this deck runs, I'd think that having a similar effect on a body would be helpful. You can always sac her to Grimgrin after making everyone else sac something. Feels a bit more controllable than Call to the Grave.

+Reanimate, -Grim Return
Reasoning: Lower CMC.

+Strip Mine, -Befoul
Reasoning: Lower CMC, and I think you're using it from land destruction, as you already have some very efficient and effective creature removal.

+Torpor Orb, -Skinrender
Reasoning: I tried Skinrender for a while, but the 3 counters just didn't make as much of an effect on the board as I thought it would. You have very few creatures with ETB effects, so the orb shouldn't affect you much. This is a meta call, but I added it to my deck and have absolutely loved it.

I'm sure there's more, but it's a start! Oh, I know he's kinda pricey, but have you also considered Kokusho the Evening Star? He's wonderful, will fit with your theme, and might be a better fit than some of your other fatties. Avatar of Woe, Lord of the Void, Vela the Night-Clad, I'm lookin' at you!

For another way of untapping Grimgrin, you could include Minamo, School at Water's Edge. It wouldn't take up any room in your deck either! There's also Sword of Vengeance which I use in my own Grimgrin deck. While it doesn't untap it, giving Grimgrin Vigilence Trample and Haste is pretty darn nice when he hits like a truck. It also bring it's power and toughness to the magical number 7 for commander damage by itself.

Your CMC for the deck is pretty high for your creatures. I would suggest trying to find room for another mana rock or two, such as Coalition Relic which I highly recommend, or Mind Stone which will give you some card draw late game. Along with Burnished Hart you might also want to think of adding Solemn Simulacrum to the deck. Great sac fodder for Grimgrin, grabs a land, and gets you a card.

Quote from Ken Carson

Depends on how often you can recur Gary. If you can play him multiple times after drawing a bunch of cards, it offsets it substantially. Also, you can run a Bloodchief Ascension to come out ahead and add to the combo.

I have a Bloodchief Ascension lying around. But I am not sure what you are getting at here; the lifegain effects only work when a card hits an opponent's graveyard.

Quote from OutcryQQ

(sidenote: I see we tend to build the same types of decks!)

Great minds.

Below are suggestions from my experience playing a Lord of Tresserhorn zombie-themed EDH deck. Though different, we have some similarities, and I hope you find some cards that would help your deck.

+Frantic Search, -Muldrifter
I like this

+Read the Runes, -Rooftop Storm
Read the runes seems nice if I go heavier reanimator, but can't ditch RTS without losing the combos, which I still think are necessary alternate wincons against some decks in my meta.

+Volrath's Stronghold, -Evolving Wilds
Seems good, but it's a bit expensive ($20 TCGplayer mid)

+Phyrexian Arena, -Diluvian Primordial
The local shop has an arena, but if I waxed something for it, it would be Underworld Connections.

+Braids, Cabal Minion, -Call to the Grave
Possible. Local shop has one too, but I feel like I need better token generation to make her work.

+Reanimate, -Grim Return
Was already eyeballing this card. But GR fills a slightly different niche, being instant speed.

+Strip Mine, -Befoul
Was already considering this.

+Torpor Orb, -Skinrender
It would be wonderful if I was playing my own Roon deck.

I'm sure there's more, but it's a start! Oh, I know he's kinda pricey, but have you also considered Kokusho the Evening Star?

Yes.

He's wonderful, will fit with your theme, and might be a better fit than some of your other fatties. Avatar of Woe, Lord of the Void, Vela the Night-Clad, I'm lookin' at you!

Lord of the Void has been a bit of a house (last time I got him out, he stole an Avacyn, which needless to say was a major boon to my board position.) But could easily go in for avatar.

Quote from tooWhite2ball

For another way of untapping Grimgrin, you could include Minamo, School at Water's Edge. It wouldn't take up any room in your deck either! There's also Sword of Vengeance which I use in my own Grimgrin deck. While it doesn't untap it, giving Grimgrin Vigilence Trample and Haste is pretty darn nice when he hits like a truck. It also bring it's power and toughness to the magical number 7 for commander damage by itself.

If you look, Minamo's already in my "want" list. Yeah, I know about the card. Nobody local has one to sell/trade. I may buy one next time I put together an order.

As for Grimgin's power, I find that by the time he attacks, he's at 7 power (+1 counter when he sacs/untaps, +1 when he attacks/destroys a creature.) But first strike, haste, and trample are definitely things.

Along with Burnished Hart you might also want to think of adding Solemn Simulacrum to the deck. Great sac fodder for Grimgrin, grabs a land, and gets you a card.

Yeah, I debated putting a Sad Robot in. Burnished hart is conveniently positioned because he jumps me from 3 to 5 lands, which this deck likes as it really starts humming at 5 lands. But sometimes folks will preemptively wax the hart!

Quote from Psion

If you look, Minamo's already in my "want" list. Yeah, I know about the card. Nobody local has one to sell/trade. I may buy one next time I put together an order.

D'oh!

How has Lord of the Void been working for you? Would something like Sepulchral Primordialwork better or worse?

Quote from tooWhite2ball

Quote from Psion

If you look, Minamo's already in my "want" list. Yeah, I know about the card. Nobody local has one to sell/trade. I may buy one next time I put together an order.

D'oh!

How has Lord of the Void been working for you? Would something like Sepulchral Primordialwork better or worse?

It's actually been pretty useful. It's normally a "kill on sight" card, but I have enough recursion that that's seldom a deterrent.

I have considered Sepulchral Primordial, however. If I make the Sydri deck I have been thinking of, I may need the Thornbite Staff for that deck, which may mean the last reason I have for keeping Avatar of Woe around would be gone. Which would leave me with two spots to fill.

A few changes:

- Swamp
- Call to the Grave
- Triskelion
- Avatar of Woe
- Thornbite Staff
- Plaguebearer
+ Minamo, School at Water's Edge
+ Grave Pact
+ Chainer, Dementia Master
+ Frantic Search
+ Sepulchral Primordial
+ Siren of the Silent Song

Siren of the Silent Song is just an experiment.
I'm making the reanimation aspect a bit stronger, though I am thinking I may need some better token-makers like Lich Lord of Unx or Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder.

Avatar of Woe is proving a little slow. Triskelion is only there are a combo piece and doesn't accomplish much by itself. Half of the justification for Thornbite Staff is gone with the avatar gone.

I think I want a Sunken Ruins; may help me hit that UU without sacrificing access to BB

Quote from Psion

I'm making the reanimation aspect a bit stronger, though I am thinking I may need some better token-makers like Lich Lord of Unx or Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder.

Zombie tokens, you say? Look no further than Tombstone Stairwell! It makes Vela the Night-Clad a devastating finisher with a fully stocked graveyard. There's also Army of the Damned, which will probably be easier to find. Lich Lord of Unx makes nice sac fodder for Grimsly, though it is sometimes slow. I do like how it's last ability can be used multiple times a turn, which will give you more reanimation targets while also dealing some damage.

Have you looked at Gild or Sever the Bloodline? They may make nice alternatives to Befoul, and while not being as good as Ashes to Ashes they do offer some one time mana and a great way to deal with tokens. Speaking of tokens, if you do add more generators you might want to look into Noxious Ghoul as a control card. Looking at your list, I think I want to add more counterspells and kill spells to my own. How many counterspells do you like using in your deck? Do you think you have too few in here, too many, or a good number?

I originally had a Noxious Ghoul slated in this deck, but as I moved away from the pure zombie focus, he was proving too much a hazard to his deck-mates and sort of took the punch out of a Rise of the Dark Realms by killing half of the new minions. But he could come back.

I was considering replacing Befoul with Gild (which I have extras of) or Sever the Bloodline (which currently lives in my Varolz deck) once I get a Strip Mine. As it is, lands like Emeria, the Sky Ruin, Maze of Ith, and Boseiju, who Shelters All sometimes demand an answer.