One of the best primers I've read, for sure. I've been trying to run a Mazirek deck in competitive play, but he's just way too slow. I may have to give one of your builds a shot. :). Thanks!
Thanks! Yeah, now that the holidays are over I can pretty much get back into it. As for my Mazirek build, I have been testing it over the holidays with my usual pod and I think I know how to make it better. Mana dorks and mana rocks are good and all - especially since they provide bodies to take advantage of the +1/+1 counters, but the thing is, this deck - for some reason - is very mana hungry. Everytime I play it I'm always one or two mana short of what I want to do - and I run 37 lands, mana dorks and mana rocks aplenty. I may have to do some more tests with the creatures that sacrifice to mana ramp but still leaving the mana dorks and rocks. That way, early game I get advantage and late game I still get sac triggers for Mazirek. That would require quite a bit of more extensive testing with Mazirek.
As far as Sidisi, I have been testing the alternate versions in Cockatrice and I'm really loving the zombie tribal build. It's been very menacing and unless a player wipes the board or casts Cyclonic Rift or Terminus like spells, I win in no time. And even then, I can always sac my horde in response or abuse cards like Gempalm Polluter and the like. The budget build is great for those just starting or without a lot of budget but like having a couple of decks to switch through when playing. A solid EDH deck for under $50 is nothing to scoff at. Sure, it won't survive in a more competitive setting or with a serious pod, but in a casual play setting, sure. Either way, the budget version is a good skeleton to play the deck and get a feel for it as you evolve it with choice cards.
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!
Congratz on the Primer status, you really deserve it!! GJ!!
Thanks a lot!
The spoilers are finally all revealed for Oath of the Gatewatch. Just as expected, extremely lackluster. That goes without saying that there's a handful of cards that go great with other EDH archetypes and decks; decks that blink are ecstatic over Eldrazi Displacer, Zada, Hedron Grinder got Expedite, Superfriends decks got the 4 Oaths, colorless decks got Wastes and a slew of formidable Eldrazi, Titania, Protector of Argoth got World Breaker, etc. However, as far as Sidisi, Brood Tyrant is concerned, not a lot tickled her fancy. I'll get into greater detail on that later on. Having to look through 3 colors, the artifacts/colorless cards, and non-basic lands every time a set is release can be daunting work. Nevertheless, this set made it easy - and that's not really a good thing.
EDIT:
Got around to posting in the OP the card by card discussion of Oath of the Gatewatch. Here's what was added:
Deceiver of Form: a good way to peek at the top card to see if it's a creature for when we self-mill. The other ability is great in that if the top card revealed is, say, Diregraf Captain or Death Baron or Undead Warchief, then things can get pretty ridiculous. I may consider testing this for the Zombie Build.
Kozilek, the Great Distortion: unlike his previous form, this one won't shuffle the whole graveyard back into the library. This could be a good thing in reanimator decks. Either way, it doesn't want to be cheated in play unless you want the draw from the casting trigger. However, the only really interesting ability for me is the discard outlet it provides. It's both a discard outlet and counterspell in one motion and for free. Yet, is that enough to even warrant testing it? For the moment, not really. The deck's tight enough as it is to find space for something as particular as this guy.
Oath of Jace: if the deck ran more planeswalkers, then maybe we could get all the miles out of this thing. However, at 4 planeswalkers, I doubt the second ability will be used all that often and scrying here is a good thing since this deck likes top-deck manipulation. The first ability is OK because it's a discard outlet and draw all in one. But this deck doesn't want OK, it wants choice.
Corpse Churn: this is more like it. It's a self-mill with the possibility of getting any creature card from your graveyard to your hand. Gempalm Polluter will no doubt love this one. Self-milling 3 cards for 1B and then recovering a creature may seem more efficient than Sudden Reclamation, but Sudden Reclamation self-mills 4 and I get a land back as well. However, it does cost double of what Corpse Churn costs... For the moment, this is one swap I'm gonna be testing if I can't find any other slot for Corpse Churn.
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet: if the deck were more dedicated to creature destruction than overall disruption, this could be a shoe-in. It makes zombie tokens and can buff itself as a sac outlet for zombies (which cards like Diregraf Captain would love). However, the ability costs 2B each time and it's too niche for the what any of the builds want. So it's a "no" from me.
Bonds of Mortality: extremely useful as a tool against decks like Uril, the Miststalker and Avacyn, Angel of Hope, but it'll be really meta-dependent. The only real targetting the deck does is with Opposition. If my opponent's creatures were all hexproof and/or indestructible, I just make sure my army's larger so he/she'd have to use the creatures for blocking. Even then, the deck has ways to make the horde unblockable or useful without having to attack. This card is definitely a meta-call. Against those types of decks, it's incredibly useful. I just wish it were on a body instead of an enchantment...
Seed Guardian - for those who've build this deck as being dependent on the number of creatures in your graveyard (those who run Boneyard Wurm, Lhurgoyf, Kessig Cagebreakers, etc.), this is definitely a card you could consider adding. It's not a definite shoe-in, but if your build type is the one described, it could easily find a home there.
Vile Redeemer: the thing that depresses me is the nontoken creature clause—which is totally understandable, since Eldrazi Scions sac without any cost whatsoever. Though, it would've been nice to have sacrificed a bunch of zombie tokens and then cast this to get the same amount of Eldrazi Scion tokens as zombies used. Oh well, not included.
Baloth Null: this could be good to get back Gempalm Polluter or other creature cards from the graveyard into my hand. However, I'd rather reanimate them into play then have them in my hand and then hardcast them. That's not to say I'm gonna 100% not consider this card. It's an enter the battlefield trigger instead of a casting trigger and it's a solid body at 4/5 for 4BG. It's also a zombie. I'd have to see if there's a suitable swap to be made and test accordingly. I will try to find a place for it in the Zombie Build, though.
Holdout Settlement: with so many creatures and tokens the second ability could be a good way to get mana of any color without having to pay mana or life. Even if I don't I can still tap to get mana (even though it's colorless). It's getting a trifle difficult finding slots for lands in the deck since they're pretty solid. I'm not 100% sold on this land but it's not completely disregarded.
Mirrorpool: this land does it all! It can give mana or it can become a fork or a clone maker. It's great to be able to copy cards like Buried Alive, Jarad's Orders, etc. It's even better to be able to make a copy of Craterhoof Behemoth, Sidisi, Undead Vizier, Undead Warchief, Riftsweeper, etc. The deck also very easily recovers lands from the graveyard so I can be reusing this one various times in a game.
When Oath of the Gatewatch is officially released on 1/22/16, I'm going to remove the card by card discussion of Magic: Origins as per discussed in the rotation of sets for the OP. That being said, I discussed all the cards that have some sort of relevance to the deck so that those interested can at least test them out or keep your eyes open for when the set releases, you can know what to look out for in the set. Again, as I anticipated, a very lackluster set.
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!
I was wondering what cards to add to my deck if I decided to move towards the Zombie Tribal?
I mean can you give me a list of priority upgrades :)?
Well, priorities for the Zombie Build is basically chocking the deck full of all the zombie lords, zombie makers, and wincons listed in the deck by function section:
Now, I understand that your build is semi-budget so it might be a trifle difficult scoring the other necessary cards like Gaea's Cradle and whatnot, but the Zombie Build's main focus is those 3 sections. Everything else can be tailored around recursion, reanimation, self-mill, or whatever works best for you to get the job done. You have a lot of experience with the deck so you should know by now what has worked best for you. I also suggest you try to get the pieces for the broken combos in the deck: Corpse Harvester + Rooftop Storm and Gravecrawler + Phyrexian Altar. Oh, and don't forget to add Conspiracy.
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!
I'm only missing these cards for now. I guess I'm almost good to go xD? Also, Is the Deathtouch on Death Baron really relevant? or can I substitute it with something like Cemetery Reaper ? or would it be too different?
I also acquired Cavern of Souls. It's played but it's still good for the price I got it with xD.
Cavern of Souls loves Conspiracy. So I'm glad you at least obtained the expensive component of the combo, lol.
You're right; you are almost set. I guess Cemetery Reaper could be a good placeholder for Death Baron. The thing with deathtouch is that it's a trade-off when your horde is weak compared to an opponents. If someone would force you to block with most of your creature yet yours die and not your opponents, you're basically toast the next turn. However, deathtouch makes people think twice before attacking you with that 10/10 even if it has trample.
As for the other cards, the only real non-budget ones are Primal Vigor, Akroma's Memorial, Doubling Season, and Craterhoof Behemoth (if I remember correctly). Remember that the focus of the Zombie Build is amassing a large horde as quickly as possible. All the cards that affect that effect are very important. That's not to say that the deck won't work well, it just won't be anywhere near as optimal as it can be.
Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest is not super crucial but it does go with the Phyrexian Altar + Gravecrawler combo and the Narcomortuary of Dementia engine (which you're already running all three of its components). Endlessly sacrificing Gravecrawler to its combo or Narcomoeba to its combo with Mazirek on the field means your creatures could essentially get 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 +1/+1 counters.
Other than that I think you're pretty solid. While your obtaining these final pieces, it may be difficult to see what to cut. My suggestion is to swap out anything that's not key to the zombie strategy and you should be fine.
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!
You actually removed Narcomortuary of Dementia engine for the zombie tribal. So I can still shoe it in? what would be replaced on your list if that happens xD?
Thanks. I'll start collecting the pieces right away.
I took the Narcomortuary of Dementia engine out of the Zombie Tribal build because it really didn't need it. Besides, the main goal of the deck is zombie production and pumpage more than simply self-mill. However, you have a hybrid build so it may be beneficial to leave it there.
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!
Though the main build won't be updated with anything from Oath of the Gatewatch. I'm even hesitant about adding Mirrorpool since it cipt and only gives , I'm still on the fence about it. I have too many lands producing in a tri-colored deck as it is. However, the other two versions did see some updates. Though the changes weren't mindblowingly significant, I feel that they may make the deck all the more smoothly. Here're the changes:
So far using Bojuka Bog hasn't been a life-altering thing. Besides, if I'm ever epically milling an opponent thanks to Undead Alchemist, I'm exiling each creature anyways. I also don't like the fact that it cipt. I feel that 36 lands is still a responsible amount of lands to be running for an EDH deck so I think this change is OK. Baloth Null will help get creatures from the yard that I would rather have in my hand (Gempalm Polluter) so it's still more useful than Bojuka Bog. Being a zombie as well is pretty nice thanks to all the lords in the deck. When this change becomes relatively final, I'll make the updates the OP and the decklist on deckstats.net.
Realm Seekers was always slow and underwhelming whenever I was able to play it. Early game it was just a dead draw an then late game pretty much useless. Yavimaya Dryad was pretty much not a loss to cut, I have enough ramp as it is. Being able to only ramp for a Forest in a deck without shocks or duals is pretty crippling - especially since if I'm able to cast it it's because I'm good with forests as it is. Now, I added Forbidden Alchemy since I got inspired to do so thanks to Corpse Churn. The deck has a lot of creatures as it is and I needed more ways to have card quality. 43 creatures is still pretty OK for this deck, lol. Again, as soon as these changes are determined to be permanent, I will update the OP and the decklist in deckstats.net.
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!
I decided to run the Narcomoeba + Mortuary + Altar of dementia even with the tribal. I got Mortuary and Altar of dementia on the field. Even without Narcomoeba on the field. (it will eventually come in) I can get so many zombie/mill/etb triggers with the help of noxious ghoul , diregraf etc. It wins the game on it's own. Since I don't have shocklands yet. I got Chromatic lantern to balance everything out.. 2 of the decks in my LGS runs mass land destruction. I will prioritize life from the loam as the next card to get. Also using Body Double. It's like a reanimation spell built in the creature.
It's a shame that Prophet of Kruphix got banned. I used it more for flashing in creatures. We'd have to add not only Seedborn Muse but Leyline of Anticipation as well in order to compensate. However, choosing one between those two is difficult. In the end, I give it to Seedborn Muse simply because it's a creature. R.I.P., Prophet of Kruphix.
Yeah, Mortuary plus Altar of Dementia work great without Narcomoeba. However, when combined with the latter, you simply have a way to infinitely perform the effect .
EDIT:
A deeper discussion on the matter:
How the recent banning of Prophet of Kruphix affects the deck:
The banning of this card my be severely crippling as far as efficiency goes. It's not that the deck completely relies on it, but having it in play gave the deck a combination (if only slightly) of Seedborn Muse + Leyline of Anticipation. Prophet of Kruphix allowed for:
1) being broken with Mesmeric Orb. One could tap all lands at the end of each turn and then have the Mesmeric Orb trigger for each of them each untap step.
2) allowing to cast creatures at the end of each opponents turn - even from the graveyard thanks to Havengul Lich.
The only viable solution would be to subtitute it for Seeborn Muse (which is at $13 already, who knows how much it'll spike thanks to the recent Prophet of Kruphix banning - so get them while they're hot!) being as it's a creature and at least allows us the untapping portion in order to abuse Mesmeric Orb. If one would still be interested in flashing creatures in at end of turn (or other spells for that matter) one would have to see what to swap out for either Leyline of Anticipation or Vedalken Orrery.
Now, people have been complaining about Prophet of Kruphix for some time now but honestly, not every deck can run it. I read the reason why it was banned and I don't understand why Consecrated Sphinx wasn't banned instead. At a single color sphinx is easier to cast and can be run in any deck that includes U vs. prophet which requires G as well. Consecrated Sphinx has more hate tied to it than prohpet does and if the example problem with the sphinx, it should've been banned instead. If Consecrated Sphinx ever gets banned in EDH, then Prophet of Kruphix should get unbanned.
This change also affects the Budget Build being as Prophet of Kruphix is super cheap (~$2) and Seedborn Muse and Leyline of Anticipation are significantly more expensive. I'd have to see how to deal with this problem accordingly. Though the swap with Vedalken Orrery over Prophet of Kruphix is adding more or less $1 as a difference, I think that swap could be made. As far as the Zombie Build is concerned, it sees the same problems as the Competitive Build and thus the solution is the same: swap it out for Seedborn Muse.
Will soon edit the main post accordingly. Such a sad day... sad day indeed...
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!
I don't have Urborg / Cabal Coffers and Gaea's Cradle yet and with the banning of Prophet of Kruphix. I don't think I'll be able to use Empty the Pits to it's full potential.
Doubling Season , Akroma's Memorial and Coat of Arms are on my priority list right now. What do you think? I like animate dead and dance of the dead because it can reanimate a creature from an opponent's graveyard. We have a Sharuum player. Stealing either Sharuum or Phyrexian Metamorph from his graveyard slows his deck quite a bit.
Since I have Life from the Loam already. Should I let go of Grisly Salvage / Mulch already?
I think those swaps you want to make are OK because you're adding more zombie lords, which is always a good thing if you're gonna go Zombie Tribal. I wouldn't get so beat up about Prophet of Kruphix getting banned. If you still wanna untap everything each untap step then Seedborn Muse can at least give us that - at around 6x the price but hey, at least there's a "substitute" somewhere.
It's not bad to have too many enchantments. However, they're harder to recover once in the graveyard. If they're key enchantments, you might want to consider adding Dowsing Shaman or Pharika's Mender.
I can understand if you're adding some select cards due to your meta. But those 3 cards that you mentioned should definitely be included somehow in the deck.
Grisly Salvage and Mulch are good for self-milling. But if your main focus is more zombie generation than anything, they may be cut in favor of better cards (I don't run them in the Zombie Tribal build even though I run them in the competitive build). Personally, I would cut Dance of the Dead and Animate Dead. Again, it's difficult to recover enchantments in this deck and you already cut Deadbridge Chant which has the potential of recovering an enchantment, planeswalker, instant, or sorcery card from your graveyard - something no other card can do. So far you can only recover artifacts, creatures, and lands. I would try and cut back just a wee bit on enchantments.
Overall the deck is looking pretty decent. How has it been running?
EDIT:
Updated the decklists in the main post. And totally called it on the price spike in Seedborn Muse. The banning in EDH of a $1 card tripled the price of a $12 card. I hope you all bought some while they were hot 'cause that would mean that now you'll get a 200% return on those Seeborn Muses.
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!
I've been playing some EDH recently (not too much 'cause I've had a full plate as of late) and I am definitely one of the irate EDH players who hates the new mulligan rule. EDH strategy already starts before the match even does due to how to mulligan. This basically means that if I want to keep my strategies legit, I would have to play test a hell of a lot more to see exactly how this new rule affects my decks. For the most part, it affects them incredibly. A solid mana base has nothing to do with good hands if your hand is 3 lands and 4 fatties. Does that mean you have a bad deck? No, of course not. However, now, you can't mulligan away the 4 fatties for an additional 4 cards; you have to mulligan away you entire hand. Really? Really? Really?
If this were the case, it would then depend on the player. Some players feel lucky with a hand that's roughly 50% lands regardless the mana cost of the rest of the hand. Other players risk it for the biscuit and would rather have a more useful opening hand. I'm with the former. Since I never stare a gift horse in the mouth, I never mulligan away hands with 3-5 lands in it - regardless of the rest of the cards.
I'll probably still leave the primer as is since some pods are against this new ruling. However, most pods are legit with the rules. Since this is the case, I would merely need to update the mulligan strategy to that of: "Got at least 4 lands? You're set." I really hope this rule dissolves. I was at least on board with the changes in the tuck rule because I understood how it may disrupt the spirit of the game, etc. But the mulligan one... yeah, try shuffling a 99-card deck a couple of times when you're unlucky. And that's before the start of the match. Good grief...
On a happier note, with the recent WotC nightmare (the way early, Watergate scandal level) spoilers of Innistrad 2, I'm even more confident that this block will bring in some goodies for Sidisi.
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!
I've been playing some EDH recently (not too much 'cause I've had a full plate as of late) and I am definitely one of the irate EDH players who hates the new mulligan rule. EDH strategy already starts before the match even does due to how to mulligan. This basically means that if I want to keep my strategies legit, I would have to play test a hell of a lot more to see exactly how this new rule affects my decks. For the most part, it affects them incredibly. A solid mana base has nothing to do with good hands if your hand is 3 lands and 4 fatties. Does that mean you have a bad deck? No, of course not. However, now, you can't mulligan away the 4 fatties for an additional 4 cards; you have to mulligan away you entire hand. Really? Really? Really?
If this were the case, it would then depend on the player. Some players feel lucky with a hand that's roughly 50% lands regardless the mana cost of the rest of the hand. Other players risk it for the biscuit and would rather have a more useful opening hand. I'm with the former. Since I never stare a gift horse in the mouth, I never mulligan away hands with 3-5 lands in it - regardless of the rest of the cards.
I'll probably still leave the primer as is since some pods are against this new ruling. However, most pods are legit with the rules. Since this is the case, I would merely need to update the mulligan strategy to that of: "Got at least 4 lands? You're set." I really hope this rule dissolves. I was at least on board with the changes in the tuck rule because I understood how it may disrupt the spirit of the game, etc. But the mulligan one... yeah, try shuffling a 99-card deck a couple of times when you're unlucky. And that's before the start of the match. Good grief...
EDH strategy does start before the game. But it's not mulligans, it's deck building. I'd say that if getting hands that didn't do anything in the early turns was a normal occurrence, then that's definitely a sign of poor deck construction. Nothing should be "guaranteed" in Mtg. I'm glad that the overly generous partial mulligan is gone and people have to pay more attention to solid deck building instead of having mulligans bail them out.
I'm definitely surprised that someone with a Primer would feel the way that you posted. Having 3-4 lands but no early action seems like a poor keep. A well built deck taking a mulligan is not the end of the game. But doing nothing for the first 4 turns does seem like the end of the game.
Your deck has plenty of early plays and ways to catch up that a mulligan seems more beneficial than sitting like a duck. Besides, the first mulligan is free.
I've been playing some EDH recently (not too much 'cause I've had a full plate as of late) and I am definitely one of the irate EDH players who hates the new mulligan rule. EDH strategy already starts before the match even does due to how to mulligan. This basically means that if I want to keep my strategies legit, I would have to play test a hell of a lot more to see exactly how this new rule affects my decks. For the most part, it affects them incredibly. A solid mana base has nothing to do with good hands if your hand is 3 lands and 4 fatties. Does that mean you have a bad deck? No, of course not. However, now, you can't mulligan away the 4 fatties for an additional 4 cards; you have to mulligan away you entire hand. Really? Really? Really?
If this were the case, it would then depend on the player. Some players feel lucky with a hand that's roughly 50% lands regardless the mana cost of the rest of the hand. Other players risk it for the biscuit and would rather have a more useful opening hand. I'm with the former. Since I never stare a gift horse in the mouth, I never mulligan away hands with 3-5 lands in it - regardless of the rest of the cards.
I'll probably still leave the primer as is since some pods are against this new ruling. However, most pods are legit with the rules. Since this is the case, I would merely need to update the mulligan strategy to that of: "Got at least 4 lands? You're set." I really hope this rule dissolves. I was at least on board with the changes in the tuck rule because I understood how it may disrupt the spirit of the game, etc. But the mulligan one... yeah, try shuffling a 99-card deck a couple of times when you're unlucky. And that's before the start of the match. Good grief...
EDH strategy does start before the game. But it's not mulligans, it's deck building. I'd say that if getting hands that didn't do anything in the early turns was a normal occurrence, then that's definitely a sign of poor deck construction. Nothing should be "guaranteed" in Mtg. I'm glad that the overly generous partial mulligan is gone and people have to pay more attention to solid deck building instead of having mulligans bail them out.
I'm definitely surprised that someone with a Primer would feel the way that you posted. Having 3-4 lands but no early action seems like a poor keep. A well built deck taking a mulligan is not the end of the game. But doing nothing for the first 4 turns does seem like the end of the game.
Your deck has plenty of early plays and ways to catch up that a mulligan seems more beneficial than sitting like a duck. Besides, the first mulligan is free.
My deck does have a lot of early play cards and does have the solid deck construction. However, I simply don't like the new mulligan. This is still a game of chance and the probability does exist - regardless of deck construction, that you can have heavy cards in your hand. Even the game of Finkel vs. Garfield the creator of the game lost one of the rounds to mana screw.
I understand that deck construction is a big part of EDH, and I take that into deep consideration when building a deck. However, with 99 cards where 37 cards are lands and half the remaining cards are playable in the first 4 turns and the others aren't, you can have great hands, solid hands, OK hands, and then leper hands. Maybe I'll eventually get used to the new changes, but for the moment I don't really like it, sorry to say. Though that probably doesn't phase me as much as Prophet of Kruphix getting banned, lol.
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!
I am curious as to why you use Risen Executioner over Cemetery Reaper. The other ability on Executioner seems like it can be pretty irrelevant especially in a deck like this where as Reaper costing one mana less and having an ability that could bring value disrupting other GY strategies while giving addition tokens. I could understand arguing that Cemetery Reaper may be bad if opponents of clone and stealing effect otherwise Reaper seems much better.
I had Cemetery Reaper the first time I played it. But, as you pointed out, getting it stolen or copied wasn't a good thing. However, that is not a real reason not to include it because there are so many other cards with graveyard hate in it. Honestly, I don't really remember why I took out Cemetery Reaper - it being a zombie lord and all (if you notice, I don't run Adaptive Automaton either). Hm, now you've tickled my fancy. It's been awhile since I devoted some time to the Zombie Build. Lemme analyze it a bit and I'll get back to you with a solid answer. However, if it were one or the other, then Risen Executioner is better (in my opinion) since it needs no additional card to reanimate it; that's always a plus.
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!
Building my own zombie themed deck - staying with a budget a little less than your list however... Have you considered Shepherd of Rot. Coupled with Kiora's follower, etc, to untap a few times could give another easy alternate win con even if you only have a moderate number of zombies in play. Provided you're in front of course, which you typically will be with an aggressive deck.
Shepherd of Rot is good as a quick game ender, but you have to guarantee it by finding someway to gain life. Because if you have less life than anyone, it's basically a dead card.
I don't know if budget zombies is easy to pull off because most important cards are pretty expensive. Maybe a hybrid of some kind? What're you running (or plan on running)?
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!
I had planned to include Gary aka Gray Merchant of asphodel to ensure life total was greater than opponents. Cast Gary a few times in a turn and then tap Shepherd of Rot. Also good if the game is dragging on for ages and you want it to end...
Still looking in to options for the deck, most of the combos so far are pretty situational and it suffers from GY hate a lot - no Eldrazi for me!
I like that 38% of the deck is creatures. That means that your probability for nabbing a creature in your graveyard whenever you mill a card is around 1/3. Which is great when Sidisi enters the battlefield or attacks.
You seem to have more focus on dredging and recursion - which by itself works without having to depend on Sidisi (all this can be achieved without her in play). So your deck is more graveyard dredge than horde.
How then do you usually pilot it to achieve a T3-T4 win? I see a clear wincon in cards like Splinterfright and its ilk. But self-milling and dredge is not something so linear. What obstacles do you find yourself? How do you more or less deal with starting hands? What are other decks in your pod or meta that you play with or against?
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!
My playgroup consists of Maelstrom, Marchesa, Oloro, and Azusa. We frown upon infinite combos or mass land destruction, but there's no graveyard hate at all.
Is Sidisi a good general to choose in this environment?
My playgroup consists of Maelstrom, Marchesa, Oloro, and Azusa. We frown upon infinite combos or mass land destruction, but there's no graveyard hate at all.
Is Sidisi a good general to choose in this environment?
Lol, running my deck in a pod without graveyard hate will instantaneously make them add graveyard removal to their decks no questions asked! This is the best thing to happen to a Sidisi, Brood Tyrant player!
I like that 38% of the deck is creatures. That means that your probability for nabbing a creature in your graveyard whenever you mill a card is around 1/3. Which is great when Sidisi enters the battlefield or attacks.
You seem to have more focus on dredging and recursion - which by itself works without having to depend on Sidisi (all this can be achieved without her in play). So your deck is more graveyard dredge than horde.
How then do you usually pilot it to achieve a T3-T4 win? I see a clear wincon in cards like Splinterfright and its ilk. But self-milling and dredge is not something so linear. What obstacles do you find yourself? How do you more or less deal with starting hands? What are other decks in your pod or meta that you play with or against?
Generally, my t3/4 kills are done with cephalid illusionist + lightning greaves or mesmeric orb + basalt monolith, if i have a mana dork, i can ramp, then use dread return to Eternal witness, use the mana generated to victimize to get laboratory maniac + mulldrifter/cephalid sage. Every single combo piece is tutorable. I can also win by sidisi + infinite combo (either one of them), because i have a dread, which allows me to make infinite zombie tokens (and i have tools to keep it on the top of my library and not die to deckout, such as volrath's stronghold).
As I told, my commander is not the main focus of the deck, it is one of the routes that i can operate. But i also use hermit druid to make a huge lord of extinction grabbed by genesis.
Sadly, I do not have an eldrazi to deal with gravehate (since i need my grave as a resourse pool), so, I prefer to speedup games rather than avoid my end. Some commanders, with too many tutors, such as u/b variants can rly hurt me... In those cases, its better to play a slower game, recurring dredgers and using a kessig cagebreakers, that even with a small grave can hurt a whole lot.
My most common rivals are Purphuros, Uril, trostani, Kalia (hate her)and daxos. Uril and trostany are too easy to deal, but kaalia and daxos are a pain in the ass.
About my hands, I generally try to ramp/tutor in the early stages to settle ground to big things, before the oponent commanders stardt to hit the board.
I figured as much. I recommend creatures that counter spells to deal with your graveyard hate woes. That's why I run Glen Elendra Archmage. That should help deal with graveyard elimination spells.
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!
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
As far as Sidisi, I have been testing the alternate versions in Cockatrice and I'm really loving the zombie tribal build. It's been very menacing and unless a player wipes the board or casts Cyclonic Rift or Terminus like spells, I win in no time. And even then, I can always sac my horde in response or abuse cards like Gempalm Polluter and the like. The budget build is great for those just starting or without a lot of budget but like having a couple of decks to switch through when playing. A solid EDH deck for under $50 is nothing to scoff at. Sure, it won't survive in a more competitive setting or with a serious pod, but in a casual play setting, sure. Either way, the budget version is a good skeleton to play the deck and get a feel for it as you evolve it with choice cards.
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!
Thanks a lot!
The spoilers are finally all revealed for Oath of the Gatewatch. Just as expected, extremely lackluster. That goes without saying that there's a handful of cards that go great with other EDH archetypes and decks; decks that blink are ecstatic over Eldrazi Displacer, Zada, Hedron Grinder got Expedite, Superfriends decks got the 4 Oaths, colorless decks got Wastes and a slew of formidable Eldrazi, Titania, Protector of Argoth got World Breaker, etc. However, as far as Sidisi, Brood Tyrant is concerned, not a lot tickled her fancy. I'll get into greater detail on that later on. Having to look through 3 colors, the artifacts/colorless cards, and non-basic lands every time a set is release can be daunting work. Nevertheless, this set made it easy - and that's not really a good thing.
EDIT:
Got around to posting in the OP the card by card discussion of Oath of the Gatewatch. Here's what was added:
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!
I was wondering what cards to add to my deck if I decided to move towards the Zombie Tribal?
I mean can you give me a list of priority upgrades :)? from my current list
1 Tideshaper Mystic
1 Reef Shaman
2 Aphetto Alchemist
2 Dreamscape Artist
2 Seeker of Skybreak
2 Voyaging Satyr
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Satyr Wayfinder
2 Riftsweeper
2 Kiora's Follower
2 narcomoeba
3 Nyx Weaver
3 Yavimaya Elder
3 Diregraf Captain
3 Farhaven Elf
3 Burnished Hart
3 Krosan Restorer
3 Eternal Witness
3 Splinterfright
4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
4 Filth
4 Undead Alchemist
4 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
4 Gurmag Drowner
4 Wonder
4 Hell's Caretaker
4 Clever Impersonator
4 Undead Warchief
4 Meren of Clan Nel Toth
5 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
5 Havengul Lich
5 Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
5 Vengeful Pharaoh
5 Corpse Connoisseur
5 Body Double
5 Prophet of Kruphix
5 Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
6 Gempalm Polluter
6 Champion of Stray Souls
7 Butcher of Malakir
7 Sheoldred, Whispering One
2 Grisly Salvage
2 Gaea's Blessing
2 Mulch
3 Victimize
3 Buried Alive
4 Dread Return
4 Jarad's Orders
Instant
2 Cyclonic Rift
4 Sudden Reclamation
4 Fact or Fiction
Enchantment
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
2 Animate Dead
2 Dance of the Dead
4 Opposition
4 Mortuary
6 Deadbridge Chant
Planeswalker
5 Tezzeret the Seeker
Artifact
1 Elixir of Immortality
2 Altar of Dementia
3 Commander's Sphere
2 Mesmeric Orb
Land
10 Forest
4 Island
6 Swamp
1 Opulent Palace
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Tree of Tales
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Golgari Rotfarm
1 Golgari Guildgate
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Tainted Wood
1 Simic Guildgate
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Command Tower
1 Teramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Underground River
1 Nephalia Drownyard
Congrats on the Primer status as well
U Delver
Well, priorities for the Zombie Build is basically chocking the deck full of all the zombie lords, zombie makers, and wincons listed in the deck by function section:
3 Death Baron
3 Diregraf Captain
4 Filth
4 Risen Executioner
4 Undead Warchief
5 Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
7 Akroma's Memorial
0 Rogue's Passage
2 Gempalm Polluter
3 Lich Lord of Unx
4 Vengeful Dead
8 Craterhoof Behemoth
Zombie Makers:
4 Empty the Pits
4 Endless Ranks of the Dead
4 Parallel Lives
4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
4 Undead Alchemist
5 Doubling Season
5 Ghoulcaller Gisa
5 Primal Vigor
Now, I understand that your build is semi-budget so it might be a trifle difficult scoring the other necessary cards like Gaea's Cradle and whatnot, but the Zombie Build's main focus is those 3 sections. Everything else can be tailored around recursion, reanimation, self-mill, or whatever works best for you to get the job done. You have a lot of experience with the deck so you should know by now what has worked best for you. I also suggest you try to get the pieces for the broken combos in the deck: Corpse Harvester + Rooftop Storm and Gravecrawler + Phyrexian Altar. Oh, and don't forget to add Conspiracy.
Thanks!
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!
3 Death Baron
4 Risen Executioner
5 Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
7 Akroma's Memorial
4 Vengeful Dead
8 Craterhoof Behemoth
Zombie Makers:
4 Empty the Pits
4 Endless Ranks of the Dead
4 Parallel Lives
5 Doubling Season
5 Ghoulcaller Gisa
5 Primal Vigor
I'm only missing these cards for now. I guess I'm almost good to go xD? Also, Is the Deathtouch on Death Baron really relevant? or can I substitute it with something like Cemetery Reaper ? or would it be too different?
I also acquired Cavern of Souls. It's played but it's still good for the price I got it with xD.
And welcome back
U Delver
You're right; you are almost set. I guess Cemetery Reaper could be a good placeholder for Death Baron. The thing with deathtouch is that it's a trade-off when your horde is weak compared to an opponents. If someone would force you to block with most of your creature yet yours die and not your opponents, you're basically toast the next turn. However, deathtouch makes people think twice before attacking you with that 10/10 even if it has trample.
As for the other cards, the only real non-budget ones are Primal Vigor, Akroma's Memorial, Doubling Season, and Craterhoof Behemoth (if I remember correctly). Remember that the focus of the Zombie Build is amassing a large horde as quickly as possible. All the cards that affect that effect are very important. That's not to say that the deck won't work well, it just won't be anywhere near as optimal as it can be.
Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest is not super crucial but it does go with the Phyrexian Altar + Gravecrawler combo and the Narcomortuary of Dementia engine (which you're already running all three of its components). Endlessly sacrificing Gravecrawler to its combo or Narcomoeba to its combo with Mazirek on the field means your creatures could essentially get 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 +1/+1 counters.
Other than that I think you're pretty solid. While your obtaining these final pieces, it may be difficult to see what to cut. My suggestion is to swap out anything that's not key to the zombie strategy and you should be fine.
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!
Thanks. I'll start collecting the pieces right away.
U Delver
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!
-Bojuka Bog
+Baloth Null
-Realm Seekers
-Yavimaya Dryad
+Forbidden Alchemy
+Corpse Churn
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!
Prophet of Kruphix is now banned.
What do we change it into :<?
I'll post my updated decklist later.
I decided to run the Narcomoeba + Mortuary + Altar of dementia even with the tribal. I got Mortuary and Altar of dementia on the field. Even without Narcomoeba on the field. (it will eventually come in) I can get so many zombie/mill/etb triggers with the help of noxious ghoul , diregraf etc. It wins the game on it's own. Since I don't have shocklands yet. I got Chromatic lantern to balance everything out.. 2 of the decks in my LGS runs mass land destruction. I will prioritize life from the loam as the next card to get. Also using Body Double. It's like a reanimation spell built in the creature.
U Delver
Yeah, Mortuary plus Altar of Dementia work great without Narcomoeba. However, when combined with the latter, you simply have a way to infinitely perform the effect .
EDIT:
A deeper discussion on the matter:
How the recent banning of Prophet of Kruphix affects the deck:
The banning of this card my be severely crippling as far as efficiency goes. It's not that the deck completely relies on it, but having it in play gave the deck a combination (if only slightly) of Seedborn Muse + Leyline of Anticipation. Prophet of Kruphix allowed for:
1) being broken with Mesmeric Orb. One could tap all lands at the end of each turn and then have the Mesmeric Orb trigger for each of them each untap step.
2) allowing to cast creatures at the end of each opponents turn - even from the graveyard thanks to Havengul Lich.
The only viable solution would be to subtitute it for Seeborn Muse (which is at $13 already, who knows how much it'll spike thanks to the recent Prophet of Kruphix banning - so get them while they're hot!) being as it's a creature and at least allows us the untapping portion in order to abuse Mesmeric Orb. If one would still be interested in flashing creatures in at end of turn (or other spells for that matter) one would have to see what to swap out for either Leyline of Anticipation or Vedalken Orrery.
Now, people have been complaining about Prophet of Kruphix for some time now but honestly, not every deck can run it. I read the reason why it was banned and I don't understand why Consecrated Sphinx wasn't banned instead. At a single color sphinx is easier to cast and can be run in any deck that includes U vs. prophet which requires G as well. Consecrated Sphinx has more hate tied to it than prohpet does and if the example problem with the sphinx, it should've been banned instead. If Consecrated Sphinx ever gets banned in EDH, then Prophet of Kruphix should get unbanned.
This change also affects the Budget Build being as Prophet of Kruphix is super cheap (~$2) and Seedborn Muse and Leyline of Anticipation are significantly more expensive. I'd have to see how to deal with this problem accordingly. Though the swap with Vedalken Orrery over Prophet of Kruphix is adding more or less $1 as a difference, I think that swap could be made. As far as the Zombie Build is concerned, it sees the same problems as the Competitive Build and thus the solution is the same: swap it out for Seedborn Muse.
Will soon edit the main post accordingly. Such a sad day... sad day indeed...
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!
2 Aphetto Alchemist
2 Seeker of Skybreak
2 Voyaging Satyr
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Satyr Wayfinder
2 Riftsweeper
2 Kiora's Follower
2 Narcomoeba
3 Diregraf Captain
3 Farhaven Elf
3 Krosan Restorer
3 Eternal Witness
4 Vengeful Dead
4 Falkenrath Noble
4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
4 Filth
4 Undead Alchemist
4 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
4 Gurmag Drowner
4 Wonder
4 Hell's Caretaker
4 Clever Impersonator
4 Undead Warchief
5 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
5 Havengul Lich
5 Noxious Ghoul
5 Vengeful Pharaoh
5 Body Double
5 Prophet of Kruphix
5 Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
6 Gempalm Polluter
6 Champion of Stray Souls
7 Butcher of Malakir
7 Sheoldred, Whispering One
2 Life from the loam]
2 Grisly Salvage
2 Gaea's Blessing
2 Mulch
3 Victimize
3 Buried Alive
4 Dread Return
4 Jarad's Orders
Instant
2 Cyclonic Rift
4 Sudden Reclamation
4 Fact or Fiction
4 Empty the Pits
Enchantment
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
2 Animate Dead
2 Dance of the Dead
4 Opposition
4 Mortuary
4 Parallel Lives
4 Endless Ranks of the Dead
5 Conspiracy
6 Deadbridge Chant
Planeswalker
4 Kiora, Master of the Depths
5 Tezzeret the Seeker
Artifact
1 Sol Ring
1 Expedition Map
2 Altar of Dementia
2 Mesmeric Orb
3 Chromatic Lantern
8 Forest
4 Island
6 Swamp
1 Opulent Palace
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Tree of Tales
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Golgari Rotfarm
1 Golgari Guildgate
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Tainted Wood
1 Simic Guildgate
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Command Tower
1 Teramorphic Expanse
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Underground River
1 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Cavern of Souls
Deadbridge Chant , Empty the Pits, Falkenrath Noble and wonder will probably be replaced by cemetery reaper , lord of the undead , Death Baron and Lich Lord of Unx or Corpse Harvester.
Do you think I have too much Enchantment?
I don't have Urborg / Cabal Coffers and Gaea's Cradle yet and with the banning of Prophet of Kruphix. I don't think I'll be able to use Empty the Pits to it's full potential.
Doubling Season , Akroma's Memorial and Coat of Arms are on my priority list right now. What do you think? I like animate dead and dance of the dead because it can reanimate a creature from an opponent's graveyard. We have a Sharuum player. Stealing either Sharuum or Phyrexian Metamorph from his graveyard slows his deck quite a bit.
Since I have Life from the Loam already. Should I let go of Grisly Salvage / Mulch already?
U Delver
It's not bad to have too many enchantments. However, they're harder to recover once in the graveyard. If they're key enchantments, you might want to consider adding Dowsing Shaman or Pharika's Mender.
You need Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. It's Filth's companion card.
I can understand if you're adding some select cards due to your meta. But those 3 cards that you mentioned should definitely be included somehow in the deck.
Grisly Salvage and Mulch are good for self-milling. But if your main focus is more zombie generation than anything, they may be cut in favor of better cards (I don't run them in the Zombie Tribal build even though I run them in the competitive build). Personally, I would cut Dance of the Dead and Animate Dead. Again, it's difficult to recover enchantments in this deck and you already cut Deadbridge Chant which has the potential of recovering an enchantment, planeswalker, instant, or sorcery card from your graveyard - something no other card can do. So far you can only recover artifacts, creatures, and lands. I would try and cut back just a wee bit on enchantments.
Overall the deck is looking pretty decent. How has it been running?
EDIT:
Updated the decklists in the main post. And totally called it on the price spike in Seedborn Muse. The banning in EDH of a $1 card tripled the price of a $12 card. I hope you all bought some while they were hot 'cause that would mean that now you'll get a 200% return on those Seeborn Muses.
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!
If this were the case, it would then depend on the player. Some players feel lucky with a hand that's roughly 50% lands regardless the mana cost of the rest of the hand. Other players risk it for the biscuit and would rather have a more useful opening hand. I'm with the former. Since I never stare a gift horse in the mouth, I never mulligan away hands with 3-5 lands in it - regardless of the rest of the cards.
I'll probably still leave the primer as is since some pods are against this new ruling. However, most pods are legit with the rules. Since this is the case, I would merely need to update the mulligan strategy to that of: "Got at least 4 lands? You're set." I really hope this rule dissolves. I was at least on board with the changes in the tuck rule because I understood how it may disrupt the spirit of the game, etc. But the mulligan one... yeah, try shuffling a 99-card deck a couple of times when you're unlucky. And that's before the start of the match. Good grief...
On a happier note, with the recent WotC nightmare (the way early, Watergate scandal level) spoilers of Innistrad 2, I'm even more confident that this block will bring in some goodies for Sidisi.
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!
EDH strategy does start before the game. But it's not mulligans, it's deck building. I'd say that if getting hands that didn't do anything in the early turns was a normal occurrence, then that's definitely a sign of poor deck construction. Nothing should be "guaranteed" in Mtg. I'm glad that the overly generous partial mulligan is gone and people have to pay more attention to solid deck building instead of having mulligans bail them out.
I'm definitely surprised that someone with a Primer would feel the way that you posted. Having 3-4 lands but no early action seems like a poor keep. A well built deck taking a mulligan is not the end of the game. But doing nothing for the first 4 turns does seem like the end of the game.
Your deck has plenty of early plays and ways to catch up that a mulligan seems more beneficial than sitting like a duck. Besides, the first mulligan is free.
My deck does have a lot of early play cards and does have the solid deck construction. However, I simply don't like the new mulligan. This is still a game of chance and the probability does exist - regardless of deck construction, that you can have heavy cards in your hand. Even the game of Finkel vs. Garfield the creator of the game lost one of the rounds to mana screw.
I understand that deck construction is a big part of EDH, and I take that into deep consideration when building a deck. However, with 99 cards where 37 cards are lands and half the remaining cards are playable in the first 4 turns and the others aren't, you can have great hands, solid hands, OK hands, and then leper hands. Maybe I'll eventually get used to the new changes, but for the moment I don't really like it, sorry to say. Though that probably doesn't phase me as much as Prophet of Kruphix getting banned, lol.
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!
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!
Building my own zombie themed deck - staying with a budget a little less than your list however... Have you considered Shepherd of Rot. Coupled with Kiora's follower, etc, to untap a few times could give another easy alternate win con even if you only have a moderate number of zombies in play. Provided you're in front of course, which you typically will be with an aggressive deck.
I don't know if budget zombies is easy to pull off because most important cards are pretty expensive. Maybe a hybrid of some kind? What're you running (or plan on running)?
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!
Still looking in to options for the deck, most of the combos so far are pretty situational and it suffers from GY hate a lot - no Eldrazi for me!
Inclusions like Grave Betrayal, Oversold Cemetery, etc. I'll try to get a list online near future.
You seem to have more focus on dredging and recursion - which by itself works without having to depend on Sidisi (all this can be achieved without her in play). So your deck is more graveyard dredge than horde.
How then do you usually pilot it to achieve a T3-T4 win? I see a clear wincon in cards like Splinterfright and its ilk. But self-milling and dredge is not something so linear. What obstacles do you find yourself? How do you more or less deal with starting hands? What are other decks in your pod or meta that you play with or against?
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!
Is Sidisi a good general to choose in this environment?
Lol, running my deck in a pod without graveyard hate will instantaneously make them add graveyard removal to their decks no questions asked! This is the best thing to happen to a Sidisi, Brood Tyrant player!
I figured as much. I recommend creatures that counter spells to deal with your graveyard hate woes. That's why I run Glen Elendra Archmage. That should help deal with graveyard elimination spells.
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!