Hey there community,
so I have been brewing on a Scarab God deck and I'm still not sure which way to take him but first, let's start with the surroundings the deck shall perform in.
Decklevel
The environment is an open, kinda casual multiplayer group. Kinda casual means, that reliable combodecks are shunned, there is a relevant ammount of massremovals and games tend to take around 20 turns.
The powerlevel should aim as high as possible without lockdowns or too many combos. This is not for a competitive league (his izzet-colored-brother seems more appropriate for competitive if you ask me)
I try to stick to the three current ban lists: regular commander, french and mtgo with the single exception of Sol Ring.
Now for the deck.
First off all, here is what I got until now, so we don't have to discuss on an empty board
(all cards are subject to change and it's not even a hundred yet):
Discussion
The way I see it, this guys forte is in zombies and reanimating value-cards from your opponents graveyard in order to get more zombies and value.
This leads to a main zombie-theme with a mill-subtheme but is this approach good enough?
One point, that's still on the top of my list is the mana base, I'm aiming at around 38 lands. Candidates for the open slots are the dual-type lands for these colors and fetchies. Crypt of Agadeem could also work out but depends on the way the deck evolves in.
The questions I am trying to solve are:
Which / how many lords?
How much utility do I really need? Vedalken Orrey is sweet but is it necessary?
How much mill is really needed?
Are more combos needed? I don't want to focus on that but gravecrawler enables a lot of janky infinities.
Is there enough draw? Well I mean there is hardly ever enough but should I dump some stuff and include more draw? Which cards?
Thanks in advance for the support. Perhaps we can mold this into some kind of primer for this guy.
My first draft that I currently have is zombie tribal with a lean on zombie tokens for better Scarab triggers, and a bunch of Lords to make the tokens and bit better. It also has paradox haze and training Grounds because they just go well with Scarab. I do not have too much mill though.
After playing with it for a few weeks I can't say I'm fond of the direction I chose. I usually play with at least 3 other people and it is really hard to keep an army of Zombies AND Scarab on the field at the same time by the time my upkeep comes along. So if this is the approach you are doing, I don't want to say just forget about it, it's bad, but it is risky.
I might try the opposite next. More focus on it's eternalize ability but try to keep a zombie sub theme so it does not become too similar to my Mimeoplasm.
To answer one your questions
1) I played 7 Lords and in a lot of cases I ended with hands of Lords looking down on my field clear of zombies cuz of a board wipe. Maybe it is too much, I'm going to suggest 5 maybe 6 Lords. The ones that served me the best were Lord of the Undead, Cemetery Reaper, Diregraf Captain and Undead Warchief
I'm in the same boat with trying to figure out what to do myself and I mostly have the same questions that you do.
I have a scarab god deck that does fairly well in my play group. It's not super powerful either but it is pretty fun and holds it own.
For lords I have: Lord of the Undead, Diregraf, Cemetary and Death Baron. Death Baron and Cemetary I would say are the most important of the 4 I use imo. In addition, I only run like 13 zombies total in my deck. To many board wipes to focus on them in my playgroup so I just steal from Gy's to make them from the creatures my opponents have die.
My deck also has several like steal stuff from gy cards. Cemetary Reaper, Scarab God, Coffin Queen, Beacon of Unrest, Gravespawn Sovereign, Geth, Phyrexian Delver, Animate Dead.
I think you would want a good amount of utility especially if their is a decent amount of board wipes as you mentioned. Using Paradox haze for two upkeeps makes Scarab god much more useful.. In addition, Sakashima to clone him. That's 2-4 triggers of his ability during upkeep. Can even use Copy Enchantment or Clever Impersonator to get more but that's kinda overdoing it. However, Clever Impersonator has a spot in my version of the deck he just has a lot of uses. Leyline of Anticipation > Vedalken Orrey. Same CMC but has a chance to come in free start of the game.
The only real combo/infinite I use in my deck is the Gravecrawler + Phyrexian Alter + Diregraf/plague belcher/vengeful dead. It's infinite life loss to opponents. I also have Paradox engine/Intruder alarm because I run mana rocks/Magus of the coffers and can get infinite mana to Exsanguinate for game too.
I personally have very little draw in my deck. I have several tutors and the scarab guy scry's like a champ.
The problem I keep seeing with the scarab god is people want to do too much with him. They want to go zombies, they want to gy steal, they want to go mill, they want to combo. Imo just pick 1 maybe 2 things and stick to it. Like I said my deck only has like 13 zombies it in. They are more so used for utility not as a tribal. My deck runs several board wipes, targeted removal and other cards to keep the board clear so I can steal there beats or just creatures with good abilities. If the game takes to long or I see I need to win soon. I just tutor and search for my infinites and hope for the best.
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so I have been brewing on a Scarab God deck and I'm still not sure which way to take him but first, let's start with the surroundings the deck shall perform in.
Decklevel
Now for the deck.
First off all, here is what I got until now, so we don't have to discuss on an empty board
(all cards are subject to change and it's not even a hundred yet):
1 The Scarab God
//Mill
1 Altar of Dementia
1 Altar of the Brood
1 Dreamborn Muse
1 Mesmeric Orb
1 Startled Awake
//Utility
1 Ancient Excavation
1 Buried Alive
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Damnation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Necromancy
1 Panharmonicon
1 Paradox Haze
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Rhystic Study
1 Skullclamp
1 Temporal Mastery
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Training Grounds
1 Underworld Connections
1 Vedalken Orrery
1 Windfall
1 Yawgmoth's Will
//Ramp
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Caged Sun
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Dimir Signet
1 Expedition Map
1 Mind Stone
1 Sol Ring
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Army of the Damned
1 Cryptbreaker
1 Custodi Lich
1 Diregraf Captain
1 Dread Summons
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Forgotten Creation
1 Ghoulcaller Gisa
1 Grave Titan
1 Gravecrawler
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Lich Lord of Unx
1 Liliana's Mastery
1 Liliana, Death's Majesty
1 Lord of the Accursed
1 Noosegraf Mob
1 Pontiff of Blight
1 Rooftop Storm
//Lands
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Choked Estuary
1 Command Tower
1 Cradle of the Accursed
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Evolving Wilds
5 Island
1 Nephalia Drownyard
17 Swamp
1 Temple of the False God
1 Underground River
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Coat of Arms
1 Death Baron
1 Diregraf Colossus
1 Endless Ranks of the Dead
1 Geth, Lord of the Vault
1 Gisa and Geralf
1 Lord of the Undead
1 Mind Grind
1 Mindslicer
1 Phenax, God of Deception
1 Plague Belcher
1 Razaketh, the Foulblooded
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Shepherd of Rot
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Traumatize
1 Zombie Master
Discussion
The way I see it, this guys forte is in zombies and reanimating value-cards from your opponents graveyard in order to get more zombies and value.
This leads to a main zombie-theme with a mill-subtheme but is this approach good enough?
One point, that's still on the top of my list is the mana base, I'm aiming at around 38 lands. Candidates for the open slots are the dual-type lands for these colors and fetchies. Crypt of Agadeem could also work out but depends on the way the deck evolves in.
The questions I am trying to solve are:
Thanks in advance for the support. Perhaps we can mold this into some kind of primer for this guy.
After playing with it for a few weeks I can't say I'm fond of the direction I chose. I usually play with at least 3 other people and it is really hard to keep an army of Zombies AND Scarab on the field at the same time by the time my upkeep comes along. So if this is the approach you are doing, I don't want to say just forget about it, it's bad, but it is risky.
I might try the opposite next. More focus on it's eternalize ability but try to keep a zombie sub theme so it does not become too similar to my Mimeoplasm.
To answer one your questions
1) I played 7 Lords and in a lot of cases I ended with hands of Lords looking down on my field clear of zombies cuz of a board wipe. Maybe it is too much, I'm going to suggest 5 maybe 6 Lords. The ones that served me the best were Lord of the Undead, Cemetery Reaper, Diregraf Captain and Undead Warchief
I'm in the same boat with trying to figure out what to do myself and I mostly have the same questions that you do.
For lords I have: Lord of the Undead, Diregraf, Cemetary and Death Baron. Death Baron and Cemetary I would say are the most important of the 4 I use imo. In addition, I only run like 13 zombies total in my deck. To many board wipes to focus on them in my playgroup so I just steal from Gy's to make them from the creatures my opponents have die.
My deck also has several like steal stuff from gy cards. Cemetary Reaper, Scarab God, Coffin Queen, Beacon of Unrest, Gravespawn Sovereign, Geth, Phyrexian Delver, Animate Dead.
I think you would want a good amount of utility especially if their is a decent amount of board wipes as you mentioned. Using Paradox haze for two upkeeps makes Scarab god much more useful.. In addition, Sakashima to clone him. That's 2-4 triggers of his ability during upkeep. Can even use Copy Enchantment or Clever Impersonator to get more but that's kinda overdoing it. However, Clever Impersonator has a spot in my version of the deck he just has a lot of uses. Leyline of Anticipation > Vedalken Orrey. Same CMC but has a chance to come in free start of the game.
The only real combo/infinite I use in my deck is the Gravecrawler + Phyrexian Alter + Diregraf/plague belcher/vengeful dead. It's infinite life loss to opponents. I also have Paradox engine/Intruder alarm because I run mana rocks/Magus of the coffers and can get infinite mana to Exsanguinate for game too.
I personally have very little draw in my deck. I have several tutors and the scarab guy scry's like a champ.
The problem I keep seeing with the scarab god is people want to do too much with him. They want to go zombies, they want to gy steal, they want to go mill, they want to combo. Imo just pick 1 maybe 2 things and stick to it. Like I said my deck only has like 13 zombies it in. They are more so used for utility not as a tribal. My deck runs several board wipes, targeted removal and other cards to keep the board clear so I can steal there beats or just creatures with good abilities. If the game takes to long or I see I need to win soon. I just tutor and search for my infinites and hope for the best.