Intro: This deck is to use the new build around card Madcap Experiment and figuring out how to negate the bad using fog effects for the good of digging and putting a Gearhulk onto the battlefield.
Yeah these decks do hold up well against Bant Company as they only really have Dromoka's Command and Declaration in stone for removal which Declaration is a problem, but that card is honestly just a good spot removal. But Reflector mage and Queller are just easy to avoid.
Spirits is a little more annoying, but side in some Advanced Stitchwing to block super well, but with most of these decks the removal we carry mostly can wipe them out of the air. Maybe bring in Kozilek's Return to surprise clear their board or maybe Savage Alliance since most of their team have 1 toughness also the ability to give our zombie trample only makes them better.
The mono-white weenie decks are super painful matches. Remove those first strikers ASAP. Also good to side in Advanced Stitchwing for its big toughness and some kind of board wipe to clear the board.
Tokens well I really haven't seen much of it since EMN so I'm not sure if it is going to return as a major arch type, but honestly Displacement Wave and counters should do it in.
Please do let me know how that deck does work out. Thank you.
Hmmm interesting build. I can see where he is going with it, but I have a feeling I would want to replace Jace with Bedlam Reveler as it refills your hand and can be cheaper to cast with 19 spells in the deck but also a nice thing to pitch for Nahiri's Wrath. 8 damage to a single creature or pitch some land and that is a board wipe is some cases. I dunno might be too drastic of a change.
It definitely loves the mid-game, which is where the deck belongs. Burn for the early game and creatures for the mid game. I hate that there is only four madness targets out of all the cards. Looks good though. So have you tested it out?
So Wharf Infiltrator as a replacement for Prized in mono-blue is a good idea since we do miss the power Prized puts on the field. It has a card filtering and is good in multiples. Not bad. I would drop 2 Catalog for it.
Take Inventory is a definite help to almost all version of the deck as it is a good discard target and it will refill your hand in a pinch. I've drawn up to the 4 cards off of one and it fills good. My main problem is always hindering the Masterpiece as by the time I'm ready to cast it it only comes out as a 3/3 flier. Thus why I ended up cutting it. I might like the one copy, but otherwise it just hindered my hand. I would keep the 4 Nagging Thoughts and 4 Take Inventory as they are the decks early game plays really in mono-blue.
Also in mono-blue I'm going to switch the Artificer's Epiphany to 4 and Catalog to 2 since Declaration in stone gives an Artifact token which with Epiphany you essentially lost one creature to draw three cards.
1. It's land base seems very thin at only 21 lands; is this really enough lands? If not, what would you cut to add more?
Definitely with so much card draw and filtering your going to have up to ten lands before the end of the game. In my experience I have always hit my land drops every turn. I had more lands and it just put more land in my grave. You could add two more, but no more than that.
Quote from Borachon »
2. How useful would Drownyard Temple (4) or Geier Reach Sanitarium (2) be? The former seems like a pure improvement if the land base is larger; the later could give an emergency discard outlet when needed.
Drownyard Temple is okay, but honestly you never care if you discard an island as you probably have a lot either in hand or just a Catalog away. Now the Sanitarium could become very useful to help filter even more and madness more so you could drop a couple of islands for it.
Quote from Borachon »
3. I'm still pondering Crushing Grasp and Welcome to the Fold. The former seems useful against the new horrors and the later against things like the new Thalia. esp since the right looter can accelerate the later to instant speed.
Do you mean Crush of Tentacles? But yes I have been contemplating Engulf the Shore and Crush, but I don't want to return all our Zombies, but it would push us more midrange where the deck does belong. Its something to play around with. As for Welcome to the Fold honestly it is a good side board against the human and Collected Company decks as their creatures are mostly within the non-madness range of the card.
Quote from Borachon »
4. Both Salvage Drone or 1 or 2 Elder Deep-fiend are attractive. The former accelerates against weenies and the second can break stalls. I don't know what to put them in place of; perhaps sideboard?
Salvage Drone I'm not to crazy about as it is a 1 toughness creature with only Ingest and a loot. But the deck could use a 1-drop, but I feel it should be something more like Spontaneous Mutation that takes a big advantage from how full our graveyard gets over the game, or Clutch of Currents for the tempo. These stick to the game plan of delay to a later game. Elder Deep-Fiend is a great addition to this deck as it is gonna benefit with its emerge making it cost only two blue or maybe just 3. Plus with the land drops hitting frequently enough you can just cast it outright so it does fit in this deck no problem. Honestly I would drop the Masterpiece for it as with the Mono-blue build you do draw a lot of cards and Masterpiece just gets hindered by the fat hands the deck gives.
On another note:
An additional win con for the deck that can be shifted in would be Rise from the Tides which is great with all the Instant and Sorcerys.
So this deck is from looking at my previous deck that has been doing some work and got some new toys from Eldritch Moon. Then taking that deck and cutting it down to make it more budget than it already was ($65 -> $40). Something I could buy pretty quick for FNM. And I came up with this Mono-blue version where it takes elements of the zombie build and elements from the tempo Horror spells build and smashes them together. Thus allowing it to take a double advantage of discard through Catalog and Artificer's Epiphany with the zombies that like being in the grave along with Madness cards. And since the original deck does feel like a mid-range deck I have brought in a sweep of bounce and counters to push toward the mid-game where it shines as it drops zombie after zombie along with spells to tempo the game. Dropping Thing in the Ice on turn 2 is great, but isn't required as the card drawing with dig us into threat, lands, and tempo cards. And when Thing hits the battlefield you usually can expect it to flip the next turn and it won't return any of our other creatures due to 'Zombie Horror' being a type for some strange reason, but hey it works.
Stitchwing Skaab: The easiest Zombie to cast from the grave two mana and two cards. Pitch it early and get it back for cheap. Advanced Stitchwing: Looks like it evolved by only one mana for both costs, but with a big butt. Same as its first form pitch it and bring it back for cheap. Nothing special. Geralf's Masterpiece: This one of the major threats in the deck, but you gotta be careful not to cast it wrong. Pitch it only if you have to as it discards 3 cards which sometimes will hurt to do, unless you have extra mana open to cast some other spells or madness the discard. If done right he will start beating them for 7 in the air. Thing in the Ice: The other main threat that is a nice healthy blocker early in the game, but once flipped it is a 7/8 onthe ground that will most likely board return their side as the Zombies stay.
Artificer's Epiphany: Discard outlet or filter, this is Catalog number 5 and 6. Unless they Declaration in Stone our Zombie then it is a draw 2 cards. Broken Concentration: Counter magic that has Madness which can come up in some certain cases. Catalog: Discard outlet or filter, used to get zombies into the grave along with casting madness cards. Just the Wind: Two-Mana Unsummon with a madness for 1 CMC which helps a lot with tempo and great target for the discard Unsubstantiate: This card is super sweet when they cast any spell you really don't have the answer for yet while also unsummoning threats on the board. Nagging Thoughts: A nice filter that can be used at instant speed with madness, but also acts as another zombie dump card. Take Inventory: This card is good. It might not be instant, but drawing three cards off of it is really good.
Displacement Wave: Tokens? Play X for 0 and wipe the board. Company? Play for 3 and away it goes. All around is a good card against a good bit of aggro meta. Docent of Perfection: Use it during control match up and take advantage of the crazy amount of spells making all the Wizards. Negate: Control Match ups to counter non-creature spells. Planeswalker answer really. Spell Shrivel: Extra Counters if needed. Sphinx of the Final Word: Good against the targeted removal heavy decks. Summary Dismissal: Bring in against Eldrazi heavy decks, because this deck's weakness is Eldrazi.
The Strength of the deck against removal is very nice since most creature can return from the grave. Exile hurts, but with the card drawing and filtering you are guaranteed to find a new creature to replace them. Also be careful around Eldrazi decks. Those cast effects are painful and not fun to deal with, Unsubstantiate the Thought-Knots and Reality Smashers, but counter the Ulamogs and Deep Elder-Fiends. Their cast effects are bad, but their bodies will become an irritant. Counter the ramp spells. Put them behind so you can catch up and finish the game before those big threats touch the board.
Bant Company (1-0):
He played company on my turn returning my Stitchwing Skaab to my hand with Reflector Mage, but during his turn I just pitched it with Catalog. I chuckled as I played it from the grave while Unsummoning a Sylvan Advocate and digging deeper. I eventually got a Thing in the Ice to stick and play catalog into nagging thoughts. Then countered his company and Unsubstantiate to flip my thing in the ice return his whole board while I had two zombies and Awoken Horror on my side. One last counter to get rid of a Spell Queller and Flunged in for game. Final score: (16 - 0)
@ekienhol The big down side to Uninvited Geist is the skulk doesn't work well when facing Sylvan Advocate or pumped tokens. I like him, but he always gets blocked and the flip side isn't super big as 3 toughness is pretty easily dealt with through burn and other kill spells. I just wish it did stuff when it makes contact.
@lajube I enjoy synergy with tribal deck and with this deck I want to make it a tribal deck so I prefer to not use Reflector mage on the consensus that it is not a spirit thus only has synergy with the plan of tempo but not the tribe of spirits. I also like Topplegiest as a cheap tapper flier. And with Anafenza it gets pumped into a 2/2 flier.
@Ronnie your deck has been updated. Have you tested with Haunted Dead as it is two bodies for one and only costs the same as Stitchwing Skaab just black. You have an interesting point about Blessed Reincarnation as a sideboard card as it does work against the current meta pretty well. But I wonder if it isn't played due to the same reason as Reality Shift wasn't played, from fear over the value that is possible. Summary Dismissal on the other hand will be quite lovely against all the craziness that is probably going to occur with the eldrazi decks.
@Varkung Nantuko Husk is very plausible since we love the grave and despise exile.
I agree with no Reflector Mage as it has zero synergy with the deck, it doesn't fly, flash nor a spirit. So when you play it, you'll tempo them but that is it. Doesn't trigger the Mausoleum Wanderer nor the Nebelgast Herald and it can't be protected by Rattlechains or gain the flash from it. Unfortunate cause it is a great card, but is a break from focus with this deck.
I thought about switching it into a Young Pyromancer + Guttersnipe Deck and bring in more Instants and Sorceries to assist in fixing the curve and taking out a lot of the utility. But I'm not sure where to start with that exactly.
Here is my take on the UW Spirits deck that has grown with the help of Eldritch Moon. I'm trying to build the Spirit deck similar to the Merfolk deck of the past, using tempo and small creature with evasion to deal lethal damage over time. Now I know the big difference is that the deck will lack so many lords, but there is Thunderclap Wyvern. Plus there is a good bit of synergy with the Spirits. Goldfishing the deck, it has finished the game by turn 6 consistently.
Draw Cards (Cards that draw more cards, clue or otherwise): Bygone Bishop: With the majority of the creature in the deck being 3 or less this will always get at least one clue on board. Grip of the Roil: Tempo and draws a card Ojutai's Command: Model with draw a card as an option
Tempo Cards (Cards that slow down the game): Nebelgast Herald: Taps and can keep tapping with more Spirits along with it having flash to tap on the opponents turn. Topplegeist: Taps down, then has possiblity of continuing tapping. Also combos with Herald to tap two at once when it comes down. Grip of the Roil: Freeze a creature at instants speed, with a draw effect, and easily surged with the low cmc curve. Unsubstantiate: Acts as a counter similar to Remand but also can bounce creatures out of the way in combat.
Removal/Counter Cards (Cards that can remove threats): Mausoleum Wanderer: Can counter removal or other Instants or Sorceries. Spell Queller: This will help remove a few impactful cards(Collected Company, Languish, etc.) that are within its range and another way to handle most removal. Ojutai's Command: Can counter a threating creature spell while doing other options. Declaration in Stone: Exiles a creature and they get a clue.
Other Cards (Cards that take other roles): Rattlechains: Flash in for hexproofing any of the creatures to prevent spot removal or other effects. Selfless Spirit: This helps with combat and mass removal. Thunderclap Wyvern: The lord for the spirits, unfortunate that it isn't a spirit, but it will have to do. Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit: The "lord" for the spirits. Unfortunate that it isn't a wide spread buff, but with flashing in on the opponent's turn she will pull her own weight as a superficial lord using her Bolster ability. Always Watching: The anthem for the spirits.
Goal of the Deck:
Tap, Counter or bounce any creature or spell that will get in the way of the spirit crew so they can chip away at the opponent's life total.
Possible Additions (The Maybe board): Spectral Shepherd: The effect to just take creatures back is quite rewarding. Also a 5 mana combo to permanently Exile spells that are less than 4 cmc with this effect and Spell Queller. Always Watching: Another Anthem for the team. Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: Another Anthem along with a quicker clock Essence Flux: A Blink and a buff for a Spirit. Also combos well with over 5 of the creature that have enter the battlefield effects.
Thank you for your time. I appreciate any comments or suggestions.
Ok so full spoiler is up and the deck can benefit from a few of them. I really wish they gave us more creature with the same effect than just Haunted Dead(Which is very nice for the effect of getting two bodies) and Advanced Stitchwing(Gawd end its misery for it is so bad). But I really am liking the decks interaction with Emerge creatures, Elder Deep-Fiend and Wretched Gryff, also Distended Mindbender. The emerge would be perfect with our zombies since we cast them for almost no mana to then sac them in a stall to pay almost nothing for emerge.
Other options: Olivia's Dragoon: Free outlet to get the zombies in the grave Cryptbreaker: Is a nice discard outlet, but I fear we can't push to max potential since our return zombies come back tapped Collective Brutality: Nice Discard outlet and a nice effects to benefit Wharf Infiltrator: Gives me idea with all the creatures we discard through out a game
4x Aerial Responder
3x Cataclysmic Gearhulk
2x Combustible Gearhulk
Enchantment (6)
2x Authority of the Consuls
4x Consulate Surveillance
Planeswalker (2)
2x Nahiri, the Harbinger
Sorcery (10)
2x Declaration in Stone
3x Fumigate
4x Madcap Experiment
1x Refurbish
3x Harnessed Lightning
2x Kozilek's Return
4x Repel the Abominable
Land (24)
2x Aether Hub
4x Inspiring Vantage
6x Mountain
4x Needle Spires
8x Plains
2x Authority of the Consuls
3x Collective Defiance
2x Declaration in Stone
3x Incendiary Flow
2x Refurbish
3x Stasis Snare
Will be back later to type up some card explanation. But any feedback will be appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Spirits is a little more annoying, but side in some Advanced Stitchwing to block super well, but with most of these decks the removal we carry mostly can wipe them out of the air. Maybe bring in Kozilek's Return to surprise clear their board or maybe Savage Alliance since most of their team have 1 toughness also the ability to give our zombie trample only makes them better.
The mono-white weenie decks are super painful matches. Remove those first strikers ASAP. Also good to side in Advanced Stitchwing for its big toughness and some kind of board wipe to clear the board.
Tokens well I really haven't seen much of it since EMN so I'm not sure if it is going to return as a major arch type, but honestly Displacement Wave and counters should do it in.
Please do let me know how that deck does work out. Thank you.
It definitely loves the mid-game, which is where the deck belongs. Burn for the early game and creatures for the mid game. I hate that there is only four madness targets out of all the cards. Looks good though. So have you tested it out?
Take Inventory is a definite help to almost all version of the deck as it is a good discard target and it will refill your hand in a pinch. I've drawn up to the 4 cards off of one and it fills good. My main problem is always hindering the Masterpiece as by the time I'm ready to cast it it only comes out as a 3/3 flier. Thus why I ended up cutting it. I might like the one copy, but otherwise it just hindered my hand. I would keep the 4 Nagging Thoughts and 4 Take Inventory as they are the decks early game plays really in mono-blue.
Also in mono-blue I'm going to switch the Artificer's Epiphany to 4 and Catalog to 2 since Declaration in stone gives an Artifact token which with Epiphany you essentially lost one creature to draw three cards.
@Ronnie: Have you played with Emerge creature in your version of the deck? What is you opinion of Elder Deep-Fiend and Distended Mindbender?
Edit: Updated both Mono-blue and Grixis build
Definitely with so much card draw and filtering your going to have up to ten lands before the end of the game. In my experience I have always hit my land drops every turn. I had more lands and it just put more land in my grave. You could add two more, but no more than that.
Drownyard Temple is okay, but honestly you never care if you discard an island as you probably have a lot either in hand or just a Catalog away. Now the Sanitarium could become very useful to help filter even more and madness more so you could drop a couple of islands for it.
Do you mean Crush of Tentacles? But yes I have been contemplating Engulf the Shore and Crush, but I don't want to return all our Zombies, but it would push us more midrange where the deck does belong. Its something to play around with. As for Welcome to the Fold honestly it is a good side board against the human and Collected Company decks as their creatures are mostly within the non-madness range of the card.
Salvage Drone I'm not to crazy about as it is a 1 toughness creature with only Ingest and a loot. But the deck could use a 1-drop, but I feel it should be something more like Spontaneous Mutation that takes a big advantage from how full our graveyard gets over the game, or Clutch of Currents for the tempo. These stick to the game plan of delay to a later game. Elder Deep-Fiend is a great addition to this deck as it is gonna benefit with its emerge making it cost only two blue or maybe just 3. Plus with the land drops hitting frequently enough you can just cast it outright so it does fit in this deck no problem. Honestly I would drop the Masterpiece for it as with the Mono-blue build you do draw a lot of cards and Masterpiece just gets hindered by the fat hands the deck gives.
On another note:
An additional win con for the deck that can be shifted in would be Rise from the Tides which is great with all the Instant and Sorcerys.
4x Advanced Stitchwing
3x Geralf's Masterpiece
4x Stitchwing Skaab
4x Thing in the Ice
Instant (16)
2x Artificer's Epiphany
3x Broken Concentration
4x Catalog
4x Just the Wind
3x Unsubstantiate
4x Nagging Thoughts
4x Take Inventory
Land (21)
21x Island
3x Displacement Wave
2x Docent of Perfection
3x Negate
3x Spell Shrivel
1x Sphinx of the Final Word
3x Summary Dismissal
Stitchwing Skaab: The easiest Zombie to cast from the grave two mana and two cards. Pitch it early and get it back for cheap.
Advanced Stitchwing: Looks like it evolved by only one mana for both costs, but with a big butt. Same as its first form pitch it and bring it back for cheap. Nothing special.
Geralf's Masterpiece: This one of the major threats in the deck, but you gotta be careful not to cast it wrong. Pitch it only if you have to as it discards 3 cards which sometimes will hurt to do, unless you have extra mana open to cast some other spells or madness the discard. If done right he will start beating them for 7 in the air.
Thing in the Ice: The other main threat that is a nice healthy blocker early in the game, but once flipped it is a 7/8 onthe ground that will most likely board return their side as the Zombies stay.
Artificer's Epiphany: Discard outlet or filter, this is Catalog number 5 and 6. Unless they Declaration in Stone our Zombie then it is a draw 2 cards.
Broken Concentration: Counter magic that has Madness which can come up in some certain cases.
Catalog: Discard outlet or filter, used to get zombies into the grave along with casting madness cards.
Just the Wind: Two-Mana Unsummon with a madness for 1 CMC which helps a lot with tempo and great target for the discard
Unsubstantiate: This card is super sweet when they cast any spell you really don't have the answer for yet while also unsummoning threats on the board.
Nagging Thoughts: A nice filter that can be used at instant speed with madness, but also acts as another zombie dump card.
Take Inventory: This card is good. It might not be instant, but drawing three cards off of it is really good.
Island: Simple and sweet.
Displacement Wave: Tokens? Play X for 0 and wipe the board. Company? Play for 3 and away it goes. All around is a good card against a good bit of aggro meta.
Docent of Perfection: Use it during control match up and take advantage of the crazy amount of spells making all the Wizards.
Negate: Control Match ups to counter non-creature spells. Planeswalker answer really.
Spell Shrivel: Extra Counters if needed.
Sphinx of the Final Word: Good against the targeted removal heavy decks.
Summary Dismissal: Bring in against Eldrazi heavy decks, because this deck's weakness is Eldrazi.
The Strength of the deck against removal is very nice since most creature can return from the grave. Exile hurts, but with the card drawing and filtering you are guaranteed to find a new creature to replace them. Also be careful around Eldrazi decks. Those cast effects are painful and not fun to deal with, Unsubstantiate the Thought-Knots and Reality Smashers, but counter the Ulamogs and Deep Elder-Fiends. Their cast effects are bad, but their bodies will become an irritant. Counter the ramp spells. Put them behind so you can catch up and finish the game before those big threats touch the board.
Bant Company (1-0):
He played company on my turn returning my Stitchwing Skaab to my hand with Reflector Mage, but during his turn I just pitched it with Catalog. I chuckled as I played it from the grave while Unsummoning a Sylvan Advocate and digging deeper. I eventually got a Thing in the Ice to stick and play catalog into nagging thoughts. Then countered his company and Unsubstantiate to flip my thing in the ice return his whole board while I had two zombies and Awoken Horror on my side. One last counter to get rid of a Spell Queller and Flunged in for game. Final score: (16 - 0)
@lajube I enjoy synergy with tribal deck and with this deck I want to make it a tribal deck so I prefer to not use Reflector mage on the consensus that it is not a spirit thus only has synergy with the plan of tempo but not the tribe of spirits. I also like Topplegiest as a cheap tapper flier. And with Anafenza it gets pumped into a 2/2 flier.
@Varkung Nantuko Husk is very plausible since we love the grave and despise exile.
I have been seeing the addition of Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit and Always Watching, so I might remove the Topplegeist in my deck and put in Anafenza and take out the Thunderclap Wyvern for Always Watching.
Deck edit:
-2 Topplegeist
-3 Thunderclap Wyvern
+2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
+3 Always Watching
This is my Izzet Horror build. It fairs pretty well, but I'm still trying to work the bugs out.
4x Bedlam Reveler
3x Stromkirk Occultist
4x Thing in the Ice
Instant (13)
4x Expedite
4x Galvanic Bombardment
3x Spell Shrivel
2x Unsubstantiate
3x Incendiary Flow
4x Slip Through Space
4x Take Inventory
Land (25)
2x Highland Lake
6x Island
9x Mountain
4x Shivan Reef
4x Wandering Fumarole
2x Docent of Perfection
2x Grip of the Roil
1x Incendiary Flow
3x Kozilek's Return
3x Negate
1x Spell Shrivel
3x Summary Dismissal
4x Burning-Tree Emissary
4x Dragon Whisperer
3x Fanatic of Mogis
2x Firemantle Mage
4x Flamekin Harbinger
1x Fulminator Mage
2x Goblin Ruinblaster
1x Ire Shaman
2x Prophetic Flamespeaker
4x Rage Forger
1x Stigma Lasher
3x Stonewright
2x Cavern of Souls
16x Mountain
3x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Instant (4)
4x Lightning Bolt
Artifact (4)
4x Aether Vial
I thought about switching it into a Young Pyromancer + Guttersnipe Deck and bring in more Instants and Sorceries to assist in fixing the curve and taking out a lot of the utility. But I'm not sure where to start with that exactly.
The Deck:
2x Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
4x Bygone Bishop
4x Mausoleum Wanderer
3x Nebelgast Herald
4x Rattlechains
3x Selfless Spirit
3x Spell Queller
Enchantment (3)
3x Always Watching
3x Grip of the Roil
2x Ojutai's Command
3x Unsubstantiate
Sorcery (3)
3x Declaration in Stone
Land (23)
9x Island
6x Plains
4x Port Town
4x Prairie Stream
1x Declaration in Stone
3x Hallowed Moonlight
3x Negate
1x Ojutai's Command
3x Summary Dismissal
3x Tragic Arrogance
1x Unsubstantiate
Draw Cards (Cards that draw more cards, clue or otherwise):
Bygone Bishop: With the majority of the creature in the deck being 3 or less this will always get at least one clue on board.
Grip of the Roil: Tempo and draws a card
Ojutai's Command: Model with draw a card as an option
Tempo Cards (Cards that slow down the game):
Nebelgast Herald: Taps and can keep tapping with more Spirits along with it having flash to tap on the opponents turn.
Topplegeist: Taps down, then has possiblity of continuing tapping. Also combos with Herald to tap two at once when it comes down.Grip of the Roil: Freeze a creature at instants speed, with a draw effect, and easily surged with the low cmc curve.
Unsubstantiate: Acts as a counter similar to Remand but also can bounce creatures out of the way in combat.
Removal/Counter Cards (Cards that can remove threats):
Mausoleum Wanderer: Can counter removal or other Instants or Sorceries.
Spell Queller: This will help remove a few impactful cards(Collected Company, Languish, etc.) that are within its range and another way to handle most removal.
Ojutai's Command: Can counter a threating creature spell while doing other options.
Declaration in Stone: Exiles a creature and they get a clue.
Other Cards (Cards that take other roles):
Rattlechains: Flash in for hexproofing any of the creatures to prevent spot removal or other effects.
Selfless Spirit: This helps with combat and mass removal.
Thunderclap Wyvern: The lord for the spirits, unfortunate that it isn't a spirit, but it will have to do.Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit: The "lord" for the spirits. Unfortunate that it isn't a wide spread buff, but with flashing in on the opponent's turn she will pull her own weight as a superficial lord using her Bolster ability.
Always Watching: The anthem for the spirits.
Goal of the Deck:
Tap, Counter or bounce any creature or spell that will get in the way of the spirit crew so they can chip away at the opponent's life total.
Possible Additions (The Maybe board):
Spectral Shepherd: The effect to just take creatures back is quite rewarding. Also a 5 mana combo to permanently Exile spells that are less than 4 cmc with this effect and Spell Queller.
Always Watching: Another Anthem for the team.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: Another Anthem along with a quicker clock
Essence Flux: A Blink and a buff for a Spirit. Also combos well with over 5 of the creature that have enter the battlefield effects.
Thank you for your time. I appreciate any comments or suggestions.
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
4 Rattlechains
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller
4 Nebelgast Herald
4 Elder Deep-Fiend
3 Unsubstantiate
3 Essence Flux
2 Always Watching
2 Ojutai's Command
Lands (23)
4 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
7 Island
9 Plains
Other options:
Olivia's Dragoon: Free outlet to get the zombies in the grave
Cryptbreaker: Is a nice discard outlet, but I fear we can't push to max potential since our return zombies come back tapped
Collective Brutality: Nice Discard outlet and a nice effects to benefit
Wharf Infiltrator: Gives me idea with all the creatures we discard through out a game
Will return to talk more.