I think this archetype can be quite good, but it’s one of the most difficult to support if you don’t support persist combo. For what it’s worth I also think The Meathook Massacre is the real deal.
I am going to list the cards in my Cube that play well with this archetype below. I see this deck as base black with red, white, and green all as reasonable splashes. I am sure someone could build a decent list with some blue cards, but as the Cube designer I am not specifically supporting this strategy in blue.
Reanimation spells plus fatties and black discard outlets also make a very powerful sub-strategy. Aggro zombie creatures like Diregraf Ghoul and Sarcomancy also have great synergies with the zombie theme.
Other token creators are also great if you have the fixing for additional white mana, especially the powerful planeswalkers. Aggressive white creatures can be good to create a very aggressive shell - human sub-theme can be particularly powerful with Xathrid Necromancer and Champion of the Parish (Gather of the Townfolk and Bloodsoaked Champion are great cards to abuse the human synergy).
Corpse Dance, Whip of Erebos, and Recurring Nightmare play very nicely with Deranged Hermit and Acidic Slime. Evolutionary Leap is a complete house in this archetype. I included Curse simply because of persist fuel plus sac outlets. In addition to this list you can also pick up some green fatties for the reanimation sub-theme. Hornet Queen can be particularly nasty here.
Has anyone tried Skirsdag High Priest with "aristocrats" support? Curious to hear feedback, thanks!
I've considered it, but it seems slow and fragile.
Definitely slow and fragile, but a 2-drop that makes 5/5 fliers should be difficult to activate, right? I am bringing this up because I have drafted BG sacrifice combo decks 3 times recently, and they have been very good with the one major problem of not having actual good finishers. I am often able to recur and sacrifice dudes for tons of value, but it can be difficult to actually kill my opponent. I am considering Blood Artist, Cutthroat, Husk, Phyrexian Ghoul, and Skirsdag - also Goblin Bombardment in red and Butcher of the Horde in multi. This deck feels at its best as either Jund, Mardu, or Abzan. It runs quite a few cards that will go late if no one else is playing this archetype, so my hope in a draft would be to prioritize fixing when I'm not sacrificing a major synergy piece.
Black (base of the archetype):
1 Bloodsoaked Champion
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Bloodghast
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Sultai Emissary
1 Carrier Thrall
1 Relentless Dead
1 Blood Artist
1 Zulaport Cutthroat
1 Skirsdag High Priest
1 Xathrid Necromancer
1 Mardu Strike Leader
1 Flesh Carver
1 Liliana, Heretical Healer
1 Bone Shredder
1 Grim Haruspex
1 Nantuko Husk
1 Phyrexian Ghoul
1 Braids, Cabal Minion
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Abyssal Persecutor
1 Priest of the Blood Rite
1 Entomb
1 Smallpox
1 Attrition
1 Curse of Shallow Graves
1 Buried Alive
1 Corpse Dance
1 Whip of Erebos
1 Living Death
Reanimation spells plus fatties and black discard outlets also make a very powerful sub-strategy. Aggro zombie creatures like Diregraf Ghoul and Sarcomancy also have great synergies with the zombie theme.
White:
1 Loyal Retainers
1 Academy Rector
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Reveillark
1 Karmic Guide
1 Gather the Townsfolk
1 Secure the Wastes
Other token creators are also great if you have the fixing for additional white mana, especially the powerful planeswalkers. Aggressive white creatures can be good to create a very aggressive shell - human sub-theme can be particularly powerful with Xathrid Necromancer and Champion of the Parish (Gather of the Townfolk and Bloodsoaked Champion are great cards to abuse the human synergy).
Red:
1 Mogg War Marshall
1 Imperial Recruiter
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Hordeling Outburst
1 Brimstone Volley
1 Puphoros, God of the Forge
Purphoros, Bombardment, and Gargadon are particularly awesome for the combo engine.
Green:
1 Satyr Wayfinder
1 Wild Mongrel
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Eternal Witness
1 Acidic Slime
1 Deranged Hermit
1 Evolutionary Leap
1 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
1 Curse of Predation
Corpse Dance, Whip of Erebos, and Recurring Nightmare play very nicely with Deranged Hermit and Acidic Slime. Evolutionary Leap is a complete house in this archetype. I included Curse simply because of persist fuel plus sac outlets. In addition to this list you can also pick up some green fatties for the reanimation sub-theme. Hornet Queen can be particularly nasty here.
Multi:
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Lingering Souls
1 Lotleth Troll
1 Meren of Clan Nel Toth
1 Alesha, Who Smiles at Death
1 Butcher of the Horde
Several of the other BW cards are also pretty good like the Sorins, Tidehollow Sculler, and Sin Collector.
Colorless:
1 Skullclamp
1 Smokestack
If I first pick Skullclamp this is likely the top archetype I am looking for first.
I'm sure I forgot some things, and there are plenty of cards that play well in this deck that I didn't include in the lists.
Definitely slow and fragile, but a 2-drop that makes 5/5 fliers should be difficult to activate, right? I am bringing this up because I have drafted BG sacrifice combo decks 3 times recently, and they have been very good with the one major problem of not having actual good finishers. I am often able to recur and sacrifice dudes for tons of value, but it can be difficult to actually kill my opponent. I am considering Blood Artist, Cutthroat, Husk, Phyrexian Ghoul, and Skirsdag - also Goblin Bombardment in red and Butcher of the Horde in multi. This deck feels at its best as either Jund, Mardu, or Abzan. It runs quite a few cards that will go late if no one else is playing this archetype, so my hope in a draft would be to prioritize fixing when I'm not sacrificing a major synergy piece.