The desire to move away from The Gitrog Monster makes sense since he does tend to be combo oriented so I can see where the fear came from with your opponents. When I had mine built, it included a combo because all the pieces made sense in the deck. I ended up taking it apart after the last 3 or 4 games I played with it ended with that combo.
As to your list, I like it quite a bit. I always felt Savra was kind of tough to make work well, but maybe she ends up doing well with the right support which you seem to have here. Any thoughts to Chainer, Dementia Master? I can see where the life payment would be a big deal since Savra is also costing life. But he seems like he fits in the recursion theme pretty well.
What about Gray Merchant of Asphodel and/or Kokusho, the Evening Star as ways to gain some much needed life as well as helping to close out the game? I know Savra helps with this as well, so maybe she is enough life gain to offset her own ability.
I have never been a fan of Worm Harvest but it seems like it could do good work here since the tokens are both colors. How good has this card been?
You do seem kind of light on the sac outlets. Has this ever come up as a problem? I do agree with one of the comments that Viscera Seer seems good for this deck. Maybe Carrion Feeder works as well. I was also disappointed that you had Phyrexian Plaguelord and replaced it with Yawgmoth. Not that it isn't a good idea, but I really like the Plaguelord and I don't see many lists running it (it usually isn't good enough for mine either).
Jeez....I already had a tough time trying to make cuts for other cards. You all just have too many good suggestions
I will have to think on GSZ. I have always thought of the deck as one that has answers but not really one that was a traditional "toolbox" sort of deck (at least, in the sense of Pod toolbox). By that I mean, it had the answer cards along with a few others, but it wasn't all about trying to tutor out specific cards. Hulk was my main thing for this but I never went too deep with it.
I guess, basically, I don't want a ton of tutors or things like that. I like the variety and I like the "randomness" of trying to assemble things without necessarily just getting the right answer via a tutor. Now, I do believe there is a balance to this and I am likely on the shorter side but I don't want to go too far with it either. I like Pod and I like Green Sun's as both are restrictive enough. And, with Fauna Shaman and Hulk, that makes 4 total cards to move into Toolbox territory without being too obnoxious I think. That does strike me as reasonable so I will see how things play out. I have a lot of new things to try I suppose
I don't like Ayli or Disciple simply because they cost mana. One of the bigger issues with Leap as well but at least Leap keeps me going. I don't know that "just" gaining life is enough.
I had thought about Bellower but not since it came out. I used to think I could make it work, but I never really revisited it. I think there are a lot of things it can grab for me that could be good. The main concern is the 6 mana cost though it does trigger on entering rather than dying so it at least sticks around (unlike Hulk). If I find I want more tutors, or I evolve this into even more of a toolbox sort of deck, I can keep it in mind.
I think I like the idea of the Ouphe that was mentioned above. I could see a situation where I go down that route with things like Thalia more but it isn't a particularly enjoyable style of play for me so I likely won't do much with it either way. I do like the idea of Dromoka though and I had considered her after seeing the work she put into Karametra. I just could never find a good spot and I kind of forgot about her. I might have to look at her again to do more in the mid game mostly. The late game is generally a lock when I get to it, but I could see dropping her relatively early and just coasting on the beats and life gain for a little while.
False Prophet is an excellent board wipe on a stick, though you may want to pack another sac outlet or two as described above. If the Altar's are too combo-y for you, there is Viscera Seer, Martyr's Cause, and Carrion Feeder
I have given serious thought to the number of sac outlets I have. I think I would really prefer Evolutionary Leap (mentioned above) to these just because it can get me to more creatures where none of these do. The main problem is it costs mana which means I could see going with Seer as the better of these 3. All in all, I haven't found that I need more, but I may have to see how the next few games go. I like both the Seer and Feeder but scrying is much better than just maiking a creature big I think.
Corpse Augur has been one of my top tutor targets in Karador. Draws at least 3-4 cards, and the best I have done is to draw 17 off my own graveyard to win the game after self-milling with Altar of Dementia.
I did have this included at one time and I think your situation allows it to be much better. While I am using my graveyard as a resource, I don't generally *actively* try to fill it which meant it never did as much for me as I thought it would. And, since I am not as active at filling my graveyard, I am not sure Doom Whisperer is where I want to be. I think Underealm Lich does a better job of it.
Necromancy can be cast at instant speed to bring back a surprise blocker, ETB, LTB, or any useful creature in a Flash. But its not a creature :frown:.
I actually just picked a copy of this up for my Yarok deck I am building I will see how well it works in that deck (not the same build but can still be a decent place to experiment with it). If it goes well there, it might make its way here. Probably over Corpse Dance at the very least.
Do you have any trouble activating Mistveil Plains? I'm counting 13 white permanents other than Karador, which is a little light for having two on board. If so or if you don't find it worth activating often anyways, is it worth coming in tapped?
\I like it because it can be fetched (though, not as well since cutting Kor Cartographer) and I actually don't even remember the last time I activated it. And, that isn't even to say I couldn't have; just that I didn't need to. This is a good call out as it may not be pulling its weight anymore, but it has a very minimal downside (coming into play tapped isn't a big deal since it is one of the only lands that does) so I am not sure if it changes much to cut it anyway.
I'm counting 4 sac outlets, the three lands and Greater Good. Even if you're consistently tutoring for the lands, that seems light. If you're trying to avoid combos, something with a mana cost a la Attrition or Evolutionary Leap could be a good one. Related to this, Corpse Dance feels a little underutilized when you have less ability to put a fresh creature on top of the yard or sac the one you've recurred
I have 6 total: 4 lands (Diamond Valley, High Market, Miren, Tower), Greater Good, and Momentous Fall. Granted the latter is one time use, but still good. I used to have Attrition and found it wasn't good enough. Leap might be, but I will likely end up adding Pod soon so, while not Instant timing, it is still a sac outlet.
Your take on Corpse Dance kind of mirrors my own (especially after my game last night). It is getting really tough to control the top of my graveyard and I need to be able to do things without worrying about it messes up Corpse Dance, it might be time for me to finally cut it. I had it early on, cut it, and added it back, and it may need to be cut again.
I've always found Agent of Erebos a touch awkward. It's nice to proactively and repeatedly clear yards, but not being able to respond is painful sometimes. Additionally, you're always a clone away from losing your own yard (especially without numerous sac outlets). Would this be better as Scavenging Ooze or Withered Wretch?
Maybe the Ooze but I like the ability to nuke an entire graveyard and not just one card at a time. Hulk and Winding Canyons let me get it in at Instant Timing. It may not be enough, but I still like the ability to nuke more than one graveyard (not that I have a ton of other enchantments) and it is recurrable. I used to have Ooze and just felt it was slow. Maybe it is another where I need to think on trying to be a little lower in the curve and giving myself more opportunities to react at instant timing.
You have almost no artifacts in the list. If you're feeling lightly stax-y, Collector Ouphe, Stony Silence, and Null Rod only turn off Burnished Hart. In my experience, those slow other decks down quite a bit and you have a very grindy list here
Hmm...I like the Ouphe. The main issue I have with these cards is that they tend to not do anything in certain matchups and they often get blown up with incidental artifact/enchantment hate. The Ouphe solves that and it can be recurred. Since one player I play with often is a Jhoira player and another couple ramp hard with Artifacts, I just might have to give the Ouphe a try.
Necrotic Sliver has felt very slow to me in recent years. While I have fond memories of it from when I started with the format, it's not a good rate for what it does anymore. You have plenty of instants and a couple other creatures to answer Torpor Orb effects, which is probably its best use at this point
There have been a number of games where recurring this off of Sun Titan or recasting it off of Karador has won me games. It is slow and mana intensive, but it has been very good for me. Perhaps, with all the other removal, I will not need it as much, but the last game I had still showed it was putting in work.
Not specific to your list, but I've liked Underrealm Lich a lot in my own Karador. It's excellent filtering, fills the yard without going all in on it, and is pretty sticky. The Sylvan Library interaction is a lot of fun too[/list]
I was going to pick one up for Lord Windgrace but I didn't really think about it for this deck. I guess the main thing against it is the 5 mana cost but with the inclusion of Library (which is a great interaction) I might have to give it a look for this deck. I am trying to keep my curve down but looking at 3 cards each time is great (and Library shows) and looking at 9 cards with Library without having to put any back is even better. I will pick one up and see where it fits.
List tags are malformed.
For now, I don't really have any suggestions, other than that I really do love a deck that uses strong cards without giving in to infinite combos. Fine if you want to, but it's not my jam and I just won't*.
I like that about this general too. He can be a combo general if you want him to be (and a number of people want him to be) but he also allows for just straight value.
@Dunharrow
I generally prefer Spike Weaver as my fog of choice. It doesn't work as well as Spore Frog with the graveyard interaction, but being able to fog for the entire turn cycle is really good. And, False Prophet can clean things up when I need it to.
Yosei is more of a lock piece and I don't run it simply because I don't like that type of card. Saffi and 'Lark are decent but not really ones I want to include. I did have Reveillark at one time and didn't like it that much as I didn't feel the value I got out of it was worth it. I can't remember if I have ever had Deathmantle as I know I have played it in other decks.
I know the Wayfinder was mentioned in the thread and I am kind of on board with that. It fuels Karador and ensures I hit my land drop. I never felt it was that good, but it is certainly one I am open to trying at some point though. And it wouldn't be the first time I underestimated a card.
Chord and Life from the Loam are interesting mentions as they are ones I have legitimately thought of including in the past. Chord didn't make the cut because my entire game plan, good or bad, is to not have a big board state (and to not let anyone else have one). While it can get me some silver bullets, the only time I can usually Convoke for anything is when I am already in a winning position. I prefer Protean Hulk for my tutor.
I actually had a game probably around a year ago now (where does the time go?) where I Entombed to get a Life from the Loam before I realized I didn't have one (I has thinking of a different deck where I did have it). Ultimately, I never included it and I don't really know why. I am not sure I really need it but it does have some good synergies with the deck.
I had built this deck more or less from the ground up. As I mentioned, I started with some Doran build since I had never played EDH before and I quickly changed it to what it is now. As I was building it, I had never heard of EDHRec or even MTG Salvation so I was kind of on my own. My cousin was the big driver is some early decisions and I realized I liked how it played. So, I can definitely see where my list would be outside the norm but it has worked well for me in the past. As my thread indicates, it hasn't been working as well lately, but I am trying to tighten it up and tune it more and I think I am getting it back to where I want it
I agree that the Altars probably are the best but I want something more than "just" mana. While the mana from either is likely pretty good I just prefer my sac outlets be creature based. I like the suggestion above regarding Spawning Pit because it creates creatures which is nice to keep things going.
I try to avoid outlets that require mana costs (Ayli is the only one I have I think) and Attrition isn't that great in the deck since I generally have other ways to keep the board clear.
The Plunderer is interesting and I probably should give it a try. 4 mana isn't the worst here and it can help ramp me pretty well. I like the idea of it letting me go off anyway. Black Market is in the same boat but a) is 5 mana and b) is not a creature. Since I am not running any big X spells, I don't feel that the extra mana will always be that useful since I have to use it at a specific time.
Revel in Riches is actually a card I picked up and then did not include because it is probably *too* good. I already don't really like "I win" buttons like this and Teysa makes it too easy. For anyone without my reluctance for these types of cards, this is probably an easy include
I had thought about trying Pontiff when it was spoiled but, again, the mana cost ruins it for me. I am generally playing pretty tight where I don't have a lot of extra mana a lot of the time so needing mana to sac things has been a disappointment. At least one game, I had Ayli as my only sac outlet for the majority of the game and it never felt very smooth and I could tell the deck was just going slow or not performing as well as I wanted simply because I couldn't sac things when I wanted.
I like Butcher over Bond simply because it is a creature. Maybe the deck wants the 4th Grave Pact effect but I have been happy with where it is so far. I may eventually try finding a spot for the Bond but I don't believe a swap is what will happen.
Academy Rector *is* great but it gets me 1 of 2 cards basically all the time. As a personal preference, I don't generally like tutors when they are there solely as an extra copy of another card. And since Rector will always get me either Grave Pact or Dictate (most likely) it feels like it will cause games to be repetitive. And, while not a huge deal, it doesn't work with Teysa to get me 2 Enchantments.
but honestly, where else are you going to find someone playing Reliquary Monk?
I added in the Monk based off of a suggestion in the thread and it has actually been very good in this build for a number of situations. I still remember using it to blow up my own Mana Crypt to help stay alive. In that game, I still didn't win but having that option was interesting. Overall it has been very good (much better than I thought it would be).
The deck is pretty solid. Maybe I'd want more sac outlets personally, but even in my build closest to this one I'm a little bit short on them. You care less about what the opponent is trying to do to overpower you when you can continuously keep the board clear of creatures until someone deals with your stuff.
I currently have 8 sac outlets (Teysa, Orzhov Scion is questionable to be included in this list since she is kind of restrictive) and I sometimes think this is too few. However, for the most part, it has worked well and I don't see any other sac outlets I actually want (though, see below). There are a couple I have thought about (like Bloodthrone Vampire) but overall they have felt like they don't do enough. You are right that the deck currently often doesn't care too much about what an opponent is doing as the deck is geared towards keeping the board clear one way or another.
Agreed...looks like a pretty solid list for the most part.
The only card that stuck out at first glance was Jet Medallion, only because it’s a two-color deck that doesn’t seem to have a huge curve. I'd probably rather have a MirageDiamond or an Orzhov Locket, but I’m honestly just nitpicking as this sort of deck practically builds itself.
I was hesitant to include Jet Medallion to begin with but the deck is primarily black and it has mattered a number of times where I wanted to cast more than 1 black spell for the turn so I got a discount on both. While it is unfortunate it doesn't help my white spells, I think the boost it gives currently is worth allowing it to remain.
My main issue with Spawning Pit is that it costs mana to get use out of it (for the second ability). It is one of the big reasons I don't like Ayli in this list as much (though she has managed to stick around for now). However, with that being said, I can't come up with a good reason not to include Spawning Pit other than it is not a creature so it doesn't work as well with some other cards. Being a free sac outlet might be enough. I am more concerned over how often I will actually use the second ability, but "sac 2 creatures, pay 1 mana, sac the Spawn token, clear your board" seems like a pretty fun play. There are a couple flex slots in the deck that I might be able to slot this in to see what it can do.
I have not done anything with Liliana yet as her Foil is more than I want to spend on it. I do agree that she should be given a try, though 6 mana might be a bit much. But, her ultimate just wins games so I think there is good enough reason to try her out. I might try to find a spot for her and just proxy her up for now.
I had Elenda at one time and she was actually very underwhelming (which was kind of surprising). In the end, is was a lot to try to expect her ability to do a lot since she was often dying (being sacrificed) before I could get a lot of value out of her. I was usually only getting 1-4 tokens out of her and I felt like that wasn't enough to warrant keeping her around.
I kind of agree with 3drinks here: this deck is really hard to nail down in terms of card considerations. And I agree with the posters in the thread about some inclusions. Overall, the deck is a cool concept but it seems too "unfocused" for my tastes since it has to be a more general deck without tightly fitting to any one commander. Not that my tastes should dictate the build of course
How well does it play under each commander? Are there some that are just far and away better than the rest? How many different commanders have you actually gotten to play with so far and do the games feel at all different for each different commander? Or does the deck always feel similar with the commander being always accessible making a somewhat insignificant impact to the playstyle of the deck?
I am kind of in the same boat as others in that the build you have for Progenitus isn't really my style, but I wonder if a Doomsday package would make sense. I am sure I missed something, but as your comment in the thread mentiones, your favorite play is Spell Crumple into Tunnel Vision and win with LabMan. I do think this an interesting method of winning with LabMan, it does seem conditional and slow. Whereas Doomsday should be able to work on its own. You would obviously have to change the deck to put in cards to win off Doomsday, but it seems like it could be more consistent.
Since I am not a combo player, and I am not a fan of "you win the game" cards (for a variety of reasons), I like your choice to include Worm Harvest has a win condition. This just speaks to me as a good payoff card to an almost puzzle like setup to get enough cards in your graveyard. What about including Anger so those Worms have Haste when they come down?
Another "combo" might be Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and Lord of Extinction. You already have Dread Return and Unburial Rites and this could be another win condition as you slowly builds things up. It is less of a surprise since players will eventually see one or the other in the graveyard during your slow trickle of building up your graveyard, but for your one shot with Tunnel Vision, it can just come out of nowhere.
I used to have a Garza Zol build put together and after Varina was release, I thought about rebuilding it with her. I never got around to it, but I like what you have done with your deck. I too stayed away from Rooftop Storm in my deck but that was mostly to keep the deck more or less "fair". I do agree with your assessments on it as well.
How necessary do you think Eldrazi Monument has been so far? For me, it is always one of those cards that I can never decide if it is worth it or not even in a deck like this. I really prefer just keeping the pressure going and dropping a 5 drop that helps protect my board and buff creatures seems good, but it also seems that it takes away from loading up the Zombie army too.
I am not sure I like Festering Mummy as its effect seems weak. How has Aminatou been for you? That seems like an interesting inclusion. What are some of the better lines you have with her?
I will comment in your deck thread about potential card inclusions but on a final note, the card tag for Varina in your Deck tag is messed up since you forgot the comma
As to your list, I like it quite a bit. I always felt Savra was kind of tough to make work well, but maybe she ends up doing well with the right support which you seem to have here. Any thoughts to Chainer, Dementia Master? I can see where the life payment would be a big deal since Savra is also costing life. But he seems like he fits in the recursion theme pretty well.
What about Gray Merchant of Asphodel and/or Kokusho, the Evening Star as ways to gain some much needed life as well as helping to close out the game? I know Savra helps with this as well, so maybe she is enough life gain to offset her own ability.
I have never been a fan of Worm Harvest but it seems like it could do good work here since the tokens are both colors. How good has this card been?
You do seem kind of light on the sac outlets. Has this ever come up as a problem? I do agree with one of the comments that Viscera Seer seems good for this deck. Maybe Carrion Feeder works as well. I was also disappointed that you had Phyrexian Plaguelord and replaced it with Yawgmoth. Not that it isn't a good idea, but I really like the Plaguelord and I don't see many lists running it (it usually isn't good enough for mine either).
I will have to think on GSZ. I have always thought of the deck as one that has answers but not really one that was a traditional "toolbox" sort of deck (at least, in the sense of Pod toolbox). By that I mean, it had the answer cards along with a few others, but it wasn't all about trying to tutor out specific cards. Hulk was my main thing for this but I never went too deep with it.
I guess, basically, I don't want a ton of tutors or things like that. I like the variety and I like the "randomness" of trying to assemble things without necessarily just getting the right answer via a tutor. Now, I do believe there is a balance to this and I am likely on the shorter side but I don't want to go too far with it either. I like Pod and I like Green Sun's as both are restrictive enough. And, with Fauna Shaman and Hulk, that makes 4 total cards to move into Toolbox territory without being too obnoxious I think. That does strike me as reasonable so I will see how things play out. I have a lot of new things to try I suppose
I had thought about Bellower but not since it came out. I used to think I could make it work, but I never really revisited it. I think there are a lot of things it can grab for me that could be good. The main concern is the 6 mana cost though it does trigger on entering rather than dying so it at least sticks around (unlike Hulk). If I find I want more tutors, or I evolve this into even more of a toolbox sort of deck, I can keep it in mind.
I think I like the idea of the Ouphe that was mentioned above. I could see a situation where I go down that route with things like Thalia more but it isn't a particularly enjoyable style of play for me so I likely won't do much with it either way. I do like the idea of Dromoka though and I had considered her after seeing the work she put into Karametra. I just could never find a good spot and I kind of forgot about her. I might have to look at her again to do more in the mid game mostly. The late game is generally a lock when I get to it, but I could see dropping her relatively early and just coasting on the beats and life gain for a little while.
I did have this included at one time and I think your situation allows it to be much better. While I am using my graveyard as a resource, I don't generally *actively* try to fill it which meant it never did as much for me as I thought it would. And, since I am not as active at filling my graveyard, I am not sure Doom Whisperer is where I want to be. I think Underealm Lich does a better job of it.
I actually just picked a copy of this up for my Yarok deck I am building
I have 6 total: 4 lands (Diamond Valley, High Market, Miren, Tower), Greater Good, and Momentous Fall. Granted the latter is one time use, but still good. I used to have Attrition and found it wasn't good enough. Leap might be, but I will likely end up adding Pod soon so, while not Instant timing, it is still a sac outlet.
Your take on Corpse Dance kind of mirrors my own (especially after my game last night). It is getting really tough to control the top of my graveyard and I need to be able to do things without worrying about it messes up Corpse Dance, it might be time for me to finally cut it. I had it early on, cut it, and added it back, and it may need to be cut again.
Maybe the Ooze but I like the ability to nuke an entire graveyard and not just one card at a time. Hulk and Winding Canyons let me get it in at Instant Timing. It may not be enough, but I still like the ability to nuke more than one graveyard (not that I have a ton of other enchantments) and it is recurrable. I used to have Ooze and just felt it was slow. Maybe it is another where I need to think on trying to be a little lower in the curve and giving myself more opportunities to react at instant timing.
Hmm...I like the Ouphe. The main issue I have with these cards is that they tend to not do anything in certain matchups and they often get blown up with incidental artifact/enchantment hate. The Ouphe solves that and it can be recurred. Since one player I play with often is a Jhoira player and another couple ramp hard with Artifacts, I just might have to give the Ouphe a try.
There have been a number of games where recurring this off of Sun Titan or recasting it off of Karador has won me games. It is slow and mana intensive, but it has been very good for me. Perhaps, with all the other removal, I will not need it as much, but the last game I had still showed it was putting in work.
I was going to pick one up for Lord Windgrace but I didn't really think about it for this deck. I guess the main thing against it is the 5 mana cost but with the inclusion of Library (which is a great interaction) I might have to give it a look for this deck. I am trying to keep my curve down but looking at 3 cards each time is great (and Library shows) and looking at 9 cards with Library without having to put any back is even better. I will pick one up and see where it fits.
List tags are malformed.
@Dunharrow
I generally prefer Spike Weaver as my fog of choice. It doesn't work as well as Spore Frog with the graveyard interaction, but being able to fog for the entire turn cycle is really good. And, False Prophet can clean things up when I need it to.
Yosei is more of a lock piece and I don't run it simply because I don't like that type of card. Saffi and 'Lark are decent but not really ones I want to include. I did have Reveillark at one time and didn't like it that much as I didn't feel the value I got out of it was worth it. I can't remember if I have ever had Deathmantle as I know I have played it in other decks.
I know the Wayfinder was mentioned in the thread and I am kind of on board with that. It fuels Karador and ensures I hit my land drop. I never felt it was that good, but it is certainly one I am open to trying at some point though. And it wouldn't be the first time I underestimated a card.
Chord and Life from the Loam are interesting mentions as they are ones I have legitimately thought of including in the past. Chord didn't make the cut because my entire game plan, good or bad, is to not have a big board state (and to not let anyone else have one). While it can get me some silver bullets, the only time I can usually Convoke for anything is when I am already in a winning position. I prefer Protean Hulk for my tutor.
I actually had a game probably around a year ago now (where does the time go?) where I Entombed to get a Life from the Loam before I realized I didn't have one (I has thinking of a different deck where I did have it). Ultimately, I never included it and I don't really know why. I am not sure I really need it but it does have some good synergies with the deck.
I had built this deck more or less from the ground up. As I mentioned, I started with some Doran build since I had never played EDH before and I quickly changed it to what it is now. As I was building it, I had never heard of EDHRec or even MTG Salvation so I was kind of on my own. My cousin was the big driver is some early decisions and I realized I liked how it played. So, I can definitely see where my list would be outside the norm but it has worked well for me in the past. As my thread indicates, it hasn't been working as well lately, but I am trying to tighten it up and tune it more and I think I am getting it back to where I want it
I agree that the Altars probably are the best but I want something more than "just" mana. While the mana from either is likely pretty good I just prefer my sac outlets be creature based. I like the suggestion above regarding Spawning Pit because it creates creatures which is nice to keep things going.
I try to avoid outlets that require mana costs (Ayli is the only one I have I think) and Attrition isn't that great in the deck since I generally have other ways to keep the board clear.
The Plunderer is interesting and I probably should give it a try. 4 mana isn't the worst here and it can help ramp me pretty well. I like the idea of it letting me go off anyway. Black Market is in the same boat but a) is 5 mana and b) is not a creature. Since I am not running any big X spells, I don't feel that the extra mana will always be that useful since I have to use it at a specific time.
Revel in Riches is actually a card I picked up and then did not include because it is probably *too* good. I already don't really like "I win" buttons like this and Teysa makes it too easy. For anyone without my reluctance for these types of cards, this is probably an easy include
I had thought about trying Pontiff when it was spoiled but, again, the mana cost ruins it for me. I am generally playing pretty tight where I don't have a lot of extra mana a lot of the time so needing mana to sac things has been a disappointment. At least one game, I had Ayli as my only sac outlet for the majority of the game and it never felt very smooth and I could tell the deck was just going slow or not performing as well as I wanted simply because I couldn't sac things when I wanted.
I like Butcher over Bond simply because it is a creature. Maybe the deck wants the 4th Grave Pact effect but I have been happy with where it is so far. I may eventually try finding a spot for the Bond but I don't believe a swap is what will happen.
Academy Rector *is* great but it gets me 1 of 2 cards basically all the time. As a personal preference, I don't generally like tutors when they are there solely as an extra copy of another card. And since Rector will always get me either Grave Pact or Dictate (most likely) it feels like it will cause games to be repetitive. And, while not a huge deal, it doesn't work with Teysa to get me 2 Enchantments.
The first thing I thought of when I saw that card was finding a spot for it in this deck. I have my 2 boxes pre-ordered so hopefully I pull one
I have not done anything with Liliana yet as her Foil is more than I want to spend on it. I do agree that she should be given a try, though 6 mana might be a bit much. But, her ultimate just wins games so I think there is good enough reason to try her out. I might try to find a spot for her and just proxy her up for now.
I had Elenda at one time and she was actually very underwhelming (which was kind of surprising). In the end, is was a lot to try to expect her ability to do a lot since she was often dying (being sacrificed) before I could get a lot of value out of her. I was usually only getting 1-4 tokens out of her and I felt like that wasn't enough to warrant keeping her around.
Thanks for all your comments/suggestions.
How well does it play under each commander? Are there some that are just far and away better than the rest? How many different commanders have you actually gotten to play with so far and do the games feel at all different for each different commander? Or does the deck always feel similar with the commander being always accessible making a somewhat insignificant impact to the playstyle of the deck?
Since I am not a combo player, and I am not a fan of "you win the game" cards (for a variety of reasons), I like your choice to include Worm Harvest has a win condition. This just speaks to me as a good payoff card to an almost puzzle like setup to get enough cards in your graveyard. What about including Anger so those Worms have Haste when they come down?
Another "combo" might be Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and Lord of Extinction. You already have Dread Return and Unburial Rites and this could be another win condition as you slowly builds things up. It is less of a surprise since players will eventually see one or the other in the graveyard during your slow trickle of building up your graveyard, but for your one shot with Tunnel Vision, it can just come out of nowhere.
How necessary do you think Eldrazi Monument has been so far? For me, it is always one of those cards that I can never decide if it is worth it or not even in a deck like this. I really prefer just keeping the pressure going and dropping a 5 drop that helps protect my board and buff creatures seems good, but it also seems that it takes away from loading up the Zombie army too.
I am not sure I like Festering Mummy as its effect seems weak. How has Aminatou been for you? That seems like an interesting inclusion. What are some of the better lines you have with her?
I will comment in your deck thread about potential card inclusions but on a final note, the card tag for Varina in your Deck tag is messed up since you forgot the comma