I'm pretty new to mtg, and I've been playing the commander format exclusively.
I've purchased the Adaptive enchantment Precon, and the Innistrad Undead Unleashed precon. I've played the Adaptive enchantment every now and then, and I do enjoy it, but I intended on building a zombie themed deck initially. I've purchased a few cards which are as follows:
• The scarab God
• GrimGrin Corpse Born
• Mikaeus the Unhallowed
• Lich Lord of Unx
• Sidisi, undead vizier
• Acererak the Archlich
• Poppet Sticher/factory
• Gravecrawler
• Undead Warchief
• Zombie Master
• Lord of the Undead
• Noxious Ghoul
• Murderous Rider
• Grave titan
• Cryptbreaker
• Gray merchant of Asphodel
• Cabal Coffers
• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• Cyclonic Rift
• Damnation
• Entomb
• Malicious affliction
• Buried Alive
• Call to the Grave
• Vampiric tutor
• Demonic Tutor
• Living Death
• Dictate of Erebos
• The Meathook Massacre
• Reflections of Littjara
• Vanquishers Banner
• Ashnods Alter
• Wand of Orcus
• Necromantic selection
• Victimize
I hope I'm going down the right path, if anyone can help me out? I've been told by multiple sources that zombies aren't the strongest way to build commander decks. =(. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My first step was to swap out Willhelt for The scarab God
You got some tutors, some board wipes, and most of the good tribal cards.
With that said:
1. The most effective zombie builds are combo builds. Acererak + Rooftop Storm, poppet stitcher + wilhelt, and Gravecrawler + phyrexian altar + Meathook Massacre/Diregraf Captain/Plague Belcher are the easiest zombie combos that win out of nowhere.
Phyrexian Altar is a card worth getting if you get the change. Packing in some cards with Transmute (such as using drift of phantasms to find Acererak or the Altar or using ethereal usher to find rooftop Storm is clutch.
2. Especially if you are going for the zombie build, some of the slower cards you listed like call to the grave/reflections of litjara/lich lord of Unx are not as necessary.
Other cards to consider in the future: Counterspell (protects combos) Arcane denial (protects combos) Swan Song (protects combos) Dizzy Spell (searches for gravecrawler) Drift of Phantasms (searches for acererak or phyrexian altar) Ethereal Usher (searchers for rooftop storm) Lazotep Plating (protects your combos) Plague Belcher (Another card that turns your sac outlets into life drain along with diregraf captain and meathook massacre) Carrion Feeder (Dirt cheap infinite sacrifice outlet) Relentless Dead (A zombie that returns your other zombies from the graveyard to play) Expedition Map (lets you fetch Urbord and makes Zombie Master worth playing) Reality Shift (Really good removal... in blue for some reason) Pongify (Really cheap removal... in blue for some reason) Altar of Demntia (The "third altar". Doesn't go infinite with gravecrawler but free sac outlets that can deck out opponents or mill yourself to search for answer are always good) Lightning Greaves (protects your creature-based combos) Bolas's Citadel (lets you "go off" and cast tons of cards from the top of your deck in one turn). Skullclamp (Let's you claim an extra 2 cards when you sac a zombie to Wilhelt). Reanimate (cheap way to get something back from a graveyard, whether yours or someone else's) Clearwater Pathway (Good black-blue land) Fabled Passage (Decent Fetchland)
[b]Bigger Money Cards[/b] Fierce Guardianship (potentially free counterspell to protect combos) Force of Negation (potentially free counterspell to protect combos) Force of Will (potentially free counterspell to protect combos) Mana Drain (one of the best counterspells you will ever spend mana on) Toxic Deluge (One of the best board wipes available in black)
[b]Diabolic Intent[/c] (Yet another Tutor). Grim Tutor (yet another tutor). Mystic Remora (Another card like Rhystic Study, though a bit weaker on the whole) Kindred Discovery (whenever you create a zombie or zombie token, draw a card. Very good advntage engine). Rhystic Study (Virtually every blue deck can benefit from this thing). Kindred Dominance (a board wipe that essentially reads "kill all non-zombie creatures" is pretty good). Agadeem's Awakening (It can revive cards from yoru graveyard into play but you can use it as one of your "land slots" instead of a swamp, allowing for maximum value). Unholy Grotto (it's a land that revives your zombies) Watery Grave (good black-blue land)
[c]Poluted Deltap/c] (good black-blue land) Morphic Pool (good black-blue land) Cavern of Souls (good land that makes your zombies uncounterable) Prismatic Vista (good fetch land) Mana Crypt (Really good ramp) Gilded Drake (Yes, it isn't a zombie. Yes, the price tag is insane. If you really enjoy playing this deck after a couple of years and want it to be the best that it could be, very few decks [b]don't[/b] benefit from the drake). Yawgmoth's Will (Much like the drake, this is a very splashy, very expensive card that can do incredible things. Do not buy it if you are just getting in and do not know if this deck/playstyle suits you yet). Underground Sea (The most efficient blue-black land but costs an arm and a leg).
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I'm pretty new to mtg, and I've been playing the commander format exclusively.
I've purchased the Adaptive enchantment Precon, and the Innistrad Undead Unleashed precon. I've played the Adaptive enchantment every now and then, and I do enjoy it, but I intended on building a zombie themed deck initially. I've purchased a few cards which are as follows:
• The scarab God
• GrimGrin Corpse Born
• Mikaeus the Unhallowed
• Lich Lord of Unx
• Sidisi, undead vizier
• Acererak the Archlich
• Poppet Sticher/factory
• Gravecrawler
• Undead Warchief
• Zombie Master
• Lord of the Undead
• Noxious Ghoul
• Murderous Rider
• Grave titan
• Cryptbreaker
• Gray merchant of Asphodel
• Cabal Coffers
• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• Cyclonic Rift
• Damnation
• Entomb
• Malicious affliction
• Buried Alive
• Call to the Grave
• Vampiric tutor
• Demonic Tutor
• Living Death
• Dictate of Erebos
• The Meathook Massacre
• Reflections of Littjara
• Vanquishers Banner
• Ashnods Alter
• Wand of Orcus
• Necromantic selection
• Victimize
I hope I'm going down the right path, if anyone can help me out? I've been told by multiple sources that zombies aren't the strongest way to build commander decks. =(. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My first step was to swap out Willhelt for The scarab God
You got some tutors, some board wipes, and most of the good tribal cards.
With that said:
1. The most effective zombie builds are combo builds. Acererak + Rooftop Storm, poppet stitcher + wilhelt, and Gravecrawler + phyrexian altar + Meathook Massacre/Diregraf Captain/Plague Belcher are the easiest zombie combos that win out of nowhere.
Phyrexian Altar is a card worth getting if you get the change. Packing in some cards with Transmute (such as using drift of phantasms to find Acererak or the Altar or using ethereal usher to find rooftop Storm is clutch.
2. Especially if you are going for the zombie build, some of the slower cards you listed like call to the grave/reflections of litjara/lich lord of Unx are not as necessary.
3. Make sure to pick up some decent counters to stop people from breaking your combos. fierce guardianship, force of negation, force of will, arcane denial, counterspell, mana drain, and swan song are counters of particular note, though you certainly don’t need all of them.
[b]In[/b]
Phyrexian Altar
Acererak the Archlich
Gravecrawler
Poppet Stitcher
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Cabal Coffers
Sidisi, Undead Vizier
Demonic Tutor
Vampiric Tutor
Entomb
Damnation
Cyclonic Rift
The Meathook Massacre
The Scarab God
Mikeaus the Unhallowed
Cryptbreaker
Noxious Ghoul
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Lord of the Undead
Ashnod's Altar
Dictate of Erebos
[/b]Out[/b]
swamp x1
mortuary Mire
Curse of Unbinding
Curse of the Restless Dead
Siphon Flesh
Ruthless Deathfang
Spark Reaper
Liliana's Devotee
Eternal Skylord
Corpse Augur
Eater of Hope
Butcher of Malakir
Stitcher Geralf
Undead Alchemist
Overseer of the Damned
Forgotten Creation
Ravenous Rotbelly
Gorex, the Tombshell
Shadow Kin
Hordewing Skaab
Cleaver Skaab
Other cards to consider in the future:
Counterspell (protects combos)
Arcane denial (protects combos)
Swan Song (protects combos)
Dizzy Spell (searches for gravecrawler)
Drift of Phantasms (searches for acererak or phyrexian altar)
Ethereal Usher (searchers for rooftop storm)
Lazotep Plating (protects your combos)
Plague Belcher (Another card that turns your sac outlets into life drain along with diregraf captain and meathook massacre)
Carrion Feeder (Dirt cheap infinite sacrifice outlet)
Relentless Dead (A zombie that returns your other zombies from the graveyard to play)
Expedition Map (lets you fetch Urbord and makes Zombie Master worth playing)
Reality Shift (Really good removal... in blue for some reason)
Pongify (Really cheap removal... in blue for some reason)
Altar of Demntia (The "third altar". Doesn't go infinite with gravecrawler but free sac outlets that can deck out opponents or mill yourself to search for answer are always good)
Lightning Greaves (protects your creature-based combos)
Bolas's Citadel (lets you "go off" and cast tons of cards from the top of your deck in one turn).
Skullclamp (Let's you claim an extra 2 cards when you sac a zombie to Wilhelt).
Reanimate (cheap way to get something back from a graveyard, whether yours or someone else's)
Clearwater Pathway (Good black-blue land)
Fabled Passage (Decent Fetchland)
[b]Bigger Money Cards[/b]
Fierce Guardianship (potentially free counterspell to protect combos)
Force of Negation (potentially free counterspell to protect combos)
Force of Will (potentially free counterspell to protect combos)
Mana Drain (one of the best counterspells you will ever spend mana on)
Toxic Deluge (One of the best board wipes available in black)
[b]Diabolic Intent[/c] (Yet another Tutor).
Grim Tutor (yet another tutor).
Mystic Remora (Another card like Rhystic Study, though a bit weaker on the whole)
Kindred Discovery (whenever you create a zombie or zombie token, draw a card. Very good advntage engine).
Rhystic Study (Virtually every blue deck can benefit from this thing).
Kindred Dominance (a board wipe that essentially reads "kill all non-zombie creatures" is pretty good).
Agadeem's Awakening (It can revive cards from yoru graveyard into play but you can use it as one of your "land slots" instead of a swamp, allowing for maximum value).
Unholy Grotto (it's a land that revives your zombies)
Watery Grave (good black-blue land)
[c]Poluted Deltap/c] (good black-blue land)
Morphic Pool (good black-blue land)
Cavern of Souls (good land that makes your zombies uncounterable)
Prismatic Vista (good fetch land)
Mana Crypt (Really good ramp)
Gilded Drake (Yes, it isn't a zombie. Yes, the price tag is insane. If you really enjoy playing this deck after a couple of years and want it to be the best that it could be, very few decks [b]don't[/b] benefit from the drake).
Yawgmoth's Will (Much like the drake, this is a very splashy, very expensive card that can do incredible things. Do not buy it if you are just getting in and do not know if this deck/playstyle suits you yet).
Underground Sea (The most efficient blue-black land but costs an arm and a leg).