MTG Salvation

So this is my take at the new zombie tribal. Skullbriar, the Walking Grave used to be my commander, but BU seems way better than BG, and since I'm still in love with the zombies, Grimgrin, Corpse-Born seemed like a nice choice. The deck is tuned for a multiplayer setting, it should give you quite the board advantage and allow you to keep getting zombies out, draw cards and screw the other players over, without being a too annoying combo/control deck.



Cards that I would like to add, but haven't gotten my hands on yet: Minamo, School at Water's Edge, Damnation, Spell Crumple, Snapcaster Mage, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Watery Grave, Polluted Delta and Sunken Ruins.

I am also considering Cloudstone Curio for the Rooftop Storm - Noxious Ghoul/Skinrender/Phyrexian Delver combo, but it seems a bit too situational and hard to set up. Ideas?

Our decks are somewhat similar except i play more dudes and more artifacts. I think you should play tombstone stairwell instead of gravestorm. The stairwell works wonders with grim. Also the combo is not hard to set up when you're playing tutors. Speaking of tutors, fabricate helps to get the curio, and mystical tutor gets stuff like army of the damned.

Second on the addition of Tombstone Stairwell. Free stuff is always a good idea. Speaking of free stuff, Black Market is the nuts (remember that its trigger is NOT a may ability and that it counts for EVERY creature that dies).

Some non-Zombie fodder wouldn't be the worst idea, either. Reassembling Skeleton and Bloodghast are nice to have when you really need to sacrifice something.

Since you sacrifice so much, Butcher of Malakir would be another welcome ally.

Couple cards I'd consider cutting:
- Deep Analysis: Sorcery speed and flashback are not my favorite things to see in this format. I'd maybe try Bloodgift Demon, Syphon Mind, or Altar's Reap instead.
- Moan of the Unhallowed: Same as DA, except the effect is much worse.
- Gravestorm: Seems like a small price to pay to prevent you from drawing extra, and there are still more draw spells that don't have a drawback like this.

Quote from Tylert_fr

as said in other threads: Ghoulraiser + roofstorm top = infinite power / tougthness GrimGrin.

it requres an empty graveyard though.

Some cards I think would be greatly useful:
- Corpse Dance --> You can reuse it
- Cryptic Command --> Any blue EDH should be running it.
- Ghoulraiser --> Combo cornerstone...must have...need it...you get it.
- Reassembling Skeleton --> Allows for sac/recur masturbation.
- Tombstone Stairwell --> Sac lets Grim get HUGE
- Buther of Malakir --> On-demand wipes
- Black Market --> Endless Mana...yes please!
- Soulless One --> He gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and...you get it
- Unbreathing Horde --> '' ''
- Undead Alchemist --> Mill the enemy to get pesky cards out of the way AND gets rid of their creatures....which is nothing but good.
- Gravespawn Sovereign --> Gives immediate benefit if you control 4 other zombies. Its also a permanent affect
- Vengeful Pharoah --> This continually gives a benefit regardless of whether its on field or in yard.
- Sensei's Divining Top --> speaks for itself
- Sheoldred, Whispering One --> Any black EDH should be running this.
- Bitterblossom --> This will ensure that Grim ALWAYS has something to sac to get untapped. This ALSO allows for Black Market to get bigger faster.

Some cards I think you should cut:
- Dralnu --> He isn't as useful as he could be elsewhere, and he is more of a 'meh' creature in this deck...only really flashing back counterspells.
- Grixis Slavedriver --> His leave play ability is great for the deck, BUT its only usable twice since he self-exiles. Self exile is something I personally try to avoid.
- Twisted Abomination --> His ability is really subpar since he regenerates (bfd in this deck) and he cycles but meh.
- Deep analysis --> Its just bad draw power. There are many better ways to do this.
- Moan of the Unhallowed --> This ability is so underpowered because you can only do it twice. This is easily replaced.
- Recurring Insight --> This is an expensive card that doesn't really give you all that much benefit. Sure it helps CA twice over, but when you're getting to 6 mana, you want to be able to start putting on the pressure. There's better 6 drops you could be running.
- Swiftfoot Boots --> While its nice to give something hexproof is nice...the haste is a little overrated. Whispersilk cloak trumps this by making the creature unblockable.
- Gravestorm --> The price to deny you the benefit of this card is far too minimal.
- Mulldrifter --> Can be cut since its not a zombie (theme) and there is better draw power out there.
- Twisted Justice --> Many people run creatures that are either recurrable or that they wish to die. Also, for 6 mana you could get rid of something small and draw 1 or 2 cards, which would suck.
- Countersquall --> I've found, from experience, its better to have 'counter target spell' rather than 'limited counter target kind of spell'.
- Barren Moor, Dimir Aqueduct, Jwar Isle Refuge, Lonely Sandbar, Polluted Mire, Remote Isle, Shizo, and Underground River are ALL incredibly subpar in this deck....but I'm sure you know that already.

just curous how does the ghoulraiser combo work? Do you play ghoulraiser, he enters battlefield and the ability goes on the stack, you then put grimgrin ability on the stack on top of it, sac him, then ghoulraiser's ability triggers, and then if you have no other zombies you return ghoulraiser and repeat?

if so how would gravedigger not be better in this case, since he seems to be the same effect, just not at random, since you aren't playing any non-creature zombies?

Because Gravedigger targets, which means he can't return himself because you must choose targets as soon as the ability goes on the stack, at which point he's not in the graveyard. Two Gravediggers would work though.

but this is edh, so unless you are cheating you won't have 2 gravediggers. Good news though, from dark ascension spoilers, is an even better ghoulraiser combo. http://media-dominaria.cursecdn.com/attachments/94/518/635032496530781184.jpg

assuming you have a zombie, aka grimgrin, and roof top storm out, you can get an infinite power/toughness commander. If no rooftop storm, you still get the p/t up quite a bit each turn. And it works even with a filled graveyard

side note, a good graveyard recursion card http://media-dominaria.cursecdn.com/attachments/94/519/635032496530937188.jpg

Here is the version that I put together. It is more focused on creatures and mass removal recovery than your list...but as with all Zombie Tribal decks...they are very similar.

I got the sudden urge to build this. Is Infernal Tribute something that would have a place here, or are we more depending on tokens for sac effects? What about Dregs of Sorrow? I haven't played a whole ton of commander.