This deck has graduated from design to tuning mode. I'm still working through some of the cards and testing stuff in an effort to optimize it.
Basic Strategy: The more cards you have in your graveyard the better this deck is going to perform. Generally you want to dredge as early as possible and get into a life from the loam cycle combo where you are burning through lands to draw cards and then recurring them back to your hand. The only time a dredge isn't optimal is when you absolutely need to hit a land drop. Otherwise you should have the luxury to play anything from your graveyard or otherwise use a regrowth effect to get it back into your hand.
Using Savra: She's useful removal piece in a deck that is full of sacrifice outlets. This deck packs a large number of them, and you can quickly wipe out hordes of enemy creatures using these tools with or without Savra. She just helps expedite the process. Note Jarad can easily be substituted in as the general if you wish, but I figured his built in recursion was better suited for the main deck than the general zone. It's not difficult to find whatever you creature you need with this deck anyway. If you want Jarad to show up he will.
Filling up Your Graveyard: There are several methods to do this. An easy method is getting Hermit Druid into play and having him mill everything away, eventually getting a land of of the deal. That's a pretty good start. You'll usually hit a dredge card, after which you can choose between Golgari-Grave Troll and Life from the Loam depending on the health of your mana base. Survival of the Fittest also fits this role nicely, allowing your to dump creatures that aren't fitting your present curve for stuff that is more immediately useful.
Winning: Win Conditions are the typical giant green creatures but big style points are achieved by either using Jarad or Lord of Extinction for a killing blow or a Living Death that dumps a dredged yard onto the battlefield.
Short List (Cards that were in the deck or cards I'm considering adding):
Great list, I've always had a special love for dredge. Bonus points for Homestar Runner.
A couple of suggestions: Phyrexian Delver: Reanimate on a creature Bloodghast, Nether Traitor: Self recursion guys. Both I think are better than reassembling Skeleton. Filth: Replace Brawn with this guy. With your Urborg out, it is a better way to give your guys evasion Bitterblossom: To go with your Braids. I'm not a fan of Garruk in EDH, but he is a good token generator. Ashnod's Altar, Phyrexian altar, Phyrexian Tower: All great sac outlets
Good Suggestions. I'll probably integrate some or all of these cards into the deck at some point. I'm actually already running Phyrexian Tower, I just forgot to put it in the list.
Current Changes:
Out: Slum Reaper - This card is redundant with Fleshbag, and I usually don't have a problem finding the fleshbag if I need it.
Out: Gleancrawler - Cool card but a bit too slow. It's hard to actually take advantage of all the creatures back in my hand. Usually easier to just find more in my graveyard.
Out: Reanimate - Removed this for Victimize
Out: Harmonize - Might go back in, but while it's a good card, it's not really synergistic with the deck.
Out: Restock - I feel like I have enough regrowth effects right now.
Out: Sepulchral Primordial - Probably will end up back in but I needed a slot and this doesn't break your graveyard only opponent's.
Out: Stinkweed Imp - Life from the Loam and Golgari-Grave Troll are enough dredge.
Out: Grave-Shell Scarab - Cool card but too pricey for what I use it for.
In: Bloodghast - Let's me do sacrifice abuse and it's cheap to recover.
In: Bitterblossom - Wanted more sacrifice food.
In: Grave Titan - More Sacrifice Food and a Nice Beater.
In: Victimize - Reanimates and allows for a sacrifice all in one card.
In: Necrotic Ooze - Very useful in this deck.
In: Dread Return - Reanimates and allows for a sacrifice all in one card.
In: Mulch - Pseudo card draw/Dredge
In: Craterhoof Behemoth - Nice Finisher.
Bloodghast, Nether Traitor: Self recursion guys. Both I think are better than reassembling Skeleton.
From my experience with the three, reassembling skeleton is by far the best of the 3 and Nether Traitor is only great when you are running equipment. Skeleton has no conditions on his return making him more useful overall.
From my experience with the three, reassembling skeleton is by far the best of the 3 and Nether Traitor is only great when you are running equipment. Skeleton has no conditions on his return making him more useful overall.
Yeah I'm keeping the skeleton. I like the fact I can sac him multiple times in a turn if I have the mana to do so. I chose bloodghast over nether traitor because his return cost is "free" so I can use my mana on other things.
Ran this with changes last evening and had a good game. I felt kinda vulnerable dumping 75 cards into my graveyard but my opponent's never got around to crypting me and I eventually got a Lord of Extinction into play. It was promptly arrested, but I summoned Jarad and used his activated ability to drop over 100 points of damage on each opponent by sacrificing the Lord.
One frustrating thing I ran into was I had a living death but couldn't really take advantage of it since none of my creatures naturally have haste. I'm considering adding a Concordant Crossroads as a combo finisher or maybe Akroma's Memorial. I also woudn't mind having another kill spell. I'm leaning towards Putrefy.
Ran this with changes last evening and had a good game. I felt kinda vulnerable dumping 75 cards into my graveyard but my opponent's never got around to crypting me and I eventually got a Lord of Extinction into play. It was promptly arrested, but I summoned Jarad and used his activated ability to drop over 100 points of damage on each opponent by sacrificing the Lord.
One frustrating thing I ran into was I had a living death but couldn't really take advantage of it since none of my creatures naturally have haste. I'm considering adding a Concordant Crossroads as a combo finisher or maybe Akroma's Memorial. I also woudn't mind having another kill spell. I'm leaning towards Putrefy.
You could also try Twilight's Call. For 8 you can do it EOT essentially giving your guys haste.
That gives me two mass haste options. Birthing Pod is pretty clunky in this deck without a way to really abuse it with untap effects. I like Doomed Necromancer but it's arguably one of my weaker creatures. Akroma's might end up getting swapped out for Crossroads, but I like that it's a bit more versatile and also not global. Crossroads has a very narrow application where Memorial is good at almost any point in the game.
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Viscera Seer
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Bloodghast
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Hermit Druid
1 Doomed Necromancer
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Wood Elves
1 Braids, Cabal Minion
1 Brawn
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Necrotic Ooze
1 Acidic Slime
1 Genesis
1 Golgari Grave-Troll
1 Lord of Extinction
1 Sadistic Hypnotist
1 Grave Titan
1 Butcher of Malakir
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Sepulchral Primordial
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Sylvan Primordial
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Sisters of Stone Death
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Bind
1 Beast Within
1 Krosan Grip
1 Moonlight Bargain
1 Life // Death
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Grisly Salvage
1 Life from the Loam
1 Treasured Find
1 Regrowth
1 Mulch
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Victimize
1 Dread Return
1 Barter in Blood
1 Jarad's Orders
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Living Death
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Birthing Pod
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Bitterblossom
1 Sylvan Library
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Grave Pact
1 Greater Good
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Barren Moor
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Bayou
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Command Tower
1 Crypt of Agadeem
1 Dakmor Salvage
7 Forest
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Grim Backwoods
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Strip Mine
1 Svogthos, the Restless Tomb
7 Swamp
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Twilight Mire
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Woodland Cemetery
This deck has graduated from design to tuning mode. I'm still working through some of the cards and testing stuff in an effort to optimize it.
Basic Strategy: The more cards you have in your graveyard the better this deck is going to perform. Generally you want to dredge as early as possible and get into a life from the loam cycle combo where you are burning through lands to draw cards and then recurring them back to your hand. The only time a dredge isn't optimal is when you absolutely need to hit a land drop. Otherwise you should have the luxury to play anything from your graveyard or otherwise use a regrowth effect to get it back into your hand.
Using Savra: She's useful removal piece in a deck that is full of sacrifice outlets. This deck packs a large number of them, and you can quickly wipe out hordes of enemy creatures using these tools with or without Savra. She just helps expedite the process. Note Jarad can easily be substituted in as the general if you wish, but I figured his built in recursion was better suited for the main deck than the general zone. It's not difficult to find whatever you creature you need with this deck anyway. If you want Jarad to show up he will.
Filling up Your Graveyard: There are several methods to do this. An easy method is getting Hermit Druid into play and having him mill everything away, eventually getting a land of of the deal. That's a pretty good start. You'll usually hit a dredge card, after which you can choose between Golgari-Grave Troll and Life from the Loam depending on the health of your mana base. Survival of the Fittest also fits this role nicely, allowing your to dump creatures that aren't fitting your present curve for stuff that is more immediately useful.
Winning: Win Conditions are the typical giant green creatures but big style points are achieved by either using Jarad or Lord of Extinction for a killing blow or a Living Death that dumps a dredged yard onto the battlefield.
Short List (Cards that were in the deck or cards I'm considering adding):
1 Restock
1 Harmonize
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Gleancrawler
1 Slum Reaper
1 Grave-Shell Scarab
1 Filth
Rafiq of the Many UWG
Sedris, the Traitor King URB
Kaalia of the Vast RWB
Savra, Queen of Golgari GB
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice GW
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails EquipmentW
Good Suggestions. I'll probably integrate some or all of these cards into the deck at some point. I'm actually already running Phyrexian Tower, I just forgot to put it in the list.
Current Changes:
Out: Slum Reaper - This card is redundant with Fleshbag, and I usually don't have a problem finding the fleshbag if I need it.
Out: Gleancrawler - Cool card but a bit too slow. It's hard to actually take advantage of all the creatures back in my hand. Usually easier to just find more in my graveyard.
Out: Reanimate - Removed this for Victimize
Out: Harmonize - Might go back in, but while it's a good card, it's not really synergistic with the deck.
Out: Restock - I feel like I have enough regrowth effects right now.
Out: Sepulchral Primordial - Probably will end up back in but I needed a slot and this doesn't break your graveyard only opponent's.
Out: Stinkweed Imp - Life from the Loam and Golgari-Grave Troll are enough dredge.
Out: Grave-Shell Scarab - Cool card but too pricey for what I use it for.
In: Bloodghast - Let's me do sacrifice abuse and it's cheap to recover.
In: Bitterblossom - Wanted more sacrifice food.
In: Grave Titan - More Sacrifice Food and a Nice Beater.
In: Victimize - Reanimates and allows for a sacrifice all in one card.
In: Necrotic Ooze - Very useful in this deck.
In: Dread Return - Reanimates and allows for a sacrifice all in one card.
In: Mulch - Pseudo card draw/Dredge
In: Craterhoof Behemoth - Nice Finisher.
Rafiq of the Many UWG
Sedris, the Traitor King URB
Kaalia of the Vast RWB
Savra, Queen of Golgari GB
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice GW
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails EquipmentW
From my experience with the three, reassembling skeleton is by far the best of the 3 and Nether Traitor is only great when you are running equipment. Skeleton has no conditions on his return making him more useful overall.
G Azusa, Lost but Seeking G
WU Grand Arbiter Augustin IV WU
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftan WBG
B Korlash, Heir to Blackblade B
RU Tibor and Lumia RU
'He tasks me! He tasks me, and I shall have him!' - Khan Noonien Singh
Yeah I'm keeping the skeleton. I like the fact I can sac him multiple times in a turn if I have the mana to do so. I chose bloodghast over nether traitor because his return cost is "free" so I can use my mana on other things.
Rafiq of the Many UWG
Sedris, the Traitor King URB
Kaalia of the Vast RWB
Savra, Queen of Golgari GB
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice GW
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails EquipmentW
One frustrating thing I ran into was I had a living death but couldn't really take advantage of it since none of my creatures naturally have haste. I'm considering adding a Concordant Crossroads as a combo finisher or maybe Akroma's Memorial. I also woudn't mind having another kill spell. I'm leaning towards Putrefy.
Rafiq of the Many UWG
Sedris, the Traitor King URB
Kaalia of the Vast RWB
Savra, Queen of Golgari GB
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice GW
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails EquipmentW
You could also try Twilight's Call. For 8 you can do it EOT essentially giving your guys haste.
EDH Decks
BGGlissa, the TraitorGB
URTibor and LumiaRU
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticBUW
UBSygg, River CutthroatBU
RGXenagos, God of RevelsGR
UGVorel of the Hull CladeGU
GBSavra, Queen of the GolgariBG
URGMaelstrom WandererGRU
This is a good idea. I think I'm going to try the following:
-1 Birthing Pod
-1 Doomed Necromancer
+1 Twilight's Call
+1 Akroma's Memorial
That gives me two mass haste options. Birthing Pod is pretty clunky in this deck without a way to really abuse it with untap effects. I like Doomed Necromancer but it's arguably one of my weaker creatures. Akroma's might end up getting swapped out for Crossroads, but I like that it's a bit more versatile and also not global. Crossroads has a very narrow application where Memorial is good at almost any point in the game.
Rafiq of the Many UWG
Sedris, the Traitor King URB
Kaalia of the Vast RWB
Savra, Queen of Golgari GB
Trostani, Selesnya's Voice GW
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails EquipmentW