MTG Salvation

I haven't played with Carrion Feeder often but he plays nicely in the zombie deck that black has been building. A star with Gravecrawler and a great sac outlet for Blood Artist. Has anyone played him recently?

Unless you want to pick up an Asian one and pretend that he can block, I don't think I would recommend this card. It's pretty solid in constructed, though.

This card has been pretty reasonable for us. I added him a few months ago when we added the Pox sub-theme. He's obviously very good alongside cards like Bloodghast and Gravecrawler but he's pretty interesting in red decks as a means to sac random 1-time guys like Hellspark Elemental or Keldon Marauders. He's like dumbed-down black Greater Gargadon. He's not good in a vacuum, but he's very solid if you promote strategies which take advantage of his creature type and abilities.

It'd take an enormous cube for me to play with this guy. Gravecrawler is pretty much the only reason to play this guy, and I don't know if I would play him in the same deck just because he's only really good when you have GC out.

Quote from Blimpy

It'd take an enormous cube for me to play with this guy. Gravecrawler is pretty much the only reason to play this guy, and I don't know if I would play him in the same deck just because he's only really good when you have GC out.

Okay, so please tell me how increasing the size of your cube helps Carrion Feeder's case. Feeder would actually be better in a tighter list. If I had a 360 and pushed the Pox/tokens/sac theme, this guy would likely make the cut.

Sigh...

Quote from kojiro

Okay, so please tell me how increasing the size of your cube helps Carrion Feeder's case. Feeder would actually be better in a tighter list. If I had a 360 and pushed the Pox/tokens/sac theme, this guy would likely make the cut.

Sigh...

But at the same time, the competition is too stiff at lower cube sizes to even consider something like this. So while it may be "better" in a smaller list, it's even harder to include it there.

Yep, what wtwlf123 said.

I couldn't justify including archetypes that make him good because cards like Pox (for instance) are not even remotely good enough for 360 lists.

For instance, if I had a 10,000 card cube, Carrion Feeder would probably make the cut because there are plenty of worse cards out there and he'd merit inclusion solely based on that.

Really Kojiro, I'm not stupid.

I'm actually considering giving him a shot in my list. Yes, I really wish there was at least 1 more bloodghast/gravecrawler quality recursive threat, but I'll be interested to see how he fits into the pox style decks I've been pushing in black lately. He definitely has some potential, even if it isn't super high.

I like the idea of him in B/R, with all the red creatures that go away end of turn he could be pretty decent. I don't know if there's enough utility for him to be worth it, but I may throw him in a draft or two and see how he pans out.

Honestly feel like my black section could use a sacrifice outlet, especially would like one that is a Zombie due to Grave Crawler (and on the lighter side Graveborn Muse). Maybe I'm just digging too deep but I've played Carrion and he was pretty decent.

I wasn't expecting great reviews but they're quite a bit worse than I originally thought.

Quote from JeffDerek

I'm actually considering giving him a shot in my list. Yes, I really wish there was at least 1 more bloodghast/gravecrawler quality recursive threat, but I'll be interested to see how he fits into the pox style decks I've been pushing in black lately. He definitely has some potential, even if it isn't super high.

I like the idea of him in B/R, with all the red creatures that go away end of turn he could be pretty decent. I don't know if there's enough utility for him to be worth it, but I may throw him in a draft or two and see how he pans out.

If you're pushing Pox/Smokestack Black, I highly recommend Marsh Flitter, Reassembling Skeleton, and Nether Spirit. Also, Contamination is an incredibly fun build-around-me card and fits well with the theme.

Reaper -- don't let the hive mind get you down. I've run him from time to time and he's been serviceable in aggressive black, though only in that deck and I run a bit of a downpowered list.

--Sacrifice outlets are typically more valuable than folks give credit for. Any early bunch of tokens can make him scary (e.g. turn 2 Mogg War Marshal or turn 3 Sprouting Thrinax), leading to a large monster very early.
-- In using him as a sacrifice outlet to kill your opponent's creatures, he's fantastic with Living Death (he can also sacrifice himself), Grave Pact, Balance, and Urborg Justice.
-- As for eking out advantage with cards like Hellspark Elemental and Keldon Marauders, there are also cards like Bone Shredder (paying echo is for losers), as well as in response to removal on other creatures you control.
-- His synergy with Bloodghast, Gravecrawler, and Blood Artist are obvious; there is also Reassembling Skeleton in the late game. Finally, he can grow very quickly out of Red point/sweeper range, and the instant nature of the effect can make him difficult for red decks to kill.

The above mention of him as a weaker Greater Gargadon is apt. He's not gigantic like the Garg, but he is an oft-underestimated threat that can get very scary very quickly.

Quote from kojiro

If you're pushing Pox/Smokestack Black, I highly recommend Marsh Flitter, Reassembling Skeleton, and Nether Spirit. Also, Contamination is an incredibly fun build-around-me card and fits well with the theme.

Skeleton just didn't quite cut the mustard for us last time I tried but I should give him another shot. I've literally never considered Marsh Flitter as a cubeworthy card before, and I've always assumed Nether Spirit would be too hard to make work, but these are all cards I'm thinking about given your suggestion.

Quote from kojiro

If you're pushing Pox/Smokestack Black, I highly recommend Marsh Flitter, Reassembling Skeleton, and Nether Spirit. Also, Contamination is an incredibly fun build-around-me card and fits well with the theme.

Does Nether Spirit get played much outside of Pox/Smokestack? If so, where does it get played usually?

Carrion Feeder was an allstar last night in a monoblack braids deck with


The deck went 2-1 and just roflstomped my green ramp deck by always having wasteland/smallpox/braids when it mattered. She said Carrion Feeder was legitimately good, especially when she got it going with other things. I'm going to bring Reassembling Skeleton and Nether Traitor in and give them both a shot for a while, and keep Carrion Feeder, and we'll see what that does to my black section. Should be interesting.

I almost like Viscera Seer better, as far as the effect goes.

I think I'm going to try it out in my next update. I was to add back Vampire Lacerator, but with Rakdos Cackler on the horizon, the Lacerator might not be needed. A cheap sac outlet on a body might be good and the fact that the Feeder is a zombie is relevant.

Quote from wtwlf123

I almost like Viscera Seer better, as far as the effect goes.

I consider them equals as far as low-tier black one-drops go, but the Feeder should get the nod due to its highly aggressive ability compared to the relatively passive Seer.

Carrion feeder in the short time I've seen it played in our play group has really impresses. Sacrifice effects are much better than you might think.

Quote from PyreDream

I consider them equals as far as low-tier black one-drops go, but the Feeder should get the nod due to its highly aggressive ability compared to the relatively passive Seer.

And it combos with Gravecrawler, which is quite relevant.

Carrion Feeder has gotten much better with Ophiomancer and Curse of the Shallow Grave and is nuts with Gravecrawler. I'm going to try him out again since the three drop slot needed a cut with Commander 2013.

Quote from NathanZimmerer

Carrion Feeder has gotten much better with Ophiomancer and Curse of the Shallow Grave and is nuts with Gravecrawler. I'm going to try him out again since the three drop slot needed a cut with Commander 2013.

Ive had it in for a few months, its quite good.

I was going to cut it, but then I realized how much more support tokens and Pox have gotten in the last few updates. I'm hanging on to him to see how he does. I'm looking forward to drafting him with Gravecrawler and Ophiomancer.

Cheers,
rant

I love Carrion Feeder in my cube. The fact that he's a Zombie makes him much more appealing than Viseca Seer as he's a clean 2 card combo with Gravecrawler (or bloodghast) which are played in the same decks. He's also great in B/R as you can utilize the sac outlet with cards like Act of Treason and Zealous Conscript type effects. He's also decent with Squee in a pinch. He makes combat math more difficult and thats a good thing for aggro decks.

Cheers

This guy is really good. My cube is a little slower than most, so maybe that's part of the reason. But sacrifice outlets are really good in cube IMO. This dude saves your guys from exile effects, and it powers "leave the battlefield" combos (things like Reveillark as pointed out in a previous post). He's also good with any type of recursive effect (undying/persist/etc.), or for things like a Living Death combo (get your army in the yard and bring them all back to life). Endless possibilities and a fairly unique effect for a lowly one drop. Plus, he can get big if he is left to his own devices (much like Champion of the Parish).

I'm playing him at 450 / unpowered. He has been good. I made a sick monoblack splash green deck for Survival of the Fittest that used him really well. I would say he was the all-star of the deck, but.. Survival of the Fittest.

I am also playing Act of Aggression and Zealous Conscripts in my cube, so sacrifice outlets have some synergy that might not be available in other cubes.