I am personally swapping out RSD for Raz in my Grimgrim list. The list is tailored to feeding my commander creatures making Raz very easy to abuse. On the flip side I rarely get more than one trigger out of RSD. I have reanimated him a few times, but sometimes it is more important to get your Hexmage mage back.
Disciple of bolas is a very solid card just difficult to time. You have to know when to eat your own fatty or when to just sac a 1/1.
I like Breathstealer's Crypt! Hand intelligence, another source of life loss and a chance to gain a reanimation target from your opponents. It also a convenient discard outlet for your own creatures.
Unfulfilled Desires might be more useful in this build than Phyrexian Arena. You can control when it is triggered and stock your own graveyard with good things from your hand. It is also a useful place to sink mana if a turn goes by that you decide not to activate the Scarab God's ability.
The new demon is easier to exploit in right deck. I'll be replacing Run-Scarred with him in my Grimgrin deck because that deck has lots of, token production, reanimation and black mana ramp. I am more likely to score multiple triggers with Raz than Rune, and my list is capped out at 3 cards 7cc or greater.
I am inclined to agree with you. Although it does contain a bunch of zombies, my Grimgrin list is not a tribal deck, so the The Scarab God's upkeep trigger isn't a deal breaker. What I really like is his activated ability.
Take a swing at my opponent, kill their threat with GG trigger, then exile it from the yard and get a copy for myself. Yes please. Also handy for reanimating my own stuff since I am playing with plenty of loot effects. This is a straight replacement for Havengul Lich.
I recently replaced Dawn of the Dead with Liliana, Death's Majesty and I have been very happy with the change. While it makes me sad when I mill a really good non-creature spell, her +1 skill does a good job at providing Grimgrin with food, and her reanimate ability can be used the turn she hits the field.
You should give her a try, especially since her value is currently tanking.
There are allot of ways to build Skullbriar, the Walking Grave. Naturally most descklists focus on making him as big as possible, as fast as possible, which as a tactic is better suited to 1v1 games. To survive in a multiplayer environment this list accepts the inevitable, the other players will try hate on Skullbriar. Rather than trying to prevent it with cards that provide protective effects like shroud or hexproof, I opted to accept the death of my commander.
The 4 key things I focused on:
1. Stack the deck with ramp so that I can afford the commander tax.
2. I filled it with good reanimation to dodge the occasional tax.
3. If everybody else is going to kill my commander on sight, I may as well join the party and do it for my own profit.
4. I have put in recycling effects so that I can reuse the above multiple times.
I run Commit // Memory in my Grimgrin deck. Commit I use on occasion, but I often find myself using a discard outlet so that I can cast Memory. My meta contains a lot of graveyard shenanigans and this has proven very useful. It is a big set back forMeren of Clan Nel Toth.
I have a Karlov of the Ghost Council, soul sister deck. I put Kaya, Ghost Assassin in to increase my ETB's, which she does, but by far her most useful talent is to lock out a big threat, which I learned the hard way.
I routinely loan out my decks, because not everyone at my LGS has a commander deck. I was playing against Karlov with my Skullbriar, the Walking Grave deck. The guy who was piloting Karlov drew into Kaya late in the game and used her to lock out skullbriar. By that point in the game, skullbriar's command tax was so high I could not afford to redirect him to the command zone. It really crippled my game plan, and left me vulnerable to the other 2 players.
I wouldn't call her an auto include, but she has much more impact than she looks.
As far as Planeswalkers go, I disagree with toctheyounger77 about Kaya, Ghost Assassin. I think her all of her abilities are relevant, although it is her card draw and flicker that I can see myself using the most. I do however agree with him about Sorin, Grim Nemesis. Taxing your opponents life total and increasing you card advantage is very helpful, and his ultimate can win a game outright.
One thing you will want to stock up on is ways to EXILE enchantments. Erebos, God of the Dead will ruin you day, and he is the first thing any competitive minded black player will tutor for. Having him show up as commander is also possible. There is a guy I know with a mono black toolbox deck that has 7 legendary creatures in it, and he will change commander depending on what everyone else is playing. I would make adding Anguished Unmaking and Utter End a priority. Also helpful is Oblation, Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, and Return to Dust.
If you can find a copy, Breathstealer's Crypt would be an interesting way to stock your graveyard while harming your opponents.
Disciple of bolas is a very solid card just difficult to time. You have to know when to eat your own fatty or when to just sac a 1/1.
I would also use, Rings of Brighthearth and Training Grounds, for extra millage on his activated ability.
I am curious what would happen with Consuming Aberration if it was reanimated with the Scarab God's ability.
I am inclined to agree with you. Although it does contain a bunch of zombies, my Grimgrin list is not a tribal deck, so the The Scarab God's upkeep trigger isn't a deal breaker. What I really like is his activated ability.
Take a swing at my opponent, kill their threat with GG trigger, then exile it from the yard and get a copy for myself. Yes please. Also handy for reanimating my own stuff since I am playing with plenty of loot effects. This is a straight replacement for Havengul Lich.
If I am not mistaken, you get the new tokens after the spell resolves, so if you want to sac tokens, you need to already have them on the board.
You should give her a try, especially since her value is currently tanking.
The 4 key things I focused on:
1. Stack the deck with ramp so that I can afford the commander tax.
2. I filled it with good reanimation to dodge the occasional tax.
3. If everybody else is going to kill my commander on sight, I may as well join the party and do it for my own profit.
4. I have put in recycling effects so that I can reuse the above multiple times.
1 Skullbriar, the Walking Grave
Creatures
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Winding Constrictor
1 Den Protector
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Reyhan, Last of the Abzan
1 Skullwinder
1 Eternal Witness
1 Champion of Lambholt
1 Forgotten Ancient
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Corpsejack Menace
1 Bloodspore Thrinax
1 Brawn
1 Verdurous Gearhulk
1 Phyrexian Delver
1 Kalonian Hydra
1 Acidic Slime
1 Vigor
Planeswalkers
1 Garruk, Apex Predator
1 Vraska the Unseen
Enchantments
1 Hardened Scales
1 Rancor
1 Cream of the Crop
1 Ordeal of Nylea
1 Retreat to Kazandu
1 Birthing Pod
1 Dawn of the Dead
1 Primeval Bounty
1 Death's Presence
1 Sol Ring
1 Expedition Map
1 Ring of Kalonia
1 Sword of the Animist
1 Golgari Signet
Instants
1 Crop Rotation
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Golgari Charm
1 Putrefy
1 Beast Within
1 Momentous Fall
Sorceries
1 Reanimate
1 Unearth
1 Traverse the Ulvenwald
1 Treasured Find
1 Life // Death
1 Recollect
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Eldritch Evolution
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Cultivate
1 Increasing Savagery
1 Jarad's Orders
1 Explosive Vegetation
1 Vigor Mortis
1 Increasing Ambition
1 Profane Command
1 Seasons Past
1 Rishkar's Expertise
1 Necromantic Selection
1 Boundless Realms
1 Overwhelming Forces
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Opal Palace
1 Bojuka Bog
1 High Market
1 Grim Backwoods
1 Reliquary Tower
Land
1 Temple of Malady
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Woodland Cemetery
1 Command Tower
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Ash Barrens
1 Hissing Quagmire
10 Forest
10 Swamp
I routinely loan out my decks, because not everyone at my LGS has a commander deck. I was playing against Karlov with my Skullbriar, the Walking Grave deck. The guy who was piloting Karlov drew into Kaya late in the game and used her to lock out skullbriar. By that point in the game, skullbriar's command tax was so high I could not afford to redirect him to the command zone. It really crippled my game plan, and left me vulnerable to the other 2 players.
I wouldn't call her an auto include, but she has much more impact than she looks.
I have personally cut Deathgreeter, Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat, and Falkenrath Noble because I have other decks that focus on sacrifice mechanics, and I wanted to be different with Karlov. If you do go the sacrifice route I have found both Gutless Ghoul and Dross Harvester to be allot of fun.
As far as Planeswalkers go, I disagree with toctheyounger77 about Kaya, Ghost Assassin. I think her all of her abilities are relevant, although it is her card draw and flicker that I can see myself using the most. I do however agree with him about Sorin, Grim Nemesis. Taxing your opponents life total and increasing you card advantage is very helpful, and his ultimate can win a game outright.
One thing you will want to stock up on is ways to EXILE enchantments. Erebos, God of the Dead will ruin you day, and he is the first thing any competitive minded black player will tutor for. Having him show up as commander is also possible. There is a guy I know with a mono black toolbox deck that has 7 legendary creatures in it, and he will change commander depending on what everyone else is playing. I would make adding Anguished Unmaking and Utter End a priority. Also helpful is Oblation, Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, and Return to Dust.