Horobi and the Wailers ~100$

Commander / EDH Budget Casual Demons Mono-Black Multiplayer Sacrifice

Orange+

Land (36)

• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Detection Tower
• 1x High Market
• 1x Memorial to Folly
• 1x Mortuary Mire
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 26x Swamp
• 1x Tectonic Edge
• 1x Underdark Rift
• 1x Witch's Cottage

Ramp (7)

• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble
• 1x Charcoal Diamond
• 1x Liquimetal Torque
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Worn Powerstone
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum

Creature recursion (6)

• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Haunted Crossroads
• 1x Victimize
• 1x Dread Return
• 1x Strands of Night
• 1x Palace Siege

Removal (4)

• 1x Cannibalize
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Introduction to Annihilation
• 1x Invoke Despair

Espionage (2)

• 1x Glasses of Urza
• 1x Shimian Specter

Death trigger (10)

• 1x Mari, the Killing Quill
• 1x Morbid Opportunist
• 1x Falkenrath Noble
• 1x Sangromancer
• 1x Ogre Slumlord
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Harvester of Souls
• 1x Kothophed, Soul Hoarder
• 1x Butcher of Malakir
• 1x Overseer of the Damned

Draw (9)

• 1x Sign in Blood
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Dread Presence
• 1x Syphon Mind
• 1x Bloodgift Demon
• 1x Clackbridge Troll
• 1x Ob Nixilis Reignited
• 1x Promise of Power
• 1x Staff of Nin

Edict (5)

• 1x Demon's Disciple
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Gravelighter
• 1x Merciless Executioner
• 1x Plaguecrafter

Tutor (4)

• 1x Profane Tutor
• 1x Demonic Bargain
• 1x Rhystic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Tutor

Commander (1)

Multitarget (9)

• 1x Hex Parasite
• 1x Retribution of the Ancients
• 1x Touch of Darkness
• 1x Bloodthirsty Blade
• 1x Mogis's Marauder
• 1x Jade Monolith
• 1x Cauldron of Souls
• 1x Nefashu
• 1x Tetzimoc, Primal Death

Protection (5)

• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Daring Fiendbonder
• 1x Nightmare Shepherd
• 1x Gift of Doom
• 1x Fated Return

Board wipe (2)

• 1x Nightmare Unmaking
• 1x Deadly Tempest

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Horobi and the Wailers

we be jammin' creatures into yo' graveyard

So the general idea here is to have the option to play Horobi, Death's Wail and boardwipe your opponents creatures with targeting effects. When he dies you should let him go to the graveyard and just tutor him up when you need him again. After playtesting this deck, I can verify that this deck is capable of exterminating literal heaps of creatures. However, this deck is not very strong due to its fringe commander and low budget, so players are adviced to play this deck with the upmost thought and tact.

It might be beneficial to have some effects that trigger on creature deaths when playing / using Horobi, this will enable you to get more advantage out of the situation. It might also be beneficial to kill Horobi the same turn as a full / semi board wipe. This is to protect your own creature board. As an example, if you have some valuable creature on the board (ex: Harvester of Souls) and you play Horobi, Death's Wail with a board wipe follow up (ex: Touch of Darkness), you might want to target Horobi as well, so that it is less likely that your Harvester dies shortly after.

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The budet is ~100$ total, max 5$ per card (with exceptions). I use Cardkingdom prices

Suggestions are welcome :)

update 07/05/2023

Im gonna try to make the deck a tad bit stronger just by adding some value cards.

OUT: Necrosynthesis, Shadows of the Past, Blood Beckoning, and Raise Dead

IN: Shimian Specter, Haunted Crossroads, Phyrexian Reclamation, and Swiftfoot Boots

update 03/05/2023

I want to add some boardwipes again, cause they can really come in handy, and they do trigger the death triggers even though those permanents will die at the same time. Additionally, Id like to test out Urza's glasses just to get a feel if it is fun to play or not. (I will use it to see wether players have creature targeting spells).

OUT: Blessing of Leeches, Dark Ritual, and Star Compass

IN: Deadly Tempest, Nightmare Unmaking, and Glasses of Urza

update 25/01/2023

Im trying to make the deck a bit better so that it will be a tad more challenge to beat by my playgroups good decks. This is still just a medium power deck, but it might be more fun to play if it tries to do less things better (instead of trying to do too many things).

Spectres are flavorful, but not very good, and also not very fun actually. Ive from time to time managed to get a lock on players in 3-man pods with spectres (getting them down to topdecking), but the deck is just so slow to beat down life totals, so these situations just become an endless waiting game. This isnt great, and I dont need this deck to be a control deck. Also, as I mentioned, they arent very good either. They need to attack and hit to be useful, which makes me have to choose which player to be the unfortunate one every turn, as well as leaving me open to attacks. Discard is best against players with few cards, so to maximize effect you should in theory focus one player. This isnt optimal for a fun game.

The looking at opponents hand category is also going away. These cards did work pretty well, and I especially liked Glasses of Urza, but they just dont have enough effect in a multiplayer situation.

Im primarily adding more ramp and draw effects, as per recommandation from a player in my playgroup.

OUT: Agonizing Memories, Duress, Glasses of Urza, Inquisition of Kozilek, Persecute, Abyssal Specter, Dreamstealer, Guul Draz Specter, Hypnotic Specter, Kheru Mind-Eater, Shimian Specter, and Night Dealings

IN: Burnished Hart, Worn Powerstone, Mind Stone, Clackbridge Troll, Sign in Blood, Staff of Nin, Butcher of Malakir, Blessing of Leeches, Jade Monolith, Profane Tutor, Rhystic Tutor, and Gravelighter

update 26/12/2022

Single use creature targeting effects are out. Main category is now death trigger effects. The idea is that you gain much more advantage from killing creatures with Horobi if you get triggers from it. A collection of other cards are also removed. Some because they dont work too well (Journeyer's Kite), some because they dont fit the new theme (Nightmare Unmaking), and some because they are expensive (Phyrexian Reclamation).

OUT: Deadly Tempest, Nightmare Unmaking, Haunted Crossroads, Phyrexian Reclamation, Sign in Blood, Ashes to Ashes, Darkblast, Scale of Chiss-Goria, Squee's Toy, Tooth of Chiss-Goria, Jade Monolith, Commander's Sphere, Journeyer's Kite, Scour from Existence, Order of Yawgmoth, and Swamp

IN: Falkenrath Noble, Ogre Slumlord, Sangromancer, Syr Konrad, the Grim, Promise of Power, Demon's Disciple, Fleshbag Marauder, Merciless Executioner, Plaguecrafter, Nightmare Shepherd, Agonizing Memories, Duress, Glasses of Urza, Inquisition of Kozilek, Persecute, and High Market

update 30/11/2022

Just changed the description. The following text is not correct (Horobi's ability uses the stack just like everything else).

" You should probably try to run through a couple of stack scenarios with Horobi and target effects before playing a Horobi deck. If Horobi dies sometime during the resolution of the stack, target effects that resolve later will not kill their targets. This means that your opponents could respond to a target effect you have, with targeting Horobi, and only he will die. In such a case it's a good idea to keep some spare effects and mana to retarget what you want to die, so that it dies while Horobi is on the table. "

archive

update 20/06/2022

The deck is a bit slow, so I'm gonna try to lower the cmc a bit. I'm also removing some pieces that doesn't work super well. I'm adding some good stuff, and also finally getting the expensive Touch of Darkness

OUT: Banshee of the Dread Choir, Fiend of the Shadows, Okiba-Gang Shinobi, Silent Specter, Urgoros, the Empty One, Scythe Specter, Pyramid of the Pantheon, Staff of Nin, Underworld Connections, Promise of Power, Dirge of Dread, Clackbridge Troll, Baleful Force, Meteor Golem, Eye of Doom, Death Denied, Disentomb, Forever Young, and Ghoulcaller's Chant

IN: Necrosynthesis, Shadows of the Past. Mari, the Killing Quill, Morbid Opportunist, Syphon Mind, Introduction to Annihilation, Invoke Despair, Overseer of the Damned, Scour from Existence, Swamp, Victimize, Dread Return, Strands of Night, Palace Siege, Order of Yawgmoth, Nightmare Unmaking, Deadly Tempest, Touch of Darkness, and Nefashu

update 03/05/2022

Gonna try some more tutors and removal

OUT: Wander in Death, Armillary Sphere, Burnished Hart, Hollow Specter, Myriad Landscape, and 3 Swamp

IN: Eye of Doom, Meteor Golem, Demonic Bargain, Night Dealings, Buried Ruin, Scavenger Grounds, Tectonic Edge, and Underdark Rift

update 07/01/2022

Found two cards that might support the deck in tough situations. Removing Needle Specter because it's a bit too expensive for it's value to the deck

OUT: Needle Specter and Morbid Plunder

IN: Diabolic Tutor and Feed the Swarm

update 14/07/2021

Found another viable creature exile card

OUT: Entropic Specter

IN: Ashes to Ashes

update 05/07/2021

Slight improvement

OUT: Liquimetal Coating

IN: Liquimetal Torque

update 09/03/2021

The deck works fairly well at this state, so I'm tidying up the maybeboard.

update 18/02/2021

Didn't realize that Needle Specter is a three cost, which makes it better than many of the other specters I play. It is a bit pricey, but I have one, so I think I'm adding it anyway. Also, I think the Sphere is a bit better than the Ingot.

OUT: Order of Yawgmoth and Darksteel Ingot

IN: Needle Specter and Commander's Sphere

update 12/02/2021

I think these specter-like cards are a bit better than the others.

In addition, Im swapping some cards in the limited target category. I think it will be more advantageous to have more single target spell responses than to cram several targets into the same effect. This is because an effect targetting Horobi, as a response to my own creature target effect, will nullify my original creature destruction.

Cannibalize stays as it can remove indestructible stuff. Also, Darkblast is put in and Im hoping it will synergize well with my creature recursion theme.

OUT: Chilling Apparition, Headhunter, Swamp, Steal Strength, and Subtle Strike

IN: Dreamstealer, Fiend of the Shadows, Kheru Mind-Eater, Darkblast, and Scale of Chiss-Goria

update 11/02/2021

In light of new found knowledge (described in the previous update), I'm gonna swap out the "target one creature and draw" spells, and some instant speed recursion.

Additionally I'm changing out of the indestructible theme. The main reason being that its boring cause they don't really interact with anything. They are expensive to cast, and they are pretty lame. A second reason is that since they are quite slow and defensive, they (being part of the combat damage based wincon) turn the deck into a slow semi-control deck. But because the deck can't handle any other kind of spell than creature, it's really bad as a control deck. Enchantments are especially viscious against the deck now.

So I'd rather play more efficient creatures and pressure players earlier. To keep it interesting I'm homing in on two mechanics (instead of just plain efficient creatures), which are "whenever a crearture dies" and "when this creature deals damage to a player" -effects. The first fits cause Horobi, Death's Wail kill a lot of creatures, and the second fits because I might (hopefully) be able to clear out blockers so that my creatures are free to hit players in their face.

Actually, didn't find enough good "whenever a creature dies" cards, so going full on "when deals damage to player" mode; Specter tribal is incomming!

Oh and also, I'm removing some impact cards that I don't feel like playing. Avatar of Woe doesnt have enough synergy, Grave Betrayal I don't feel like stealing creatures with this deck (I already have a deck for that - The Act of Treason), Sepulchral Primordial same reason, and Toshiro Umezawa cause I don't play enough interesting instants or sorceries.

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OUT: Aphotic Wisps, Nighthaze, Dark Dabbling, Corpse Churn, Grim Harvest, Soulless Revival, March of the Drowned, Soul Stair Expedition, No Rest for the Wicked, Mortuary (quite advanced to use well imo), Darksteel Gargoyle (boooring!), Darksteel Juggernaut, Darksteel Sentinel, Manor Gargoyle, Phylactery Lich, Colossus of Akros, Creepy Doll, Avatar of Woe (still love the flavour and artwork tho), Grave Betrayal, Sepulchral Primordial, Toshiro Umezawa (might come back due to it being a very strong card), and Coldsteel Heart (a tad too expensive for this deck).

IN: Dirge of Dread, Clackbridge Troll, Promise of Power, Gift of Doom, Death Denied, Morbid Plunder, Wander in Death, Forever Young, Abyssal Specter, Banshee of the Dread Choir, Chilling Apparition, Entropic Specter, Guul Draz Specter, Headhunter, Hollow Specter, Hypnotic Specter, Okiba-Gang Shinobi, Order of Yawgmoth, Scythe Specter, Shimian Specter, Silent Specter, and Urgoros, the Empty One

update 07/02/2021

Based on new insight into two rulings, I will make changes to the deck in the near future. The mechanics in question are:

1. Spells fizzle when their target is removed due to Horobi. This affects spells that try to target a creature and then draw me a card afterwards.

2. "If a Commander would be put into a graveyard or exile from anywhere, its owner may choose to move it to the command zone instead". Which makes the instant speed grave recursion spells less meaningful. In contradiction with what I previously believed, graveyard hate will not be able to permanently remove Horobi from the game.

update 13/01/2021

The price of my budget decks keep rising, so I'm marking the current price to see how the value evolves.

Current price (cardkingdom): 62-70$

Top Ranked	Achieved #10 position overall 3 years ago Achieved #6 position in Commander / EDH 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Budget 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Flying 3 years ago
Date added	3 years
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	1 - 0 Mythic Rares 35 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.75
Tokens	Copy Clone, Demon X/X B, Emblem Ob Nixilis Reignited, Goat 0/1 W, Morph 2/2 C, Rat 1/1 B, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Possible Decks, Commander, Stuff, Cool Decks that Inspire Me, Inspiration, Mono, EDH Decks, Deck Ideas, Cool Deck Ideas, CMDR