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[[Primer]]-God of the Rising FULL Moon! Butts Up!!

Commander / EDH Control Mill Reanimator Tribal UB (Dimir) Zombie

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Creature (25)

Enchantment (8)

Planeswalker (1)

Land (36)

Sorcery (8)

Commander (1)

Commander: The Scarab God

Artifact (12)

Instant (9)

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Instant (3)

Creature (2)

Enchantment (1)

Currently the #1 The Scarab God deck on TappedOut!

Currently the #14 overall EDH deck on TappedOut!

The Scarab God is a part God, part zombie, part beetle butt wiggling in the air. Although the Lore (read below) calls him the "God of the Rising Sun," it is only fitting that we now call him the "God of the Rising MOON!"

This is a Zombie deck that also includes mill, to feed The Scarab God 's hunger, and control to protect my army of the dead.

I want to optimize both of my commanders abilities. The first one is great with my tribal theme, as it does not just whittle away at all of my opponents, but it also provides great card advantage.

The second ability makes me want to splash in some mill. I feel like I should go deeper into mill in order to optimize this second ability. What do you think? Worse case, it is great graveyard hate!

I also include Flash enablers, like Winding Canyons , Leyline of Anticipation , and Vedalken Orrery , to compliment a control build, as well as being able to bring out The Scarab God prior to my Upkeep.

Please leave feedback! Also, please upvote so that others can see my deck as well. Thank you!!!

Click her to Unleash the Horde!!! ----->

I want to optimize both of my commander’s abilities. The first one is great with my tribal theme, as it does not just whittle away at all of my opponents, but it also provides great card advantage.

The second ability makes me want to splash in some mill. I feel like I should go deeper into mill in order to optimize this second ability. What do you think? Worse case, it is great graveyard hate!

The last ability (which is on all of the Bolas Gods) makes command-tax a thing of the past. Your commander dying no longer hurts so much, seeing how it gets easier to cast him as the game goes on, instead of harder. All we have to worry about is exile and take-control/transform effects, but these can all be answer with any number of the sack-outlets in the deck.

Strengths

The Scarab God is a powerful control commander, which allows the pilot to play a very versatile and flexible game. There are several ways to win with this deck, and although they synergize very well together, none of them are dependent of the other wincons.

Weaknesses

An excessive amount of graveyard hate can be a bit annoying, but does by no means shut down the deck. However, milling into an original Eldrazi titan can be pretty annoying. Other than that, we run several counterspells to deal with unwanted board-wipes and combos.

Playing the Deck

There are four viable Wincons in the deck, that all synergize together insanely well together. These wincons are:

Zombie Tribal: We are running several zombie lords in this list, which makes it very simple to just swing in hard for the win, which is much easier when they all have swampwalk from Zombie Master or even Menace from Lord of the Accursed .

The Scarab God’s Ability: An army of zombies have never been so threatening before now! You can literally win games by controlling the board and sitting back with your army!

Mill: The mill is mainly in here for the The Scarab God ’s second ability, but milling out your opponent is defiantly an option!

Combo: There are various combos in the deck that say you just win the game, which will be described in more detail in the next section. Now, this deck in not centered around all the possible zombie combos, but some are just naturally in here because the single cards are good on their own.

Gravecrawler + Phyrexian Altar +

OR

Gravecrawler + Rooftop Storm + SACK OUTLET +

Diregraf Captain , Vengeful Dead , OR Plague Belcher = Infinite damage to opponents

Gray Merchant of Asphodel + Rite of Replication : 60+ damage to each opponent and a lot of life.

Grave Titan + Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle = Infinite Zombies

Havengul Lich + Rooftop Storm = All Zombies in GY cost *1*

Gempalm Polluter + Lord of the Undead , Volrath's Stronghold OR Unholy Grotto = The gift that keeps on giving!

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth + Cabal Coffers = Ya, Just in case you didn’t know.

If you run Cloudstone Curio :

When it comes to Entomb , the first thing you will normally want to be tutoring to your graveyard is Gravecrawler because of how easy you can get him out of the grave, and how much you can profit of his reanimation. However, there are several other zombies that you will want to pick if you have reanimation available to you. A few key game-winning zombies are Zombie Master , Mikaeus, the Unhallowed , and Lord of the Undead .

For your unconditional tutors, every given situation change your choice. Getting that combo piece is always an option, or a counterspell to ensure your horde is protected. How about reanimate? Well, Phyrexian Reclamation is a personal favorite!

Card Choice

Death Baron - The crown jewel of zombie lords. Make your big zombies into bosses!

Diregraf Captain - Lord with some single target hate.

Lord of the Accursed - Lord that gives your whole army Menace!

Lord of the Undead - Lord that also reanimate… SO GOOD!

Undead Warchief - The best Lord, if you ask me. Extra power, and making your zombies easier to cast!

Zombie Master - IDK if this is really a Lord (because it does not pump your horde), however, it does just flat-out just wins you the game with the swampwalk, and makes your zombies really hard to kill with the Regenerate. This Lord will be the first I tutor for if my horde is growing.

Cryptbreaker - Discard a zombie, to get a zombie, then reanimate the zombie later!

Diregraf Colossus - Big beasty the doubles your zombie count, sign me up!

Ghoulcaller Gisa - Gisa is one sure fire way to make your zombie horde HUUGE!

Grave Titan - He is pretty pricy to cast for this deck, but getting two zombies a turn as you swing with a 6/6 Deathtouch does not seem too bad.

Lich Lord of Unx - A little variety in your life! But man, those tokens are f-ugly!

Army of the Damned - ALL the zombies!

Undead Alchemist - Likely the best way to make a zombie horde in the deck. Add The Scarab God and gg!

Josu Vess, Lich Knight - Horde of buffed up zombies in one go!

Noosegraf Mob - Multiplayer makes this a bunch of zombies really quick!

Liliana's Mastery - What is better then a few 2/2 zombies? 3/3 zombies!

Gisa and Geralf - Casting a zombie from the grave once a turn is pretty sweet!

Gravecrawler - Well he does reanimate himself.

Lord of the Undead - This is just value, one a turn reanimate, on a lord!

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - All zombies have second lives. Works amazing with ETBs.

Relentless Dead - Let the loop of Reanimate begin! This guy makes ETB abilities go nuts, if you have some spare mana!

Unholy Grotto - A budget Volrath's Stronghold in this deck.

Volrath's Stronghold - A Volrath's Stronghold .

Rise of the Dark Realms - All the mill makes the card even better then normal! Late game it just wins.

Geth, Lord of the Vault - Why not just reanimate your opponents stuff that was milled! Even hits artifacts!

Gisa and Geralf - TECHNICALLY…

Lich Lord of Unx - This guy finally met his soul mate with The Scarab God ! Single target wincon if you ask me.

Altar of the Brood - This little guy is surprisingly effective!

Mindcrank - This card is a powerhouse in this deck. It does not just mill whenever you hit with your zombie horde, but also with The Scarab God ’s first ability!

Liliana, Untouched By Death - She kind of fits under mill, tokens generation, reanimate and removal! Everything we are trying to to with this deck in one packages!

Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - Anti-Humans is sometimes relevant…

Mana Drain , Counterspell , Disallow , and Swan Song - You run all the counterspells primarily to protect your board-state. Who cares if people are making big threats, their live totals are going to be low because of The Scarab God ’s first ability anyway. Pick your battles wisely, but always give that control player bluff, if appropriate.

Cyclonic Rift - Auto-Include in EVERY deck, I don’t care what you say.

Damnation and Toxic Deluge - Solid Board-wipes. Nough said.

Fleshbag Marauder - Reanimatable removal that doubles as a zombie.

Curtains' Call - This will be 2-4 cmc 99%, in which case, it is amazing!

Grimgrin, Corpse-Born - Although he might be considered more like a beatstick, I think his power really comes from the removal aspect.

Life's Finale - This is a fantastic way to not just wipe the board, but also fill up the grave for Scarab's ability!

Hero's Downfall - Just solid removal.

Cryptbreaker - Kind of like a Phyrexian Arena for as many times as you have zombies! I would be doing this prior to my turn most of the time.

Graveborn Muse - This killing me is kind of scary, but I think the risk is worth the reward… for now…

Phyrexian Arena - Best draw in , with very minimal downside.

Rhystic Study - Very consistent draw, expect at least 2 cards off this most rotation.

Kindred Discovery - This is likely the best card to ever be printed for tribal ever!

Herald's Horn - A mana rock that doubles as some draw. With The Scarab God 's scry ability, you will almost always hit a zombie!

Fact or Fiction - Surprisingly amazing card draw! Use it, trust me!

Sidisi, Undead Vizier - A Demonic Tutor on the stick that also has a very relevant body with deathtouch. Whoever designed this card was a HUGE zombie fan, my hat is off to you!

Vampiric Tutor - Instant Speed tutoring is amazing, even if it does not

Buried Alive - See how much reanimate is in the deck, this pretty much reads Search for three cards and put them in your hand.

Demonic Tutor - You’re playing , ‘nough said.

Diregraf Captain - This can only target one person, but it will still be scary.

Gray Merchant of Asphodel - God’s gift to all zombie decks. Gary just flat out wins games on his own.

Plague Belcher - Can come out big early game, but his main use is to just drain all of you opponents to death. Combo this with any sack-outlet and reanimate (or just Gravedigger .

Expropriate - If you manage to get two turns from this, then it is nothing but value town!

Bojuka Bog - Someone’s yard getting a little crazy? BOOM!

Cabal Coffers - All the Manas! All you need is three swamps in play to make it worth.

Cavern of Souls - There really is no downside here.

Minamo, School at Water's Edge - Many ask about this inclusion. Although there are only a few legendry creatures in the list (which is honestly enough for me), there are also Phyrexian Tower and Volrath's Stronghold . On top of this, some of the zombies that The Scarab God eternalizes could be legendary.

Phyrexian Tower - Sack-outlet land that ramps!

Reliquary Tower and Thought Vessel - I like keeping my massive hand more of the time. It is not uncommon to have a full and in this deck because you opt to use the commander's ability.

Winding Canyons , Vedalken Orrery , and Leyline of Anticipation - With Flash available, you can play this like a real control deck. Passing turn with a ton of mana up and flash is a nightmare for your opponents. It can be control, or just a horde of zombies at instant speed. Plus you can just recast your commander before your upkeep to inflict a ton of damage out of nowhere! The options are limitless!

Dimir Signet , Sol Ring , Talisman of Dominance , Mana Crypt , and Mana Vault - Mana rocks!

Training Grounds - This effects several of my creatures, plus my commander. With all the mill, this card is a super-star.

Illusionist's Bracers - Broken with The Scarab God 's ability, two for one!!!

Paradox Haze - This seems amazing with The Scarab God , Endless Ranks of the Dead , and Phyrexian Arena , and a little scary with Graveborn Muse , lol.

Phyrexian Altar - . Although it might not fit in every one’s play-style, it is great for most. Although it is a great combo card, it also ramps, and protects your stuff from exile effects. This of course means no commander tax ever!

Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - This deck is running very few non-black permanents, making devotion an amazing thing!

Deck Tech

29 December 2018

Phenax was only ok most of the time. It also brought a ton of hate just sitting on the board. Josu is just to cool not to include I think.

After a ton suggestions, I am giving Noosegraf a shot!

Just wanted to try out Geth....

Removal for better-ish removal.

Market was good, but not amazing. I find that mastery has more of an effect on the board though.

I always found the Rooftop was dead most of the time. I was in need a useful board-wipe anyway.

One wincon out for a better one (and a whole lot more fun!)

Easy tutor upgrade!

I felt like more removal was needed after a bunch of playtesting. Tutoring was not really needed for a non-combo package.

Both removal cards, Lili is just more flexible.

Clear land upgrades!

31 December 2017

Although Victimize has a ton of potential, it has let me down way to often. My grave is normally empty due to our commander.

Dreamborn draws WAY to much hate! Fact or Fiction on the other hand makes your opponent feel like they have power... but they really don't! haha

Plunder ended up being a dud. Another board-wipe on the other hand was plenty needed.

Lich was another test that duded out. I am really excited to see how Expropriate plays out!

I found myself tired of drawing counters, but a cheep removal spell is normally pretty nice!

14 August 2017

The Altar for an Alter! Phyrexian Altar is pretty much an auto includes, but it took me a few weeks of play-testing to fully realize it. Although it might not fit in every one’s play-style, it is great for most. Although it is a great combo card, it also ramps, and protects your stuff from exile effects. This of course means no commander tax ever!

This deck is running very few non-black permanents, making devotion an amazing thing!

Summons is good on paper, but almost always underwhelming. Also, any blue/black player can tell you how nice it is to cast something from the graveyard. In playtesting, Plunder has won me several games.

Reaper is just a bad version of the commander's ability. Although not a zombie, that mill that comes with Dreamborn Muse is VERY valuable! I already lived the dream and won by kicking Rite of Replication on it... lol

Polluter ended up being VERY underwhelming also. Much better in 1v1 commander. Discovery on the other hand is likely the best tribal spell EVER printed!

I felt very counter heavy during my play testing. I also think the Lich is to cool not to at least give a chance!

Ranks ended up bring a deck card almost every time. I thought Horn was worth testing because it doubled as a mana rock and a potential draw spell. Hitting a draw about 1/3 of the time is not to bad for a rock! However, with The Scarab God 's scry ability, you will almost always hit a zombie!

22 July 2017

As many have stated, the Lantern is not really necessary in two color decks. Damnation will often fill the grave for The Scarab God

The high CMC of Overseer is a big factor. There are often a lot of other things I would want to do with that mana. Fleshbag on the other hand is amazing for 3 cmc.

Taking out the highest CMC, and worst Lord, for a zombie making machine! Although Alchemist hurts The Scarab God 's copy ablilty, it just wins games with his drain ability!

Deathmantle was a good concept, but never really panned out. Gempalm is really an instant speed wincon.

I will be keeping 4 mana up very often for The Scarab God 's ability. Being able to counter and use the ability is pretty amazing!

This deck was just really needing some removal, and this one is great!

Great suggestion from man1ac! It makes since to me!

1 July 2017

This is not the most exciting update, but I think it is needed. After playing a dozen games, I noticed that the deck was doing an amazing job keeping a full hand, but a horrible time generating mana. I am adding a few rocks and a couple swamps. Also, one more counter and Rings of Brighthearth (how did I miss the Ring??? It seems bonkers!)

Harvester was underwhelming, as many said. One thing I noticed after about a dozen games is that I struggle to get enough mana flowing to make a difference. Our commander is an AMAZING mana sink, so there is no such this as to much!

Ghast is not a zombie, and there is a not enough swamps to make it worth it.

Ghoul was also very underwhelming most of the time. While I really need mana to get the deck going.

Lili was not too bad, but not worth 5 mana. I found that I had a very full hand most of the time because I opted to use the commander’s ability, so no max hand-size is good.

Salvation was doing pretty good, sometimes… I am running a ton of utility lands, so map is amazing!

Lich and Geth are very similar… and worse than The Scarab God , not worth…

The worst Lord, and I found counterspells to be key in the deck!

Living End is flat out terrible in the deck… I am milling people, why did I not notice this earlier?! On top of that, Rings seems like an out include! I am really surprised that no one else notice how crazy this is with The Scarab God ’s ability! (There are also several other activated abilities in the list.

29 June 2017

Better land with no drawback.

Same as above.

I like how this mill ability is more focused on what I bring to the table, as well as actives off The Scarab God ’s ability!

The Whip will almost never be used for its activated ability, and I don’t think the Lifelink is enough to keep it in here. The mana fixing the Lantern proves makes it one of the best mana rocks in Commander.

After thinking about it, this seems like a pretty obvious change. I don’t normally want to see a boardwipe, but one that focuses on non-zombies seems really good. Sure, I might lose The Scarab God from time to time, but I imagine it will be worth it.

As I wrote the Primer, I noticed that this deck really had PLENTY of reanimation in it, so cutting one does not hurt. Haze seems amazing with The Scarab God , Endless Ranks of the Dead , and Phyrexian Arena , and a little scary with Graveborn Muse , lol.

Coming Soon!

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The Scarab God! Butts Up!!! (Budget Under $200)

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SCORE: 16 | 1 COMMENT | 1755 VIEWS | IN 9 FOLDERS

In ancient Egypt, the Scarab represented new creation and eternal life. When someone wore the famous Scarab amulet, it was said to protect them against immense evil.

The insect itself is a species of dung beetle. The process of rolling a ball of dung across the ground was paralleled to the movement of the sun across the sky (those Egyptians had quite the imagination). Additionally, the scarab often lays eggs in dead bodies, which was a symbol for life being created from dead matter.

Did anyone notice that The Scarab God 's head/butt is upside down and his butt is in the air???

If The Scarab God had a name, it could be Khepri, after the Egyptian God of the Rising Sun. Khepri represents rejuvenation, divine wisdom and immortality. Interesting enough, Egyptian mythology has a story about how the body of Khepri is divided and buried every night, just to be resurrected the next morning! Zombie parallels anyone?! Khepri gave the promise of a renewable life after death to all that follow him.

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Suggestions

Updates Add

2018 Update! 434 Votes! #16 EDH deck on Tappedout! — Dec. 30, 2018
Edit

I guess an annual upgrade seems fair! I wish I would update the list more often, but I have honestly played the deck less then a dozen times this year... who would think having kids would be so busy, lol. The deck is still a ton of fun when I have a chance to play it though!

What do you think about these changes?

Phenax was only ok most of the time. It also brought a ton of hate just sitting on the board. Josu is just to cool not to include I think.

After a ton suggestions, I am giving Noosegraf a shot!

Just wanted to try out Geth....

Removal for better-ish removal.

Market was good, but not amazing. I find that mastery has more of an effect on the board though.

I always found the Rooftop was dead most of the time. I was in need a useful board-wipe anyway.

One wincon out for a better one (and a whole lot more fun!)

Easy tutor upgrade!

I felt like more removal was needed after a bunch of playtesting. Tutoring was not really needed for a non-combo package.

Both removal cards, Lili is just more flexible.

Clear land upgrades!

Post-Play Testing! 292 Votes!!! — Dec. 31, 2017
Edit
C17 Update!!! 7 Big Changes! 212 Upvotes!!! — Aug. 14, 2017
Edit
Playtesting Changes! 164 Votes! #1 Zombie Deck!!! — July 22, 2017
Edit
After a TON of playtesting! 89 Votes!!! — July 1, 2017
Edit
Primer is LIVE!!! 66 Votes and Climbing! — June 29, 2017
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Revision 11 See all

(5 years ago)

-1 Eldrazi Monument maybe
-1 Grimgrin, Corpse-Born maybe
-1 Josu Vess, Lich Knight maybe
-1 Polluted Delta maybe
-1 Scroll Rack maybe
-1 Sheoldred, Whispering One maybe
Top Ranked
  • Achieved #1 position overall 7 years ago
Date added 7 years
Last updated 5 years
Legality

This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

13 - 0 Mythic Rares

50 - 0 Rares

20 - 0 Uncommons

4 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.48
Tokens Bird 2/2 U, Copy Clone, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie Knight 2/2 B, Zombie Wizard 1/1 UB
Folders good zombs, Need to playtest, Cool decks, U/B, Decks I play, Commander, Scarab God EDH, Commander Ideas, z, EDH Decks By Others
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