This Aristocrats-style deck is (at least trying to be) a midrange deck based around getting value from your own creatures' deaths. There are lots of effects that trigger off of or require its own deaths, plus creatures with afterlife or who otherwise don't really mind dying, and multiple ways to bring them back from the graveyard for more.
Hunted Witness
and
Gutterbones
are two excellent 1-drops that both are great, cheap death fodder. I originally played around with using
Reassembling Skeleton
instead of Gutterbones but the 2-drop slot was already clogged enough, and being able to bust out Gutterbones on turn 1 was really valuable. Gutterbones also fits perfectly with
Priest of Forgotten Gods
- he needs 2 mana and your opponent to take damage in order to bring him back, and Priest handles both of those. Usually the extra mana can be spent on something better, but it's nice to know that Gutterbones means you always have an outlet for that mana, no matter what. Hunted Witness is also a great target for
Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord
to bring back; spending only 1 loyalty counter for effectively 2 chump blockers is a no brainer if Sorin is under attack.
The 2 drops are the stars of this deck.
Cruel Celebrant
is just amazing, and if it remains on the board it can single handedly win games by just generating massive amounts of value over time.
Priest of Forgotten Gods
is also a powerhouse if the enemy doesn't take care of it quickly - it removes enemy creatures, draws cards, AND gives mana, potentially enabling a turn 4
Liliana, Dreadhorde General
if all the pieces fall together properly. IMO both of these cards are 4-ofs in this deck no matter what.
Lazotep Reaver
is basically just filler to be sacrificed, I think it could be worth replacing with the
Orzhov Enforcer
s in the sideboard for the deathtouch in matchups where that would help you trade up (e.g. against green stompy), or could be replaced with
Tithe Taker
against instant-heavy opponents. But as a default choice, gaining 2 bodies at once for only 2 mana is great value, and can potentially combo extremely well with Priest of the Forgotten Gods.
Revival / Revenge
is the first of the recursion tools in this deck - almost all of the creatures in this deck fall under the 3 CMC or less restriction of Revival, and being able to bring back a Lazotep Reaver as Priest fuel, or bring back a
Plaguecrafter
to kill a big creature or planeswalker can be a game changer. And if the game goes long enough to get off a Revenge the results are just hilarious.
Midnight Reaper
and
Plaguecrafter
are two solid 3-drops - the card draw from Midnight Reaper is amazing, and if a Cruel Celebrant is out the self damage gets negated. Plaguecrafter is fantastic for forcing a sacrifice, especially when Revival or Sorin means it can be brought back on demand.
Mortify
and
Oath of Kaya
both act as removal, with Oath of Kaya's permanent effect sometimes being really useful in specific matchups. Against enchantment heavy decks more Mortifies should be sideboarded in, and the number of Oath of Kayas can be adjusted based on how many good targets there are for its 3 damage nuke - if you can bring it in and take out a Thief of Sanity, Steam-Kin, or other high value target, the value is huge.
Seraph of the Scales
is just great. A 4 power flier for 4 mana is already a good deal, being able to give itself vigilance and/or deathtouch is amazing, and the afterlife 2 makes it fit into this deck really well - even if it gets nuked instantly, you're still getting two more bodies out of it. And if Sorin is on the board as well, having a 4 power flier with vigilance and lifelink is just insane. Love this card.
Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord
is a beast and I honestly think maybe he should be bumped up to 3 or 4 copies. The lifelink is great and gives this deck a good amount of longevity, especially against something like RDW or any other creature based deck. And the ability to bring back creatures from the graveyard is amazing. 10/10 planeswalker, should probably include more, just not sure what to swap out - maybe we can survive with 3 Lazotep Reavers instead of 4, especially since another Sorin would help bring back the ones that have already died.
God-Eternal Oketra
just provides good value at the higher end of the mana curve. The 4/4 vigilance zombies are just even more bodies to fill out the field - if you manage to get a few of those out then the game is basically won. I experimented with
God-Eternal Bontu
as well because I thought the sacrifice effect would be good, but it feels like a "win-more" kind of thing - if you have enough permanents on the field that you're willing to sacrifice a few, you're probably already ahead anyway. Oketra, on the other hand, helps to CREATE permanents instead of destroying them, which is great fuel for this deck. But I could potentially be convinced to take this out, it's kind of just a "good stuff" card.
Liliana, Dreadhorde General
is just a fantastic planeswalker, and if you can get her out she is a huge threat. Even if the opponent has some way of dealing with her, creating a few more zombies or just coming out and instantly nuking two enemy creatures can be very valuable, plus her passive is just too amazing in this deck to not include her. Maybe against super quick aggro decks she can be sideboarded out, but otherwise I love her.
Bolas's Citadel
is just too fun to exclude. This deck isn't built around it as much as the Golgari exploring Citadel deck, but we've got enough lifegain to support it. It's definitely situational, but this card is completely capable of turning a seemingly hopeless game into a crushing victory in a single turn.
Blast Zone
has also saved my ass a few times. The fact that it hits your permanents too isn't even really a downside in this deck - I've won games by activating Blast Zone when I have Cruel Celebrants on the board for big damage.
This deck does have a few big weaknesses - exile effects completely neutralize the entire gameplan, and getting hit by one well placed
Cry of the Carnarium
can basically just be game over. That's why
Duress
is a 4-of in the sideboard, and if you see your opponent playing black, always be aware of the possibility of a Cry. Red decks can also easily dismantle our plans, since most of our creatures just die to Shock, and quickly taking out Priests of the Forgotten Gods or Cruel Celebrants before they have a chance to do anything can set us back easily. But if we get ahead and establish good board presence, this deck can be an absolute blast.
Kaya's Wrath
would also probably be a great addition to the sideboard, since decks that go extremely wide don't really care about being forced to sacrifice things, but I don't have those yet.
