Absolutely BEAUTIFUL list. Well done! Have you considered Riftsweeper as an option for recovering flashbacked pieces should things go wrong?

CivilizedSin: Thank you bro! I spent more time on this list than all my other lists combined. It taught how to play cEDH. It will always be one of my favorite decks. I have not traditionally been a fan of Riftsweeper effects for this deck due to my concentration of win conditions but I will definitely consider it going forward

You've actually convinced me to update my Sidisi list to take this route. Currently I'm running the midrange horde-based strategy with some combos as backup, but this looks soul-crushing to play and I love it. I think I'll have to redirect some of the cards to a second Grimgrin, Corpse-Born EDH deck, but I thank you wholeheartedly for the inspiration.

You are most welcome :-)

And all you do is dread return witness, then cast the bastard for 10000 mana and kill everyone!!!

Yeah dude this is such a massive upgrade for 2 of my 3 combos. Having more slots available is exactly what this deck needed.

Alright, the primer is now updated to reflect this massive power boost.

In: Walking ballista; Carpet of Flowers; Nature's Claim; Mana Drain; Trinket Mage;

Out: Mikaeus, the Unhallowed; Triskelion; Tidespout Tyrant; Scroll Rack; Victimize

So basically I used my free spots for ramp and interaction. Trinket mage usually grabs mana crypt but it now also serves as a tutor for walking ballista. Scroll rack was cut because I have fewer dead cards in the build so less hand manipulation is needed However, I may add it back. I also would like Windfall or Timetwister

Thoughts on the changes and possible other improvements?

Honestly, I would likely leave Mike and Vicitimize in, and simply straight-replace the Trike: The Ballista still has infinite potential with Mike alone- The strength of the card allows it to fill a slot for BOTH combos, rather than just one, while being able to pitched from the hand for free.

Does it work with mike? Initially I thought it did but the +1/+1 he gives to non humans I think prevents it from being able to combo. Even if it does combo mik and trike was my 5th combo and I was desperately in need of less combo pieces and more interaction.

Nope it still works the same way it works with Trike (as Trike isn't a human either). Instead of removing all the counters to do damage straight to an opponents face, Trike would have to dedicate 2 of it's 3 (or 4) counters to dealing damage to itself. Ballista Walker will have to do the same with Mike on the board, but will only ever have to give up one counter to do so.

While interaction is nice, it's nicer if you're trying to push to late-game. If you're trying to go for a turn 3-5 win, I think everything should be devoted to that goal, with the option of flexing into a different combo if the opponent forces us to by removing a piece. Additionally, if this is meant to be a competitive 1v1 EDH deck, then it would have to abide by it's banlist, which means that things like Sol Ring and Mana Crypt could be replaced with the interaction you're looking for.

It doesn't work the same. It can't combo with mike because it comes back as a 1/1 with one counter. So it can ping itself to kill itself again but has no additional counters to hit other things. With a 3rd card (free sac outlet), it works. But why would you want that in this decks.

CivilizedSin: tw0handt0uch is right on this one. My additions directly relate to the early combo gameplan. Trinket mage is a tutor ramp/piece. Carpet of flowers provides tremendous ramp in blue heavy metas (which mine is), natures claim takes out threats to my gameplan like Null Rod and Rest in Peace for one mana so I can still be proactive, and mana drain disrupts then ramps for that early turn 3-4 win. Without enough interaction the deck becomes a glass cannon deck, that while explosive, is easily shut down.

Ah my apologies. I forgot to account for the additional counters Trike provides itself. You're both totally right! Thanks for the insight!

As for an answer to Rest in Peace (or Leyline of the Void or any other continuous grave-hate card), I found that the Food Chain combo with Altar of Dementia was a good answer.

Saccing sidisi with it?

Eternal Scourge. Which becomes exiled and therefore recast-able. Need Food Chain for the infinite mana first, but still a sneaky way around the graveyard hate by using it to your own advantage. Turning an opponents counter into your own wincon is always fun.

You guys seem to be forgetting for the Mike/Ballista combo, ballista has no toughness, ergo it doesn't need to shoot itself. Remove a counter, ability goes on the stack, state-based check, ballista dies. comes back with a +1/+1 counter due to mike. rinse and repeat till all are dead.

It gets a static 1 toughness from mike. You need a sac outlet to make the combo work with ballista. As for sac outlet altar of dementia could serve as a backup win condition with food chain and the mike and ballista combo but it would require some kind of overhaul to be worth it. Like an etb creature subtheme

ehh screw that. my bad.

No Misthollow griffen?

Nah. Food chain is one of 3 primary combos and is significantly worse than Eternal Scourge. In my dedicated FC deck I include it, but to limit dead cards I dont use griffin in this build. With all the creature tutors in the deck getting scourge is never the issue.

how is it significantly worse?

4 mana and color intensive for starters. Which means I cannot win the game on turn 3 with just a one drop dork in play. I also cannot reliably use mana vault to win on turn 3 either. Also drift of phantasms can tutor for both halves of eternal scourge+food chain and buried alive+death and I can eldritch evolution into eternal scourge on turn 2 to play turn 3 food chain ftw. None of these things are possible with griffin and the card is dead weight outside the combo

So I actually built a Food Chain deck finally. I ended up going 5c with Tazri. It is fast and gross. I love it.

Yeah Tazri is the gold standard for sure