It is the first time I am seeing this being used as a commander and it does look interesting. I see two viable options you might want to consider -first, add some speed by getting some dorks then go heavy on stax effects and creatures with flying; or try mixing stax and infect. Either ways, I think you'll end up with a faster and ultimately better deck.

Megalomania yeah I haven't seen too many lists for Mazirek, he's very underrated imo. The only problem is a rather slow early game, but I bet adding in the mana dorks will help smooth out the deck. Do you have any suggestions for what to take out for an Elvish Mystic and Llanowar Elves? Thanks for the suggestions!

It's hard to make cuts because all your creatures make sense. But if it were up to me, i'd start with Puppeteer Clique, The Gitrog Monster, and Phyrexian Plaguelord.

I'd then look into cutting some more cards and get some cheap creatures with infect. They ought to get the job done faster than turning fatties sideways the entire 40 life.

Phyrexian Reclamation is also a card you might want to consider using.

I agree with a majority of the cuts. Gitrog was mainly in there because he is a draw engine, but I do agree that he may end up being a dead draw most of the time. I also feel as though Creakwood Liege could be swapped out for an infect creature.

Speaking of infect, here are some of the infect creatures I found that are cheap CMC-wise:

• Ichorclaw Myr

• Plague Myr (doubles as a mana dork)

• Blight Mamba

• Plague Stinger

• Glistener Elf

Also some others that may also be good, but I'll consider for now:

• Flensermite

• Flesh-Eater Imp

Any thoughts on the two I'm considering for now? I know the others are rather good in this deck. :) I'll also consider some more staxy cards such as Smokestack for later on, any suggestions on some more stax-like effects, perhaps?

Tainted AEther seems like a card that would fit well in a deck like yours.

I think any cheap infect creatures, especially those with evasion, would work well enough. Tell me how things go. I really like the concept so here's an upvote for you.

Hahah I forgot about Tainted AEther. It's definitely gonna be going in because it's super good in this deck. I'll definitely keep the deck updated as time goes on. :) Thanks for the upvote!

Hey deck looks great, only have a couple cards I'd suggest keeping budget in mind: Mimic Vat for sure since it's just great in general. I'm a big fan of Vraska the Unseen and Deadbridge Chant in these colors as well. That's all I got :) best of luck

dlamars I like the sound of Mimic Vat, I'll definitely consider it. I was about to get a Vraska, actually. The only reason I didn't was because I wasn't able to trade for it. Deadbridge Chant definitely looks like a fun card. The only reason I'm a tad hesitant about it is because it might mill a rather important non-creature spell. However, I may change my mind about it in the future. :p Thanks for the suggestions and upvote!

Endless Cockroaches is a self-bouncing version of Reassembling Skeleton and my suggesting it is definitely not an indirect attempt on my behalf to turn your deck into an insect tribal deck.

Instead of Golgari Signet consider Rampant Growth as a less Vandalblastable mana source. You could also use a slightly more expensive one like Cultivate or Kodama's Reach but it might be a little riskier. Alternatively something like Expedition Map, Traveler's Amulet, or Wanderer's Twig as cards similar to Wayfarer's Bauble that would matter to your commander.

Deadbridge Chant is pretty fun but I had to take it out of my deck because the cost was very high for something that moves that slow and often gets destroyed quickly.

nobu_the_bard I actually like the idea of insect tribal, but there are not too many good insects to consider using for the deck and I'm also rather fond of the deck as it is now. :p However, I may consider Endless Cockroaches but right now I feel as though I'm fine on creatures to sac. Thanks for the suggestions and upvote!

I get what you guys are saying about Deadbridge Chant, in GB I just like a full graveyard. I mean even if it mills your best spell/creature or is blown up you have access to cards like Noxious Revival, Regrowth, Seasons Past and many more. Also Yawgmoth's Will and Genesis though they will cost you moolah. If you can avoid graveyard hate, every card in the yard is basically in your hand when you need it. Just my 2 cents :)

Triton

If you're looking for some insect tribal and are trying to stay in budget, you might want to consider Ant Queen she can make some nice insect fodder for you to kill off.

As for other sacrifice producers, I noticed you added From Beyond, but there's also Awakening Zone. Ophiomancer makes snakes; And Pawn of Ulamog is another budget option which gives you some insurance for creatures killed/sacrificed that gives you even more sacrifice fodder and mana on top of it.

I personally am not a fan of infect, but when on a budget, infect becomes a thing. So in that case a Blightsteel Colossus would be in order. instant game ender. I'm a HUGE fan of land. Without it you can't do anything. So my personal rule of thumb is 36-37 minimum. Could add something like Strip Mine (about $5), Kor Haven (about the same). On a budget you can use cards that have transmute instead of tutoring. I know the exact card name suggestions would be better, but I can't think of any off the top of my head. In this type of sacrifice deck Smokestack would be an ace. it should be in the main board.

guardianhunter19 I've had Awakening Zone in the deck for a bit, but had to take it out for budget reasons. Pawn of Ulamog was in the deck, but I took it out for Sifter of Skulls, but I think both can be ran. :)

DasTree I would include Blightsteel Colossus, but he's a bit too expensive both $$-wise and mana-wise. I'm honestly tempted to switch to combo with this deck since infect is pretty degenerate haha. I do know so pretty darn good transmute cards that synergize other than being a transmute card. Smokestack is amazing! I definitely agree it's an of course, and not a maybe. It's just out of my budget at the moment. :( I also realized that this deck is one land off right after making the original list haha. Cutting a card for the extra land should be easy for me.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Sorry bout that. I really didn't check the price on Blightsteel. Yeah I can see that he is just a smidge over budget for this build. lol Skyshroud Claim is also a good addition in most green decks as well.

All good haha, it happens a lot to me too. :p I'll be checking out other Mazirek lists for inspiration. Thanks for the suggestion!

Have you thought about more lands that sacrifice? Like Jund Panorama, Crystal Vein, Foundry of the Consuls, Spawning Bed, and of course any black/green fetch land you can afford/trade for.

If you want to check out my version it's

Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest (budget)

Commander / EDH hoardofnotions

SCORE: 1 | 272 VIEWS

hoardofnotions I have considered using Jund Panorama and other lands that sac for benefits, it's just a matter of acquiring the lands. I'll definitely take a look at your deck for ideas, thanks for the suggestions!

Tainted AEther makes me think of Genesis Chamber. Maybe you can find a way to squeeze one in so you can have more dudes. It's lateral in the fact that it gives your opponents guys but if they don't have a way to utilize them like you do, you would come out on top of that trade.

KroggandMohawk (long time no see haha) I think Genesis Chamber is a pretty nifty card, and I can see myself getting value out of it by casting a creature after casting it. I'll take it into consideration, thanks!

Triton I didn't realize that two of the decks I commented on were both yours. Good to see you again.

You're trying to build a deck that Mazirek shouldn't be the Commander of. It looks like you're trying to do some kind of BG Control deck (with all the sacrifice effects).

Mazirek is a mid-power combo Commander. If you want a controlling deck with a reanimation theme, do Meren of Clan of Nel Toth as Commander. For this comment, however, I'm going to be recommending cards to make this into a decent Mazirek deck, not a shoehorned control deck.

Run Persist creatures and sacrifice outlets. Rendclaw Trow, Woodfall Primus are perfect for this deck because, depending on the sac outlet, you get to do the effects as many times as you wish if you control Mazirek because +1/+1 counters and -1/-1 counters cancel one another out (you will control both Mazirek's and the Persist trigger and they trigger simultaneously, and can stack them in any way you choose. Simply put Mazirek's trigger on the stack first, so the Persist trigger resolves first).

For example: Ashnod's Altar, Rendclaw Trow and Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest gives all of your creatures as many +1/+1 counters as you want and also gives infinite colorless mana. Primus lets you destroy everything and gain infinite mana while doing so. Clique lets you steal everything from graveyards, get infinite mana, and then swing with all of those creatures. I see you're already running Clique, but no mana-less sac outlets that are repeatable outside of Viscera Seer- that should probably change.

Nim Deathmantle is another card to run alongside Ashnod's Altar. It'll let you use the ETB of any token producing creature of yours multiple times. So, for example, if you cast and sacrifice Hornet Queen and one of its tokens to the Altar, you can pay 4 mana to bring it back and net-gain 3 tokens, and the original tokens get +1/+1 counters. Ergo, this cycle gets you infinite tokens and +X/+X where X is any number you choose. Catacomb Sifter, for example, could produce this 4 mana by itself and its token and let you scry through your whole library until you hit exactly what you want.

Suggested budget sac outlets:

Ashnod's Altar, Altar of Dementia, Vampiric Rites (not the greatest, but it does draw cards so I figure it's at least worth bringing up). Dimir House Guard also isn't bad since it can be a sac outlet when you need it, or you can use it to tutor out draw cards (in Smothering Abomination/Reprocess), token producers (Sifter or Liege), Savra, Corpsejack, etc..

Grasslands might be better than a tapped land in your mana base as it can grab your Overgrown Tomb and give your creatures +1/+1 counters.

Nature's Lore could be a good option. Pretty cheap if you select the right version (the Fifth Edition version is $.79), and is something I'd run before Primal Growth since it grabs Overgrown Tomb and essentially only costs G since the land comes in untapped- more flexibility in exchange for not getting a single +1/+1 counter if you have creatures. Also, Gyre Sage would probably be a lot more impressive than Fertilid here.

Deathreap Ritual is okay, but wouldn't Armorcraft Judge be a better choice if you have your sac outlets up and running? 1 card per each turn seems harder for this deck to do vs getting 1 sacrifice effect on your own turn and then drawing cards equal to the number of creatures you control.

Suggested cuts:

Anowon the Ruin Sage out, Woodfall Primus in. Primus is expensive, but there's a vast difference between these two cards: Primus ends the game in conjunction with Mazirek and any mana less sac outlet (hell, half the time he can end the game with something like Evolutionary Leap so long as you have enough mana!), while Anowon... doesn't. He's a worse Archfiend of Depravity if people have 3 or more creatures.

Really not a fan of Smokestack here. You don't have the cards necessary to truly take advantage of it and I can see it leaving you out in the cold pretty often, at least compared to Commanders that more easily support the long game vs comboing out and just killing everybody.

I feel like you could easily do better than Ophiomancer and Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, and more sac outlets would help than marginal token gains every so often. One or two big token producers seems much more beneficial for this deck than small ones like these. Avenger of Zendikar, Hornet Queen, etc., while more expensive would be capable of ending the game by establishing a loop and a fair number of tokens.

Once you are capable of establishing your own loops with mana-less sac outlets, Reaper will be less beneficial than Catacomb Sifter, so I feel you'd be okay in dropping Reaper.

Drop a land for Grasslands.

So I think you could add Woodfall Primus, Ashnod's Altar, Nim Deathmantle, Vampiric Rites/Dimir House Guard, Avenger of Zendikar or Hornet Queen, and then Grasslands.

I think it'd make your deck pop a lot better since you could just combo out and kill everybody instead of having to play this long, staxxy game with a Commander that doesn't lend himself well to Stax. If you're wanting to keep the deck as-is, Meren, Clan of Nel Toth works a lot better with your current cards.

PookandPie thanks for all the suggestions! I'll definitely implement them into the deck. So going from the top down,

I actually added in Primus relatively recently, but I'll add in the Trow for more persist creatures.

I do have Ashnod's Altar and Nim Deathmantle on hand currently, but they are being used in another deck. I could most likely buy/trade for them later on, and if not probably just add them in haha.

Been meaning to put in Dimir House Guard actually, but probably forgot to haha. He's definitely very versatile in this deck, so I'll add him in.

As you might've known already, I did have Hornet Queen in the deck at one point, but that was when I was focusing on just the stax, so she could warrant a space with the Ashnod's Altar + Nim Deathmantle combo. Also have Avenger of Zendikar in another deck too, but I can probably just order that along with others when I get the chance.

Nissa I have no hard feelings about cutting, since she is mediocre in this deck. Same goes with Reaper and Anowon.

As for sac outlets, Altar of Dementia actually seems pretty spicy in here, but as you stated, Vampiric Rites is rather mana-intensive.

Also, is Avatar of the Resolute an upgrade from Armorcraft Judge? I'd happily make the swap from Deathreap Ritual, however.

I probably missed a few, but I will implement a majority if not all of the suggestions. Thanks once again!

Armorcraft Judge is strictly better because it draws you cards instead of just growing your army that might just die to a board wipe on consecutive turns. As far as these suggestions go, I think they are pretty solid. I noticed, however, that you mentioned you run a lot of those cards in other decks you own. I, for one, like my commander decks to be unique in the sense that they aren't just the same deck with different colors to back up the same foundation of cards. Just a suggestion so you don't get bored with your decks.