KroggandMohawk I forgot Avatar's effect and reread it as soon as I was done typing the response. I do agree in the sense that I enjoy diversifying my decks, so I may change up some cards so that as you said, I'm not playing the same deck every time (I have Breya for pure combo haha). Thanks for the upvote!

OK commenting assuming the change to Meren is the end product:

suggestions: Birthing Pod, grave recursion, Altar of Dementia, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Cabal Coffers, Phyrexian Arena, stax pieces (winter orb/static orb/etc), seedborn muse, more tutors and anti grave hate

For either deck, the priority I feel should lie with: tutors, urborg, cabal coffers, seedborn, phyrexian arena, altar, stax pieces, pod but up to you.

You could try swapping Rendclaw Trow for Aerie Ouphes, this way you don't need another card to combo out and it clears the way for your commander to get somebody. And it's not a completely useless card when used normally.

Maybe swap out Treasured Find for Regrowth. I've found success with Foundry of the Consuls and Spawning Bed as well. Also Tireless Tracker is awesome, and more synergy with Ulvenwald Mysteries

chaosumbreon87 I'm not gonna be swapping to Meren because I dislike switching commanders (even though I have swapped commanders before), and I also don't like a super overused commander, and Meren is the queen of that. No hate on Meren however, I have a playgroup member with Meren and it's very potent. Most of the cards like expensive tutors, Urborg and Coffers are out of my budget at the moment.

hoardofnotions I could make the swap for Aerie Ouphes, but most of my 5-drops are rather impactful on the board (e.g Archfiend of Depravity, Dictate of Erebos, etc.), I will, however, consider making the swap. :) As for the lands, I think Spawning Bed synergizes best, so I'll add it in. As for Regrowth, I'll add it in if I do ever get it.

Thanks for the input!

Pawn of Ulamog is a cheaper Sifter of Skulls. I think Blood Artist is a better Zulaport Cutthroat, creatures across the board are going to die and you get to benefit from it. Buried Ruin is a cool land that can get back Smokestack with. If you're still planning on adding Ashnod's Altar you could also run Animation Module as another infinite combo, with Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest and another creature. Also if you're doing Stax stuff, having all the possible grave pact effects sounds good. Adding Dictate of Erebos adds redundancy.

sorry meant adding Grave Pact adds redundancy, also Butcher of Malakir does too

hoardofnotions I think I'll be able to make room for the two creatures, definitely Pawn of Ulamog. I also like Buried Ruin, but I'm using it in Breya at the moment. Getting another is no biggie.

I'll most likely be getting an Ashnod's Altar for the deck too, so I'll consider using Animation Module. Already have Dictate and the Butcher, Grave Pact is a card I'm looking to get in the future due to budget constraints.

also if you should change Reyhan, Last of the Abzan to foil so tappedout can get the price.

Oooh, never really knew that, thanks for the catch!

You already have The Gitrog Monster and are adding Sylvan Safekeeper... but not Titania, Protector of Argoth with it? also ... no Meren of Clan Nel Toth ? or you have that in a different deck or something ? after lowering the curve to mostly 5 and under... you might be able to drop one land....and perhaps Killing Wave instead of Innocent Blood ?

idk... looks pretty good though +1, gl & hf.

Hey Triton, i have a Mazirek deck I've been working on you might like to look at. I have everything custom categorized... I actually just ordered a dozen or so of the cards in the maybe board, so i know a bunch of cards will upgrade soon. Including Brindle Shoat, Qarsi High Priest, Genesis Chamber and Perilous Forays... As far as big picture stuff, i think you could run some more mass resurrection spells like Rise of the Dark Realms (You know how hungry this deck gets, by mid game the grave is stacked.) Maybe more premium sacrifice fodder like Hooded Hydra & Hangarback Walker. Manifests are super great too, especially with Whisperwood Elemental. Personally i haven't had success with decimator, and its ability overlaps with the commander too much for me (i know trample matters but Tuskguard Captain can do that for cheapo, and I'm underwhelmed by that idea too). Also in my description i talk about the way the deck plays out best for me. I don't want to burn all his best fuel up without getting enough value. I always save Mazirek until I'm going to go big and hopefully win right away. There are so many sacrifice effects that can happen in one turn for no mana, you can catch people off guard. Happy gathering.

Come Drink the Kool-aid with the Cult of Mazirek!

Commander / EDH Rzepkanut

SCORE: 2 | 559 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER

You mentioned Decimator of the Provinces as another win-con for your deck, however 10 mana does not really seem feasible for a pseudo-stax deck. My suggestion to you would be to use Natural Order and Craterhoof Behemoth instead. As for other suggestions:

1. Eldritch Evolution seems like a good fit for the deck due to the fact that it tutors and is a sac outlet.

2. Pox seems like it should definitely have a place in this deck.

3. I am surprised to see Birds of Paradise missing from the deck as it is one of the best early game ramp creatures.

4. Regrowth is just better than Treasured Find.

5. Your mana base is very greedy with the amount of colorless and ETB tapped lands you have.

6. Contamination combo's with Reassembling Skeleton and allows you to lock down the game when you need to.

7. Slum Reaper provides another repetitive ETB sac a creature effect that you are looking for.

8. I've found that including Carpet of Flowers in all of my green decks helps me during the early game as well as allows me to fight through counter magic.

9. Stax wants cheap cards because you do not want to suffer at the hands of your own mana denial, therefore I believe Greenwarden of Murasa would be better off as Eternal Witness and Acidic Slime would be better off as Reclamation Sage.

Hope this helps!

Forgot something...10. Things like Skullclamp, Harmonize, Night's Whisper, Necropotence, Ancient Craving, or Phyrexian Arena should be considered in order to allow your deck to be more consistent and maintain card advantage throughout the course of a game.

joshuaizac I have Titania in my Omnath deck, she's a very good card to have, however and maybe later I may consider getting another for this deck. Meren I decided to opt out on because I feel as though she is better as the commander in her own deck rather than in the 99 due to only her benefitting from the experience counter mechanic. I've been considering Killing Wave, and I might as well add it in because it is a neat sacrifice engine.

Rzepkanut I personally have mixed feelings about Manifests due to the RnG nature and not having many draw filters. Whisperwood Elemental is really good against boardwipes, so I may consider at least him since this deck crumbles to boardwipes, plus you can get pseudo-card advantage with the manifestation so I'll put him in the maybeboard. I think mass-resurrection spells would be awesome, but Rise of the Dark Realms has a casting cost of 9, which is really high for this low-to-the-ground deck as far as CMC goes. I'll definitely check out your take on Mazirek when I get the chance to.

JaceTheSwagSculptor I think all your suggestions are great! The problem is acquiring the cards like Eternal Witness (Really want a Contamination too!), but I'll keep them in the maybeboard for now. I also really want Phyrexian Arena for this deck (and others too haha), but I have Ambition's Cost, which is just Ancient Craving with a different name.

Thanks for all the great suggestions (and upvote)!

Pathbreaker Ibex is another suggestion I thought of. It's not as powerful as Craterhoof Behemoth yet more reasonably costed than Decimator of the Provinces, however it can definitely close out games with a large Mazirek on board.

I like the idea, I'll consider it since outside of some cards that I just need to swap more efficient ones in for, I don't really know what to take out for it. Thanks for the suggestion!

Here are my opinions on your maybeboard + the Ibex, then...(of course yourself and other commenters may feel differently)

1. Altar of Dementia - Not worth it unless you are doing something with your graveyard or plan to infinite combo with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Woodfall Primus.

2. Animation Module - I'd probably just use the poor man's Doubling Season instead, Primal Vigor. Replacement: Killing Wave as the effect is not powerful enough due to the main effect - sacrificing creatures - is not guaranteed.

3. Ashnod's Altar - This one has more utility than aforementioned altar. Replacement: Golgari Charm - The effects all seem okay on the charm, but not great.

4. Birds of Paradise - This was my suggestion. I do not think this card needs much of an explanation as to why it is amazing. Replacement: Wayfarer's Bauble - Honestly birds is just a more effective ramp card than the bauble.

5. Blood Artist - Not worth it as most of the time you are going to be playing multiplayer and since you are not going infinite I do not see a need for this repetitive effect.

6. Contamination - Great lock down for late game. Replacement: Either Mind Stone or the remaining between Harrow and Primal Growth.

7. Eldritch Evolution - Already explained this in my OP. Replacement: Reprocess - Evolution is going to generate you advantage whether Mazirek is on board or not. You want consistency and Reprocess is not consistent.

8. Eternal Witness - As I mentioned previously, this should replace the Greenwarden.

9. Grasslands - You really do not need to be adding more tapped lands to your mana base.

10. Grave Pact - Strong effect to make your opponents also suffer when you lose a creature. Replacement: The Gitrog Monster - you do not have the proper deck construction to support this card. Sure losing lands for card advantage for a little while is okay, but when you stop drawing lands or do not have a Crucible of Worlds/Life from the Loam it begins to become painful. Plus there are better ways to generate advantage that we are trying to add to the deck.

11. Night's Whisper - Card advantage. Replacement: Harrow/Primal Growth - Small advantage for ramp that you honestly do not need with your top end being around 6 cmc.

12. Pathbreaker Ibex - Great win condition when you are not willing to shell out the $20 for Craterhoof Behemoth. Replacement: Woodfall Primus - Again you do not really want 8 CMC cards in your stax deck. You have tons of "get rid of artifact/enchantment cards". Primus is fantastic if you combo with him, but not necessary especially for stax.

13. Phyrexian Arena - Fantastic card advantage engine for black. Replacement: Ulvenwald Mysteries - Slow card advantage engine that is not guaranteed. It also has the additional disadvantage of specifying "non-token".

14. Pox - Great late game card similar to Death Cloud that is going to cement your win. Replacement: Puppeteer Clique - I personally never like relying on my opponent's cards as the potential upside of using this card will vary greatly depending on what went to the graveyard.

15. Skullclamp - Great card advantage while killing off your tokens. Replacement: Nihil Spellbomb - For graveyard hate you are just better off using Bojuka Bog instead of a Swamp. On average you have so many token generators that Skullclamp is going to net you more cards leaving the field anyways with the addition of card advantage.

16. Slum Reaper - Again, I mentioned this in my OP. Replacement: Gyre Sage - This card is too slow and even requires you to have other creatures before it even generates advantage. We are not playing RTR limited anymore, there are better cards in this format. That aside the interaction with Mazirek is cute, but not good enough to warrant a spot.

17. Whisperwood Elemental - Provides card advantage and since most of your cards are permanents it seems worth it. Replacement: Savra, Queen of the Golgari - Her effect is not potent enough to warrant a spot in the 99.

Other changes I would make...

1. Tribute to the Wild -> Abrupt Decay - Honestly Abrupt Decay is one of the most criminally underplayed cards in EDH and it has soooo many viable targets. Bottom line is that I always want to choose what I get rid of on my opponent's board even if it means losing some advantage with Mazirek.

2. Putrefy -> Maelstrom Pulse - This is the same card except more versatile.

3. Krosan Grip -> Unravel the Aether - This is personal preference, but I find that not allowing players to have the ability to just Regrowth back their artifact/enchantment is much more prominent than the need "instantly" destroy it.

If you ever come across the money don't hesitate to get the Craterhoof Behemoth and Natural Order. I'm sure there are also a bunch of other tutors that I could suggest that are really expensive (cough...cough... Demonic Tutor), but I'm sureyour already well aware of how good those cards are.

Nonetheless, hope I was of some help and GL on improving your deck!

Edit: I did not realize how expensive Primal Vigor is, so Hardened Scales is a more reasonable budget option.

JaceTheSwagSculptor I appreciate all the suggestions! I'll add them in accordingly. Once again, thanks for all your help!

I was afraid I was imposing too much. I'm glad you appreciate it.

All good, I'm usually very open to advice and modify the deck the best to my ability. I actually managed to pick up several of the cards today.

Do you think Dark Ritual would be good in this deck? I use some cards like Pox, and it has potential as ramp. I was told that it's usually only good in generating a storm club but I want to hear more opinions on the card since I think the card has potential to be good in this deck.

I would not recommend it unless you feel there is a card your really want to be getting down early game. Your ideal play with it would be something like Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual/Sol Ring, play Smokestack, place soot counter, and then play a token generator. This would pretty much ensure that your opponents never get to play magic. This play will probably only happen once in a blue moon and for that reason I cannot recommend rituals for this deck.

If you are having trouble producing triple black then you should either cut the cards from your deck that require it or adjust your mana base as I previously suggested.

On a side note I really wish Bitterblossom was less expensive. It would be fantastic in this deck.

Alright, thanks!

Alright, I've been testing this deck, and I was suggested more token producers (also through testing I wish I had more token producing cards). Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder was recommended, are there any other relatively cheap ones that would help make the stax effects more one-sided?