Grimgrin and his Shambling Charlatans

Commander / EDH Budget UB (Dimir)

xephslayer

Creature (17)

• 1x Avatar of Woe
• 1x Beguiler of Wills
• 1x Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip
• 1x Callous Oppressor
• 1x Cemetery Reaper
• 1x Cytoplast Manipulator
• 1x Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Gravecrawler
• 1x Havengul Lich
• 1x Necrotic Ooze
• 1x Overtaker
• 1x Reef Worm
• 1x Roil Elemental
• 1x Skirsdag High Priest
• 1x Sower of Temptation
• 1x Thalakos Deceiver

Land (37)

• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dimir Guildgate
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 14x Island
• 1x Jwar Isle Refuge
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 14x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Isle
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Watery Grave

Enchantment (9)

• 1x Chamber of Manipulation
• 1x Control Magic
• 1x Curse of Shallow Graves
• 1x Domestication
• 1x Legacy's Allure
• 1x Mind Control
• 1x Pemmin's Aura
• 1x Rooftop Storm
• 1x Sleeper's Robe

Artifact (11)

• 1x Champion's Helm
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Glaring Spotlight
• 1x Grimoire of the Dead
• 1x Mask of Riddles
• 1x Mimic Vat
• 1x Neurok Stealthsuit
• 1x O-Naginata
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Sword of Vengeance
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Instant (21)

• 1x Cancel
• 1x Condescend
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Dash Hopes
• 1x Dissipate
• 1x Dominate
• 1x Domineering Will
• 1x Doom Blade
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Mana Leak
• 1x Murder
• 1x Pongify
• 1x Power Sink
• 1x Rapid Hybridization
• 1x Ray of Command
• 1x Spinal Embrace
• 1x Syncopate
• 1x Tragic Slip
• 1x Treacherous Urge
• 1x Turn Aside
• 1x Victim of Night

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Do or Die
• 1x Gruesome Encore
• 1x Ritual of the Machine
• 1x Syphon Flesh

Commander (1)

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Maybeboard

Creature (8)

• 1x Diregraf Captain
• 1x Dominating Licid
• 1x Dread
• 1x Geth, Lord of the Vault
• 1x Keiga, the Tide Star
• 1x Meloku the Clouded Mirror
• 1x Memnarch
• 1x Wall of Kelp

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Followed Footsteps
• 1x Mirror Mockery
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Necromancy

Artifact (2)

• 1x Torpor Orb
• 1x Trading Post

Instant (3)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Domineering Will
• 1x Grim Return

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While building this deck, I strived to create a budget Grimgrin deck that was not just another zombie tribal with blue lands for the commander. What I wanted was a deck that focused on the commander first and plays to his strengths.

The blue in the deck contributes to the control aspects of this deck with spells like Counterspell and Mana Leak for counterspells. Blue has a surprising amount of removal, like Pongify and Rapid Hybridization to contribute to the control aspects of this deck.

The black contributes to many things. One aspect of this is boosting and providing renewable sacrifice for Grimgrin, with zombie tribal stuff a la Cemetery Reaper, Gravecrawler, Rooftop Storm, and Curse of Shallow Graves. The black also allows me to take advantage of the graveyard to provide sacrifices among other things with cards like Necrotic Ooze, Gruesome Encore , Treacherous Urge. Then there is obligatory removal spells, Tragic Slip, Go for the Throat, and Doom Blade among others.

Then theres protection with the mandatory artifacts, (you know what they are, Im not listing them) and some UB exclusives Sleeper's Robe and Neurok Stealthsuit . There is also spells that is used to give Grimgrin evasion Whispersilk Cloak and Rogue's Passage among other things.

The original build for this deck were cheap token producers that could feed Grimgrin. There are remnants of that deck in the form of Wall of Kelp and Bloodline Keeper   and others. This deck would get trashed on almost every game because the deck could not function without my commander in play.

I was struggling on how to make the deck more effective without losing focus. Someone from my playgroup recommended that I try cards such as Control Magic and Mind Control. Further research into these types of mind control cards led me to an unexplored possibility and cards that were affordable and cheap, cards such as Callous Oppressor and Thalakos Deceiver . The deck is much more versatile and fun to play because of this change, but I believe the deck can be even better.

I havent been keeping up with the recent sets, ie the new m15 and the Khans of Tarkir set. I was wondering if there were any more cards that would fit this theme and all suggestions will be considered.

Date added	10 years
Last updated	9 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 26 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.16
Tokens	Ape 3/3 G, Copy Clone, Demon 5/5 B, Fish 3/3 U, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, Kraken 9/9 U, Thrull 1/1 B, Vampire 2/2 B, Whale 6/6 U, Zombie 2/2 B