Hey everyone, This is my Grimgrin, Corpse-Born EDH deck. The deck is a predominantly zombie tribal deck with reanimation and combo as the main themes; reanimation receiving a complementary semi self-mill sub-theme for advantage (See Buried Alive, Intuition, etc). The main win cons of the deck are the combos listed below, beat down by either a very large Grimgrin or even Grave Titan, or swarm / advantage through reanimation / mass reanimation and tokens. There is also a semi-control portion of the deck, exemplified by the various board wipes and and other removal spells. So please, without further ado, Grimgrin, Corpse-Born:
General:
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born: The general of our zombie horde; Grimgrin is capable of inflicting massive damage to opponents due to his ability to destroy target creatures, swinging for large amounts of damage, and getting even bigger to that effect. Grimgrin has a lot of synergy with the rest of the deck, gaining benefits from other cards, or aiding in the completion of certain combos within the deck. Please read the description of the below cards to see the interactions that he is capable of.
Creature:
1x
Cemetery Reaper
: Cheap, and buffs all other zombies. Besides this, Cemetery Reaper can create tokens to feed Grimgrin, and acts as a form of graveyard hate, because he can remove creatures from opponents graveyards to do this. Synergistic with Altar of Dementia, because whatever is put into a graveyard from it instantly becomes a target for Cemetery Reaper.
1x ]]Crypt Ghast]]: Advantage, pure and simple. Capable of generating massive amounts of mana, especially with Urborg and Cabal Coffers, and also acts as an excellent recursion target for a variety of your reanimator spells.
1x Death Baron: In full honesty, hes really here because he fits the tribal theme. However, giving deathtouch to all zombies and skeletons is a great boon; certainly a more efficient pick over Undead Warchief.
1x Diregraf Captain: One of the best cards in the deck due to his third ability and being an essential combo piece. Diregraf Captain combos with Gravecrawler + Rooftop Storm + Grimgrin, as well as Gravecrawler + Phyrexian Altar. Interchangeable with Vengeful Dead, but more cost effective.
1x Evil Twin: Value: copy opponent creatures, or creatures you control, such as Grave Titan or Nirkana Revenant.
1x Fatestitcher: Fatestitcher is capable of untapping Grimgrin, and fits in perfectly with the tribal theme. On top of that, he can act as disruption, tapping opponents creatures, even from the grave. Decent recursion target for Phyrexian Reclamation and Oversold Cemetery.
1x Fleshbag Marauder: Excellent source of removal that is completely synergistic with cards like Mikaeus, Phyrexian Reclamation, Oversold Cemetery, Unholy Grotto, Lord of the Undead, and Havengul Lich to consistently abuse.
1x Geth, Lord of the Vault: Good at taking powerful or useful cards from your opponents graveyards, and keeping them full. Synergistic with Altar of Dementia: reanimate opponents creature, sacrifice it, rinse and repeat.
1x Grave Titan: An absolute bomb that has won several games, Grave Titans ability to make a powerful army in short time is uncanny. Grave Titan gains much utility from the lords of the deck, and can consistently feed Grimgrin. Slap on a pair of Boots, or drop Eldrazi Monument to make him even deadlier. Also an excellent recursion/reanimation target.
1x
Graveborn Muse
: Phyrexian Arena on a body with the ability to generate more card advantage. Works well with token generators such as Grave Titan, Undead Alchemist, and Army of the Damned. Be warned though: if left unchecked, she can result in serious disadvantage, or even cause you to lose the game. Always have an out with her, such as a sac outlet, but otherwise, if necessary, a good recursion / reanimation target.
1x Gravecrawler: One of the decks shining stars, Gravecrawler is Grimgrins absolute best friend, being capable of beefing him up substantially with enough mana: enough to win the game. Combos with Rooftop Storm for infinite recursion to either grow Grimgrin to gigantic proportions, or to combo out with Diregraf Captain / Vengeful Dead, or even with Altar of Dementia. Also Combos with Phyrexian Altar + Diregraf Captain / Vengeful Dead, and acts as a cheap target for Attrition. Finally, combos with Bitter Ordeal and Phyrexian Altar; >:)
1x Havengul Lich: Consistent reanimation with the added bonus of gaining target creatures abilities until end of turn, Haavengul Lich can take advantage of any grave and is all-purpose.
1x
Jhessian Zombies
: Ramp advantage, pure and simple. Abuse with Phyrexian Reclamation, Lord of the Undead, Unholy Grotto, or Oversold Cemetery.
1x
Lich Lord of Unx
: A token generator for Grimgrin, but otherwise is difficult to use the second ability. The second function seems to work best after a massive reanimation or Army of the Damned. Personally, Ive never used it.
1x
Liliana's Reaver
: Capable of making tokens for Grimgrin, has a decent body, and deathtouch. A very efficient card.
1x Lord of the Undead: Gives buffs to your zombies and taps to return a target zombie from your grave to your hand. Take your pick of creature, but especially Twisted Abomination, Jhessian Zombies, and Fleshbag Marauder to abuse effects.
1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed: Big, can swing in unblocked, AND GIVES ALL OF YOUR CREATURES UNDYING! Mikaeus is value pure and simple, and acts as excellent protection for your creatures, particularly where board wipes are concerned. Used to run Triskelion until the game club Im in unofficially banned the combo. Doesnt stop the ultra-spike player from abusing similar combos though
1x
Nirkana Revenant
: Ramp advantage and recursion/clone target. No different from Crypt Ghast except she can get really big, really fast.
1x Phyrexian Metamorph: Copy advantageous cards at an affordable cost. Same function as Evil Twin.
1x Reassembling Skeleton: A consistent, if somewhat costly way of feeding Grimgrin when unable to use more efficient spells.
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One: Reanimation and removal all in one, with great stats to boot. A perfect target for reanimation.
1x Twisted Abomination: Ramp advantage, pure and simple. Abuse with Phyrexian Reclamation, Lord of the Undead, Unholy Grotto, or Oversold Cemetery.
1x
Undead Alchemist
: Fragile, but is capable of making several tokens for Grimgrin to feed on, allowing him to swing in for Commander damage for the win. When a stable board state is reached, simply remove him to return to normal life loss. Finally, combos with Altar of Dementia to create zombies for as long as you can get creatures, and further more with Eldrazi monument to create a massive army.
1x
Undead Gladiator
: Draw, discard, and a consistent, if costly, way to feed Grimgrin: Undead Gladiators main function was to generate card advantage, fill the grave with reanimation target creatures, and can be hard cast to feed Grimgrin each turn (sadly at four mana). With either Lord of the Undead, Phyrexian Reclamation, or Oversold Cemetery, however, can be brought back to the hand for free to allow for an extra draw each turn with no drawback. Consider replacing with Necromancers Stockpile though during M15 release.
1x
Vengeful Dead
: Same function as Diregraf Captain: see above.
1x Vengeful Pharaoh: Excellent source of removal, and can act as a last resort means of feeding Grimgrin. Tutor him up with either Intuition or Buried Alive and keep the gelatinous gold a flowin!
1x
Zombie Master
: Combos with Urborg by making all of your creatures unblockable, and can regenerate key creatures you control (i.e. Grimgrin), when necessary. Very effective against boardwipes, plus he has a nice toughness for his cost.
Land (36)
1x Academy Ruins: A must have to bring back certain combo pieces such as Phyrexian Altar and Altar of Dementia, as well as other utility artifacts.
1x Bojuka Bog: Sometimes you have to hate on your opponents graves.
1x Buried Ruins: A must have to bring back certain combo pieces such as Phyrexian Altar and Altar of Dementia, as well as other utility artifacts.
1x Cabal Coffers: Urborg is love.
1x Command Tower
1x Dimir Aqueduct
1x
Dreadship Reef
1x Drowned Catacomb
8x Island
1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge: A difficult card to remove that does wonder for Grimgrin when there are no creatures about, and is often time more preferable.
1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse: Makes Grimgrin more difficult to block.
1x Sunken Ruins
12x Swamp
1x
Tainted Isle
1x Underground River
1x Unholy Grotto: So many creatures to pick, but obvious choices are Fleshbag Marauder, Jhessian Zombies, and Twisted Abomination.
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: Cabal Coffers is also love.
1x Watery Grave
Enchantment (11)
1x Animate Dead: Goes with the reanimation sub-theme, and is very cheap. Use in the early game with Entomb, Buried Alive, or Intuition for massive advantage.
1x Attrition: A permanent means of removing creatures your opponents control. Use with cheap creatures such as Gravecrawler, Reassembling Skeleton, or tokens to machine your enemies.
1x
Attunement
: An abusable Fact or Fiction that allows you to keep the cards you want, but also fill up your grave with reanimation targets, especially for bomb cards like Living Death and Patriarchs Bidding. Has won me games before.
1x Compulsion: Similar to Attunement, but to a lesser and slower extent. Still useful, and has also won me games.
1x Endless Ranks of the Dead: Can generate several tokens over time, allowing for synergy or swarm, but admittedly is a tricky card to use; either coming down to board hate, or casting it at the right time. Stilla zombie staple though.
1x Grave Pact: Abusable with Grimgrin or other sac outlets and low cost creatures / tokens. Synergistic with Fleshbag Marauder and Attrition (DOUBLE THE PAYNE!!!).
1x
Oversold Cemetery
: Consistent means of recursion for free, and for any card in your grave. Very effective at getting either combo creatures back, or the big beats that you need to lay down on opponents, such as GraveTitan and Sheoldred.
1x Phyrexian Arena: Draw advantage at the cost of life: a staple.
1x Phyrexian Reclamation: Consistent and cheap recursion for any card in your grave. Same effect as Oversold Cemetery.
1x Rhystic Study: Can generate massive card advantage, but is often the subject of board hate.
1x Rooftop Storm: ZOMBIE. STAPLE. FRANKENSTEIN! RAW RAW! Also combo with Grimgrin, Diregraf Captain / Vengeful Dead, and Grave Crawler. Oh yeah, and Altar of Dementia.
Instant (4)
1x Entomb: Can be an early game tutor for either Gravecrawler, Reassembling Skeleton, or a powerful reanimation target if you have the appropriate card for it. Same goes for later on as well, but works best in the beginning.
1x Intuition: Can fill up the grave with essential cards such as Gravecrawler, Reassemblnig Skeleton, Vengeful Pharaoh, Undead Gladiator, Fatestitcher, or other reanimation targets. Can also use to get Combo pieces, such as Diregraf Captain, Vengeful Dead, and Animate Dead or Reanimate, and at certain times can be politically used, such as drawing out a boardwipe if an opponents state is too much for everyone.
1x Mystical Tutor: Cheap and quick means of coming into some of your best cards. Examples include Living Death, Yawgmoths Will, Bitter Ordeal, as well as others. Also use in the early game to grab Buried Alive of Intuition.
1x Vampiric Tutor: One of the best tutors youll ever use. Pick anything you like to fit the situation, but in the early game I recommend grabbing Buried Alive of Intuition.
Sorcery (12)
1x Army of the Damned: Perfectly fits in with the theme of the deck, and creates an instant board state. Work perfectly with the lords of the deck or Eldrazi Monument. Also a means of Feeding Grimgrin, or getting the Altar of Dementia combo rolling with Undead Alchemist.
1x Bitter Ordeal: A good means of removing several cards from opponents decks, such as Eldrazi, and especially with the Gravestorm ability. Combo with Rooftop Storm+Grimgrin+Gravecrawler, or Gravecrawler+Phyrexian Altar to exile all opponents decks; even your own just for the lulz!
1x Black Sun's Zenith: Excellent removal spell that overcomes indestructibility and is shuffled back into the deck. Also, because Grimgrin can get so massive, it is not unlikely that he could survive its use.
1x Buried Alive: Use to tutor up Gravecrawler, Reassembling Skeleton, Vengeful Pharoah, Fatestitcher, Undead Gladiator, and good reanimation targets, such as Sheoldred or Grave Titan, etc.
1x Damnation: Best black board wipe in existence. With the reanimator subtheme running in the deck, it should not worry you at all.
1x Demonic Tutor: Use to search up anything to fit the situation, but is recommended to use it to search up Buried Alive / Intuition in the early game.
1x Increasing Ambition: Late game tutor for anything, with the ability to cast from the grave for double the value. Fits in with the reanimation subtheme.
1x Living Death: Overcomes indestructibility, and bring back all of your creatures, not just zombies. Because the deck is tailor made to fill up your graveyard with more creatures that your opponent by the time this card goes off, it sits as a crown jewel among the rest.
1x Patriarch's Bidding: Similar function and use as Living Death, but the main targets will be your zombie cards only. Because most opponents dont run tribal, they will usually be limited in their selection as opposed to you. A very good card indeed, and completely defines the reanimation subtheme of the deck.
1x Reanimate: A cheap reanimation spell that targets both graves at the necessary cost of life. Turn 2 Grave Titan. Yes, this has happened before. Many times.
1x Time Spiral: Emergency means of hand advantage, as well as putting necessary of useful cards from your grave into your deck. Can make a good board state better, or bring you back from the brink of disaster. Very good card.
1x Yawgmoth's Will: Use in the late game to recast your treasure trove of a graveyard! Reuse reanimation spells, creatures, board wipes, or even your tutors! This card epitomizes reanimation!
Artifact (9)1x Altar of Dementia: Combos well with Undead Alchemist, Geth, Lord of the Vault, and Rooftop Storm + Gravecrawler. Also acts as an all-around good sac outlet, and another means of putting cards in your graveyard for reanimation if youre feeling less selective.
1x Eldrazi Monument: A really great card that makes our creatures indestructible, and gives them stat boosting and flying. Seeing as zombies as a tribe are susceptible to board wipes, this has great value at a great cost (screw you Akromas Memorial!). Also is easily feed by your token generators, or recurable creatures like Gravecrawler and Reassembling Skeleton (Fun fact: Gravecrawler can be cast from the graveyard during upkeep!).
1x Elixir of Immortality: Emergency grave-save card when needed. To be perfectly honest though, my meta doesnt run a lot of graveyard hate, but is still a good way to get utility cards an combo pieces back into the deck when needed: plus you never know. If your meta runs higher graveyard hate, consider similar card. Oh yeah, and +5 life.
1x Lightning Greaves: Slap on to Grimgrin or another beatstick and laugh until you get hit with a board wipe!
1x Mana Vault: Massive mana generator at a low cost. Use when needed, but be mindful of its life zapping.
1x Phyrexian Altar: Combo piece with Gravecrawler + Diregraf Captain / Vengeful Dead or Bitter Ordeal. Nuff said!
1x Skullclamp: Cheap and quick means of generating card advantage with such creatures like Gravecrawler or Reassembling Skeleton. Slap onto anything less as well and let it die!
1x Sol Ring: Staple is staple.
1x Swiftfoot Boots: And finally same thing as Lightning Greaves.
Sideboard (10)
1x Capsize: Excellent removal thats reusable given enough mana.
1x Cyclonic Rift: The best blue removal spell; its being at instant speed makes it at least a sideboard staple.
1x
Devour in Shadow
: Quick removal that can kill any creature regardless of color.
1x Fact or Fiction: Excellent draw spell that offers quick advantage when needed; in the sideboard in case of card advantage difficulties. Also allows for the possibility of filling up the graveyard.
1x
Gate to Phyrexia
: Excellent and consistent artifact hate; synergistic with tokens, Gravecrawler, and Reassembling Skeleton.
1x
Go for the Throat
: Possible blacks best instant speed removal spell.
1x Mimic Vat: Synergistic with Grimgrin; put value creatures underneath it for use, or to keep them out of the hands of your opponents.
1x
Read the Runes
: Similar to Fact or Fiction, but also has discard to fill up the graveyard.
1x Rite of Replication: I just love this card, and it works well with so many things on both sides of the field: take for example, Grave Titan.
1x Ultimate Price: Also a good removal spell at instant speed.
