I would completely drop Endless Ranks of the Dead. It's not aggressive at all.

It's a 4-drop that does absolutely nothing the turn it comes out. It might do a little bit the turn after, and a little bit more the turn after that. Endless Ranks of the Dead is only good in a long-term creature-stalemate match, and even then, it will only work if you can maintain a board state.

You would be much better served by another Skinrender or Diregraf Ghoul

@KorApprentice - Rooftop Storm would also allow me to do infinite damage combined with Grimgrin, Corpse-Born(for the sac) + Gravecrawler + Diregraf Captain. I have been thinking about this exact change for a couple weeks now, but it would be a turn 6 move at it's best. I hope to have my opponent mostly down by turn 6. If I didn't, I had Endless Ranks of the Dead to back me up. However I haven't tossed the idea yet.

@Sam_I_am - Everyone keeps telling me this and I will probably (one day) give in and completely get rid of Endless Ranks of the Dead in exchange for a couple new cards. However, I am still waiting on some of these cards to come in the mail and I want to play test it the way it is just to be sure first.

Thank you both for the comments, they haven't been ignored. lol!

@Phat_Shadow

as far as Endless Ranks of the Dead is concerned, it does depend on what your local meta is like, but i think that more often than not, you're going to find yourself not getting that much satisfaction when you see Endless Ranks of the Dead in your hand.

Also, I'd experiment with your ratio of blue mana to black mana.

Right now, you've very hevily black. you have a bunch of double-black creatures, and then you have Geralf's Messenger which is triple black.

Right now there are 8 blue/black dual lands. there are the m12 ones like you have, and then there are the scars lands. If you ever acquire those scars lands, I'd suggest running those instead of your islands.

Also, Evolving Wilds is back in. I'd keep Evolving Wilds in mind, but I wouldn't decide to include them, until after play testing demonstrated more problems with the manabase.

I am still playing with my Endless Ranks of the Dead as well as my blue:black mana ratio. Both of which will probably change soon. However, I've been thinking of putting in some Unsummon cards in place of some others (possibly Endless Ranks of the Dead). This will give me the chance to bring back Geralf's Messenger after the undying has taken effect. If I end up making this change, however, I will keep my current mana ratio close to what it is now.

What is your plan if they use Go for the Throat on both grimgrins or counter grimgrin ?

Most of the games I win with this I don't even have Grimgrin, Corpse-Born out. So it wouldn't bother me too much I guess.

Any feelings on Rooftop Storm? Sure it has a higher mana cost but with a grimgrim, diregraf captain, and Gravecrawler you can infinitely sac the crawler and recast him doing a damage each time. Also you can drop all of your zombies in the late game after its thrown down.

I've thought about putting in 2xRooftop Storm for my 2xCall to the Grave that is in there but I don't want to make the switch just yet. I will play around with it once I get this deck together and let you know. Thanks for the advice!

What the heck is everyone so hell bent on Rooftop Storm? It's clear they don't play the deck. F that combo. I've gone 4/1, 3/1, and 4/1 without it. Plus it requires three cards to pull off ... HA!

And just like you, Grimgrin, Corpse-Born is never out when I win ... It's usually three one drops and two "lords" beating them in the face.

You're going to want to consider Distress, that thing is super clutch. They drop titans, swords, you name it. Made a guy put down is one answer to my deck ... he was lucky enough to draw it, unlucky enough to not have the mana to play it. Distress + Vapor Snag mid to late game is nice too (And it only costs you three).

Someone mentioned the lands from scars, you are going to need those ... or you'll be 2/2 instead of 3/1 or 4/0

My current deck list seems solid so I'm staying with it for a while.

Well I'm keeping Rooftop Storm's and Endless Ranks of the Dead's in my sideboard in case I end up playing 1v1v1 (I play with a bunch of guys that play that here). However, for FNM standard, I will keep it close to the way I have it. I will "toy around" with the idea of a Unsummon+Distress combo. I'm starting to enjoy how this deck is turning out. I'm even starting to like it a bit better than my mono-black vampire tribal! Thanks for all the input!

Well I'm keeping Rooftop Storm's and Endless Ranks of the Dead's in my sideboard in case I end up playing 1v1v1 (I play with a bunch of guys that play that here). However, for FNM standard, I will keep it close to the way I have it. I will "toy around" with the idea of a Unsummon+Distress combo. I'm starting to enjoy how this deck is turning out. I'm even starting to like it a bit better than my mono-black vampire tribal! Thanks for all the input!

Secrets of the Dead might be an interesting idea with your Gravecrawler/Grimgrin combo. Although, it might backfire if you cast the gravecrawler too much :/

It would be a nice card to have out, but at the point I'm at with this deck now, I can't really see any card in here that would be worth swapping it with.

You might want to use Disperse over Unsummon to clear off any Grafdigger's Cages, since they stop you recasting your Gravecrawlers.

Valid point! I will take that into consideration. Thanks for the advice!

I still don't see how it's going to be fast enough to do any thing. Consider this:

You only have 11 one drops, 4 of which are Unsummon.

You only have two two drops

This means most of your games you don't have a play until turn three.

Try +2 Geth's Verdict, 4x Distress. Drop the enchantments, 1 land and 1 Increasing Ambition. You'll be surprised how good Distress treats you turn two or three. If you have it on turn two and you can use it, use it! (unless you're going to make them sac a guy)

Trust me, unless the other guy is playing control, you'll need to start before turn three. Around here the mono green aggro is popular, you have to make them sac the mana accelerators early or pull the good cards out of their hand to win. Don't forget "captin" has deathtouch, trade if they swing a huge Dungrove Elder

3 is too many Skinrender :-0

Have you played this yet? My list changed again

I've played with it and LOVE IT! I really appreciate the idea of adding Geralf's Messenger. However, I like my enchantments where they are at, as well as the 3xSkinrender (wish I could add a fourth one of him somewhere).

The only idea I'm really playing with at the moment is possibly dropping the two Geth's Verdict and one of the Unsummon to add in 3xDistress. This will give me (ever-so-slight) control over creatures with hexproof via Call to the Grave or Liliana of the Veil, and control over other creatures with either Skinrender or a Unsummon+Distress combo.

nice deck, what about my version Underworld (comment pleazzzzzz) ?

Interesting. You local meta must be vastly different. I guess as long as you're winning that's all that counts.

Ok I've finally done it. I've taken out my Endless Ranks of the Dead !!! I am sad to see them go but I had to part ways because it was to slow. With it I've also gotten rid of Increasing Ambition and my Liliana of the Veil .

This made room for one more Cemetery Reaper , one more Diregraf Ghoul , and two more card:Geth's Verdict. After playing in the most recent tournament and going 2-2, I wish I could find room for at least a few Distress as well but I'm not sure what to take out for it.

I was trying to think of something to do after rotation but I'm probably just going to have to accept the fact that this just isn't going to be as good of a deck then. Unless I can find something post rotation that'll replace Skinrender , Cemetery Reaper , card:Geth's Verdict/Distress , and maybe even Call to the Grave

Since AVR came out, most zombie decks run 4 Blood Artist and optionally a few Killing Wave as a finisher.

Disciple of Bolas from m10 is also worth looking into.

I'm going to probably run 4xBlood Artist when Skinrender rotates. However that will slightly change the genre of this deck so I may have to adjust. Killing Wave would be a good combo for that but I'd have trouble taking something out for it. That's a very good idea, thanks!

However, I'm not to crazy about the Disciple of Bolas idea. In my opinion, he costs to much for not doing so much.

Ok. I've got an idea for post-rotation. Let me know what you think:

-4xSkinrender / +4xBlood Artist

-2xCall to the Grave / +2xKilling Wave

-4xcard:Geth's Verdict / +4xTribute to Hunger

Now here's the "big hitter" and I'm having trouble making up my mind. -4xCemetery Reaper . I'm just hoping that RVR will have a nice zombie lord in it instead. But for now I'm trying to decide between either: Unbreathing Horde , Highborn Ghoul , Abattoir Ghoul , or Ghoulraiser . OR a combination of a couple of these. Any ideas???

I think I would use Highborn Ghoul or Unbreathing Horde over Abattoir Ghoul here. Highborn will smooth out your curve a lot more and the Horde is just a great card. Though as a 3 drop you won't get too much out of Unbreathing Horde so he's kind of stuck in your hand until a later game state, which ideally, you never really want to get to. Highborn Ghoul however, is good no matter when it hits the table. Intimidate in this world of blue/x and green beaters is too good to really pass up. Plus, you don't really have anything other than Blood Artist as a 2 drop anyway.

For the Tribute to Hunger issue. I would drop your count to 2. The biggest thing you have for 3 that you should be hitting as often as possible, is card:Geralf's Messenger and 4 Tributes will clog up in your hand against people who aren't playing with many critters (pretty much most control). Murder will definitely be better here. Don't give your opponent choices, better off making them for them. Plus if you need the life, Blood Artist is there to give you a hand.

Lastly, while I like Unsummon in this deck, I think 4 is going to be too many as well.

The changes I would make to your main deck are:

+4 Cemetery Reaper (from sideboard) // -2 Unsummon -2 Tribute to Hunger

+4 Highborn Ghoul // -4 Abattoir Ghoul