This is my [U][B] Grimgrin Zombies deck with an initial budget of under 100$ (I purchased it for ~98)
Explanation for cards:
First off I would like to say that I did not include the cards Phyrexian Obliterator and Liliana of the Veil as these cards are too expensive for the budget I put myself at, though are definite additions if more money was put into the deck.
Land Base:
-Darkslick Shores, usually enters untapped to get those one drops down and gives blue mana
-Drowned Catacomb, will enter untapped late game unlike Darkslick Shores so is useful for that purpose
-Swamp, this deck is about 3/4 black so swamps are necessary for the majority of my cards. I did not include any islands as the dual supporting lands are good enough and it would prevent me from playing cards such as Geralf's Messenger quickly
Creatures:
1 Drop:
-Gravecrawler, no zombie deck plays without this card. He swings for 2 as a one drop, he can be casted almost every time after he dies, and he's Grimgrin food :D
-Diregraf Ghoul, It's upsetting it enters in tapped, but a 2/2 for one can not be ignored in a deck like this. With Death Baron or Diregraf Captain it's an easy 3/3 for one.
-Fume Spitter, This is swapped for Cemetery Reaper depending on the deck. His primary purpose is to remove delver, mana producers, and other annoying one drops. It's also really good as you can deal damage with him then sack for 2 total damage if necessary.
2 Drop:
-Necromancer's Stockpile, It's good with Havengul Lich If I need extra creatures if facing a heavy token deck
3 Drop:
-Diregraf Captain, He's really powerful in every way. A 2/2 deathtouch will spook your opponents every time, and he buffs your other zombies because why not!
-Geralf's Messenger, He combos really well with multiple cards in the deck, and is a practical win condition. Triggers morbid, works with mortarpod, and has 2 lives!
-Cemetery Reaper, as explained earlier, he swaps for Fume Spitter. He's useful as he buffs creatures like Diregraf Captain does, but he can create tokens with any extra mana I have...This is a zombie deck so he'll have lots of fuel guaranteed.
-Death Baron, No explanation needed for why he's good, giving every zombie deathtouch makes your army so strong your opponent will concede in fear. The reason why I only have one is that it's a little redundant and it's expensive. If I already have several Diregraf Captains out he's not that useful, but it makes all my other cards a sudden threat.
4 Drop:
-Endless Ranks of the Dead, Useful If I need to get a lot of tokens out quickly. I haven't found a way to fit it into the main-board yet, but I probably will after testing my deck out a little
5 Drop:
-Grimgrin, Corpse-Born, This big zombie is the center piece of this deck and my main win condition. He feasts on Gravecrawlers, and with the large amount of kill spells in this deck, he can swing for 10 damage the turn after he's played. Rooftop storm combo was not added as it's expensive, takes up too much room in the deck to be useful, and by the time I can play it I'll be top-decking anyways.
Havengul Lich, Works if I want to run re-animator, as explained with Necromancer's Stockpile
Other Spells:
One Cost:
-Tragic Slip, Fits the theme, kills pretty much anything, (it takes down even the eldrazi, think about that for a second) and is triggered easily with kill spells and Mortarpod
Two Cost:
-Geth's Verdict, Can take out anything they have, and deals a point of damage, which adds up really fast with this deck. Of course they can chump with it, but hopefully I'll already have killed those creatures ;D
-Go for the Throat, Arguably one of the most effective black kill spells, as artifact creatures aren't very common with 90% of decks out there. It kills things, and it does it well
-Phantasmal Image, This copy spell is so powerful I couldn't leave it out of the deck despite it's high price. It can copy your opponents most threatening creature, gets you another zombie out, and it's only drawback being it's a phantasm. It works really well with geralf's messenger as when it dies it comes back with a +1/+1 counter AND can choose a new creature to copy.
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Mortarpod
, Why Mortarpod? I asked myself the same question when I learned this was a card used in zombie decks, but after playtesting I've learned how effective it is. It can be used with Gravecrawlers to kill creatures or deal damage to players, and loves taking Geralf's first life to deal some damage. Plus it comes attached to a germ which you can sack to ping something instantly after played
That's the deck! Fell free to comment!
