Rooftop Experiments (Zombie Tribal)

Commander / EDH Aggro Combo Reanimator Sacrifice UB (Dimir) Zombie

Optimator

Creature (28)

• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Cemetery Reaper
• 1x Corpse Harvester
• 1x Cryptbreaker
• 1x Custodi Lich
• 1x Diregraf Captain
• 1x Diregraf Colossus
• 1x Fallen Shinobi
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Gravecrawler
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
• 1x Lich Lord of Unx
• 1x Liliana's Reaver
• 1x Lord of the Accursed
• 1x Prized Amalgam
• 1x Rancid Rats
• 1x Relentless Dead
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Siren of the Silent Song
• 1x Unbreathing Horde
• 1x Undead Warchief
• 1x Vengeful Dead
• 1x Vengeful Pharaoh
• 1x Vindictive Lich
• 1x Withered Wretch
• 1x Wonder
• 1x Zombie Master

Land (36)

• 1x Bad River
• 1x Choked Estuary
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Crypt of Agadeem
• 1x Darkwater Catacombs
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 9x Island
• 1x Nephalia Drownyard
• 1x River of Tears
• 1x Shipwreck Marsh
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 12x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Isle
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Unclaimed Territory
• 1x Underground River

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Deadly Tempest
• 1x Decree of Pain
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Diabolic Revelation
• 1x Final Parting
• 1x Kindred Dominance
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Windfall

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Black Market
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Liliana's Mastery
• 1x Rooftop Storm
• 1x Secrets of the Dead

Commander (1)

Artifact (13)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Charcoal Diamond
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Herald's Horn
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sky Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Unstable Obelisk
• 1x Vanquisher's Banner

Instant (8)

• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Keep Watch
• 1x Murder
• 1x Pull from Tomorrow
• 1x Victim of Night

---

Maybeboard

Creature (57)

• 1x Cabal Interrogator SL
• 2x Calculating Lich
• 1x Coffin Queen
• 1x Corpse Connoisseur SL
• 1x Dread Slaver SL
• 1x Enduring Curiosity
• 1x Ethereal Usher
• 1x Fell Stinger
• 1x Forgotten Creation SL
• 1x Foulmire Knight
• 1x Geralf's Masterpiece SL
• 1x Geralf's Mindcrusher SL
• 1x Geth, Lord of the Vault SL
• 1x Ghoulcaller Gisa
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Graveborn Muse SL
• 1x Gravespawn Sovereign
• 1x Havengul Lich SL
• 1x Havengul Runebinder SL
• 2x Headless Rider SL
• 1x Helldozer
• 2x Jason Bright, Glowing Prophet
• 1x Laboratory Drudge
• 1x Liliana's Devotee
• 1x Liliana's Standard Bearer
• 2x Lord of the Undead
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 2x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Neerdiv, Devious Diver
• 1x Nightscape Familiar SL
• 1x Noosegraf Mob SL
• 1x Overcharged Amalgam
• 1x Overseer of the Damned
• 1x Phyrexian Crusader
• 1x Phyrexian Delver SL
• 1x Plague Belcher
• 1x Pontiff of Blight SL
• 1x Raving Dead
• 1x River Kelpie SL
• 2x Rot Hulk
• 1x Shepherd of Rot SL
• 1x Soulless One
• 1x Stitcher Geralf
• 1x Stronghold Assassin SL
• 1x The Scarab God
• 1x Tomebound Lich
• 1x Tormod, the Desecrator
• 2x Undead Augur
• 2x Zul Ashur, Lich Lord

Sorcery (38)

• 1x Agadeem's Awakening  ^Flip
• 1x Ancestral Memories SL
• 1x Army of the Damned
• 1x Ashes to Ashes SL
• 1x Behold the Beyond
• 1x Black Sun's Zenith
• 1x Blasphemous Edict
• 1x Dark Salvation SL
• 1x Distant Melody SL
• 1x Extract from Darkness SL
• 1x Flood of Tears
• 1x From Under the Floorboards SL
• 2x Haunting Voyage
• 1x In Garruk's Wake SL
• 1x Increasing Ambition
• 1x Killing Wave
• 1x Life's Finale
• 2x Lunar Insight
• 1x Necromantic Selection
• 1x Part the Waterveil SL
• 2x Patriarch's Bidding
• 1x Ponder SL
• 1x Read the Bones SL
• 1x Recall
• 2x Rise of the Dark Realms
• 1x Ritual of the Machine SL
• 1x Syphon Mind SL
• 1x Taigam's Scheming SL
• 2x Tendrils of Agony
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Victimize
• 2x Zombie Apocalypse

Artifact (12)

• 1x Banner of Kinship
• 1x Bident of Thassa SL
• 1x Coat of Arms
• 1x Dolmen Gate SL
• 1x Door of Destinies SL
• 1x Icon of Ancestry
• 1x Jet Medallion
• 1x Mind Stone SL
• 3x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Worn Powerstone SL

Planeswalker (2)

• 2x Liliana, Untouched By Death

Instant (28)

• 1x Ancient Excavation SL
• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Countersquall
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Dark Bargain
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Forbid
• 1x Forbidden Alchemy SL
• 1x Fortune's Favor
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 2x Hagra Mauling  ^Flip
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Hinder
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 2x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Negate SL
• 1x Negate
• 1x Perplex SL
• 1x Redirect
• 2x Swan Song
• 1x Tragic Slip
• 1x Wake the Dead
• 2x Withering Torment

Enchantment (15)

• 1x Attrition
• 1x Call to the Kindred SL
• 1x Cover of Darkness
• 1x Dictate of Erebos SL
• 1x Funeral Room / Awakening Hall
• 1x Graf Harvest SL
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Mirror Room / Fractured Realm
• 1x Monastery Siege SL
• 1x Necromancer's Stockpile SL
• 2x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Think Tank
• 1x Underworld Connections SL

Land (8)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Darkslick Shores
• 1x Fetid Pools
• 1x Mystic Sanctuary
• 1x Unholy Grotto
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 2x Watery Grave

---

- - - Version 1.7 - - - 8/26/20

---

The Timmy in me loves Rooftop Storm so much!

That's the deck theme! Not exactly exotic (no shortage of Dimir zombie decks out there) but Mono-black zombies isn't as fun to build. I love the inclusion of Blue to add more utility and variety. My goal is to have an aggro deck that can slide into a Rooftop Storm-combo when necessary/available. Not going full combo, as many Gisa and Geralf decks tend to do.

As an aggro deck I was aiming for at least 30 Zombies. Many Gisa and Geralf decks go heavier on the combo aspect but I don't have the cash to get all the good tutors so budget-ish aggro plan has worked well enough and is great in my playgroups.

---

The original idea for this deck was a heavy mill theme (self and opponent) and lots of cards that take advantage of other peoples' graveyards--cards like Fated Return, Ashen Powder, Sepulchral Primordial, Puppeteer Clique, Chainer, Dementia Master, Consuming Aberration, etc. After much soul-searching I felt that it didn't take advantage of Gisa and Geralf as much as I thought (compared to just a bit of self-mill). I also felt that having too much opponent-mill and reanimation cards diluted the actual zombie-tribal aspect. Nekusar, the Mindrazer, Teneb, the Harvester, Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, Wrexial, the Risen Deep, and especially Lazav, Dimir Mastermind do "opponent's graveyard" sooo much better. After all, the goal of this deck is supposed to be Rooftop Storm and "true" zombie tribal.

I used to have almost all the self-mill zombies (Laboratory Brute, etc.) but they kept getting bumped for clearly-superior zombies. I still think they're good in a more budgeted Gisa and Geralf deck. It's a shame though, as I wanted to include as many blue zombies and I could.

---

Cards to likely add: Show

Owned:

Feed the Swarm - Baleful Mastery - Withering Torment

Not Owned:

Zul Ashur, Lich Lord

Phyrexian Altar

Cards to maybe add: Show

Owned:

Not Owned:

Basics: Islands on point, Swamps could use some diversity. One or two more from Innistrad/Av Resto,

Newish cards to consider/remember: Show

Laboratory Drudge

---

Cards with an SL are cards I own. Cards with an MP are potential cuts.

Audited 5/29/18 -- NEEDS AUDIT*

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Aggro 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Combo 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Reanimator 4 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Tribal 4 years ago
Date added	8 years
Last updated	1 month
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	3 - 0 Mythic Rares 39 - 0 Rares 25 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.36
Tokens	Monarch Emblem, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie Wizard 1/1 UB
Folders	+1 Non-Budget, Mill, Interesting Commander Decks, My Decks, Budget, Black EDH, EDH Idea, Gisa and Geralf, Commander, Commander/EDH