Sister, I Resurrected the Dead!

Commander / EDH Sacrifice Tokens UB (Dimir) Zombie

Deck_Building_Dude

Creature (34)

• 1x Acererak the Archlich
• 1x Cemetery Reaper
• 1x Champion of the Perished
• 1x Cryptbreaker
• 1x Death Baron
• 1x Diregraf Captain
• 1x Diregraf Colossus
• 1x Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1x Geralf, the Fleshwright
• 1x Geralf's Messenger
• 1x Gleaming Overseer
• 1x Gravecrawler
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
• 1x Havengul Lich
• 1x Headless Rider
• 1x Laboratory Drudge
• 1x Liliana, Heretical Healer  ^Flip
• 1x Lord of the Undead
• 1x Murderous Rider
• 1x Noosegraf Mob
• 1x Plague Belcher
• 1x Prized Amalgam
• 1x Relentless Dead *f-pre*
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x The Scarab God
• 1x Tormod, the Desecrator
• 1x Unbreathing Horde
• 1x Undead Augur
• 1x Undead Warchief
• 1x Vengeful Dead
• 1x Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver
• 1x Zombie Master

Land (33)

• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Clearwater Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Darkwater Catacombs
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Fetid Pools
• 1x Gloomlake Verge
• 1x High Market
• 5x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Mortuary Mire
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Secluded Courtyard
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 5x Swamp
• 1x Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1x Unclaimed Territory
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Unholy Grotto
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Watery Grave

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Arcane Adaptation
• 1x Endless Ranks of the Dead
• 1x Graf Harvest
• 1x Necroduality
• 1x Rooftop Storm

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Army of the Damned
• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Rise of the Dark Realms

Commander (1)

Instant (11)

• 1x Brain Freeze
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Culling the Weak
• 1x Dark Ritual *f-etch*
• 1x Dismember
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Negate
• 1x Spell Pierce
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Tragic Slip
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Artifact (9)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Mox Amber
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Urza's Incubator
• 1x Vanquisher's Banner

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Liliana, Death's Majesty
• 1x Liliana, the Last Hope

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Sideboard

Enchantment (2)

• 1x March of the Machines
• 1x Rhystic Study

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Diabolic Intent

Land (1)

• 1x Strip Mine

Instant (1)

• 1x Tale's End

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Maybeboard

Land (2)

• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Sunken Ruins

Enchantment (1)

• 1x March of the Machines

Instant (2)

• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Mystical Tutor

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Damnation
• 1x Demonic Tutor

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"When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."

-George A. Romero

IMPORTANT NOTICE

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Several cards in this deck are expensive by themselves. Many of these cards have versions on The List that are not available on TappedOut. I currently have three cards from The List in this deck, as they are usually cheaper than their normal counterparts. I do want to make clear, though, that this is always changing, and some cards from The List are actually more expensive than their normal counterparts. Nevertheless, I feel like you should know your options. If I learn more, I will add them to this list.

1. Brain Freeze
2. Unholy Grotto
3. Vampiric Tutor
4. Lord of the Undead
5. Phyrexian Tower

CHANGES MADE

Midnight Reaper has been replaced with Undead Augur. It costs less mana and cares about tokens, where Midnight Reaper only cares about nontoken zombies.

Moved Zombie Apocalypse to the sideboard, Rise of the Dark Realms to the mainboard

Added Sunken Ruins to the sideboard

Removed Crucible of Worlds from the Sideboard

Removed Traumatize, replaced with Brain Freeze due to its interaction with Crawler to the Altar

Removed Glimpse the Unthinkable due to Brain Freeze's addition, added Feed the Swarm in its place

Added two more cards to the list of cards that can be found on The List - Lord of the Undead, Phyrexian Tower.

Added Mystical Tutor, Reanimate, Rhystic Study, and Strip Mine to the Sideboard. These are cards that you may consider replacing Mainboard cards with should the need arise.

Removed Zombie Apocalypse and Traumatize from the Sideboard

Added Geralf, the Fleshwright to the Maybeboard in anticipation of replacing Geralf, Visionary Stitcher with Geralf, the Fleshwright.

Added March of the Machines to the maybeboard as an option to deal with artifact token (blood tokens, clues, treasures, food tokens, etc.)

Replaced Geralf, Visionary Stitcher with Geralf, the Fleshwright

Moved Sunken Ruins to the Maybeboard while praying for a commander precon reprint

Replaced Innocent Blood with Reanimate

Reanimate moved from sideboard to mainboard

Added Tale's End to the Sideboard

Replaced Tainted Isle with Gloomlake Verge.

POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!

WARNING: If you use any combo involving the "Crawler to the Altar" strategy, make sure Undead Augur isn't on the board. If you have the altar, you can simply sacrifice the Augur and bring it back later. If Augur is on the board with these combos, you will ping yourself for infinite damage.

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We have several infinite combos to use to our advantage. The most common way to pop off these combos is the "Crawler to the Altar" strategy, which involves sacrificing Gravecrawler to Phyrexian Altar and resurrecting it over and over again. Under certain conditions, this can provide infinite mana, infinite damage, infinite zombie tokens, or, humorously enough, infinite gravecrawler tokens.

There is another version of this combo utilizing Ashnod's Altar. In this combo, Rooftop Storm is necessary, and therefore the combo takes a lot more buildup, but Ashnod's Altar is cheaper to buy and it costs the same amount of mana as Phyrexian Altar. If you can afford to nab a Phyrexian Altar, I highly recommend doing so, but do note that there is a much more wallet-friendly version of the "Crawler to the Altar" combo.

Our first "Crawler to the Altar" combo involves Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver, Gravecrawler, and Phyrexian Altar. We can sacrifice Gravecrawler to the Altar, which allows Wilhelt to create a 2/2 black Zombie token with decayed. We need to make a black mana to resurrect Gravecrawler. Resurrect, sacrifice to the altar, create a token, repeat.

We also have a combo involving Vengeful Dead, Gravecrawler, and Phyrexian Altar. This one allows us to infinitely ping our enemies by sacrificing the Crawler to the Altar, which triggers Vengeful Dead's ability to deal 1 damage to each opponent when a creature dies. This combo also works with Diregraf Captain or Plague Belcher, but it is important to note that Diregraf Captain hits a target opponent rather than each opponent.

Crawler to the Altar can also trigger several abilities to grow an infinite horde. By casting Gravecrawler, Diregraf Colossus creates a 2/2 Zombie token. We sacrifice the crawler to the altar and bring it back infinitely, which causes Colossus to make infinite 2/2 Zombies. This also works with Headless Rider and Tormod, the Desecrator.

A more comedic combo comes from any Crawler to the Altar combo while Necroduality is on the field. If Necroduality happens to be on the field, then we can make an infinite number of Gravecrawler tokens. Sure, they can't block, but ultimately it acts to add to our horde.

I also want to point out one combo that, while not infinite, could be fun to exploit. If we sacrifice Crawler to the Altar, we can flip Liliana, Heretical Healer  . It's not game breaking, but it is a useful tool to take advantage of.

Of course, Rooftop Storm gives us plenty of interaction with both Crawler and non-crawler strategies.

First is Acererak the Archlich and Rooftop Storm. Acererak allows us to venture into the dungeon every time we cast him. He also bounces back to our hand unless we've finished Tomb of Annihilation. We're not venturing into the Tomb of Annihilation, but rather the Lost Mine of Phandelver. Rooftop Storm makes him free to cast. With this combo, we can create and infinite number of 1/1 red Goblin tokens, infinite Treasure Tokens, or we can make our opponents lose an infinite amount of life while we gain an infinite amount of life. We could also give our horde infinite +1/+1 counters, infinitely Scry, or infinitely draw a card. Either way, the main reason to use Acererak is to make our opponents lose infinite life. In fact, that's his only reason to be in this deck. Yes, you can replace him with several other zombie options, but ultimately Acererak presents an instant win condition if he is gotten out with Rooftop Storm.

Gravecrawler, Rooftop Storm, and Grimgrin, Corpse-Born *oversized* work together to not only untap Grimgrin, but also give him infinite +1/+1 counters. As long as we have any other combo piece mentioned above on the field, this strategy also nets us infinite zombies, damage, or any other combination of abilities.

DON'T OPEN - DEAD INSIDE

The most obvious goal of this deck is to make an army, but this army isn't to bolster our commander. On the contrary, the commander makes the deck look unassuming. They present a useful tool for resurrecting a specific creature, but overall they won't be a game-winning piece. In the end, our opponents are more likely to prioritize other opponents over us. In that down time, we can build our zombie horde.

We have several ways to make an army and bolster it.

Cemetery Reaper can allow us to exile a problematic creature from an opponent's graveyard to make a 2/2 Zombie, or it can be used on our own graveyard if we're desperate.

Diregraf Colossus makes a 2/2 Zombie any time a Zombie spell is cast. As mentioned earlier, this goes infinite with our "Crawler to the Altar" method.

Havengul Lich allows us to resurrect a creature from our graveyard. It also becomes that creature. This is exceptionally useful for getting useful, large creatures onto the battlefield.

Headless Rider can also be used with our "Crawler to the Altar" strategy to make an infinite Zombie Horde, but it can also be useful in the case of boardwipes. Wipe our nontoken horde? Replace it with zombies.

Noosegraf Mob works really well in this deck, as the buffs given to it from our Zombie lords (such as Zombie Master) and other possible buffs just gives Noosegraf Mob more potential to create 2/2 Zombies.

Sheoldred, Whispering One allows us to return a creature card from our graveyard to the battlefield untapped, meaning it can be used again. This is essentially Havengul Lich without the mana cost. It is extremely useful for bringing back powerful creatures and, if used correctly, can be used to essentially cast a mana-hungry creature for free. This works well with cards that keep track of things leaving the graveyard, like Tormod, the Desecrator.

While not infinite, we can pay {1}{B} and tap Lord of the Undead to return a zombie card to our hand.

Finally, Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver gives us the ability to create a 2/2 Zombie with Decayed whenever a Zombie we control dies. Again, this can go infinite with "Crawler to the Altar", but it works really well with other creatures. Further, it can be used to supplement lost Zombies or to simply add to the horde's numbers.

Of course, We have more than creatures to build our horde.

If the "Crawler to the Altar" strategy is combined with Necroduality, as mentioned above, it creates infinite Gravecrawler tokens. This addition to our horde's numbers is especially important.

While it doesn't directly add to the horde, Arcane Adaptation turns all non-Zombie creatures we own into Zombies. This means anything that relies on Zombies can be used on every creature we own. Non-Zombies, like Sheoldred, Whispering one; Erebos, God of the Dead; and even our own Commander reap the benefits of our zombie legion.

Several spells allow us to grow the horde. Army of the Damned gives us thirteen 2/2 Zombies. For two extra mana, we can create another thirteen 2/2 Zombies thanks to Army of the Damned's flashback cost.

The number of Zombies we control is extremely important. There are many ways to expand this number. One such way is Rise of the Dark Realms. This card is why we have Traumatize in the sideboard and Brain Freeze in the mainboard. Traumatize makes a target opponent drop the top half of their deck into their graveyard. Statistically, at least one creature should be in this cluster of cards. We then resurrect them under our control using Rise of the Dark Realms. When used alongside Crawler to the Altar, we can infinitely mill our opponents with Brain Freeze, then use Rise of the Dark Realms to turn their creatures against them, as once we run out of cards to mill on one opponent, Storm allows us to redirect the effect to the next, and then the next.

We have a planeswalker and an enchantment that present the greatest benefit to our horde: Liliana, the Last Hope and Endless Ranks of the Dead. Liliana, the Last Hope's ultimate ability gives us an emblem that lets us create X 2/2 Zombie tokens at the beginning of our end step, where X is two plus the number of Zombies we control. This is extremely valuable with many combos and spells we have.

This also applies to Endless Ranks of the Dead, which makes X 2/2 Zombie tokens at the beginning of our upkeep equal to half the number of Zombies we control rounded down. The entire "Crawler to the Altar" strategy can make these game-winning conditions (assuming the opponent doesn't have a boardwipe, or we have a counterspell).

Look at any infinite Zombie token combo above. Say you make 300 Zombie Tokens using "Crawler to the Altar", then you use Liliana, the Last Hope's ultimate, your number doubles to 602 Zombies at the end step. By the next upkeep, that number jumps to 903 Zombies thanks to Endless Ranks of the Dead. More reasonably, say we have 12 Zombies in the graveyard. We use Zombie Apocalypse to resurrect those 12 Zombies, then use Liliana, the Last Hope's ultimate. By the beginning of the end step, we end up with 26 Zombies. If Endless Ranks of the Dead is also on the board, we then gain 39 Zombies at the beginning of our upkeep. If we have Arcane Adaptation on the board, that number has the potential to increase substantially.

GET OUT OF MY SWAMP!

Of course, we need to go over the land base. The most expensive lands here are Mana Confluence, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Cavern of Souls. I recommend breaking the bank for Urborg, as while we do have dual lands, the ability to get more black mana cannot be understated. Urborg helps with mana fixing substantially and can buff our horde when used with Zombie Master, as it makes our zombies unblockable thanks to Swampwalk.

Cavern of Souls gives us one mana of any color that we need as long as its used on a creature spell that matches a chosen type. Of course, the idea is to say Zombie. When used with Arcane Adaptation, it basically lets us get one mana of any color that we can only spend on creatures. Mana Confluence lets us add one mana of any color to our mana pool for the cost of one life. If you are willing to break the bank, I recommend finding a place for Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. I would also recommend swapping out Darkwater Catacombs with Sunken Ruins if you're willing to spend the money to buy Sunken Ruins.

Our second most expensive lands are Phyrexian Tower and Cabal Coffers. Cabal Coffers has great synergy with Urborg and can provide a ton of mana. I highly recommend adding these cards, as they're both usually $20 or less, and they work really well with other strategies in this deck. If you need to go without one of them, go without Phyrexian Tower.

Fetches are also expensive, but are an essential part of any deck. In this deck, I added Polluted Delta and Prismatic Vista. These are the most expensive fetches in the deck, but they are the best fetches in the deck. Of course, Polluted Delta is one of the best fetches in Dimir, while Prismatic Vista lets us find any basic land. Using Polluted Delta, we can fetch a swamp, an island, a Watery Grave, a Sunken Hollow, or a Fetid Pools. A cheaper fetch in this deck is Fabled Passage, which could be useful later in the game.

ZOMBIES, HORDES, AND LORDS, OH MY!

While our zombie horde is massive and mighty, it isn't invincible. We want to make our horde as hard to kill as possible, and while counter spells can help against boardwipes, we want ways to deal as much damage as possible to our enemies, starting with the zombie lords.

Our zombie lords include Cemetery Reaper, Death Baron, Diregraf Captain, Lord of the Undead, Undead Warchief, and Zombie Master. All of these except for Zombie master give our zombies +X/+X. Specifically, Cemetery Reaper, Death Baron, Diregraf Captain, and Lord of the Undead all give our zombies +1/+1. Undead Warchief, on the other hand, give our zombies +2/+1. While Zombie Master doesn't give our zombies any +X/+X buffs or counters, it does give them Swampwalk and a regenerate ability that costs {B}. When used with Urborg, this essentially makes our zombies unblockable. A psuedo-lord for our tokens comes in the form of Gleaming Overseer, which gives our zombie tokens flying.

Lords aren't the only way to buff our horde, as Graf Harvest gives our horde Menace. Finally, Vanquisher's Banner gives our zombies +1/+1 as well.

MANA? IN THIS ECONOMY?

While this deck isn't super mana-intensive, it is still nice to get a sale every once in a while. We want to make more mana and reduce our creature's costs. We have many ways to do this.

Of course, the most obvious way to reduce our zombies' mana costs is Rooftop Storm. While this makes our zombies free, it does cost 6 mana itself and could prove to be difficult to cast early game. Luckily, there's other ways to make our zombies cost less. One way we can do this is Urza's Incubator, which makes our zombies cost {2} less to cast. Unbreathing Warchief can further make our zombies cost {1} less to cast. Utilizing tutors like Entomb, Vampiric Tutor, or Diabolic Intent, we can search for these cards and, with the right cards, can bring them out of the graveyard into either your hand or onto the battlefield.

For a little help on our mana costs, I decided land flexibility was important. There are many non-colored lands that can provide extensive sources of mana to summon our horde. Cards like Cavern of Souls, Mana Confluence, Unclaimed Territory, and Secluded Courtyard let us add one mana of any color to our mana pool. While most of these lands to require us to spend it on creatures, it still makes summoning our creatures a little easier.

I also want to bring notice to Urborg, Cabal Coffers, and Phyrexian Tower. Phyrexian Tower is excellent with Gravecrawler or an extensive token horde, while Urborg and Cabal Coffers used together can make a ton of mana to cast big spells, like Rise of the Dark Realms.

EXPLAINING THE SIDEBOARD

As I add and subtract to the sideboard, I will add and subtract to this section.

1.Diabolic Intent - Diabolic Intent has been added to the sideboard as a secondary tutor in case it is needed. This option allows for the deck to be a bit more competitive.

2.March of the Machines - March of the Machines helps deal with various token artifacts, such as Clue Tokens, Blood Tokens, Food Tokens, Treasure Tokens, etc.

3.Rhystic Study - Acts as a way to make the deck more competitive. Not a necessity. I prefer Rhystic Study to be in the mainboard, but it can be expensive and can make you a target. It is good for the long game.

4.Strip Mine - Acts as a way to deal with problematic lands. There are some lands that must be tapped or sacrificed to exile your graveyard. Strip Mine gives you the opportunity to respond to such threats.

5.Tale's End - Acts as a way to deal with problematic ETB effects that could cause you to exile your graveyard, such as Bojuka Bog. This is a much cheaper alternative to Stifle. Stifle is preferred, but this card works just as well for a fraction of the price.

Date added	8 years
Last updated	1 month
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	18 - 1 Mythic Rares 46 - 4 Rares 13 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.09
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Copy Clone, Dungeon: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, Dungeon: Lost Mine of Phandelver, Dungeon: Tomb of Annihilation, Emblem Liliana, Defiant Necromancer, Emblem Liliana, the Last Hope, Goblin 1/1 R, On an Adventure, Skeleton 1/1 B, The Atropal, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie 2/2 B w/ Decayed, Zombie Army 0/0 B, Zombie Rogue 2/2 UB
Folders	Future Deck Building Ideas