Skullbriar, the Walking Grave EDH

Commander / EDH

Grell

Creature (40)

• 1x Acidic Slime
• 1x Brawn
• 1x Butcher of Malakir
• 1x Cadaver Imp
• 1x Champion of Lambholt
• 1x Crypt Rats
• 1x Deadwood Treefolk
• 1x Deranged Outcast
• 1x Desecration Demon
• 1x Disciple of Griselbrand
• 1x Drumhunter
• 1x Entomber Exarch
• 1x Farhaven Elf
• 1x Fertilid
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Fungal Behemoth
• 1x Gatecreeper Vine
• 1x Gigantomancer
• 1x Golgari Guildmage
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Krosan Tusker
• 1x Lord of Extinction
• 1x Mycoloth
• 1x Ondu Giant
• 1x Onyx Mage
• 1x Primordial Hydra
• 1x Protean Hydra
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1x Scute Mob
• 1x Sewer Nemesis
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Shriekmaw
• 1x Skullmulcher
• 1x Slum Reaper
• 1x Thornling
• 1x Vampire Nighthawk
• 1x Vigor
• 1x Vulturous Zombie
• 1x Wolfir Silverheart

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Garruk Wildspeaker
• 1x Liliana of the Dark Realms

Land (39)

• 1x Ancient Ziggurat
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 14x Forest
• 1x Gilt-Leaf Palace
• 1x Golgari Guildgate
• 1x Grim Backwoods
• 1x Llanowar Reborn
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Rupture Spire
• 1x Svogthos, the Restless Tomb
• 12x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Wood
• 1x Twilight Mire
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Enchantment (8)

• 1x Asceticism
• 1x Call to the Grave
• 1x Death's Presence
• 1x Grave Betrayal
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Necrogenesis
• 1x Rancor
• 1x Rite of Passage

Artifact (4)

• 1x Contagion Clasp
• 1x Golgari Keyrune
• 1x Ring of Kalonia
• 1x Ring of Xathrid

Instant (3)

• 1x Golgari Charm
• 1x Putrefy
• 1x Vines of Vastwood

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Blessings of Nature
• 1x Consuming Vapors
• 1x Hunting Triad

Commander (1)

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Designed for two-player. When making the deck, I made some unusual design choices:

1. I always find myself wanting to play more creatures in my decks, but can't find the room. For the "first draft" of the deck, I only allowed myself to include creatures. Once I had finished that, I allowed myself to cut creatures for noncreature spells. As a result, this is my most creature-heavy EDH deck.

2. In my black EDH decks, I tend to play way too many graveyard tricks (reanimation etc.) and mass-removal. When making this deck, I swore off both of these. Mostly, anyway. A little bit has crept back in, but nothing like usual.

3. For a while, I made decks with the philosophy that they should not need (or even rely on) their commander to win. I wanted to try making this deck much more dedicated to Skullbriar.

The end result is a very focused deck. Skullbriar comes down turn 2, starts attacking, and keeps attacking. The deck wins if it can keep its opponent on his/her back foot, but doesn't perform as well if the game goes long. Unfortunately, the design choices I made have resulted in some huge vulnerabilities. The deck NEEDS Skullbriar to win and doesn't have many ways to protect him. Bouncing, tucking, or stealing Skullbriar can win the game for your opponent. Even if you play him again, they've had time to build up defenses and he'll just be a 1/1. The lack of mass removal also means that the deck can't effectively deal with tokens (and will likely lose to them).

I have not played the deck in multiplayer yet, but suspect it would not perform well. Although it would be easier to build up Skullbriar with more people to attack, he's far more likely to be bounced/tucked/stolen. And the lack of mass removal means that the deck will frequently rely on opponents to deal with each other. That is less likely to happen, though, as Skullbriar is a peacock in multiplayer. He generates a lot more hate than the deck can handle.

Date added	12 years
Last updated	12 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 28 - 0 Rares 27 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.89
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Elf Warrior 1/1 G, Emblem Liliana of the Dark Realms, Saproling 1/1 G, Zombie 2/2 B