this is my zombie edh deck. i need a bit of help with it though. its my first full edh deck im going to make from scratch. im trying to keep it sort of budget, but it does have some 10 or 15 dollar cards in it.
these 3 cards are the reason i stared making it:army of the damnedempty the pitsendless ranks of the dead
i feel those 3 cards lend themselves well to a longer game type so i decided to put them in an edh deck.
some of the zombies i wanted to use are either "undying" zombies, or zombies that can sacrifice other creatures to trigger undying/other triggers. thus I have also included zombies that trigger something to happen when they have been sacrificed.this deck also has a fair amount of life drain.below is a breakdown of some of the key points of my deck:creatures
1.butcher ghoul and 2. sightless ghoul, both have undying, and dont cost much mana.
3. vengeful dead: has good synergy with them because whenever a zombie is put into the grave from play, each opponent loses 1 life.
4. shepherd of rot also taps to make each player lose 1 life for each zombie in play.this can set me up for big life drains.
my sacrifice engines are:1. ghoulraiser, which when it enters the battlefield, you can return a zombie at random from the grave.
2.corpse blockade defender, (sac another creature, and it gains deathtouch until end of turn. im wondering if this could be replaced with something better though?
3.gnawing zombie, 1b enables me to sac a creature and target player loses 1 and i gain 1 life. do you think this is too little for edh though? i like it because its only a 2 drop, and my idea is to play kind of aggro, so that is the main reason i have this card.
4. carrion feeder, cant block, but i can sac a creature and pout a +1/+1 on him. and he only costs 1 black to cast.
my "good zombies" are:
1.lord of the undead: he buffs all my zombies by +1/+1 and i can pay 2, and return a zombie from my graveyard to my hand and re-utilize my undying abilites or whatever else.
2. cemetery reaper: also pumps my other zombies by 1/1, and he can make tokens if i exile a card from my grave, (maybe i need some more vanilla zombies or low cost 1 drop ones to utlilze this exile feature the best?)
3. unbreathing horde: i added this because it can get huge, it enters with +1/+1 for each other zomibe i control, and if its dealt damage, i prevent that damage and remove a counter from it. awesome.
4.gempalm polluter: has cycling for 2 black. and when you cycle it, i may have target player lose 1 for each zombie in play. thats dope, the only drawback is it costs 6 mana to play, so this will be a later play card.
5. boneknitter, is a 2 drop 1/1, but its a great card because it can enable me to pay 2 and regenerate target zombie. so i think it will work well with the overall synergy of the deck.if it dies i can bring this card back too and regenerate my others if they get hit.
6. soulless one. its power and toughness are equal to # of zombies in play and in all graves. late game huge card.
7. undead warchief: great because it makes my zombies cost 1 less to cast, and it buffs them all by +2/+1. amazing.
8. zombie master, another allstar, it makes all my zombies gain swampwalk and paying 1 black regenerates for as long as this card remains in play. this card specifically i have a question about thouh, does it enable me to regenerate my other zombies for 1? or is it only itself? would you sideboard this card because its swampwalk is only beneficial if im playing a black deck...
9. corpse harvester: costs cmc of 5, but its a lso a 3/3 and 2 and tapping it enables me to sac a creature, and search my library for a zombie and a swamp, then put them into my hand. pretty neat.
10. pontiff of blight, 2/7 for cmc of 6. she also gives all other creatures extort. i can see her draining a lot in late game if i have a good board presence...
below ill include some of the more filler type zombies.
1. carnophage: this is the first zombie i found that made me think of this deck. i really love the art so i threw him in, but his ability isnt that great. would you cut him or keep him? during my upkeep i have to pay 1 or tap him. but he only costs B to cast and hes a 2/2. this is where the aggro idea came from...
2.skinrender: i just love this card. its a good utility card and fits with the lore. cmc of 4, and when it ETB, put 3 -1/-1's on target creature.
3.escaped null: cmc of 4. lifelink, whenever he blocks or becomes blocked, it gets +5/0 until end of turn. its also a 1/2. would you keep this one?
4. shambling ghoul: cmc 2, etb tapped 2/3. basic utility aggro card.
5.diregraf ghoul. cmc 1, etb tapped. 2/2. another basic utility aggro.
6. abattoir ghoul. cmc 4. first strike. whenever a creature dealt damage by it dies this turn, you gain life equal to that creatures toughness. i think it can give you a pretty nice plus on the life. the 3/2 body is also appealing.
7. wakedancer: one of the few non-zombies in the deck. she makes zombies though so i put her in. cmc of 3, morbid ability- when she ETB, if a creature died this turn, put a 2/2 zombie token. cool.
8. infectious horror: awesome art. 2/2 cmc of 4. whenever it attacks each opponent loses 2.
9. paragon of open graves: another non-zombie, but its a good fit nonetheless.. i wish i could find this card in a zombie body.. cmc of 4. 2/2, other black creatures get +1/+1. and pay 3cmc and tap to give another black creature deathtouch until end of turn.
wight of precinct six is a card im kind of on the fence about, it costs 2cmc and gets +1/+1 for each creature in your opponents grave. i think i may put it in just to see, it seems to get pretty big if you were playing against creature heavy decks...
is there any other zombies you would include? im not trying to spend a fortune on this deck, butgravecrawler is def going in here when i get the dough to buy it. do you think i need more 1 or 2cmc zombies?
my removal suite looks like this:
1.devour in shadow 2cmc, instant, destroy target, it cant be regenerated, you lose life equal to its toughness. (moved to maybe board)
2.doom blade
3.feeding frenzy 3cmc, target creature gets -x/-x until end of turn where x is number of zombies in play.
4.victim of night 2cmc, instant, destroy target non vampire, non werewolf, non zombie creature. i really included this for flavor. i could always sideboard it out if i was playing decks that run those type of cards. (moved to maybe board, its cool but i put in a bunch of extra removal)
5.coffin purge another flavor card. remove target card in a graveyard from the game.
6.terror destroy target nonartifact, nonblack creature it cant be regenerated.
dictate of erebos 5cmc enchantment, with flash, henever a creature you control dies, each opponent sac's a creature.
quag sickness enchantment aura, it gets -1/-1 for each swamp you control.
painful quandary whenever an opponent casts a spell, that player loses 5 life unless they discard 1.
added to sideboard:go for the throatsilence the believersultimate pricedark betrayal
for card draw i have1.ancient craving draw 3 and lose 3 for cmc of 4.2.sign in blood3.read the bones4.sanguimancy cmc 5. draw x and lose x where x is your devotion to black. do you think this card might be too pricey life wise in the later game?5. diabolic tutor
i also have a few cards that help sacrifice stuff, or bring stuff back from the grave, butwhat i really need help with in this deck is the lands. any suggestions what else i should put in? i would rather not spend a whole bunch on lands, so i think the single color of this deck works in my favor in that regard. landi have 31 swamps, barren moorcrypt of agadeemrogue's passagemortuary mireis there any glaring ommisions i could add that wont cost me so much?
also, is there anything you could see me sideboarding?
