Gempalm Polluter

Creature — Zombie

Cycling {B}{B} ({B}{B}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)

When you cycle Gempalm Polluter, you may have target player lose 1 life for each Zombie on the battlefield.

Combos

• Gempalm Polluter + Unholy Grotto

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Historic	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (48)

jarncards on Dead WOMan Walking

1 year ago

Fiend Artisan is green

I think Sidisi, Undead Vizier is awful unless you use a lot of reanimate effects, it's just so expensive to tutor. Geth, Lord of the Vault is crazy strong, but he's a totally different deck most of the time. I'd dump Liliana's Steward too. You and one other player go down a card, putting the rest of the table ahead of you by one card, but they also get to choose, so you're never going to get the card you want out of their hand.

Hobbling Zombie and other cards like it, like Putrid Goblin are excellent at keeping attacks away from you while you build up your board. and the pseudo revival effects let you abuse a lot of other zombie mechanics. Butcher Ghoul, and Geralf's Messenger or Doomed Dissenter are ok too. i wouldnt use Sightless Ghoul though. They are all better than Reassembling Skeleton though. Keep Relentless Dead. Im not sure if they make the cut, but they arent scary, but that means they are good at keeping a target off your back til youre readyfor one.

Magus of the Bridge is great for a non-zombie. Probably use it over Tainted Adversary, i feel like that one just costs way too much before its good. Dreadhorde Invasion is incredibly good, as is Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. i'd put those in for sure.Tormod, the Desecrator is still really good. Zombie Trailblazer is devastating to the person sitting to your left in particular or anyone playing five colors/ not black. When you REALLY need someone to not cast a spell. make all their lands swamps during the upkeep. almost every board wipe is a sorcery.

I think you might want to dump Thought Vessel for Mind Stone or even Blood Pet. In many cases discarding is beneficial to zombies. If you want to keep infinite hand size, Zombie Infestation and discard at will cards are pretty helpful.

I think Noxious Ghoul is the single best zombie card in the game, in this deck it basically says, tap your commander, wipe everyone else's boards. Use it.

Sutured Ghoul is runner up. If you include it and other high power zombies like Rotting Regisaur you can put him out as a 20+/xx easily, and then get 2/2s. HE doesnt play nice with mass reanimate, but he's an alternate win condition on his own. also its a great tool since youre probably gonna sac the dino and Phyrexian Soulgorger pretty quickly. If you sacrifice him on the end step before your turn i think you will almost always have a game ending horde.

Gray Merchant of Asphodel is utterly stupid. The absolute best reanimate target you could hope for. and since your card draw is gonna cost a ton of life, hes always going to be valuable. Whip of Erebos is probably the only other reasonable lifegain choice.That one makes aggressive attacking suddenly super safe

Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia is really cheap at making zombies if you dont have any other sources of decayed zombs. they cant block, but you get so many death triggers

Graveborn Muse is great card draw.

Hatred is usually better than Endless Scream

I think Gempalm Polluter is fantastic. its card draw, puts a big zombie into your graveyard, and hurts a player if things are going well.

I don't think Endless Ranks of the Dead is that great, but it certainly is cool. Wand of Orcus is really cool too. I'm not sure if its good though.

Board wipes will shut you down as you have things right now. Crowded Crypt and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, that way, even if there's a board wipe you still have a whole army of zombs to multiply even after everything is dead. Rise of the Dread Marn is another fantastic option that you can abuse if you run things like Carrion Feeder too. Run Carrion Feeder, period. It lets you loop gravecrawler and saves yourself from control magic and exile spells.

Consider Toxic Deluge and STRONGLY CONSIDER Nevinyrral's Disk. Single target removal like tragic slip is ok because you can choose when things die, but other cards like Malicious Affliction are going to miss a lot of key targets. And you absolutely need to have a way to clear artifacts and especially enchantments.

Dark Salvation is pretty cool. not sure if it is good enough, but i'd use it rather than some of your spot removal.

Liliana, Dreadhorde General is really absurdly strong if you can get it out, and even if it dies the next turn you can draw a bunch off of it. Liliana, Heretical Healer  ^Flip you already know is great.

If you diversify your black lands, Field of the Dead is the best land. its silly how good it is. I'll start you off with the autoinclude Unholy Grotto. Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip is too.

I'll see what you make and see if i find anything else. later

jaymc1130 on How does Library of Leng …

2 years ago

Library of Leng is indeed a wonky card, but it's a pretty nifty combo piece within certain types of discard concept strategies.

When it comes to Madness, what you essentially have is two replacement effects modifying the same instance of the card being discarded, so you have a choice of which you want to apply. You can either discard the card into exile, or you may discard it to the top of your library. If you discard it into exile, then Library of Leng will no longer see an effect to replace and you then have the choice of casting the card for it's Madness cost or putting it into your graveyard. If you discard it to the top of your library then the Madness ability will no longer see an effect to replace, the card will not be in exile, and you will not be able to cast it for it's Madness cost. In practical terms, Madness and Library will not combo together to produce a cool line of play. In real world terms, Anje decks might not mind, they might be very happy to discard the card to the top of the library and repeatedly draw and discard it using Anje's ability. With a card like Glint-Horn Buccaneer in play, for example, this would kill opponents.

A mechanic with better synergy with Library of Leng is Cycling. Cycling cards discard themselves first, then draw a card. This can be used to cycle the same card over and over again, and a similar situation as to the aforementioned Buccaneer line of play can occur with a card like Drannith Stinger in play killing opponents as a result of this process. A combo such as Library of Leng + Tectonic Reformation + Surly Badgersaur + Drannith Stinger + any land would form a self sustaining loop to kill opponents, for example.

Additionally, some Cycling cards have triggered effects when they cycle, and Library of Leng can allow a pilot to loop those effects. Gilded Lotus + Library of Leng + Vizier of Tumbling Sands would produce infinite mana, for example. Add in something like a Lightning Rift and this could become lethal. Bone Miser + Library of Leng + Barren Moor is another infinite mana combo, though it only produces black mana. Add in a Gempalm Polluter, however, and this set up would also become lethal.

jsnrice on WILLY’S ZOMBIE COMBO FACTORY [cEDH Primer]

2 years ago

zAzen7977 right but a deck full of combos has no foundation. There's no defense or means to maintain a position until you're ready to combo. Most of my "combo" oriented decks have about five maybe six infinite combos and everything else is built to maintain a strong board presence. A deck full of combos just won't hold up in today's EDH meta. It's always good to have a backup plan in case the combo gets disrupted (as they so often do). Here's another suggestion: Gempalm Polluter This card is budget friendly and provides an alternate win-con. It's really not that hard to get A LOT of zombies out on the field quick. I had a board with 15 of them last night. Then cycle Gempalm. Cycling can't be countered making this all the more difficult to repel. Then drain that life. Then if you have damage amplifiers such as Wound Reflection you can really drain your opponents. Mid to late game this is usually a win-con. I'm not saying combos are bad. They are great. I'd just ton back all the combos and stick with a handful of them that you can get to while maintaining a board. That way if your combo gets disrupted then you have options and your deck is more versatile. I'm well familiar with all the combos in the initial build and tested the primer when it first came out. As my previous notes advertised this deck did not withstand the game. I could have used more tutors and creatures to support the setup for the combo(s). So cards like Gempalm Polluter can really go far in a deck like this one where your rebuilding your zombie force with your commander.

Vessiliana on Gisa and Geralf's Night of the Living Dead

2 years ago

Have you considered Gempalm Polluter? With a zombie count this high, he might do some work.

eyes2sky on Representation: List of Tribal Support in Pauper

2 years ago

Zombies: Gempalm Polluter, Ghoulcaller's Chant, Ghoulflesh, Ghoulraiser, Infernal Caretaker, Marauding Boneslasher, Shepherd of Rot, Vengeful Dead

passimo on Least favorite color or color …

2 years ago

libraryjoy wow your comment is really insightful. It seems your decks are aggro, or very creature based. Probably what I like of black is that creatures aren't often used to win the usual way. For example, I really like wireless damage, as Gempalm Polluter in my zombie control pauper deck (I love tribal too, but as I said I don't like just buff-and-attack) or (working on it since it came out) Malakir Blood-Priest . Oppositely from you, I find joy in wiping MY board; I have an entire deck here on tappedout based on swarming goblin, only to sacrifice them to play Eldrazi.

What I'm saying with all of this is that I love the fact that I found someone with my opposite tastes in mtg strategies =). It's always good to see the other side of the medal.

Also, on a same note, yesterday I forgot to mention that I hate playing against (while I don't dislike the combination itself), because you can make the best, convoluted strategies, but gruul plays 4/4s paying cmc 3, and beats you with that (which is very on guild flavor, "Hulk smash" and all of that). The same problem I have with selesnya applies here. (After all what does Gruul do from my worldview? Play 4/4s and that's it). And while Gruul isn't black enemy combination, I feel its strategy is completely opposite from what black represents. So yeah, could be a player thing.

Gobboleone on PDH Tormod/Halana

2 years ago

Hi Nanten91,

thanks for your suggestions! I am happy that you like the deck! I did consider both your suggestions but decided that Gempalm Polluter is too much of a "win more" card, because he only really shines when I already got a lot of zombies, and the Typhoid Rats is just too "bad" for my taste, since it is a 3cmc removal with Halana, Kessig Ranger on the board as a best case scenario. And because I already haven't enough slots in my deck I did not find some for those two cards.

Nanten91 on PDH Tormod/Halana

2 years ago

What a sweet deck! How are all those cycling lands going for you? Have you considered Gempalm Polluter and Typhoid Rats ?