Only Mostly Dead

Commander / EDH* Casual Mono-Black Sacrifice Weenie

KablamoBoom

Instant (2)

• 1x Pile On
• 1x Overwhelming Remorse

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Yawgmoth's Will
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Beseech the Queen
• 1x Ghastly Conscription
• 1x Rise of the Dark Realms

Enchantment (8)

• 1x Dark Privilege
• 1x Gate to Phyrexia
• 1x Ghoulish Procession
• 1x Heartless Summoning
• 1x Tombstone Stairwell
• 1x Black Market
• 1x Gift of Doom
• 1x Open the Graves

Artifact (16)

• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Jeweled Lotus
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Jet Medallion
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Bontu's Monument
• 1x Crowded Crypt
• 1x Lightning Coils
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Helm of Possession

Creature (30)

• 1x Cabal Trainee
• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Cryptbreaker
• 1x Festering Mummy
• 1x Fume Spitter
• 1x Gravecrawler
• 1x Plagued Rusalka
• 1x Shambling Ghast
• 1x Stitcher's Supplier
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Butcher Ghoul
• 1x Sultai Emissary
• 1x Archghoul of Thraben
• 1x Headless Rider
• 1x Liliana's Standard Bearer
• 1x Magus of the Bridge
• 1x Pawn of Ulamog
• 1x Skullport Merchant
• 1x Undercity Informer
• 1x Mindless Automaton
• 1x Pitiless Plunderer
• 1x Smothering Abomination
• 1x Species Specialist
• 1x Tormod, the Desecrator
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Krav, the Unredeemed
• 1x Phyrexian Plaguelord
• 1x Priest of the Blood Rite
• 1x Gravespawn Sovereign

Land (37)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Crypt of Agadeem
• 1x Everglades
• 1x Lake of the Dead
• 1x Mutavault
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 26x Swamp
• 1x Unholy Grotto
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Commander (1)

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Maybeboard

Instant (2)

• 1x Rise of the Dread Marn
• 1x Empty the Pits

Sorcery (5)

• 1x Dread Summons
• 1x Pact of the Serpent
• 1x Beseech the Mirror
• 1x Dread Return
• 1x Army of the Damned

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Chains of Mephistopheles
• 1x Death in Heaven

Artifact (5)

• 1x Embalmer's Tools
• 1x Grinding Station
• 1x Surveyor's Scope
• 1x Gate to the Afterlife
• 1x Lifeline

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Liliana, Untouched By Death

Creature (33)

• 1x Festering Goblin
• 1x Scorn-Blade Berserker
• 1x Disciple of Perdition
• 1x Doomed Dissenter
• 1x Orcish Bowmasters
• 1x Priest of Forgotten Gods
• 1x Priest of the Haunted Edge
• 1x Triarch Praetorian
• 1x Undead Augur
• 1x Undead Butler
• 1x Wailing Ghoul
• 1x Crow of Dark Tidings
• 1x Geth, Thane of Contracts
• 1x Gravelighter
• 1x Hobbling Zombie
• 1x Jerren, Corrupted Bishop  ^Flip
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Necroskitter
• 1x Rotlung Reanimator
• 1x Seer of Stolen Sight
• 1x Woe Strider
• 1x Xathrid Necromancer
• 1x Defiler of Flesh
• 1x Erebos, Bleak-Hearted
• 1x Gonti, Lord of Luxury
• 1x Vulturous Aven
• 1x Diregraf Horde
• 1x Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1x Extractor Demon
• 1x Lord of the Forsaken
• 1x Noosegraf Mob
• 1x K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
• 1x Vilis, Broker of Blood

Land (3)

• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Inkmoth Nexus
• 1x Peat Bog

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• 6 Fume Spitter
• 3.8 Cabal Trainee (sac outlet x 3 power odds)

• 7 Festering Goblin

• 8 Embalmer's Tools

• 9 Gate to the Afterlife

Centuries ago, Shizo was a verdant field of wildflowers. After 891 samurai died in a single battle on its grasses, it became a haunted moor.

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When I saw Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker for the first time I knew I wanted to build an EDH deck around him. He's a blast to play, and lends himself to a lot of silly, wacky, and fun interactions. On top of that, he makes for a cheap deck that wins.

The gist of it is, anything that has one or less power when it dies haunts the battlefield, coming back into play at the next end step. The basic combo uses sac outlets, weenies, and ETB/on-death triggers. Grave Pact, stax, that whole thing. It's quite easy to abuse, and certain cards will make Shirei an absolute powerhouse. However, this is not your competitive Shirei deck. This version is designed to be cheap, have fun, and wreak havoc.

Combo Pieces

For the most part, Shirei EDH revolves around creatures, which can be sorted into five categories:

ETB/Dies Triggers	Sacrifice Outlets	Whenever Triggers
Abyssal Gatekeeper Big Game Hunter Bone Shredder Cadaver Imp Disciple of Phenax Dutiful Attendant Gray Merchant of Asphodel Liliana's Shade Necropede Pilgrim's Eye Returned Reveler Sultai Emissary Summoner's Egg	Carrion Feeder Crypt Rats Devouring Strossus Flesh-Eater Imp Kuon, Ogre Ascendant   Plagued Rusalka Thoughtpicker Witch Undercity Informer Viscera Seer Self-Sacrifice Apprentice Necromancer Fume Spitter Mindless Automaton Overeager Apprentice Workhorse	Blood Artist Butcher of Malakir Grim Haruspex Harvester of Souls Ogre Slumlord Reaper from the Abyss Scavenger Drake Miscellaneous Crypt Ghast Guiltfeeder Lingering Tormentor Nezumi Graverobber   Silent Arbiter Sorceress Queen Xenic Poltergeist

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Many Shirei players prefer to rely on creatures that can repeatedly sacrifice themselves, such as Bottle Gnomes. I've found that ETB/on-death triggers and "whenever" effects that trigger when something dies are much more powerful. However, to use them you first need a way to kill such creatures, hence our sacrifice outlets. Run as many sac outlets as you can, because come turn five you want to get going immediately. Having too few can mean sitting around doing nothing for a long time.
Enchantments and artifacts are typically the best sac outlets you can draw, namely Ashnod's Altar, Infernal Tribute, and Attrition. These are the cards you want in your opening hand. There's also a few noncreature cards that trigger whenever something dies: Dark Prophecy, Dictate of Erebos, and Jar of Eyeballs, some of the best combo pieces in the deck.

Other Cards

The last few miscellaneous cards are generally responses, protection, or bombs. Keep in mind that these cards must be at least four times as effective as their creature counterparts. That is, Barter in Blood is only two recursions of Abyssal Gatekeeper, and Bloodgift Demon is only one Mindless Automaton, both of which I considered and left out.

I tend to run light on nonbasic lands. Swamps come in untapped, always tap for {B}, and work well with cards like Crypt Ghast. However, there are a few nonbasic lands worth running. Crypt of Agadeem will grant you a huge chunk of black mana, just sac all your critters then cast something big. Terrain Generator is in there for when you start recurring Pilgrim's Eye. Myriad Landscape is extra slow land ramp built for long EDH games. Everglades lets you conserve land when you're low. Reliquary Tower is recommended because this deck draws quite a bit.

Tips and Guidelines

1. The first part of Shirei's ability is a delayed trigger that checks if a creature had one or less power when it died. Counters DO count, as do enchantments or equipment that give +X/+X, and critters like Carrion Feeder and Scavenger Drake are past mostly dead to all dead. No loopholes or cheating the ability.
2. The second part of Shirei's ability triggers at the START of the End Step. So say "before your end step, I sac etc." If Shirei leaves play at any point, the trigger won't happen, period. If something dies *during* the end step, Shirei will resurrect it on the end step of the *next* player. Thus, 0/0 creatures (thanks, Elesh Norn) will still resurrect, but die immediately every end step.
3. Tap, sorcery speed, or upkeep only effects are four times less effective than ETB, on-death, and sac effects. Sometimes this is worth it, sometimes this isn't. Lightning Greaves can remedy this on your turn, Thousand-Year Elixir is also an elegant solution.
4. Required sacrifice that triggers on-death can sometimes force you to sac Shirei. Be careful with cards like Abyssal Gatekeeper.
5. Sacrifice that triggers on ETB (Blasting Station) will leave your board empty, as the effect will occur at the end of every turn. Not recommended.
6. Similarly, ETB effects that state "until end of turn" are useless in almost all circumstances.
7. Sacrifice that requires another sacrifice to trigger is almost always a waste. Cards like Qarsi Sadist seem really good at first, but unless you have a way to kill him, he's just going to sit there. At best, he can self-sac when he enters, but that means he's never in play.

Lifegain will not win you the game. Regenerate will not save you, half the time. Sorceries and Instants won't rise from the grave. Anafenza, the Foremost players will spoil your fun. Don't expect to get attacked unless it will kill you.

Cards I'm Not Running

• Wreck Hunter combos: Bog Initiate, Dark Depths, Grinding Station, Reprocess, Ruthless Technomancer, Blast Zone, God-Eternal Bontu, Carnage Altar, Inventors' Fair, Expedition Map.
• Cabal Trainee vs Fume Spitter: Trainee combos with Liliana's Standard Bearer but Fume Spitter can prevent removal of Magus of the Bridge and Krav, the Unredeemed. There are more shenanigans with Skullclamp but they're not too clunky to take into consideration.
• Kormus Bell combos: Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Field of the Dead, Bloodghast.
• Prowling Geistcatcher. This card gets its own writeup because it seems really really good at first glance. Then you play it early and never find your -1/-1 effects all game and suddenly you've locked yourself out of the game.
• Exsanguinate, Victimize, Tragic Slip, Barter in Blood, etc. All of these spells have a place, but they also have creatures that do the same thing. I will always pick creatures over spells in mono-black EDH because creatures can be recurred.
• Pentavus: similar to Ogre Slumlord, but you have to pay lots of mana before it's useful. Also, no deathtouch.
• Augur of Skulls, Sadistic Hypnotist, Mind Slash, and Brain Weevil: all too slow. If you want discard use Black Cat. If you want to be a jerk with your discard use Noxious Toad. If you want to actually be practical with your discard, use Disciple of Phenax. Yes, I realize Sadistic Hypnotist can cause all your opponents to discard their hands, but that just pisses people off and makes you their target.
• Coffin Queen and Hell's Caretaker. These two just felt weak because of their tap requirements. I'd love to run them, and I'd recommend them alongside Thousand-Year Elixir, for example. That said, the price isn't worth the effort.
• Contamination: The mono-black EDH shutdown. The ultimate fun sucker outer. If you're facing an extremely competitive meta, this is your card. Otherwise, it really kills the EDH spirit.
• Basal Thrull, Soldevi Adnate, Priest of Yawgmoth, Blood Pet. Not worth it, most of the time. Compare to Workhorse, who grants you {4} each turn. Soldevi Adnate is decent, but it requires having other creatures out, and a tap effect for {B}{B}{B} and one sacrifice isn't worth it.

*"I have decided that your lack of adherence to the Rules of NecroWarfare have utterly ruined our game. Therefore, I will no longer send my elite troops to the field of battle."*
      -Geralf, the Stitcher

Date added	9 years
Last updated	7 months
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 0 Mythic Rares 34 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 13 - 0 Commons
Cards	102
Avg. CMC	2.92
Tokens	Demon 5/5 B, Eldrazi Spawn 0/1 C, Elemental 3/1 R, Manifest 2/2 C, Morph 2/2 C, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie 2/2 B w/ Decayed, Zombie 2/2 B w/ Haste
Folders	Duel Commander