Lord of the Grave
This deck is a fine-tuned, synergistic graveyard toolbox.
The general plan is to ramp, play a bunch of value permanents, and slowly assemble an unbeatable engine while grinding down your opponents' boards through attrition.
This deck can win with a Mikaeus+Woodfall Primus loop, but besides that the goal is to out-value everyone.
Sideboard = imminent cuts, Maybeboard = imminent additions
The King
Karador, Ghost Chieftain is the premier value recursion general in these colors. He'll give all of our enter the battlefield creatures another round, and help feed any sacrifice engines going on. Bonus: he gets cheaper the later the game goes, which is where this deck really shines. At least until they kill our graveyard, which is usually unavoidable and not worth playing tech to counter it. Shout out to Teneb, the Harvester!!! This is the current iteration of my first EDH deck, and until recently the big dragon was my commander. If you don't have Karador, he makes a fine substitute for the helm, along with Ghave, Guru of Spores.
Secret Sauce
These are the backbone of the deck. While none of them are necessary, they fit well into just about any engine this deck can assemble. Be careful about keeping them protected, as you'll be sad when they're gone! Until you bring them back that is...
Sun Titan This alabaster sun bro is a godsend. He at least brings one thing back no matter what, and has the potential to get much more. Best friends with Saffi Eriksdotter for infinite recursion with a sac outlet, Eternal Witness for value, and Fleshbag Marauder to clear your opponents boards. Side note: this card is the main reason why the deck is a bit heavy at the 3-drop slot.
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed Busted with so many different cards. Even without abusing persist, Mikaeus lets us use up all our fat bodies, then have them come back for a second life for free! If this guy lives very long, you'll have no problem running away with the game.
Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter The sacrifice outlet to end them all. Repeatable instant speed sacrificing, instant speed removal, and a big lifelink flier. How big? Directly proportional to how hard your engine is going off.
Karmic Guide Not great on her own, but the ability to unconditionally bring back some beef to the battlefield is invaluable. Being a creature makes her easy to bring back herself, leading to some chain sacrificing and reanimation. I like her better than Phyrexian Delver because she sends herself back to the graveyard and doesn't hurt you.
Ashen Rider Ultimate target for a sacrifice-recursion chain. Say goodbye to those pesky permanents.
Note I don't include any of the praetors because of playgroup restrictions, but all three would be excellent in this deck if you're into them.
Beef
The fatties. The heavy hitters. The beef. These guys are the fuel in the furnace of the Teneb engine. They've got big bodies to smash in with, and love to be reanimated on the cheap or sacrifice-looped.
Grave Titan Big body, gets a lot of butts on the ground to feed other cards.
Wurmcoil Engine Life, big attacker, and multiple bodies. Also just a badass card.
Kokusho, the Evening Star The ultimate lifedrain card in a creature recursion deck. It's gotten me out of a lot of jams after being focused.
Yosei, the Morning Star Hard to tell who's more evil, this guy or his brother Kokusho. He can easily lock one person out of the game, and combos tremendously with Gift of Immortality.
Woodfall Primus Big fatty that deals with problem permanents.
Hallowed Spiritkeeper For a three-drop, this guy is aggressively priced and makes a ton of little dudes to be Skullclamped up.
Recursion
The primary theme of the deck. Nothing stays down.
Eternal Witness Get back ANYTHING
Gift of Immortality Quite a useful card, amazing with a big EtB creature and a sac outlet.
Reveillark Flying body, brings back a big chunk of the deck. Combos with a whole bunch of stuff.
Puppeteer Clique Opponents' graveyards ahoy! Likes to die.
Life from the Loam: Gets back all of our fetches and cycle lands, and dredge works great to fill our toolbox.
Sacrifice Synergy
Every sacrifice brings you one step closer to victory.
Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, Butcher of Malakir With all of the sacrificing and death going on in this deck, having one of these out will lay waste to your opponents' creatures. The best part: they stack quite nicely.
Fleshbag Marauder Cheap, value creature which forces a big hunk of sacrificing.
Ghave, Guru of Spores Produces creatures, sac outlet, this guy does it all.
Mindslicer If you have a way to sac him, he nukes everyone's hands, which you should be able to recover from and utilize better than most. Even without a sac outlet, you get a 4/3 that no one wants to kill!
Mana
Ramp wins by letting you do more things. Less things < more things = win. Get some.
Hermit Druid Finds lands, but more importantly fills the graveyard in a huge way. With only 8 basics, he'll be milling an average of 12 cards per activation.
Garruk Wildspeaker Ramps, makes dudes, and can even overrun for a kill. Pairs well with the Ravnica bounce lands.
Solemn Simulacrum Sad robot is love, sad robot is life. Gets you a land and nets you a card. Fits perfectly in a looping sac engine!
Mirari's Wake, Mana Reflection Slam one of these, and never worry about mana again.
Farhaven Elf and Wood Elves both get lands, can be recurred by Sun Titan, and wear Skullclamp exceedingly well..
Sol Ring Turn 1: Land, Sol Ring, Go. Feels good man.
Sakura-Tribe Elder, Dawntreader Elk Land + dying body
Yavimaya Elder A bit slow, but a ton of value for a three drop.
Tutors
Find what you need fast.
Stoneforge Mystic Finds Skullclamp or Sword of Feast and Famine. Value tutor with a body.
Birthing Pod Finds new and improved bodies while filling the graveyard.
Fauna Shaman Dumps fatties in your bin and gets you the best creature at that very moment. Awesome value for a 2-drop.
Dimir House Guard Usually just finds a sweeper, but also can be used as a sac outlet. Decent body too!
Demonic Tutor Get what you need. Simple as that.
Targeted Removal
Sometimes you just really need to kill that Sol Ring
Maelstrom Pulse Finger of death to any permanent. Occasionally wipes a board of identical tokens.
Aura Shards Cleanses the board of annoying targets, prevents them from playing any more.
Qasali Pridemage and Acidic Slime Naturalizes in creature form.
Necrotic Sliver Vindicate on a body! Sure, it might cost more mana, but this deck always seems to need mana sinks. Getting this to recur with a sac engine is pretty great.
Shadowborn Demon Great body on a five mana flier, with a downside that's actually an upside! Oh, and it kills (almost) whatever you want too.
Sweepers
They're sad because their dudes got killed. You can't wait to use them for yourself.
Wrath of God, Day of Judgment Kill all sons of bitches.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion Insane bomb. Destroys any big threats, or makes a massive army. The ultimate is insane but not quite game-breaking.
Living Death The ol' switcheroo! Seriously, this card can straight up win a game if you play it in the right situation with a stocked graveyard.
Pernicious Deed Versatile, and can be brought back with Sun Titan
Austere Command Versatile sweeper that always works in your favor.
Card Draw
Get a grip.
Skullclamp Busted beyond belief, in this deck more than most.
Elvish Visionary Cheap body that replaces itself.
Phyrexian Arena Long-game gas.
Grater Good Amazing sacrifice outlet that lets you dig through the deck fast.
Viscera Seer Cheap sac outlet and early body for your other cards. Technically card quality and not card draw, but it serves the same purpose.
Disciple of Bolas Cash in on some big fatties if you're running low on gas.
Protection
Oh, you thought you were going to kill Sun Titan?
Saffi Eriksdotter Keeps any creature alive, but has the courtesy to let it die first.
Dauntless Escort Boardwipe insurance.
Restoration Angel Saves something from spot removal and/or abuses an ETB effect, on a 3/4 flying body with flash. Great card.
Miscellaneous
Sword of Feast and Famine. Great at any point in the game.Turns any little dude into a threat, and doubles your mana output. Also good with Vish Kal and other things that care about P/T.
Flickerwisp Abuses ETB, blows up tokens and auras, and holds a sword well. Great with Sun Titan.
Altar of Dementia Fills the yard, and gives us another much-needed sac outlet.
Spore Frog A deceptively strong little guy that deters people from attacking you, or gaining from beating down someone else. Great with Skullclamp, and helps fill the yeard.
Lands
Mosswort Bridge, Free spell, and getting to 10 power is easy.
High Market Free sac outlet
Homeward Path Make sure no annoying blue player can use your creatures against you.
Golgari Rot Farm, Selesnya Sanctuary, Orzhov Basilica Card advantage, combo with Garruk. If your playground runs more land destruction, don't run these.
Secluded Steppe, Tranquil Thicket, Barren Moor Not the best lands in the world, but they're insanely good card advantage when combined with Life from the Loam.
Ultimately, this deck is founded upon maximizing the value of every card through graveyard recursion synergy, grinding your opponents out in the long game through attrition. It can be consistently powerful against just about any opponent, and is massively fun to play. Now go out and make the most of your graveyard.
