Sticks and Bones - Skeleton Tribal [PRIMER]

Commander / EDH BG (Golgari) Devotion Reanimator Skeleton

TheIon

Land (37)

• 1x Bala Ged Recovery  ^Flip
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Castle Locthwain
• 1x Command Tower
• 4x Forest
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Golgari Rot Farm
• 1x Hagra Mauling  ^Flip
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Necroblossom Snarl
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 4x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Strip Mine
• 9x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Woodland Cemetery
• 1x Woodland Chasm

Recursion (6)

• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Bala Ged Recovery  ^Flip
• 1x Dance of the Dead
• 1x Persist
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Whip of Erebos

MassRecursion (4)

• 1x Haunting Voyage
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Patriarch's Bidding
• 1x Rise of the Dark Realms

Tutor (3)

• 1x Demonic TutorGC
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Grim Tutor

Lifegain (2)

• 1x The Great Henge
• 1x Whip of Erebos

Ramp (15)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Charcoal Diamond
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Dimir House Guard
• 1x Golgari Signet
• 1x Into the North
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Rampant Growth
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Resilience
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Three Visits

Draw (10)

• 1x Bolas's CitadelGC
• 1x Castle Locthwain
• 1x Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1x Life's Legacy
• 1x NecropotenceGC
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Return of the Wildspeaker
• 1x Smuggler's Copter
• 1x The Great Henge

Wincon (5)

• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Overwhelming Stampede
• 1x Return of the Wildspeaker
• 1x Rise of the Dark Realms
• 1x Skeletal Swarming

Boardwipe (3)

• 1x Living Death
• 1x Pestilence
• 1x Toxic Deluge

GraveHate (2)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Soul-Guide Lantern

Defense (1)

• 1x No Mercy

Commander (1)

Skeleton (11)

• 1x Bone Dragon
• 1x Champion of Stray Souls
• 1x Deathless Knight
• 1x Ghastly Death Tyrant
• 1x Lim-Dul's High Guard
• 1x Paragon of Open Graves
• 1x Skeletal Kathari
• 1x Skeletal Vampire
• 1x Skeletal Wurm
• 1x Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
• 1x Underworld Sentinel

Interaction (10)

• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Baleful Mastery
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Golgari Charm
• 1x Hagra Mauling  ^Flip
• 1x Infernal Grasp
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Oubliette
• 1x Terror

Protection (3)

• 1x Golgari Charm
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip

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"If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you best teach it to dance." - George Bernard Shaw

Introduction

Good day, ghouls and ghosts of EDH! Today, I bring you a bone-chilling skeleton tribal deck! So let's order some spare ribs, tune into some Bone Jovi and get started!

This skeleton tribal deck has two paths to victory: our primary win-con is building up a board with strong black devotion {B}{B}{B}, then resolving and reanimating Gray Merchant of Asphodel (Gary) for the win. Alternatively, we can turn our skeletons sideways to finish off any opponents that managed to survive Gary with combat damage.

We have chosen Old Stickfingers as our commander. He gives us access to black {B} and green {G}, which are good colors for a skeleton deck - the black gives us access to skeletons, reanimation, draw spells and the devotion --> Gary win condition, while green gives us access to great ramp and more interaction, as well as win-cons for our combat damage sub-strategy: Overwhelming Stampede, Return of the Wildspeaker and the very flavorful Skeletal Swarming! Plus Old Stickfingers's cast trigger fills our graveyard with skeletons that we can mass-reanimate later!

Pros and Cons

You might like this deck if:

• You enjoy playing under-represented tribal decks
• You enjoy playing decks whose victory paths are not immediately obvious to your opponents
• You enjoy playing decks that your opponents have never seen before
• You enjoy playing non-linear decks with multiple paths to victory
• You enjoy mass reanimation, devotion and combat strategies

You might not like this deck if:

• You prefer tribal decks to be led by a legendary creature that fits the tribe's creature type
• You prefer combo, aggro, control or stax strategies
• You prefer decks with low variance and linear paths to victory
• You don't enjoy decks that can be hampered or disabled by graveyard hate
• You prefer to build decks that have been built many times before

Gameplan

Generally, we want to open games by ramping as much as we can before playing Old Stickfingers. Once we cast our commander, our graveyard should be filled with spooky skeletons! Then, all that is left for us to do is resolve a mass-reanimation spell, get Gray Merchant of Asphodel on the field, then reanimate Gary and / or swing with our skeleton army for the win!

Key Inclusions

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Bolas's Citadel - good card advantage that helps with black devotion

Champion of Stray Souls - a skeleton that can reanimate Gary in a pinch

Deathless Knight - probably my favorite skeleton since it adds 4 to our black devotion

Dimir House Guard - another great skeleton, since it gives us a 0-cost sacrifice outlet, helping us put Gary back in the grave so he can be reanimated

Entomb - gets Gary into the graveyard

Erebos, God of the Dead - as the God of the Dead, he fits well with a skeleton theme, plus it's a good body that gives card advantage, hoses lifegain strategies (which are a problem for us) and benefits from our black devotion strategy

Gray Merchant of Asphodel - our primary win-con

Life's Legacy - great draw spell when sacrificing a big Old Stickfingers

Living Death - probably my favorite mass reanimation spell, since it first clears the board, then brings all our skeletons out to play! Try to cast this only after resolving Old Stickfingers so that our grave is full of skeletons to reanimate!

Necropotence - our best source of card advantage, plus its great for our black devotion victory path

No Mercy - a bit of a pet card, but it keeps pesky creatures at bay while building our black devotion

Oubliette - deals with problematic commanders while building our black devotion, not to mention the on-theme skeleton art available on the Arabian Nights version!

Overwhelming Stampede - a win-con for our combat damage victory path

Pestilence - this effect is great with a big Old Stickfingers out, helping us keep the board clear of pesky creatures while building our black devotion

Phyrexian Arena - this card is not as great as the format speeds up, but it is a good draw effect that also builds our black devotion.

Return of the Wildspeaker - a good draw effect with a big Old Stickfingers on the table, or a win-con for our combat damage victory path

Skeletal Swarming - a very flavorful and effective win-con for our combat damage victory path

Smuggler's Copter - this effect helps us put skeletons from our hand into our grave, plus we get to call it the 'Skele-copter'

Skeletal Kathari - a flying skeleton that can also act as a sacrifice outlet

Soul-Guide Lantern - counters our opponents' graveyard strategies while leaving our yard untouched

Terror - this interaction spell is here for its 10th Edition skeleton art. If you're not crazy about running a weaker spell for its on-theme art, replace it with Heartless Act or Snuff Out

The Great Henge - easy to cast with a big Old Stickfingers out, plus it draws us a lot of cards if we can resolve a mass reanimation effect with the Henge on the table

Underworld Sentinel - another skeleton that can reanimate Gary in a pinch

Whip of Erebos - this card checks a lot of boxes: gives our skeleton army lifelink, builds our black devotion and reanimates Gary. Plus Erebos, God of the Dead himself is already in the deck!

Budget Build Substitutions

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Here are some considerations to lower the price of the deck:

Land Base: replace Cabal Coffers, Overgrown Tomb, Strip Mine, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Verdant Catacombs with 2x Swamp, 2x Forest and a Tectonic Edge.

Assassin's Trophy --> Heartless Act, Snuff Out or Return to Nature

Demonic Tutor --> Diabolic Tutor

Entomb --> Unmarked Grave

Grim Tutor --> Buried Alive

Heroic Intervention --> Wrap in Vigor

Necropotence --> Greed

No Mercy --> Fog

Phyrexian Arena --> Underworld Connections

Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon --> Clattering Augur

The Great Henge --> Greater Good or Harmonize

Toxic Deluge --> Crux of Fate

Power-ups

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Here are some substitutions that will up the power-level of your deck. Remember, always talk to your pod about adding fast-mana and tutors so that your power level is appropriate for the table!

Temple of the False God --> Mana Crypt

Charcoal Diamond --> Mana Vault

Myriad Landscape --> Imperial Seal

Terror --> Vampiric Tutor

Smuggler's Copter --> Burgeoning

Conclusion

Do you know any cards that would be good in this deck, or have any ideas on how to improve this primer? Maybe you've got some good skeleton puns you've been holding onto? Let me know your thoughts!!

Date added	3 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	9 - 0 Mythic Rares 31 - 0 Rares 27 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.43
Tokens	Bat 1/1 B, Beast 3/3 G, Foretell, Skeleton 1/1 B