Wilhelt, Grave Defiler

Commander / EDH MegaMatt13

SCORE: 156 | 106 COMMENTS | 39115 VIEWS | IN 88 FOLDERS


Recent Changes —Aug. 3, 2017

Been playtesting the deck a lot over the past couple weeks and it's performing well. Just made a few changes to throw some more cards into the graveyard.

Phyrexian Arena + Skullclamp ---> Memory Erosion + Champion of Wits: The deck wanted more ways of throwing cards into graveyards. In some ways it's better than usual card draw in this deck. Champion of Wits is a beast of card selection when reanimated with the Scarab God.

Panharmonicon ---> Epiphany at the Drownyard: Similar to thinking above. The decks wants card selection that puts cards in the graveyard. It may be my playgroup but Panharmonicon would always get blown up before I got much value out of it.

Evil Twin --->Dragonlord Silumgar: I find I get a bit more value out of Silumgar because of outright stealing instead of copying. Plus the flying and deathtouch is often relevant.

Puppeteer Clique---> Victimize: I want all of my reanimation effects to be more efficient than my commander's (otherwise why not use my commander's?). Puppeter Clique didn't always feel more efficient. Victimize at 3 mana fetches two creatures which is incredibly efficient.

Attrition---> Noxious Gearhulk: I've found that just having another ETB kill creature as opposed to an enchantment as it synergizes better with the commander.

Swamp ---> Rapid Hybridization: The deck's CMC continues to drop so I think it can handle one less creature. The deck loves instant speed removal.

Necromantic Selection ---> Black Sun's Zenith: As flavourful as Necromantic Selection was, it was just too expensive for its effect. I like the flexibility of Zenith. Often I can cast it for X=3, wiping the board of tokens but keeping my reanimated zombies alive.

zandl says... #1

I ran a Scarab God deck in an episode of the TappedOut Commander Series a few weeks back, and it was pretty sweet. Check it out. One thing I'd mentioned is that I feel Memory Erosion is going to serve you better than Hedron Crab. You'll hit more cards and it's much harder to remove than a 0/2.

July 22, 2017 6:48 p.m.

MegaMatt13 says... #2

zandl hadn't heard of that card... Thanks for the tip! I will check out your episode.

I like the hedron crab because I can choose who to mill (including myself). The Enchantment can't mill me and sometimes I want that. I could see myself including both though :)

July 22, 2017 7:24 p.m.

SpookyToe says... #3

Rooftop Storm and Gravecrawler are essential for any zombie deck, especially in EDH as they go infinite with any sac outlet such as the Altar of Dementia that you run. I recommend cutting Venser, Shaper Savant and the Big Game Hunter as they don't really help your strategy of zombies. Endless Ranks of the Dead is also broken in any zombie deck.

July 23, 2017 5:40 p.m.

Sgtpopnfreash says... #4

You need another zombie on the field as well for Rooftop Storm Gravecrawler sac outlet. Thats a 4 card combo with 0 parts in the command zone. Its not an effective primary win condition. I would not say Rooftop storm is an "auto include" in any zombie tribal deck but thats like my opinion.

July 23, 2017 11:27 p.m.

Sgtpopnfreash says... #5

OK real talk for a second. Here is why I hate janky infinite combos like that Rooftop Storm-Gravecrawler or any 4 card infinite instant win combo in non CEDH decks like this one.

If your gonna try to infinite combo there is no reason to NOT use the best options available to you. The Rooftop Storm combo would be a little more viable if it didnt require 2 effects already in play. Requiring both a sac outlet and a zombie on the field is too much, and creatures are too easy to remove at instant speed. If it only needed 1 of these effects it would be a viable combo because you could overload the deck with that type of card either zombies or free sac outlets. If you want to play The instant win/tutor deck then play competitive EDH and use the best combos available to you. This doesnt mean you need to spend 40 dollars on a card like Food Chain. There are plenty of 3 card instant speed win combos in all colors that you can buy for under $20 total.

You can only play 4 card combos at super casual tables and then you end up ruining that game for everyone else trying to play the flashy huge spell style EDH that casual magic players like. Your gonna upset some people when you win instantly after they hard cast a Lorthos, the Tidemaker and that combo will never beat any half decent tier 3-4 sudo competitive deck. Rooftop Storm is a 6 drop as well which is just silly for that plan. If you want to play super grindy 1-2 hour games of EDH dont play instant combos. Its a dick move. Play the cards you wish were viable but just arn't, like Army of the Damned.

The Rooftop Storm combo would even be a little more viable if you had access to a zombie in the command zone but it would be really bad in this.

July 24, 2017 12:03 a.m.

MegaMatt13 says... #6

SpookyToe, I appreciate your suggestion but this isn't really a zombie tribal deck or a combo deck. It's more control/reanimation. Only a few zombie synergies are included. Rooftop Storm would be great if I was playing with lots of zombies or I was trying to combo off. I tend to purposely avoid infinite combos in my decks as I get bored with them quickly. Venser and big game hunter help with my control strategy. I appreciate you taking the time to check my deck out and offer feedback :)

Sgtpopnfreash, I hear you. I switched over to commander cuz I love the more casual atmosphere and being able to play big, janky spells you can't in other formats. Infinite combos aren't in that spirit IMHO. Every time I've built a combo deck, I've gotten bored with it and moved on. Ive learned just to avoid combos. My Ayli deck has become far more enjoyable since I took out Karmic Guide and Revellark. I don't judge others if they like combos though. To each their own. Some in my playgroup play with them. I do find it interesting they tend to take apart their decks a few times after "comboing off" though :)

July 24, 2017 1:27 a.m.

bushido_man96 says... #7

The thing about playing with a combo like that, though, is that you don't absolutely have to combo off if you don't want to. Its just another win condition to have. I've got a zombie tribal I play with Gisa and Geralf as the commanders, and I run the Gravecrawler and Rooftop Storm combo in it. I don't think I've pulled it off yet, though, but it can win with a horde, too. Aside from that combo, its got plenty of other fun synergies, too, which is what makes the deck fun to play.

Combos are ok, and its ok to gauge how the game is going, and not play the combo.

July 24, 2017 7:04 p.m.

shame says... #8

Compulsion is an allstar discard outlet in my scarb god deck

July 24, 2017 7:33 p.m.

Sgtpopnfreash says... #9

oh this deck should deff have Smuggler's Copter

July 25, 2017 4:08 a.m.

Looks solid! +1

August 1, 2017 5:23 a.m.

Sgtpopnfreash says... #11

I am fairly certain Westvale Abbey  Flip's color identity is black and white because of the token it creates so it is not a legal card to run in this deck.

August 1, 2017 12:43 p.m.

RingoDingo92 says... #12

Interesting take on The Scarab God! I've been brewing up a zombies list, but I might incorporate some elements here too.

August 1, 2017 1:12 p.m.

JokeEmperor says... #13

Sgtpopnfreash it's just black. If the card has a named color it's not that color. If it has the color orb (like if it showed white and black mana symbols on it) then it would classify that color.

August 2, 2017 1:57 p.m.

MegaMatt13 says... #14

Sgtpopnfreash and JokeEmperor: yup, Westvale Abbey only has black colour identity because of Ormendahl. The colour of the tokens that a card creates does not impact the colour identity.

RingoDingo92, thanks for checking out the deck. Zombie tribal is certainly one direction you can take it. I already had a Gisa and Geralf zombie deck so I chose to go reanimator/control for something different.

August 2, 2017 2:27 p.m.