Stefouch Deckling

@Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor

Rise of the Dark Realms (RotDR) is a great wincon card and alternative to Balthor.

I never cast Balthor if I don't have 3 manas to activate him (Song of the Dryads doesn't apply, but Stifle still does). I'm on the verge of winning when I cast him. Usually, I cast him once or twice during a game to initiate a reanimation loop. The 9-manas casting cost of RotDR competes hardly with Balthor. The only advantage I see with RotDR is its ability to reanimate all graveyards to your battlefield.

I never felt the urge to test RotDR. What RotDR does, Balthor does it too, from the command zone. What usually stops Balthor (counterspells, graveyard-hate), stops also RotDR. It's not a good backup plan. (My best backup plans are beatdown with my hard-cast demons or a well-placed Decree of Pain.)

I think RotDR is better in other reanimation/dredge/mill decks. E.g. Chainer could find use of both RotDR and Balthor in its list.

Balthor and Chainer have also different strategies.

Balthor wants to kill in a single big reanimation turn, or at least reanimate a big board to be back in the game if behind.

Chainer is more control. Less sensible to graveyard hate (because you can target enemies' graveyards) but more to creature removals (because you lose everything if Chainer dies). Chainer can reanimate good artifact creatures like Meteor Golem, Duplicant, Wurmcoil Engine and Solemn Simulacrum.. which Balthor can't.

@Hi_diddly_ho_neighbor

My Balthor deck was initially a zombie-themed deck until I was tired of it and changed the strategy into a reanimator deck. At first it was just a big mana control deck, with Balthor as a support when your hand was empty and you needed more gas. Slowly it turned into a more combo-control deck with dredge elements.

Chainer needs a more dedicated deck, with more cards to protect him (Lightning Greaves), more sacrifice outlets, and more life gain effects like Sangromancer, Dross Harvester, Disciple of Griselbrand, Pristine Talisman, etc. That means less available card slots, less fun with big demons. Chainer is also more slower. You need a sacrifice outlet and 8 manas to be effective the turn you play him.

Over Balthor, Chainer is better in some way: he can target any graveyard, and you don't have problem if your opponents play black and/or red. He can be fast too with more Dark Ritual-like cards, which are more-or-less dead cards if you don't play combo.

So I prefer Balthor because it fits more what I'm looking for this deck: big reanimation turns with a high creature count.

For many years, Chainer was in my Balthor deck as a backup plan. He was finally cut for more faster reanimation options.

I've tested Black Market. For me, it's a 5-manas do-nothing the turn it comes into play. Too slow. It also attracts hate from your opponents. I suggest it if you play Exsanguinate or Torment of Hailfire. I don't because I try to increase my creature count for more Balthor efficiency.

Noxious Gearhulk: I like it too, but can't find a free slot for it at the moment.

Marionette Master: It better fits in an artifact deck. If it's played for its token, there are more effective ways to produce tokens in black.

Hi chilbi! Thanks for your upvote.

Actually, I really like your Golems-Myrs horde list and added a link to it in my description :-)

A few recent updates:

• Rule 4 of the Dead has been changed: The Horde is immune to "you lose" effects and decking.

• Added "Appendix IV - Build your own Horde" to the description, with a few links to other Hordes created by the community.

• Environment Deck: +Underworld Dreams, −Phyrexian Tyranny. Phyrexian Tyranny wasn't really in the Zombie theme. I'm planning to add more nasty black enchantments in a near future.

Hi BenW12!

I like your list and will share it in my own Horde's deck description.

I'd like to suggest to change your rule 9. More players already mean it's easier for the Survivors team. To balance that, you should instead reduce their life total according to the number of players.

Hi! I'm interested by this commander deck.

Why not Retract ?

Hi BenW12!

Go for it, don't hesitate to use my idea. I have no right on it. But mentioning my Horde deck is welcomed of course. I'll add also a link to your Eldrazi Iteration!