Crypt Ghast

Creature — Spirit

Extort (Whenever you cast a spell, you may pay . If you do, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain that much life.)

Whenever you tap a swamp for mana, you may add to your mana pool (in addition to the mana the land produces).

Discussion (49)

trippy_mcfly on Mono Black Death Plague

3 days ago

Cool deck. I'm here to offer some suggestions after you pointed me here from your other deck.

Tergrid, God of Fright  ^Flip is a powerful commander and generates insane advantage in 4-player games. Let's take a look at this deck and see what it is doing, and then streamline it. I see three main objectives of this deck:

1 - RAMPING.

This is pretty much a primary objective of any commander deck, since if your only source of mana is playing one land per turn, you're going to fall way behind. Your main ramping plan for this deck is to double lands, using Cabal Coffers, Cabal Stronghold, Caged Sun, Crypt Ghast, Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power, and Nirkana Revenant. This is super cool and probably a pretty strong plan. We want to try to maximize this plan. How can we do that?

All of these cards want you to load up on basic swamps, which you did. We want to make sure we are playing a basic swamp every turn. Solemn Simulacrum is definitely a worthwhile add. Liliana of the Dark Realms is very helpful and I'm happy to see her in this deck. Often times Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is a worthwhile add for decks with Cabal Coffers. I think it is worth it here. Although you yourself don't have many non-swamps that will benefit from Urborg, you are likely going to be stealing people's lands with Tergrid, and counting those as swamps will be helpful for you.

How else can we keep getting swamps onto the battlefield to power up this strategy? Card draw. The more cards in your hand the higher the chance you will have a swamp to play every turn. Night's Whisper and Sign in Blood are great for this. Disciple of Bolas is solid too. Dread Presence loves swamps and is a must-add. I would add Phyrexian Arena, which is great card draw for you. Necropotence, one of the craziest cards in the game, is also a worthwhile addition. Not as good but worth consideration are Yawgmoth's Bargain and Null Profusion. Two other well-known card draw machines in black are Dark Confidant and Bolas's Citadel. You have some costly spells in your deck, so they might be a bit of a liability. If you want to include them, Sensei's Divining Top pairs very well with them.

Just because you are mainly ramping with land doubling doesn't mean there isn't room for other ramping as well. You have Black Market, which I have never personally tested, but is probably decent. Black has some explosive, single-turn ramp with Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, and Culling the Weak. These cards would do well in letting you get out expensive plays ahead of schedule, mainly Tergrid. Artifact ramp is also great in any deck. I would add Mana Crypt, Sol Ring, Jeweled Lotus, and Jet Medallion. I would consider adding even more artifact ramp as well. Getting down Tergrid as early as turn 1 or 2 is just so good.

2 - SACRIFICE AND DISCARD.

Once you have Tergrid out, sacrifice and discard become powerful effects that let you take control of your opponent's permanents. This is insane advantage and if left unchecked for very long will win you the game. Syphon Mind while Tergrid is in play not only puts you up 4 cards in comparison to each opponent (since they each went down 1 and you went up 3), but also could net you 3 more cards if they discard permanents that then go onto your field. That's insane. Let's take a look at all the cards you have that enable Tergrid:

SACRIFICE:

Archfiend of Depravity - A one-sided, almost board wipe that repeats every turn? Pretty solid. Getting the creatures onto your field with Tergrid? That is nuts. The one issue is that some commander decks won't have that many more than 2 creatures on the field when this comes down, and if they do, then this card and/or Tergrid become a big target, but if you survive the turn, this and your commander will put you ahead so far.

Butcher of Malakir - Similar to Archfiend. If this guy sticks around for a bit, you're going to be at such an advantage. It costs 7 which is a bit high and very vulnerable to something like Mana Drain, so I wouldn't be super upset if you cut it, but it is great with Tergrid.

Gatekeeper of Malakir - This guy only costs three and steals a creature if Tergrid is on the field. Love it.

Phyrexian Obliterator - If someone is dumb enough to deal damage to this guy, then you're getting a lot of their permanents! I don't love this card for you. People will just leave it alone and then you just hit someone for 5 each turn or leave up a blocker, which is a bit slow.

Sheoldred, Whispering One - Similar to Archfiend. If this guy sticks around for a bit, you're going to be at such an advantage. It costs 7 which is a bit high and very vulnerable to something like Mana Drain, so I wouldn't be super upset if you cut it, but it is great with Tergrid.

Torment of Hailfire - Expensive and liable to be countered but if it resolves then you will get a ton of value!

Dictate of Erebos - I like it. Let's say you have 10 mana. Cast Tergrid, then somebody goes to kill him. Flash this card in. Now, you at least get 3 of your opponents creatures on the way out!

Grave Pact - I like this as well. You can't flash it in, but if you put this card on the field, then people will have to kill this before Tergrid comes down or else end up giving you their creatures.

The Eldest Reborn - Immediate impact with Tergrid on the field, pretty good value on its own. Definitely a keep.

DISCARD:

Liliana, Defiant Necromancer - You need to flip her first, but once flipped she is great.

Syphon Mind - Great.

Torment of Hailfire - Expensive and liable to be countered but if it resolves then you will get a ton of value!

The Eldest Reborn - Immediate impact with Tergrid on the field, pretty good value on its own. Definitely a keep.

... and that's it. We need more cards that are busted with Tergrid! The following would be great adds to your deck: Smallpox, Dark Deal, Liliana's Triumph, Plaguecrafter, Soul Shatter, Mire in Misery, Innocent Blood, Vona's Hunger, Death Cloud, Burglar Rat, Demon's Disciple, Fleshbag Marauder, Elderfang Disciple, Liliana, Waker of the Dead, Bottomless Pit, Fraying Omnipotence, Rotting Rats, Cunning Lethemancer, Merciless Executioner, and a personal favorite: Smokestack.

Notice that all of these cards are typically even trades (ex: I play Elderfang Disciple, going down 1 card, everyone else goes down 1 card.) These aren't great on their own since it costs you mana to do so, and, in the case of discard and sacrifice, the opponent gets to choose an asset that they are least upset to get rid of, making them actually below-even trades. However, they become insanely busted with Tergrid. (ex: I play Elderfang Disciple, going down 1 card in hand for a measly 1/1. But, I get a Carpet of Flowers, basic plains, and Birds of Paradise on my field? Now that's an amazing play). Therefore, the ones that are recurring are better, since they give you more chances to make sure they resolve while Tergrid is on the field. (ex: I play Cunning Lethemancer and my opponent kills Tergrid. Later in the turn I play Tergrid again, albeit for 7 mana now due to commander tax. Next turn, with the Lethemancer trigger, I get some great value!)

Here are some other cards that work well with Tergrid, although they only target one opponent: Sudden Edict, Hellish Rebuke, Pharika's Libation, Diabolic Edict, Duress, Thoughtseize, Hymn to Tourach, Chain of Smog, Despise, and Divest.

Notice that in the absence of Tergrid, these cards are negative trades. They set you and an opponent back by putting you both down one card. The other two opponents are left untouched. Seeing them early in the game is not particularly helpful since you'd rather spend the early game ramping. They are great and slowing down whoever is winning, but at the expense of your own board. There is a trade-off here, since these can be leveraged politically. "Each opponent discards a card"" can give you tons of value with Tergrid on the field but makes you 3 enemies. "Target opponent discards a card"" gives you not as much value in general but you can leverage this to make someone else the common enemy or make a deal with a player ("if you don't attack me next turn I won't target you with my Duress"). Things like Duress can also target specific cards, which is an added benefit for you and an added detriment to the opponent.

I would run some from each category, probably with an emphasis on maximizing Tergrid value.

3 - DRAIN AND GAIN.

Blood Artist and other cards gain you one life and drain your opponent one life. This is cool and certainly an interesting archetype of a deck. It doesn't synergize with Tergrid particularly well. I personally would not use this strategy at all in this deck and maximize the Tergrid plan. However, Exquisite Blood + Sanguine Bond is an awesome combo and an unexpected way to finish the game for you while people are busy dealing with Tergrid. If you want to keep this, I would trim some of the other cards, such as Exsanguinate and maybe Underworld Dreams.

---

So, now that we know what the 3 objectives are, and have maybe cut the third, we have a bit more of a plan. I've suggested adding some card draw and mana rocks for ramp, and tons more Tergrid synergy. What are the cuts? I would say anything that doesn't fit in with the objectives, so basically any card I haven't mentioned already, unless it gives great value on its own. I'll go through some:

Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor are incredible cards and provide great value. Diabolic Tutor, Scheming Symmetry, and Shrouded Lore are worse tutor effects and should probably be moved to the maybe board. Sudden Spoiling is interesting and stops somebody from comboing off on their turn so is probably worth it. Reanimate is good value and should probably stay, same with Animate Dead. Demonic Vigor protects creatures but not Tergrid, unless you want him going to your hand. This is risky but probably fine. I could see him getting countered and then removed from your graveyard which puts you back majorly, but I could also see you avoiding commander tax. Worth looking into. Undying Evil is strictly better since it has instant speed and keeps him on the field. We might also want to protect him with Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots

Coffin Queen is too expensive and vulnerable. Drana, Liberator of Malakir is cool for aggressive strategies and can help you close out the game but is out of place in this deck. Falkenrath Noble is an overcosted Blood Artist. Gonti, Lord of Luxury is a value creature that if you can get his ETB many times, which your deck can't really do. Grave Titan isn't worth it in this deck. Gravedigger is fine but might be a bit slow. Helldozer is probably not worth it unless you want to pick on somebody lol. Korlash, Heir to Blackblade is not worth it. Massacre Wurm might not be worth it. Nighthowler isn't worth it. Opposition Agent is always a good add. Phage the Untouchable is too slow and vulnerable. Sepulchral Primordial might not be worth it. Skirsdag High Priest is probably not worth it. Syr Konrad, the Grim is not worth it. Wight of Precinct Six is not worth it. Tainted Strike is not worth it. Lashwrithe is not worth it. That's about 15 cuts right there.

Props to you for building Tergrid and having an interesting ramp strategy. I think if you go more in on the Tergrid plan by cutting unrelated cards for cards that ramp or are good with Tergrid then your deck will be a lot more reliable. After all, the most fun part of this deck is going off with Tergrid!

Hope this helps.

griffstick on Swamp/Black Cards Creep Me Out. …

3 weeks ago

Reiver Demon and Crypt Ghast and Cabal Coffers and Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Black loves being black lol. It's also my favorite color. I love cards that destroy one trick pony combo decks. Black has cards for this like Sadistic Sacrament Bitter Ordeal and Praetor's Grasp. Black has extra turns spells too, Temporal Extortion. Black has counter spells Imp's Mischief and Withering Boon and Stromgald Cabal and Deathgrip. Blacks wants all the power Necropotence and Bolas's Citadel and Worst Fears. Life for power K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth. Black also has the best artwork Deliver Unto Evil and Withengar Unbound and The Meathook Massacre

wallisface on Efficient way for black to …

1 month ago

Careful about some of the above suggestions, as not everything people have posted is modern legal. Also, a bunch might look good at a glance, but are actually traps (for example, Cabal Stronghold might look appealing, but to get 10 black mana, you need 7 swamps and the Stronghold in play, which is just not viable).

In modern these are the only cards that come to mind for me:

• Tron lands. But this would require, at a minimum, having the three Tronlands in play, as well as 3 swamps. That means having to revolve most of your deck around assembling the right lands. And Tron decks can typically have the game won a lot easier than this, so this feels like a whole lot of effort for almost no gain.

• Skirge Familiar. But this just answers one question with another question. And, at the point where you have a card-drawing engine for this card, to get mana for your Josu Vess, Lich Knight, you've made far too complicated a combo, for again, minimal payoff.

• Crypt Ghast. This would mean you can do what you want with only 5 swamps, potentially casting your zombie-horde on turn 5 with a high-land-density deck. I personally think this is the most viable option you have to get Josu out, but keep in mind there's still an issue here, namely, it's $12, so above your budget. And beyond that, it's a 4cmc creature that's super-easy to kill before you can do anything with it.

I think your best bet is to either go down the Crypt Ghast route, or add Green to the deck so you can run mana dorks. Anything else will probably be too slow (i'm considering any plan that takes more than 5 turns to execute non-viable)

legendofa on Efficient way for black to …

1 month ago

I think Crypt Ghast is the card FormOverFunction was talking about.

TheRussBuss on Licia, Sanguine Tribune | Your Pain My Gain

1 month ago

RNR_Gaming

Lunarch Veteran  ^Flip unfortunately still doesn't compare to the Soul Sister's, which give me life whenever a creature enters the field from anywhere, from me or my opponents.

Children of Korlis used to be in this deck actually, and with Aetherflux Reservoir coming in, they'll definitely be returning.

Crypt Ghast and Blind Obedience both sound good, but I'm still not entirely sold on extort yet. Blind has better odds of getting in because of the lower cost, even if CG can help with my mana and paying those extort costs.

RNR_Gaming on Licia, Sanguine Tribune | Your Pain My Gain

1 month ago

Lunarch Veteran  ^Flip seems like another great healer. I'm also a fan of moving Children of Korlis from the maybeboard to mainboard - it seems like it'd enable some nasty swings. Also, the good extort cards like Blind Obedience and Crypt Ghast seem like they'd discount your commander a good amount

dadezio on Tormod and Ravos Raise Again

1 month ago

More Combos

• Crucible of Worlds + Lake of the Dead = Ability to recur swamps sacrificed to Lake of the Dead

• Ashen Rider + Sac outlet + any graveyard recursion card ( Ravos, Soultender/Sheoldred, Whispering One / Liesa, Forgotten Archangel / ETC = recurring ability to exile to permanents

• Nirkana Revenant / Crypt Ghast = Ability to tap Swamps for additional mana. Have both out and each swamp taps for three

• Any Sac Outlet I.E. Phyrexian Altar + Living Death = Board wipe while being able to keep your non token creatures on the board

• Open the Graves + Phyrexian Altar + Gravecrawler = Infinite zombie creation and Infinite Mana

PirateCptAstera on Spirits

2 months ago

Infernal Kirin Karlov of the Ghost Council Lantern Kami Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens Patron of the Kitsune Spirit of the Hearth Windborn Muse Yargle, Glutton of Urborg Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit Banshee of the Dread Choir Basilica Bell-Haunt Bygone Bishop Clarion Spirit Crypt Ghast Divinity of Pride Drogskol Cavalry Emissary of Despair Emissary of Hope