Eater of the Dead

Creature — Horror

(0): If Eater of the Dead is tapped, untap it and remove target creature card in a graveyard from the game.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Oldschool 93/94	Legal
Pauper	Legal
Pauper Duel Commander	Legal
Pauper EDH	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (50)

Krayvyn on The Horror ... THE HORROR! *PRIMER*

4 months ago

I would definitely add Eater of the Dead, he's been errata'd to be a horror creature type, and synergizes with Phenax, God of Deception for a possible wincon if given the right amount of creatures in graveyards.

UltimateRoxas40 on Eldritch Captain of the Deep [Lovecraftian Primer]

11 months ago

Yeah, I love the art for Eater of the Dead. The older magic art is great, and there are some really creepy pieces that would fit right in, like the aptly named Cosmic Horror. It's basically a Shoggoth, and is a massive 7/7 Horror, but the upkeep cost is awful haha.

As for Altar of the Brood, I tried running it a while ago when this deck was originally helmed by Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, and it never did enough for me then. But you're right, the flavor/theme is on point. Can't be a good cultist without an altar haha. I'll revisit it again in this deck at some point. What do you think I should take out to put it in?

Willen on Eldritch Captain of the Deep [Lovecraftian Primer]

11 months ago

I undestand. Eater of the Dead goes only to combine with Phenax, but still a good Horror to go wild in the field, and has a good image for the theme, although in my vision, I guess. Another possible card to include is Altar of the Brood. Many of the mythos had uncontable statues and figures about the Old Ones and the Ancients. Not only this, but this artifact make any permanent wich enter a threat to your oponents. Just a idea, of course.

Willen on Eldritch Captain of the Deep [Lovecraftian Primer]

11 months ago

How about Eater of the Dead? It's a horror type creature with great combo sinergy while Phenax, God of Deception is at the field.

legendofa on Mill Flayers

1 year ago

Welcome to the club, Raijin1989!

For being a first deck, this is very solid in its focus and balance. I'm also impressed with your available cards, like Mana Crypt, Force of Will, The Meathook Massacre...

If you want an instant mill win condition, Mindcrank and either Bloodchief Ascension or Duskmantle Guildmage can knock out an opponent on the spot. If you manage to get all your opponents to lose life or put a card in their graveyard at the same time, you just won.

If you want to disable a graveyard-focused deck, Eater of the Dead is very good, but I don't see a way to tap it on demand. Something like Hermetic Study/Psionic Gift or Banishing Knack/Retraction Helix could push it even further. Alternatively or supplementary, Tormod's Crypt can wipe out a problematic graveyard immediately.

Lanzo493 on Milling with Defenders

2 years ago

I second Eater of the Dead. It’s great and works even better with Slagwurm Armor on it. Another fun card is Phyrexian Devourer which can get you one big mill at the cost of a portion of your library.

Caerwyn on Using the graveyard as a …

2 years ago

DuTogira

Alpha already had various ways to interact with the graveyard--there might not have been mechanisms to fill your graveyard with relative ease, but it was clear from the very beginning of the game that the graveyard was intended to be useful. Five cards, spread across three colors (though mostly black) specifically allow you to use the graveyard as a resource: Animate Dead, Nether Shadow, Raise Dead, Regrowth, Resurrection.

Alpha also already had exile, though it went by "remove from the game entirely": Swords to Plowshares and Disintegrate.

Arabian Nights skipped over these effects, but they came back very quickly in Antiquities, which also expanded graveyard shenanigans to Blue, and Legends, which had more recursion options.

Then we got The Dark, which is the first real set to focus on using the graveyard as a tool outside of "get my card back"--cards like Eater of the Dead, Frankenstein's Monster, and Grave Robbers, which allowed you to weaponize your graveyard for additional boons. The Dark also saw the introduction of Tormod's Crypt, the first real piece of dedicated graveyard hate.

Even in the initial sets, it is clear that the graveyard was designed to serve as a possible second hand and, by August 1994, it was clear that the graveyard was to be considered a resource in other manners as well. Saying that it was "originally designed to be the modern equivalent of exile" ignores how many early-game effects interacted with the graveyard, as well as ignores the fact that exile has existed since the game's very first set.

BrassLord on MIll IS STILL VALID

3 years ago

Glad someone is also running this guy! I've been on the receiving end of it! Looks like a fun build!

Mind Grind , Reanimate , Sphinx's Tutelage , and Psychic Corrosion are solid possible includes to look at!

Our playgroup ran into the problem of encountering the eldrazi cards and such that dump the graveyard back into the deck when milled. Jester's Cap , Oona, Queen of the Fae , Leyline of the Void , Bitter Ordeal , Praetor's Grasp are ways around that if you start to encounter that, though a timely Eater of the Dead activation in response to the trigger could work as well!