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Format | Legality |
1v1 Commander | Legal |
Archenemy | Legal |
Arena | Legal |
Block Constructed | Legal |
Canadian Highlander | Legal |
Casual | Legal |
Commander / EDH | Legal |
Commander: Rule 0 | Legal |
Custom | Legal |
Duel Commander | Legal |
Gladiator | Legal |
Highlander | Legal |
Historic | Legal |
Legacy | Legal |
Leviathan | Legal |
Limited | Legal |
Modern | Legal |
Oathbreaker | Legal |
Pioneer | Legal |
Planechase | Legal |
Quest Magic | Legal |
Vanguard | Legal |
Vintage | Legal |
Liliana, Death's Majesty
Planeswalker — Liliana
+1: Create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token. Mill two cards. (Put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard.)
-3: Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. That creature is a black Zombie in addition to its other colors and types.
-7: Destroy all non-Zombie creatures.
DreadKhan on
EDH Merens Reanimator
2 weeks ago
If you're interested in playing fair, then you might like Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest. This can take a board full of utility creatures and make them very formidable very quickly. Hell's Caretaker is a card I find useful that doesn't go infinite with anything I know of, it just lets you sneak stuff in once per turn. If you don't include anything like Pitiless Plunderer you can set up repeatable sacrifice loops to generate XP for Meren, probably to reanimate a Protean Hulk or someting else juicy. For this you might use Gravecrawler or Haakon, Stromgald Scourge and probably a 1 drop Knight to have something you can keep killing over and over. Any card that cares about creatures dying will go off, so some stuff that draws on death might be nice, Liliana, Dreadhorde General is a versatile card that fits the bill.
In my experience, the best thing you can tutor up is usually Protean Hulk, Sidisi, or Razaketh, any of these tends to spiral out of control in a deck that can reanimate them on the end step or sooner. Hulk can find various creatures to solve whatever problems you have, but you probably need a sac outlet to ensure it dies right away, the others are more generous. Razaketh notoriously likes abusing Life / Death to set up a pretty quick win when you're ready, you can find stuff like rituals to generate enough mana to go off.
If you want another reanimator that isn't picky, there is Demon of Dark Schemes that helps clear the board of weenies, and as long as you don't have cards that generate mana the Demon won't go infinite with something like Mitotic Slime or Underworld Hermit, they'll just give you lots of triggers for your extra mana. Demon also likes Merciless Executioner type creatures, they can easily generate Energy. Another reanimator I often forget reanimates stuff is Liliana, Death's Majesty, this brings back stuff as a Zombie if you don't want the ultimate, and she survives some wipes as a PW that can make 2/2s while milling you. Some people don't like PWs so ymmv.
I suspect that if you're not sure if you need more wipes, you might want to try one or two more. In Black there is Make an Example that is very brutal as you always hit your priority target for each opponent. It won't clear the board, but it can help manage it, and you can follow it up with a bunch of forced sacrifice. One card that likes seeing a wipe happen (that makes running extra feel less problematic) is Ogre Slumlord, if you run enough 'pay life'effects you might want Sangromancer, and if you think you can kill enough of your opponent's permenants then Kothophed, Soul Hoarder might work out, that can turn a Damnation into a big draw spell.
If your deck is finding it hard to stay alive, you can use Dawnstrider to save you on needing to reanimate a Spore Frog, though I use both as I find Meren can be annoying to certain players.
If you like Phyrexian Arena and aren't using 'win on the spot combos', have you considered Protection Racket? This can draw plenty of non-land cards or deal damage to your opponents, both seem good as long as you don't care if you lose some random 1-3 drops. There is also Black Market Connections, this can provide various resources without being as busted/all-or-nothing as Necropotence.
Hope some of this is helpful! Any Commander that requires a lot of tutoring is very frustrating to learn to play, Commander is incredibly hard to master, but it's easy to get better with practice!
DreadKhan on
Grimgrin - Needs your Help
2 months ago
When I was testing out your deck, I definitely noticed mana issues, you probably want a mix of a couple more lands and some mana rocks. There is the odd mana dork you could use, none generally as good as a Green one. I always like Dreamscape Artist in a Dimir deck that makes use of the graveyard, it's actual Harrow so the lands are entering untapped, making the ramp a bit better than it might usually be. With a 5 mana Commander I think I would run Sol Ring, especially without Green, there is also Talisman of Dominance and Dimir Signet that are solid. A really solid 3 mana rock is Skyclave Relic, it can be a 3 drop or a big (and versatile) efficient 6 drop. Not sure if you need all of those, but I think you want some of those ramp options. TBH, you might also lower your average Mana Value, you're well over 3, which might be a tad high for 33 lands in a reasonably competitive deck. A couple handy utility lands that are nice with Voltron decks include Witch's Clinic, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, and Tyrite Sanctum. Sanctum is a bit weird, but getting Indestructible on your Commander will probably feel pretty good. There are also some MDFCs that aren't bad in Black, you could replace one of your 2 mana Black removal creature removal with Hagra Mauling Flip, risking 4 mana to remove something (with no restriction though) is harsh, but it's also a land which feels incredible in a lower land count deck. I hear Malakir Rebirth Flip is also very good, especially with a Voltron Commander.
I also noticed that the deck seemed to not excel at clearing the board of threats/problems, this can include combo pieces or Voltron creatures. From a competitive standpoint, if you expect to play against decks that are 7s or above you probably want at least a couple more solid counters, it's hard to know which to run because actual Counterspell costs UU, which is hard to hold up obviously, but Swan Song and Negate might not be versatile enough, but I think any or all of those would make the deck more functional. Niche removal like Ravenform, Resculpt and Feed the Swarm are also worth a look, you never know when you'll need to tutor up an answer for either of those types, and being able to hit a creature is also useful, fwiw Black isn't great at exiling creatures. I see you only have 1 Planeswalker in here, have you thought about Liliana, Death's Majesty? She's got some synergy with Zombies for sure, and offers a potential wipe.
A tutor that might fit in here that you're not running is Final Parting, which is clunky at 5 mana but it also offers a two for 1 tutor, so even if it's a lot of mana it does a lot of work. I'm not sure how many cards you're that desperate to get into the graveyard, but Final Parting finds 2 of 3 pieces for Gravecrawler combos in my Meren deck, very handy if I have one in hand already.
Pretty tough finding stuff that sticks out for being suboptimal in this list! Here are a few I suspect could be upgraded: Reassembling Skeleton is a Skeleton. The recursion aspect is not particularly good at 2 mana for a non-Zombie body, with a max of one on board at a time. Undead Alchemist might do something sometimes, but I feel like it's a bad interaction with a lot of your deck, it's terrible with Living Death type stuff obviously, and if someone is close to death, this gives them way more life. Call to the Grave seems potentially iffy, you run some very good non-Zombies, and you can't sac a token instead to it, it eats only non-Zombies. Kindred Discovery seems questionable potentially, it negatively interacts with any combo that uses a zombie entering or dying repeatedly since you have to draw, this can also make you unable to swing with a huge zombie army, which seems agonizing without at least throwing in something like Capsize. More curious than certain, but do you often have 1 toughness things to work with Skullclamp? Any Zombie at 1 toughness is buffed by your lords, and the tokens you make are 2/2s iirc? If you ask me, unless you have a source of 1 toughness bodies I'm missing, you could instead run Mask of Griselbrand, it can draw cards too (sometimes way more), both require a sac outlet, and it offers real utility in combo by offering evasion and lifelink. I would run any of the removal I mentioned over Doom Blade and Go for the Throat, I feel like the versatility and some offering exile has an edge. For Tragic Slip, do you get stuck without a sac outlet very often, this seems like an unnecessary complication to have on your removal, but at least it can hit Indestructibles? IMHO if you can afford it run Deadly Rollick, this will also exile stuff without as harsh a requirement (I'd rather have the downside of 4 mana vs removing only x/1s).
multimedia on
Rotcleaver’s Revenge
7 months ago
Hey, well done so far upgrading the precon, nice Phyrexian Altar.
Some cards from the precon to consider adding:
- Talisman of Dominance --> Sky Diamond
- Dreadhorde Invasion --> Eternal Skylord
- Curse of the Restless Dead --> Undead Alchemist
- Pact of the Serpent --> Battle at the Bridge
- Zombie Apocalypse --> Dread Summons
- Gisa and Geralf --> Ebondeath, Dracolich
- Feed the Swarm --> Polymorphist's Jest
- Liliana, Death's Majesty --> Liliana's Mastery
- Tainted Isle --> 1x Island
- Choked Estuary --> 1x Island
Talisman of Dominance ETB untapped to make either color. Another mana rock upgrade is Dimir Signet replacing Charcoal Diamond. Dreadhorde Invasion is a repeatable source of Zombie and Eternal Skylord is a much worse Hordewing Skaab. Curse of the Restless Dead is a more reliable repeatable source of Zombies than Undead Alchemist.
Pact of the Serpent is powerful tribal card for Zombies. Battle at the Bridge needs lots more artifacts to be playable. Zombie Apocalypse is powerful tribal card for Zombies especially when your Commander sacs Zombies to draw. Patriarch's Bidding is another mass reanimation tribal Zombie card. Dread Summons needs a ton of mana paid into it to be decent since you have no control over milling your own or opponent creatures.
Gisa and Geralf can be repeatable cast of Zombies from your graveyard which can do more than Ebondeath, Dracolich. Feed the Swarm is helpful to have enchantment removal in Dimir. Liliana, Death's Majesty can be repeatable Zombies and her other abilities are good too. She does more than Liliana's Mastery, but honestly you don't need either one of these cards since there's better five drops here or could add.
The more basic Islands you can replace with Dimir dual lands the better the manabase will be because black mana is much important than blue. Lots of basic Islands makes it more difficult to cast heavy black spells. Tainted Isle and Choked Estuary are playable lands in the precon that care about Swamps and you have a lot of Swamps.
Good luck with your deck.
DawnsRayofLight on
Chainer, Dementia Master
8 months ago
As someone who has played Chainer for close to a decade, I have some suggestions I would like to offer. (though everyone's decks run differently!)
34-35 lands is usually enough. I would recommend 34 with Agadeem's Awakening Flip that gives you 5 spots:
In those spots:
(Or all the expensive artifacts like Grim Monolith or what have you)
In place of:
1x Cast Down--> Lethal Scheme: This card is amazing in any reanimator list
1x Culling the Weak--> Phyrexian Altar: you need more sac outlets with some staying power
1x Dismember--> Soul Transfer: seems janky, but versatile
1x Doom Blade--> Baleful Mastery: you can hit more with it.
1x Go for the Throat--> Infernal Grasp
1x Power Word Kill--> Deadly Rollick/Altar of Dementia: for a better killspell or for a sac outlet
1x Sacrifice--> Ashnod's Altar: need more sac outlets with staying power
1x Terror--> Meteor Golem: This guy helps so much with things Black cannot remove
1x Victim of Night--> Karn Liberated: This guy helps so much with things Black cannot remove
Cruel Tutor--> Mikaeus, the Unhallowed: bonkers for some staying power, also has combo potential
Unmarked Grave--> Putrid Goblin: this or Walking Ballista are good for combos with Mikaeus. Putrid GOblin + Ashnod's Altar/Phyrexian Altar + Mikaeus = infinite mana (or sub ashnod's altar for mill).
Suggested Drops, see next list for suggested replacements
Blood Pet--> sort of an eh card, I might think of something with more oomph
Liliana, Heretical Healer Flip--> I do like her, she just never did anything when I ran her.
Ruthless Technomancer: I have debated a lot adding him, in something like Korvold, he is an all-star, in chainer, he can be good, but I would almost always rather have Disciple of Bolas
Skirge Familiar: I get the reason it is in here, but there are better cards.
Black Market: It's nice, but can be too slow.
Liliana of the Dark Realms: I just have never been a big fan, she feels too lackluster.
Final Parting: good card, but I feel you can part with some tutor because you have MORE than enough
Sidisi, Undead Vizier: good card, but I feel you can part with some tutor because you have MORE than enough
Rune-Scarred Demon: good card, but I feel you can part with some tutor because you have MORE than enough, there also some stronger creatures to fit in the spot.
Suggestions
Archon of Cruelty: expensive mana wise but an all star.
Kokusho, the Evening Star: has been in my deck from the beginning and has flat out won me games.
Brainstealer Dragon: seems janky, but I added to just try it and it has been amazing.
Black Market Connections: You need more draw (also helps with ramp)
Phyrexian Arena: You need more draw
Bolas's Citadel: an amazing card. Wins games all the time.
Disciple of Bolas: card draw and life gain
Fell Stinger: card draw
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed: Great for recursion
Reanimate, Liliana, Death's Majesty, Living Death. and Animate Dead: it is good to have other means of reanimation if Chainer keeps getting removed (I also suggest sac outlets to help keep your creatures from getting exiled when they spot remove Chainer)
Hope this helps! Here is my list to maybe show you how I run the list: The True Meaning of Death and Taxes
DreadKhan on
Balthor's gonna give it to ya
8 months ago
Have you thought about stuff like Expedition Map to help dig out your Coffers? Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth is a pretty solid synergy with Coffers. Geier Reach Sanitarium might be interesting, it digs for you and pitches cards at the same time. Liliana, Death's Majesty might synergize with your zombies, making more while milling you, while her wipe will always be dodged by Balthor, who can then reanimate all of your stuff for you.
T1b3r on
Sidisi
1 year ago
Firstly, add a decent mana base to the deck, it will never work without one. Then try to get more trigger from sidisi with cards like Strionic Resonator or Panharmonicon. I see good use of some planeswalker here, like Liliana, Dreadhorde General or Liliana, Death's Majesty. The rest is at your choice on how to direction the deck.
SpecimeN87 on
Muldrotha's Madhouse ⫷Primer⫸
1 year ago
If you can stuff Liliana, Untouched By Death in there, it gets 5 of your creatures back on its own. 2 of which are combo pieces for you, another two get cards(one just mills them), and the last is Fleshbag. It also mills 3 on uptick. Granted, its pretty niche, but I think its enough to warrant a maybeboard slot at minimum. The other one being Liliana, Death's Majesty as it makes a token and mills two on uptick, plus reanimates single target on downtick, while not actually using a muldrotha slot to recast a creature!
multimedia on
1 year ago
Hey, well done with the precon upgrade and very nice formated deck description. You're a good deck builder with the budget that you have, choosing the better expensive price cards (Demonic, Gravecrawler, Acererak, Cryptbreaker and Watery). If on a budget I don't think Tainted Adversary and Ebondeath, Dracolich are worth their prices.
You're very honest about the power level here, not exaggerating and saying power level 8 to make your deck seem better than it really is. Believe me, I hear this all the time, players insisting that the power level of their deck is very high while playing $100 deck with only 30 lands and Guildgates...
In the combo section of the description you don't mention Gravecrawler and it's a pretty important Zombie for combos especially with Rooftop. He needs a sac outlet with Rooftop to go infinite which all you need is Carrion Feeder. Gravecrawler is the most powerful Zombie printed because its just so damn mana efficient. He deserves his own section in the description since his interaction with Wilhert is excellent, giving you a Zombie on your turn to repeatedly sac at your end steps to draw and create a decayed Zombie for one mana.
You clearly have deck building skills, but there's some cards here that could be upgraded even on a budget. You've removed some of the better cards from the precon that can give you repeatable value especially more draw and Zombie tokens.
- Undead Augur: very good Zombie since it triggers to draw whenever a Zombie token dies.
-
Midnight Reaper: another source or repeatable draw when nontokens die.
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Gisa and Geralf: don't underestimate how valuable it is to be able repeatedly cast even one Zombie on your turn from your graveyard. Pair Augur with Gisa/Geralf and Wilhelt to repeatedly draw two cards/create a decayed Zombie on your turns for two mana. Pair Gisa/Geralf with Fleshbag Marauder and Wilhelt to repeatedly wreck your opponents creatures for three mana and create a decayed Zombie.
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Fleshbag Marauder: making all opponents have to sac a creature they control is really good in multiplayer Commander especially on a three drop Zombie who can be recurred or reanimated.
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Curse of the Restless Dead: you can curse yourself to have more control over this making it a repeatable Zombie source by playing lands. Honestly, this card is better than Endless Ranks of the Dead at consistency of creating Zombies since there's no lame restriction like Ranks has and you'll have lands.
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Liliana, Death's Majesty: all her loyalty abilities are good especially her -7 which is not difficult to get to and in casual it can wreck, be a game winning effect.
Some changes to consider:
- Carrion Feeder --> Rank Officer
- Undead Augur --> Eternal Skylord
- Gisa and Geralf --> Enter the God-Eternals
- Curse of the Restless Dead --> Diregraf Horde
- Midnight Reaper --> Josu Vess, Lich Knight
- Fleshbag Marauder --> Risen Executioner
- Liliana, Death's Majesty --> Icon of Ancestry
- Mystic Sanctuary --> Mistvault Bridge
Poppet Stitcher Flip is a powerful new card for Zombies and Poppet Factory is busted with Wilhert because it removes decayed from Zombies letting you repeatedly sac a decayed Zombie to create another. Fallen Ideal is an underrated gem in Commander with token strategies because it gives the enchanted creature flying and it's a sac outlet.
Enchant Wilhert and then sac your Zombie horde to attack for lethal Commander damage at an opponent. If you created a bunch of decayed Zombies potentially attack again for lethal Commander damage to another opponent on your next turn. Pair Ideal with Factory to attack for lethal Commander damage on your turn every turn.
Good luck with your deck.
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