Stronghold Assassin

Creature — Zombie Assassin

Sacrifice a creature: Destroy target nonblack creature.

Discussion (51)

6000j on

1 month ago

As someone who's played Gisa and Geralf for the past 2 years, you're missing a decent chunk of things.

First and foremost is any kind of interaction. Counterspells and kill spells are incredibly incredibly incredibly important, and the deck doesn't really function if you don't run enough. I personally like Ghastly Demise as a neat one that isn't the usual one, but overall imo you need ~8 counterspells/kill spells.

You're running a lot of cards that don't really do anything. Gisa and Geralf is a deck based around value imo, and running cards that are purely P/T lords limits the decks ability to function when you don't have your commander out. Along the same line, cards that just make tokens aren't great either (with an exception of Noosegraf Mob, that card is fantastic because it demands an answer all alone).

You're playing a lot of expensive cards, which usually means you can't cast them and do anything else on the same turn, but overall how you want to play the deck is definitely up to you, I've opted for a slimmer curve and try to win by just grinding the game out very consistently.

Some cards I love that you aren't running are Corpse Augur , Vindictive Lich , and Stronghold Assassin . Corpse Augur is just so many cards so consistently, Lich is just value value value, and can make people discard in their draw steps as well if you have a sac outlet. Stronghold Assassin is just such a powerful threat of activation, and it can sac itself to dodge exile as well.

I hope you enjoy the commander, here's my list if you want to see how i've built it: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/gisa-and-geralf-toolbox-combo/

goodair on Budget Prossh

4 months ago

Considering your on a tight budget, Id cut these:
Rhythm of the Wild (unless you play vs alot of blue control, Love this card but I cut this quick when I realized how many things it doesn't affect that I care about)
Comet Storm
Chain Reaction (maybe keep, it kinda liek blasphemous act but you would have a betetr idea how well it does in your group!)
Stronghold Assassin
Savage Ventmaw
Vampiric Rites
Chancellor of the Forge
Forgotten Ancient
Plaguecrafter
Catacomb Sifter
Deathbringer Thoctar
Atarka, World Render

Haeffound on [Aristo] Prossh, Skyristocrat of Kher

6 months ago

I have Squee, the Immortal in the deck. Is there a point to have the 2 version? Also a Rekindling Phoenix and a Goblin Chainwhirler incoming.

I will include Stronghold Assassin , Viscera Seer and Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest . The hard choice is what to remove. Getting rid of attacks sorcery like Overrun , Overwhelming Stampede ? Also, Farseek ? I feel I havn't enough mana accelator.

Goblin Grenade / Goblin War Strike ; only one of the two, or none?

As for creatures, removing Goblin Cratermaker , Jund Hackblade and Pawn of Ulamog ?

Shabompistan on [Aristo] Prossh, Skyristocrat of Kher

6 months ago

Reassembling Skeleton and Squee, Goblin Nabob if you want more recursion for creatures. Maybe even Ashcloud Phoenix

You may need more reliable sac outlets, I would recommend Stronghold Assassin or Attrition if you want to lean towards control. Viscera Seer and Goblin Bombardment are generally good in any situation.

Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest is perfect when you have hordes of tokens.

Shabompistan on Savra Sac

6 months ago

Death effects:

Dictate of Erebos : Just another Grave Pact really. Great in any sac deck.

Sac outlets:

Stronghold Assassin : Easy residual removal, just like Attrition .

Vraska, Golgari Queen is a pretty decent sac outlet and she can become a win condition.

Draw:

Fecundity : Good draw if you don't mind the grouphug effect. Deathreap Ritual has good draw without the downside other than being higher CMC.

I also don't think the mana curve really requires 40 lands, you could definitely take out a few if you have more cards you want to swap in.

Level20Artist on Army of Darkness

7 months ago

Major change to the deck. Trying to see if this smooths it out.

Added: 3x Thought Erasure , 2x Lord of the Accursed , 1x Gisa and Geralf , 2x Rotting Rats , 2x Dark Salvation , 1x Liliana, Death's Majesty , 3x Screeching Skaab , 3x Cemetery Recruitment , 1x Watery Grave , 4x Unclaimed Territory , 1x Island

Cut: 5x Swamp , 1x Stronghold Assassin , 1x Gempalm Polluter , 2x Dregscape Zombie , 1x Fatestitcher , 1x Undead Warchief , 3x Armored Skaab , 2x Dream Twist , 2x Lord of the Undead , 2x Soulless One , 3x Wailing Ghoul

Randomsome1 on Atraxa's Zombie Infestation

10 months ago

I haven't done a lot of research on zombies, but I learned from my old token deck that it takes a lot of trial and error to get the balance between token producers, pump spells, and abusers.

I think you haven't taken as much advantage of the colors you have. Green has a lot of cards that syngerize with tokens and white has the best removal and board wipes

I haven't looked at prices with these suggestions. Also, you don't have to listen to me at all

Add:

Josu Vess, Lich Knight - With green to help you ramp, this deck has a better chance of kicking him than other zombie decks. Open the Graves - More Tokens. Underrealm Lich - Card draw is always good. Varina, Lich Queen - Card draw, more tokens, and some lifegain to help keep you healthy for those life costs. Kodama's Reach, Rampant Growth, etc - I always feel like land ramp is more reliable than artifact ramp, especially in green, but this is just preference. You do seem to be lacking a bunch of ramp to keep those activated abilities from slowing you down. Death Baron - Another lord, but gives deathtouch too Carrion Feeder - Free sac outlet, if you are looking for one.

Pontiff of Blight - If you have solid ramp, giving all your creatures extort can get really dumb. Graveborn Muse - Might kill, but you will draw your entire deck with the right board state. Risen Executioner - Another lord with recursion Corpse Harvester - Tutor a zombie and a land. Noxious Ghoul - Could be spicy 1 sided board wipe Phyrexian Crusader - Possible 1 shot, but only if you have the right amount of pump. Shepherd of Rot - Could kill everyone. Good way to get around pillow fort and fogs. Raving Dead - Fun spice. Balthor the Defiled - Pretty good recursion. Right now Archetype of Imagination is the only non black creature. Dralnu, Lich Lord - You don't have that many instants and sorceries, but what you do have is strong. I think it reduces Army of the Damned's Flashback. Boneknitter - Tribal protection. Anguished Unmaking, Swords to Plowshares, Counterspell etc - some single target removal is always useful, and you are in amazing colors for it. I have this problem with my dragon deck. Second Harvest, Parallel Evolution - One time token doublers Craterhoof Behemoth, Overrun, Triumph of the Hordes - Ends games. Bramble Sovereign - Not a zombie, but this can do WORK. City of Brass, Mana Confluence, Reflecting Pool - 4 colors needs as much color fixing as possible. Esper Panorama - OK fetchland Krosan Verge - Underestimated fetch imo Fecundity - Crazy card draw Austere Command Merciless Eviction Cleansing Nova - A few more wipes. But these let you interact with artifacts and enchantments that this deck does not seem to do well.

Remove:

Stronghold Assassin - effects like Dictate of Erebos, Grave Pact, and even Attrition are just better. Archetype of Imagination - I appreciate that you are trying to deal with a weakness in the deck while giving your creatures evasion. But, aren't zombie's looking to die for LTB effects? It also costs a lot. Grave Betrayal - Costs a bit too much for me, but a strong effect. I'm up in the air about this. Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Might be rough to cast in 4 colors Conspiracy - I might be missing something, but almost all of your creatures are zombies already. Skullbriar, the Walking Grave - Just seems like a beat stick that is hard to pump up. Vulturous Zombie - easier to pump up, but still feels like just another beat stick.

Mysnomer on Zombie control 101

1 year ago

Your mana issue is simply that you don't have enough land. Without being in green, or having an extremely bottom-heavy curve, you should never go below 33 lands on principle, and rarely go below 35 without high-level mana rocks like Mana Crypt & Mana Vault or lands like Ancient Tomb. Additionally, lands that come into play tapped for little value like Skyline Cascade, Mortuary Mire, Halimar Depths, Ebon Stronghold, and Bottomless Vault would better serve you as basics. If you're not proliferating, a storage land like Ebon Stronghold isn't very good. I understand that you want to store up mana for your big spells, but imagine if you ran Ashnod's Altar instead. With all the zombie tokens you can make, it's much better acceleration that doesn't tie down a land for several turns. Corpse Harvester can also turn your tokens or otherwise expended zombies into ramp and tutor for more relevant zombies.

Sleep, Ghoulcaller's Chant, Ashiok, Painful Quandary, Followed Footsteps(note 1), Infernal Tribute, Royal Assassin(note 2), Posessed Skab, and Stuffy Doll are all easy cuts for either being off-theme, or inefficient when playing EDH. Manalith and Searchlight should probably become Charcoal Diamond and Sky Diamond, while Thaumatic Compass becomes Dimir Signet. Finally, the biggest change would be putting Scarab God as the General. While Grim-Grin can be powerful and close games out by hitting 21 damage quite quickly, the scry that scarab god gives you when you're playing zombie tribal is unreal. Plus he's so resilient and dodges the increasing casting cost by returning to your hand. These two points are especially relevant when we consider that your main complaint is being on the losing end of mana variance.

n1: If you really need the Followed Footsteps effect, just use Helm of the Host, it's better in almost every respect. n2: Unless you meant Rathi Assassin or Stronghold Assassin, which are both zombies.