This is my version of a Horde deck for the EDH format known as Horde. This format is a blast and I won't get into all of the rules here, but I will cite this website below if you are interested in learning how the format works.
https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Horde_Magic
I am guessing if you are still reading this then it seems I have peeked your interest. First off, this Horde deck is a little different to standard Horde decks and I will explain why that is. The 30 cards listed in the sideboard are actually part of the 200 card deck and they are called support cards. A support card is basically any non-black card that the Horde attempts to cast. Our Horde deck includes something we call a "Weapons Vault" which basically holds the support cards that the Horde casts during the game. We can then use these support cards at whatever time we think is best as a group. Any player may access the Weapons Vault and use the spells that have been collected there throughout the game.
The reason we came up with the Weapons Vault system is simply because a lot of EDH decks aren't built with Horde in mind and so, there needs to be someway to climb back from behind if the Horde gets out of hand. It simply gives the players a better chance of survival by giving them access to cards that are good against the Horde.
Another rule we came up with, has to do with dead cards. What dead cards you may ask? Well, many EDH decks are not built specifically for Horde and so they contain a lot of cards that are completely useless in a Horde game. The Horde always has access to unlimited black mana, so a card such as
Propaganda
is a dead card, and not even worth casting. And, on the other hand, some cards are literally too good against the Horde and they single-handedly win the game. Examples of these cards are
Lightmine Field
,
Dissipation Field
or
Crawlspace
. Since the Horde doesn't have access to enchantment/artifact removal, playing an enchantment that wins the game by itself is just not fun. It is not in the spirit of the game. Keep in mind, no one wants to edit their deck just for Horde games (we play this Horde deck at our LGS and people use their standard EDH decks). It is too much work to go through your deck and edit it just to play one Horde game, and unless you built your deck specifically for the Horde format, you will always have dead cards. So what do you do with these dead and/or over powered cards? In order to put those dead cards to use we came up with a cycling rule. If a card is either broken or completely useless, you can cycle it away for free. Simple and easy.
Have you played Horde with EDH decks that weren't built specifically for Horde? How did you mitigate the dead cards? I would love to hear suggestions about this idea and any other ideas other people have come up with.
One more thing to keep in mind, Horde decks are similar to Cubes. They are always changing and evolving. You can add or subtract cards to either increase or decrease the difficulty. Are you loosing more than winning? Swap out 10-20 cards for more
Shambling Ghoul
or
Walking Corpse
. Are you finding it too easy to win? swap out cards for more hay makers such as the cards I have listed in the maybe section of this deck list. However, I do think some cards are a little too powerful for the Horde. Any card that allows the Horde to draw a ton of cards is too powerful, such as
Graveborn Muse
. Any card that hits every opponent for tons of damage is very strong, such as
Shepherd of Rot
or
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
. We had a Gary in this Horde deck at the very beginning and lost the game right when it was cast. Anything that can regenerate creatures is too powerful, such as
Zombie Master
. And lastly, anything to do with coming back from the graveyard constantly is not only powerful, but also annoying to keep up with. I would not recommend these cards, such as
Risen Executioner
. Unearth cards can also be a little annoying to keep track such as
Grixis Slavedriver
. But, if you don't mind keeping track of the massive graveyard,
Rotting Rats
is another sweet addition to any Horde deck.
