Lusus Naturae

Commander / EDH Budget BUG (Sultai) Eldrazi Multiplayer Reanimator Zombie

TevishSzat

Creature (33)

• 1x Bane of Bala Ged
• 1x Brood Butcher
• 1x Brood Monitor
• 1x Decimator of the Provinces
• 1x Deepfathom Skulker
• 1x Deranged Assistant
• 1x Enlightened Maniac
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Forgotten Creation
• 1x Geralf's Masterpiece
• 1x Gravespawn Sovereign
• 1x Grizzled Angler  ^Flip
• 1x Havengul Lich
• 1x Kessig Prowler  ^Flip
• 1x Laboratory Brute
• 1x Ludevic's Test Subject  ^Flip
• 1x Mockery of Nature
• 1x Moldgraf Monstrosity
• 1x Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
• 1x Nyx Weaver
• 1x Phyrexian Delver
• 1x Phyrexian Ingester
• 1x Prized Amalgam
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Shrill Howler  ^Flip
• 1x Sifter of Skulls
• 1x Splinterfright
• 1x Stitcher Geralf
• 1x Stitchwing Skaab
• 1x Tangleclaw Werewolf  ^Flip
• 1x Ulvenwald Captive  ^Flip
• 1x Vile Redeemer
• 1x Wretched Gryff

Land (35)

• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dismal Backwater
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 5x Forest
• 1x Foul Orchard
• 1x Grim Backwoods
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 5x Island
• 1x Jungle Hollow
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Nephalia Drownyard
• 1x Opulent Palace
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Submerged Boneyard
• 5x Swamp
• 1x Thornwood Falls
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Woodland Cemetery
• 1x Woodland Stream
• 1x Yavimaya Coast

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Amass the Components
• 1x Army of the Damned
• 1x Dark Salvation
• 1x Dread Return
• 1x Dread Summons
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Rise of the Dark Realms
• 1x Spider Spawning
• 1x Victimize

Commander (1)

Artifact (12)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Altar of the Brood
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Baton of Morale
• 1x Birthing Pod
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Elixir of Immortality
• 1x Golgari Signet
• 1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
• 1x Simic Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Sultai Banner

Instant (6)

• 1x Abstruse Interference
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Forbidden Alchemy
• 1x Grisly Salvage
• 1x Scour the Laboratory
• 1x Sultai Charm

Enchantment (4)

• 1x From Beyond
• 1x Gutter Grime
• 1x Mind's Dilation
• 1x Sultai Ascendancy

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Lusus Naturae is Latin for (roughly) "Mockery of Nature". It means, when used in English, roughly that -- a deformed person or creature; a freak, a mutant, or a monster. As such, I feel it more than appropriate to apply to the warped zombies of the Sultai, the Frankensteinian Skaabs, or especially to the Eldrazi and the horrific aberrations wrought by Emrakul upon Innistrad (Handily also the homeland of the kind of Mad Scientists who might actually use a Latin phrase). They're horrific to gaze upon, effective on the field, and already prone to warping the laws of life and death even before Sidisi enters the picture as commander of my brood. Plus, giving a deck a pretentious Latin name seemed amusing.

Better than that, they're all cheap. I didn't go into this intending to make a budget deck. But the very cards I felt I needed either thematically or mechanically, my Lusus Naturae, all worked out to the point where I could have a mana base LESS budget than I normally would and still spend less than $100 on new cards (Which for EDH is pretty good). To be more pure budget, the Shocklands and "Buddy" lands can be dropped in favor two of each Basic, which reduces the price of the deck from just north of $120 to just under $80. That version can be found here for ease of access: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/08-03-17-xdW-sidisi-budget/ EDIT: It has come to my attention that some of the cards in this deck have gone up, raising the 'raw' price to about 140 and about 90. Still not expensive by EDH standards, but creeping out of budget.

A Typical Run

• Step 1: Land Sidisi turn 3-5. Your biggest hurdle (which should inform decisions to keep or pitch a starting hand) is going to be getting all three colors.
• Step 2: Mill Yourself. Sidisi starts the mill train going when she enters and keeps it up as long as you can continue attacking with her (For which Baton of Morale is indispensable should you get it) but having other self-mill tools to make more zombies happen both per turn and in general is great. The more zombies you have, the more resources you have, and that's always good
• Step 3: Resurrection for Fun and Profit. The two best cards in the deck for reviving the dead are Gravespawn Sovereign and Havengul Lich. Getting one of these two is a huge boon and makes your board rapidly spiral out of control. One-shot revivals like Victimize and especially Dread Return let you kick-start the chain of reanimation. Special mention goes to Sakura-Tribe Elder which loops beautifully alongside the Lich
• Step 4: Go Critical. In general, when this deck really dominates a table, it wants to have an active Gravespawn or Lich and a sacrifice outlet so that you can loop creatures like Phyrexian Ingester . Alternativley, simply getting Rise of the Dark Realms into hand with one of the Altars on the field (particularly Dementia) should have exceptionally fun results. Living Death can be used to similar effect, though its need for an altar is greater.

Avenues for Victory

• Combat: Mill yourself and utilize Living Death or mill yourself and others for Rise of the Dark Realms or Gravespawn Sovereign to assemble your army. If you generate many zombies, consider casting Decimator of the Provinces , perhaps via Havengul Lich
• Combo: With Gutter Grime in play, use Altar of Dementia to mill your library. In general, you'll be sacrificing a few real creatures to start (making zombies and oozes) then zombie tokens (After using them to recycle something with Gravespawn Soveriegn, if able), and then finally a few oozes if you must, since they'll grow fat on the 'base' of the chain. Use Eternal Witness to get what you need to cast Rise of the Dark Realms or, less ideally, Living Death to repeat the process as long as you have colored mana (colorless being easily obtained from Eldrazi Scions and Ashnod's Altar). The Gutter Grime oozes will become large enough to potentially mill multiple thousands of cards from your opponents. With two castings of Rise of the Dark Realms, it often goes over 50 counters in testing (rarely with any oozes lost to polishing off my own library). Ashnod's Altar is invaluable to this kill since it turns creatures into mana.
• Combat/Combo: If unable to loop mill to victory (due to a hexproof opponent or one with an Eldrazi Titan, say) you can execute combo then shuffle your library back by using Eternal Witness to fetch Elixir of Immortality and kill with the oozes on your next turn, via combat. (if this happens a lot, consider replacing the Elixir or another card with Concordant Crossroads to have hasty oozes rather than risking going a turn cycle with your oozes)

Questions Nobody Asked, Frequently Or Otherwise, But I'll Answer Anyway

• Q: Abstruse Interference ? Seriously?
• A: It can really throw a spanner in the works of... Well you see, it makes a token... It's an excuse to say "abstruse" at the table, OK? Let me have this.
• Q: Where's Craterhoof Behemoth?
• A: Decimator of the Provinces is cheaper and in theme. Craterhoof would be both easier to use (since it doesn't need to be 'cast') and more of a blowout given the number of zombies the deck can create, but I went for the weaker but more fitting card. You can go the other way if you so choose, there's no deep secret tech that makes Decimator better.
• Q: Where's Living End ?
• A: Living Death is an extremely powerful card. Even more so with sacrifice outlets like Ashnod's Altar and Altar of Dementia to make sure that everything is in the bin for it. So logically Living End should be just as good, right? In testing, I've found that one of the best parts of Living Death is that people will not know it's coming, or even if they do (Because Eternal Witness fished it out of the GY) they don't know when. This helps ensure I can get my ducks in a row without everyone doing the same. Also, a lot of the time, I will nab it with Witness (or just draw into it) and then resolve it on the same turn. Better to win now than to wait 3 turns while that's up in the air.
• Q: How about those lands?
• A: For this deck, at least, mana base is what determines budget. The version of the deck, above, is half again the cost of the version that doesn't use Shock or Buddy lands. The deck's mana woes are far less with that. I also run the basic penny enters-tapped lands, since testing showed that getting the color access to drop Sidisi turn 3-5 (and play any card) was far more relevant than the turns I might miss thanks to them. If I wanted to nearly double the deck's cost (well out of budget land) I would add the relevant Fetch lands -- Polluted Delta, Misty Rainforest, and Verdant Catacombs. If I REALLY wanted to break the bank, that would instead be every Fetchland other than Arid Mesa. Classic duals are right out. Everyone, however, has to draw their own line somewhere down that road (even if it's at the end) and for now, at the very least, my line is right here. I could improve the deck with better mana fixing options down the road, but that's not the version I'll play first.
• Q: Where are you going next?
• A: If I had to make some alterations to this deck, it would be to drop Mind's Dilation and Birthing Pod for Mesmeric Orb and Phyrexian Altar. Those two aren't the most budget friendly cards in the world (They'd push the "cheap" version of the deck over 100 if mirrored there) but they are good: Phyrexian Altar lets the deck go infinite rather than simply very large, an important trait in case of someone who survives having their library melted and all creatures stolen. Mesmeric Orb is simply put one of the best self-mill pieces in existence, and while it hurts the Living Death game it makes the Rise of the Dark Realms game that much easier.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 36 - 0 Rares 24 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.00
Tokens	Eldrazi Horror 3/2 C, Eldrazi Scion 1/1 C, Ooze */* G, Spider 1/2 G, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie X/X U
Folders	EDH