Rooftop Experiments (Zombie Tribal)

Commander / EDH Aggro Budget Reanimator Tribal UB (Dimir) Zombie

Optimator

Type Subtype Rarity Color Latest set Latest block Name Board Converted cost Keyword Price Custom

Type Subtype Rarity Name Converted cost Price

Creature (31)

• 1x Cabal Interrogator
• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Cemetery Reaper
• 1x Corpse Harvester
• 1x Cryptbreaker
• 1x Custodi Lich
• 1x Diregraf Captain
• 1x Diregraf Colossus
• 1x Eternal of Harsh Truths
• 1x Fatestitcher
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Geralf's Masterpiece
• 1x Geralf's Mindcrusher
• 1x Gravecrawler
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
• 1x Lich Lord of Unx
• 1x Liliana's Reaver
• 1x Lord of the Accursed
• 1x Prized Amalgam
• 1x Rancid Rats
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Siren of the Silent Song
• 1x Stronghold Assassin
• 1x Unbreathing Horde
• 1x Undead Warchief
• 1x Vengeful Pharaoh
• 1x Vindictive Lich
• 1x Withered Wretch
• 1x Wonder
• 1x Zombie Master

Land (36)

• 1x Bad River
• 1x Choked Estuary
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Crypt of Agadeem
• 1x Darkwater Catacombs
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 9x Island
• 1x Nephalia Drownyard
• 1x River of Tears
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 12x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Isle
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Unclaimed Territory
• 1x Underground River

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Decree of Pain
• 1x Devastation Tide
• 1x Dread Summons
• 1x Final Parting
• 1x Living Death
• 1x Traumatize
• 1x Windfall

Instant (6)

• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Fact or Fiction
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Murder
• 1x Victim of Night

Commander (1)

Artifact (11)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Charcoal Diamond
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Herald's Horn
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sky Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Vanquisher's Banner

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Call to the Kindred
• 1x Graf Harvest
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Liliana's Mastery
• 1x Monastery Siege
• 1x Rooftop Storm
• 1x Secrets of the Dead

Maybeboard

Creature (73)

• 1x Abattoir Ghoul
• 1x Advanced Stitchwing
• 1x Agent of Erebos
• 1x Bone Dancer
• 1x Boneknitter
• 2x Coffin Queen
• 1x Consuming Aberration  SL
• 1x Corpse Connoisseur  SL
• 1x Death Baron
• 1x Diregraf Captain
• 1x Dralnu, Lich Lord
• 1x Dread Slaver  SL
• 1x Drowned
• 1x Drunau Corpse Trawler
• 1x Ethereal Usher
• 1x Forgotten Creation  SL
• 2x Geth, Lord of the Vault
• 1x Ghoulcaller Gisa
• 1x Gleaming Overseer
• 2x Grave Titan
• 2x Graveborn Muse  SL
• 1x Gravespawn Sovereign
• 1x Havengul Lich  SL
• 1x Havengul Runebinder  SL
• 1x Helldozer
• 1x Jhessian Zombies
• 1x Khenra Eternal  SL
• 1x Laboratory Brute  SL
• 2x Lord of the Undead
• 1x Merciless Eternal  SL
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 2x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
• 1x Nightscape Familiar  SL
• 1x Noosegraf Mob  SL
• 1x Overseer of the Damned
• 1x Phyrexian Crusader
• 1x Phyrexian Delver  SL
• 2x Plague Belcher
• 1x Pontiff of Blight  SL
• 1x Possessed Skaab
• 2x Raving Dead
• 2x Relentless Dead
• 2x River Kelpie  SL
• 1x Shepherd of Rot  SL
• 1x Skaab Goliath
• 1x Skaab Ruinator
• 1x Skinrender
• 1x Soulless One
• 1x Stitched Drake
• 1x Stitched Mangler
• 1x Stitcher Geralf
• 1x Stromgald Crusader
• 1x The Scarab God
• 1x Tomebound Lich
• 1x Vedalken Ghoul
• 1x Vengeful Dead
• 1x Vodalian Zombie
• 1x Walking Dead  SL
• 1x Wall of Tombstones
• 1x Wight of Precinct Six  SL
• 1x Wonder
• 1x Zombie Outlander
• 1x Zombie Trailblazer

Sorcery (49)

• 1x Ancestral Memories  SL
• 1x Army of the Damned
• 1x Ashes to Ashes  SL
• 1x Behold the Beyond
• 1x Black Sun's Zenith
• 1x Blood for Bones
• 1x Call to Mind
• 1x Compulsive Research  SL
• 1x Dark Salvation  SL
• 3x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Diabolic Tutor  SL
• 2x Distant Melody
• 1x Extract from Darkness  SL
• 1x Flood of Tears
• 1x From Under the Floorboards  SL
• 1x In Garruk's Wake
• 1x Increasing Ambition
• 1x Killing Wave
• 1x Life's Finale
• 1x Moan of the Unhallowed
• 1x Mutilate
• 1x Necromantic Selection
• 1x Part the Waterveil
• 2x Patriarch's Bidding
• 1x Pieces of the Puzzle
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Profane Command  SL
• 1x Pull from the Deep
• 1x Rags
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Recall
• 1x Rise from the Grave
• 2x Rise of the Dark Realms
• 1x Ritual of the Machine
• 1x Ruinous Path
• 1x Stir the Sands  SL
• 1x Syphon Mind  SL
• 1x Taigam's Scheming  SL
• 2x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Victimize
• 1x Whispering Madness
• 2x Zombie Apocalypse

Enchantment (15)

• 1x Attrition
• 2x Black Market
• 1x Cover of Darkness
• 1x Declaration of Naught
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Grave Betrayal  SL
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Necromancer's Stockpile  SL
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Tainted Remedy
• 1x Think Tank
• 1x Tortured Existence  SL
• 1x Underworld Connections  SL

Instant (30)

• 1x Ancient Excavation  SL
• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Brainstorm  SL
• 1x Countersquall
• 2x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Dark Bargain
• 1x Dimir Charm
• 2x Entomb
• 1x Forbid
• 1x Forbidden Alchemy  SL
• 1x Fortune's Favor
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Hinder
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1x Malicious Affliction
• 1x Mystical Teachings  SL
• 1x Negate  SL
• 1x Pack's Disdain  SL
• 1x Perplex  SL
• 1x Redirect
• 1x Silence the Believers
• 1x Silumgar's Command
• 1x Spin into Myth  SL
• 1x Sudden Spoiling  SL
• 1x Tragic Slip
• 1x Wake the Dead

Artifact (19)

• 1x Altar of Dementia
• 1x Bident of Thassa  SL
• 1x Bonehoard  SL
• 1x Coat of Arms
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Dolmen Gate
• 1x Door of Destinies
• 1x Eldrazi Monument
• 1x Grimoire of the Dead
• 1x Icon of Ancestry
• 2x Jet Medallion
• 1x Mind Stone
• 3x Nevinyrral's Disk  SL
• 1x Perpetual Timepiece  SL
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Worn Powerstone

Land (9)

• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Darkslick Shores
• 1x Fetid Pools
• 1x Halimar Depths
• 1x Leechridden Swamp
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Unholy Grotto
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Liliana, Untouched By Death

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Version 1.5 - - - 5/29/18

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The Timmy in me loves Rooftop Storm so much!

That's the deck theme! Not exactly exotic (no shortage of Dimir zombie decks out there) but Mono-black zombies isn't as fun to build. I love the inclusion of Blue to add more utility and variety.

Originally I had some counterspells in the deck but I took them out in favor of other utility and a slightly higher creature count. I'm generally somewhat anti-counterspell in EDH because of the whole "one-for-one, other two players up" and card-disadvantage aspect. This is in addition to not liking leaving mana up on an instant-light deck. I might put Negate in to protect my board-state from wipes more than the single Counterspell , but my deck should have decent resiliency. It's pretty important to protect a board state in an aggro deck. We'll see, as usual.

As an aggro deck I was aiming for at least 30 Zombies. Many Gisa and Geralf decks go heavier on the combo aspect but I don't have the cash to get all the good tutors so budget-ish aggro plan workd well enough and is great in my playgroups.

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The original idea for this deck was a heavy mill theme (self and opponent) and lots of cards that take advantage of other peoples' graveyards--cards like Fated Return , Ashen Powder , Sepulchral Primordial , Puppeteer Clique , Chainer, Dementia Master , Consuming Aberration , etc. After much soul-searching I felt that it didn't take advantage of Gisa and Geralf as much as I thought (compared to just a bit of self-mill). I also felt that having too much opponent-mill and reanimation cards diluted the actual zombie-tribal aspect. Nekusar, the Mindrazer , Sidisi, Brood Tyrant , Wrexial, the Risen Deep , and especially Lazav, Dimir Mastermind do "opponent's graveyard" sooo much better. After all, the goal of this deck is supposed to be Rooftop Storm and "true" zombie tribal.

I used to have almost all the self-mill zombies ( Laboratory Brute , etc.) but they kept getting bumped for clearly-superior zombies. I still think they're good in a more budgeted Gisa and Geralf deck. It's a shame though, as I wanted to include as many blue zombies and I could.

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As far as upgrades, I like where this deck is at, power-wise. My close friends don't have powerhouse decks and I don't want to spend the money to stand a chance at card shops. That said, it always feels good sliding an upgrade in.

Cards to likely add: Show

Death Baron ,

Cards to maybe add: Show

Grave Titan , Coat of Arms , Mikaeus, the Unhallowed , Entomb , Geth, Lord of the Vault , Lord of the Undead , Relentless Dead , Rise of the Dark Realms , Icon of Ancestry , Black Market

Basics: Islands on point, Swamps could use some diversity. Innistrad/Av Resto,

Newish cards to consider/remember: Show

Tomebound Lich , Gleaming Overseer

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Cards with an SL are cards I own. Cards with an MP are potential cuts.

Audited 5/29/18

Date added	3 years
Last updated	1 week
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.31
Tokens	1/1 Zombie Wizard, 2/2 Zombie, Monarch
Folders	+1 Non-Budget, Mill, Interesting Commander Decks, Uncategorized, Budget, Black EDH, EDH Idea