That's Not Paint He's Using...

Commander / EDH ItchiUchiha117

SCORE: 5 | 29 COMMENTS | 3326 VIEWS | IN 5 FOLDERS


Box of Theros —Sept. 28, 2013

So, I bought a box of Theros. Just bought it to do a draft with friends (2-0; 0-2; 2-0; if anyone was interested in how UB control did in four person limited) and pulled some really good stuff. Like Thassa and her Bident.

My question now: Should I add the Curse of the Swine I also pulled? It seems it could be pretty good in this deck, especially if I go infinite, mana-wise.

Thanks for any help.

shaistyone says... #1

I like this quite a bit. Probably the biggest tip I can give you is to start going into the older cards as much as you can access. There are a ton of good zombies back in those older ones.

I made a zombie concept when Innistrad block came out but never built it IRL. It's called Zombies Walk. It's not super tuned or anything, and the most recent sets are not represented. Feel free to look it over for cards that might work for you. :)

September 4, 2013 10:08 p.m.

ItchiUchiha117 says... #2

I have been looking at some of the older ones on the Gatherer and haven't really found any IRL. I'm still looking for some of the Lords. And the infinite combos can actually screw me if I do things badly. I deck myself out. Thinking about removing Secrets of the Dead because of it. What do you think?

September 4, 2013 10:20 p.m.

cupofnoodles says... #3

I'm not quite sure what your budget is, but I will try to suggest some cards I think can help and why.

Suggestions

Bribery This is one of the best cards for any blue deck. It lets you get one of their creatures (preferably a fatty) for 5 mana. The best part is that you can also sneak a peak at their library to see what it is capable of.

Oversold Cemetery A staple card for black creature decks. Free recursion for your creatures is always awesome.

Havengul Lich Being able to play creature cards from your graveyard is always a good thing.

Chainer, Dementia Master He can play creatures from the graveyard too, and for a cheaper price.

Animate Dead This can be useful to get back a fatty that you may have milled yourself out of, or from the opponent in battle.

Cyclonic Rift staple blue boardwipe

Damnation staple black boardwipe

Hex this can help if you want to limit what gets destroyed.

Do or Die a cheaper boardwipe that can do well against early aggro.

Buried Alive great spell for choosing which creatures go into your graveyard, enabling for faster reanimation. Speaking of which...

Reanimate if you don't care about the life loss, you can get a great creature out on the field for a swamp. Works best after you have filled up all graveyards after a boardwipe.

Increasing Ambition the premier tutor, because it can be used twice. Vampiric Tutor and Imperial Seal are also good choices.

Command Tower staple land in any EDH deck

Reflecting Pool another staple land in any EDH deck

Exotic Orchard this land can be useful if your opponent happens to be playing similar colors to you.

Shizo, Death's Storehouse I know that Grimgrin can muscle his way into dealing damage to the opponent, but this land will ENSURE that he gets his hits in. Highly recommended!

Replacements

Right, I mentioned up above some suggestions, now here's what I think could help by being replaced and why.

Farbog Boneflinger too expensive and too weak to really make a difference in the overall scheme of things, which is what you should be aiming for in EDH.

Butcher Ghoul same as the boneflinger. While it is a nice choice for a turn 2 creature, it won't affect the game as much as Do or Die could. And remember, board wipes will always be better protection then a single creature to block with.

Jwar Isle Refuge the +1 life is not worth having a land enter tapped. Replace it with Tainted Isle .

Transguild Promenade this land will likely be replaced with one of the lands I mentioned in my suggestions. Having to pay mana to keep a land is no good when there are better alternatives.

Walking Corpse vanilla creatures won't help much in EDH, even if they are decently costed. You might do well to replace this with Animate Dead or Invisible Stalker

Abattoir Ghoul He can be useful, but I'd rather play Skinrender for the guaranteed interaction with an opponent's creature. In many ways, it can be a removal and creature spell, even on an indestructible creature.

Pristine Talisman this card is okay, but Sol Ring is better for mana production.

Dimir Signet this card is okay too, but Dimir Keyrune can ensure you have mana production and a creature at the ready whenever you need either.

Lonely Sandbar I understand that this card can fix up a bad hand with it's cycling, but to be honest I just don't see the value in an island coming into play tapped when you could be playing something like Ancient Ziggurat or Command Tower .


Well, those are my suggestions. Hopefully some of that can help you, and kudos for choosing an awesome commander =)

September 9, 2013 1:25 a.m.

ItchiUchiha117 says... #4

Well, I already have the Lich in the deck, so I can't add that, and the Orchard can't add mana that is outside of Grimgrin's colors, so that one's out. Other than that, they all look good, but, yeah, my budget has been ground down to nothing after getting (most of) this stuff. I'm actually still missing Cavern of Souls and Drowned Catacomb at the moment, but my friends allow them to be proxied in.

I originally had the Keyrune in, but took it out for... something... I forget what. I might add it and the Cluestone in at a later time.

Shizo, Death's Storehouse - I think the closest I can get is a copy of Rogue's Passage .

Other lands - As soon as I can afford them, I'll try to get them.

Boardwipes / Hex - Trying to get stuff like this from friends.

Chainer, Dementia Master - Trying to keep as close to Zombie tribal as possible. I realize I have cards that aren't but Bloodgift Demon and Alchemist's Apprentice were for draw, Havengul Runebinder is for tokens, and Skirsdag High Priest is for the early big 'uns. If Chainer made Zombie tokens, I'd be all over that, though,

Buried Alive - This does seem a bit cheaper than my infinite Corpse Connoisseur combo, but at the same time more expensive, depending on what I have out.

Everything I didn't mention - Yeeeeeesssssss! All of those seem very nice (the only one I'm cautious on getting is Bribery and that's just for trying to stay as on theme (Full-on Zombie Horde) as possible).

As far as stuff to take out, I will take your suggestions into consideration.

Thank you very much, cupofnoodles, my good man.

September 9, 2013 2:16 a.m.

zandl says... #5

y u no Necrotic Ooze ?

September 26, 2013 2:19 a.m.

ItchiUchiha117 says... #6

There are three creatures whose abilities I would want to activate with this that would also reach the Grave. Grimgrin, Corpse-Born won't reach it and Alchemist's Apprentice isn't too good of a use of this. Other than that, there's Skirsdag High Priest , Havengul Runebinder , and Havengul Lich . Havengul Runebinder is being removed as soon as I get a hold of Lich Lord of Unx , and Skirsdag High Priest is rather close to being removed as well. That would mean that the only card in the deck that would do anything with Necrotic Ooze is Havengul Lich , who I have multiple ways of bringing back anyways. It was something I considered, but it doesn't really seem worth it.

September 26, 2013 2:27 a.m.

ItchiUchiha117 says... #7

And yes, I know it's all graveyards, but it still isn't something I really have worries about with my playgroup. Especially with the Grave Pact - Grave Betrayal combo.

September 26, 2013 2:29 a.m.