First off, The deck has helped me make mine better, so thank you. My question is have you thought about Vampire of the Dire Moon? Might be a side/up grade to Banehound? Haste+ lifelink vs deathtouch+lifelink.

Happy to hear that!

The thing that makes Banehound so powerful in this deck is its combination of lifelink and haste. The first works really well with Crackdown Construct and Wall of Blood, while the latter is even more important because it allows us to immediately attack the turn Lazav comes into play. This means that he doesn’t need to survive a whole rotation at the table before he can swing.

As regards deathtouch, it’s not that useful for us. We are not willing to block with our commander, as our primary goal is to keep attacking.

Wow. I never thought I would be impressed by a Lazav deck. This is incredibly well constructed and so unique I feel excited! I wish I could +1 this more than once. This is a hell of a deck

I love this! I'm on a low budget, but happen to have a lot of these staples lying about. If you were forced into a lower power version of the deck, would 3 mana cards like Nyxathid or Phyrexian Soulgorger be an acceptable substitute for the almost $40 Dreadnaught?

Replacing the Dreadnought is impossible, as it's probably the single best card in the deck. No other creature can offer such a huge power for such a low cost. The thing that sets it apart from all the other options is the fact that it's the only creature that is able to represent a two-turn clock on its own. All the 7 to 10 power creatures instead represent a three-turn clock, which makes a huge difference in the long run. Something like a Nyxathid or Rotting Regisaur would be okayish, but they won't be anywhere near the power level of the Dreadnought. If you absolutely can't run it, then the best substitutes would be Nyxathid or Eater of Days (who has two relevant keywords). Phyrexian Soulgorger is awful because it represents the same clock as Nyxathid but forces you to invest more mana to transform Lazav during you upkeep, as you can't afford to let the cumulative upkeep trigger to resolve.

I do understand your hesitation regarding the Dreadnought, however. It has an absurdly high price tag, especially considering how narrow it is. It's not a card that you will put in every deck, like a Force of Will. Luckily, here in Europe it is more affordable. My suggestion would be trying some alternatives first, and then testing it using a proxy. You will feel the difference. Then, if you really love the deck, you can consider buying a copy. Of all the possible upgrades, the Dreadnought should be the priority. Intuition, Mana Crypt and Force of Will can all be replaced somewhat decently, while our 12/12 is one of its kind.

Hope this helps!

I’m playing a tournament with my friend in which each card has to be $10 or under. We are able to swing a few overpriced cards but not many.

Here are the ones I have to replace:

1x Force of Will 1x Mana Crypt 1x Mana Drain 1x Ancient Tomb 1x Cyclonic Rift 1x Damnation 1x Dark Confidant 1x Demonic Tutor 1x Fierce Guardship 1x Intuition 1x Toxic Deluge 1x Training Grounds 1x Vampiric Tutor 1x Mox Amber

Any help with replacements do I don’t ruin your deck and get smacked?

Also, I know one player is playing Meren, and the other is playing a token deck. Hopefully I can just take Meren out quick but if I only have one creature how can I block many creatures coming at me??

Providing budget alternatives is not that simple because the deck is balanced as is and changing any single card would alter its equilibrium. I will try my best, but do keep in mind that with the following changes you will need to play the deck a lot slower than before. Without free counterspells you will need to wait for when you can leave mana open, and so on and so forth. Hopefully, the fact that all the decks in the tournament follow the same budget restrictions can make up for this. Here are my budget changes:

Mana Crypt and Mox Amber: any two-mana rock, like Arcane Signet and Mind Stone.

Force of Will and Fierce Guardianship: a copy of Foil and Dispel. Depending on your specific meta, you could consider Mental Misstep.

Mana Drain: any two-mana counterspell. My choice would be Countersquall.

Ancient Tomb: a basic Island.

Cyclonic Rift: Echoing Truth. This can bounce a single permanent or an army of tokens, which seems particularly useful in your case.

Damnation and Toxic Deluge: your choice of Languish, Whelming Wave, Evacuation or AEtherize.

Dark Confidant: I once used Disciple of Deceit, which was suboptimal. Alternatively, Looter il-Kor or any draw spell.

Intuition, Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor: Diabolic Tutor, Forbidden Alchemy and Beseech the Queen are okayish.

Training Grounds: Heartstone is the closest comparison, but do keep in mind it works for your opponents as well.

These are all direct substitutions. I took the cards you mentioned and replaced them with their budget counterparts. If you think some of them aren't good enough (and in most cases they are not), then you can consider including something completely different instead. I'm thinking about cards like Propaganda, Torpor Orb, more removal, more card draw, more ramp. You have the privilege of knowing the decks you will be facing, so you can tweak the deck according to your matchups.

If you want to be prepared against a token deck, try shaving some single target removals or counterspells for a few extra board wipes. Just be extra careful against Meren because they tend to play a lot of Fleshbag Marauder-like effects, which is something this deck really struggles with. Make use of your haste enablers to kill your opponent during the very first turn you play Lazav, before he or she has the opportunity to play those cards.

I wish you good luck for your tournament, and let me know about your results!

Thank you very very much for the help! (I made a comment about replacing cards) You’re the bomb!

Do you have any other decks on here that are so good and thought out like this?!

Actually, I have 30-ish finished EDH decks here on TappedOut, but they're all private apart from this one. I haven't had the time to write another primer, and I don't know if I will. The thing is, the vast majority of my EDH decks are pretty "standard". I have a Meren deck, Nekusar, Prossh, Edgar Markov, and so on. And while I have tried to give my personal touch to each one of them, the lists are inevitably quite similar to those you can already find all around the internet. There are plenty of primers for those decks, so I don't think mine would add anything particularly new to the fray.

For Lazav, it was a completely different story. There wasn't any other primer at the time I decided to write one, plus I thought it would be something fresh and new compared to the other EDH decks we were accustomed to.

Who knows, maybe in the future I will take a few of my already existing decks and write something decent!

Hey! I was going to use your deck for the tournament this Tuesday but it just wasn’t working when I play tested it. I got targeted very fast but your deck inspired me to make my first ever deck!! Do you think you could check my page and give me some feedback so I don’t get smoked in the tournament lol

Which list did you playtest with? My own, or a budget version? Just curious to know if a budget version of this deck is any viable.

As regards targeted hate, unfortunately no deck can handle a 3vs1 from the very beginning. The trick is playing very slowly and harmlessly until the late game, so that your opponents will focus on each other.

I would love to give you some feedback, but I can't find your deck on your page. Could you send me the link to it (and make sure it's not set on private)?

I played with your deck and I substituted the budget cards that you suggested. The deck was just so powerful that it upset them and they wanted to get me out... Not much could be done unfortunately.

This is my deck list link (: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/the-scarab-god-zombie-tribal-mill-token/

Love this deck a lot, I'm currently trying to brew my own version of this (With the additons of some other combos) but I dont have anything like Phyrexian Dreadnought do you have a good alternative?

Thanks for appreciating!

Phyrexian Dreadnought is the single best card in the deck, and the deck is built around tutoring it as soon as possible. As a result, replacing it efficiently is impossible a no other creature can offer such a high power for such a low mana cost. That being said, there are a few "decent" alternatives:

Nyxathid and Eater of Days both provide a 3-turn clock. The Eater costs one more mana, but does add two relevant keywords.

Virtus the Veiled is less of a voltron creature, but potentially deals more regular damage.

Depending on how casual your playgroup is, you could consider Phage the Untouchable as a very expensive one-shot kill.

Just keep in mind that without the Dreadnought the deck will be significantly slower.

have you consider the new teferi insted of tirst let say?

Yes, definitely!

Had it been able to phase out Lazav instead of just my opponents’ creatures, it would have been a no brainer. As is, it’s still very flexible and worth considering. I’m going to test it for sure!

Hey, I think your deck is very interesting. I made a semi-competitive Lazav list myself recently, however, mine is extremely different. I will post it later (it should show up on my profile when I do). The main difference in mine is that there are no creatures (other than Lazav), which sounds awful, however, still works. The deck uses him as a cheap creature to sac as well as a consistency piece through his surveil. I can describe it more on the page of my deck. (I'm just letting you know other possible ideas you may want to experiment with in the future.)

Ok, you got my attention! Very curious to check your creation out!

https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/cheap-dimir-and-dank/

Hello! Isn't Lazotep Plating better to protect yourself against graveyard hate and sacrifice?

That’s a really nice suggestion! While the token can only save Lazav from a single sacrifice trigger (Grave Pact effects will still be a problem), the card is extremely flexible being able to protect against single target removal and graveyard hate. I think it is strictly better than any of the Stifle effects, so it will probably replace one of those. Thanks a lot!

First of all, this deck feels like it's going to be my next deck. Thanks for this nicely written primer. However I'll need to test it in my playgroup first, since they are very keen on removal spells and counterspells. These are some thoughts:

I wondered if you ever considered Death's Shadow instead of Hunted Horror. It immediatly dies due to it's own trigger and is a 13/13 in the grave. When lazav copies it, lazav becomes a 13/13. So another creature that can one shot people with infect. It doesn't have trample, but therefore you have those evasion cards.

Maybe Cavern of Souls would help you to get lazav on the field everytime. If you name 'shapeshifter' as creature type.

Diabolic Intent and Tainted Strike seem like cards I would add. Only it is very hard to find what cards I would replace them with. Having the ability to give infect to a random creature (before damage on a big hit) even on your opponents creature seems solid. Getting that little more poison counters out of nowhere. Tutoring for a card and sacrifice at the same time, just awesome.

You ofcourse know your deck better than I do, so I am curious what you think of these suggestions and if there is any room for change.

Glad to hear that!

I really wish Death's Shadow could work with Lazav. It would be amazing. Unfortunately, it does not. The thing is, Shadow's ability is a static one instead of being ETB. This means that Lazav would keep that effect and immediately die by getting -X/-X, where X is your life total. I really like Death's Shadow as a card, but it is actually very hard to make it work in EDH. One of the few ways is in a The Mimeoplasm deck, where you can give your commander 13 +1/+1 counters without having to copy the actual Shadow. As of right now, Hunted Horror is the second best creature that we have access to in terms of a power/mana cost ratio. I hope Wizards will eventually end up completing the Theros Titan cycle (the likes of Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath and Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger) with a powerful Dimir version, because those creatures would be perfect for this deck. Low mana cost, ability to get into the graveyard by themselves and powerful on-attack triggers. Fingers crossed!

Cavern of Souls is more of a meta call. In my playgroup, for example, Lazav never gets countered (apart from the cases where I can immediately threaten lethal with haste) because my opponents prefer to just use removal on him, and I probably would do the same. However, there is no real downside in including Cavern in this deck , so I can see your point.

Diabolic Intent is a card that I had in my first versions of the deck, but I ended up cutting it because it was a little suboptimal. More often than not, I found myself having it stuck in my hand with no creature to sacrifice. Sacrificing Lazav is out of question. As for the other creatures, there are only 13 in the deck. The chances of having one of them in hand alongside Diabolic Intent are pretty low. And of those creatures, some like Cavern Harpy, Hunted Horror and Phyrexian Dreadnought can't even be used. A two-mana tutor is great, but it is too unreliable in this deck. Insidious Dreams, Grim Tutor and Lim-Dul's Vault are much more effective.

As for Tainted Strike, it is absolutely worth considering. Being cheap and instant speed makes it really efficient. Due to it's non-repeatable nature, I would only use it when I'm sure I'll be oneshotting someone (that is, when Lazav is a copy of the Dreadnought). If you want something that can be used more than once, Glistening Oil is also pretty decent. However, as you have said, there aren't too many available slots in my list. I've come to a point where if I want to fit a new card in, that card needs to do the same thing as the one I am replacing but in a better, more efficient way.

I really hope you end up building the deck, perhaps with your own twist. If you are worried about endless waves of opposing removal spells and counterspells, refer to the General Strategy section where I talk about how to handle that by playing patiently and not overextending.

Cheers!

So I built this deck and took it to my LGS commander night to test it out, but ended up making one addition which i think you'll really like.

Ghostly Pilferer is a fantastic card that fits right at home here. It's cheap. It's a discard outlet so you can pitch your Lazav targets easily. It gets evasion while doing so. And it can draw you cards. Honestly not sure which creature does more for you in this deck.

I'm not sure what you'd replace it for - i just shoved it in because i forgot to proxy up a Misdirection but i feel like maybe the Dark Tutelage can get replaced for it?

I'm not a huge fan of Ghostly Pilferer. We already have access to Cephalid Inkshrouder which, despite costing one more mana, does add shroud in addition to evasion. Yet, it is still not good enough compared to Invisible Stalker. Having access to a discard outlet on a creature is not that important, as we have many other options and we don't need to discard 3 to 5 cards all at once multiple times during a game. The one mana increase on the Cephalid is simply not worth it. Pilferer, in my opinion, is even worse. He doesn't offer any protection, and evasion is yet again tied to card disadvantage. While this can let you discard a key creature with its first one or two activations, it becomes more and more awkward as the game goes on. Once you are out of creatures, you will be forced to discard cards you actually need. Pilferer's first ability is also extremely clunky. You would need to transform Lazav for during your upkeep (since it will be very unlikely that Lazav's final form after an attack will be that of a Ghostly Pilferer) and then pay another to draw. 4 mana to draw a card is definitely not a great deal. Lastly, the ability to draw whenever an opponent casts a spell from anywhere other than their hand is too situational to be reliable. Sure, it triggers whenever they cast their general. But how many times does that happen during a game? And of those times, I'm not sure if you would be able to get value out of Pilferer because maybe you would need your mana for something else. Let's say you manage to get 3 cards out of Pilferer (which is rather optimistic, in my opinion). Dark Tutelage or Phyrexian Arena will achieve the same result over three turns, but with a lot less hoops to jump through.

The direct comparison that comes to my mind when I think about Pilferer is Key to the City. They both work in the same way. They let you exchange discarding cards for evasion (and also share the same added bonus of drawing a card by paying during your untap step). The thing that makes the Key so much better is the fact that you play it for and never worry about it for the rest of the game. It stays on the field, ready to be used whenever you need and for free. With Pilferer, you have to waste every time you need evasion or a discard outlet.

I'm not saying that Ghostly Pilferer is complete garbage and should never be considered. He tries to do a lot of different things and fits with the deck's playstyle. However, I think we already have other cards that do probably less, but much more efficiently.