[[Primer]]-God of the Rising FULL Moon! Butts Up!!
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 631 | 280 COMMENTS | 68869 VIEWS | IN 234 FOLDERS
AcidicArisato says... #2
I don't think this deck really needs Skullclamp. You don't really have any good X/1 targets for it, so you'll just slap it on a creature and wait for it to die. You'd likely be better off putting Vengeful Dead back in the deck for insurance against board wipes. Or, if you wanted to increase consistency, you could slot in Sidisi, Undead Vizier.
June 24, 2017 2:33 p.m.
BantBitch: Dude... Fantastic feedback. I think The Scarab God is my favorite commander since Omnath, Locus of Rage, mainly because there are so many effective ways to run him! The most popular build right now is obviously tribal zombies, but I think mill/control is VERY viable! I am trying to incorporate all three, and I hope that is it not spreading myself to thin.
Right now I am running 4 Counter-spells, but I think 2-3 more would not hurt. It is just difficult to make cuts... ALSO I was thinking about running spells to provide may spells Flash! Here me out, as a control player I will want to keep my mana up on my opponents turns, so being able to Flash my zombies in at the End Step of the player prior to me seems really solid. MORE IMPORTANTLY however is the fact that our commanders first ability is an UPKEEP trigger, so if we flash stuff in at the previous End Step, then we can be more unpredictable, plus just recast our commander whenever the heck we want!!! I think this is a solid plan, so I might add Leyline of Anticipation, Vedalken Orrery, Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, and Winding Canyons (Maybe not all of theme, but it just seems SO good!). What are your thoughts?
June 24, 2017 3:07 p.m.
AcidicArisato: You are likely right. The reason I keep Skullclamp is because of all of my sac outlets in the list, and all the reanimation effect.
Sidisi, Undead Vizier and Vengeful Dead should go back in.. it is just so hard to make cuts. Any other cards you think I should remove? Also, could you upvote the list? It helps get the word out! Thank you!!!
June 24, 2017 4:35 p.m.
Hata98, calexander, PookandPie, hothmagoth, canapan69, Shad0wRaz0r: Do you guys have any pointers? I am having a hard time making cuts to my list! I was about to leave some feedback on your lists too.
June 24, 2017 5:07 p.m.
hothmagoth says... #6
Thanks for the mention! The list looks great, I envy your land count. I'm trying to cut down on cards I don't need and I keep running across stuff that NEEDS to be in my deck! Hard to say, I'll get back to you with some real feedback when I have some downtime! Cheers, +1!
June 24, 2017 5:14 p.m.
hothmagoth: I know what you mean.... Can I play commander with a 120 card deck?! lol. All of the "Maybe" list are cards that should be in the deck I think... just need to fit them in somehow... I would love the feedback, I'm looking forward to it!!!
June 24, 2017 5:22 p.m.
Shad0wRaz0r says... #8
Thank you for the mention. I would recommend Training Grounds, to reduce the cost of The Scarab God 's activated ability. Also, I believe that to really maximize the potential of The Scarab God , you should base your zombie army on lots of tokens, which I see you doing a good job of. However, I would slacken a bit on the sac outlets, as you need to amass a large amount of zombies in order to drain life and gain card advantage with your commander; sac outlets that make more tokens like Ghoulcaller Gisa are fine, but I don't know if you really need cards like Altar of Dementia or Ashnod's Altar to fuel your deck, as there can potentially be other, non-sacrificial options. With the The Scarab God deck that I created, I learned that if you have a lot of zombies on the battlefield at once, you can end the game really quickly. For example, with only 10 zombie tokens, you drain a quarter of EACH of your opponents' life total every turn, for free.
June 24, 2017 6:34 p.m.
Your deck looks pretty sweet, and I've spent quite a while figuring out what you could cut. I would probably take out Rhystic Study mainly due to the fact that you already have a good amount of card draw thanks to Necropotence, Phyrexian Arena, Graveborn Muse, and Skullclamp. In all honesty I would probably remove most of the card draw except for Skullclamp, and Graveborn Muse, because The Scarab God does a really good job at manipulating the deck. I would also remove Coalition Relic, and replace it with Winding Canyons, mainly due to the fact that you already have some mana ramp effects. Maybe replace Mind Grind for Psychic Strike. Other than that I'm not sure what else I could recommend you cut or add.I also have a question about one of the cards in your sideboard which is Gifts Ungiven. I'm pretty sure it's banned in commander, but does your playgroup allow it like one of mine does?
June 24, 2017 6:49 p.m.
Shad0wRaz0r: You make a very good point about the sac-outlets... I run Altar of Dementia mainly for the mill, but I think Ashnod's Altar will get cut. Training Grounds was once in my first list... but got cut due to lack of space... I will add it to my 'Maybe' list. I plan on making a ton of changes once I actually get to playtest it! (All the cards I could not find locally are currently in the mail).
Thank you for the pointers! I really need to make cuts so I can add some of the other goodies available to me. Also, if you liked the list, could you leave a +1? Thank you!!!
June 24, 2017 6:52 p.m.
calexander says... #11
there are some milling cards I don't think are necessary that you could put other things in for. some the altars and such dont really make sense, I run a few one shot mill cards that have a significant effect all at once to jump start the scarab commander. tbh, im finding with my play testing that the zombies are a significantly better win con than the god itself. i also think that the minamo and mana confluence are unnecessary as you only have one legendary creature that taps, and mana confluence pings you for colors. I wouldn't ever run confluence in a deck with less than 3 colors i don't think. the zombies and other choices look good though!
June 24, 2017 7:08 p.m.
Hata98: Adding Gifts Ungiven was a goof.. can you tell I am not a blue player? lol
It is weird to hear someone say "To much card Draw", but I think you have a point.. lol. I honestly think Rhystic Study provides the best draw in my deck. Maybe it is just my playgroup, but I will draw at least 2-4 extra cards a rotation off this. Also, Skullclamp is good, but all the Zombie Lords make me not want to sac as much, thus the Clamp is not as good. I am making the following changes:
OUT
IN
what are your thoughts on these changes??? I could really use the feedback haha
June 24, 2017 7:19 p.m.
calexander: It is true that Minamo, School at Water's Edge only hits 6 of MY creatures, however, The Scarab God will often make Zombie Legionaries, thus making it a better Island in most cases. There really is no downside to running it, it even comes in untapped.
Do you think my changes above made since, or is there something I am missing? Also, could you support the deck with an upvote? Thank you!
June 24, 2017 7:29 p.m.
This might be my own bias here, because my playgroup plays with Altar of the Brood, but I think that you should keep it in the deck, because it's pretty good especially since it triggers with any permanent. That can get your opponents to discard quite a few card in your turn, and their turns as well since you're playing with Leyline of Anticipation, and Vedalken Orrery.
June 24, 2017 7:30 p.m.
Shad0wRaz0r says... #15
Noxious Ghoul will kill your commander if you create a large amount of tokens in one turn, and will most likely set you back, as well as making you lose the drain and scrying benefits for a turn. And with Vengeful Dead, I do not think that your zombies will be dying often, given all of the zombie lords; Vengeful Dead would only be situational, like if an opponent used a board wipe. I think you can keep Altar of the Brood, as you will be putting lots of creatures into play, and you can use that to mill your opponents, as you don't need to win by milling and really only need the creatures that your opponents mill.
June 24, 2017 7:33 p.m.
Hata98 and Shad0wRaz0r: I like Vengeful Dead because it punishes board-wipes. Death by zombies or death by your own board-wipe... Seems pretty good lol.
So keep Altar of the Brood and pass on Noxious Ghoul seems good to me. Thinking about it now, I think Altar of the Brood is just so good because I can control the amount of milling 100%. I can play a permanent, like the creature a opponent mills, then just exile/make it a zombie... this interaction makes me really want to add Training Grounds now.. making 2 mana 4/4 copy zombies seems nuts...
June 24, 2017 7:45 p.m.
Is the Upvote button not working? One of my buddies is trying it, but he says it does not add a vote...
June 24, 2017 7:47 p.m.
Nightdragon779 says... #19
The More the Better - Scarab God Creature Control
That's my take on the Scarab God. I see that your build focuses more on him as a zombie commander, while mine is more of a control/reanimator shell that abuses powerful ETB triggers and annoying passive effects.
Something I want to suggest is wheeling. Cards like Wheel and Deal that can be played at instant speed (and flashed back by Torrential Gearhulk in my deck) are very powerful. They fill everyone's graveyard with nice juicy creatures to eternalize. Another card I will suggest is Jace's Archivist - 1 mana wheel if he sticks - pretty broken.
Overseer of the Damned is an expensive but powerful card. Combined with sac engines and "removal" like Grave Pact, you can churn out a lot of zombies. His ETB removal can also be used twice, very powerful.
Finally, though hard to obtain and extremely expensive, Liliana of the Veil. Both of her top 2 abilities contribute to the strategy very well. While I put it in my deck, I don't have (and probably never will) obtain her, my deck is just there as an ideal version. But if you do have Liliana, I suggest putting her in as she is extremely powerful.
June 24, 2017 10:31 p.m.
Nightdragon779: Great deck! I just left a comment for you there. There are three key cards that I am taking away from your comment and your list: Overseer of the Damned, Whispering Madness, and Wheel and Deal. I don't know how they have slipped through the cracks. Idk if they will all make the list, but I am going to get the cards and at least try them out. Thank you very much for the suggestions!
Could you do me a favor? I see you didn't upvote yet, but if you were planning on it, could you use the button in the description (under the blown-up The Scarab God card). I don't know if I made the link right. Please let me know if it works for you! Thank you!
June 24, 2017 11:12 p.m.
I removed Door of Destinies for Training Grounds. I wish the Door was a ETB, not a cast ability...
I also removed Mindcrank for Overseer of the Damned. I think I have more then enough mill, and the Crank is overkill. Plus the Overseer is removal that also pumps out zombies. Seems good... Plus I can always live the dream of Overseer of the Damned + Altar of Dementia + Grave Pact...
June 25, 2017 12:06 a.m. Edited.
I like your list. Basically i like everything that spins around zombies. I made my own list
Scarab Zombies
Commander / EDH*
0 VIEWS
and that's how i stumbled on yours.
I am playing more lands than you, the reason being that they get punished a lot on my playgroup ( Terastodons with emphasis on plural). Just in case you go up against something similar you could try sqeezing a Crucible of Worlds. Perhaps you could also benefit from a Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx.
Decree of Pain is another card i can recommend. You get to replenish your hand and as you already said so yourself about board wipes, with Vengeful Dead and Plague Belcher it hurts them more than you.
Finally since you rely on a couple of counters to protect your important assets, a decent solution is Mystical Teachings to help you tutor them in instant speed. or it can fetch Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir if you finally decide to include him.
June 25, 2017 5:17 a.m.
lamogio: I am glad you like my list! I am really excited to play test it once the last few card I need get here on Tuesday!
I don't deal with land destruction very often in my meta. However, I still think I should add a land or a mana rock.. I am not sure. 34 lands and 2 mana rocks is way lower then I am use to, but we shale see. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx might be a good idea!
Decree of Pain was once in the deck. The high cmc and the fact that it is a boardwipe. It might come in for Damnation though...
June 25, 2017 3:05 p.m.
20 Upvote!!! Woooo hoooo! Five more votes and I will start working on the Primer! Thank all so much for the support and Feedback!
June 25, 2017 4:24 p.m.
VexenX i agree that 34+2 is pretty low for your mana base but i assumed that it worked on your playgroup. Adding a couple of lands or rocks would not compromise your number of spells in a big way. I run with 38+3 and compensate with more card draws. A good mana rock is Chromatic Lantern, especially since the rule about mana of a color not in your commander's identity changed. This will enable your Havengul Lich to cast creatures from your opponents's graveyards as well, regardless of their color. Or if you're looking for utility lands Arcane Lighthouse, Thespian's Stage can be helpful. Reflecting Pool can also assist in colored mana.
BantBitch says... #1
I'm currently making the same deck, and I think the best way to make this deck is to make it as versatile and resilient as possible. The thing that's great about The Scarab God is that the card helps zombies have 3 effective ways to win. The first is just pummeling people with Lords and Hordes that overrun them. The second is unique for our commander since we can stall the board and whittle our opponents life totals. Everything of TSG helps out by wearing opponents down, keeping our options open, and creating a 4/4 body at instant speed. These are the reasons why I would HIGHLY recommend countermagic in this deck. Once our Highlander hits the board, we can play a slow paced grind to win by fishing for countermagic from wrath's and using leftover Mana to create threats at instant speed. I don't think wraths are good for us at all because the deck's tempo and boardstate will take a while to catch up. The other way we win is combo. Rooftop Storm, Gravecrawler, a free sac engine, and any of Plague Belcher, Diregraf Captain, and Vengeful Dead get us there. The combo aspect is also why I suggest countermagic, because keeping a board by holding counters to fend off wraths lets you dig for combo pieces.
June 23, 2017 7:31 a.m.