Skullbriar assistance!

[Joblin Velder]

My wife is assembling a Skullbiar EDH deck and wants a japanese horror/haunted forest theme to it. I have some things I like so far, but not enough too fill out a fully functioning EDH deck. With all the great zombie support and token generators from the last few years, tokens will probably be a sub-theme. I have a few treefolk in mind, too. Aside from that, I'm short on stuff. Any ideas?

[Joblin Velder]

Here's the preliminary decklist I wrote up this evening. There are some noticeable absences: 1) No equipment, 2) some of the more expensive staples, and 3) card draw.

1) Equipment didn't seem to make a lot of sense, as the theme is mindless zombies and angry trees. I couldnt find anything that made sense, but if theres something I missed, let me know.

2) My wife and I are both students right now and our collection is based 100% on EDH so we pretty much have like, one of everything. Most of the black and green expensive cards are in a Doran deck right now. So, this deck will have to do without vamp and duals.

3) This was another theme issue. Night's Whisper and Graveborn Muse made sense, but I couldnt find enough to make it worth it.

That being said, I'd love to get some feedback and get this working well for her. Right now, she plays a Pheldagrif deck designed to help everyone else and this would be an awesome change for her.

//General (1)

Skullbriar

//Plague Carriers (8)

Llanowar Dead
Elves of Deep Shadow
Garruk, Wildspeaker
Fertilid
Kodama's Reach
Harrow
Explosive Vegetation
Sol Ring

//Dark Pacts (5)

Demonic Tutor
Diabolic Tutor
Regrowth
Noxious Revival
Liliana Vess

//Zombies! (14)

Coffin Queen
Grave Titan
Corpse Harvester
Creakwood Ghoul
Noxious Ghoul
Unbreathing Horde
Vulturous Zombie
Zombie Master
Zombie Trailblazer
Army of the Damned
Moan of the Unhallowed
Endless Ranks of the Dead
Zombie Infestation
Vengeful Dead

//Lords of Death (5)

Cemetery Reaper
Death Baron
Lord of the Undead
Undead Warchief
Creakwood Leige

//Spirits of the Forest (11)

Deadwood Treefolk
Ebony Treefolk
Lumberknot
Woodfall Primus
Lhurgoyf
Mortivore
Consumptive Goo
Spirit Monger
Avenger of Zendikar
Vigor
Vengevine

//Reanimation (5)

Grimiore of the Dead
Necromancy
Life/Death
Patriarch's Bidding
Oversold Cemetery

//”Strength of Undeath!” (9)

Strength of Night
Triumph of the Hordes
Overrrun
Gaea's Anthem
Parallel Lives
Doubling Season
Asceticism
Right of Passage
Primal Rage

//Death and Destruction (5)

Call to the Grave
Pernicious Deed
Putrefy
Gravepact
Go for the Throat

//Decomposition (4)

Necrogenesis
Contagion Engine
Contagion Clasp
Dark Heart of the Wood (The Dark version)

//Unconsecrated Ground

Shizo, Death's Storehouse
Phyrexian Tower
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
Strip Mine
Ghost Quarter
Golgari Rot Farm
Llanowar Reborn
Unholy Grotto
Barren Moor
Tranquil Thicket
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
12 Swamp
10 Forest


-Tombstone Stairwell
-Cellar Door
-Swamp
- Rise from the Grave
+Vengevine
+Dark Heart of the Wood
+Vengeful Dead
+Grimiore of the Dead.

[zimagic]

How strict is your theme?

In this deck & colour combination I kinda like stuff like Skullclamp/Azusa/Fecundity/Ground Seal/Riftsweeper.

You really need to find a Vengeful Dead and Filth goes really well with Urborg seeing as your guys probably won't be the biggest on the field.

There 2 lords missing if you want to go all in on lord effects: Brass Herald (which is a pretty limit call here given your creature-type density) and Adaptive Automaton.

You mentioned the Graveborn Muse. How do you mean you didn't find enough to make it worth it? You're essentially paying extra for a Phyrexian Arena that can attack and block and you can kill off more easily if you're getting low on life. That's one zombie that really doesn't play nice with other zombies!!

[Joblin Velder]

Thanks for the suggestions. I really like Fecundity. I'm surprised I missed it. Its great playwise and fits with the theme pretty well.

The theme is pretty strict, so as much as I'd love to clamp zombies all day, it won't be happening. However, Vengeful Dead and Filth are also awesome ideas. I'll be trying to find slots for them today.

[withmangone]

zombies- vengeful pharaoh (seems like it would be a mummy, but its creature type is zombie. obvi useful with discard stuff like zombie infestation), withered wretch, malevolent awakening, scrabbling claws (the last two are just useful cards with zombie flavor)

trees- seedguide ash, nemata grove guardian (nemata especially fits the token subtheme)

death and destruction- maelstrom pulse (might be a pricey card in your doran deck that you were talking about?), plague boiler


Hope some of these ideas help!

[Joblin Velder]

I think my wife will love Scabbling Claws and probably Plague Boiler.

Dark Heart of the Wood was also suggested. I have a lot I need to find room for thanks to you guys.

[Metman]

Vengevine seems like it would fit the theme.

[Joblin Velder]

Changes to the deck are now listed in the second post. We're going to try to track down a Maelstrom Pulse, but the cuts are getting painful. I have an unnatural love for Tombstone Stairwell.

Also, we've noticed that its pretty close to an Evil Dead theme deck at this point with the hateful, haunted forest and generous amount of undead. I'm starting to think that Grimiore of the Dead deserves a spot. Any ideas what could be cut for it?

[withmangone]

Any ideas what could be cut for it?

Elves of Deep Shadow? It doesn't play well with a few other cards in the deck, and you would probably have enough mana ramp without it. Or maybe Rise from the Grave? It seems to be the worst reanimate effect currently in the deck (not being attached to a beater and not as well-costed/utile as Necromancy), so the Necronomicon would be a strict upgrade. And by replacing one reanimate effect with another reanimate effect, you aren't making your deck overly graveyard dependent (although I'm not sure that's a concern of yours given the theme of the deck).

A few more cards I thought of- Geth, Lord of the Vault is an absolute bomb in edh, as well as a zombie. And to answer your earlier question about zombie-related equipment, Nim Deathmantle! Heh, although it's probably not good enough to make the current cut.

Also- have you considered adding an Inkmoth Nexus in place of a basic land? It gives you an "Oops, I win" factor in drawn out games b/c of your proliferate engines, and you wouldn't need to cut any flavor to add it.

[Joblin Velder]

I agree about rise from the grave. Definitely the one to cut. Inkmoth is a great idea. It would slip right in under the radar.

[Joblin Velder]

Current decklist: It's pretty awesome, but I may put some draw in there. I was shuffling though our EDH box and realized she didn't have Necropotence in there. We'll see what happens over the next week or so.

Cards that have been amazing:

Asceticism is a bomb. Like, good luck stopping the zombie elemental onslaught.
Zombie Trailblazer has had more assists than any other card in the deck.
Phyrexian Tower Saves the day. I went to dump 8 -1/-1 counters on him and he just went to the general zone, still full. Asshole.

//General (1)

Skullbriar

//Plague Carriers (8)

Llanowar Dead
Elves of Deep Shadow
Garruk, Wildspeaker
Fertilid
Kodama's Reach
Harrow
Explosive Vegetation
Sol Ring

//Dark Pacts (4)

Demonic Tutor
Regrowth
Noxious Revival
Liliana Vess

//Zombies! (14)

Coffin Queen
Grave Titan
Corpse Harvester
Creakwood Ghoul
Noxious Ghoul
Unbreathing Horde
Vulturous Zombie
Zombie Master
Zombie Trailblazer
Army of the Damned
Moan of the Unhallowed
Endless Ranks of the Dead
Zombie Infestation
Vengeful Dead

//Lords of Death (5)

Cemetery Reaper
Death Baron
Lord of the Undead
Undead Warchief
Creakwood Leige

//Spirits of the Forest (11)

Deadwood Treefolk
Ebony Treefolk
Lumberknot
Woodfall Primus
Tarmogoyf
Mortivore
Consumptive Goo
Spiritmonger
Avenger of Zendikar
Vigor
Vengevine

//Reanimation (5)

Grimiore of the Dead
Necromancy
Life/Death
Patriarch's Bidding
Oversold Cemetery

//”Strength of Undeath!” (10)

Hatred
Strength of Night
Triumph of the Hordes
Overrrun
Bad Moon
Parallel Lives
Doubling Season
Asceticism
Rite of Passage
Primal Rage

//Death and Destruction (5)

Call to the Grave
Pernicious Deed
Putrefy
Gravepact
Go for the Throat

//Decomposition (4)

Necrogenesis
Contagion Engine
Contagion Clasp
Dark Heart of the Wood

//Unconsecrated Ground (33)

Shizo, Death's Storehouse
Phyrexian Tower
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
Strip Mine
Ghost Quarter
Golgari Rot Farm
Llanowar Reborn
Unholy Grotto
Barren Moor
Tranquil Thicket
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Llanowar Wastes
Twilight Mire
Verdant Catacombs
Overgrown Tomb
Wooded Cemetary
Svogthos, the Restless Tomb
9 Swamp
7 Forest