I am pretty happy with how this deck has performed, but I am eager to get suggestions for improvement. The goal of the deck is pretty straight forward. Dump a bunch of beasts into the graveyard and then get em' back out. As such, the star of the deck is obviously Buried Alive. More details below.
Deck History:
This was my first edh deck, and it has seen the most refinement/improvement over time of any of my decks. I've always had an affinity for reanimation, so Balthor suited my love of the graveyard perfectly. At first, the deck was almost exclusively reanimation spells and spells designed to get creatures into the graveyard. I soon realized, however, that such a linear strategy was easily disrupted, so I added more card draw (Graveborn Muse and Sign in Blood,) mana acceleration (Extraplanar Lens and Jet Medallion), and a touch of disruption (Imp's Mischief and Cabal Conditioning) to keep the deck alive if I received graveyard hate. I always do.
Deck Purpose:
I play this deck because I like being the aggressor early and often. This deck is not about holding off opponents until you can combo off, though it can control the board pretty well since it is well-stocked with sweepers. It is about getting as many of the nastiest, meanest, black creatures onto the battlefield as possible. There are plenty of tutors, so whether you have high mana-cost creatures in hand or hiding in the library, there is usually an easily available solution for dumping them into the grave.
I would recommend playing this deck to anyone who likes (a) to be the aggressor, (b) to have the potential to threaten early, or (c) to terrify one's opponents. This deck can get going obscenely fast. As a result, it will garner some hate from opponents. On the bright side, it is strong enough to resist early hate and still come out on top fairly often. It's also very strong 1 v. 1 if, like most, you find yourself playing that format on occasion.
Fun Little Card Synergies:
Pestilence Demon and Loxodon Warhammer are disgusting together. Even though his 6 toughness is limiting, gaining crazy amounts of life while clearing weenies out of the way feels really good. Some like Basilisk Collar for a one-mana board sweep, but I haven't found a good (by 'good' I mean cost-effective and good on its own) way to make Pestilence Demon survive it.
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet deals with problem creatures, and Expedition Map is another way to get Cabal Coffers. You can't have too many of those.
I ran Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet for a while, but I ended up thinking his ability was redundant and cost-ineffective since I'm already running Avatar of Woe. I haven't tested Expedition Map yet, but I've definitely thought about trying it out. Any thoughts about what to cut for it?
What about Minion of Leshrac? Maybe instead of Spirit of the Night or Kuro, Pitlord.
Huh. I didn't know that guy existed. He's sweet. That upkeep is a pain though. It's not nearly as bad with Reassembling Skeleton. I have a pretty serious sentimental attachment to Spirit of the Night, but I might consider getting rid of Kuro, Pitlord. The thing I like about Kuro is that he can get rid of a whole army of weenies very easily.
I run a Balthor deck, and it's pretty fun. You're missing a card that I think every Balthor deck needs: Morality Shift. It's pretty entertaining when you actually get it off and then have Balthor do his thing.
I run a Balthor deck, and it's pretty fun. You're missing a card that I think every Balthor deck needs: Morality Shift. It's pretty entertaining when you actually get it off and then have Balthor do his thing.
I think I might add that one. My only hesitation is that I run into so much graveyard hate that I can see this easily coming back to bite me in the ass. Oh well. I can see the reward when you get it off being pretty sweet.
And a last note: Morality Shift is actually not that good. I included it in my list because of the Johnny in me but it gets me killed more often then not.
And a last note: Morality Shift is actually not that good. I included it in my list because of the Johnny in me but it gets me killed more often then not.
Thanks for the suggestions! I like your list, and I'm glad to hear from you.
Regarding out of place stuff: I will definitely replace Royal Assassin with something, but I'm not sure what yet. Exsanguinate is so good mid-late game that I might have a hard time parting with it. Skullclamp is definitely replaceable. Raven's Crime I have found to be useful at almost any point in the game. I can either use it to discard my own stuff or use it in conjunction with scrying sheets to repeatedly make my opponents discard.
Regarding suggestions for addition: Revenant is already in the list, and, I agree, it is amazingly good. I am unsure about Undead Gladiator. He is uncounterable, like you say, but I don't get my draw/discard countered very much anyways. Otherwise his ability seems to just read: "pay 4 mana: draw a card then discard a card". Any other reasons to include him that I'm missing? Regarding Iname, Death Aspect, if you are going to build a deck around him why not just use him as your general? Maybe the idea is that you still need a reliable way to get the spirits out of the graveyard? I am going to try to find a way to work Expedition Map and either Insidious Dreams or Promise of Power into the deck.
The deck is running much smoother and more consistently since I recently made a bunch of changes. I decided to go all out with the big black beast strategy. I also realized that late game, with Altar of Dementia and enough big beasts on the board, I can actually deck the occasional opponent in response to a wrath. Awesome!
1 Balthor the Defiled
Beasties:
1 Pestilence Demon
1 It That Betrays
1 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
1 Kuro, Pitlord
1 Scion of Darkness
1 Volrath the Fallen
1 Spirit of the Night
1 Avatar of Woe
1 Nirkana Revenant
1 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
1 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
1 Twisted Abomination
1 Grave Titan
1 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
1 Guiltfeeder
1 Helldozer
Mana:
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Grim Monolith
1 Extraplanar Lens
1 Dark Ritual
1 Jet Medallion
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Vault
1 Expedition Map
1 Necrotic Ooze
1 Big Game Hunter
1 Shriekmaw
Drains:
1 Profane Command
Tutors:
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Beseech the Queen
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Liliana Vess
Get em to the Grave:
1 Buried Alive
1 Entomb
1 Oona's Prowler
Reanimation:
1 Strands of Night
1 Animate Dead
1 Reanimate
1 Nezumi Graverobber
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Exhume
1 Living Death
1 Necromancy
Removal and Sweepers:
1 All is Dust
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Damnation
1 Grave Pact
1 Decree of Pain
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Nevinyrral's Disk
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Sign in Blood
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Ambition's Cost
1 Skeletal Scrying
Utility Artifacts:
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Altar of Dementia
Evil:
1 Yawgmoth's Will
Land:
1 Strip Mine
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Scrying Sheets
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Bojuka Bog
30 Snow-Covered Swamp
I am pretty happy with how this deck has performed, but I am eager to get suggestions for improvement. The goal of the deck is pretty straight forward. Dump a bunch of beasts into the graveyard and then get em' back out. As such, the star of the deck is obviously Buried Alive. More details below.
Deck History:
Deck Purpose:
Why Play Balthor the Defiled?
Fun Little Card Synergies:
More Coming Soon.
Recent Changes:
[In] Helldozer--> [Out] Raven's Crime
[In] Ambition's Cost--> [Out] Barter in Blood
[In] Geth, Lord of the Vault--> ????
[In] Guiltfeeder--> [Out] Rotting Rats
[In] Shred Memory--> [Out] Imp's Mischief
[In] Grave Titan--> [Out] Cabal Conditioning
[In] Skeletal Scrying--> [Out] Exsanguinate
[In] Necrotic Ooze--> ????
[In] Nevinyrral's Disk--> [Out] Helm of Possession
[In] Entomb--> [Out] Rotting Rats
[In] Strands of Night--> [Out] Victimize
Cards Wanted:
EDH decks:
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
Khalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran
I ran Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet for a while, but I ended up thinking his ability was redundant and cost-ineffective since I'm already running Avatar of Woe. I haven't tested Expedition Map yet, but I've definitely thought about trying it out. Any thoughts about what to cut for it?
Huh. I didn't know that guy existed. He's sweet. That upkeep is a pain though. It's not nearly as bad with Reassembling Skeleton. I have a pretty serious sentimental attachment to Spirit of the Night, but I might consider getting rid of Kuro, Pitlord. The thing I like about Kuro is that he can get rid of a whole army of weenies very easily.
I think I might add that one. My only hesitation is that I run into so much graveyard hate that I can see this easily coming back to bite me in the ass. Oh well. I can see the reward when you get it off being pretty sweet.
- Royal Assassin
- Exsanguinate
- Raven's Crime
- Skullclamp (debatable, but you dont have an awful lot of creatures)
Cards form my list you should consider:
- Iname, Death Aspect, when built around is simply amazing
- Nirkana Revenant makes recasting balthor easy and can be a serious beater
- Undead Gladiator uncounterable draw discard
- Expedition Map another coffer tutor
- Insidious Dreams can set up an amazing turn with the help of Sign in Blood
- Promise of Power 5 cards for 5 mana and 5 life is good, very good
And a last note: Morality Shift is actually not that good. I included it in my list because of the Johnny in me but it gets me killed more often then not.
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Thanks for the suggestions! I like your list, and I'm glad to hear from you.
Regarding out of place stuff: I will definitely replace Royal Assassin with something, but I'm not sure what yet. Exsanguinate is so good mid-late game that I might have a hard time parting with it. Skullclamp is definitely replaceable. Raven's Crime I have found to be useful at almost any point in the game. I can either use it to discard my own stuff or use it in conjunction with scrying sheets to repeatedly make my opponents discard.
Regarding suggestions for addition: Revenant is already in the list, and, I agree, it is amazingly good. I am unsure about Undead Gladiator. He is uncounterable, like you say, but I don't get my draw/discard countered very much anyways. Otherwise his ability seems to just read: "pay 4 mana: draw a card then discard a card". Any other reasons to include him that I'm missing? Regarding Iname, Death Aspect, if you are going to build a deck around him why not just use him as your general? Maybe the idea is that you still need a reliable way to get the spirits out of the graveyard? I am going to try to find a way to work Expedition Map and either Insidious Dreams or Promise of Power into the deck.
Thanks again for the suggestions.
I think it might. I'm going to see if I can make room for it.
Still considering Insidious Dreams and Promise of Power. Not sure what to take out though.