Hmm Moan seems weak 8 power for 11 mana isnt really worth it in EDH when you get 10 power for 6. Necromancy should be in your reanimator suite, since its a nice trick or Anmiate dead nr2.
There are plenty of cheap Blue/black duals (take a look at my list- http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=374221), include some of those.
42 lands feels really high, especially for this style of build. Maybe toss in a couple draw/mana engines? Vivisection and Carnage Altar, for example, are very on-theme and give a little card advantage. Utility cards like Strip Mine, Adventure Map, and Mimic Vat will all make this deck better in their own ways. Maybe a Lightning Greaves or Swiftfoot Boots to help ensure Grimgrin's safety once he's landed?
I'd cut probably 5 lands and ensure that the map gets in, at least. Easy way to find Coffers or a Strip Mine if someone's got a troublesome land.
(PS: Rune-Scarred Demon called and asked if he was invited too... should I tell him you're not here?)
Thanks for the suggestions. Forgot about Necromancy, played against someone that used it, couldn't think of the name. I put in an order a bit ago for some of the dual lands I'll be needing (including Watery Grave..ouch), though I couldn't shell out (or find) a polluted delta.
Had Carnage Altar in an earlier build, it got cut somewhere along the line, not sure what to replace with it. Thinking a Phyrexian Tower at some point for mana acceleration if need be.
Agreed on the greaves and/or boots, also picked up an amulet of vigor which will help him out a bit too.
First of all, your mana-base definitely needs some work. No self-respecting EDH multi-player deck would ever use Dark Ritual, but there are lots of good, cheap dual lands that would make your life a lot better. A Darksteel Ingot and a few other cheap mana rocks will also help you smooth things out.
Finally, there are some cards in your specific list that just don't fit very well...
- Inkwell Leviathan seems out of place because Grimgrin is likely big enough already and just needs a lot of tiny dorks to eat (not one big one).
- You only have about a dozen targets for Snapcaster Mage, so there's a pretty good chance it won't have anything good to bring back.
- Consume the Meek should probably just be Life's Finale or some other full Wrath effect, cuz when you need to blow up creatures, you especially need to kill the big ones, probably more so than the small ones.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that since Grimgrin is all about eating creatures, Skullclamp is a must-have. I'd even go so far as to include a Trinket Mage to dig it up faster, since the Mage can also be more fodder for Grimz to eat.
I've updated my list (and included a link to the MTGDeckbuilder page for it), main changes are an improved manabase but there's a few others as well (added in some better removal such as Life's Finale and Ashes to Ashes, as well as a couple changes to the creature roster and another wincon in Exsanguinate).
I've updated my list. Organized it a bit better, made some significant changes, added in some things from Dark Ascension (though still missing 2 cards I need from the set).
I'm really liking how it plays now. It's a mix of tribal and reanimator, with some big win cons, including big mana exsanguinate and some infinite combo shenanigans thanks to Gravecrawler (oh how happy I am to finally get to play with him).
I used to run this and all the other tribal Zombies in my Grimgrin deck (pre-Dark Ascension). I eventually took out most of them in favor of other stuff because it's extremely hard to keep creatures on the table in this format, and even more so when your commander is trying to eat them. A lot of the tribal Zombies, especially the lords, are only as good as the size of your army, and when Grimgrin is eating into your army, that makes your other guys worse.
Now, Dark Ascension gives us several new Zombies that are obviously excellent (I'm very fond of Gravecrawler and new Mikaeus). Still, here's how I'd look at it: if you took all instances of the word "Zombie" away from each card, would it still be worth running? For example, Gravecrawler is still awesome because he's cheap, reusable lunch for Grimz, but lords like Undead Warchief would be an instant cut.
Well I finally got to get some games in today running the new list, and my God was it awesome. Performed better than I could have hoped. Any game where I was able to get the big combo pieces out (Gravecrawler, Phyrexian Altar, Vengeful Dead/Diregraf Captain) it was gg, hell it got to the point as soon as I would drop them my opponent(s) would start shuffling back up.
No longer have a Polluted Delta..which sucks since I'm getting an Underground Sea for the deck this coming week, but eh...the fetch lands aren't THAT necessary in 2 color I don't think. I'll prolly get another at some point.
So the Mikaeus + Triskelion combo works like a charm, great finishing move.
I already am planning to cut one of the lords for Death Baron, just not sure which. Palinchron is going out as well, he was mostly just to toy around with infinite mana. Anyone have suggestions to get all that in there?
The first cut I'd make is Diabolic Servitude. Maybe it's just me, but I don't like cards that exile my own stuff.
I might also cut Triskelion, because it's a total dead draw without Mikaeus, and there are other combos you can pull off where the pieces are still relevant by themselves.
EDIT: I'd also cut Phage and Jin-Gitaxias. They're too big and not Zombies.
^Phage is a zombie, check her oracle text. Jin-Gitaxias is some nice draw..and a good target for reanimation, only downside being the hate he draws.
Servitude is definitely worth looking at to cut though. Was an early addition, I think I've enough, better reanimation spells and ways to get things back fromt he yard I don't need it anymore.
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Consuming Aberration
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Diluvian Primordial
1 Duskmantle Seer
1 Gravecrawler
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
1 Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
1 Palinchron
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Sepulchral Primordial
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Brainstorm
1 Capsize
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Dissipate
1 Entomb
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Forbid
1 Force of Will
1 Moonlight Bargain
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Pact of Negation
1 Stifle
1 Trickbind
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Bribery
1 Buried Alive
1 Damnation
1 Decree of Pain
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Revelation
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Living Death
1 Mind Grind
1 Reanimate
1 Stolen Identity
1 Time Spiral
1 Whispering Madness
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Animate Dead
1 Leyline of Anticipation
1 Leyline of the Void
1 Mind Over Matter
1 Necromancy
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Helm of Obedience
1 Mana Vault
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Temple Bell
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Voltaic Key
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Deserted Temple
1 Drowned Catacomb
6 Island
1 Maze of Ith
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Strip Mine
1 Sunken Ruins
6 Swamp
1 Tainted Isle
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Tolaria West
1 Underground River
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vesuva
1 Watery Grave
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"Knowledge is such a burden. Release it. Release all your fears to me."
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Necromancy should be in your reanimator suite, since its a nice trick or Anmiate dead nr2.
There are plenty of cheap Blue/black duals (take a look at my list- http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=374221), include some of those.
Id that!
Trade with me, h:Alters and EdhFoils:)
Cards I have altered
I'd cut probably 5 lands and ensure that the map gets in, at least. Easy way to find Coffers or a Strip Mine if someone's got a troublesome land.
(PS: Rune-Scarred Demon called and asked if he was invited too... should I tell him you're not here?)
Had Carnage Altar in an earlier build, it got cut somewhere along the line, not sure what to replace with it. Thinking a Phyrexian Tower at some point for mana acceleration if need be.
Agreed on the greaves and/or boots, also picked up an amulet of vigor which will help him out a bit too.
And I always forget the tutor with wings :[
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"Knowledge is such a burden. Release it. Release all your fears to me."
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Second, don't get too caught up in the whole Zombie tribal thing. There are cards that really suck despite being Zombies (Moan of the Unhallowed, Grotesque Hybrid, etc) and also cards that are awesome despite not being Zombies (Reassembling Skeleton, Bloodghast, etc).
Finally, there are some cards in your specific list that just don't fit very well...
- Inkwell Leviathan seems out of place because Grimgrin is likely big enough already and just needs a lot of tiny dorks to eat (not one big one).
- You only have about a dozen targets for Snapcaster Mage, so there's a pretty good chance it won't have anything good to bring back.
- Consume the Meek should probably just be Life's Finale or some other full Wrath effect, cuz when you need to blow up creatures, you especially need to kill the big ones, probably more so than the small ones.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that since Grimgrin is all about eating creatures, Skullclamp is a must-have. I'd even go so far as to include a Trinket Mage to dig it up faster, since the Mage can also be more fodder for Grimz to eat.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
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"Knowledge is such a burden. Release it. Release all your fears to me."
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Thanks to Rivenor for the art.
I'm really liking how it plays now. It's a mix of tribal and reanimator, with some big win cons, including big mana exsanguinate and some infinite combo shenanigans thanks to Gravecrawler (oh how happy I am to finally get to play with him).
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stuff
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"Knowledge is such a burden. Release it. Release all your fears to me."
—Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
I used to run this and all the other tribal Zombies in my Grimgrin deck (pre-Dark Ascension). I eventually took out most of them in favor of other stuff because it's extremely hard to keep creatures on the table in this format, and even more so when your commander is trying to eat them. A lot of the tribal Zombies, especially the lords, are only as good as the size of your army, and when Grimgrin is eating into your army, that makes your other guys worse.
Now, Dark Ascension gives us several new Zombies that are obviously excellent (I'm very fond of Gravecrawler and new Mikaeus). Still, here's how I'd look at it: if you took all instances of the word "Zombie" away from each card, would it still be worth running? For example, Gravecrawler is still awesome because he's cheap, reusable lunch for Grimz, but lords like Undead Warchief would be an instant cut.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
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Trostani
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No longer have a Polluted Delta..which sucks since I'm getting an Underground Sea for the deck this coming week, but eh...the fetch lands aren't THAT necessary in 2 color I don't think. I'll prolly get another at some point.
So the Mikaeus + Triskelion combo works like a charm, great finishing move.
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Forbid, Future Sight, Mystic Remora, Sensei's Divining Top, and Hinder.
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Stifle
Bribery
Consecrated Sphinx
Desertion
Future Sight
Dissipate
Hinder
Death Baron
Temporal Extortion
Dash Hopes
I already am planning to cut one of the lords for Death Baron, just not sure which. Palinchron is going out as well, he was mostly just to toy around with infinite mana. Anyone have suggestions to get all that in there?
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I might also cut Triskelion, because it's a total dead draw without Mikaeus, and there are other combos you can pull off where the pieces are still relevant by themselves.
EDIT: I'd also cut Phage and Jin-Gitaxias. They're too big and not Zombies.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
Servitude is definitely worth looking at to cut though. Was an early addition, I think I've enough, better reanimation spells and ways to get things back fromt he yard I don't need it anymore.
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I have a GG deck always looking to see how it plays unfortunately I haven't tested it in more than 1v1.
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