With Rune-Scarred Demon, Elder is better. With Sheoldred, Hoof is better. JMHO.

In my opinion elder is good as a finisher when you play a relatively big spider spawning. However craterhoof usually ends the game with as little as 3 creatures in play. Adding 17 power to the board is insane and most of the time it is more than that.

I guess I am just partial to the wincon being attached to the utility of a body with a small pricepoint to help get to the end game. Considering that this deck is so powerful end game with or without, I worry more about getting there.

Not to interrupt you guys and your Spawning decks but I wanted to post this here so I don't forget and can come back to it later.

Something I have had the idea in my head for for awhile now but never got around to putting together or testing.

It's cute Eon.. but I think you can do better than maxing out on Corpse Blockade and Drudge Skeletons.

Graveborn Muse should be here.. there isn't a single draw card in the deck.. and she'd be one of the toughest bodies in the deck.

I don't think Drudge Skeletons are as bad as people make them out to be. At worst it is a 1/1 that regens for 1, which could be useful itself, especially with Undying Evil and the Fight effects. Death Baron makes it a 2/2 Deathtouch that regens for 1, which is even better with Undying Evil and Fight, and seems like it would be pretty awesome against a lot of the early plays in the meta. Paragon of Open Graves makes it a 2/2 that regens for 1 and gains Deathtouch for 1, which is more of the same.

Corpse Blockade I am much less sold on, but it seems like it could be good for what it is. Just being a 1/4 for 3 seems like it could be a big roadblock for a lot of the more aggressive decks. Death Baron makes it a 2/5 Deathtouch, which is even more of wall to get through and makes it a pretty survivable target to use the Fight effects with. Paragon of Open Graves doing more of the same. Honestly I doubt the sac outlet side will often be relevant, but something could some up with Undying Evil, where you sac a critter for the Deathtouch to kill something and then get the critter you sacrificed back with a +1/+1 counter on it.

I can't say anything with any certainty though, as this is just something that has been floating around in my head for awhile now, and I just finally got around to trying to slap it together. Have done no testing with it at all as of yet.

I'd do -4 Corpse Blockade and +2 Treasured Find or Dead Reckoning and +2 Graveborn Muse.

I like the deck's idea, especially with Prey Upon + Deathtouch which is an instant kill

Update of a deck originally found here.

I've also updated it there so as not to break the Consortium link, but thought it was worth a repost as it's had a pretty big overhaul and works much better as a result. The strategy for the deck is also in that link. Here I'm just detailing changes.



The deck originally had a very powerful grabeyard subtheme, but with only Wayfinders to power it, and Wolves and tokens that either resisted or refused to populate the graveyard, it was too inconsistent. I tried mono-Green and Gruul, but neither satisfied me, and neither had the showy elements that this has which I enjoyed.

So I put my theme-obsessed head to one side and added Necromancer's Assistants to the deck, despite them not working with the combo cards of Doubling Season or the Paragon of Eternal Wilds, and the deck is much better for it, as it no longer completely relies on them, as the graveyard theme is much better developed and capable of standing on its own feet and winning games independently.

To that end, I made the following changes;

-1 Swamp
-4 Dead Weight
-2 Rescue from the Underworld
-2 Rune-Scarred Demon

+1 Young Wolf
+4 Necromancer's Assistant
+1 Nemesis of Mortals
+1 Quest for the Gravelord
+1 Treasured Find
+1 Spider Spawning

With these revisions I lose my removal and inconsistent higher end tricks, but increase my early game defence and offence, and make my graveyard theme and core tricks twice as consistent and powerful. The deck works much more fluidly and reliably, and doesn't really miss the removal as a result, as it was often simply compensating for stalled starts which I no longer have.

If you're running deathtouch in these colors you gotta take advantage of trample pumps!

Something like this maybe?




I got around to testing out the previous version I posted for at least a few games and I wasn't impressed. Honestly, the deck did GREAT at staying alive and drawing out games, but when I did get the chance to attack, it was often with 1 power creatures and that just wasn't cutting it for finishing out games.

One thing I will say though, is that I was extremely surprised at how well Corpse Blockade worked. It obviously got the axe with this new build because we are focusing more on being aggressive and it just doesn't fit.

That said, in the games I ran with the previous build, the combination of Corpse Blockade and Giant Scorpion was pretty stupid. It made attacking in on the ground almost impossible for the people I played against. The sac effect on Corpse Blockade was actually pretty useful for blanking supplemental effects from certain removal spells as well (like the lifegain from Vicious Hunger) by saccing the creature before it resolves, since the creature was going to die anyways.

Was so surprised at how well Corpse Blockade worked as a roadblock against aggro decks I am actually considering trying to make use of them in some sort of Control deck. I have been trying to think of a way to get Sheoldred to go infinite since I screwed around with the Dimir Self-Mill deck I made. Corpse Blockade may just very well be that last combo piece we need, while also serving as a pretty reliable blocker until we collect our pieces.

Seriously, I really am THAT surprised by it. I have come to the conclusion that it blocks just about everything under 5 CMC in the format favorably outside of tokens going wide (which it still blocks pretty well since it has that 1 power), and it dodges the vast majority of removal being used by aggro decks in the format, making it particularly difficult for them to get rid of once it hits the table.

It certainly isn't a great card or anything, but I really am surprised by how well it works as an anti-aggro card, and I plan on trying to use that sac outlet to make Sheoldred go infinite at some point in the future.

Alright, so I am a first time poster. Been lurking a while, and I like the overall open communication going on here. So, that being said, below is my first posted deck. Just my spin on a Graveyard/Spider Spawn deck. Any feedback would be awesome.

Welcome Lockhammer!

The first thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is 2x Tribute to Hunger. In the meta of Tokens, Elvish Visionaries and various other early game weenies.. this card sucks more than half the time you draw it IMO. If you could manage to keep the opponents board clear so Tribute could hit what you want it to hit.. it would be good. But with no sweepers available in these colors, I think its certainly suboptimal here. For a spider deck, you want your creature count high.. so I feel it should be replaced with creatures. I also think 3x Treasured Find, 2x Rescue From the Underworld AND Sheoldred is bit overboard on graveyard recursion. I'd cut one of them.. probably a Treasured Find. This gives you 3 open spots which I think should be filled with all 3 copies of Nemesis of Mortals. A 5/5 early on that becomes a 10/10 for cheap is a huge problem for most decks to deal with.

Other than that.. it looks pretty solid overall. What platform are you on?

Xbox One and Google Play.

What I am going for is pretty much having a crazy amount of tutors to get what I want. Rune Scarred let's me search the deck while Treasure Find, Dead Reckoning, Rescue From The Underworld, and Sheoldred give me sources to pillage my graveyard for whatever I need. Might be a bit overkill, but gives me plenty of options to react to anything happening on the board.

The Tributes I put in for lifegain. I know Muse is a great card, but I am cautious of the life lost each turn. Was running Tormentors before, but it's too costly.

Any ideas on better removal? While I like the Nemesis, it's chump blocked to everything unless you are running a Paragon.


Edit: And Auto-Correct on a tablet sucks.

I don't know why I never thought of it before, but your deck suddenly makes me want to rename one of my Reanimator decks "Herbert West".

For that sir or madam, you have my respect!

All the removal black has sucks for some reason or another. If you want real deal removal.. its Flesh to Dust or bust. Everything else has some stupid caveat.

I've actually come to hate Dead Reckoning bc it slows me down when I want to hit my land drops early, it reduces the quality of my Spider Spawnings, and if there isn't a big enough creature in my graveyard, it can be a dead draw.

I wouldn't worry too much about Graveborn Muse's lifeloss bc you have 3x Pelakka Wurms. Another card draw option is Hunter's Prowess.. it could be a sick finisher on Nemesis of Mortals or a big Arbor Colossus.

I'm not sold on the 'gets chump blocked' argument as a way to dismiss a creature. If you remove a creature every turn.. that's a good thing. That's pressure. If that was really true.. then every creature without flying or trample sucks.. I just can't subscribe to that mindset.

Nemesis is very often a 5/5 for 2 mana and a 10/10 for 4 mana. Not including it in a self mill deck is just a poor decision IMO.

Accidental double post.

I don't completely agree. I am of the non-Nemesis mindset.

Then again, most of the more reanimator style builds I have rely more on gaining incremental value until you just overwhelm them, as opposed to the usual drop fat early and ride it to victory reanimator plan.

That said, Nemesis is probably one of the better cards for the drop fat early plan just because of the super economy it can have.

Normally I am against non-evasion creatures as finishers, but to be honest, Nemesis actually has the potential to be consistent enough mana wise to be dropped early enough where not having evasion isn't a HUGE buzz kill.

He is overall pretty terrible against token decks though, the lack of evasion makes it so he doesn't race well despite the fat, and he doesn't really do anything to help against or prevent them from going wide (like lifegain for example).

I don't particularly like him, but the card is certainly solid enough I can understand why a lot of people run the card.

I could get behind Hunter's Prowess if it was 4 mana. I might as well go back to Tormentors if that was the case.

I agree with the Nemesis, but as it was pointed out, it loses quickly to Tokens. Maybe I should take it three color and go Azban or Jund for board wipes?

I personally like Abzan, which allows you to run Seance and some more of the ETB creatures like Missionary and Wall of Omens, but at the point, you are taking the whole deck in a somewhat different direction (the more value oriented plan I alluded to earlier).

Jund is an interesting idea though, as it would open up some good finishers in Inferno Titan and Stormbreath. You could even maybe try and work in Thrinax to wring out value.