Horrible Horticulture - Skullbriar, the Walking Grave EDH

(Skulls by Carlos Castillo, licensed under Creative Commons)

Today, instead of talking deeply about some subject or other, or commenting on the latest releases, I'll present you with a deck that doesn't really have much to do with anything. It's a deck for the first Commander I ever player, traded from a friends pre-made EDH deck: Skullbriar, the Walking Grave. It's exactly the kind of card I like: unassuming at first sight but deadly if used correctly.

Neither the expensive or budget version of the Skullbriar decks presented here is exactly like my take on Skullbriar - I have a habit of growing attached to cards, and being unable to subsequently remove them from my decks. The decks here are a purer, stronger breed: they're the kind of decks that bash face without unnecessary finesse. Onto the decks!

Horrible Holticulture - Skullbriar, the Walking Grave EDH

ARTIFACT (9)


• Blade of the Bloodchief
• Loxodon Warhammer
• Nevinyrral's Disk
• O-Naginata
• Ring of Kalonia
• Ring of Xathrid
• Sol Ring
• Sword of Vengeance
• Whip of Erebos

CREATURE (34)


• Acidic Slime
• Aquastrand Spider
• Brawn
• Corpsejack Menace
• Cytoplast Root-Kin
• Cytospawn Shambler
• Deadbridge Goliath
• Eternal Witness
• Fertilid
• Festercreep
• Forgotten Ancient
• Fungal Behemoth
• Golgari Decoy
• Kalonian Hydra
• Korozda Gorgon
• Mycoloth
• Nylea, God of the Hunt
• Necropolis Regent
• Sakura-Tribe Elder
• Sewer Shambler
• Simic Basilisk
• Sluiceway Scorpion
• Solemn Simulacrum
• Spike Feeder
• Sporeback Troll
• Varolz, the Scar-Striped
• Yavimaya Elder

ENCHANTMENT (10)


• Doubling Season
• Mighty Emergence
• Ordeal of Erebos
• Ordeal of Nylea
• Pernicious Deed
• Primal Rage
• Primal Vigor
• Quest for the Gemblades
• Rancor
• Strands of Night

INSTANT (4)


• Beast Within
• Krosan Grip
• Solidarity of Heroes
• Strength of the Tajuru

SORCERY (12)


• Beacon of Unrest
• Consuming Vapors
• Damnation
• Decree of Pain
• Gild
• Increasing Savagery
• Maelstrom Pulse
• Overwhelming Stampede
• Reanimate
• Rise from the Grave
• Sever the Bloodline
• Vigor Mortis

LAND (37)


• Barren Moor
• Bojuka Bog
• Command Tower
• 8 Forest
• Golgari Rot Farm
• Grim Backwoods
• Homeward Path
• Llanowar Reborn
• Miren, the Moaning Well
• Mosswort Bridge
• Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
• Opal Palace
• Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• Overgrown Tomb
• Rogue's Passage
• Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 6 Swamp
• Temple of Malady
• Temple of the False God
• Tranquil Thicket
• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• Verdant Catacombs
• Winding Canyons
• Woodland Cemetery
• Yavimaya Hollow

Skullbriar is a fun Commander to build around. As long as you make sure no one returns him to your hand or tucks him into your library, you can cast the cheap bugger again and again, with him being bigger every time. Just make sure you can put +1/+1 counters on him the turn you cast him: -1/-1 counters stay on him as well, so if someone manages to sneak a few on him, it becomes impossible to cast him again.

Most of the deck is built around throwing more and more +1/+1 counters on Skullbriar. Permanent effecets are the best (Ring of Kalonia/Xathrid, Forgotten Ancient etc.), but big enough burst effects are good as well (Quest for the Gemblades, Increasing Savagery etc.) Use your resources cleverly, since you're a bit low on answers and draw.

The deck costs over 250 dollars, and although most of the cost comes from a few expensive spells, the deck still needs a big revamp to be a budget deck. So bye bye Doubling Season and Kalonian Hydra, here come the cheap powerhouses!

Garden of Cheap Pain - Skullbriar, the Walking Grave EDH

ARTIFACT (5)


• Loxodon Warhammer
• O-Naginata
• Ring of Kalonia
• Ring of Xathrid
• Sol Ring

CREATURE (34)


• Acidic Slime
• Aquastrand Spider
• Brawn
• Corpsejack Menace
• Cytospawn Shambler
• Deadbridge Goliath
• Dreg Mangler
• Drudge Beetle
• Eternal Witness
• Fertilid
• Festercreep
• Fungal Behemoth
• Golgari Decoy
• Korozda Gorgon
• Korozda Guildmage
• Korozda Monitor
• Necropolis Regent
• Sakura-Tribe Elder
• Sewer Shambler
• Simic Basilisk
• Slitherhead
• Sluiceway Scorpion
• Solemn Simulacrum
• Spike Feeder
• Sporeback Troll
• Thrashing Mossdog
• Varolz, the Scar-Striped
• Yavimaya Elder
• Zanikev Locust

ENCHANTMENT (10)


• Death's Presence
• Feast on the Fallen
• Mighty Emergence
• Ordeal of Erebos
• Ordeal of Nylea
• Primal Rage
• Quest for the Gemblades
• Rancor
• Strands of Night
• Triumph of Ferocity

INSTANT (10)


• Altar's Reap
• Beast Within
• Carrion
• Krosan Grip
• Launch Party
• Momentous Fall
• Rescue from the Underworld
• Solidarity of Heroes
• Strength of the Tajuru
• Tribute to Hunger

SORCERY (8)


• Consuming Vapors
• Gild
• Increasing Savagery
• Overwhelming Stampede
• Rise from the Grave
• Sever the Bloodline
• Soul's Might
• Vigor Mortis

LAND (37)


• Barren Moor
• Bojuka Bog
• Command Tower
• Evolving Wilds
• 12 Forest
• Golgari Rot Farm
• Grim Backwoods
• Llanowar Reborn
• Mosswort Bridge
• Opal Palace
• Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• Rogue's Passage
• 9 Swamp
• Temple of the False God
• Terramorphic Expanse
• Tranquil Thicket
• Vivid Grove
• Vivid Marsh

I'm really happy with how the budget version turned out this time. Playtesting has shown that even without the power cards, the deck functions really well. Cheap, yet effective cards like Triumph of Cruelty and Feast on the Fallen allows the deck to work even without the big bucks.

The rest of the deck is rounded out with extra creatures that, while not superb, fill an important role. The deck is so Commander-centric that it's important he doesn't get bounced or tucked. Thus, to replaced expensive sacrifice lands, cards like Altar's Reap and Momentous Fall have been introduced to the deck. Just sac Skullbriar out from under spells that would wreck your plan, and punish the caster with a face full of +1/+1 power!

And that's todays decks. I'll try to write a post on Thursday, but my current schedule suggests I might not have the time to. So I'll be back either on Thursday or Sunday - see you then!