Heroes Get Remembered, But Legends Never Die - Ratadrabik of Urborg

[kirkusjones]

This build is pretty straightforward, play legends, sac legends, make zombies. The curve isn't great, but I've had a helluva time making cuts.

For context, my meta is pretty targeted/mass removal light and no one plays graveyard hate. It's also more combat-oriented so I'm not super worried about getting blown out before turns five and six. Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation // Temple of Civilization might be too strong, considering the nonlegendary clause in Ratadrabik's ability. Land Tax would do work in the deck, I just don't own one at the moment. Once I get one, I'll probably swap Sidisi, Undead Vizier for it.

Things I'd like to find room for/test:
Thalisse, Reverent Medium
Land Tax
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Bennie Bracks, Zoologist

Decklist

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commander

1 Ratadrabik of Urborg

Creatures

1 Ghoulcaller Gisa

1 Fain, the Broker

1 Aron, Benalia's Ruin

1 Zombie Master

1 God-Eternal Bontu

1 Heliod, Sun-Crowned

1 Yahenni, Undying Partisan

1 Gandalf the White

1 Eight-and-a-Half-Tails

1 Breena, the Demagogue

1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos

1 Bontu the Glorified

1 Athreos, Shroud-Veiled

1 Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful

1 Oketra the True

1 Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher

1 Erebos, God of the Dead

1 Denethor, Ruling Steward

1 Athreos, God of Passage

1 Junji, the Midnight Sky

1 Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff

1 Wayward Servant

1 Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim

1 Rosie Cotton of South Lane

1 Elenda, the Dusk Rose

1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier

1 Mangara, the Diplomat

1 Drana and Linvala

1 Bartolomé del Presidio

1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet

1 Erebos, Bleak-Hearted

1 Syr Konrad, the Grim

1 Whisper, Blood Liturgist

1 Odric, Lunarch Marshal

1 Teysa Karlov

1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

1 Liesa, Forgotten Archangel

1 Shadowheart, Dark Justiciar

1 Boromir, Warden of the Tower

1 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim

1 Henrika Domnathi

1 Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation

1 Loran of the Third Path

1 Myrel, Shield of Argive

1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation

1 God-Eternal Oketra

1 Gisa, Glorious Resurrector

1 Ao, the Dawn Sky

Enchantments

1 Smothering Tithe

Artifacts

1 Sol Ring

1 Talisman of Hierarchy

1 Arcane Signet

1 Orzhov Signet

1 Sword of the Animist

1 Mithril Coat

Instants

1 Anguished Unmaking

1 Excise the Imperfect

1 Path to Exile

1 Fracture

Sorceries

1 Tragic Arrogance

1 Hour of Revelation

1 Hour of Reckoning

Lands

1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

1 Cabal Coffers

1 Godless Shrine

1 Isolated Chapel

1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

1 Witch's Cottage

1 Command Tower

1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire

1 Caves of Koilos

12 Swamp

1 Miren, the Moaning Well

14 Plains

1 Phyrexian Tower

Approximate Total Cost:

I'm going to jam some games with this tomorrow night and evaluate from there.

If it's too consistent/powerful, I feel like these swaps would be easiest:

- Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation // Temple of Civilization + Thalisse, Reverent Medium
- Drana and Linvala + Bennie Bracks, Zoologist (this may not make sense at first blush, but the card draw will be less offensive to the group than the stax(ish) piece, I think.)
- Sidisi, Undead Vizier + Thalia, Heretic Cathar (a tutor swapped for a tiny tax won't annoy anyone)

[ChocoDude]

Too many creatures and not enough free sac outlets. You could try Phyrexian Altar and Ashnod's Altar, which ramp too. You could possibly use more spot removal and card draw as well. Just my initial two cents. BTW...Sidisi is really good with Ratadrabik. Diabolic Intent is another great tutor for this deck. I'd work to lower your curve too. Avg non-land CMC of 3.56 is pretty high.

[kirkusjones]

The altars would be good here, but I'm trying to keep the power level kind of low. Spawning Pit might be a good middleground. My group doesn't play tutors for the most part, which is why I'm on the fence about Sidisi. You're right about card draw, though.

As our group is very combat-oriented, I'm not as worried about the sac outlets. My opponents will either have to block and give me a zombie clone or take the damage. Denethor could probably be Spawning Pit, though.

If I were taking this to the LGS to play against randos, the curve would be lower and I'd be running tutors, fetches, more protection and definitely Mondrak, Glory Dominus and Anointed Procession.

So maybe this:

- Sidisi, Undead Vizier + Bennie Bracks, Zoologist
- Denethor, Ruling Steward + Phyrexian Altar/Spawning Pit
- Drana and Linvala + Land Tax
- Athreos, Shroud-Veiled + Whisper, Blood Liturgist

Brings the curve down a bit, adds some draw/ramp

[ChocoDude]

Oh sorry. I didn't carefully read your original discussion. The changes you suggest seem reasonable to me. If you wanted another cheap sac outlet, Viscera Seer is good, although not a legendary.

Another lower cost legendary is Hope of Ghirapur which could provide you with a slightly useful benefit in your meta.

[kirkusjones]

Oh sorry. I didn't carefully read your original discussion. The changes you suggest seem reasonable to me. If you wanted another cheap sac outlet, Viscera Seer is good, although not a legendary.

Another lower cost legendary is Hope of Ghirapur which could provide you with a slightly useful benefit in your meta.

Not a problem. The comment about free sac outlets definitely made me take a look at some of my choices, Bontu the Glorified is on the chopping block now as well. I'll have to scrounge up a Hope of Ghirapur.

EDIT - It also looks like Whisper is already in the list - for some reason Scryfall hasn't been exporting things correctly of late and getting the formatting to appear on here in a way that makes sense has been tougher. I feel like there's some card I missed, so I'll have to look through the deck and see. It's possible I'm a card short, so possibly another sac outlet, like Seer or a utility piece like Samwise the Stouthearted or Thalia, Guardian of Thraben could be included.

I appreciate the feedback!

It's been a bit of a learning curve adjusting to this group after playing with old legacy players and randos at the LGS for so long, but the meta that they've crafted is a lot of fun. Games are swingy and interactive and it's rare you're totally locked out of the game or watching someone solitaire a combo turn for 10+ minutes. It's made me think more about deckbuilding choices as I can't run narrow answers on the backs of tutors or cheese wins with two-card combos out of nowhere (which is why Walking Ballista isn't in here).

Got a game in with this tonight. It was grindy as all hell. Playing against Rhys the Redeemed elfball and Octavia, Living Thesis control.

Elves did elf things. Tragic Arrogance was met with Eerie Interlude, but a few turns later Hour of Revelation cleaned up their board and an 11/11 Ratadrabik of Urborg (courtesy of Breena, the Demagogue) and some zombie tokens bashed Rhys out of the game.

Octavia decided it was time to Cyclonic Rift, so I spent a couple of turns rebuilding, but managed to get a recursive engine going with Carmen Cruel Skymarcher and Samwise the Stouthearted along with Yahenni, Undying Partisan to muck up combat. Eventually I'm staring down a big ole Ledger Shredder and Octavia, Living Thesis, but he's at 2. He plays some instants, makes some of his critters unblockable and sets up an alpha-strike. I calmly sac Junji, the Midnight Sky to Yahenni and drain him for the win.

My favorite play of the night was the Octavia pilot chumping with Floodgate to wipe a bunch of my tokens. That's the kind of nonsense we get up to.

[ChocoDude]

Sounds like a fun game!! Your deck choices make more sense to me now. I'm tempted to put Tragic Arrogance in my deck as I've always wanted to play it and just haven't found the right commander for it. Ratadrabik seems appropriate.

[kirkusjones]

Got another three way in tonight against Jaxis, the Troublemaker and Sliver Queen. Jaxis spent much of the early game focused on hitting the Sliver player, allowing me to build a small board and ramp with Sword of the Animist. Jaxis started to pop off with token creation and Sundial of the Infinite and Sliver guy couldn't seem to draw any good slivers when Odric, Lunarch Marshal hit the field. Thanks to Liesa, Forgotten Archangel and Erebos, Bleak-Hearted, combat became real tricky for anyone swinging my way.

Sliver Guy Living Death'd, but it didn't take me long to rebuild and take over the game from there.

The deck is not fast, but it is definitely grindy. Interested to see how it performs in a four player pod.