Pauper Aristocracy [PDH]

[Oversoul]

I've been invited to play Pauper EDH. When I was asked about playing this variant in the past, I generally said no. But eventually I hit on an idea of being ostentatious about it. The format only allows commons in the maindeck and the commander can be any uncommon creature. So I decided I'd run the uncommon creature with the highest secondary market price point. Since many of the most expensive actual uncommons are Alpha printings of otherwise cheap cards, I further specified that it'd be all-inclusive when it came to printings. And the answer back when I did this, and I think even now, is Khabál Ghoul from Arabian Nights. It's the third most dollar-expensive Commander-legal uncommon creature according to Scryfall, and it's sitting behind Sorceress Queen and Imperial Recruiter, both of which have been reprinted. But Khabál Ghoul is on the Reserved List, so it beats out the competition. Looking at its ability, even though I've never used this card before, it actually looks pretty fun.

Putting this together, I believe that if called upon to play this as a legal deck in traditional EDH, I can do so by swapping out the non-legendary commander for Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed. Should actually be a much stronger commander. And yes, I am aware that Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed was "reprinted" on MTGO at uncommon and is therefore also legal as a commander in Pauper EDH. I'm aware of it, but I would never stoop to that level. In actual PDH gameplay, this deck is to be helmed by Khabál Ghoul.

Commander:
1 Khabál Ghoul

1 Abyssal Gatekeeper
1 Agency Coroner
1 Ahriman
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Biblioplex Assistant
1 Blood Pet
1 Blood Vassal
1 Bog Initiate
1 Cabal Ritual
1 Cadaver Imp
1 Carrier Thrall
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Cathodion
1 Clay Revenant
1 Conjurer's Bauble
1 Corrupted Conviction
1 Crypt Rats
1 Culling the Weak
1 Dark Ritual
1 Darkness
1 Deathgreeter
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Disturbed Burial
1 Dread Return
1 Driver of the Dead
1 Durable Coilbug
1 Feed the Swarm
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Foundry Inspector
1 Grave Scrabbler
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Grim Harvest
1 Guildsworn Prowler
1 Horror of the Broken Lands
1 Infestation Sage
1 Innocent Blood
1 Lotus Petal
1 Lurching Rotbeast
1 Merchant of Many Hats
1 Mortician Beetle
1 Myr Retriever
1 Oubliette
1 Perigee Beckoner
1 Persistent Specimen
1 Phyrexian Ghoul
1 Reaping the Graves
1 Rite of Consumption
1 Rowan's Grim Search
1 Sanitarium Skeleton
1 Shred Memory
1 Sign in Blood
1 Soldevi Adnate
1 Songs of the Damned
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Street Wraith
34 Swamp
1 Syphon Mind
1 Tortured Existence
1 Troll of Khazad-dûm
1 Unearth
1 Vault of Whispers
1 Village Rites
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Workshop Assistant

Alternative Commander:
1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed

 

[Oversoul]

-1 Cheerful Osteomancer
+1 Reaping the Graves

I'd originally intended to run Reaping the Graves in this deck. Couldn't find a copy. Picked on up right before my first actual game with it. So now we're running it.

I played three games with this deck last Wednesday, and it was amazing. Unqualified success. I love this deck. I am now hooked on this format. Regarding the individual games, the first one saw Khabál Ghoul. Won the first game by being able to bring back Stinkweed Imp as a flying blocker to hold off my last opponent's commander while Khabal Ghoul kept growing and eating blockers on his side until he ran out. The second game was a five-man pod. My deck stalled out overall, but the Ghoul proved to be a menace. Despite eventually recovering and building toward a lethal boardstate, I wasn't able to get enough flying blockers, with Stinkweed Imp getting hit with removal to set up the attacks, and was picked off. Third game I came out swinging, with Fleshbag Marader fueling an early Ghoul, then Tortured Existence bringing it back after repeated removal killed it. Opponents started scaling past me, but we hit a stalemate and I spent most of my life using the Tortured Existence + Stinkweed Imp + Street Wraith engine. I teamed up with one player to hold back the other, then used Darkness to save us from combat before finally (with eight cards left in my library) drawing Songs of the Damned and looping it with Biblioplex Assistant. I even played one more game afterward, but for that one I piloted someone else's Nezumi Graverobber deck.