Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker EDH

[RedPanda]

Hi all. This is o e of my favorite EDH decks. It uses creatures with fast, cheap abilities coupled with fast, cheap sac outlets to allow us to make powerful play on every player's turn. The more we're up against, the stronger we get. Essentially, if we're up against 3 opponents, we're running our abilities 4 turns to their 1. 9 opponents? 10 turns to their 1. This is Shirei EDH.

General
5 Shirei, Shizos Caretaker
*
Creatures 22
1 Thoughtpicker Witch
1 Viscera Seer
1 Minlash Sliver
1 Plagued Rusalka
1 Heap Doll
2 Abyssal Gatekeeper
2 Ashen-Skin Zubera
2 Reassembling Skeleton
2 Myr Retriever
2 Nether Traitor
3 Pawn of Ulamog
3 Noxious Toad
3 Bone Shredder
3 Cadaver Imp
3 Pilgrim's Eye
3 Coffin Queen
3 Scarecrone
4 Dimir House Guard
4 Mindless Automaton
4 Marsh Flitter
5 Stuffy Doll
6 Triskelion
*
Artifacts 17
1 Expedition Map
1 Meekstone
1 Blade of the Bloodchief
1 Sol Ring
1 Skullclamp
2 Scroll Rack
2 Jet Medallion
2 Carnage Altar
2 Lightning Greaves
3 Crucible of Worlds
3 Oblivion Stone
3 Ashnods Altar
3 Sculpting Steel
4 Shield of Kaldra
4 Smokestack
4 Helm of Possession
5 Mind's Eye
*
Enchantments 9
3 Attrition
3 Contamination
3 Phyrexian Arena
3 Necropotence
3 Infernal Tribute
3 Words of Waste
4 Grave Pact
5 Death Pits of Rath
5 Black Market
*
PW 1
5 Liliana Vess
*
Instants 5
1 Entomb
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Shred Memory
2 Plunge into Darkness
4 Insidious Dreams
*
Sorceries 9
2 Demonic Tutor
2 Diabolic Intent
3 Bitter Ordeal
3 Death Cloud
3 Pox
3 Death Wish
3 Yawgmoth's Will
3 Dimir Machinations
8 Decree of Pain
*
Lands*37
1 Reliquary Tower*
1 Volraths Stronghold*
1 Crypt of Agadeem*
1 Deserted Temple*
1 Petrified Field*
1 Blinkmoth Nexus*
1 Mystifying Maze*
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Spawning Pool
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Shizo, Deaths Storehouse
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Cabal Pit
1 High Market
1 Dust Bowl
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Vesuva
1 Strip Mine
1 Thawing Glaciers
17 Swamp

Sideoard
12 It that Betrays
5 Demonic Collusion
8 Myojin of Night's Reach
3 Phyrexian Altar
4 Syphon Mind
4 Reprocess
4 Geth's Grimoire
7 Butcher of Malakir
3 Sadistic Sacrament
2 Gate to Phyrexia

[Jeff Kruchkow]

Bile Urchin and Death Cultist both seem like worth inclusions since in a 4 player game Cultist is +12 life a round. Also isn't Martyr of Bones better than Heap Doll?

[RedPanda]

Bile Urchin and Death Cultist both seem like worth inclusions since in a 4 player game Cultist is +12 life a round. Also isn't Martyr of Bones better than Heap Doll?

Thanks for the reply Jeff.

I don't really feel the need for lifegain right now. I used to run Deathgreeter and Bottle Gnomes, and the lifegain was good, but it wasn't propelling me to my goal for the deck and usually if I was gaining life with them I'd already be in a winning board position anyways, so it was more of a winmore thing.

Right now High Market, Miren, the Moaning Well, and the occasional Plunge Into Darkness seem to have me covered.

Martyr of Bones looks better in that it can target more cards, but I've been really happy with Heap Doll. There usually aren't too many "must-target" cards in my opponents' graveyards that have to be hit all at once. Saving 1 mana per turn, however, allows me to put that mana into other, typically more useful, abilities. The deck can be very hungry for mana at times, which is why you don't see some of the more typical Shirei critters present like Pentavus and Triskelavus. I'm trying to bring the mana barrier down as much as I can without having to get rid of my favorite little janky synergies.

I think Carnage Altar is at the top of my cut list, and I'm still making a lot of considerations for my sideboard.