Help with Zombie Combo

[ronco]

Hello,
Not sure how frequent this thread sees action but figure it wouldn't hurt. I'm working on a "competitive kitchen table brew" (aka, non tournament, but expect it to surprise some people in side games) of tribal zombies and looking for some ideas as I've hit a bit of a road block and any adjustment I make seems to make the deck more expensive (mana wise). The deck centers around Gravecrawler and its recursion ability to either combo off or set the wincon in motion.

Originally, this was a remake of the old Tombstone Stairwell and Altar of Dementia combo where I'd deck myself to get sufficient creatures and over run my opponents. Then I tried to give an alternate condition of ETB effects (or dies effects) ala wayward servant or Plague belcher and the like. Obviously this meant splashing white, which I was fine with as it gave me access to Enlightened Tutor for my key pieces and removal should I find it necessary. The problem came when I was drawing my tombstone too early or not quite getting the mana (or drawing 2 of one and zero of the other, etc). So I wanted to streamline it a bit.

The creature core consisted of the above, along with some undying creatures (Geralf's messenger, Butcher Ghoul) and some utility that played nicely with that (Fleshbag Marauder, Plague belcher above, etc). Tidehollow Sculler provided a nice disruption on a body and also allowed for some shenanigans with the old wording.

After having some fun with that build, I tried out Phyrexian Altar that was an infinite recursion with Gravecrawler and another zombie in play (And if that was one of the ETB/Dies effects above, then that was game). This works well too as it acts like a mini curve if I need to get one more mana to get the combo going, but is useless in multiples.

Another card that seemed fun was Diregraf Colossus as Gravecrawler is indeed "cast" from the graveyard, he can go wide with a sacrifice outlet for said gravecrawler.

So, that led to my current conundrum. I need to get gravecrawler out. The obvious answers are treating it like a reanimator deck and putting in Entomb or Buried Alive. There is a zombie for 4B that on ETB, I can search for a creature and put it in my graveyard, and will unearth itself for 3B. Can't think of the name off the top of my head. But I am testing that now, but the mana cost is rough. Then there is this Vizier for 3BB that I can sacrifice a creature when he ETB to search my library for any card and put it into my hand. Works great to get the last combo piece but, again, at 5 mana feels very slow, especially when I see it in my opening hand.

So, I am not really wanting to load up entombs and reanimates and all of that, because I already have a reanimator deck (and it's much better lol). So I'm trying to think outside the box and get some help in the way of maybe cards/synergies that I might be overlooking.

Decklist, from memory
22 lands (includes 13 W/B lands, the rest swamps)

4 Gravecrawler
4 Diregraf Colossus
4 plague belcher
4 Wayward Servant
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Fleshbag Marauder
4 dark ritual
3 altar of dementia
2 phyrexian altar
1 enlightened tutor
4 dread return



My most recent build removed the Dread Returns in lieu of the Vizier and the zombie that lets me entomb a creature. I'm also thinking about, instead of fleshbag, the zombie that gives -1/-1 until EOT for all non zombies when a zombie enters play under my control, but I haven't tried that yet.

Thoughts on cards to include -

Beseech the queen
Buried Alive
Lake of the dead
Charcoal diamond
Jet medallion
Undead Gladiator

Something to draw cards with (in black, this should be easy to do, but I haven't gotten to that point yet).

At this point though, I have a "brewer's block" and am kind of out of creative juices. The undying critters that I removed from the first build weakened the alternate wincon of creature beats, which was surprisingly effective, but the deck just feels too slow now, and I know it can be faster especially given its in black. Obviously a reanimator shell would fit into the zombie theme perfectly, so I'm not completely against that, I just want to try something different. Lastly, I want to be able to have a fighting chance if I never see a Gravecrawler, although that is the preferred way to go. The undying build fit that just fine, but it seems the more down the rabbit hole I go, the more reliant I am on that card, thus the need to tutor/entomb for it.

Thanks in advance.

[Ace/Homebrew]

Ranger of Eos saves you a mana from the options you've listed...
But it's obviously #NotAZombie

Also, Altar of the Brood as a wincon option?

[ronco]

Altar is certainly worth looking into, thanks! The only downside is it doesn't come with the built in sacrifice outlet like Altar of Dementia does. But it's cheaper mana plus it works a little bit differently so worth trying.

Some other ideas I didn't hit on in the OP:

additional recurring creature (but not infinite) Dread Wanderer. Helps with the agro plan too being a 2/1 for B, initially.
hand disruption Rotting Rats - not as good as sculler, but can be unearthed and can toss a recurring creature. Also can keep it in mono black if I decide to go that route.
draw/filter/search Grave Defiler - Doesn't get me combo pieces and would require me to pull up a Sidisi to get the pieces that way.
the -1/-1 from earlier was Noxious Ghoul has 5 CMC though, so a bit tough to work with.
Corpse Harvester searches for a zombie and swamp.

also the various zombie lords that exist.

Edit: Note for ACE and others, some of these are just notes for myself for later. In case it seems like I'm rambling, haha.

[genuine fugazi]

Cryptbreaker and Contamination are worth looking into.

[ronco]

Thanks for suggesting those. Contamination is a nice idea, and going down that route opens up Pestilence/Withering Wisps. Or if I feel real rambunctious Hecatomb but that may be pushing it. Thank you for the ideas.

[Mr. Safety]

I think one card for casual is Zombie Apocalypse. Any sort of cycling/evoke zombie you have available turns into solid value for 6 mana. It's similar to Living End but without the deck building constraints (other than getting to 6 mana.) Another path is to find a way to self-mill and play Return to the Ranks. Every copy of Wayward Servant triggers when entering, making it pretty strong.

There's also this jank in UB:

Spellweaver Helix
Cabal Therapy
Army of the Damned
Quiet Speculation


Ten cards and you get 13 zombies for a 2 card combo (Helix + Speculation.) Playing zombies like Gravecrawler that come back after being used for Therapy make good early plays. If you go BUG colors Lotleth Troll and mana dorks like Birds of Paradise help you ramp quickly into Helix mana and provide dudes to flashback Therapy. I pretty much love Therapy in any sort of recursive creature deck and zombies fit the bill pretty good. Birds has always been a great mana-fixer, especially for casual decks.