Skeletons

Drudge Skeletons card art

As with last year, I am declaring February as "tribal month," looking at tribal decks and cards of some of my favorite creature types. Where possible, I will focus on decks/cards possible on Arena, because those are easy to paste into here and have gotten more playtesting than my paper variants. But I will also look at staple cards in the format not available on that platform.

My creature types and prevalence post is the starting point. Last year, I looked at common tribes: white Soldiers, blue Merfolk, black Zombies, red Goblins, and green Elves. This year, I plan to look at Angels, Skeletons, Treefolk, Elementals, and a tribe to be named later. Today, I focus on Skeletons.

Introduction

Though Skeletons have been around since the very first Magic set, there haven't been too many unique ones printed since. Only 70, as of this post. As you would expect, the vast majority of them are black (66 have black as one color; 53 are mono-black). There was one mono-blue, two mono-red, and one mono-green; 13 are multi-colored.

Skeletons are about regenerating or reanimating. The original, Drudge Skeletons, could regenerate (if you had available mana)—whenever it would have died, you could pay its regenerate cost to keep it on the battlefield, but tapped. Many other Skeletons have this ability (32 total). (Aside: you cannot regenerate a creature you sacrifice.) Regeneration is a wonky mechanic, and over the years, Wizards tried to capture the spirit of the ability via other means:

Drudge Sentinel, in Dominaria, was how some argue Wizards 'fixed' the regeneration ability. Pay mana, tap the creature, it gains indestructible until end of turn. But my favorite (and a staple in many a deck) is Reassembling Skeleton, where you can pay at any time to return it from the graveyard to the battlefield tapped. That works well in any sacrifice deck.

Staple/Sample Cards

Since Skeletons are not a popular tribe, 'staple' cards are hard to come by. I would count Reassembling Skeleton as the main one. But plenty of others have potential in the right deck, including the examples below. (And, if nothing else, the art is cool.)

Of these, I'll highlight three:

- Gutterbones saw play when Ravnica Allegiance was in Standard.

- Tinybones, introduced in Jumpstart, is great in a discard Commander deck.

- Clattering Augur, from Modern Horizons 2, became a staple in my Skeleton deck.

Deck Ideas

Sticking with decks on Arena, I've gotten only one to work well. It includes Reassembling Skeleton, Persistent Specimen (same concept, but costs more to bring back), Clattering Augur, plus the following four cards:

Bone Shards is thematic and effective, but Death Baron, Death-Priest of Myrkul, and Skeletal Swarming are the keys here. They buff Skeletons, and the latter two create them. Get Skeletal Swarming onto the battlefield; on a later turn, bring Reassembling Skeleton(s) and Persistent Specimen(s) back to the battlefield for an end-game bomb. I call this deck "Skelly". The full decklist:

Skelly

4 Bone Shards (MH2) 76

4 Death Baron (M19) 90

4 Clattering Augur (MH2) 79

4 Reassembling Skeleton (M19) 116

4 Death-Priest of Myrkul (AFR) 95

2 Moss-Pit Skeleton (ZNR) 228

2 Putrefy (STA) 63

4 Skeletal Swarming (AFR) 232

4 Persistent Specimen (VOW) 125

4 Plumb the Forbidden (STX) 81

2 The Meathook Massacre (MID) 112

1 Woodland Cemetery (DAR) 248

1 Overgrown Tomb (GRN) 253

5 Forest (SLD) 363

12 Swamp (SLD) 361

1 Darkbore Pathway (KHM) 254

1 Deathcap Glade (VOW) 261

1 Temple of Malady (M20) 254

The first iteration worked okay, but I would only scrape by (Plumb the Forbidden is great for card draw, but you lose 1 life per card, and that adds up). I made a second iteration (since deleted and lost); the third iteration drops Plumb the Forbidden in favor of Village Rites, adds Barrier of Bones and Gutterbones for more Skeleton goodness, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse also shows up.

Skelly(3)

2 Bone Shards (MH2) 76

4 Death Baron (M19) 90

4 Clattering Augur (MH2) 79

4 Reassembling Skeleton (M19) 116

4 Death-Priest of Myrkul (AFR) 95

2 Putrefy (STA) 63

4 Skeletal Swarming (AFR) 232

4 Persistent Specimen (VOW) 125

1 The Meathook Massacre (MID) 112

2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse (DMU) 107

1 Diabolic Intent (BRO) 89

2 Barrier of Bones (GRN) 61

2 Gutterbones (RNA) 76

2 Village Rites (STA) 35

1 Woodland Cemetery (DAR) 248

1 Overgrown Tomb (GRN) 253

5 Forest (SLD) 363

12 Swamp (SLD) 361

1 Darkbore Pathway (KHM) 254

1 Deathcap Glade (VOW) 261

1 Temple of Malady (M20) 254

The current iteration is only mildly different, dropping two Skeletal Swarming in favor of more Barrier of Bones. I like this one better; there is plenty of card draw to get to Swarming, so you don't need four of them.

Skelly(4)

2 Bone Shards (MH2) 76

4 Death Baron (M19) 90

4 Clattering Augur (MH2) 79

4 Reassembling Skeleton (M19) 116

4 Death-Priest of Myrkul (AFR) 95

2 Putrefy (STA) 63

2 Skeletal Swarming (AFR) 232

4 Persistent Specimen (VOW) 125

2 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse (DMU) 107

4 Barrier of Bones (GRN) 61

2 Gutterbones (RNA) 76

4 Village Rites (STA) 35

1 Woodland Cemetery (DAR) 248

1 Overgrown Tomb (GRN) 253

5 Forest (SLD) 363

12 Swamp (SLD) 361

1 Darkbore Pathway (KHM) 254

1 Deathcap Glade (VOW) 261

1 Temple of Malady (M20) 254

Skeletons are fun, no bones about it. Sorry; I need tibia better about using puns on here. Stop all the ribbing.