Making your very first EDH deck be 5 color probably is not wise. Even in a more casual format, balancing lands and mana ratios for 5 colors is near impossible. I try to stay at 3 colors or less. Looking at what cards you have and what theme you want, I would try a Sidisi, Brood Tyrant zombie theme, or maybe a Grixis build so you can get zombies as well as vampires (maybe Sedris, the Traitor King?) Sidisi might be easier and cheaper to build but Sedris might be more rewarding to pull off well. I would lean more toward Sidisi for the mana ramp and ease of building.

That being said, here are some basic pointers about EDH. Targeted burn is not viable. Lightning Bolt, Death Grasp, and all of those spells that deal X amount of damage to target creature do not work so well in the format. They take way too much mana and don't deal enough of a blow to your opponent to warrant taking up a card in your deck. Most people use direct destroy/exile effects for spot removal. This is doubly true if it is attached to a creature so it can be reanimated to abuse the Enters the Battlefield (ETB) trigger. Swords to Plowshares, Go for the Throat, and Shriekmaw are all stars in the format. If you are intent on using red removal, go for the mass burn cards like Slice and Dice or Anger of the Gods.

Lastly, make sure each cretaure does something directly useful. A large majority of your creatures should have some sort of immediate benefit. This may be in the form of a good ETB trigger, a universal buff to your creatures, or any manner of other effects. A lot of removal gets thrown around and your stufff might get destroyed before it is even your turn again and the summoning sickness wears off. Diregraf Captain and Phyrexian Metamorph are both excellent choices, while Slitherhead might be coming in a little short.

I hope I did not come across as rude or anything. EDH is my favorite format and I am just tryig to point you in the right direction. EDH is a fun, cheap format with lots of room for creativity and silly gimmicks so once you get a feel for it, go nuts and have a blast.

VTMan72 Thank you for all the excellent advice. In fact while you were typing this I was in fact changing my Commander to Damia, Sage of Stone for the deck and removing a lot of the items you were saying to remove. The deck itself will now be three colors and B/G/U and pretty much zombies. I still have a lot of tweaking to do before it will be ready but I am enjoying making this deck if you have any other advice I would love to here it. Thank you for all your advise and this is the type of things I need to hear. Thank you so much and I will probably be in touch with you again soon to hear more of what you have to say.

First of all, great job picking a theme and running with it. Sometimes picking a theme and sticking with it is the hardest part. Damia is an unconvential pick for a Zombie Commander, but you know what? "Unconventional" is the name of the game in every memorable match up!

It is worth noting that Immortal Servitude is an illegal card with Damia as your commander. You may not have any mana symbols on your cards that do not share their colors with that of your commander.

You seem to have a very small discard subtheme going here. I would say that you either need to make it more prevalent with more discard effects and ways to utilize your opponent's grave, or cut it entirely. Just making an opponent dsicard 2-3 cards over the course of a game doesnt really add up to much. I would personally cut it and strengthen that Zombie Theme. Save your Liliana of the Veil cards for another deck. Keep your ideas focused and try not to keep too many things going at once.

I still seea few cards floating around that don't really do much. While Dreg Mangler might be a big enough beater for Modern or Standard, he is woefully outclassed in EDH. Games can go 20-30 turns so it really is not uncommon to have 12 lands out and hard casting 8+ Power creatures by the mid game. Try to find things that can buff themselves like Lotleth Troll or ones that make everything else bigger.

There are a few cards I could reccomend off the top of my head. A must have in any Zombie Tribal is Endless Ranks of the Dead. Army of the Damned makes a nice late game bomb. Lord of the Undead is one of the better Lords out there. If you need help, although I can't encourage your own creativity strong enough, edhrec.com will let you look at the most commonly used cards in EDH by archetype, color, or commander. I would not build a whole deck this way because it would be the most generic deck ever, but it will help if you need guidance trying to build something totally unfamiliar.

And I just remembered a few more. If you want to have a lot of graveyard action, Varolz, the Scar-Striped with let you mkae use of stuff in your grave. Obelisk of Urd, Door of Destinies, and Urza's Incubator are mainstays of any tribal deck.

VTMan72Again Thank you for all the awesome input. You really helped me find the backbone to this deck. I can not wait to put it together and see how it works I know I still have some other things to improve upon but this is a very solid start.

Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord seems like something to include in this list, possibly even Jarad's Orders as well. If you're looking for another lord, Adaptive Automaton could help as well.

Somethingtacos First off thank you for your comment. I did have Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord at one time but while playing testing I did not have the right amount of land to support his use to return him to the game. I may put him back in, in the future but I really what to wait on that. I didn't even think about Adaptive Automaton really good choice and I do have one somewhere around here. I really like Jarad's Orders but I replaced it with Buried Alive. After I play the deck against some people I know I will know if I need more creature pull. Again thank you and I will add your suggestions to the maybeboard.

If you plan on doing some more reanimation, Undead Alchemist would be a great fit. Maybe if you decide to use The Mimeoplasm as your commander since he would also become a zombie, or whatever is cool from your opponent's graveyard.

Looks good. Always enjoy a good theme deck. I'd definitely look into making Sidisi, Brood Tyrant your commander. Especially if you're going with a self mill / reanimate theme. Just so we're clear...Sidisi's second ability triggers everytime you self mill and not just when she ETB or attacks. I've seen her put out tons of zombies. Combo her with Sheoldred, Whispering One and its GG.

+1

A few other cards I would recommend: Song of the Dryads for opponents commander. Grisly Salvage, Taigam's Scheming, Commune with the Gods, Satyr Wayfinder, Scout the Borders, Treasure Cruise / Dig Through Time, Gurmag Angler. All have good synergy with self mill and GY strategy if you decide to try out Sidisi, Brood Tyrant.

Beerbaron Thanks for the ideas. I did Try Sidisi, Brood Tyrant and found I wouldn't play him because I just didn't like playing him. I will admit I did not know that all the cards that got milled from me would become Zombies so I may look into it again. I do however really like Damia, Sage of Stone for her draw ability. So if I did decide to try using Sidisi, Brood Tyrant. What would you suggest taking out for some of the other cards you mentioned. Just curious.

lemmingllama Thank you for your advice and that is a great idea for a commander just do not think I would like him for this deck. However I may make another deck with him.

Maybe cut some of your Higher CMC spells that don't get targeted by the self mill spells. Army of the Dead, Empty the Pits, Planar Portal and Dragon Throne of Tarkir seem like prime choices.

Lazav, Dimir Mastermind and Havengul Lich look cool on paper but I have found them to be pretty terrible in practice.

Best of luck!

Risen Executioner is ok. But his second ability works against the creature mill strategy.

Other than that it's totally your call. I haven't played the deck to know what works and what doesn't. Going back to one of the original comments.. Stick to cards that have an immediate impact or have lots of value Cryptic Command would be an example.

Keep an eye out for other self milling cards if you end up liking this strategy. Jace, Memory Adept and possibly some Dredge cards like Life from the Loam.

you could also check out other primers for ideas: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/multiplayer-commander-decklists/571213-sidisi-brood-tyrant-zombie-horde-and-shenanigans

Beerbaron Thank you and I will be thinking about this I may even try it later, as of right now I need to play it because I have just updated it and added a few cards. I have been thinking about adding a Life from the Loam I really do like that card.

Yea man, no worries. Just throwing ideas out there to keep the creative juices flowing. Sometimes I personally get stuck looking at my lists for so long I lose focus or get caught up in convoluted synergy and themes.

Hi there! I enjoy a good zombie deck as much as the next guy, and I think you're on the right track. It does seem like your deck is trying to do too many things at one time. With the sheer amount of zombies available in the EDH format, it might behoove you to try to narrow your scope.

For instance, I love the graveyard hugs that zombies get. Being able to play something from your graveyard is thematic and awesome! Haakon, Stromgald Scourge, anyone? I think I would focus this deck around returning creatures to play over and over again, and maybe with some awesome death effects.

So cards like Woebearer, Apprentice Necromancer, and Phyrexian Delver all get a spot. Also spells - All Suns' Dawn, Aphetto Dredging, Disturbing Plot, Footsteps of the Goryo, Grim Discovery. There are tons of them!

Put together with sacrifice outlets like Altar's Reap,Grim Backwoods, and Greater Good. Then of course you have to have Grave Pact or Dictate of Erebos in play. Grafted Wargear also combos nicely.

And then you have your dredge (Shambling Shell) and cards that are just good with the theme. Avatar of Woe or Living End perhaps. I also like Grave-Shell Scarab even if it's not a zombie.

Hope that helped, and good luck!

P.S. Also there is better hard removal out there. Hero's Downfall Murder

GamingDownPat Thank you for the many suggestions. I prefer the cards that return creatures to the battlefield rather then the hand. So I really like your suggestions like Phyrexian Delver. As far as Aphetto Dredging and All Suns' Dawn. I do not like them for this deck. You did mention that you believed I was trying to do to many things could you please explain what you are seeing just so I have an idea of what you are talking about. Thank you for your comments.

Hey there! Just some things I noticed.

You have 31 creatures. 8 of them are not zombies and 5 additional ones are shapeshifters.
So 25% of he creatures in your deck are not benefiting from the 5 zombie lords you have in your deck. All these creatures do not contribute to effects like Unbreathing Horde.

For just your instant/sorcery cards you have:

• 2 counters
• 1 bounce
• 2 creature removal
• 3 self mills
• 1 tutor
• 6 reanimate
• The only thing you are going to have semi consistently is a reanimation spell. (Btw Vigor Mortis is awesome).

Another hard removal spell I thought of besides the ones i mentioned above is Putrefy.

I hope that explains what I meant. But if this is working for you, go with it!

P.S. After you get the deck sorted you might need to look at your land to symbol ratio.

GamingDownPatAgain thank you for your input and Yes That explains a lot and while I understand. What you are see you is a result to running into things like Iona, Shield of Emeria I had all the hard removal one could want but my deck was mostly black so when Iona hit the board and they said black I had no way to remove her so I added the Counters and the bounce just as a means to get rid of something like that. That is also why it is very small portion of the deck. The self milling part of the deck is more of a trial bases and if it works out I will of course add more. I may only have one tutor but I have other tutor types like Liliana Vess, Planar Portal (Yes costly but who cares about mana when your bring in your 7 drops on turn 2 or 3 for 1 to 2 mana and a little life.) or Entomb. I do agree I have gotten away from mostly zombies, However my shapeshifter's do not all come in as creatures some of them come in as Nim Deathmantle to change other creatures to zombies. Then there are creatures that I knew I could benefit from that were not Zombies such as Sheoldred, Whispering One and Meren of Clan Ne Toth are both reanimators and help with returning creatures to board. I have had a lot of fun with this deck and it is even funner when you releazie you can get any card that goes to your graveyard back with the right combination.