Background

This is my pet EDH deck that I've been slowly building and tweaking for several years now. It's a 75% deck, which (to me) means that it is a solid deck all around but intentionally not optimal. I do this for three reasons. First, my MTG budget is currently $0. Second, I play with people of all skill levels and didn't want something too oppressive or too soft to any one strategy. Third, it leads to a lot of interesting games with lots of possible lines I can take. Some of my choices are budget-related and others are related to power level. I'll go into more detail about that later.

That said, I know there are other players that might be interested in learning more about how to use what resources they have so I'm not going to bother listing my "optimal" deck. This is the actual list that I take with me to card shops and play at my kitchen table.

Strategy

As with most Jarad decks, the strategy here is to get creatures into your graveyard and then make use of them. This deck doesn't necessarily go all-in on dumping cards into the yard, but it definitely doesn't mind them being here. It's also much more value-oriented and doesn't focus on combo like the cEDH Jarad lists tend to do. Pretty much every card in this deck gives you some sort of incremental value or card advantage. The longer games go, the more insane the plays become. It also makes this deck incredibly resilient to virtually any strategy since I don't really care whether my cards are in my hand, graveyard, or library. I have lots of options and a toolbox that can handle most any board state.

How does this deck win?

There are a few different common routes to victory in this deck. I'll list them by order of frequency.

Option A is to dump a bunch of dudes in the graveyard and cast Living Death. I would say that 75% of the games I win involve me casting LD at some point. However, sometimes this isn't enough. Either my opponent is also using graveyard shenanigans or I ran into some GY hate or I just don't have a favorable board state.

Option B is to burn everyone down with Jarad's activated ability. I don't use this as often as some of the other Jarad decks do because I've purposely left out things like Lord of Extinction and the Necrotic Ooze + Phyrexian Devourer + Triskelion combo as I don't find those very fun. This is part of making a 75% deck especially one that you want to be able to play against opponents that aren't trying to play competitively. That said, between Bonehoard, Nighthowler, Mortivore, Golgari Grave-Troll, etc, I can hit lethal with Jarad pretty quickly. Heck, even something like Terastodon doesn't take much to get going.

Option C is to just beat everybody down. This deck has the ability to play a must-answer threat multiple times per turn after a certain point in the game.

Option D is winning the battle of attrition. This deck has a lot of ways to grind down opponents just with the insane amount of recursion that is available. The longer a game goes on the more likely I am to win it. While other decks tend to thin out their threat density as the game goes on (especially if they rely on tutors), this deck just gets stronger and stronger (barring something that nukes graveyards)

Option E is to ultimate Liliana, Defiant Necromancer . Her emblem makes many of the cards in my deck into bombs and it becomes extremely difficult for me to ever lose.

There are also some silver bullets like Massacre Wurm which can end games pretty quickly.

Card Choices

MVPs

These are the important cards in the deck that I would never consider cutting.

Living Death - I can't imagine running a Jarad deck without this card.

Liliana, Heretical Healer - I don't know if I could dream up a better card for this deck. She counts as a creature, gains some amount of life, leaves behind a 2/2 zombie, fills the graveyard, reanimates creatures, and just wins the game if she gets to ultimate. One of my favorite tutor targets for sure.

Birthing Pod - Fills my yard, sac outlet, tutors up important creatures. I'm never not happy to see this card.

Razaketh, the Foulblooded - Big finisher with evasion that acts as a sac outlet and tutors up exactly what I need to finish off my opponents. I'm usually tutoring for Living Death or Pernicious Deed with this guy, but the fact he can get anything is pretty great.

Necrotic Ooze - This card is absolutely bonkers in this deck. I intentionally haven't included any of the known infinite combos with it, but the amount of incidental advantage I gain is absurd. Just by accident I get things like Lotleth Troll + Spike Weaver . However, just being able to pitch Razaketh and use his ability on turn 4 is pure value. It's also a backup for Hermit Druid, Fauna Shaman, Jarad, etc.

Hell's Caretaker - This card enables a lot of shenanigans that can make life difficult for my opponents. It becomes especially valuable once I get Eternal Witness and Rune-Scarred Demon out.

Golgari Grave-Troll - Needs no introduction. Get this card into your graveyard and go nuts. Also doubles as a finisher

Memory Jar - I may be biased, but this card does so much. It's also my favorite response to Cyclonic Rift which can sometimes get us.

Hermit Druid - Obviously this card is a beating. 12 basics is probably a little high, but I've exhausted my supply of playable golgari non-basics already.

Eternal Witness - This card is a rockstar in this deck for obvious reasons.

Rune-Scarred Demon - Much like E Wit, this card does so many things. It's also a big flying beater and there's no good way to deal with it efficiently

Phyrexian Reclamation - Provides so much incremental value and is also the best answer this deck has to Tormod's Crypt and Rest in Peace effects. Doesn't work against Ground Seal or Grafdigger's Cage, but I don't actually care that much about those.

Sadistic Hypnotist - This card is a monster in this deck. I'm often actively looking to sacrifice creatures and can pretty easily deny all of my opponents a hand indefinitely while this is out. The only reason I've considered cutting it is because it can be oppressive.

No Sol Ring? Only creature-based ramp?

Yeah, this deck might be better with Sol Ring. However, I find I don't need it for my best starts and this deck has lots of colored mana symbols. I leave it out mostly for 75% reasons since the only reason to run it would be to enable some horrendously broken turn 3 plays.

My ramp in the deck is Birds, Wall of Roots, Oracle, Sakura-Tribe Elder, and Deathrite Shaman. Could or should I run more? Probably. I've been okay where I'm at so far, but most likely I should be running some combination of Solemn Simulacrum, Viridian Emissary, Explore, Harrow, Cultivate, Rite of Flourishing, etc. Time will tell whether I add more.

Other card choices

Win-cons (i.e. large dudes)

The choice of fatties is pretty obvious for the most part.

Bonehoard/Boneyard Wurm/Golgari Grave-Troll/Mortivore/Nighthowler/Splinterfright - Brought to you by the department of redundancy department. There are others I could also run, but these are the best that I could get with my budget. The one I'm missing (Lord of Extinction) is straight silly in multiplayer and I choose not to run it for 75% reasons.

Avenger of Zendikar - This is kind of a holdover from when I was running Veteran Explorer during the brief period where Hermit Druid was banned. It still does plenty of work with all of the ways I have of guaranteeing land drops + Oracle of Mul Daya.

Terastodon - Does pretty much everything I like. It's also completely expendable due to its CITP ability, which is pretty great.

Sheoldred, Whispering One - Just crushes the life out of people very quickly. Probably the best stand-alone finisher in here

Massacre Wurm - The bane of all token decks. This also shuts off some combos and causes a shocking amount of incidental damage. Really a toolbox card more than anything, but it can end games very quickly.

Tutors

These are all fixtures in this deck. I've had Tooth and Nail and Chord of Calling in and out of my list, but neither has really impressed me.

Worldly Tutor - Obvious inclusion

Green Sun's Zenith - Also a pretty obvious inclusion as I have creatures to fetch up at every spot on the curve.

Vampiric Tutor - Demonic Tutor would obviously be better here, but I don't actually own one of those. This card does just fine though.

Reanimation Package

The reanimation package is pretty mandatory for this deck. Living Death is obviously the star, but after that the choices were non-trivial.

Buried Alive - This card does many things actually. On turn 2-3, it gets me Golgari Grave-Troll + Genesis and kickstarts my engine pretty hard. On turn 6+, it sets me up for a ridiculous LD or just finds finishers/Jarad targets. It's basically a multi-tutor.

Dread Return - Pretty obvious inclusion just as a Zombify with upside. Cards that can be cast from the graveyard are extra good in this deck, and this one works as both a sacrifice outlet and as reanimation.

Exhume - I don't have the Entomb combo, but I have plenty of ways to dump things into my yard early. I can also guarantee my opponent doesn't have a good target with things like Scavenging Ooze if need be. Usually though, what I'm getting is leagues better than what my opponents are getting.

Reanimate - It literally doesn't get any better than this card. Turn 1: do nothing, pass, discard huge bomb into turn 2: reanimate happens more often than I'd like to admit.

Twilight's Call - Living Death this is not, but being able to cast this at instant speed is absurdly powerful. The ETB effects on my creatures alone makes this a solid play even though it kills my Splinterfrights, Mortivores, etc. Also, casting this EOT with a sacrifice outlet on board into Living Death on my main phase is just dirty.

Unearth - If you haven't notice yet, my 2 and 3 drops are pretty insane. Hermit Druid, Fauna Shaman, Lotleth Troll, Liliana, Heretical Healer , Boneyard Wurm, Nighthowler, Splinterfright, Nyx Weaver, etc are all phenomenal targets. It also makes a fun combo with Eternal Witness and Razaketh, the Foulblooded or Sadistic Hypnotist

Chainer, Dementia Master - Another answer to graveyard hate. This guy is a real beating if I get to untap with him even once.

Victimize - This is the flex spot for my reanimation suite. This has been Animate Dead and even Diabolic Servitude in the past, but being able to get back a pair of creatures at once can be huge.

Removal package

I've gone through phases with how much single and multi-target removal I'm running. Generally I like to pack my deck full of it at various spots on the curve especially if it comes stapled to a creature. Here's what I'm running so far.

Creature Removal

Other cards to consider: Big Game Hunter - Might be slightly better than Bone Shredder overall, but it's close. Bone Shredder offers at least a chump blocker against fliers (which this deck is slightly weak to). Also, echo basically gives me a free sacrifice outlet which is often advantageous. The upside to BGH is obviously against black and artifact creatures, but Madness is also relevant sometimes (flipped Liliana, Memory Jar, etc).

Noxious Gearhulk - It was between this card and Visara for the 6-drop creature removal slot. It's another close call, but Visara having flying was the tiebreaker for me. Not being able to give Visara haste isn't great, but my meta isn't super big on single-target removal and I have plenty of ways to get her back. There is definitely an argument to be made for running both. I also considered it over Brutalizer Exarch, but Exarch is just so versatile.

Duplicant - I used to run this when I was using Glissa, the Traitor as my commander, but I feel it's just not as good as Gearhulk, Visara, or Exarch.

Damnation - I've run this card at times in the deck, but it was rarely good enough.

Life's Finale - This is an interesting card and it has many uses in this deck, but ultimately I feel like its anti-synergy with Living Death and Twilight's Call make it not worthwhile

I don't like any of the single-target creature removal spells enough since I need a critical mass of creatures. I also don't think they're necessary here.

Noncreature Removal

Other cards to consider:

Beast Within - Now this is a non-creature removal spell that I actually like. I've run it at times, but have found it to be lackluster often enough that I cut it.

Maelstrom Pulse - I don't run up against many token decks, and usually Massacre Wurm is enough to shut those down.

Gaze of Granite - I've also run this in the past, but found it sat in my hand too often

Woodfall Primus - This is a budget choice. Terastodon is usually better in this spot and costs significantly less money.

Krosan Grip - I've gone back and forth on this card, but I find it's ultimately not worth it. It gives me a small amount of protection against Tormod's Crypt and Relic of Progenitus in that I can kill it before they have a chance to use the ability on my turn.

Other Cards

These are the support cards in the deck. There are a lot of possible choices here so I'm not going to list them all. Head to EDHRec if you want to see more. My extensive time playing the deck has narrowed me to these.

Apprentice Necromancer - This card packs a lot of power for a 2 drop. It's arguably better than Whip of Erebos in this deck, but those are pretty much the two cards that can fill this slot. It's also absolutely silly with a Liliana emblem in play, but what isn't?

Catacomb Sifter - This card actually does a surprising amount of work and it plays way better than it looks on paper. Scrying multiple times per turn can be a big advantage. It's not exactly Sylvan Library, but still pretty great. Works really nicely with Oracle if I ever get that assembled.

Corpse Connoisseur - I never liked Entomb in this deck but having it stapled to a creature is super nice. Unearth is what makes this card great since I can discard or mill it and still get the effect.

Fauna Shaman - A slightly poorer man's Survival of the Fittest. I would also run Survival if I could afford it, but this card does plenty on its own. I don't need to discard + tutor more than once or twice before things get out of hand for my opponents.

Gamekeeper - This could easily be something like Stinkweed Imp instead, but I've actually been surprised at how effective this card is. That said, it's probably the weakest card remaining in the deck.

Genesis - This card is just pure value incarnate (get it?). I actually don't activate it all that often because it's not an effect that I always want, but when I do it wins games. A surprising number of decks fold to getting Shriekmawed every turn and that's not even the grossest thing I can do with it.

Jadelight Ranger - This is a new addition and one that I'm very pleased with. This slot used to be Courser of Kruphix, but I found that card to be extremely medium most of the time. The Ranger is a slightly bigger threat much of the time that can fill my yard and still help me hit land drops. There's nothing not to like

Lotleth Troll - Curving this into a Living Death on turn 3 or 4 after discarding Terastodon, Razaketh, the Foulblooded, or Sheoldred, Whispering One + a couple of other creatures has won me many games. It provides tons of value while playing good offense and good defense.

Nyx Weaver - Repeatable mill effect + Regrowth stapled onto a reach creature is pretty much all I could ever hope for from a 3 drop not named Liliana.

Pattern of Rebirth - It's between this and Tooth and Nail, but this card just steals games if I can activate it on turn 3 or so and fetch up Sheoldred or Razaketh (usually).

Sylvan Library - There are a lot of options for card draw in this deck, but this is the one I've found to be most efficient and reliable. It should probably be Greater Good, but I actually own a Library and don't have the money for GG. Skeletal Scrying was another option, but I don't think I can justify running it over this.

Spike Weaver - There are several reasons to run this card. First, this deck can be soft to early aggression. Spike Weaver buys at least a couple of turns and can let me survive indefinitely if I have a recursion engine going. Second, if I have a Weaver out I can more aggressively develop my graveyard through sacrifice effects without being vulnerable on the board. Lastly, Lotleth Troll + Necrotic Ooze + Spike Weaver is a combo, especially with Genesis or Golgari Grave-Troll in the yard.

Yavimaya Elder - Build-in 3-for-1 that pulls basics out of my library for Hermit Druid shenanigans. This is my third best 3-drop behind Liliana and Eternal Witness, but it does a lot of work.

Gnaw to the Bone - It might seem silly since it's just a lifegain card, but this card wins games I have no business winning. I've gained upwards of 80 life in a single turn. This is one of the best ways I have to stabilize against aggressive decks and it adds more fuel for Reclamation, Library, and Razaketh.

Noxious Revival - This could just as easily be Regrowth or a completely different type of card, but the versatility here is HUGE. This card does an insane amount of work and gives me interaction against some cards I don't like to see. Namely I can save important creatures from graveyard hate, tuck problem creatures from people's graveyards before a Living Death/Twilight's Call, or semi-Plow Under an opponent that I need to brick in order to give me another turn. This in addition to the standard mode of just getting the best card back from my graveyard.

Lands

Not too much thought went into my land selection, I basically run every green and black nonbasic I have. Here are some of the important ones:

Grim Backwoods/High Market - Having a sacrifice outlet on your lands is nice. Backwoods is pretty expensive, but drawing cards is kind of at a premium in this deck so I'll take what I can get. High Market is an all-star

Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx - This land can generate a shocking amount of mana which is very useful for Chainer and Jarad shenanigans.

Svogthos, the Restless Tomb - Normally I don't need this, but being able to get another Jarad target onto the board can just end the game. It's also a huge creature in combat if the game is at that point.

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Chainer's activation costs BBB, which is enough incentive for me to run this. Incidentally, Sheoldred also has swampwalk.

Yavimaya Hollow - Regeneration is super important in this deck since you'll often be leaning extremely heavily on a single creature (Jarad, Ooze, Hermit Druid, etc) to get your engine running or close out the game.

Cards I should be running but am not