This guy looks really cool and REALLY REALLY ABUSEABLE!
ChozoGhost
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Reassembling Skeleton seems like good food for him. He's crazy if you find a way to give him vigilance.
Tantudo
★★★★☆ (4.4/5.0)(7 votes)
GET IN MY BELLY! love it, EDH it
Hayw00d0909
★★☆☆☆ (2.0/5.0)(3 votes)
Definetly an EDH card.
Napoleon1796
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(4 votes)
This will be my Zombie EDH deck commander.
Gcrudaplaneswalker
★★☆☆☆ (2.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Give this guy vigilance and swing for a lot of damage!
Cthulhu_Shin
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
Frankenstein monster?
BlackFlameAshura
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(5 votes)
No one sees the Haunted Mansion reference? Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize~
Tanaka348
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(4 votes)
Holy shit, it's the Leviathan clause. I didn't think I'd see that for a long time.
The middle ability seems like a combo piece. Note that it also appears in mono-black in Black Carriage (yes, in Homelands) if you don't care that you have to do it during your upkeep.
Hanksingle
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(3 votes)
So efficient!
Oleggio
★★★★☆ (4.3/5.0)(3 votes)
Quite nice card, actually it is so nice cause in innistrad block you can activate morbid for free with this monster. Also you can untap it anny time, not just on the beggining of turn, it makes from him exelent and versatil soldier, atacker and blocker. And more, its 5\5 for 5!!! and its can kill any creature when atack, what is pretty abusable, and self pumping is really insane ability!
I want to get this guy most fastly is possible and try to make a tribal zombie deck!
@brunsbr103: Tangleroot, Reassembling Skeleton, Ashnod's Altar and Bog Initiate gives you infinite black mana to infinitely sac Reassembling Skeleton to Grimgrin. There's also the Thopter Foundry combo: Thopter Foundry, Krak-Clan Ironworks and Sword of the Meek. This'll give you infinite 1/1 tokens that you can infinitely sacrifice to Grimgrin (and infinite life and mana). Hmm.. 2 Myr Retrievers, Tangleroot and a Krak-Clan Ironworks perhaps? In all cases, you could probably use the infinite combo for something better; hit your opponent for 1 million with Consume Spirit, swing with a billion thopter tokens on your next turn or replace Tangleroot with Desciple of the Vault :/
In itself, Grimgrin combos pretty well with Ocular Halo I guess. Toss in a Skullclamp and you've got ", sacrifice a creature: draw three cards and put a +1/+1 counter on Grimgrin". Could also be used with Opposition to tap down your opponents, Keldon Battlewagon to give it +5/+0 for each sacrifice, or Zombie Trailblazer to pave the way for your undead army. In all cases, Reassembling Skeleton seems like good fodder if you haven't got a ton of creatures to sacrifice.
brunsbr103
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
he looks abusable, but i'm having a hard time finding a good infinite combo with him in his colors
EDIT: there's more than enough many card combos (3+ cards) that i can think of; even in the same colors, and from an EDH perspective tangleroot isn't even allowed in the deck (although i never did specify EDH rulings)
Anubisisking
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Kinda of a mini Thraximundar... I like him a lot... if I open one, I may try to make an EDH deck out of him.
He's crazy if you find a way to give him vigilance? Uhm.. how about saccing a creature? lol do it once to attack, kill something, do it again you have an 8/8 defender.
Kryptnyt
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I want to like him, but he just seems like a slightly worse, slightly cheaper Thraximundar. The only positive aspect is that he can create untap shenanigans with creature auras... hmm...
Doaj
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
As has been said, great for EDH. He's going to go great in a token/counter blue-black deck. Cards like Dream's Grip, or the other five dozen blue cards that do something similar, plus the overall control of blue-black. This guy is awesome.
penguinmage25
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
GRIMGRIN SHALL EAT YOUR SOUL REASEMBLING SKELETON!
Zalfrezi
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm currently building a tribal zombie deck around this guy, he's definitely one of my favorite cards from innistrad, how about turn 1 Diregraf ghoul turn 2 Heartless Summoning Turn 3 GRIMGRIN INSTA-WIN!
sl33tbl1nd
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Alright, so I put this in my deck with my Lich Lord of Unx's, Undead Alchemists and a bunch of utility zombies. This thing is *** crazy.
Dougleton
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
His art is totally Pudge from Dota.
bl00dch13fdr41n3r
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
this guy was the first thing michael jackson brought to life in thriller, gravebane zombie was the next, and he watched them both do the thriller dance from the rooftop storm
Virde
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(1 vote)
Fiend Hunter a Sun Titan, sacrafice the Fiend Hunter, return the Fiend Hunter to play with Sun Titan and... well, repeat.
HuntedWumpusMustDie
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Grimgrin is an excellent mix of old-school flavor, with new-school power. Cards that boast this sort of strength should require some finesse in order to exploit. Also, the design of this card makes other creud displays of power (ie Phyrexian Obliterator, Wurmcoil Engine, geist of saint traft etc...) seem just lazily and poorly designed by comparison.
Tap the Ooze for a token which you then sacrifice to untap the Ooze gaining +1/+1 each time. Repeat ad nauseam. Each token sacrificed forces you opponent(s) to sacrifice a creature of their own. Do it until the cube is big enough to 1hit kill you opponent(s).
Malacante
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
A fantastic finisher for my Zombie tribal. He effectively has vigilance because you can sac to untap right after you attack, although I've gotten several free kills from people swinging at my tapped out field forgetting I could untap Grimgrin to block. The repeatable Doom Blades (now with black-killing!) is great for clearing out Guard Gomazoas and the like, as well as murdering anything strong enough to stand up to Grimgrin. Being able to sac to power him up at any time is useful too, it can get him out of range of burn or provide those extra few points of damage. And in a Zombie deck, between the tokens and the recursion, you should have no trouble keeping him fed long enough to finish your opponent.
RJStCroix
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
awesome with token generators like "moan of the unhallowed" and "endless ranks of the dead" when backed by B/U control, to give you enough time to build tokens.
this bad boy crushes everything in his path and then jumps back on defense afterwords... easy 5/5
drpvfx
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Zombie Tribal just got a lot more powerful thanks to Dark Ascension. With Grimgrin, Gravecrawler (which Symar pointed out and was so rudely voted down), Diregraf Captain and Havengul Lich, I may build my first block-constructed deck ever.
Also nasty with Undying creatures to sacrifice and a Hex Parasite.
DytjeSaur- Grimgrin is Legendary. Activating Splinter Twin would kill him instantly.
Totema
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I love this guy, I just don't see why they had to put a blue cost on him. Nothing in his abilities says he's blue. Oh well, I'm not complaining, I was going to put him in a U/B zombie deck anyway.
IMstoneking
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Grim-Grin +Endless Ranks of the Dead is a decent (albeit somewhat expensive and somewhat slow) near-infinite combo. So long as you don't sac ALL of your zombies in one turn, you'll pretty quickly have enough zombies to sac more than you could need.
Willieskyeyes
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
ok, why is everyone coming up with rediculously long combos for him when there is the simple rooftop storm and gravecrawler
From there just have a ball. As many has stated, finding an unlimted mana combo would be nice as you can sac creatures to Grimgrin, Corpse-Born and with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed giving them Undying you just use Hex Parasite to eat the counters.
Okay yea sure, "Why not just use Reassembling Skeleton?". Well, because using cards like Falkenrath Noble, Blistergrub, Perilous Myr, and Geralf's Messenger (although he already has undying) is just so much more fun, albiet harder to manage. Sac, sac sac, Target player loses life. Undying kicks in, bring them back, and if you have the mana...do it all over again.
@GrimjawxRULES Tangleroot doesn't make any sense in the first combo, it adds mana when a creature is cast, not when it comes into play, so you wouldn't be getting mana every time you reanimate a skeleton.
Billdozer16
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Does Grimgrin need to be tapped in order to activate his ability?
Wormfang
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(2 votes)
simple pleasures in life, thornbite staff equipped and swinging
schwitzerm
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I really enjoy using this card with Geralf's Messenger when available to cause two extra damage worth of misery to my opponent, and then sac a Fume Spitter next turn to do it all over again.
I absolutely love this guy, and his blue requirement makes me more than happy enough to toss in a bunch of Diregraf Captain since I'm splashing blue anyways. That and Grimgrin, Corpse-Born just looks badass.
gatorjunkie
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
When Titan tribal takes a foothold this guy is going to become very valuable. Frost Titan is king when it comes to Titans, and Grimgrin is about the best answer to Frost Titan that I know of.
SnackyNorph
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Zombie Shenanigans in EDH Grimgrin, Corpse-Born Rooftop Storm Gravecrawler Diregraf Captain Drop Rooftop Storm, grab Grimgrin from the Command zone, Play Gravecrawler and Diregraf Captain. Sacrifice Gravecrawler to Grimgrin, play from graveyard for . Rinse and repeat. Grimgrin becomes an infinite/infinite and any player you choose loses infinite life. Also, you can throw in a Demon's Horn for infinite life, use Savra, Queen of the Golgari in a casual deck to force them to sack an infinite number of creatures...lots of utility with the right cards.
Ferlord
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
I know all of you feel clever, but once a combo goes past 2-pieces, it becomes more of a problem than a solution.
So yeah, infinite sac with Storm and Crawler, but Storm costs 6, and it's a 3 piece combo.
I've made enough 3-piece combos to know the pain... oh, the pain... Just trust me... please :)
Jedijoe
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
It's the Butcher from Diablo 3...
Plantix
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Combo with Rooftop Storm and Grave crawler to pump him up.
thatsmetal666
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
People keep saying if there was a way to give him vigilance he would be awesome, but doesn't his second ability give him vigilance? All you have to do is sacrifice another creature after he attacks in order to untap him.
Great card in an Eldrazi Spawn deck, and very splashable, too.
GLaDOS.
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The ability to untap him at any time is largely unnoticed, and horrifyingly powerful. Sunblast Angel? Sac an already tapped creature in response. One of my favorite uses of the untap ability is when I'm up against Royal Assassin. I go to untap Grimgrin, they use the Assassin in response. In response to the assassin, I sac another dude and their ability fizzles. They never see it coming.
tarvofthemudhole
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
arena of the ancients in an EDH game. you're now the only one who can attack with their general.
PantheraEnigma
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Type your comment here.
Afroofthenight
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I found that he works well with Havengul Lich. Especially if you're sacking a Necropede, or if you have the mana, Core Prowler.
MakeshiftMage
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
The leader in my zombie mill deck. He either clears out the creature threat or he helps me drain my opponent to death with Diregraf Captain, Vengeful Dead, and Gravecrawler. If any combination of those cards are in my hand you can bet that I'm one power lich during that game.
I think this card is awesome, especially with army of the damned and gravecrawler. Even funner if you somehow give him argentum armor.
Entenei
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Can his Sac ability be used even if hes not tapped?
prawntheman
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Combos with swamp and island
kennysorel
★★★★☆ (4.9/5.0)(4 votes)
is nobody gonna say it? ...fine... MMMMMMM!!! FRESH MEAT!!!
Spockawitz92Y
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Awesome flavor here! Reminds me of patchwerk from WoW. Obviously nasty with Gravecrawler but if you cant afford those Shambling Shell or the good ol' Stinkweed Imp will work in a pinch. Your opponent better have a permanent response to this guy, killing him just isn't enough with Lord of the Undeadand all the other ways {B} can just keep bringing him back. IMO a solid 4/5, if he isn't dealt with quickly, he will win games.
Westertin
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I use Gravecrawler and Liliana of the dark realms for enough mana for unlimited use
Captain_Sisay_2591
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
5/5 because his name is "Grimgrin."
Xineombine
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Thrax's baby brother
BeatYouOnce
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Hey ChozoGhost Reasembling Skeleton is ok, but hes made to be with Grave Crawler, for 1Black mana you can pump him up +1 +1 permanently, heh
Woolyer_Thoctar
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I use once was able to enchant him with elemental mastery and splinter twin in a multiplayer game. Needless to say, infinite infinity/infinity creature won me that game. Edit: completely forgot the mirror gallery that made it possible.
DaveyTripp
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
His sac ability CAN be used even if he is tapped.
EdgarPoeAllen
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Underrated. Great in EDH. My Grimgrin removal/sac deck beats my friend's Zur deck. He gets crazy without Infinite combos. I run tons of ETB/LTB effects. Polluted Dead, Geralf's Mindcrusher. They all work exceptionally well.
EamonnMR
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I need this guy in my zombie tribal Thraximundar EDH deck. Sac a creature to put a 1/1 counter on Thrax and grim...
This card is so well designed, it literally makes me smile.
CapnEvander
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
@kennysorel Don't worry, I came here looking for some sort of reference. It's just too close to NOT see the connection! Though playing Grimgrin in a BUG deck with both him and some Forests out will probably make me start moving other cards in an unpredictable zig-zag pattern out of habit...
Definitely my most favorite magic card, well-balanced in every way, with 1001 interactions that he can support :)
5/5
SelesnyaEvangel
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
AHAHA,FRESH MEAT
GrimgrinsMaster
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
can u still sac creatures to him when hes untapped? done it in tournaments and they didnt seem to know and continued to let me do it. i just want to know if its legal.
Edit: Well looked it up and you can indefinatly sac to him regardless of position. Also Found him usefull with the undying abilities. Combine him with Mikeaus the Unhallowed for some slow but definate fun.
Comments (88)
The middle ability seems like a combo piece. Note that it also appears in mono-black in Black Carriage (yes, in Homelands) if you don't care that you have to do it during your upkeep.
I want to get this guy most fastly is possible and try to make a tribal zombie deck!
EDH, he will also be a nice general.
Accorder's Shield
Batterskull
Sword of Vengeance
Tangleroot, Reassembling Skeleton, Ashnod's Altar and Bog Initiate gives you infinite black mana to infinitely sac Reassembling Skeleton to Grimgrin.
There's also the Thopter Foundry combo: Thopter Foundry, Krak-Clan Ironworks and Sword of the Meek. This'll give you infinite 1/1 tokens that you can infinitely sacrifice to Grimgrin (and infinite life and mana).
Hmm.. 2 Myr Retrievers, Tangleroot and a Krak-Clan Ironworks perhaps? In all cases, you could probably use the infinite combo for something better; hit your opponent for 1 million with Consume Spirit, swing with a billion thopter tokens on your next turn or replace Tangleroot with Desciple of the Vault :/
In itself, Grimgrin combos pretty well with Ocular Halo I guess. Toss in a Skullclamp and you've got "
Could also be used with Opposition to tap down your opponents, Keldon Battlewagon to give it +5/+0 for each sacrifice, or Zombie Trailblazer to pave the way for your undead army. In all cases, Reassembling Skeleton seems like good fodder if you haven't got a ton of creatures to sacrifice.
sure, there's Elemental Mastery and presence of gond, but they're both off color
EDIT: there's more than enough many card combos (3+ cards) that i can think of; even in the same colors, and from an EDH perspective tangleroot isn't even allowed in the deck (although i never did specify EDH rulings)
Opening, trying to find this guy. Not finding him. Feeling terrible.
Last pack.
Flip to rare.
It's this guy.
I cried tears of joy.
EDH HERE I COME
sac a gravedigger /ghoulraiser to grimgrin, play a gravedigger /ghoulraiser , get the sac'd one back to your hand. rinse repeat, Swiftfoot boots + equip for the win!
Could be, or it could be a reference to the Shakespearean poem 'Venus and Adonis' which was the inspiration for the Haunted Mansion song:
...thus chides she Death,
"Grim-grinning ghost, earth’s worm, what dost thou mean
To stifle beauty and to steal his breath"
But it's probably both. I'd be shocked if Wizards' creative team didn't have a few people who are fans of both Disney and Shakespeare.
Tap the Ooze for a token which you then sacrifice to untap the Ooze gaining +1/+1 each time. Repeat ad nauseam. Each token sacrificed forces you opponent(s) to sacrifice a creature of their own. Do it until the cube is big enough to 1hit kill you opponent(s).
this bad boy crushes everything in his path and then jumps back on defense afterwords... easy 5/5
With Grimgrin, Gravecrawler (which Symar pointed out and was so rudely voted down), Diregraf Captain and Havengul Lich, I may build my first block-constructed deck ever.
Also nasty with Undying creatures to sacrifice and a Hex Parasite.
DytjeSaur- Grimgrin is Legendary. Activating Splinter Twin would kill him instantly.
Rooftop Storm + Gravecrawler + Diregraf Captain will also kill the opponent outright but that's true with any sac outlet...
Or splinter twin with mirror gallery once you get him untapped for +1/+1 madness.
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed & Hex Parasite.
From there just have a ball. As many has stated, finding an unlimted mana combo would be nice as you can sac creatures to Grimgrin, Corpse-Born and with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed giving them Undying you just use Hex Parasite to eat the counters.
Okay yea sure, "Why not just use Reassembling Skeleton?". Well, because using cards like Falkenrath Noble, Blistergrub, Perilous Myr, and Geralf's Messenger (although he already has undying) is just so much more fun, albiet harder to manage. Sac, sac sac, Target player loses life. Undying kicks in, bring them back, and if you have the mana...do it all over again.
Then just add some cheap hex proof stuff like Aask of Avacyn, Swiftfoot Boots orNeurok Stealthsuit to protect Mikey and Grim and you've got more under your belt than just Reassembling Skeleton.
Tangleroot doesn't make any sense in the first combo, it adds mana when a creature is cast, not when it comes into play, so you wouldn't be getting mana every time you reanimate a skeleton.
Failing that, Gravecrawler is wonderful as well.
I absolutely love this guy, and his blue requirement makes me more than happy enough to toss in a bunch of Diregraf Captain since I'm splashing blue anyways. That and Grimgrin, Corpse-Born just looks badass.
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
Rooftop Storm
Gravecrawler
Diregraf Captain
Drop Rooftop Storm, grab Grimgrin from the Command zone, Play Gravecrawler and Diregraf Captain.
Sacrifice Gravecrawler to Grimgrin, play from graveyard for
Grimgrin becomes an infinite/infinite and any player you choose loses infinite life.
Also, you can throw in a Demon's Horn for infinite life, use Savra, Queen of the Golgari in a casual deck to force them to sack an infinite number of creatures...lots of utility with the right cards.
So yeah, infinite sac with Storm and Crawler, but Storm costs 6, and it's a 3 piece combo.
I've made enough 3-piece combos to know the pain... oh, the pain... Just trust me... please :)
*Sunblast angel*
:D
Edit: completely forgot the mirror gallery that made it possible.
Don't worry, I came here looking for some sort of reference. It's just too close to NOT see the connection!
Though playing Grimgrin in a BUG deck with both him and some Forests out will probably make me start moving other cards in an unpredictable zig-zag pattern out of habit...
5/5
Edit: Well looked it up and you can indefinatly sac to him regardless of position. Also Found him usefull with the undying abilities. Combine him with Mikeaus the Unhallowed for some slow but definate fun.