Wizards of the Coast is moving into its 20th year with the popular Magic the Gathering franchise, and its latest block, Innistrad, continues the tradition of bringing players the traditional gameplay that makes Magic fun while integrating a sweet theme that makes the cards feel different.

The theme for Innistrad is everything associated with the dark side: which is to say, monsters. Innistrad oozes flavor from traditional monster franchises. Vampires, werewolves, zombies, and devils are all well represented in the set. Unsurprisingly, with the theme of zombies, strategies that are based around using the graveyard are also a focus of many of Innistrad's cards.

Wizards saw this, and to get new players started with building a Standard legal deck, they released the Deathfed Event Deck. This Magic Starter deck has the essentials that a player needs to play with the graveyard-theme of Innistrad, and it presents a reasonable Standard deck someone can purchase and play at their local Friday Night Magic.

But one of the features of the Deathfed Event Deck is that it also offers some directions that a new player can move towards when modifying the deck.

For reference, here is the original list for the Deathfed Event Deck.

Creatures: 21
2 Acidic Slime
4 Armored Skaab
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Boneyard Wurm
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Merfolk Looter
1 Splinterfright
3 Viridian Emissary

Instants and Sorceries: 12
4 Mulch
4 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Spider Spawning

Artifacts: 3
2 Bonehoard
1 Ratchet Bomb

Lands: 24
13 Forest
7 Island
3 Swamp
1 Hinterland Harbor

Sideboard: 15
4 Flashfreeze
4 Negate
3 Naturalize
2 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Mind Control

There are a couple of notes to follow with this deck right out of the package:

• It is planning to take a beating early. If an opponent comes out with a swarm of creatures, you will want to use Viridian Emissary and Armored Skaab to clog up the field.
• If your opponent starts slow, you want to use Mulch and Forbidden Alchemy to fill your graveyard with goodies fast.
• Your end-game is the same; make lots of guys with Spider Spawning, and beat down with massive Boneyard Wurms and Splinterfrights.

Knowing how this deck intends to win, we can make our first change with ease. We want three more copies of Splinterfright. It not only fills your graveyard with creatures and cards with flashback, but also lets us beat down. Also, if the opponent has lots of little creatures, it will get bigger and can keep them from bashing your face in. Sadly, this means losing the Viridian Emissaries.

The other seemingly easy place to expand on is the mana. The DeathFed Event Deck comes with one copy of Hinterland Harbor, so why not run more?

Well, that decision isn't easy. The deck packs 13 Forests, and with each basic land you remove from the deck, the less likely it is that you are playing a Birds of Paradise or a Llanowar Elf on turn 1. That's where you have to ask yourself an important question: how badly do you want a mana-bird on turn 1? The lands from Scars of Mirrodin won't often work since the only on-color land you can use is blue/black, which does not help you play the turn 1 bird. The lands are great at color fixing, so they need to find their way into the deck. Which means that both Hinterland Harbor and Woodland Cemetery will see play in this deck at four copies each, removing Islands and Swamps.

Deranged Assistant, a potent little wizard from Innistrad, does both things that your deck wants to do. It helps accelerate you into more spells or more expensive plays, and it also fills your graveyard with all the essentials (ie. creatures and flashback effects) that your deck needs.

However, the need for mana-birds is still important. The bird fixes your mana, accelerates your powerful plays, is a creature in the graveyard for Boneyard Wurm, and it also blocks flying creatures. All facts are very relevant, and reason for including them in your deck. Remove the four Llanowar Elves for the Deranged Assistants. As for the Birds of Paradise, remove the Ratchet Bomb (which is unreliable to draw as a one-of and also isn't a creature), along with two Acidic Slimes. We'll have the fix for your five mana slot later.

While the green cards work well with Green Sun's Zenith, the question to ask yourself is whether it is worth building around the powerful search effect from Mirrodin Besieged. If you do go this route, you should consider thinning down on some of your creature numbers in order to get some more Green Sun's Zeniths in your deck. However, by doing so, you are making your Splinterfrights, Boneyard Wurms, Gnaw to the Bones, and Spider Spawnings less powerful, so I advise instead to remove Green Sun's Zenith in order to focus on other plans. The Zenith is good, but you'd rather fill those slots with creatures. Instead, replace it and a few lands (you have enough cheap plays, after all!), to fill in your end-game.

Kessig Cagebreakers, a potent rare from Innistrad, warrants an inclusion in this deck. Not only does it continue to support the "put dudes into your graveyard" theme, but it can also single-handedly win the game on its own. One attack from the Cagebreakers can leave you with a pack of rabid wolves and an opponent that is torn to shreds. Add four Cagebreakers by taking out three lands and that Green Sun's Zenith.

Another card to consider, primarily because it is cheaper than Forbidden Alchemy, is Dream Twist. This bins three cards from your deck, and also has a cheap flashback cost so that you can continue to fill up your yard, even if you mill it to one of your own effects! This one's an easy trade out. Replace four with four.

Bonehoard, while not contributing to the number of creatures in your graveyard, is just too good not to play. It does something immediately, and it can also be a great way to win in the air when equipped to Birds of Paradise. It also makes Kessig Cagebreakers very, very difficult to kill in combat.

Finally, the last thing that has gone without discussion is Merfolk Looter. Unfortunately, the little blue guy is a also a little slow in this format. Remove both copies for one more Spider Spawning, a card that is critical at not only buying you lots of time, but also at winning you the game, along with one more copy of Gnaw to the Bone. The Gnaw is important for being able to take your Splinterfrights and Boneyard Wurms off of blocking duty against speedy creature and burn decks, as it cushions your life and often provides a similar boost in vitality with its flashback.

What do these proposed changes leave you with?

Creatures: 24
4 Kessig Cagebreakers
4 Armored Skaab
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Boneyard Wurm
4 Deranged Assistant
4 Splinterfright

Instants and Sorceries: 13
4 Mulch
4 Dream Twist
2 Gnaw to the Bone
3 Spider Spawning

Artifacts: 2
2 Bonehoard

Lands: 21
9 Forest
4 Island
4 Woodland Cemetary
4 Hinterland Harbor

Sideboard: 15
4 Flashfreeze
4 Negate
3 Naturalize
2 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Mind Control

For now, I've left the sideboard alone, as using it can be intimidating if you are new to Magic. Those cards are perfectly fine for now.

The sideboard has some options once you are ready to expand on it in order to fight your local competition's decks better, but what you play depends on what your lands look like. Shimmering Grotto is certainly an option over Woodland Cemetery if you'd like to splash cards such as Blasphemous Act for sweepers or Unburial Rites to keep your Cagebreakers coming, but that decision is up to you. It also gives you Ancient Grudge as a sweet option over Naturalize, considering how good some of the artifacts are right now in Standard.

Now go - fill your graveyard to your heart's content, and drop some grave-loving monsters upon your opponents!