infinite zombies

Yeah, no blue ritual creature sadly. I thought about Maskwood Nexus, and it could work here. Not sure what I would take out for it. Wash Away I guess?

Body Double is not a bad idea, could also fit that in instead of Overcharged Amalgam perhaps. [Lazav, the multifarious]] is cool, but I think it might not work like I want here because he is legendary. So any token copies from Cleaver Skaab get legend ruled. So I could get infinite black mana, but not the infinite creatures.

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Dermotaxi works similarly to Lazav, the Multifarious, without the legendary issue, but with an added issue of needing to tap two creatures to "crew" the vehicle.

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Soldevi Adnate is a sweet card, but I am not sure what it would really do for the deck. it adds mana but... does not add to the board while doing so. my creatures don't really do anything when they die, but rather when they enter the battlefield, and the only creature I want in the graveyard is blue anyway, which Soldevi Adnate can't sacrifice.

Vengeful Dead is a far more interesting card, but it feels like a "win more" type of card as the interaction that fuels it already wins the game by itself, and vengeful dead does not really contribute to the board state, per se, without that interaction.
that being said it would be funny to keep doubling it the fair way and getting a ton of death triggers that way. but it is really slow. kind of like a wonky cat/oven combo.

some interesting suggestions. the transmute is a great idea I think, but I am not sure I want to remove anything I already have to fit those cards in. I have tutors, I have sacrifice outlets, and I have counter spells.

unfortunately, I think Perplex is just about the worst counter spell in magic, as even an empty hand can be discarded to prevent Perplex from countering things so it really can't counter the last card in their hand, and some decks want to dump their hand anyway. I do like the transmute, but I don't think it is worth it to sacrifice the ability to actually counter things when need be. plus I already have Wash Away, which can potentially counter things for just U instead of 1UU if it was cast from anywhere but the hand. so it is hard for me to justify swapping them.

Dimir House Guard is an interesting pick, but, again, only for the transmute. as a creature it does not really interact with my combo beyond being a sacrifice outlet. it is a free sac outlet which is definitely a plus, but I already have Deadly Dispute which draws me cards and gives me a treasure as well as letting me get vizier into the graveyard, or Final Parting or Unmarked Grave which just tutor directly into the graveyard anyways.

Yeah, I definitely can see what you're saying. I wasn't saying the deck needed perplex. Just unless I missed something, the deck has few cards that interact with the opponent and are mainly focused on getting the combo. I was using perplex off the top of my head to suggest an ability that helps facilitate the combo going off and provides disruption. There may be other cards that do it better, honestly, than Damir house guard or perplex.

Ps. Is there a faq on how to link cards to comments? Thanks!

ah, linking cards in comments is actually pretty easy. you format it like this: [[card name here]]. that being said it does not work for any cards with apostrophes in the name. like say... accorder's shield. for some reason it needs a delimiter for ' but I don't know if there is one. ends up looking like this: [[accorder's shield]], instead of like this Wash Away. also, when a comment with the links initially gets posted, it will not appear to have worked. you will need to refresh the page for it to appear properly. anyone else who sees it though will see the links.

as for the deck, yes, it does have very little interaction. I could probably use some removal, and some additional protection. but I do think the support can facilitate getting the pieces I need, and even a bit of resiliency with the graveyard based cards. perhaps Consult the Necrosages for some flexibility, or Supreme Will to either dig or counter. maybe even something like Drown in the Loch.

I spent some time thinking about it some more and was wondering about some cards. Carrion Feeder for a sac outlet that gets value as a threat. Nim Deathmantle can satisfy your zombie requirement at a lower cmc with more utility built in. [[Araumi of the Deep Tide]] does the same job as Body Double. Also at a lower cost and a high toughness to help defend until you can get the combo online.

hmm. some interesting suggestions, certainly not bad by any measure. lets discuss them a bit. here are my thoughts:

Carrion Feeder is an excellent card. but like I mentioned about Vengeful Dead in a post above, it feels like a "win more" card here because it relies on the combo I already have to do anything, rather than being a combo piece like it normally is. Despite the fact that sacrificing creatures is exactly what the deck does... it is really the ETB triggers I am interested in. I am not really sacrificing creatures for value with death triggers or enters the graveyard triggers in this deck, so a free sacrifice outlet isn't as strong as it seems like it should be. if I need Vizier of Many Faces in the graveyard I can simply cast it and have it be a 0/0, and there really are not any other creatures I want there. Body Double is purely for redundancy and resiliency. fun fact about the embalm token vizier makes, since copying effects like Cleaver Skaab care about printed text on a card, and the embalmed token has the printed text of the copied card (in addition to being a white zombie), the tokens created by Cleaver Skaab enter as the thing copied by vizier, rather than the base 0/0 vizier.
in general, Carrion Feeder is usually a combo piece, or at least a synergy piece because many zombie decks can reanimate their creatures or like them dying, so it really shines in those kinds of decks. but this deck doesn't really do that.

Nim Deathmantle is one of my favorite cards, and I can certainly see the utility it provides. however, I would have to equip it for each creature that I sacrificed, which costs 4, and Priest of Gix only gives me BBB. If I used it to reanimate, then I would get 3 priests (original + two token copies), which would net me 5 extra B after using Nim Deathmantle's ability, which is enough to sacrifice again, plus BB left over... except I don't get the mana until after ETB, and the reanimate ability triggers when the creature dies.
so if I don't have the 4 right then, I cannot do it. I would need at least 7 total (3 to sacrifice and 4 to reanimate), which is asking a lot for a deck with no ramp. also... it just adds more steps and complicates the combo. the more pieces a deck needs out at a time to do their combo, the more chances it can be disrupted. simpler is better. I do love janky decks built around Nim Deathmantle though. good, if a bit expensive to use, for resiliency from destruction or damage based spot removal. :) that being said, Vizier of Many Faces just lets me have the token, with no strings attached. much simpler than having to equip it on the death trigger and spending 4 additional mana each time I want to loop through my combo. the token already is what I want it to be. or perhaps you are thinking of replacing Arcane Adaptation or Maskwood Nexus? they are both cheaper to use, and let me sacrifice Priest of Gix without embalming Vizier of Many Faces because my all my creatures are already zombies, which is the important part. and Maskwood Nexus lets me pump out blockers if need be. It also gives me a way to go wide without comboing if I really need to.

Araumi of the Dead Tide is an interesting one and I could easily see a sweet deck built around it, however I am not sure this deck is the right one. I would probably build some kind of dredge variant that gets value from self mill. in this deck, compared to what is in it already, I still have to encore the creature from my graveyard, and I also have to have 1-3 other cards in my graveyard to exile aside from the card I want to return. and I have to cast the creature from the graveyard as well. it isn't a bad idea, but it feels like extra steps. in addition, it ends up being more mana overall than Body Double because I have to cast Araumi of the Dead Tide and then also encore the creature I want to reanimate (Priest of Gix or Cleaver Skaab). so it ends up being 6 or 7 mana total, albeit over two turns due to summoning sickness, but then the issue is still having at least 6-7 mana anyways because I need to combo the turn I encore because the token copies get exiled at the end of the turn.
If I encore Priest of Gix it isn't as much of an issue if I am playing against more than one opponent, because it gets me an extra BBB for every token, but against just one person, or if I am encoring Cleaver Skaab, I get no such boost in mana. Body Double just lets me have my creature with no strings attached, and no extra cards needed in graveyard, and does not exile the card it copies. so even if I sacrifice it with Cleaver Skaab, and the tokens are copies of Body Double (which they are not), or if it gets bounced or removed another way, I can still target Priest of Gix in the graveyard with another Body Double. it is a little more expensive to get out initially, but it also has fewer limitations. I don't have to wait another whole turn to get the card I need, and I need less mana overall to do what I want. 5 total instead of 6-7.
that being said I do like the early defense that Araumi of the Dead Tide provides. there is certainly good value to be had in a good blocker until I can get set up.

Combo:
Version 1 (V1)
Cleaver Skaab + Intruder Alarm + Priest of Gix + Arcane Adaptation or Maskwood Nexus

Or
Version 2 (V2)
Cleaver Skaab + Intruder Alarm + Priest of Gix on the battlefield + Vizier of Many Faces using enbalm

If we label them combo piece 1-4, respectively, the card counts should look like -

Combi Piece Card Counts:
Combo Piece 1 (cp1): 4
Combo Piece 2 (cp2): 4
Combo Piece 3 (cp3): 4
Combo Piece 4 (cp4): 12
Total cards: 24/60

Converted Mana Costs of Combo Pieces:

CP1 Cleaver Skaab: 4
CP2 Intruder Alarm: 3
CP3 Priest of Gix: 3*
CP4.V1 Arcane Adaptation: 3
CP4.V1 Maskwood Nexus: 4
CP4.V2 Vizier of Many Faces: 4 // Enbalmed: 5
*there are only 3 cards Unmarked Grave and 2 conditionally Deadly Dispute(to use Body Double to copy Priest of Gix later on) that can be cast from the ritual of Priest of Gix on turn 3 to make the Priest of Gix ritual most efficient. I did not include other copies of Priest of Gix because at some point a mana ritual will be wasted on turn 3 unless you cast one of the mentioned 5 cards.

With all this in mind, I agree with you that a combo should be as simple as possible. Simple for me is how can I get this combo out the earliest using the least cards and activate it. from this set of cards, how I am understanding the combo, I think the absolute earliest the combo can be achieved using the least amount of cards is -

Combo V1
Total Cards: 8
Total Lands: 4
Total Turns:6

Turn 1: play land
Turn 2: play land
Turn 3: play land; cast Intruder Alarm(cp2)
Turn 4: play land; cast Priest of Gix(cp3) etb triggers; cast Cleaver Skaab(cp1)
Turn 5: cast Arcane Adaptation(cp4) or Maskwood Nexus(cp4)
Turn 6: (combo pieces 1-4 are on the battlefield) activate Cleaver Skaab for infinite zombies.

Combo V2
Total Cards: 9
Total Lands: 5
Total Turns: 5

Turn 1: play land
Turn 2: play land; cast Unmarked Grave putting [[vizier of many faces](cp4)] into the graveyard
Turn 3: play land; cast Intruder Alarm(cp2)
Turn 4: play land; cast Priest of Gix(cp3) etb triggers; cast Cleaver Skaab(cp1)
Turn 5: play land; enbalm Vizier of Many Faces(cp4) as a copy of Priest of Gix on the battlefield etb triggers; (combo pieces 1-4 are on the battlefield) activate Cleaver Skaab for infinite zombies

A high card count to both pay for the combo pieces and activate the combo, relatively late in the game, is not working in the decks favor. To combat this redundancy is built in. Priest of Gix and Cleaver Skaab have no real redundancy in this color pairing, so all of your redundancy is built into cp4. And while one of your redundant cp4 pieces needs a different board state than the others, you have utility cards to help meet this requirement.

Utility Card Counts and Converted Mana Cost
Wash Away Card Count: 2 CMC: 1
Unmarked Grave Card Count: 4 CMC: 2
Deadly Dispute Card Count: 2 CMC: 2
Final Parting Card Count: 2 CMC: 5
Body Double Card Count: 4 CMC: 5

Wash Away - this is the only card in the deck that seems to interact with the opponent. It is a fine counter spell for its cleave cost with added utility of stopping other combos from going off at 1 Mana.

Unmarked Grave - this card helps Vizier of Many Faces get into the graveyard. Once Vizier of Many Faces is in the graveyard, this card essentially becomes a dead draw. It can tutor [priest of gix]] or Cleaver Skaab for a Body Double target, if you are using Arcane Adaptation or Maskwood Nexus for cp4. While maybe the most efficient way to get Vizier of Many Faces in the graveyard, this card soes not have much synergy with the rest of the deck.

Deadly Dispute - this card can get Vizier of Many Faces into the graveyard and ramp with a treasure token. Once Vizier of Many Faces is in the graveyard, this card loses much of its utility and essentially becomes a dead draw. It can sacrifice Priest of Gix to ramp if you are planning to target them with Body Double and are using [Arcane Adaptation]] as cp4. Beyond that, this card does not have much synergy with the deck.

Final Parting - this card is used to get Vizier of Many Faces into the graveyard and has the ability to find any other combo pieces you may be missing. Unfortunately it's utility is limited as a tutor, because if you are planning on using Vizier of Many Faces as cp4, Maskwood Nexus and [Arcane Adaptation]] are not needed.

Body Double - this card has limited uses as redundancy for combo pieces 1 and 3. Body Double does not give the zombie type to Priest of Gix and would still need Maskwood Nexus, Arcane Adaptation, or Vizier of Many Faces. [Body double]] can copy Cleaver Skaab and use any combination of other pieces to complete the combo.

The utility cards are rather limited. With 8 geared toward getting Vizier of Many Faces to work. Making 20/60 cards of the deck dedicated to cp4.

Summary

While the deck can combo off, i think in its current state it is clunky. I think all of the redundancy built in, especially in cp4, slows down the deck and will lead to dead draws. I think the deck is trying to go in two different directions with the combo needing 4 pieces and sometimes in different board states. I also agree with you that the deck is unconcerned with death triggers so cards like Carrion Feeder and Nim Deathmantle are not beneficial. I like the idea and I think it could become more viable in 2 different versions.

Suggestions

Both versions

Faces of the Past(cp2) - this card can add redundancy for Intruder Alarm and alleviate the decks reliance of redundant cp4. Faces of the Past should untap Cleaver Skaab just as well as Intruder Alarm

Grim Tutor - while not as efficient as Unmarked Grave at getting Vizier of Many Faces online as cp4, Grim Tutor can search for any remaining combo piece you are missing.

Version 1

Cleaver Skaab + Intruder Alarm + Priest of Gix + Maskwood Nexus or Arcane Adaptation

This version of the deck has to recognize that up to half of the combo pieces used are not well supported by these colors in the pie. Intruder Alarm and Arcane Adaptation are both enchantments. I think the color pie for enchantments gives you a 1-5 of 1. White 2. Green 3. Blue 4. Black 5. Red. Blue and Black, at 3 and 4 respectively, does not give you much support for enchantments. Without adding another color, White, this version of the deck would benefit from cards on turn 1 and turn 2 that make permanent untargetable or disrupts the opponent. Also any cards that can make use of multiple copies of Intruder Alarm or Arcane Adaptation. Even though Blue and Black are high on the color pie, I am having a hard time finding a card on curve that interacts well with Maskwood Nexus. Because Maskwood Nexus is 4 cmc, it sits at a spot where I can't find a card like Trinket Mage, Trophy Mage, or Treasure Mage to help speed up the combo. Committing to this combo frees up 12-16* spots in the deck. Replacing Vizier of Many Faces, Unmarked Grave, Deadly Dispute, Final Parting, and maybe Body Double.With this in mind, these are the cards or cards like them I would suggest to go this route. Other than the previous suggested Faces of the Past and Grim Tutor:

Narset's Reversal (no link because of ' ) - this card can stop any plan to discard your combo pieces before you play them. It can also stymie ramp while advancing your agenda by copying the ramp spell to hit the 4 necessary mana to play your combo pieces. UU is not as big of a barrier because for the most efficient mana usage for the combo pieces, Intruder Alarm or Arcane Adaptation should be played on turn 3 needing at least one U anyway and land counts should reflect that.

Ghostly Pilferer - Ghostly Pilferer gives you a 2 turn play that can get rid of multiple copies of Combo Pieces you already have while also digging for the remaining combo pieces you need. At its worst, Ghostly Pilferer is a 10 turn clock against an opponent with 20 life. There may be another card that you prefer that allows you to discard multiple copies of combo pieces you no longer need.

*Note that Body Double is still playable in this version because without interaction with the opponent, it is needed if either Priest of Gix or Cleaver Skaab hit the graveyard.


Version 2

Cleaver Skaab + Intruder Alarm + Priest of Gix + Vizier of Many Faces enbalmed

This version of the deck has to recognize that 1 of the 4 combo pieces has to be in the graveyard to be viable. Including Vizier of Many Faces 3 of the 4 combo pieces are creatures. Because of this, the deck can 7s the graveyard to "sneak" combo pieces in at the right time to combo off. Unmarked Grave can still work in this build, but may benefit of a mix with Grim Tutor because Intruder Alarm is necessary. Committing to this combo frees up 15-17* spots in the deck. With this in mind, these are the cards or cards like them that I would suggest other than the previous suggested Faces of the Past and Grim Tutor:

*Note that Deadly Dispute could still be used in this version.

Cryptbreaker
Or
Selhoff Entomber - both cards allow you to utilize turns 1 and 2 while also allowing you to cheaply get Vizier of Many Faces into the graveyard. Cryptbreaker creates a 2/2 zombie and has synergies with Cleaver Skaab or an enbalmed Vizier of Many Faces. Selhoff Entomber can also get rid of redundant combo pieces and help dig for Intruder Alarm

Amoeboid Changeling(cp4) - this card can act as a redundant Vizier of Many Faces but at a lower casting cost and does not need to be in the graveyard. Because the deck already uses [[Intruder Alarm to untap Cleaver Skaab, we can tap Amoeboid Changeling to make whichever Priest of Gix we are sacrificing all creature types including zombie.

Entomb - Entomb works the same as Unmarked Grave. Although may not make sense monetarily. As the ability to out any card in the graveyard is not needed since there isn't a way to get Intruder Alarm from the graveyard.

[[Araumi of the Deep Tide]]
Or
[[Ludevic, Necrogenius]]* - cards like these can make use of combo pieces that are in the graveyard. Whether because of the opponent or cards like Unmarked Grave or Selhoff Entomber, they can return necessary combo pieces needed.
*[[ludevic, necrogenius]] is not a good substitute for cp4. Eventhough the card gives Priest of Gix the zombie subtype, it also gives the legendary type. It is better for copying Cleaver Skaab or Priest of Gix with Vizier of Many Faces enbalmed.

I hope this explanation informs my card suggestions and helps you achieve combos regularly. I apologize if the formatting makes the comment needlessly long.