Varina, Lich Queen - Esper Zombie Midrange

[toctheyounger]

So, no Core Set upgrades yet, but a couple of bits and pieces I've swapped in and out:

In

• Arcane Signet
• Tolarian Winds

Out

• Orzhov Signet
• True Love's Kiss

The list is a bit tight for things I actively want to remove if I'm being honest. Arcane Signet is a strict upgrade, no doubt. And being absolutely fair, there's a good chance Fellwar Stone could do very similar things to Dimir Signet as it is. It's obviously meta dependent, so it's far from a sure thing, but I really am not a fan of paying 1 to blend colours.

I have had pretty good value from True Love's Kiss so I am a little loathe to lose it, but I also think Tolarian Winds is worth a punt. It's good digging at instant speed, and I'm alright with that. It still triggers Bone Miser and Archfiend of Ifnir, and I don't share the digging with anyone else. Time will tell how well it plays out and if I miss the removal.

I'm picking up some Core Set product in the next few days, so I'll post further updates shortly. I don't think there's any surprises coming but I'm pretty keen to report on future adds anyway, because we all know there's some good stuff coming.

[toctheyounger]

So, still no Core set 21 updates to report (yet). The cards are on the way, wife and I bought a box and literally got 0 cards for use here.

BUT! I had a game today. And I smacked the bejesus out of the board. Had a T1 Sol Ring/Talisman of Dominance into T2 Varina, Lich Queen, got some more critters on board and just kept swinging to dig. Lord of the Accursed made sure my things stuck and eventually I drew into Kindred Discovery. Game was over at that point, I drew into so much advantage.

Eventually, I had the board shredded and a full grip with 8 zombies in play including Corpse Knight. Shepherd of Rot, Cryptbreaker and a few tokens. I ended it by Mirrorweaveing Corpse Knight, playing out a couple of zombies and discarding two cards to [card]Zombie Infestation to create a token and bleeding the table for 24 to close out the game. I forgot Kindred Discovery triggers even.

So yeah, I'm pretty excited to drop these new cards in and see how much nastier things can get In the meantime though, a nice Mirrorweave win is always worth sharing.

[Noir]

So, still no Core set 21 updates to report (yet). The cards are on the way, wife and I bought a box and literally got 0 cards for use here.

BUT! I had a game today. And I smacked the bejesus out of the board. Had a T1 Sol Ring/Talisman of Dominance into T2 Varina, Lich Queen, got some more critters on board and just kept swinging to dig. Lord of the Accursed made sure my things stuck and eventually I drew into Kindred Discovery. Game was over at that point, I drew into so much advantage.

Eventually, I had the board shredded and a full grip with 8 zombies in play including Corpse Knight. Shepherd of Rot, Cryptbreaker and a few tokens. I ended it by Mirrorweaveing Corpse Knight, playing out a couple of zombies and discarding two cards to [card]Zombie Infestation to create a token and bleeding the table for 24 to close out the game. I forgot Kindred Discovery triggers even.

So yeah, I'm pretty excited to drop these new cards in and see how much nastier things can get In the meantime though, a nice Mirrorweave win is always worth sharing.

I think you've convinced me to pick up a copy of Mirrorweave to try myself

[WizardMN]

I think you've convinced me to pick up a copy of Mirrorweave to try myself

The game reports here, and the suggestions from @MeowZeDung convinced me to put it into Kykar, Wind's Fury. I haven't gotten it into Varina yet, but there are some pretty cool plays I have seen so far with it in a number of decks. It is, at the very least, a fun card

[MeowZeDung]

Actually, I think it was toc that got me on Mirrorweave to begin with too. Great EDH card. I have a hard time not putting it in UW decks now, even when there isn't any explicit synergy.

Edit: I mean, just after a brief look at the OP decklist I see so many cool lines. Target Shepherd of Rot and just win if you have the most life. Target Wayward Servant or Diregraf Colossus and empty your hand of zombie cards. Target Bone Miser on a cleanup step and pitch a creature. Target any of the lords and attack. Target Undead Augur or Midnight Reaper in response to a board wipe. It's freakin sweet in this deck.

[Noir]

That's it I'm going to get a copy and put it in for sure

[toctheyounger]

Actually, I think it was toc that got me on Mirrorweave to begin with too. Great EDH card. I have a hard time not putting it in UW decks now, even when there isn't any explicit synergy.

Edit: I mean, just after a brief look at the OP decklist I see so many cool lines. Target Shepherd of Rot and just win if you have the most life. Target Wayward Servant or Diregraf Colossus and empty your hand of zombie cards. Target Bone Miser on a cleanup step and pitch a creature. Target any of the lords and attack. Target Undead Augur or Midnight Reaper in response to a board wipe. It's freakin sweet in this deck.

It was, but to be fair I can't take all the credit. I got the idea from @tstorm823. Kinda makes sense right? It is the sort of card he would recommend.

@Noir I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. It has a really high versatility for this deck. It's instant speed so it can be used to alter combat math on an opponent's turn, or just to be nasty and make all your stuff Death Barons. Then there's the gross things like making all your things Noxious Ghouls, Bone Misers, Archfiend of Ifnirs, Diregraf Colossuses....there's a HUGE number of applications for it here, and it really has become a win condition card for me. Or, like can you even imagine how huge an army you'd have if you cast it on Noosegraf Mob? Good gracious.

This last game I almost made the target Shepherd of Rot with ~10 creatures in play, but my life total was a little low and each of my opponents had critters in play, so I didn't want to take the chance that they responded by activating the ability themselves. Mass suicide for a draw is always hilarious, but I had the win elsewhere so. y'know, it was a no-brainer.

[tstorm823]

It was, but to be fair I can't take all the credit. I got the idea from @tstorm823. Kinda makes sense right? It is the sort of card he would recommend.

Yes. Yes it is.
Also, the flavor on Mirrorweave is 100% creepy enough for zombie tribal.

[MeowZeDung]

It was, but to be fair I can't take all the credit. I got the idea from @tstorm823. Kinda makes sense right? It is the sort of card he would recommend.

That's it. I give up. Everything I come up with and decide to do in this game has already been done by @tstorm823 :laugh:

[toctheyounger]

It was, but to be fair I can't take all the credit. I got the idea from @tstorm823. Kinda makes sense right? It is the sort of card he would recommend.

That's it. I give up. Everything I come up with and decide to do in this game has already been done by @tstorm823 :laugh:

Hey, great minds, let's call it that. He said it, but we were all thinking it

[tstorm823]

That's it. I give up. Everything I come up with and decide to do in this game has already been done by @tstorm823 :laugh:

You better not give up! My playtime was already shrinking before the pandemic, I need someone to live vicariously through.

[toctheyounger]

Alright, the long-awaited update:

In

• Liliana's Standard Bearer
• Teferi's Ageless Insight
• Read the Runes
• Peer into the Abyss

Out

• Tolarian Winds
• Dance of the Manse
• Kindred Dominance
• Binding Mummy

I've talked about most of these, and they're generally strict upgrade, but let's run through it nonetheless. Standard Bearer is a straight up bomb, that draw power is nuts. Insight is redundancy for Archive, and cheaper to boot. What's not to love? Abyss is suicide draw, and the general idea is to give myself enough options to tailor a board for a win, or enough to discard to Zombie Infestation for an army, to shred a board with Archfiend of Ifnir or give us enough for a super blowout reanimation spell. Otherwise, if perchance someone copies my Archive or Insight, I'm not averse to sharing either. Runes is something I've talked over with @WizardMN on his thread; it's instant speed scaling draw, but the real beauty is being able to discard with it or sac with it. We've both found ourselves in the position of risking decking ourselves with Tombstone Stairwell and Kindred Discovery or bleeding ourselves out with Tombstone Stairwell and Undead Augur, so being able to get rid of one piece at instant speed is pretty handy. Aside from that I guess it could be neat with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and an aristocrat. There's options.

In terms of removal, Winds was lackluster. No regrets removing it. Mummy is actually pretty good, just not as good as Standard Bearer. Dance had it's chance (I'm a poet and don't know it), but I feel like most of the pieces I'd be recurring now have redundant pieces enough that I don't need to worry overly about recursion. Dominance is quite good, but is the most expensive of my wipes, so I'm happy to drop it at present.

Otherwise, Double Masters - there really isn't anything I'm dedicated to tracking down from this set. Toxic Deluge would be great to grab and would make an excellent addition, but otherwise I'm pretty happy with where things sit right now.

[toctheyounger]

So, got a game in with the new additions, and it played out really nicely.

3-way against Chulane, Teller of Tales and Athreos, Shroud-Veiled, Had a reserved start for land and rocks but I had some great options in hand with Sidisi, Undead Vizier and Tombstone Stairwell. I hit a T2 Apprentice Necromancer and T3 commander and kept options open.

Next turn I cast Read the Runes for 1, dropped Sidisi, Undead Vizier to the yard, used Apprentice Necromancer to reanimate him, exploit him and tutor for Noxious Ghoul. I swing with Varina, loot and toss another zombie in the yard and pass turn.

Chulane is busy doing super ramp and is almost ready to go off. I drop Tombstone Stairwell and swing in with commander at him and pass turn. My next turn comes around uneventfully and dropped Noxious Ghoul into play for a permanent board wipe. Chulane scoops because he can't combo off. Athreos has a degree of reanimation so he's less bothered, but I don't think he got how bad it could get.

A few turns later I have 5 tombspawn tokens in play each turn, and his coin counters aren't doing enough. He has Anowon, the Ruin Sage and Sheoldred, Whispering One coming and going, but I don't care if my zombies live or die. I draw into Liliana's Standard Bearer, make 5 zombies, take a sac from Sheoldred, Whispering One and more of his stuff dies again. I carry to end of turn, stack the tombspawn triggers and cast Liliana's Standard Bearer in response to draw 6, and I draw into Eldrazi Monument, Wayward Servant, Peer into the Abyss, Lord of the Undead and Death Baron. The end begins.

He builds back his board state and passes turn, and I cast the two lords and Servant, swing with 5 tombspawn zombies and Varina for 29 to leave him on 9. I pass turn and on his upkeep Servant gets him for 5 more, at which point he concedes.

So, report back is that Liliana's Standard Bearer is just as good as we expected and maybe better. Clearly pretty great with Tombstone Stairwell, but that's probably just scraping the surface. Read the Runes played a bit part, but I still really like that it scales, so in a different hand I'd have been just as happy to keep it to cast later. Peer into the Abyss came into my hand too late, but I fully intend to check it out for further shenanigans in another game later.

[WizardMN]

Next turn I cast Read the Runes for 1, dropped Sidisi, Undead Vizier to the yard, used Apprentice Necromancer to reanimate him, exploit him and tutor for Noxious Ghoul. I swing with Varina, loot and toss another zombie in the yard and pass turn.

Chulane is busy doing super ramp and is almost ready to go off. I drop Tombstone Stairwell and swing in with commander at him and pass turn. My next turn comes around uneventfully and dropped Noxious Ghoul into play for a permanent board wipe. Chulane scoops because he can't combo off. Athreos has a degree of reanimation so he's less bothered, but I don't think he got how bad it could get.

A few turns later I have 5 tombspawn tokens in play each turn, and his coin counters aren't doing enough. He has Anowon, the Ruin Sage and Sheoldred, Whispering One coming and going, but I don't care if my zombies live or die. I draw into Liliana's Standard Bearer, make 5 zombies, take a sac from Sheoldred, Whispering One and more of his stuff dies again.

Read the Runes on 1 is a pretty awesome play there. As you said, it scales very nicely as well which can provide quite a few options as needed. Casting it for X=1 and being able to discard a relevant card is very good to see.

Do note that you need to sac a creature to Sheoldred before you get the tokens. I am assuming that is what you did but your order is a little off Anowon allows for sacrificing one of the new tokens though.

As my latest game had shown in a slightly different manner, Noxious Ghoul can be a powerhouse. I really like the interaction it has with Tombstone Stairwell as well. How many Age counters did it get on it for the cumulative upkeep? Just curious how many turns it was on the battlefield for.

Standard Bearer with Stairwell isn't something I had really thought of either but that seems really nice too. And since you get tokens each turn you can just wait for the opponent to your right to end their turn before you cast it, leaving open any other interaction you might have.

I like the game you had for sure and the deck continues to show off its resiliency.

[toctheyounger]

Do note that you need to sac a creature to Sheoldred before you get the tokens. I am assuming that is what you did but your order is a little off Anowon allows for sacrificing one of the new tokens though.

That's the difference between the two triggers' timings right? Sheoldred, Whispering One is beginning and Tombstone Stairwell is during, so one precedes the other? I'd assume if they were both at the beginning I could stack them how I like.

As my latest game had shown in a slightly different manner, Noxious Ghoul can be a powerhouse. I really like the interaction it has with Tombstone Stairwell as well. How many Age counters did it get on it for the cumulative upkeep? Just curious how many turns it was on the battlefield for.

I left it in play for 3 turn cycles. I couldn't afford more than that, but I didn't need more than that anyway. It usually really doesn't take much longer than that to wear people down with the right architecture around it. Aristocrats, Ghoul, Kindred Discovery or the like, give it a turn or two and it just turns the tide one way or another.

Standard Bearer with Stairwell isn't something I had really thought of either but that seems really nice too. And since you get tokens each turn you can just wait for the opponent to your right to end their turn before you cast it, leaving open any other interaction you might have.

It hadn't occurred to me prior either, but it's a really good interaction for an easy hand refill. Draw 6 for 2b is nothing to sniff at, but that's probably pretty middling for Liliana's Standard Bearer. I'd assume the ceiling is a LOT higher.

I'd been considering giving it the chop before this game, but Apprentice Necromancer has been a really nice tidy early drop for me too. An early game tutor this game and it's just got a few tricks up it's sleeve. It's far from perfect, but I think I might keep it about for now.

[WizardMN]

That's the difference between the two triggers' timings right? Sheoldred, Whispering One is beginning and Tombstone Stairwell is during, so one precedes the other? I'd assume if they were both at the beginning I could stack them how I like.

They are both the beginning. Stairwell has Errata as most things that said "during" now say "beginning" because "during" is very difficult to say exactly when it would trigger. You could do a ton of things in the upkeep and it would still be during the upkeep.

Also, since you don't control both of them, there isn't really any stacking anyway; they go onto the stack at the same time with the AP's (yours) going on first so it resolves last. You can only stack triggers you control.

I left it in play for 3 turn cycles. I couldn't afford more than that, but I didn't need more than that anyway. It usually really doesn't take much longer than that to wear people down with the right architecture around it. Aristocrats, Ghoul, Kindred Discovery or the like, give it a turn or two and it just turns the tide one way or another.

Makes sense. I am still getting a feel for the "right" amount of turns it keep it around and 3 sounds about the top end. As you said, it gets expensive after that.

It hadn't occurred to me prior either, but it's a really good interaction for an easy hand refill. Draw 6 for 2b is nothing to sniff at, but that's probably pretty middling for Liliana's Standard Bearer. I'd assume the ceiling is a LOT higher.

I'd been considering giving it the chop before this game, but Apprentice Necromancer has been a really nice tidy early drop for me too. An early game tutor this game and it's just got a few tricks up it's sleeve. It's far from perfect, but I think I might keep it about for now.

That is a card I haven't pulled the trigger on yet. I got a foil almost a year ago just in case and then never did anything with it. Being one time use is hard to justify but maybe being instant timing (and early reanimation like you did) is enough to slot it in. I will have to think on it.

[toctheyounger]

Also, since you don't control both of them, there isn't really any stacking anyway; they go onto the stack at the same time with the AP's (yours) going on first so it resolves last. You can only stack triggers you control.

Thanks for this, nice to have the resident rules guru weigh in for an explanation

That is a card I haven't pulled the trigger on yet. I got a foil almost a year ago just in case and then never did anything with it. Being one time use is hard to justify but maybe being instant timing (and early reanimation like you did) is enough to slot it in. I will have to think on it.

I think there's a case for and against it. It's pretty fleeting advantage, and it's probably better if you can get something big in early like what I did above, or if you can pair it up with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed which I note you recently removed. There's times it'll just be a 2-drop and nothing more. I guess it can also flash in blockers or rattlesnakes like Death Baron, which isn't nothing either. It's really just a utility piece for me, I've just been doing pretty well with it lately. It's either this or Binding Mummy for me (until something better comes along anyway), and I chose this.

[WizardMN]

It is a common misconception

I definitely get that. Necromancer is far and away the better option between that and Mummy. And you are right that I have sort of been trimming some of the heavy hitters for more low to the ground creatures and trying to lean more into synergy than power. Since I keep cutting the other single use reanimation cards, Necromancer might not make my list either but I do think I like it more than some others. Mostly, I have a couple slots to play around with and while it might not survive for long, especially if we get some good zombies in new sets, it could be fun to try in place of other cards I am sort of down on anyway.

Though, one thing I neglected to mention above is the possible inclusion of Sidisi. I tend to stay away from tutors but she might offer some flexibility when needed, mostly to get to wraths or mass reanimation. A single tutor isn't going to shift things too far after all.

[toctheyounger]

It is a common misconception

I definitely get that. Necromancer is far and away the better option between that and Mummy. And you are right that I have sort of been trimming some of the heavy hitters for more low to the ground creatures and trying to lean more into synergy than power. Since I keep cutting the other single use reanimation cards, Necromancer might not make my list either but I do think I like it more than some others. Mostly, I have a couple slots to play around with and while it might not survive for long, especially if we get some good zombies in new sets, it could be fun to try in place of other cards I am sort of down on anyway.

Though, one thing I neglected to mention above is the possible inclusion of Sidisi. I tend to stay away from tutors but she might offer some flexibility when needed, mostly to get to wraths or mass reanimation. A single tutor isn't going to shift things too far after all.

Yeah for sure. Bare minimum it's nifty, and increases in value from there, although the ceiling isn't stunningly high. It is nice to be able to get a quick ETB trigger.

Sidisi, Undead Vizier is a card I already had a copy of. If it were Demonic Tutor or Vampiric Tutor I'd not play them, personally. They're worth more in trade to me than anything else and I wouldn't hesitate to do so. But Sidisi is well costed, trades in combat and has an excellent trigger while also being on tribe, so she bends my usual hard tutor rule just a little. Ultimately the way I see it there's very little I can tutor for that will win the game on the spot for me, and most of what I would search for I have redundancy with anyway, so ultimately it's really just accelerating things. There's probably two cards in the list that don't have anything else similar, Mirrorweave and Tombstone Stairwell.

In terms of cuts to my list, the two flex spots I have at present are God-Eternal Oketra and The Scarab God. They're both great in the right place, I just am not sure it's here. I think they may just be too high on the curve to be of stellar value. They're good, just not great.

[Nikerym]

In terms of cuts to my list, the two flex spots I have at present are God-Eternal Oketra and The Scarab God. They're both great in the right place, I just am not sure it's here. I think they may just be too high on the curve to be of stellar value. They're good, just not great.

I agree that The Scarab God is somewhat anti-synergy here, you want to dump your Liberary into the grave for mass recursion, not to use the activated ability of the Scarab God. I know God-Eternal Bontu has been discussed earlier, but maybe he can help us getting rid of permanents that kills us (Kindred Discovery with mass recusion and draw doublers is scary:P) has nice synergy with Toombstone Stairwell.

cards that have been underpreforming in my experience is
- Reconnaissance (I mean it is very rare that you have unfavorable combats from all 3 opponents),
- Cemetery Reaper, hands down the worst lord, exile clause is way to slow.

[yeti1069]

Think I had mentioned in a post a while back that in my deck I've included Rot Hulk, and had a RIDICULOUS game using that and Apprentice Necromancer.

Pitched hulk and some other zombies to my yard on a Varina trigger, then at EOT for my last opponent activated Necromancer to bring back Hulk, who returned the Necromancer and two of his buddies, all ready to roll once me turn started, and set up to do it all again once Hulk died at the end of my turn.

After that turn, an opponent tried exiling my graveyard while Hulk was dead, so I reanimated him and 3 zombies again in response.

I know Hulk is expensive, but he's brings a fair amount of value, and if you aren't in a position to cast him, he's just one more piece of fodder for Varina so you can draw something you do want.

Even without the Hulk, I've never regretted having the Necromancer. I don't always love that the creature he reanimates has to get sac'ed at end of turn, but he's a 2-drop zombie to swing with for Varina triggers, and can bring in value pieces when needed, such as one of the Aristocrats in response to Stairwell trigger on the stack, or the new Standard-Bearer after some of your army has died (plus Apprentice adds +1 to the cards drawn in the process!).

[toctheyounger]

I agree that The Scarab God is somewhat anti-synergy here, you want to dump your Liberary into the grave for mass recursion, not to use the activated ability of the Scarab God. I know God-Eternal Bontu has been discussed earlier, but maybe he can help us getting rid of permanents that kills us (Kindred Discovery with mass recusion and draw doublers is scary:P) has nice synergy with Toombstone Stairwell.

cards that have been underpreforming in my experience is
- Reconnaissance (I mean it is very rare that you have unfavorable combats from all 3 opponents),
- Cemetery Reaper, hands down the worst lord, exile clause is way to slow.

Yeah, Scarab is in a strange place. It's a strong trigger, but waiting a whole turn cycle means it often bites removal before it does anything at all. It's much more effective from the command zone in that respect. That being said, God-Eternal Bontu...I'm not sure about. It's nice for getting rid of problematic permanents like Kindred Discovery or Undead Augur. But 1-2 draw when he comes in is a little weak. He could chew up tokens or fodder zombies, but honestly they're more valuable in combat as they do more than draw for me, they draw and fill my yard. I'd be happy to be proven wrong, so by all means tell me so if you can!

Think I had mentioned in a post a while back that in my deck I've included Rot Hulk,

I do remember. For me it's not that it's not a great piece. It's great value. It's more that a) it's expensive, b) it's supremely hard to find, and c) the price is elevated purely due to a manufactured scarcity, and by principle I won't solve that sort of solution with money. I would much rather wait it out or not buy the card than give Wizards money they don't deserve purely because they won't reprint it. That might be a bit cynical, but I am on a budget! Ultimately I'd gladly add this guy, but I'm just in no rush to do so.

[toctheyounger]

cards that have been underpreforming in my experience is
- Reconnaissance (I mean it is very rare that you have unfavorable combats from all 3 opponents),
- Cemetery Reaper, hands down the worst lord, exile clause is way to slow.

Forgot to mention these above:

• Reconnaissance - I strangely haven't seen this almost at all to play. It's mostly come into my hand once I've got a roll on and in that case it's irrelevant. Which might tell us all we need to know anyway, right? It'd probably be better to have something in the deck that gets us on a combat roll more quickly, and I guess it's a little weird to be running something that saves our creatures when we mostly don't care if they die.
• Cemetery Reaper - As you mention I very rarely use the exile clause. That isn't really why it's here though, it's ultimately here just to make sure our stuff survives combat moreso. Are there better lords? Yes. Are there worse? Yes. It's fine if unspectacular; really, 1bb for a boardwide buff is ok to me, especially because I have to swing to see my deck, so I'm happy enough to run it purely because it's on curve and makes my stuff bigger. I can't really think of a suitable replacement for it at the same casting cost, so I'm happy with it at present.

edit:
Did a quick gatherer search for CMC 3 zombies that could feasibly replace Cemetery Reaper, and there are some options. Not many, but:

• Lich Lord of Unx
• Nantuko Husk
• Phylactery Lich
• Phyrexian Ghoul
• Prized Amalgam

those are the pick of the bunch, probably. I actually could see some of them here. Instant sacrifice outlets are nice, and play well with aristocrats, Tombstone Stairwell and Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. Lich Lord of Unx seems really mana hungry which makes me skeptical that it isn't a trap. Prized Amalgam could be good, though; plays nicely with other targeted reanimation. Phylactery Lich is alright I guess, nothing brilliant. Of these I think a Husk/Ghoul/Amalgam would fit best - the Husk/Ghoul go infinitely large and have infinite ETB/LTB triggers with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Plague Belcher, but it's probably hard enough to construct and easy enough to disrupt that we ought not worry about it overly.

[Nikerym]

Yeah I agree that there aren't many good 'lord' replacements, but there is other ways to make combat favorable than giving them +1/+1, I know Wonder and Filth (with Urborg) have been discussed before, but they are a really good way to prevent chumping. Since Varina is an attack trigger it really catches people off guard if you dump a wonder or filth before blockers.

Another card that might be interesting to try out, is Silversmote Ghoul, inbuilt self sac, easily recured vith Varina, and draws a card. Probably too slow, but so trivial to recur that it might be worth.

I would also make a case for my boi Gempalm Polluter. You have not lived life until you cycle Gempalm, and with the draw trigger on the stack activate Unholy Grotto, put Gempalm on top and cycle again. Easy way to burn someone out that is a bit more unusual than our good friend Gary.

[yeti1069]

cards that have been underpreforming in my experience is
- Reconnaissance (I mean it is very rare that you have unfavorable combats from all 3 opponents),
- Cemetery Reaper, hands down the worst lord, exile clause is way to slow.

Forgot to mention these above:

• Reconnaissance - I strangely haven't seen this almost at all to play. It's mostly come into my hand once I've got a roll on and in that case it's irrelevant. Which might tell us all we need to know anyway, right? It'd probably be better to have something in the deck that gets us on a combat roll more quickly, and I guess it's a little weird to be running something that saves our creatures when we mostly don't care if they die.
• Cemetery Reaper - As you mention I very rarely use the exile clause. That isn't really why it's here though, it's ultimately here just to make sure our stuff survives combat moreso. Are there better lords? Yes. Are there worse? Yes. It's fine if unspectacular; really, 1bb for a boardwide buff is ok to me, especially because I have to swing to see my deck, so I'm happy enough to run it purely because it's on curve and makes my stuff bigger. I can't really think of a suitable replacement for it at the same casting cost, so I'm happy with it at present.

edit:
Did a quick gatherer search for CMC 3 zombies that could feasibly replace Cemetery Reaper, and there are some options. Not many, but:

• Lich Lord of Unx
• Nantuko Husk
• Phylactery Lich
• Phyrexian Ghoul
• Prized Amalgam

those are the pick of the bunch, probably. I actually could see some of them here. Instant sacrifice outlets are nice, and play well with aristocrats, Tombstone Stairwell and Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. Lich Lord of Unx seems really mana hungry which makes me skeptical that it isn't a trap. Prized Amalgam could be good, though; plays nicely with other targeted reanimation. Phylactery Lich is alright I guess, nothing brilliant. Of these I think a Husk/Ghoul/Amalgam would fit best - the Husk/Ghoul go infinitely large and have infinite ETB/LTB triggers with Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Plague Belcher, but it's probably hard enough to construct and easy enough to disrupt that we ought not worry about it overly.

Lich Lord I liked when I was running The Scarab God or Grimgrin as my commander for the zombie deck, but Varina is almost never at a loss for other things to spend money on to advance the board position, so I never found that I was activating it.

Nantuko Husk I've had in and out of the deck--free sac outlets are valuable to avoid exile removal, trigger aristocrats, or set up a bigger mass reanimation, and occasionally it can just attack for a ton. My problem with it is that it's 3 mana for a 2/2 that does nothing the rest of the time.

Yeah I agree that there aren't many good 'lord' replacements, but there is other ways to make combat favorable than giving them +1/+1, I know Wonder and Filth (with Urborg) have been discussed before, but they are a really good way to prevent chumping. Since Varina is an attack trigger it really catches people off guard if you dump a wonder or filth before blockers.

Another card that might be interesting to try out, is Silversmote Ghoul, inbuilt self sac, easily recured vith Varina, and draws a card. Probably too slow, but so trivial to recur that it might be worth.

I would also make a case for my boi Gempalm Polluter. You have not lived life until you cycle Gempalm, and with the draw trigger on the stack activate Unholy Grotto, put Gempalm on top and cycle again. Easy way to burn someone out that is a bit more unusual than our good friend Gary.

I think Filth would be better than Wonder, only because the deck runs so many nonbasics that we don't consistently see an Island in play. Swamps are more prevalent, so they're more likely, but without an Urborg in play, Filth may not do anything. I would have to pay attention to how often I'm getting an Island in play by turn 4 or 5 regularly.

I keep looking at Silversmote thinking the same thing you posted here--is a zombie that comes back (tapped) essentially for free every turn once Varina gets going worth including? What gets cut to fit it in?

As for Gempalm...I go back and forth on it since it does nothing unless you have a significant board presence, but Varina is set up to make good use of cards like that as fodder for more looting, while the Polluter does its own looting as well. Back to the above query: what to cut?

I agree that The Scarab God is somewhat anti-synergy here, you want to dump your Liberary into the grave for mass recursion, not to use the activated ability of the Scarab God. I know God-Eternal Bontu has been discussed earlier, but maybe he can help us getting rid of permanents that kills us (Kindred Discovery with mass recusion and draw doublers is scary:P) has nice synergy with Toombstone Stairwell.

cards that have been underpreforming in my experience is
- Reconnaissance (I mean it is very rare that you have unfavorable combats from all 3 opponents),
- Cemetery Reaper, hands down the worst lord, exile clause is way to slow.

Yeah, Scarab is in a strange place. It's a strong trigger, but waiting a whole turn cycle means it often bites removal before it does anything at all. It's much more effective from the command zone in that respect. That being said, God-Eternal Bontu...I'm not sure about. It's nice for getting rid of problematic permanents like Kindred Discovery or Undead Augur. But 1-2 draw when he comes in is a little weak. He could chew up tokens or fodder zombies, but honestly they're more valuable in combat as they do more than draw for me, they draw and fill my yard. I'd be happy to be proven wrong, so by all means tell me so if you can!

Think I had mentioned in a post a while back that in my deck I've included Rot Hulk,

I do remember. For me it's not that it's not a great piece. It's great value. It's more that a) it's expensive, b) it's supremely hard to find, and c) the price is elevated purely due to a manufactured scarcity, and by principle I won't solve that sort of solution with money. I would much rather wait it out or not buy the card than give Wizards money they don't deserve purely because they won't reprint it. That might be a bit cynical, but I am on a budget! Ultimately I'd gladly add this guy, but I'm just in no rush to do so.

Rot Hulk being so pricey definitely sucks.

I would rather have Library of Leng in here than Reconnaissance and I ended up cutting that for not doing enough. I don't think we generally care that much about our creatures dying in combat, and should often have an avenue of attack for those we want to hang onto.