I know I wouldn't look at either Filth or Wonder since neither are zombies. Obviously not everyone is sticking with that restriction though. I do agree Filth is the better of the two. Though, it does depend on the mana base. I have 10 Islands and 3 fetches that can get Islands so having an Island isn't exactly out of the question. If getting an Island is less of a hurdle, Wonder becomes better just by virtue of not needing to worry about what the opponent has for Swamps or needing Urborg to make it work.
Silversmote just looks bad to me. We can do much better than that I think and even the 2 mana to draw a card is something I would probably want to put towards Varina's ability. I don't think the card, as it is, just does enough worth making room for.
I think Gempalm is better. 2 mana to draw a card and make someone lose life isn't too bad. The main reason I have stayed away from it is because it almost doesn't seem like enough. For example, in one of my more recent games, I had 15 zombies on the field thanks to Twilight's Call. With the lord effects and a bunch of other triggers, I was able to make opponents lose 60+ life. The 15 I would have gotten with Gempalm would have been superfluous at best.
Basically, my thinking is that it is tough to get an army big enough for Gempalm to matter where said army isn't already doing something much better on its own. It certainly isn't a bad card, but I feel that firing it off for 6 or 7 just to draw a card is likely more common than a massive instance of life loss. And that 6 or 7 life from one person isn't likely going to do much. Unless it is the end of the game.
Rot Hulk has a really good effect, but 7 mana means it really almost needs to be cheated out somehow. I like the card, and the instance above with looping Doomed Necromancer with it is pretty awesome. How has it been working without that though? @yeti1069: have you ever hardcast it and what happened in that situation? Was it good enough to rebuild or do anything from a losing position or did it just reinforce an already winning position? I am not opposed to it but there is a very high bar to clear for a 7 mana reanimation spell, considering the rest are 5 and 6 mana (with some caveats) and they get everything.
It also doesn't come in foil, so there is that
As for Reconnaissance and Library of Leng: neither is all that great. I have preferred leaning into the discard element of Varina as it is and have had more success with that. Saving cards with Library isn't really all that needed (though discarding everything does open us up to getting blown out with grave hate).
And we can usually just hang back with attackers if we need something untapped. I have tried Recon in a number of different decks and I am always surprised at how underwhelming it is. It is a "better" Vigilance but hasn't been all that great in general.
Now, considering the bulk of this post has been negative: I am completely on board with Cemetery Reaper being "not good". Or, at least, being the worst of the lords. I have literally never activated the ability because Withered Wretch does it better as it is and 3 mana and tapping it is a high cost for one card. That being said, I am with Toc that there aren't a lot of good options for that slot, even if it isn't replaced with a Lord. Maybe Zendikar brings some new zombies that can replace it but as it stands now, I don't think there is anything worth putting into that slot.
