So I've been lurking noisily in the other big Varina threads for a while and finally got around to trying my own brew. I'll keep updated with changes via the deckbox link and try to get some reports out.
This is kinda typical of my deckbuilding style these days -- Play powerful strategies but with lower curves and less ramp than typical, attempting to just play consistently on curve as much as possible. So if you don't see "autoincludes" like Arcane Signet that's why.
About
This deck is a tribal zombie aggro-combo deck. It tries to play creatures on turn 1, 2, and 3 and then play Varina on turn 4 and loot 3, then combo out after people are forced to sweep the board to deal with the zombie swarm. We aim to interact just enough to keep Rest in Peace, Scavenging Ooze or Winds of Abandon from hitting us and setting us way back.Because of the curve being so low we don't care about tempo stuff like Cyclonic Rift all that much; we'll just replay our hand.
There are almost too many combo or combo-adjacent things to discuss - you can simply Twilight's Call with Archaeomancer and a sac outlet and functionally infinite, or cast Gray Merchant of Asphodel 3 or 4 times in a turn with Rooftop Storm and Tortured Existence.
The pieces of most combo setups involve making something you can cast over and over again free like Gravecrawler by combining it with Phyrexian Altar and then killing the board with an enabler like Corpse Knight.
And then there are the non-deterministic but functionally infinite combos where you flood the board, sac everything, then reanimate it, then untap and attack. Unholy Grotto + Gray Merchant of Asphodel is basically unbeatable for a lot of decks.
Q&A
Tribal zombie, but you have...Like most good Varina decks this deck is mostly zombies - I have a couple non-zombies in the form of Archaeomancer, Pitiless Plunderer and Weathered Wayfarer who serve various purposes like ramping, finding lands, and enabling combos. Archaeomancer in particular provides some pretty savage infinite combos with some of the mass reanimation spells and Phyrexian Altar.
why no ramps
I'm just tired of drawing signets. I'd rather draw lands and play them.
I get to play cards like Expedition Map which double as ramp (find Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx or Cabal Coffers ) and winconditions like Unholy Grotto or Field of the Dead.
Why not <varina tech>
I think Alhammarret's Archive and Teferi's Ageless Insight are probably not really necessary and often winmore. I do own them and might try them out in the slot that Kindred Discovery is in. But I think discovery is probably the best of these since you can double dip with it when you reanimate your dudes later.
With the way the deck is designed, the graveyard is basically my hand so I don't care that much if I discard a grip to varina.
I'm sure there's tons of stuff I am missing and ways in which this deck will evolve over time. Infernal Caretaker for example is probably garbage. I kinda wanted to combo him with Putrid Imp and Grave Scrabbler but that might just be too cute. Who knows.