Varina, Lich Queen

[WizardMN]

That is a pretty good point. I don't do combo and my deck (really all my decks) are geared towards control so I have noticed that my deck has been becoming more different than others in Toc's thread. Not a bad thing but it can be hard to determine valuable cards when the context is different.

To be fair, it is possible Wilhelt would have been the cut anyway due to the similarity to Rider but with being more expensive. The main problem is that I don't have a lot of cards I can see actually swapping out beyond the new ones I add. That is, I seem to have settled into a pretty comfortable "core" with about 5 cards currently being flex slots: Dread Return, Apprentice Necromancer, Archghoul of Thraben, Memory Deluge, and Empty the Laboratory. That isn't to say I want to cut any of these but I don't have a lot of cards I *am* willing to cut at this time.

I had been complaining about the lack of good zombies in recent sets but perhaps I should just be happy that it makes my decisions easier

[yeti1069]

Yeah, I think at this point my list is looking more similar to yours than the others, largely because I'm not all that interested in dropping interesting zombies for fairly dull 1- and 2-drops to speed the deck up. I've dropped the curve a bit, and made some adjustments to improve consistency (Crucible of Worlds has been fantastic!), but I've played low-mana aggressive decks, and don't really want to convert this one over fully to that game plan. I've also deemphasized combos across all my decks. They aren't gone, but I stripped down the tutors and removed non-synergistic pieces.

[Falkenbach]

Yeah, I think at this point my list is looking more similar to yours than the others, largely because I'm not all that interested in dropping interesting zombies for fairly dull 1- and 2-drops to speed the deck up. I've dropped the curve a bit, and made some adjustments to improve consistency (Crucible of Worlds has been fantastic!), but I've played low-mana aggressive decks, and don't really want to convert this one over fully to that game plan. I've also deemphasized combos across all my decks. They aren't gone, but I stripped down the tutors and removed non-synergistic pieces.

yeah there seems to be more and more people lowering their curves getting in 1-2 drop zombies. I threw out some signets for those but i'm not gonna lower my curve and get cards like God-Eternal Oketra or Mikaeus, the Unhallowed or even Grimgrin, Corpse-Born out of my deck. They are just fun to play and do their work in a right above casual playgroup. But we do have alot to play arround now and many different builds to try out. I also enjoy the gameplay talks that Wizard, toc or pokken talk about in the posts. You get to see what cards work and don't work.

[toctheyounger]

It really does hurt not having Wilhelt available. When he's been available to me he's been excellent. Even just having a presence post board wipe is really helpful, and his sac ability is a nice alternative to card filtering.

As far as the low drops go, I'm sort of trying to hit some middle ground myself. Theres a veritable ton of 1-2 zombies but most of them are middling to bad. I do want to get the good ones into my list purely because they are better early game than rocks in my opinion. But we've been very blessed with recent releases so I'm not really interested in a full low curve build myself. Getting rid of Mike for example would be a huge bummer for me.

Personally I'm just very pleased to see how many varieties and options we have available to us these days, there's so many ways to make use of Varina now.

[WizardMN]

I still like Magic Online for a lot of reasons but the release schedule of Magic Products creating issues with MTGO not being able to keep up is frustrating. It, so far, has been worst for Kykar as I think MTGO is missing 3 cards I want there. I will probably end up doing more to come up with a "substitution list" for Online once I actually start playing in Paper more. I found another shop that does Commander that I have been doping Prereleases at so now I just need to stop being lazy and get out of the house.

I think those points are relevant and really go beyond just this deck and what our respective lists are. I think it applies to a lot of lists and depends on what people are trying to do. While I don't run Mike partly because of mana cost, he is powerful and, more importantly, fun. He introduces a number of lines that make for interesting games. It is generally one of the reasons I tend to eschew combos since they don't really end up being interesting after the first couple times. So, I would agree that our builds shouldn't be focused on hyper-aggression and should be slanted towards making playing with the deck more fun while still trying to make the deck win with those fun elements.

[toctheyounger]

Agreed completely. And there's no reason the deck can't be fun and win. I've had a pretty poor run lately but I'm also halfway through some changes which leaves me neither here nor there for what the build is doing. Regardless its doing what it needs to do mostly, and I'm pretty excited to test some of the new releases.

[WizardMN]

Here are my thoughts on new cards from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Since there are no zombies, there weren't many potential options:

Colorless and Land Cards

Takenuma, Abandoned Mire - I am not over the moon about this card, but I think it makes sense to try out. Since it enters untapped, and produces the one color we actually care about, the risk is fairly low.

[WizardMN]

Here are my thoughts on cards from Streets of New Capenna:

Blue Cards

An Offer You Can't Refuse - I like this card and I want to try it in a couple other decks, but I am not sure it is quite right here. I think I would prefer the inflexibility of Swan Song over giving them two treasures. But, in a multiplayer game, temporarily ramping one player to stop their shenanigans might be fine since we can work together to stop whatever they do with the extra mana as well. It is risky either way though.

Multicolor Cards

Obscura Charm - I do like Charms but I don't think the modes on this one will generally be all that important often enough. It is expensive as a counter, we only have a small number of permanents that fit the criteria for the first ability, and 3 or less on the last ability is very restricting. I think it is a pass.

Tainted Indulgence - This seems like a pretty decent card draw option as well as a way to fill our yard in anticipation of a mass reanimation spell. Instant timing also allows for digging for answers in certain cases if needed. I am not sure what I would cut for it, but I think it could be alright.

Void Rend - This looks pretty solid. While there are other options that can hit lands, I think being uncounterable and with no other drawback can push it ahead of things like Generous Gift. Anguished Unmaking might still beat it out though due to the exile clause and I am not running that in this deck so I likely won't run this either. But I do think it is a good removal option.

Colorless and Land Cards

Raffine's Tower - Lands that enter tapped are a bit tough for use but ones that can be fetched and fix multiple colors are worth it. I think this is wasy to add in somewhere.

[WizardMN]

Since Baldur's Gate previews have concluded, here are my thoughts on some of the cards from the set that might work in this deck as well as some lands from the previous set I missed. In this case, it is just the lands:

Colorless and Land Cards

Shattered Sanctum, Deserted Beach, Shipwreck Marsh - These are all pretty good lands. While they aren't the best on Turn 2 and maybe turn 1, they are great from turn 3 onwards. They seem pretty solid in terms of fixing in all but the most aggressive decks and, even then, seem still worthwhile as they are very unlikely to be the only land one keeps.

[WizardMN]

Here are the newest changes I am making to the deck:

6/13/2022

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

CUTS

1 Plains

1 Prairie Stream

1 Swamp

ADDS

1 Shattered Sanctum

1 Deserted Beach

1 Shipwreck Marsh

Approximate Total Cost:

The cuts are pretty straightforward: I have enough Plains so cutting one isn't a huge problem here. Cutting a Swamp is fine since I am adding 2 lands that tap for Black. And I am cutting Stream since it doesn't tap for Black. It is fetchable but it also has a higher chance to enter tapped and I would prefer to not deal with tap lands in this deck. Or, at least, I want to limit those interactions if I can. Some lands are still good enough to keep them even if they can enter tapped but since this one doesn't tap for Black, it is an easy choice to get rid of. Sunken Hollow is probably the next cut in the land department if I need something.

[WizardMN]

I forgot a couple changes in the list so here are some others:

6/13/2022

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

CUTS

1 Sunken Hollow

1 Memory Deluge

1 Dread Return

ADDS

1 Raffine's Tower

1 Tainted Indulgence

1 Void Rend

Approximate Total Cost:

Raffine's Tower is pretty good fixing though always entering tapped is not great. Based on my previous comments, Sunken Hollow is pretty much the only land I could think I want to cut so that is what I am going to go with.

For Indulgence and Void Rend I couldn't really see any obvious cuts. Memory Deluge seemed like one of the few that seems right. Empty the Laboratory is another I considered but I still have yet to actually get to use it and Undead Warchief had been talked about months ago as an option that I still feel might not be worth it. Both are potentially good cards though and I am not sure I want to pull the trigger on Warchief quite yet. So, I am just going to move back from the targeted reanimation and get rid of Dread Return. It wasn't one I was enamored with to start with and I need to make room to try these new cards so it gets the cut.

[WizardMN]

Finally getting around to actually making changes in my physical decks and I realized I never added Takenuma which I feels is a reasonable card in the deck. At least, at best, it will rarely be worse than a Swamp and most often better so I might as well try it.

8/5/2022

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

CUTS

1 Swamp

ADDS

1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire

Approximate Total Cost:

[WizardMN]

With the full spoiler of Dominaria United, here are my thoughts on some of the cards that might make sense in this deck:

Multicolor Cards

Ratadrabik of Urborg - 4 mana is a tough spot to be in but I do like the Vigilance. I don't think the trigger is all that relevant as I don't run many Legendary Zombies beyond Varina. It is not a bad card by any means, but it just isn't quite where it needs to be for this deck.

[WizardMN]

With the release of the full Brother's War set, I have gone through to determine what cards might be good for this deck. Or, in some cases, which ones are worthy of discussion even if I may not add them:

Black Cards

Hostile Negotiations - This has almost no down side. It isn't as good as Fact or Fiction or Epiphany at the Drownyard where I can make the piles as I see fit. But it does let me see 6 cards and it is a real possibility that I will get good cards in hand and in the yard which means both sides work well. It has some issues still but I could see running it. I do think the aforementioned cards are probably still higher on the list.

Overwhelming Remorse - Since this deck plays out of the yard quite a bit, it seems likely that this could be 2 or 3 mana fairly often (and maybe even 1 mana a good amount of the time). I will have to check to see if I really have a good removal option to swap out with this as the deck is primarily built with sweepers in mind so it might not make the most sense here. Still a decent card I think.

[pokken]

Razorlash Transmogrant is pretty great.

[WizardMN]

I probably should have had some comment in there about that card but it didn't stick out to me as one that I really cared about. Sure, it is almost certainly going to be a 4/2 for {BB} against most opponents and being able to get it back often is good. But it just didn't excite me. I don't really have a great argument against it other than I just don't like the card much. Perhaps I should give it more credit since it is basically a double Gravecrawler for double the cost which isn't exactly bad. I might revisit it later and see if there is something I want to take out for it.

[devilcatz]

It seems always good to keep more cards in hand and used stuff from the graveyard? It can still be used even when countered or sacrificed.

[WizardMN]

Here are my thoughts regarding March of the Machine, March of the Machine: Commander, and March of the Machine: Aftermath. I am also potentially including cards from Warhammer 40k Commander since I got behind a little:

White Cards

Excise the Imperfect - An instant timing answer to basically anything. The main issue is that I am not sure on the power/downside of providing an Incubate token. I think in most cases I would probably rather deal with a 4/4, 5/5, 6/6, or whatever token than I would with whatever it is I am trying to remove. The main downside is simply that if it is stopping one from dying to combat damage, the token probably ends up being enough to deal the killing blow next year anyway. But that is a fairly small issue considering all the powerful permanents that exist out there.

Black Cards

Poxwalkers - Not the greatest option but it is a zombie which we seem get very few of. I don't think it will often trigger so it ends up not being worth including.

[WizardMN]

I decided I wanted to make a change to the deck:

5/20/2023

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

CUTS

1 Plains

ADDS

1 Castle Locthwain

Approximate Total Cost:

Castle Locthwain seems like a pretty decent option for card draw without it impacting the mana base all that much. Since it relies on Swamps though, I didn't want to remove a swamp for it so Plains was the next best option. I will see if it ends up causing any issues but I think this is a fairly innocuous change

[WizardMN]

I played this deck tonight 1v1 against a Giada, Font of Hope deck. It was just supposed to be a quick game in between other games while we waited for 2 of the group to get a bite to eat. And Varina is likely my best deck to play 1v1 as I think my others are just too powerful.

Since it was 1v1, I won't go into too much detail, but there were a few things that happened I wanted to call out. I started off somewhat slow and they got Giada down and then Platinum Angel down later before I really had much going on. I had Varina on board but they killed it on her first attack.

I was able to draw a few cards with Cryptbreaker which really helped and Shepherd of Rot was able to pressure (though I was losing life too). I had to skip a few turns with it just to play it safe. But I did get down Carrion Feeder, Midnight Reaper, Wayward Servant, and Corpse Knight. During the game, I never attacked beyond the one attack from Varina because their Angels were too big. But Shepherd of Rot got their life down to 17 and I was able to sac everything one turn and cast Living Death to win off the triggers. I got back Vengeful Dead which could have drained for more as needed.

One thing worth noting is that I had Land Tax and Expedition Map on turns 1 and 2 and Land Tax was fantastic. But I never ended up activating the Map, even to get a land drop because I had other things to do. It just sat out there doing nothing. I may want to revisit some of the cheaper, less impactful, zombies just to build board states quicker.

[yeti1069]

Having difficulty finding sequencing for Expedition Map is why I ended up cutting that and Cabal Coffers.

[pokken]

Yeah I wound up cutting map when I lowered my curve. Spring leaf drum replaced it and it's been great. Really makes early game sequencing easier since I rarely want to swing before Varina drops anyway.

[WizardMN]

Having difficulty finding sequencing for Expedition Map is why I ended up cutting that and Cabal Coffers.

Yeah I wound up cutting map when I lowered my curve. Spring leaf drum replaced it and it's been great. Really makes early game sequencing easier since I rarely want to swing before Varina drops anyway.

Cutting Map is where I am at and I think I want to fill it in (perhaps with a couple other cuts) with some 1 mana zombies just to give more things to help get more use out of Varina. I think I want to focus more on just getting Varina down turn 4 but to do enough before that where I can get a good use out of her triggers. I don't know where that leads me entirely, but I think having some "bad" 1 drops really can smooth out the deck a bit.

[pokken]

Cutting Map is where I am at and I think I want to fill it in (perhaps with a couple other cuts) with some 1 mana zombies just to give more things to help get more use out of Varina. I think I want to focus more on just getting Varina down turn 4 but to do enough before that where I can get a good use out of her triggers. I don't know where that leads me entirely, but I think having some "bad" 1 drops really can smooth out the deck a bit.

I think my build is one of the best of that approach of 1-2-3-varina, and it should have most of the other decent ones in the sideboard section https://deckbox.org/sets/3016407

I always kinda liked Dread Wanderer and Dreadmalkin.

I do fill in my curve with Ponder and Brainstorm since my manabase can usually support it.

[WizardMN]

I haven't done a lot with tweaking this deck but I decided to pull it out last night. I played enough games that some blended together so I will just go over my thoughts on it.

I started out with just casting a couple draw spells and then casting Undead Warchief to get something going. I was able to get down Varina but the board was blown soon after. I rebuilt a little and was finally able to get in an attack with Varina on the board and looted until I ended up with Zombie Apocalypse in hand along with Empty the Laboratory. I ended up looting that away later on.

Zombie Apocalypse got me my board back and destroyed a couple relevant Humans. From here, I was able to control the board with things like Gravecrawler, Grimgrin, Corpse-Born, and Noxious Ghoul. This wrathe the board for a turn or two, especially since Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx gave me enough mana to keep recasting Gravecrawler. Ghoul was a big thing here and it gave me a good opening to attack into my opponents without them having much in the way of blockers.

In the end, I just swung out to win the game. Nothing too special beyond my mass reanimation allowing me to rebuild.

This game suggested two different things: Empty the Laboratory was a card I really wanted to cast but never got a great opportunity to do so. And since I did just fine without it, it might not be worth the slot. And two: I think I want one or two more straight card draw spells. Not simply cantrips but something that can get me more cards in hand. Painful Truths is the obvious one but there are plenty of blue cards that can help here. Not sure what I really want though.