Varina, Esper Zombie
Tonight I picked up Diabolic Intent and Takenuma, Abandoned Mire. Takenuma will probably replace the second Swamp. Intent will require some thought.
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Tonight I was struggling for mana with Living Death and Phyrexian Arena in hand when someone rudely did a Dark Deal. The new hand included Culling the Weak and Zombie Apocalypse. An Army token was culled, everything else was sac'ced to Carrion Feeder and the Apocalypse fired off.pokken wrote: ↑10 months agoBe sure to let me know how Culling the Weak is. I have really thought hard about Songs of the Damned and Culling the Weak at times given how goo dCrypt of Agadeem has been.
One of the cards in the yard was Sidisi, Undead Vizier, which tutored up Sevinne's Reclamation for the Arena and that and Gravecrawler finished the job as both Wayward Servant and Corpse Knight were in the reanimated pile.
I'm pretty much sold on Culling the Weak, but I still don't have a copy of Songs of the Damned yet.
New things in test:
- Master of Death - I quite like this guy. He's very easy to recur and helps feed Varina.
- Silversmote Ghoul - This guy hasn't had a fair shake yet, but I'm frankly dubious about him. Attacking with three isn't really all that common.
- Graveborn Muse - I really like this old girl! Big card draw!
- Reflections of Littjara - I'm pretty sure this isn't going to stick, but I got it for $0.20 so I thought I'd give it a try. I'd been running Grave Pact in this slot and, while it's brutally effective it's just no fun AT ALL. I'll probably go back to Tombstone Stairwell in this slot.
- Songs of the Damned - Brand new. This will obviously be hit or miss, but it's got a high ceiling and I definitely wanted another ritual.
- Winds of Abandon - Also brand new. This looks solid, and a nice replacement for Damn.
Sliversmotr Ghoul: prob not too useful when Varina is dead. These days, there are a lot removals and broadwipes for it to be useful.
Winds of Abandon: Awesome to cast for the win. Many decks run basics. Mono and dual colours deck get too much help w the lands… I cut it after a few bad games helping others to ramp faster..
Winds of Abandon: Awesome to cast for the win. Many decks run basics. Mono and dual colours deck get too much help w the lands… I cut it after a few bad games helping others to ramp faster..
Silversmote Ghoul put on a show tonight! He taught me to not disrespect him in a big way.
He was out early and I had Skullclamp in play. Once Varina came out, it was attack with three, gain three, Clamp Ghoul, bring him back EoT. Over and over and over again! Undead Augur was out prior to Ghoul and Midnight Reaper followed shortly after; the card draw was incredible!
Obviously, this won't happen regularly - or maybe ever again, but it was spectacular. It's nice to have another guy who can combo hard with Clamp, even if it's not as easy as some of the other guys.
Silversmote can stay indefinitely.
He was out early and I had Skullclamp in play. Once Varina came out, it was attack with three, gain three, Clamp Ghoul, bring him back EoT. Over and over and over again! Undead Augur was out prior to Ghoul and Midnight Reaper followed shortly after; the card draw was incredible!
Obviously, this won't happen regularly - or maybe ever again, but it was spectacular. It's nice to have another guy who can combo hard with Clamp, even if it's not as easy as some of the other guys.
Silversmote can stay indefinitely.
The experiment with Sauron's Ransom and Epiphany at the Drownyard is over; Mystic Remora and Rhystic Study are back. I even tutored for Rhystic the other day; I drew so many cards, it was obnoxious. A boardwipe and especially an overloaded Cyclonic Rift really helped with hindering my opponents ability to pay the tax.
Also, what was I thinking with Reflections of Littjara? Bad card is bad. Tombstone Stairwell is back for now, even though I know Grave Pact is almost certainly better. I feel this slot will probably eventually go to Kindred Discovery, even though I do not like the idea of another five-MV enchantment. It's probably well worth it although it will not replace Rooftop Storm. I do have to find a copy of K.D., so far I haven't been able to find one locally.
Also, Isolated Chapel replaced Tainted Field.
Also, what was I thinking with Reflections of Littjara? Bad card is bad. Tombstone Stairwell is back for now, even though I know Grave Pact is almost certainly better. I feel this slot will probably eventually go to Kindred Discovery, even though I do not like the idea of another five-MV enchantment. It's probably well worth it although it will not replace Rooftop Storm. I do have to find a copy of K.D., so far I haven't been able to find one locally.
Also, Isolated Chapel replaced Tainted Field.
Varina had a nice win tonight that showcased the remarkable flexibility of combo Zombies. All three opponents had formidable board-states and Varina had around thirty-five life, Undead Augur and, I think, Lazotep Chancellor in play - oh, and Gravecrawler in the 'yard.
So I had a tutor and went and got Phyrexian Altar. And I started digging. Cast Gravecrawer, sac Gravecrawler, lose one life, draw a card. After a while, I hit Plague Belcher, and started making some progress. One player had Essence Warden in play, so until this point, I was actually pumping his life total up. But I eventually hit Corpse Knight and closed the game out - with about seven life left.
This turn was made possible by a healthy, six-mana Songs of the Damned, which felt pretty good.
Afterward, all three players described what terrible schemes they had for the next turn or so, C'est la vie.
So I had a tutor and went and got Phyrexian Altar. And I started digging. Cast Gravecrawer, sac Gravecrawler, lose one life, draw a card. After a while, I hit Plague Belcher, and started making some progress. One player had Essence Warden in play, so until this point, I was actually pumping his life total up. But I eventually hit Corpse Knight and closed the game out - with about seven life left.
This turn was made possible by a healthy, six-mana Songs of the Damned, which felt pretty good.
Afterward, all three players described what terrible schemes they had for the next turn or so,
C'est la vie.A change is needed to the mana base; the Cavern of Souls is needed elsewhere. I don't feel it's really important here in any case.
The question is, "What to replace it with?"
The idea of Cabal Pit crossed my mind, mainly just because I happen to have an extra. But I think the beast replacement would be City of Brass.
Dromar's Cavern actually seems kind of cool. The whole bounce thing is generally negative, but would often be harmless and occasionally beneficial due to it causing another Field of the Dead trigger. It's a very cheap, untapped tri-land, but it's probably still just bad.
There are many possible replacements that are out of budget; City of Brass is about as expensive as I'd like to go. I'm still missing one fetch, but it will probably just have to stay that way.
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The question is, "What to replace it with?"
The idea of Cabal Pit crossed my mind, mainly just because I happen to have an extra. But I think the beast replacement would be City of Brass.
Dromar's Cavern actually seems kind of cool. The whole bounce thing is generally negative, but would often be harmless and occasionally beneficial due to it causing another Field of the Dead trigger. It's a very cheap, untapped tri-land, but it's probably still just bad.
There are many possible replacements that are out of budget; City of Brass is about as expensive as I'd like to go. I'm still missing one fetch, but it will probably just have to stay that way.
List is maintained in original post.
If a land is always coming in tapped, I think it needs a better upside than just making two colors and Surveil. The fetch-ability is nice and maybe that makes it worth a thought. . . These lands are definitely the best, two-color tapped lands for us.pokken wrote: ↑2 months agoIf you aren't running any of the new surveil lands the Undercity Sewers is probably worth a look
In those circumstances where I can afford to fetch a tapped land, I'm always going to go for the triome first. I have occasionally wished for another fetch-able Plains, so it might be worth thinking about Shadowy Backstreet.
But I think City of Brass appeals more.
Upon reflection, however, I have never liked Hallowed Fountain in my Varina deck. Perhaps one of these lands could be substituted for it; it's really only in the list to provide another fetch-able Plains.
The latest edition of my try-hard Varina list. I've retired Prosper, so it's finally time to build this!
I haven't fully thought out some things, such as Doomsday piles and pile crackers, but it doesn't seem as if it will be too tough to figure them out. Varina can certainly crack a pile, and there are other card draw effects. Bolas's Citadel can certainly top a pile as well as crack one.
The mana base, like everything else, is limited to what I have.
Some of the higher-MV stuff may well not be good here, but I guess we will find out.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
I haven't fully thought out some things, such as Doomsday piles and pile crackers, but it doesn't seem as if it will be too tough to figure them out. Varina can certainly crack a pile, and there are other card draw effects. Bolas's Citadel can certainly top a pile as well as crack one.
The mana base, like everything else, is limited to what I have.
Some of the higher-MV stuff may well not be good here, but I guess we will find out.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
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I know this is going to go agains the grain a little but I think if you are truly trying hard with Varina, you need to be running Demonic Consultation and Thassa's Oracle.
I'd dig deep and try to trade for an Intuition because the package of Thassa's Oracle + Dread Return + Spellseeker will win games and is probably the most tryhardy thing you can be doing. It similarly gets the Haakon style combos as well of course, so you can do that if you think there's an answer for the above.
Varina's ability to dig super deep and apply lots of board pressure just by exiling your crap has some utility at a CEDH table, and she's bigger than most creatures which is also good. So I'd lean into that + her ability.
I'd definitely not bother with Rooftop Storm which is way too expensive, and Bolas's Citadel similarly is too expensive.
If you aren't trying quite CEDH but just super tryhard and want to maintain the ethos of zombie combo, I'd still cut out the top end cards and find an Intuition. Intuition is the true engine of Varina tryhard.
I'd dig deep and try to trade for an Intuition because the package of Thassa's Oracle + Dread Return + Spellseeker will win games and is probably the most tryhardy thing you can be doing. It similarly gets the Haakon style combos as well of course, so you can do that if you think there's an answer for the above.
Varina's ability to dig super deep and apply lots of board pressure just by exiling your crap has some utility at a CEDH table, and she's bigger than most creatures which is also good. So I'd lean into that + her ability.
I'd definitely not bother with Rooftop Storm which is way too expensive, and Bolas's Citadel similarly is too expensive.
If you aren't trying quite CEDH but just super tryhard and want to maintain the ethos of zombie combo, I'd still cut out the top end cards and find an Intuition. Intuition is the true engine of Varina tryhard.
The try-hard experiment is being terminated. It did win most of it's games, but it did not do so with particular alacrity. As the high-power stuff is now earmarked for a new project - specifically Stella Lee, a somewhat more casual Varina list is forthcoming.
