Varina, Lich Queen - Esper Zombie Midrange

[plaganegra]

@ChocoDude

Matte Dragon Shields have been my main jam ince they have been released, the sleeves have never split on me and remain the easiest to shuffle over time. The glossy ones start sticking together faster than the mattes.

I also use the dragon sleeve inner sleeves that full seal on the bottom with the flap. Learned about these from the professor - he puts a card underwater and it never gets wet when it is double sleeved like this. That sold me!

[Nikerym]

@ChocoDude

Matte Dragon Shields have been my main jam ince they have been released, the sleeves have never split on me and remain the easiest to shuffle over time. The glossy ones start sticking together faster than the mattes.

I also use the dragon sleeve inner sleeves that full seal on the bottom with the flap. Learned about these from the professor - he puts a card underwater and it never gets wet when it is double sleeved like this. That sold me!

I use the exact same setup, however finding a deckbox that holds 100 fully foiled cards double sleeved with sealable inner sleeves is a pain t.t

[Nikerym]

Well, I finally bought the last cards I needed.

Necroduality, Headless Rider, Repository Skaab and Overcharged Amalgam. All 4 for 14€. I think it's not a good rate but I plan to keep them for a while and use some of them as "flex slots"! Worst case scenario it's not a lot of money.

I think we can tune our list ver well now ! Making slight changes back and forth.

That seems a good rate to me. I'm still working on Repository but paid probably a similar amount for the rest, and theyre extended art versions for that extra swag too. Necro seems to have settled around 30 NZD and will probably stay about there till the set rotates id imagine.

Picked up / ordered
Necroduality Extended art foil €21
Tormod, the Desecrator Etched €2
Silversmote Ghoul m21 foil €1,5
Plumb the forbidden Strixhaven foil €1,25
Lazotep chancellor modern horizon foil €0,15
Master of Death extended art foil €1
wilhelt, the rotcleaver foil €0,95
Archghoul of thraben VoW foil €,3
Repository Skaab VoW foil €,2
Overcharged Amalgam Extended art foil €8,5
Headless Rider Extended art foil €4,9

all in all about €50 with shipping which I guess is ok. Now comes the job with figuring out what to take out xD

[plaganegra]

@ChocoDude

Matte Dragon Shields have been my main jam ince they have been released, the sleeves have never split on me and remain the easiest to shuffle over time. The glossy ones start sticking together faster than the mattes.

I also use the dragon sleeve inner sleeves that full seal on the bottom with the flap. Learned about these from the professor - he puts a card underwater and it never gets wet when it is double sleeved like this. That sold me!

I use the exact same setup, however finding a deckbox that holds 100 fully foiled cards double sleeved with sealable inner sleeves is a pain t.t

It took me forever to find a system that works well and this is what I use for anyone looking for a recommendation (click the spoiler below). After I got these my playgroup started getting the same stuff. The only thing that is not always popular are the sealable inner sleeves - they do make the deck thick and more difficult to shuffle, but you get used to it. After you draw your hand and a few cards the deck is very easy to shuffle.

With the deckbox and double sleeve setup I use - a nice side effect is that all the curled foils I got from Commander Legends are not flat as heck lol. The deckboxes hold the deck perfectly with the double sleeves I use and no extra room. If you use normal double sleeves without the seal you could store a few tokens, with no double sleeves - lots of extra tokens and sideboard.

SPOILER

Show

Hide

These hold a 100 card deck with double dragon sleeves and the re-sealable inner sleeves:


Sleeves:



This holds 10 decks in the boxes I linked above with extra room for tokens in the Larger storage box:

[Nikerym]

@ChocoDude

Matte Dragon Shields have been my main jam ince they have been released, the sleeves have never split on me and remain the easiest to shuffle over time. The glossy ones start sticking together faster than the mattes.

I also use the dragon sleeve inner sleeves that full seal on the bottom with the flap. Learned about these from the professor - he puts a card underwater and it never gets wet when it is double sleeved like this. That sold me!

I use the exact same setup, however finding a deckbox that holds 100 fully foiled cards double sleeved with sealable inner sleeves is a pain t.t

It took me forever to find a system that works well and this is what I use for anyone looking for a recommendation (click the spoiler below). After I got these my playgroup started getting the same stuff. The only thing that is not always popular are the sealable inner sleeves - they do make the deck thick and more difficult to shuffle, but you get used to it. After you draw your hand and a few cards the deck is very easy to shuffle.

SPOILER

Show

Hide

These hold a 100 card deck with double dragon sleeves and the re-sealable inner sleeves:


Sleeves:



This holds 10 decks in the boxes I linked above with extra room for tokens in the Larger storage box:

This is the deckbox i use, and before your post, the only deckbox i knew of that holds all my cards + a few tokens.. the dice compartments are worthless though xD

[plaganegra]

@Nikerym I saw the professor use that deckbox and he was not happy about the potential for a card getting bent or warped in there if you arent super careful, but its a very sexy box lol. If I was taking just one to FNM in a slim shoulderbag I would probably use this one and just be careful about it.

[toctheyounger]

Well, I finally bought the last cards I needed.

Necroduality, Headless Rider, Repository Skaab and Overcharged Amalgam. All 4 for 14€. I think it's not a good rate but I plan to keep them for a while and use some of them as "flex slots"! Worst case scenario it's not a lot of money.

I think we can tune our list ver well now ! Making slight changes back and forth.

That seems a good rate to me. I'm still working on Repository but paid probably a similar amount for the rest, and theyre extended art versions for that extra swag too. Necro seems to have settled around 30 NZD and will probably stay about there till the set rotates id imagine.

Picked up / ordered
Necroduality Extended art foil €21
Tormod, the Desecrator Etched €2
Silversmote Ghoul m21 foil €1,5
Plumb the forbidden Strixhaven foil €1,25
Lazotep chancellor modern horizon foil €0,15
Master of Death extended art foil €1
wilhelt, the rotcleaver foil €0,95
Archghoul of thraben VoW foil €,3
Repository Skaab VoW foil €,2
Overcharged Amalgam Extended art foil €8,5
Headless Rider Extended art foil €4,9

all in all about €50 with shipping which I guess is ok. Now comes the job with figuring out what to take out xD

Its a blessing and a curse. Were in a very good place right now, but the what to cut discussion can be a real conundrum. I've got a few leads myself but its still pretty tight.

[Nikerym]

Reviewing the list now i realize that the two cards I really wanted to buy, Empty the Laboratory and Sevinne's Reclamation didnt get ordered since I use the shopping wizard on cardmarket and did a bulk update to make everything foil, and since those 2 cards dont exist in foil, cardmaket just omits them and dont give any warning that they arent in the order.. t.t

[ChocoDude]

@plaganegra Thanks for linking what you use in a spoiler! Really cool! Seems like the consensus amongst folks (on this thread) that have chimed in so far are the DS Matte sleeves. I do have one set in Candy Apple green. Maybe I'll put them on my Ezuri build and see how they feel again. The Katanas are loosey-goosey when you first use them, but they do slowly get "stickier" as your hand oils get on them through use. I'm curious if the Dragon Shields hold up better over time to hand oils, etc.

That deckbox that holds up to 10 decks looks pretty sweet! I'm tempted. However, I'm also slightly cheap. My deckboxes consist of the 550 count white cardboard long boxes with cutout cardboard dividers. Each holds three fully-sleeved commander decks, sideboard cards and tokens, and about 50 spare sleeves. All for $0.50 per box. I have four boxes and nine fairly optimized commander decks and two that are in process. I haven't tried an actual hard deck box. Maybe I should.

I'm not sure I'll buy the sealed inner sleeves, but I do have some top-loading inner sleeves that I'm going to start using.

Thank you all for the comments!! Now I just need to play Ezuri some with the DS sleeves to see how they shuffle and feel again compared to the Katanas. I didn't like the DS's initially and that's why I went the way of the Katanas.

[Reya]

Keep in mind that Necroduality is not at all an auto-include. I only had the chance to try it while playing against computers bots... this card looks super powerful but most important, it's very fun! It can create some degenerated stuff for sure but in the same time, you can totaly avoid playing with it. A 4 mana enchantments that do nothing when it lands is not always very great if we are trying to keep tempo and pressure.

For a recovery or a late game plan, it's another story... (double Headless Rider, double Wayward Servant, double Death Barron, all of this seems crazy).

I can't wait to try the card against real players! And to read your feedbacks about it!

For now, I'm not sure to keep it for ever in my 99.

[pokken]

I...ordered myself a Khabál Ghoul for christmas

[Falkenbach]

Keep in mind that Necroduality is not at all an auto-include. I only had the chance to try it while playing against computers bots... this card looks super powerful but most important, it's very fun! It can create some degenerated stuff for sure but in the same time, you can totaly avoid playing with it. A 4 mana enchantments that do nothing when it lands is not always very great if we are trying to keep tempo and pressure.

For a recovery or a late game plan, it's another story... (double Headless Rider, double Wayward Servant, double Death Barron, all of this seems crazy).

I can't wait to try the card against real players! And to read your feedbacks about it!

For now, I'm not sure to keep it for ever in my 99.

I had a game where Necroduality got removed on sight by a friend of mine who is a Wilhelt player who saw the danger coming. I had 6 mana and was gonna pair it with a Corpse Knight :D
In that gameCrucible of Worlds did great work in combination with fetches and Field of the Dead. I eventually won with zombie apocalypse into living death. Sevinne's Reclamation is also an amazing card it got me a land and Zombie Master on to the field. With Pokken's insight of land tutors like Weathered Wayfarer and Expedition Map, I am all in on that strategy now , Also worth noting Urborg and Zombie Master got me some easy hits in.

[pokken]

Also worth noting Urborg and Zombie Master got me some easy hits in.

I really need to get zombie master in there, he's so good. I totally forgot it gave all your zombies regen.

[Reya]

I...ordered myself a Khabál Ghoul for christmas

Pushing 1 mana zombies slots to a new high

[pokken]

I...ordered myself a Khabál Ghoul for christmas

Pushing 1 mana zombies slots to a new high

I am giving some thought to playing the 2 power 1 mana zombies tbh =P

[Falkenbach]

I...ordered myself a Khabál Ghoul for christmas

Pushing 1 mana zombies slots to a new high

I am giving some thought to playing the 2 power 1 mana zombies tbh =P

I would also tell your pod that he is a knight zombie

[pokken]

I would also tell your pod that he is a knight zombie

an arabian knight(s) zombie. womp womp

[Reya]

The « 2 » symbol was so dark on Arabian Nights printing that a thought the Ghoul actually costed 1 black mana only 😅

[pokken]

The « 2 » symbol was so dark on Arabian Nights printing that a thought the Ghoul actually costed 1 black mana only 😅

Yar it's really just a collectible at this point - it would be super playable at b. I'm thinking about playing it just for the cool factor tbh.

[toctheyounger]

It....actually doesn't seem awful all things considered. But yeah thats a hell of a Christmas present lol

Re Necroduality, I think its going to bite removal fairly frequently. But I'm kind of alright with that myself. I have enough redundancy that if I really need it I can get it back, and for every time someone holds up removal for it thats probabky several other things that gets passed over for targeting. Aside from that I think any time it gets through and resolves its going to just get silly really quite quickly. I was even thinking it over in terms of Repository Skaab yesterday. You can loop reanimation with one skaab and an altar. With two you can do the same as well as recycle your permission too. Like that level of preparedness is pretty significant, and unless you're being focused down by 3 people at that point you have the game in hand.

We definitely don't need it to win but I think its similar to Rooftop Storm in that it will really grease the wheels. I think its going to end up overall slightly better than storm because it will do more outside of a combo, but it does have those applications too.

[pokken]

It....actually doesn't seem awful all things considered. But yeah thats a hell of a Christmas present lol

It was $65 so not like what it looks on paper

[toctheyounger]

It....actually doesn't seem awful all things considered. But yeah thats a hell of a Christmas present lol

It was $65 so not like what it looks on paper

A card that old you're lucky to get let alone in good condition.

[WizardMN]

Random un-Varina related question. What are your favorite card sleeves? I've been using Katana sleeves, but I'm curious what folks think of them versus the Dragon Shields, which I've never used but my LGS has a ton of supply. When I started playing Commander was around the time the Katanas had just hit the market and I got them from a different LGS that really liked them. I got to feel both and liked the Katanas more at that time, but I'm curious if any of you have been able to compare the two experientially? And whether there are other sleeves out there besides those two that are great as well?

I run the Katanas as well and I love them. I don't mind the Dragon Shields (they would easily be second best for me) but they are slightly thicker and I like having a little extra room in my deck boxes. The other benefit of Dragon Shields is that they are slightly taller which is nice but I feel that they get dirtier a little more easily? I am not sure on that last part but it seemed that way.

As for double sleeving, I use Dragon Shield Perfect Fit Sealable so I have never had an issue of the Katanas being too tight to get a double sleeved card in. Well, almost never. In very rare instances, the Sealables are just loose enough to have the card pop out but I think that is more of an inconsistency with the Sealable sleeve, not the Katana since switching to a new Sealable sleeve fixes it.

In reality though, if you don't mind the extra thickness, Dragon Shields are not bad at all. Just note that a double sleeved commander deck in Dragon Shields will not fit in every deck box. Ultimate Guard Boulders for example are the ones I had (I don't use them anymore) that became unusable.

[Nimbaway]

Random un-Varina related question. What are your favorite card sleeves? I've been using Katana sleeves, but I'm curious what folks think of them versus the Dragon Shields, which I've never used but my LGS has a ton of supply. When I started playing Commander was around the time the Katanas had just hit the market and I got them from a different LGS that really liked them. I got to feel both and liked the Katanas more at that time, but I'm curious if any of you have been able to compare the two experientially? And whether there are other sleeves out there besides those two that are great as well?

I've been primarily using Katanas for my EDH decks the past years and have liked doing so. I don't double sleeve so I like the fit they offer, they've proven to be durable to me and they do have a nice shuffle feel.

Before that I used Eclipses and Dragon Shield. At the time quality control of the Eclipses was just disappointing, with variations in sizes and durability. Even with having packs from the same batch. Dragon Shields are good, but I just ended up liking the shuffle feel of the Katanas a bit more.

[plaganegra]

Has anyone considered using songs of the damned? Late game huge mana potential, instant, cheap.