MTGNexus

This is a mid-budget attempt at a near-competitive Zombie Tribal deck. It attempts to win with Zombie combos. I would love to hear what you think about this wacky notion!

• ABUR duals - out of budget, but proxing isn't completely out of the question.
• A few other budget busters, such as Wheel of Fortune, Yawgmoth's Will, Lion's Eye Diamond and Mox Diamond.
• Free counterspells - could be included, probably should!
• Thassa's Oracle - out of Tribe

• The Commanders are the only Zombie Legends with Partner and apparently the best way to roll with Grixis Zombies.
• Liliana, Untouched by Death allows casting from the graveyard facilitating combos with several creatures.
• Haakon, Stromgald Scourge allows casting of Knights and, consequently, Shapeshifters from the graveyard.
• Acererak the Archlich is probably just bad, but he does combo hard with Rooftop Storm.
• Rooftop Storm facilitates some other combos in addition to the two-card combo with Ace.

Doomsday
The standard pile's composition would vary based on whether I needed another turn or not. If I did, Final Fortune would be needed, either in hand or on top of the pile. Any single card draw would be fine except for Top and it would work if I had another pile cracker that could dig at least two deep on the new turn.

On the ultimate turn (extra or not), step one would usually be Jeska's Will. The top two cards would be Acererak the Archlich and Rooftop Storm. The mana from Jeska's plus one U should get Storm in play and it's all over except for protecting the combo. The third card of the pile will be an interaction piece to help with that last bit.

Other piles surely can be made for other win-cons, but most of them are three-card combos and would likely be used only if one or more pieces are already in play.

Combo enablers include:
Liliana, Untouched by Death and Haakon, Stromgald Scourge. Gravecrawler enables himself as does Ace.

Most combos require Phyrexian Altar or some other sac outlet plus a mana source or substitute. Shambling Ghast provide his own mana and Rooftop Storm can eliminate the need for mana.

To actually accomplish something, one of the Aristocrat effects is needed; i.e. Diregraf Captain or Plague Belcher.

A list of potentially winning combos:

• Gravecrawler, a Phyrexian Altar and an aristocrat or;
• Haakon, one of his one-drop pals, Phyrexian Altar and an aristocrat or;
• Lili, Shambling Ghast, a sac outlet an an aristocrat or;
• Lili, any one-drop, Phyrexian Altar and an aristocrat.

Rooftop Storm and another sac outlet can substitute for Phyrexian ALtar in these combos.

• Underground River - Sea of Clouds: This was a simple mistake.
• Entomb - Rite of Flame: How did I forget Entomb? Rite of Flame doesn't feel greatly needed here.
• Forbidden Orchard - Cascade Bluffs: Rainbow lands are the best! This was an oversight.
• Gemstone Mine - Training Center: Ditto.
• Talisman of Indulgence - Talisman of Progress: I don't know, R seems more useful than W here, if you know what I mean.

Leaving off Ashnod's Altar feels like likely a mistake here but looks really promising

With all the mana rocks, a little Trash for Treasure might be worth thinking on as a way to reanimate dead altars.

pokken wrote: ↑

1 year ago

Leaving off Ashnod's Altar feels like likely a mistake here but looks really promising

With all the mana rocks, a little Trash for Treasure might be worth thinking on as a way to reanimate dead altars.

What would you cut for them?

Altar is better than rooftop storm for me. And trash I'm iffier about but maybe for march?

Why do you have Sea of Clouds in here?

TheAmericanSpirit wrote: ↑

1 year ago

Why do you have Sea of Clouds in here?

There's no explanation other than it's an error. I'll have a look and see what it ought to be.

Thanks!

EDIT: Changed to Underground River.

pokken wrote: ↑

1 year ago

Altar is better than rooftop storm for me. And trash I'm iffier about but maybe for march?

Another win-con is likely indicated. Ashnod's will get better if I add Razorlash Transmogrant - which I'm planning to do, I think, but only on account of Lili. There does need to be a slot for another Altar, and Ashnod's is probably the right one.

March of Reckless Joy is a means to crack the Doomsday pile; something has to do it. Jeska's Will will usually be in the pile. March is not nearly as good here as it is in Prosper, but I still need pile-crackers.

Added Entomb - how did I forget Entomb?

Additional tweaks to the manabase. Some UR lands swapped out for Rainbow lands, partly because Rainbow lands are the best lands and partly because I have the Rainbow lands.

Ashnod's Altar needs added, but I'm not sure what I want to cut.

Razorlash Transmogrant will likely replace Relentless Dead, especially if Ashnod's finds a slot. Razor guy will also wear a Skullclamp with more aplomb.

There are actually more Doomsday pile-crackers than I thought. Some are obviously better than others, some would work only in specific circumstances, but most would be good enough for the standard pile.

The standard pile's composition would vary based on whether I needed another turn or not. If I did, Final Fortune would be needed, either in hand or on top of the pile. Any single card draw would be fine if FF were on top of the pile except for Top and it would work if I had another pile cracker in hand.

On the ultimate turn (extra or not), step one would usually be Jeska's Will. The top two cards would be Acererak the Archlich and Rooftop Storm. The mana from Jeska's plus one U should get Storm in play and it's all over except for protecting the combo. The third card of the pile will be an interaction piece to help with that last bit.

Other piles surely can be made for other win-cons, but most of them are three-card combos and would likely be used only if one or more pieces are already in play.

Combo enablers include:
Liliana, Untouched by Death and Haakon, Stromgald Scourge. Gravecrawler enables himself as does Ace.

Most combos require Phyrexian Altar or some other sac outlet plus a mana source or substitute. Shambling Ghast provide his own mana and Rooftop Storm can eliminate the need for mana.

To actually accomplish something, one of the Aristocrat effects is needed; Diregraf Captain or Plague Belcher.

A list of potentially winning combos:

• Gravecrawler, a Phyrexian Altar and an aristocrat or;
• Haakon, one of his one-drop pals, Phyrexian Altar and an aristocrat or;
• Lili, Shambling Ghast, a sac outlet an an aristocrat or;
• Lili, any one-drop, Phyrexian Altar and an aristocrat.

Rooftop Storm and another sac outlet can substitute for Phyrexian Altar in these combos.

Doomsday pile-crackers:

Hmmm... Haakon, Stromgald Scourge and a changeling/knight sub-theme is something I hadn't considered.

Quick thoughts:

Tortured Existence is worth a slot. It is not infinite but with a creature in the bin and one in hand you can make as many zombie tokens as you have black mana.

Midnight Reaper is also a knight. That might make him more useful than Undead Augur if you can justify a higher CMC. Anything that gives him lifelink will negate the damage portion, letting you dig deep without killing yourself. Something instant speed likeBlacklance Paragon, or an artifact like Shadowspear or Whip of Erebos

Gamazson wrote: ↑

1 year ago

Hmmm... Haakon, Stromgald Scourge and a changeling/knight sub-theme is something I hadn't considered.

Quick thoughts:

Tortured Existence is worth a slot. It is not infinite but with a creature in the bin and one in hand you can make as many zombie tokens as you have black mana.

Midnight Reaper is also a knight. That might make him more useful than Undead Augur if you can justify a higher CMC. Anything that gives him lifelink will negate the damage portion, letting you dig deep without killing yourself. Something instant speed likeBlacklance Paragon, or an artifact like Shadowspear or Whip of Erebos

Thanks for the reply!

Haakon and company have helped out considerably in Varina and besides, I was a closet Haakon fan for years. He's better in Varina because the whole team can be binned with Buried Alive - usually Haakon, Foulmire Knight and Corpse Knight. Just add Phyrexian Altar and it's GG. There's no Zombie Commander for sans-G, so it's not a consideration and I think R is more beneficial to the Turbo plan than W.

Tortured existence has come across the radar before for Varina; it's worth another thought, although I'm not in the mass reanimation business here; I'm looking to combo as fast as I can. One real concern. though. is the shortage of cards to get Haakon in the bin.

Midnight Reaper has been in the Varina list for some time, but I don't like the idea of three drops here that aren't essential. Undead Augur doesn't have a lock on a slot, but in my experience, he's pretty good.

While one might quibble about Changelings, there are out-of-tribe creatures that would be much more beneficial than Blacklance dude but I'm purposely keeping to the Zombie tribe.

Life is a resource here and I don't think I want to devote resources to recharging.