People this is not a drill: We are returning to Innistrad heading to Amonkhet and that means it's time to dust off your Gravecrawlers because things are about to get a whole lot more undead!
For many years, I have played Zombies in Modern, and with SOIAKH on the horizon the deck might finally get the final pieces it needs to push itself from the shadows and emerge as a real contender. They even spoiled one that is actually playable!
[b]What Is U/B Zombies?[/b]
U/B Zombies is a Blue and Black Aggro deck that combines the speed of cheap creatures with the resiliency of playing things that are already dead. Cards like Diregraf Captain, Geralf's Messenger and Blood Artist reward overextending, while Gravecrawler and Diregraf ghoul provide a clock to force your opponents into getting involved in two-for-one'ing themselves when they use kill spells on creatures that come back, or costing them life. Add some specialized removal, a pinch of discard and you're left with a spicy meatball capable of surprising and stealing wins from opponents who assume casting Day of Judgment is a smart play against a creature deck.
[b]But why U/B?[/b]
There are some other good candidates for color combinations, and with this being modern even tricolor can sound appealing, but remember it's consistency that wins games, so be not tempted by green and it's Abrupt Decay, and Lotleth Troll. Or red with it's Lightning Bolt and Murderous Monarchs. Also, just because this a zombie deck doesn't mean we need a hundred, or even 12 lords. This isn't merfolk, paying three whole mana for a lord that's just going to die to removal gets us nowhere! And don't be so attached to just zombies you forget about the The Top of the Curve. Ok, but then why blue? Because blue puts us into Diergraf Captain, who is the best zombie lord. First it has deathtouch, so it trades with anything. Good when you're late in the game and someone has played a bigger, dumber, creature. Or you just need to have instant-speed removal to a creature (such as comboing Kikki, an Infect dude, or a flyer) when you suit up with Mortarpod. Mortarpod, of course, is a Gravecrawler's best friend. Mortarpod is also enjoyed by Blood Artist, and Geralf's Messenger. In addition to the best lord, blue also provides some solid answers in a strictly better Negate I keep them in the sideboard to surprise decks that assume after the first game where we let all spells resolve that there is no surprises. Also, you may have noticed Vapor Snag clears the way to attack, and gets you one point closer to winning. NEATO! So, Blue: Best for you!
[b}Ok But my mummy said I should try White?[/b]
She's not wrong! Maybe. This deck predates AKH by a number of years where white was clearly the only splash color not worth considering, but now in this updated primer we have to look to the future and that says W. AKH has a number of strong offerings, and it looks like the days of Blood Artist Are finally comming to a close. It was already on the bubble when Zulaport Cutthroat came out but now it's time to say goodbye to zero power in a deck that likes to attack. Enter Wayward Servant, Binding Mummy, and Time to reflect. I think Binding mummy has some sideboard potential, but is not worth the main. Wayward Servant, however, is very playable however triggering on "enters" instead of "dies". I'm fairly certain that's worse, since it doesn't get value out of the turn one play (or anything plaid before it) but does allow it sidestep exile. A thing that is upside against other white decks running path, and Celestial Purge out of the board, and red decks running Anger of the Gods and Magma Spray That leaves us with Time to Reflect, a card that is also playable but has it's own combat-dependent problems. It's certainly no path, and doesn't allow you to kill a turn one mana dork. Both very important things for a 1-drop kill spell to do. So as you can see the three best white cards being offered aren't really improvements over anything you have in other colors so stick with Blue, but if you can afford it, maybe speculate on some WB lands?
[b]How do I play?[/b]
So you've sleeved up your Zombie deck and you're ready to go. First thing's first, you have to know what hands to keep! The best hands have at least one card from four groups: Land, early guys, late guys, and removal. If you know the speed of your opponent's deck great, you know how many of each of the above you'll need. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but I usually mull anything with more than three lands or more removal than bodies. The ideal hand plays a guy, kills their guy, and then send's them a message. Tragic Slip post combat to make sure there are no survivors.
I'll keep updating this primer with tweaks and results but I'm a few bucks short to play on MTGO so expect one update a week. Until then please give me any feedback you have! I'd love to see what else is out there, and with new spoilers coming out we should be able to break into Modern with this!
[b]What if I have a different X?[/b]
You're not alone! Some people in this very thread who agree with your difference of opinion. Here's some alternative deck lists:
BUG:
I LOVE my zombie deck for legacy and have had a hard time making a good modern deck myself so I really like your post.
I replaced artist with zulaport cutthroat and instead of obliterator I'm using 2 tombstalker as the delve ability is great!Then I'm using festering goblin instead of ghoul as its also a way to get extra sacs by giving a crawler -1-1 to trigger the captains and/or the cutthroats.
It's my defense that sucks!
I've been thinking about grinding out with Relentless Dead, which probably isn't nearly as good as people think it is, but it's probably the best 2 drop tribal zombie in modern. That and the new blue zombie tribal spell Compelling Deterrence seems like it can find a place in a zombie deck.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I LOVE my zombie deck for legacy and have had a hard time making a good modern deck myself so I really like your post.
I replaced artist with zulaport cutthroat and instead of obliterator I'm using 2 tombstalker as the delve ability is great!Then I'm using festering goblin instead of ghoul as its also a way to get extra sacs by giving a crawler -1-1 to trigger the captains and/or the cutthroats.
It's my defense that sucks!
Glad I could help!
We'll have to disagree about cutthroat and Tombstalker though. I tried them both, cutthroat for that enticing 1/1 and Tombstalker as a nifty budget option and what I found is that the extra power on a Cutthroat is not worth losing the extra Blood Artist triggers you get when your opponent loses their creatures. Attacking with a Blood Artist makes even trading so much worse for your opponet, that they're more likely to let damage through. Imagine a Geralf's messanger attacking into a pair of lingering souls tokens: With Cutthroat you get one trigger, with Blood Artist, you get three. As for Tombstalker, he is great but if you have the money, the trample and reverse sacrificing on Obliterator is just a much better option. Both need to be removed, but an Obliterator limits many options (since damaging it is bad, the only real options are path, an inherit two-for-one and Dismember, which falls into the delemia of spending four life to prevent five damage).
As for festering Goblin, how often does he work the way you want him to? I'm too scared that I'll have to kill something I like when he dies to replace the Ghouls. I would love to hear more though!
I've been thinking about grinding out with Relentless Dead, which probably isn't nearly as good as people think it is, but it's probably the best 2 drop tribal zombie in modern. That and the new blue zombie tribal spell Compelling Deterrence seems like it can find a place in a zombie deck.
I agree, this new zombie already shows promise in the deck, I just don't know what to cut. I don't want to cut the Ghouls, but they seem like the perfect thing to get replaced.
Compelling Deterrence looks nice too, my only concern is that at costing two it's more easily telegraphed than simply leaving up one mana for Vapor Snag/Tragic Slip.
It's a personal choice. All creatures do is die, so my internal pessimism says to cash in on that rather than be happy when my 3/2 can trade with a Tarmogoyf or my Mortapod becomes "2B: Destroy target creature." It's about which synergy you prefer.
I see your point with the blood artist so I'm going to put mine back in I think.
The goblin though acts as a chump block and can have the -1 go to the crawlers and have the artist activate for each.You get two deaths plus possibly a third if their creature dies too.Then on the flip side you can attack and have it die and either kill a weenie or a crawler triggering artist.Offsets opponents creature strength needed to survive by one more.1/1 kills a 2/2.
As for the tombstalker I found that the flying was the big advantage,zombies don't fly.Blocking flyers was an issue but the addition of just 2 helped damage control immensely and allowed for a few more shuffling things around the yard type strategies.Delver destroyed me with flying before.Now im just slower to die to it.lol.
Why not Viscera Seer as a sac.outlet over Mortarpod ?
It's cheaper, scrys and can attack if necessary.
I've wanted to build a Zombie deck myself recently but my idea was to use as many lords as possible and I'm not sure how to make it work (maybe with Æther Vial ?)
Yes I'd have to agree that the best way to run a zombie deck is with as many deaths recurring as possible per turn and as many triggers needed to get the job done per turn. After running various zombie decks the one common strategy that always works is graveyard triggers,thats what zombies do,they die,yard triggers,then they come back,CHEAP,and that gives the ETB triggers.Its the only way to play zombies.
And "gary" well he's something I found that by the time he was playable you already had a win con set with the cards you have already played using,usually sac triggers.
I've wanted to build a Zombie deck myself recently but my idea was to use as many lords as possible and I'm not sure how to make it work (maybe with Æther Vial ?)
I see your point with the blood artist so I'm going to put mine back in I think.
The goblin though acts as a chump block and can have the -1 go to the crawlers and have the artist activate for each.You get two deaths plus possibly a third if their creature dies too.Then on the flip side you can attack and have it die and either kill a weenie or a crawler triggering artist.Offsets opponents creature strength needed to survive by one more.1/1 kills a 2/2.
As for the tombstalker I found that the flying was the big
advantage,zombies don't fly.Blocking flyers was an issue but the addition of just 2 helped damage control immensely and allowed for a few more shuffling things around the yard type strategies.Delver destroyed me with flying before.Now im just slower to die to it.lol.
Well, I'm convinces on Uncle Fester, but we'll just have to disagree on Tombstalker. Obliterator is such a good finisher, and if you attack with it the game pretty much ends.
Aren't Geralf's Messenger and Phyrexian Obliterator hard to cast in a 2-color deck ?[/card] Barring a blood moon, every land taps for black except cavern of souls. In this mana base everything is a swamp.
[quote]
Another finisher option can be Desecration Demon which is easier to cast, has evasion and doesn't die to Dismember (the drawback isn't that bad imho).
the drawback isn't bad, but if they activate it, they were probably going to block the obliterater anyways, netting you the same chump blocker +x permanents, where x is it's power. The choice is then a +1/+1 counter and a creature against the same creature, any bonus permanents, and any trample damage. I'll grant you not dying to dismember is very appealing, but experience tells me it's worth it.
Why Geth's Verdict and Drown in Sorrow in the mainboard ?
I would rather run Dismember instead (or Victim of Night/Smother/Go for the Throat/Doom Blade/Grasp of Darkness)[/card]
They're all situational removal, and I know "giving your opponents choices" is bad, but in my opinion I was never risky enough with my life total for dismember, and the ability to circumvent hexproof (boggles, infect) and indestructible plus an extra point of life loss always sealed it for me. I usually cast it early when they only have one creature, or late when the board is clear and they windmill slam down their biggest best dude. Also, have you ever cast an instant speed sinkhole when someone tries to kill you with a manland? [quote] Phyrexian Crusader is a great zombie which is hard to remove or attack into, and the 5 turn infect clock (without lord bonuses) is pretty good.
All true, but I don't lime mixing infect with normal damage. He either wins the game alone, or was a 0/2 with protection from a few colors.
I tried this card at first and always was disappointed by it. It's a solid flyer, but th weakest of the three drops, any lord would be better. Also to curve out into it, you're only options are Diergraph Ghoul, Blood Artist, and Gravecrawler. Gravecrawler you're not going to exile, and blood artist rarely dies so fast, so it became very rare I even cast it when it was the most timely.
Why not Viscera Seer as a sac.outlet over Mortarpod ?
It's cheaper, scrys and can attack if necessary.
Pod deals damage. That appealed to me over scry. It's a little more pricy, but i use it as removal first, sac outlet second. Seer is the other way around, and your mileage may vary.
I've wanted to build a Zombie deck myself recently but my idea was to use as many lords as possible and I'm not sure how to make it work (maybe with Æther Vial ?)
Someone posted a decklist already so I'll just give a quick rundown of my experience: It can work, but zombie lords cost three, which is a huge difference over the other lotsalords deck, Merfolk, which costs two. Our lords are better, but set you a turn behind Merfolk which is a deck already struggling. If they have just as many lords at cheaper costs, what hope do we at an extra mama per spell?
I've wanted to build a Zombie deck myself recently but my idea was to use as many lords as possible and I'm not sure how to make it work (maybe with Æther Vial ?)
It can work, but you probably need more disruption. This build isn't an aggro build so you need to make sure you survive to the midrange game and don't just immediately fold to something like tron.
I haven't given obliterator a chance yet so maybe I'll try it.But fester is great,i found more often than not it adds to opponents headaches when trying to account for the next turn.
Question,without stalker don't you have an issue with flyers?They keep creaming me unless I can get my yard active asap.
I haven't given obliterator a chance yet so maybe I'll try it.But fester is great,i found more often than not it adds to opponents headaches when trying to account for the next turn.
Question,without stalker don't you have an issue with flyers?They keep creaming me unless I can get my yard active asap.
Not really, there's only about five fliers that matter: Inkmoths and blinkmoths that die to tragic slip and mortarpod (or verdict, in the infect.dec), birds of paradise (which die to the same things) flipped delvers (which you don't care about) and 1/1 spirit fliers, those I had been using Leyline of Singularity for, since it also dealt with twin (and comboed well with a lord/artist plus gravecrawler) but I cut down on those since the twin ban and luckily haven't seen during Eldrazi winter.
Stay away from regeneration,it doesn't synergize with the yard theme.With zombies pick one,either all regenerates or all sackers.(A.K.A.Degenerates and Slackers).
Instead of the images have you tried a chalice of the void set on two or ensnaring bridge ?I am running 2 bridges and a single chalice and it seems to work.Chalice has to come out after artist though but the captains are fine.
The lock from the bridge buys more time for yard shenanigans as your card in hand count will always be only one or two anyways.
You have only 2 spells that would be affected other than artist,I would maybe look at more sorrows,or maybe even bump in the night, its flashback is red but even a single city of brass can help there.
And finally I like running 2 secrets of the dead as I found its by far the fastest way to card draw for the minimum slots required.
That's what I run and it works great.Most opponent can do is ping me most times.
Who's using regeneration?
Bridge maybe, but at $50 I'll have to hold off for a bit.
As for chalice, I'm not sure. A chalice on two in a deck that can't cheat the curve doesn't seem like I can play it fast enough to be effective.
Secrets is cheap and worth a try for the price,usually if it's going to go midgame you will have drawn it already and you should have a crawler you can bounce in and out of your yard.Then it's nothing but card draw,over and over.
The chants have their use but I found if your moving like you want to be then it's a dead card,sits in my hand to often.
The chalice for me is great because I've learn to build around it,that said it has gotten in the way a few times whereas the bridges are a God send!That combined with secrets is great.
Another one is mesmeric orb.You will flood your yard with it FAST! Problem with it though is in a long game,then you have to wash your deck putting in cards to replenish your library. On the short game it's a great card.
It'd be nice to pull that new zombie in a booster but I'm not paying 20 a pop for them.
The idea was the same as this primer: overextend and wash the board.
I always loved the inclusion of blue for 2 reasons: gives counter magic access and phantasmal image access.
Don't forget you can use Killing wave to deal the final blows or sign in blood for card draw or killing your opponent.
With the new cards spoiled so far and possibly with the inclusion of madness, other cards may shine when they once did not such as: Haakon, stromgald scourge - brings back gravecrawlers and other knights Stromgald crusader - very versatile Rotting rats - enables madness
The idea was the same as this primer: overextend and wash the board.
I always loved the inclusion of blue for 2 reasons: gives counter magic access and phantasmal image access.
Don't forget you can use Killing wave to deal the final blows or sign in blood for card draw or killing your opponent.
Initially I ran Killing Wave too, but I cut it for Drown in Sorrow Because it had roughly the same impact on my board-state, was far more potent against other aggro decks, and had scry in a deck with no other card quality. In exchange you lose some bonkers plays with killing wave + Blood Artist.
With the new cards spoiled so far and possibly with the inclusion of madness, other cards may shine when they once did not such as: Haakon, stromgald scourge - brings back gravecrawlers and other knights Stromgald crusader - very versatile Rotting rats - enables madness
returning to Innistradheading to Amonkhet and that means it's time to dust off your Gravecrawlers because things are about to get a whole lot more undead!For many years, I have played Zombies in Modern, and with
SOIAKH on the horizon the deck might finally get the final pieces it needs to push itself from the shadows and emerge as a real contender. They even spoiled one that is actually playable![b]What Is U/B Zombies?[/b]
U/B Zombies is a Blue and Black Aggro deck that combines the speed of cheap creatures with the resiliency of playing things that are already dead. Cards like Diregraf Captain, Geralf's Messenger and Blood Artist reward overextending, while Gravecrawler and Diregraf ghoul provide a clock to force your opponents into getting involved in two-for-one'ing themselves when they use kill spells on creatures that come back, or costing them life. Add some specialized removal, a pinch of discard and you're left with a spicy meatball capable of surprising and stealing wins from opponents who assume casting Day of Judgment is a smart play against a creature deck.
[b]But why U/B?[/b]
There are some other good candidates for color combinations, and with this being modern even tricolor can sound appealing, but remember it's consistency that wins games, so be not tempted by green and it's Abrupt Decay, and Lotleth Troll. Or red with it's Lightning Bolt and Murderous Monarchs. Also, just because this a zombie deck doesn't mean we need a hundred, or even 12 lords. This isn't merfolk, paying three whole mana for a lord that's just going to die to removal gets us nowhere! And don't be so attached to just zombies you forget about the The Top of the Curve. Ok, but then why blue? Because blue puts us into Diergraf Captain, who is the best zombie lord. First it has deathtouch, so it trades with anything. Good when you're late in the game and someone has played a bigger, dumber, creature. Or you just need to have instant-speed removal to a creature (such as comboing Kikki, an Infect dude, or a flyer) when you suit up with Mortarpod. Mortarpod, of course, is a Gravecrawler's best friend. Mortarpod is also enjoyed by Blood Artist, and Geralf's Messenger. In addition to the best lord, blue also provides some solid answers in a strictly better Negate I keep them in the sideboard to surprise decks that assume after the first game where we let all spells resolve that there is no surprises. Also, you may have noticed Vapor Snag clears the way to attack, and gets you one point closer to winning. NEATO! So, Blue: Best for you!
[b}Ok But my mummy said I should try White?[/b]
She's not wrong! Maybe. This deck predates AKH by a number of years where white was clearly the only splash color not worth considering, but now in this updated primer we have to look to the future and that says W. AKH has a number of strong offerings, and it looks like the days of Blood Artist Are finally comming to a close. It was already on the bubble when Zulaport Cutthroat came out but now it's time to say goodbye to zero power in a deck that likes to attack. Enter Wayward Servant, Binding Mummy, and Time to reflect. I think Binding mummy has some sideboard potential, but is not worth the main. Wayward Servant, however, is very playable however triggering on "enters" instead of "dies". I'm fairly certain that's worse, since it doesn't get value out of the turn one play (or anything plaid before it) but does allow it sidestep exile. A thing that is upside against other white decks running path, and Celestial Purge out of the board, and red decks running Anger of the Gods and Magma Spray That leaves us with Time to Reflect, a card that is also playable but has it's own combat-dependent problems. It's certainly no path, and doesn't allow you to kill a turn one mana dork. Both very important things for a 1-drop kill spell to do. So as you can see the three best white cards being offered aren't really improvements over anything you have in other colors so stick with Blue, but if you can afford it, maybe speculate on some WB lands?
Creature (28)
3x Diregraf Captain
2x Diregraf Ghoul
3x Dread Wanderer
4x Geralf's Messenger
4x Gravecrawler
2x Phantasmal Image
3x Phyrexian Obliterator
4x Plague Belcher
3x Relentless Dead
3x Darkslick Shores
1x Island
4x Polluted Delta
8x Swamp
4x Watery Grave
2x Mortarpod
4x Geth's Verdict
3x Countersquall
3x Drown in Sorrow
4x Leyline of Sanctity
3x Leyline of the Void
2x Surgical Extraction
[b]How do I play?[/b]
So you've sleeved up your Zombie deck and you're ready to go. First thing's first, you have to know what hands to keep! The best hands have at least one card from four groups: Land, early guys, late guys, and removal. If you know the speed of your opponent's deck great, you know how many of each of the above you'll need. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but I usually mull anything with more than three lands or more removal than bodies. The ideal hand plays a guy, kills their guy, and then send's them a message. Tragic Slip post combat to make sure there are no survivors.
I'll keep updating this primer with tweaks and results but I'm a few bucks short to play on MTGO so expect one update a week. Until then please give me any feedback you have! I'd love to see what else is out there, and with new spoilers coming out we should be able to break into Modern with this!
[b]What if I have a different X?[/b]
You're not alone! Some people in this very thread who agree with your difference of opinion. Here's some alternative deck lists:
BUG:
4x diregraf ghoul
3x Lotleth Troll
4x Relentless Dead
4x Prized Amalgam
3x Stitchwing Skaab
4x flex/payoff creatures/lords?
2x Darkblast
3x abrupt decay/other removal/discard
4x thought scour
1x raven's crime
4x polluted delta
4x misty rainforest
3x cavern of souls
2x swamp
1x island
1x forest
2x overgrown tomb
2x watery grave
1x ghost quarter
Explaination is located on page 3.
4x Gravecrawler
4x Relentless Dead
4x Dark Confidant
4x Diregraf Colossus
4x Fleshbag Marauder
4x Diregraf Captain
1x Skaab Ruinator
4x Æther Vial
4x Nameless Inversion
4x Compelling Deterrence
2x Ghoulcaller's Chant
Lands (21)
5x Swamp
4x Polluted Delta
4x Darkslick Shores
4x Mutavault
2x Watery Grave
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Island
Explaination is located on page 2
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Gravecrawler
2 Blood Artist
4 Relentless Dead
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Phyrexian Obliterator
2 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
4 Tragic Slip
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Geth's Verdict
3 Mortarpod
18 Swamp
4 Cavern of Souls
4x Gravecrawler
4x Diregraf Ghoul
4x Cemetery Reaper
4x Death Baron
4x Lord of the Undead
4x Diregraf Captain
3x Geralf's Messenger
4x Phyrexian Crusader
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
Artifact (4)
4x Æther Vial
Land (21)
4x Darkslick Shores
4x Mutavault
4x Polluted Delta
3x Swamp
2x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Watery Grave
I replaced artist with zulaport cutthroat and instead of obliterator I'm using 2 tombstalker as the delve ability is great!Then I'm using festering goblin instead of ghoul as its also a way to get extra sacs by giving a crawler -1-1 to trigger the captains and/or the cutthroats.
It's my defense that sucks!
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
We'll have to disagree about cutthroat and Tombstalker though. I tried them both, cutthroat for that enticing 1/1 and Tombstalker as a nifty budget option and what I found is that the extra power on a Cutthroat is not worth losing the extra Blood Artist triggers you get when your opponent loses their creatures. Attacking with a Blood Artist makes even trading so much worse for your opponet, that they're more likely to let damage through. Imagine a Geralf's messanger attacking into a pair of lingering souls tokens: With Cutthroat you get one trigger, with Blood Artist, you get three. As for Tombstalker, he is great but if you have the money, the trample and reverse sacrificing on Obliterator is just a much better option. Both need to be removed, but an Obliterator limits many options (since damaging it is bad, the only real options are path, an inherit two-for-one and Dismember, which falls into the delemia of spending four life to prevent five damage).
As for festering Goblin, how often does he work the way you want him to? I'm too scared that I'll have to kill something I like when he dies to replace the Ghouls. I would love to hear more though!
I agree, this new zombie already shows promise in the deck, I just don't know what to cut. I don't want to cut the Ghouls, but they seem like the perfect thing to get replaced.
Compelling Deterrence looks nice too, my only concern is that at costing two it's more easily telegraphed than simply leaving up one mana for Vapor Snag/Tragic Slip.
Modern - Cheeri0s (building), Belcher (building), Lantern (building), UW Control (building)
RIP Magic Duels. Wizards will regret what they did to you.
The goblin though acts as a chump block and can have the -1 go to the crawlers and have the artist activate for each.You get two deaths plus possibly a third if their creature dies too.Then on the flip side you can attack and have it die and either kill a weenie or a crawler triggering artist.Offsets opponents creature strength needed to survive by one more.1/1 kills a 2/2.
As for the tombstalker I found that the flying was the big advantage,zombies don't fly.Blocking flyers was an issue but the addition of just 2 helped damage control immensely and allowed for a few more shuffling things around the yard type strategies.Delver destroyed me with flying before.Now im just slower to die to it.lol.
Aren't Geralf's Messenger and Phyrexian Obliterator hard to cast in a 2-color deck ?
Another finisher option can be Desecration Demon which is easier to cast, has evasion and doesn't die to Dismember (the drawback isn't that bad imho).
Why Geth's Verdict and Drown in Sorrow in the mainboard ?
I would rather run Dismember instead (or Victim of Night/Smother/Go for the Throat/Doom Blade/Grasp of Darkness)
Phyrexian Crusader is a great zombie which is hard to remove or attack into, and the 5 turn infect clock (without lord bonuses) is pretty good.
Stitched Drake is a decent flying zombie.
Why not Viscera Seer as a sac.outlet over Mortarpod ?
It's cheaper, scrys and can attack if necessary.
I've wanted to build a Zombie deck myself recently but my idea was to use as many lords as possible and I'm not sure how to make it work (maybe with Æther Vial ?)
And "gary" well he's something I found that by the time he was playable you already had a win con set with the cards you have already played using,usually sac triggers.
Here is my idea:
4x Gravecrawler
4x Diregraf Ghoul
4x Cemetery Reaper
4x Death Baron
4x Lord of the Undead
4x Diregraf Captain
3x Geralf's Messenger
4x Phyrexian Crusader
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
Artifact (4)
4x Æther Vial
Land (21)
4x Darkslick Shores
4x Mutavault
4x Polluted Delta
3x Swamp
2x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Watery Grave
Can this actually work ?
Well, I'm convinces on Uncle Fester, but we'll just have to disagree on Tombstalker. Obliterator is such a good finisher, and if you attack with it the game pretty much ends.
I tried this card at first and always was disappointed by it. It's a solid flyer, but th weakest of the three drops, any lord would be better. Also to curve out into it, you're only options are Diergraph Ghoul, Blood Artist, and Gravecrawler. Gravecrawler you're not going to exile, and blood artist rarely dies so fast, so it became very rare I even cast it when it was the most timely.
Pod deals damage. That appealed to me over scry. It's a little more pricy, but i use it as removal first, sac outlet second. Seer is the other way around, and your mileage may vary.
Someone posted a decklist already so I'll just give a quick rundown of my experience: It can work, but zombie lords cost three, which is a huge difference over the other lotsalords deck, Merfolk, which costs two. Our lords are better, but set you a turn behind Merfolk which is a deck already struggling. If they have just as many lords at cheaper costs, what hope do we at an extra mama per spell?
Question,without stalker don't you have an issue with flyers?They keep creaming me unless I can get my yard active asap.
Not really, there's only about five fliers that matter: Inkmoths and blinkmoths that die to tragic slip and mortarpod (or verdict, in the infect.dec), birds of paradise (which die to the same things) flipped delvers (which you don't care about) and 1/1 spirit fliers, those I had been using Leyline of Singularity for, since it also dealt with twin (and comboed well with a lord/artist plus gravecrawler) but I cut down on those since the twin ban and luckily haven't seen during Eldrazi winter.
Instead of the images have you tried a chalice of the void set on two or ensnaring bridge ?I am running 2 bridges and a single chalice and it seems to work.Chalice has to come out after artist though but the captains are fine.
The lock from the bridge buys more time for yard shenanigans as your card in hand count will always be only one or two anyways.
You have only 2 spells that would be affected other than artist,I would maybe look at more sorrows,or maybe even bump in the night, its flashback is red but even a single city of brass can help there.
And finally I like running 2 secrets of the dead as I found its by far the fastest way to card draw for the minimum slots required.
That's what I run and it works great.Most opponent can do is ping me most times.
Bridge maybe, but at $50 I'll have to hold off for a bit.
As for chalice, I'm not sure. A chalice on two in a deck that can't cheat the curve doesn't seem like I can play it fast enough to be effective.
Another card which can work for a zombies deck is Ghoulcaller's Chant.
The new Relentless Dead is very good as well and should be an obvious inclusion.
The chants have their use but I found if your moving like you want to be then it's a dead card,sits in my hand to often.
The chalice for me is great because I've learn to build around it,that said it has gotten in the way a few times whereas the bridges are a God send!That combined with secrets is great.
Another one is mesmeric orb.You will flood your yard with it FAST! Problem with it though is in a long game,then you have to wash your deck putting in cards to replenish your library. On the short game it's a great card.
It'd be nice to pull that new zombie in a booster but I'm not paying 20 a pop for them.
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Gravecrawler
4 Blood Artist
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Diregraf Captain
Spells:
4 Tragic Slip
3 Mana Leak
4 Geth's Verdict
2 Killing Wave
3 Sign in blood
8 Swamp
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Duress
4 Negate
2 Black Sun's Zenith
2 Mortarpod
3 Flashfreeze
The idea was the same as this primer: overextend and wash the board.
I always loved the inclusion of blue for 2 reasons: gives counter magic access and phantasmal image access.
Don't forget you can use Killing wave to deal the final blows or sign in blood for card draw or killing your opponent.
With the new cards spoiled so far and possibly with the inclusion of madness, other cards may shine when they once did not such as:
Haakon, stromgald scourge - brings back gravecrawlers and other knights
Stromgald crusader - very versatile
Rotting rats - enables madness
RETIRED - GAME SUCKS
Modern:
UUUMerfolksUUU
RGoblinsR
Ad Nauseam
BR 8 Racks RB
WUB Mill BUW
Legacy:
XOps! All splels! X
What I think of MaRo
UB Tezzerator
UBW Gifts
B 8Rack
Legacy
RB Goblins
Fingers crossed!