So, Game Day today. Took down my Zombies as usual. Didn't think I'd stand a chance. A couple of the top players were talking as I came in, one had "Just brought a CoCo Bant deck that was lying around," and the other had brought a Spirit deck. So great, two top tier decks... Anyway, this is what I brought:
So, first round I get pooled against one of the younger players who had brought a BG Delerium deck. I had to mulligan down to five and only ever had four mana on the board. I managed to get down a Liliana, the Last Hope, and for some reason he wouldn't attack into it. Eventually I ultimated her, got something like five zombies. Next turn he throws down Emrakul, The Promised End. Obviously that had been his one goal. Problem was, he could just attack himself with one Zombie and activate a Cryptbreaker to discard a Voldaren Pariah. Then in the end step I got basically twelve Zombies or something, and that was it for a very thematic end to the game with hordes of Zombies storming Emrakul. Second game I just pushed faster, didn't want Emrakul again and got him before he had a chance to build up his graveyard. So up 1-0.
My second matchup I get probably the top player in the club at the moment. Really good player, with a Spirit deck... "Oh well," I thought, "back to middle of the pack as usual..." Getting used to Spirits is hard as everything has Flash. If you attack with just one creature, in comes a Spirit to tap your attacker, or Essence Flux. So you really have to time it. Liliana is a bomb against them though but you need to protect her. I managed to get a good board state and went wide, for the win. I was shocked. Second game was pretty much the same, I think a well-placed Languish helped clear the board for me and a 7/7 Diregraf Colossus along with Gisa and Geralf sealed it. By now people are starting to notice that I'm 2-0.
Next up was the next top player, playing Coco Bant... Just no letup... Grasp of Darkness helped with his Lambholt Pacifists and Tireless Trackers and being to constantly cast things kept the Duskwatch Recruiters from transforming. Collected Company pulled out some stuff, but a Voldaren Pariah transformed cleared it for me and I could swing for lethal. Being able to constantly draw with Cryptbreaker proved decisive. Second game I did my one big misplay of the day. I knew he had Archangel Avacyn in hand when I transformed a Pariah. He flashed in Avacyn, sacced his creatures and of course transformed Avacyn into Avacyn, the Purifier... So there went all my Zombies... My transformed Pariah went down to Dromoka's Command and that was game. Third game I think he purposefully went for a draw as he took ages to shuffle and seemed to be generally slower. In the end, we ran out of time, which was just as well as it was looking tough, so a 1-1 draw. I'm now 2-0-1, and leading the board...
Final game, and now I'm proper nervous. I get the next top guy, so literally THE top three players at the store. Great... I know he runs Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Liliana, the Last Hope, AND Sorin, Grim Nemesis. So I'm not exactly holding my breath here. But his Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet goes down to a Grasp, his Gideon hits a Negate, and constant pressure again gets me the game with Liliana pulling back a huge Diregraf for me. Second game I massively sideboard in my counters and Languish, in fact we both use it at some point. It gets really slow but when he transforms a Shambling Vent and I Grasp it, he's short of mana and creatures. My first creatures that stick around are actually two Zombies from a Dark Salvation for 5. Gideon pops in but gets Ruinous Path on him, and just by sticking to it and pushing I get it, drawing out all the control stuff as it all just keeps coming back. Relentless Dead here was amazing.
So, 3-0-1, and my first ever Game Day Champion's mat is mine! With a homebrew Zombie deck no one thought could win anything. I was so surprised, I still can't get it.
The deck works, but you have to pick your spots, understand the opponent and the deck and hit at the right time. It's all about going wide and rebuilding if you have to. Everything I had in worked at some point or other. I cast a Gisa and Geralf, then a Relentless Dead from the graveyard, dragging with it a Prized Amalgam, so in one turn there's nine damage on the board. Got two Amalgams another time. Reflector Mage came up in the two middle games, but Dark Salvation and see you later. Salvation is such a good card, it's never irrelevant. It can help build your board, give creature advantage, stops the opponent giving a target +2 or whatever to save them from a Grasp (not with like -10/-10) and works with just the one B.
The only change I'm going to make is to drop one Pariah and a Stitchwing Skaab and put in two Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. The lifegain will be useful and his 2B ability could make him immune to Languish. And I need to get better at doing the discards in their turn rather than my own.
So hang in there, fellow Zombie players, for we are underrated and dangerous.
I think, though, that the key to this deck is to keep pacing the opponent. Make them have to react to you. If they have loads of removal then make them play that instead of their own stuff. For burn, keep the pressure up, make them have to decide whether to hit your creatures or you. For Emrakul, just have as many zombies out as possible. I think because this isn't a top tier deck no one's going to be consider it a threat and they won't know the interactions.
Yeah, forget what I said about Murderous Compulsion... I ran into Red Burn yesterday as well, no Fevered Visions, just a succession of Lightning Axes comboing with Fiery Temper for 8 damage for RR, Incendiary Flow, Burn from Within and Thermo-Alchemists, and some other ones... It's hard. First game I got, managed to keep a Lili around long enough to ultimate her, but the next couple of games she got burned up quickly as did Kalitas.
I guess it's just load up on counters, like Negate, Scatter to the Winds, Invasive Surgery and Clash of Wills. Not much else you can do other than Collective Brutality, which might actually be useful because it gets rid of a burn spell and could give you two life back, or Duress. Lesson learned: don't play Kalitas without a counter in hand...
I'm guessing this isn't getting much love these days... Shame, I still think it's fun. Got a solid third place finish at my last FNM, only losing to the winner who had three wins and a draw, and I had three wins and a loss. I could have had it, but a couple of Essence Fluxes made sure I couldn't get rid of his Selfless Spirit in game 3, so I lost 2-1. It was close though. Still, pulled a Tamiyo, Field Researcher in my prize booster, so it wasn't too bad.
I did beat Vampires tribal, Bant Company and another Spirit deck though. A lot of people were talking about going to Fevered Visions/Thermo-Alchemist though, so I'm thinking at least one Orbs of Warding in the sideboard.
Can we discuss Kaladesh now that it's been spoilt? I don't see anything in there that's going to help this deck. Which is very annoying as now I'll need to go and buy a whole new deck...
Can we discuss Kaladesh now that it's been spoilt? I don't see anything in there that's going to help this deck. Which is very annoying as now I'll need to go and buy a whole new deck...
Well at least we aren't really losing anything either. It remains to be seen if the deck in its current form can compete in the new metagame though. Time will tell.
Lost legacy goes into the SB.
Morbid Curiosity goes into the main.
Aetherworks Marvel might net us enough energy because of our stuff hitting the graveyard. Seems like shenanigans though.
Zombies didn't get much, but it doesn't need much.
It's still a threat.
Crushing pretty much anyone for a month in my LGS with that build. But I don't know whether Smuggler's Copter would be better than Wharf Infiltrator. They both has it pros.
Scrapheap Scrounger seems like an interesting card to include, easy way to bring back prized amalgam. Ghirapur Orrery can also be interesting if we up collected brutality, maybe too cute in this deck tho
-Sygg, River Cutthroat
I play all Cavern of Souls decks
4 Cryptbreaker
4 Relentless Dead
4 Diregraf Colossus
4 Prized Amalgam
2 Gisa and Geralf
4 Stitchwing Skaab
3 Voldaren Pariah
Planeswalkers 2
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
Spells 11
4 Dark Salvation
3 Grasp of Darkness
2 Gisa's Bidding
2 Negate
9 Swamp
2 Island
4 Choked Estuary
4 Sunken Hollow
2 Submerged Boneyard
1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
2 Duress
2 Negate
2 Ruinous Path
2 Transgress the Mind
2 Languish
2 Invasive Surgery
2 Compelling Deterrence
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
So, first round I get pooled against one of the younger players who had brought a BG Delerium deck. I had to mulligan down to five and only ever had four mana on the board. I managed to get down a Liliana, the Last Hope, and for some reason he wouldn't attack into it. Eventually I ultimated her, got something like five zombies. Next turn he throws down Emrakul, The Promised End. Obviously that had been his one goal. Problem was, he could just attack himself with one Zombie and activate a Cryptbreaker to discard a Voldaren Pariah. Then in the end step I got basically twelve Zombies or something, and that was it for a very thematic end to the game with hordes of Zombies storming Emrakul. Second game I just pushed faster, didn't want Emrakul again and got him before he had a chance to build up his graveyard. So up 1-0.
My second matchup I get probably the top player in the club at the moment. Really good player, with a Spirit deck... "Oh well," I thought, "back to middle of the pack as usual..." Getting used to Spirits is hard as everything has Flash. If you attack with just one creature, in comes a Spirit to tap your attacker, or Essence Flux. So you really have to time it. Liliana is a bomb against them though but you need to protect her. I managed to get a good board state and went wide, for the win. I was shocked. Second game was pretty much the same, I think a well-placed Languish helped clear the board for me and a 7/7 Diregraf Colossus along with Gisa and Geralf sealed it. By now people are starting to notice that I'm 2-0.
Next up was the next top player, playing Coco Bant... Just no letup... Grasp of Darkness helped with his Lambholt Pacifists and Tireless Trackers and being to constantly cast things kept the Duskwatch Recruiters from transforming. Collected Company pulled out some stuff, but a Voldaren Pariah transformed cleared it for me and I could swing for lethal. Being able to constantly draw with Cryptbreaker proved decisive. Second game I did my one big misplay of the day. I knew he had Archangel Avacyn in hand when I transformed a Pariah. He flashed in Avacyn, sacced his creatures and of course transformed Avacyn into Avacyn, the Purifier... So there went all my Zombies... My transformed Pariah went down to Dromoka's Command and that was game. Third game I think he purposefully went for a draw as he took ages to shuffle and seemed to be generally slower. In the end, we ran out of time, which was just as well as it was looking tough, so a 1-1 draw. I'm now 2-0-1, and leading the board...
Final game, and now I'm proper nervous. I get the next top guy, so literally THE top three players at the store. Great... I know he runs Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, Liliana, the Last Hope, AND Sorin, Grim Nemesis. So I'm not exactly holding my breath here. But his Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet goes down to a Grasp, his Gideon hits a Negate, and constant pressure again gets me the game with Liliana pulling back a huge Diregraf for me. Second game I massively sideboard in my counters and Languish, in fact we both use it at some point. It gets really slow but when he transforms a Shambling Vent and I Grasp it, he's short of mana and creatures. My first creatures that stick around are actually two Zombies from a Dark Salvation for 5. Gideon pops in but gets Ruinous Path on him, and just by sticking to it and pushing I get it, drawing out all the control stuff as it all just keeps coming back. Relentless Dead here was amazing.
So, 3-0-1, and my first ever Game Day Champion's mat is mine! With a homebrew Zombie deck no one thought could win anything. I was so surprised, I still can't get it.
The deck works, but you have to pick your spots, understand the opponent and the deck and hit at the right time. It's all about going wide and rebuilding if you have to. Everything I had in worked at some point or other. I cast a Gisa and Geralf, then a Relentless Dead from the graveyard, dragging with it a Prized Amalgam, so in one turn there's nine damage on the board. Got two Amalgams another time. Reflector Mage came up in the two middle games, but Dark Salvation and see you later. Salvation is such a good card, it's never irrelevant. It can help build your board, give creature advantage, stops the opponent giving a target +2 or whatever to save them from a Grasp (not with like -10/-10) and works with just the one B.
The only change I'm going to make is to drop one Pariah and a Stitchwing Skaab and put in two Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. The lifegain will be useful and his 2B ability could make him immune to Languish. And I need to get better at doing the discards in their turn rather than my own.
So hang in there, fellow Zombie players, for we are underrated and dangerous.
I think, though, that the key to this deck is to keep pacing the opponent. Make them have to react to you. If they have loads of removal then make them play that instead of their own stuff. For burn, keep the pressure up, make them have to decide whether to hit your creatures or you. For Emrakul, just have as many zombies out as possible. I think because this isn't a top tier deck no one's going to be consider it a threat and they won't know the interactions.
I guess it's just load up on counters, like Negate, Scatter to the Winds, Invasive Surgery and Clash of Wills. Not much else you can do other than Collective Brutality, which might actually be useful because it gets rid of a burn spell and could give you two life back, or Duress. Lesson learned: don't play Kalitas without a counter in hand...
Id that!
Trade with me, h:Alters and EdhFoils:)
Cards I have altered
played the deck yesterday in a pptq. It has insane value but you need liliana and never forget that kalitas exists.
4 Liliana, the Last Hope
Creatures: 20
4 Cryptbreaker
4 Relentless Dead
3 Prized Amalgam
3 Diregraf Colossus
2 Gisa and Geralf
2 Haunted Dead
2 Voldaren Pariah
Spells: 12
4 Collective Brutality
2 Ruinous Path
2 Compelling Deterrence
2 Grasp of Darkness
2 Read the Bones
Lands: 24
9 Swamp
4 Island
4 Choked Estuary
4 Sunken Hallow
2 Geier Reach Sanitarium
1 Westvale Abbey
Need Sideboard suggestions
3 Negate
2 Dark Salvation
2 To the Slaughter
Is all I can think of right now
I did beat Vampires tribal, Bant Company and another Spirit deck though. A lot of people were talking about going to Fevered Visions/Thermo-Alchemist though, so I'm thinking at least one Orbs of Warding in the sideboard.
as the previous poster pointed out: Call the bloodline is a fantastic card vs them, pumping out lifelink creatures while keeping your handsize low.
Id that!
Trade with me, h:Alters and EdhFoils:)
Cards I have altered
Well at least we aren't really losing anything either. It remains to be seen if the deck in its current form can compete in the new metagame though. Time will tell.
Morbid Curiosity goes into the main.
Aetherworks Marvel might net us enough energy because of our stuff hitting the graveyard. Seems like shenanigans though.
Zombies didn't get much, but it doesn't need much.
It's still a threat.
Planeswalker: 2
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
Creatures: 26
Spells: 8
Lands: 24
Ghirapur Orrery can also be interesting if we up collected brutality, maybe too cute in this deck tho
Id that!
Trade with me, h:Alters and EdhFoils:)
Cards I have altered