Originally it was a rat deck that i had posted up but it really did work as well as i wanted it to and the rat shell just wasn't enough to get me through to the win so i this is now what i got for it and i really wanna make this work so is there any suggestions on the deck that might be really beneficial. 1 thing is that it's really creature light and i don't like leaving my self open so i need some suggestions on what creatures to add/ takeout from the listing.
goal of the deck:
*** (1) Have Sire of Insanity hit the field. (2) make it into a war of attrition. (3) Use my Drawing cards to gain hand and game advantage ***
** Deck Utilities **
5- instant removal (3 burn)
9- Hand Control
10 - Draw cards (14 including Flashback)
6- Life-gain (8 including land)
2- Pro cards
1- bomb
4- Grave Reach (8Including Flash back)
I want to make this deck have some great synergy and make it a little faster while sticking to my game plan.
First I'll edit some vocab.
*Disciple
*Insanity
*Griselbrand
*Appetite
*Plains
*Obzedat, Ghost Council
Secondly, I'll go into the actual functionality of the deck. A lot of this will be comparing it to the Junk Rites decks since there are alot of similarities and lessons to be learned from it.
Let me start by stating;
Your win conditions:
Opponent has No Cards in hand
Griselbrand
Half-Way Win conditions:
Blood Baron (more of a stabilizing card)
All competitive decks win via different angles. Griselbrand and Discard is eh.
You are running 22 land with Griselbrand and Sire. Reanimator decks have 6 to 8 mana dorks and have 23 land. You need more mana IMO.
Your Unburial package consists of 6 creatures and you're running 4 Rites. From my understanding of that archetype, if you're going to run a playset of Rites you should have atleast 8 to 10 targets. Just look at the Rites decks that are winning right now. I don't see a justification in running 4 Unburial rites. The reason Junk Rites does so well is because EVEN if they can't reanimate something they can still survive and hardcast an AoS or Craterhoof to close out the game.
You deck has only ONE means of creating a no-cards-in-hand scenario; Sire of Insanity. You do have Appetite for brains but that is so narrow and only causes one card to be discarded its not enough to support the discard theme.
How will you hold out against Naya Aggro? You only have 5 removal spells so you might get to remove ONE creature G1. You have 7 cards of spot removal in the side. You have Boros Reckoner but Aggro is finding ways around it with Fliers, Firefist Striker, Pyreheart, Threaten effects etc..
Im not sure how well the deck will do against the crazy fast speed these aggro decks have.
Not sure how the control matchup would play out.
Reanimator matchup looks like you're going to get eaten alive. They can reanimate their targets more consistently than you, so you can't "race." Their targets also have ETB effects so even if you have an Ultimate Price in hand they still get a devastating effect off.
I think the deck needs more win conditions, or atleast a harder to beat win conditions, and more means of disruption. More mana(or ramp or something).
Some suggestions:
Liliana of the Veil(Does it all in this deck)
Rakdos's Return(helps with discard)
Rakdos Keyrune(great blocker, good ramp)
Black Cat(chump blocker and discard)
Ravenous Rats(chump and discard)
Vampire Nighthawk(Awesome blocker, helps you survive)
Desecration Demon(Might eat removal but he will help control the board)
Sin Collector(Body and discard effect)
im too lazy to go through and tell you what to cut and etc. but it'd be a good start to make sure you have plays EVERY turn that get you closer to putting them into topdeck mode and keeping you alive.
I've never done a discard deck so you'd have to test alot and see what doesn't do enough work and what cards can be replaced and what cards will do the job better.
So I organically came to this deck idea and it just so happened that this deck took 2nd in Tokyo I believe. Of course this guy's was better but I figure I'll explain how I got to the deck's main premise which will shed light on how it functions. The deck functions as Aggro/Control in my mind.
Here's a link to "Esper Knights" that took second- magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1120196
Exposition
So...I just got done reading an article on TCGPlayer on Craig Wescoe's Pro Tour success which sucked his D pretty hard. Dick sucking aside, the article went over how RG/Jund Aggro was dominating the metagame and Wescoe bested these decks by using pro-color cards. Immediately... the Knights of Glory/Infamy came to mind. My history is in BR Zombies and just recently BRw Zombies. I've always wanted to play Tempo and I loved the simplicity in BR Zombies...Turn your creatures sideways and kill anything that moves with removal...but I wanted to be able to play creatures that didn't suck ass. I was tired of my zombies coming in tapped and didn't provide much value later in the game. So I want tempo or Aggro/control pretty badly. I really just want some kind of controlling element with creatures that are hard to deal with and provide value later in the game.
So before I just decide cards that provide value later...lets tailor it to the metagame and go from there.
What is dominating the metagame right now?
We don't have pro-red in any relevant form..(sorry Lavinia!), but what we do have is pro-black and pro-white!
Jund Midrange is good right now because of its flawless spot removal...except for the fact that 90% of relevant removal is black. Jund will be carrying dead cards against you...which ruins their card advantage. We only have to worry about Mizzium Mortars, Searing Spear, and Pillar of Flame.
We just so happen to have access to Thalia as well..which puts Jund in fits! Geist of St. Traft doesn't make their job easier either.
RG Aggro is good because BTE. Thats it. Yeah, Ghor Clan gives them stupid reach but the real culprit here is BTE. We can kill it in BW but we don't even want it to resolve....so lets splash Blue. Counterspelling BTE, Frontline Medic, Hellrider, and Ghor Clan puts RG Aggro out of the game.
Junk Rites cheats fatties onto the field like Stoneforge cheated equipment in, not as powerful but it still dominates the meta right now. Save your counterspells for the inevitable Unburial Rites or their mulches/grisly's/farseeks to block their mana and graveyard options. When Junk doesn't hit its land drops, (and the only way I've seen them do it is through said mill card), they have no game.
Aristocrats is a combo deck in my mind. It wins via combination of cards:
Warped Physique gets around Falkenrath's and Boros Reckoner's resilience. We have removal for everything else and are applying pressure that's hard for them to keep up with.
Up to this point...most of these decks have proactive game plans. What about control? Geist of St. Traft + Knight of Glory = Pressure and resilience.
The key thing to remember is that we are putting on pressure while we are denying certain threats. We may not kill by T4 but we have answers/options to everything in the meta. I've been testing the deck for like 16 hours straight and have been getting pretty good results. I still want more testing against the top archetypes before I declare that this deck blows everything up.
Card Choices:
Creature Core:
Knight of Glory - Pro Black + Exalted help our matches against everything...control...aggro
Knight of Infamy - Pro-White + Exalted help our matches against control
Judge's Familiar - Its a 1CMC, flier, and can be sacc'ed to get a counterspell in. Worth considering but I think War Falcon is superior
Champion of the Parish - Not that great of a choice, at most he turns into a vanilla 3/3
War Falcon - 3 flying damage on T2 with a Knight. EDIT: Superior to Cloudfin Raptor IMO. I've tested Cloudfin and he's just a dead card later in the game. War Falcon is more consistent and still puts out a good bit of damage.
Invisible Stalker - Eh. We don't want to be Esper Enchant and be susceptible to 3 for 1's and the like. Plus we'd be inferior to Bant Enchant. Tempo plays with this guy and Hands of Binding aren't worth it. You dealt one damage and tapped their Champion of the Parish, you're still going to take 4 from BTE + LM
Cloudfin Raptor - I also highly suggest this guy. He grows from every creature we play. Easily becomes a 2/3 and if you have geist out he will turn into a 4/5. War Falcon and this guy are fighting for the One Drop spot. I prefer War Falcon because he is relevant in the late game where as Cloudfin isn't. Falcon is more consistent.
Silverblade Paladin - Heavy on the mana cost, harder to do if you're running Cloudfin. But he is a MUST answer card or we just win combat forever.
Thalia, Gaurdian of Thraben - Midrange and Control hate this card and she isn't dead against aggro either. I love her and hate her. She hurts us as much as the other deck so not really an option.
Sin Collector - Human that hurts Junk and Control. Useable if you decide to run Champion and are against a slow deck.
Sublime Archangel - Im only including her because she was on the winning list. I don't see her to be that valuable. We aren't going to have a whole lot of creatures out.
Spells:
Warped Physique - I know I said there isn't a core but if there was one this card would be in there. He can reliably get rid of everything under 4 CMC and dodges indestructibility(Falkenrath), and Damage(Boros Reckoner). Similar to Tragic Slip. Definitely not a 4 of but probably a 2 or 3 of.
Azorius Charm - Awesome for us. Lifelink and the bounce will be the most relevant forms you use. The bounce is an awesome play. Punishes players that are hoping to draw into threats and abuses average hands like peanut butter abuses jelly. The card is great but is kind of lackluster. We have access to spells that can kill creatures...and doesn't actually solve any problems other than delaying opponents. I personally prefer a counterspell or removal over this but Im sure someone can break this card in our deck.
Faith's Shield - Our deck was formed around having hard to deal with creatures via color protection. Most of the time this is going to turn into a One mana counterspell but is definitely worth including in the deck. It allows us so many shenanigans. It lets us win combat if we aren't going to, unblockable...This spell does work. 4 of.
Dead Weight - We can't run Tragic with our lack of creatures and no way to trigger morbid...so this is the next best thing. Eats Falkenrath and Huntmaster plus all the innumerable bears that Naya Blitz plays.
Rapid Hybridization - This deck doesn't really want it. Other decks use it to grow stuff and shenanigans with Undying creatures or ways to deal with Boros Reckoner and Hellrider etc. We already have better options.
Spectral Flight - Be careful. I know the Esper Knights list I posted ran a playset and it may be warranted but we ARE NOT Bant Enchant...although that doesn't mean we can't be.
Orzhov Charm - Instant Removal at a price. Can save enchanted creatures.
Unsummon - Helllooo tempo plays! The card is great at gaining advantage but make sure you save it for the right creatures.
Duress - I'd use this over Sin Collector. One mana, allows us to nab enchantments when we fight Bant Enchant or Groud Seals or RiP etc. Its relevant but only seems to be noticeable against hate cards that don't apply.
Supreme Verdict - This is sideboard material against aggro. Drastically improve ours chances against them. Obviously doesn't work well with Thalia.
Updated Personal List:
I'm an idiot. Thalia is not good in this deck haha. Cloudfin is also not consistent enough.
I'm going to try out the winning lists' spell suite soon. IDK how I feel about 4 dead weights or how Spectral Flight will change the deck but its worth a try.
This is what I do. I'm testing and testing and testing and its not like there are any other people playing this so please don't hate lol. Im trying.
Jund Midrange -
Our goal in any game is to beat them to death with Falcon, a Knight, and a Geist. They have wipes, red removal, and basically an answer to everything. The only thing is...Jund seems to only be maindecking 5ish red removal spells. Thats where we take advantage of Jund.
I aim to get Cloudfin/War Falcon with Knight of Glory and start beating. They probably won't waste removal on War Falcon. Then I'd proceed into Geist and aim to end the game. Save counterspells for things that will take out your Geist and Thraggies. I'd save removal for Olivia and Huntmaster. They make a small impact in the game the turn they come down, and in olivia's case NONE at all unless they have two mana open. Don't go all in. I wouldn't have more than 3 creatures on the field at once.
Ultimate Price is pretty dead against Jund. Only one of their creatures are mono-colored and we want to counter that anyways. Those definitely come out. We don't exactly want to unsummon thrag or huntmaster so I decided to take them out. Warped Physique is cool but by the time they play their creatures we will be low on cards. KOI comes out simply because KOG is better and I believe we have a sideboard option better than him. Duress and Appetite are in to snag fat spells and creatures. Undying Evil, in conjunction with faith's shield, is going to blank their removal.
G2; continue with the same plan with your improved defenses.
R/G Aggro
- Okay so we need to be scared of alot here. Each creature poses a threat. Evolve is a powerful ability. We definitely want spot/instant removal. We definitely need lifegain. We definitely need to make sure we can handle their threats.
Here are a list of creatures you want to try and counter:
We can't exactly trade with these guys and they all end the game if they attack so don't waste you're removal. Gyre Sage is in a peculiar spot and can be scary and I personally don't like letting it live and try to deal with it if I can.
If you can successfully counter BTE...you're usually in pretty good shape since that castrates their aggro.
If they are on the play and I had Dead Weight in hand...I would play a black source and just play draw go.
Just keep 1 for 1ing them while developing your board and overcome them by tempo.
+2 Dead Weight
+2 Undying Evil
-2 Syncopate
-2 Unsummon
We want as much removal as possible so Dead Weight comes in. This will mainly be a creature battle so Undying Evil comes in(it can also "counter" removal spells).
Unsummon is dead in comparison to Dead Weight. I felt like Undying Evil would be more useful than Syncopate. Just need to test that.
Junk Rites -
We want to kill them as soon as possible and not let them resolve fatties. You'll find a common theme in the deck. Our creatures are pretty straight forward and don't really change. Its our spell package that does.
+2 Syncopate
+3 Appetite for Brains
+1 Ultimate Price
-2 Dead Weight
-2 Warped Physique
-2 Faith's Shield
Dead Weight is going to be dead weight in this matchup. Yeah it can take out mana dorks but I feel like not having an answer to them is okay since we have answers to everything else! Warped Physique is ALSO going to be dead weight. There's nothing it is going to remove. Faith's Shield will lose some of its utility since the only time our creatures will be targeted are when AoS ETB. We want to exile stuff against them so Syncopate and Appetite comes in. I kept Spell Rupture in because it can counter Rites and delay them. I added in the Ultimate Price in case a fatty does get through.
The Aristocrats
- So they will try and be difficult because they have re-usable blockers, fliers, pro color, indestru, and tokens. The scariest thing in this deck are their spirit tokens. Everything else we can handle well.
Both KOI/KOG are useful here. I'd play KOI first though because it dodges Doomed Travelers(which we don't want to turn into Spirit tokens) and Cartel Aristocrats and Boros Reckoner. War Falcon is good pretty good in this matchup. It will help clear out Souls tokens for our Geist + Angel to swing in unimpeded and can deal some good damage in the early turns. In fact, he can deal 6! T1 Falcon, T2 Knight, T3 Geist. If we are on the play our opponent won't have fliers unless they sac Doomed Traveler to Cartel, and we hope they don't call pro black.
We can remove their threats fairly easily without any repercussions.
Falkenrath- Dead Weight
Boros Reckoner - Warped Physique
Skirsdag - Dead Weight
Blood Artist - Anything lol
Stuff we want to counter:
Lingering Souls- Syncopate
Blashpemous Act
Their removal will be in B/R and KOG will be the more resilient knight while KOI will be the more offesnive knight.
If you keep a hand with 1 counterspell, 1 removal spell, 2-3 creatures, 2-3 land we should have it in the bag.
Sideboarding: Obviously we need to make sure we can deal with Falken+Boros+Blasphemous Act. With those 3 gone, it'll be much harder for them to win. Soo...
Ultimate Price is dead in this MU so he is an auto-side out. Dead Weight is awesome against this deck and is an auto-side-in.
We REALLY want to avoid Souls tokens so Syncopates came in. I still want counterspells because they are versatile but didn't want to cut unsummon since it holds so much utility against the deck. So I decided to take out a Spell Rupture and a Faith's Shield. Faith's Shield also has utility out the bhole but not as much. There never really is a MU where this card is dead. When is pro-color irrelevant?
UWR Midrange/Flash
- This match is a hard one. They've got answers for everything we do and our creatures normal resilience is not helpful at all! I have little to no experience against this deck and have no idea how to combat it other than playing our creatures and countering their counterspells at the right times. Really wish Thalia wasn't symmetrical T.T
In this situation where we have a bad matchup...I like to identify which cards of ours are dead and take them out because it puts me into a mindset of "I HAVE to fill these slots" since we don't have a whole lot of good choices.
Dead Weight is pretty dead.
Warped Physique is pretty dead.
Syncopate can be sided out for more appropriate counterspells.
Faith's Shield looks awesome here because itll blank their removal. Ultimate Price stays because they run Thundermaw/Resto Angel.
-2 Dead Weight
-2 Warped Physique
-1/2 Syncopate
+3 Duress
+3 Appetite
We don't want fatties hitting the ground and we do want to get rid of their removal.
Wow that's intense, I take it as a he's a sad pathetic individual that needs to cheat in a card game to do well. That's fine, there are always people like that in every community. I don't feel like taking it to a physical level is ever okay unless there are some crazy circumstances. When it comes down to it I made the mistake in not challenging the play, I just didn't know.
He lost in the first round, so there is some instant karma for you.
What deck did you play, if you don't mind me asking?
Thanks for the reply, I actually just got into Magic about a month ago. I've got from RDW, to Barely Boros, to Naya Blitz, to Jund Midrange, to B/R Zombies, to G/W/B Tokens, and now to Aristocrats xD. Even through Aristocrats is a bit harder to play (in my opinion) its by far the most fun deck I've played yet - so I'm hoping I stick with it. However, I've been playtesting Zombiecrats and Aristocrats and I couldn't decided which one I liked better.
I feel like Aristocrats is better in my local meta because there is a lot of Aggro, and Gravecrawlers can't block and Geralfs/Diregrafs coming in tapped isn't the best sometimes. However Zombiecrats tends to catch people off guard and they don't know how to play or side against it - if I live long enough. I haven't tried the original Aristocrats out, but I have most of the cards (I think) to test it. Would you mind directing me to a list of the staples for the deck? The first post here hasn't been updated in ~2 months.
The original post is pretty spot on. People ran that till Act 2. Although, I believe people were running a 3 of Silverblade and focused on creatures more than spells e.g. Blasphemous Act. I still believe that a mix between Act 1 and 2 is the best. Act 2 seems rather gimmicky. If a person has removal for Skirsdag or Boros Reckoner...the deck turns into a lackluster BW aggro deck with a wipe.
Ill be playing this deck at SCG Dallas this weekend. Ive been playing it for a month now and Ive had some insane results. Any advice for a Bant Hexproof heavy meta? I feel like its just a race match up but any sideboard tips for them?
Bant Hexproof is blown up by Glaring Spotlight. I remember Mark of Mutiny-ing my opponents Geist with Glaring Spotlight out...pretty fun. If its that prevalent...it deserves two spots in the side. Side in removal and Glaring Spotlight. Lots of time you can get away with removing Fencing Ace and STG to delay them long enough and you CAN race them. But thats risky.
I've not had too many issues with Hexproof just because of Acts and other sweepers in the board. I like to have 2-3 Electrickerys coming in, because it easily can 2 for 1 the stalkers. The version with Voice is a bit more difficult to beat, just because with a sweeper they have more than we do.
Basically this. I didn't play against esper once and I found junk rites and basically a bye decks with tusks weren't that bad unless I stumbled early game. The hardest match up I faced was RBW zombies that I lost to twice.
while removing all of your relevant threats with some of the best removal in the game.
I fight Aristocrats just about every FNM. Most of them are pretty close matches. The ones I lose are when I don't have removal for your threats. OR when you guys resolve several Blasphemous Acts.
Our deck will ALWAYS remove Reckoner on sight. We won't allow Skirsdag to trigger, if it means using removal on him we will. Falkenrath is hard to deal with but we run our own Aristocrats and usually Lingering Souls.
I know it's not fully related, but I think it's something that is worth looking into. Definitely don't like the absence of Reckoner, especially when there's still a singleton Act main without any souls.
I like it. I like adding in Thundermaw and Blood Baron to help put away the game.
But, the deck is flippant. It has multiple ways to attack but all the pieces of the puzzle have to come together. Aggro needs pieces to 1 for 1 till we stabilize...but you may pull the cards for a nutdraw, which you obviously lose because you are the slower aggro deck.
I think the deck needs Mutilate. It dodges Boros Reckoner and acts as a mini blasphemous act with Blood Artist out.
I think Toil and Trouble is just a disgusting card...I hate it. Over-costed mana for both effects and when you fuse...it doesn't really pay out. Id rather just run straight card draw or Searing Spear.
Orzhov Charm..is meh IMO. None of its abilities are relevant other than the instant removal...and there are better options in Victim of Night. If you are playing the re-cast the one drop ability of the spell, you are doing something wrong with your mana use.
I've ran Lingering Souls in the main for a while now and they have always underperformed. They just get Ghor-Clan'd and trampled through. I'd rather just play Vampire Nighthawk to kill a creature and gain 2 life while blocking 3 damage, although he is famous for getting Searing Spear'd. Plus, electrickery is coming in!
I don't like Sin Collector, I'd rather have Duress in the side. It allows for the same effect and a better body.
3-3 at the PTQ today. Beat Reanimator, Bant Hexproof, and Grixis. Lost to Esper, RG, and Jund. Esper was a complete punt, I did the math realized i had lethal with artist triggers, and wrote down the damage - which ended up with my aristocrat blocked and dying because it was presumed i went through combat damage. That was my sac outlet, he was able to bounce back.
RG was just not having enough removal. I stabilized G1, but he was able to domri->rampager to get there. Game 2 a pair of early hellriders got in.
Jund - Game 1 is already not in our favor, and G2 I went to 5, had double marks, but no sac outlets/anything to do with them.
I'm not too dissappointed with the deck. I feel I mulligan a lot with this, or at least that's coming from playing nothing but UWR/Esper for the past 6 months. Sideboard I loved, except for Mortars.
Also, a variation of Aristocrats, but with Geralf's Messenger and Diregraf Ghoul in place of Act/Reckoner got 2nd at the PTQ. I really liked that list.
I've been playing Zombie-ocrats. Could you post or link or state what PTQ that was with the zombie-crats?
No one is really brewing very hard in the Bx Zombies very hard and IDK what to do and everyone else has just basically given up and stuck with BW Zombies. I thought splashing Red for Falkenrath and turning it into a crazy aristocrats deck might give it a chance.
What are your thoughts? I generally go for Gravecrawler or Souls shenanigans with a sac outlet. Play defense against aggro, play offense against control. It seems to be all around good, but I'm thinking it might be improved.
I like the consistency of two colors a lot, and having more would make it a bit hard to manage. I also love dropping Obzedat (semi)consistently.
I'd drop the Blind Obedience. It's only used against decks with Hellrider, Falkenrath, and Thundermaw and I'd rather have instant removal for them anyways.
-3 Blind +3 Victim of Night
Victim of Night won't cover Falkenrath but you are packing Tragic Slip and Souls.
I'd consider Blood Baron in the side. Orzhov Charm has always been sub-par for me and its instant removal...which is good..but with Victim and Slip in the main I see it as unnecessary. Blood Baron is way more relevant against Aggro/Midrange than Obzedat so you should conisder him.
Thats about all I have to suggest.
I keep seeing this BR Zombies deck place well...its packing Thrill Kill Assassin as a 3 of. I don't understand that card or how to play it lol.
The deck actually has pretty darn good reach between Diregraf Capt' and Blood Artist. They usually deal 5 to 6 damage a game. I wanted to re-try UB Zombies. Its still capable of T4 kills. I splashed red simply because Falkenrath Aristocrat is godlike and we could support it.
Spectral Flight may seem like it doesn't fit...but it allows us to race against RDW and Naya Blitz and allows us to play a tempo game by backing up our Gravecrawler/Diregraf Ghoul( who is a 4/4 Flier on T2) with Spell Rupture, Victim of Night, or Tragic Slip.
Diregraf Capt' is worth it. He triggers alot and makes our zombies able to trade with the metagame and makes combat math harder for our opponent. Blood Artist only compounds that fact. Capt' also trades well.
The side is pretty self-explanatory. I side Duskmantles in against Control/High CMC curves. Woodlot crawler is good against naya blitz and holding off Jund Aggro until Ghor Clans start to come down.
I have the rest of the playset of our control suite in the side for when we want to go tempo against aggro.
So Aggro:
+1 Victim of Night
+1 Tragic Slip
+1 Spell Rupture
+1 Spectral Flight
-3 Evil Twin
-1 Blood Artist
Control:
+1 Spectral Flight
+2 Slaughter Games
+1 Spell Rupture
-3 Tragic Slip
-1 Victim of Night
Midrange(Naya and Jund):
Not entirely sure for this MU yet.
+3 Woodlot Crawler
-3 Victim of Night(versus Jund)
-3 Tragic Slip(versus Naya)
Reanimator:
+1 Spectral Flight
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+2 Slaughter Games
-3 Blood Artist
-2 Tragic Slip
Tired. Finish write up later.
Really like it so far. Spell Rupture is awesome. The deck can maintain board presence and still keep the opponents at bay.
Trample lets you assign any damage beyond lethal damage to the player instead, lethal damage is assigned as soon as you assign damage equal to the toughness of the creature(s) blocking it in this case.
As Woodlot has 1 toughness a swing with a trampling strangleroot geist would mean any remaining damage over the 1 damage can be assigned to the player. Trample does not care how much damage is actually dealt to the creature, just that the damage is assigned.
Im in need of some ruling when it comes to this guy.
If he has protection from Green and a Strangleroot Geist with Rancor swings in for 4 and Woodlot blocks...why would the trample go through?
My understanding of protection from a color is that all damage is prevented...which means the damage doesn't occur which means there is no damage dealt so that trample isn't triggered and goes over to the player.
It seems like everyone agrees that trample goes through so I guess I'm wrong...can someone please explain?
The only qualms I have with this list is Orzhov Charm. I used it and regretted it. The only relevant ability I see in it is the removal option. The bounce is great in attrition wars and you need to pump through more damage with Geralf's. I'd replace Orzhov Charm with Victim of Night, unless you really get use out of returning Diregraf Ghoul.
How has Liliana served you?
Im running a very similar list but I've gotten pretty TERRIBLE results. Losing to every kind of Aggro in the format. Im running three in the main. I really like being able to clear the board. Each time I played it my opponent had two or three cards in hand while I had Falkenrath and Lingering Souls which would dominate in a vacuum.
Although, I don't have Gloom Surgeon in the side.
I feel like Blood Scrivener is there to give your plan gas....remember that he ISN'T the ACTUAL plan. So don't play him like that..I feel like people expect him to just win games when they empty their hands.
I beg your parden if it's already been discussed but the last few pages seem to be WRB, BW or Jund Zombie lists and discussion. I just wondered if anyone has tested out a Junk Zombies list at all? Pre Gatecrash I was a big fan of GB zombies and now that I am bored with playing Esper control I thought I would go back to zombies. I have updated my old GB list to make it Junk and just wanted some feedback on my 75 and if anyone has already tested something similar and how they felt it performed.
I haven't done any testing with it except fish bowling the first few turns and practicing mulliganing, hoping to squeeze in some games before FNM but it's unlikely.
Oh just a sidenote the Illness in the Ranks are in the sideboard as there are alot of Aristocrat Token decks in my meta.
Positive and negative feedback are all welcome just don't go too far and end up insulting me haha!
I feel like you aren't gaining much by splashing white if you aren't playing Lingering Souls or Cartel Aristocrat. This deck would benefit more from splashing Red and replacing Restoration Angel for Falkenrath and running more removal. Plus you could replcae Illness in the Ranks for Electrickery which hits so many more relevant threats in the metagame for one more mana.
You also have access to more dependable sideboard options against control. Slaughter Games is a freaking bomb against them. I would replace Thalia for Slaughter. I'd also consider Spike Jester over KOI if you go Jund. He puts on crazy good pressure and in my playtesting, I've found it more relevant than KOI's pro-white and exalted. Although I'd keep KOI in the side versus Naya Blitz and other White based decks.
I'd be highly tempted to put Deathrite Shaman in the Side for Reanimator and replace him with Brimstone Volley or Searing Spear.
Junk Zombies would definitely have an appeal for its resilience...which is probably the most resilient aggro deck in the format. But I feel like the resilence is almost redundant. There isn't someone I know that would bother trying to remove our creatures. Half of them don't care to be put in the yard and the other half WANT to be put in the yard. It forces our opponents to run exile effects.
I feel like if you want to stick to Junk Zombies you need to run Lingering Souls and Cartel Aristocrat. You'd have one of the most annoying board states to have to remove.
First I'll edit some vocab.
*Disciple
*Insanity
*Griselbrand
*Appetite
*Plains
*Obzedat, Ghost Council
Secondly, I'll go into the actual functionality of the deck. A lot of this will be comparing it to the Junk Rites decks since there are alot of similarities and lessons to be learned from it.
Let me start by stating;
Your win conditions:
Opponent has No Cards in hand
Griselbrand
Half-Way Win conditions:
Blood Baron (more of a stabilizing card)
All competitive decks win via different angles. Griselbrand and Discard is eh.
You are running 22 land with Griselbrand and Sire. Reanimator decks have 6 to 8 mana dorks and have 23 land. You need more mana IMO.
Your Unburial package consists of 6 creatures and you're running 4 Rites. From my understanding of that archetype, if you're going to run a playset of Rites you should have atleast 8 to 10 targets. Just look at the Rites decks that are winning right now. I don't see a justification in running 4 Unburial rites. The reason Junk Rites does so well is because EVEN if they can't reanimate something they can still survive and hardcast an AoS or Craterhoof to close out the game.
You deck has only ONE means of creating a no-cards-in-hand scenario; Sire of Insanity. You do have Appetite for brains but that is so narrow and only causes one card to be discarded its not enough to support the discard theme.
How will you hold out against Naya Aggro? You only have 5 removal spells so you might get to remove ONE creature G1. You have 7 cards of spot removal in the side. You have Boros Reckoner but Aggro is finding ways around it with Fliers, Firefist Striker, Pyreheart, Threaten effects etc..
Im not sure how well the deck will do against the crazy fast speed these aggro decks have.
Not sure how the control matchup would play out.
Reanimator matchup looks like you're going to get eaten alive. They can reanimate their targets more consistently than you, so you can't "race." Their targets also have ETB effects so even if you have an Ultimate Price in hand they still get a devastating effect off.
I think the deck needs more win conditions, or atleast a harder to beat win conditions, and more means of disruption. More mana(or ramp or something).
Some suggestions:
Liliana of the Veil(Does it all in this deck)
Rakdos's Return(helps with discard)
Rakdos Keyrune(great blocker, good ramp)
Black Cat(chump blocker and discard)
Ravenous Rats(chump and discard)
Vampire Nighthawk(Awesome blocker, helps you survive)
Desecration Demon(Might eat removal but he will help control the board)
Sin Collector(Body and discard effect)
im too lazy to go through and tell you what to cut and etc. but it'd be a good start to make sure you have plays EVERY turn that get you closer to putting them into topdeck mode and keeping you alive.
I've never done a discard deck so you'd have to test alot and see what doesn't do enough work and what cards can be replaced and what cards will do the job better.
my .2
So I organically came to this deck idea and it just so happened that this deck took 2nd in Tokyo I believe. Of course this guy's was better but I figure I'll explain how I got to the deck's main premise which will shed light on how it functions. The deck functions as Aggro/Control in my mind.
Here's a link to "Esper Knights" that took second- magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1120196
Exposition
So...I just got done reading an article on TCGPlayer on Craig Wescoe's Pro Tour success which sucked his D pretty hard. Dick sucking aside, the article went over how RG/Jund Aggro was dominating the metagame and Wescoe bested these decks by using pro-color cards. Immediately... the Knights of Glory/Infamy came to mind. My history is in BR Zombies and just recently BRw Zombies. I've always wanted to play Tempo and I loved the simplicity in BR Zombies...Turn your creatures sideways and kill anything that moves with removal...but I wanted to be able to play creatures that didn't suck ass. I was tired of my zombies coming in tapped and didn't provide much value later in the game. So I want tempo or Aggro/control pretty badly. I really just want some kind of controlling element with creatures that are hard to deal with and provide value later in the game.
So before I just decide cards that provide value later...lets tailor it to the metagame and go from there.
What is dominating the metagame right now?
Jund - R/G/x - Junk Rites - Esper Control - Naya - Midrange
We don't have pro-red in any relevant form..(sorry Lavinia!), but what we do have is pro-black and pro-white!
Jund Midrange is good right now because of its flawless spot removal...except for the fact that 90% of relevant removal is black. Jund will be carrying dead cards against you...which ruins their card advantage. We only have to worry about Mizzium Mortars, Searing Spear, and Pillar of Flame.
We just so happen to have access to Thalia as well..which puts Jund in fits! Geist of St. Traft doesn't make their job easier either.
RG Aggro is good because BTE. Thats it. Yeah, Ghor Clan gives them stupid reach but the real culprit here is BTE. We can kill it in BW but we don't even want it to resolve....so lets splash Blue. Counterspelling BTE, Frontline Medic, Hellrider, and Ghor Clan puts RG Aggro out of the game.
Junk Rites cheats fatties onto the field like Stoneforge cheated equipment in, not as powerful but it still dominates the meta right now. Save your counterspells for the inevitable Unburial Rites or their mulches/grisly's/farseeks to block their mana and graveyard options. When Junk doesn't hit its land drops, (and the only way I've seen them do it is through said mill card), they have no game.
Aristocrats is a combo deck in my mind. It wins via combination of cards:
Falkenrath + Sac fodder + Blood Artist
Blasph Act + Boros Reckoner
Skirsdag + Doomed Traveler + Cartel
Warped Physique gets around Falkenrath's and Boros Reckoner's resilience. We have removal for everything else and are applying pressure that's hard for them to keep up with.
Up to this point...most of these decks have proactive game plans. What about control? Geist of St. Traft + Knight of Glory = Pressure and resilience.
The key thing to remember is that we are putting on pressure while we are denying certain threats. We may not kill by T4 but we have answers/options to everything in the meta. I've been testing the deck for like 16 hours straight and have been getting pretty good results. I still want more testing against the top archetypes before I declare that this deck blows everything up.
Card Choices:
Creature Core:
Other Creature Choices:
Spells:
Sample Decklists:
This is the deck that took 2nd in Tokyo on 4/6
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Knight of Glory
4 Knight of Infamy
4 Silverblade Paladin
3 Sublime Archangel
4 Dead Weight
3 Faith's Shield
3 Orzhov Charm
4 Spectral Flight
1 Undying Evil
4 Unsummon
3 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Watery Grave
Updated Personal List:
I'm an idiot. Thalia is not good in this deck haha. Cloudfin is also not consistent enough.
I'm going to try out the winning lists' spell suite soon. IDK how I feel about 4 dead weights or how Spectral Flight will change the deck but its worth a try.
4 Knight of Glory
4 Knight of Infamy
4 Geist of St. Traft
4 War Falcon
3 Silverblade Paladin
Spells: 19
2 Ultimate Price
2 Warped Physique
2 Dead Weight
3 Unsummon
4 Spell Rupture
2 Syncopate
4 Faith's Shield
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Watery Grave
2 Drowned Catacomb
3 Appetite For Brains
3 Duress
2 Syncopate
2 Dead Weight
2 Undying Evil
1 Dispel
1 Ultimate Price
1 Orzhov Charm
Mana Sources:
14 Blue
16 White
14 Black
With this setup we have:
Creatures:
4 One Drops
11 Two Drops
4 Three Drops
Spells:
6 One Drops
11 Two Drops
2 XU Drops
Category of Spells:
6 Removal
6 Counterspell
4 Utility
3 Bounce
Matchups:
This is what I do. I'm testing and testing and testing and its not like there are any other people playing this so please don't hate lol. Im trying.
Jund Midrange -
I aim to get Cloudfin/War Falcon with Knight of Glory and start beating. They probably won't waste removal on War Falcon. Then I'd proceed into Geist and aim to end the game. Save counterspells for things that will take out your Geist and Thraggies. I'd save removal for Olivia and Huntmaster. They make a small impact in the game the turn they come down, and in olivia's case NONE at all unless they have two mana open. Don't go all in. I wouldn't have more than 3 creatures on the field at once.
I'll be using my deck as an example for siding.
-2 Ultimate Price
-1 Knight of Infamy
-3 Unsummon
-2 Warped Physique
+3 Duress
+2 Undying Evil
+3 Appetite for Brains
Ultimate Price is pretty dead against Jund. Only one of their creatures are mono-colored and we want to counter that anyways. Those definitely come out. We don't exactly want to unsummon thrag or huntmaster so I decided to take them out. Warped Physique is cool but by the time they play their creatures we will be low on cards. KOI comes out simply because KOG is better and I believe we have a sideboard option better than him. Duress and Appetite are in to snag fat spells and creatures. Undying Evil, in conjunction with faith's shield, is going to blank their removal.
G2; continue with the same plan with your improved defenses.
R/G Aggro
Here are a list of creatures you want to try and counter:
BTE
Strangleroot Geist
Wolfir Avenger
Ghor-Clan Rampager(bloodrush)
These guys are hard to remove once they are in. Here's a list for stuff you want to save instant removal for.
Hellrider
Thundermaw Hellkite
Ghor-Clan Rampager(creature)
We can't exactly trade with these guys and they all end the game if they attack so don't waste you're removal. Gyre Sage is in a peculiar spot and can be scary and I personally don't like letting it live and try to deal with it if I can.
If you can successfully counter BTE...you're usually in pretty good shape since that castrates their aggro.
If they are on the play and I had Dead Weight in hand...I would play a black source and just play draw go.
Just keep 1 for 1ing them while developing your board and overcome them by tempo.
+2 Dead Weight
+2 Undying Evil
-2 Syncopate
-2 Unsummon
We want as much removal as possible so Dead Weight comes in. This will mainly be a creature battle so Undying Evil comes in(it can also "counter" removal spells).
Unsummon is dead in comparison to Dead Weight. I felt like Undying Evil would be more useful than Syncopate. Just need to test that.
Junk Rites -
We want to kill them as soon as possible and not let them resolve fatties. You'll find a common theme in the deck. Our creatures are pretty straight forward and don't really change. Its our spell package that does.
+2 Syncopate
+3 Appetite for Brains
+1 Ultimate Price
-2 Dead Weight
-2 Warped Physique
-2 Faith's Shield
Dead Weight is going to be dead weight in this matchup. Yeah it can take out mana dorks but I feel like not having an answer to them is okay since we have answers to everything else! Warped Physique is ALSO going to be dead weight. There's nothing it is going to remove. Faith's Shield will lose some of its utility since the only time our creatures will be targeted are when AoS ETB. We want to exile stuff against them so Syncopate and Appetite comes in. I kept Spell Rupture in because it can counter Rites and delay them. I added in the Ultimate Price in case a fatty does get through.
The Aristocrats
Both KOI/KOG are useful here. I'd play KOI first though because it dodges Doomed Travelers(which we don't want to turn into Spirit tokens) and Cartel Aristocrats and Boros Reckoner. War Falcon is good pretty good in this matchup. It will help clear out Souls tokens for our Geist + Angel to swing in unimpeded and can deal some good damage in the early turns. In fact, he can deal 6! T1 Falcon, T2 Knight, T3 Geist. If we are on the play our opponent won't have fliers unless they sac Doomed Traveler to Cartel, and we hope they don't call pro black.
We can remove their threats fairly easily without any repercussions.
Falkenrath- Dead Weight
Boros Reckoner - Warped Physique
Skirsdag - Dead Weight
Blood Artist - Anything lol
Stuff we want to counter:
Lingering Souls- Syncopate
Blashpemous Act
Their removal will be in B/R and KOG will be the more resilient knight while KOI will be the more offesnive knight.
If you keep a hand with 1 counterspell, 1 removal spell, 2-3 creatures, 2-3 land we should have it in the bag.
Sideboarding: Obviously we need to make sure we can deal with Falken+Boros+Blasphemous Act. With those 3 gone, it'll be much harder for them to win. Soo...
+2 Dead Weight
+2 Syncopate
-2 Ultimate Price
-1 Spell Rupture
-1 Faith's Shield
Ultimate Price is dead in this MU so he is an auto-side out. Dead Weight is awesome against this deck and is an auto-side-in.
We REALLY want to avoid Souls tokens so Syncopates came in. I still want counterspells because they are versatile but didn't want to cut unsummon since it holds so much utility against the deck. So I decided to take out a Spell Rupture and a Faith's Shield. Faith's Shield also has utility out the bhole but not as much. There never really is a MU where this card is dead. When is pro-color irrelevant?
UWR Midrange/Flash
In this situation where we have a bad matchup...I like to identify which cards of ours are dead and take them out because it puts me into a mindset of "I HAVE to fill these slots" since we don't have a whole lot of good choices.
Dead Weight is pretty dead.
Warped Physique is pretty dead.
Syncopate can be sided out for more appropriate counterspells.
Faith's Shield looks awesome here because itll blank their removal. Ultimate Price stays because they run Thundermaw/Resto Angel.
-2 Dead Weight
-2 Warped Physique
-1/2 Syncopate
+3 Duress
+3 Appetite
We don't want fatties hitting the ground and we do want to get rid of their removal.
What deck did you play, if you don't mind me asking?
and if 2/2 vanillas mattered at T5 amidst so many other options.
Should've printed a relevant 2 or 4 mana zombie in Dark Ascension, wizards :/
The original post is pretty spot on. People ran that till Act 2. Although, I believe people were running a 3 of Silverblade and focused on creatures more than spells e.g. Blasphemous Act. I still believe that a mix between Act 1 and 2 is the best. Act 2 seems rather gimmicky. If a person has removal for Skirsdag or Boros Reckoner...the deck turns into a lackluster BW aggro deck with a wipe.
Bant Hexproof is blown up by Glaring Spotlight. I remember Mark of Mutiny-ing my opponents Geist with Glaring Spotlight out...pretty fun. If its that prevalent...it deserves two spots in the side. Side in removal and Glaring Spotlight. Lots of time you can get away with removing Fencing Ace and STG to delay them long enough and you CAN race them. But thats risky.
This guy ^^^^
I'm not the one to ask. I haven't played Act 2 nor have I gone to major tournaments. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Zombiecrats hasn't posted as well but its not like its gotten as much attention either.
Here are some of the advantages that have been discussed.
Better Early Aggro
Resilient to removal/wipes
Yes, pillar of flame exists but we're running sac outlets and it mitigates the problem.
Bigger Fatties to put the game away
Easier on the mana(not by much though)
Cooler creatures
Under the Radar
Arguably harder to side against.
BUT...Act 2 has:
Blasph + Reckon combo
Synergy out the butthole(not that Zombiecrats is lacking but Act 2 is far greater)
T3 5/5 Flying Demons
Better blockers(thus better game against aggro)
Personally, Im still not sold on excluding Champion of the Parish. I think I prefer a modified version of Act 1 but I haven't tested anything.
Was it similar to the list posted eariler?
BRW Zombies wins by several methods.
Nutdraw
Undying(or Gravecrawler)+Blood Artist+Sac Outlet
while removing all of your relevant threats with some of the best removal in the game.
I fight Aristocrats just about every FNM. Most of them are pretty close matches. The ones I lose are when I don't have removal for your threats. OR when you guys resolve several Blasphemous Acts.
Our deck will ALWAYS remove Reckoner on sight. We won't allow Skirsdag to trigger, if it means using removal on him we will. Falkenrath is hard to deal with but we run our own Aristocrats and usually Lingering Souls.
I like it. I like adding in Thundermaw and Blood Baron to help put away the game.
But, the deck is flippant. It has multiple ways to attack but all the pieces of the puzzle have to come together. Aggro needs pieces to 1 for 1 till we stabilize...but you may pull the cards for a nutdraw, which you obviously lose because you are the slower aggro deck.
I think the deck needs Mutilate. It dodges Boros Reckoner and acts as a mini blasphemous act with Blood Artist out.
I think Toil and Trouble is just a disgusting card...I hate it. Over-costed mana for both effects and when you fuse...it doesn't really pay out. Id rather just run straight card draw or Searing Spear.
Orzhov Charm..is meh IMO. None of its abilities are relevant other than the instant removal...and there are better options in Victim of Night. If you are playing the re-cast the one drop ability of the spell, you are doing something wrong with your mana use.
I've ran Lingering Souls in the main for a while now and they have always underperformed. They just get Ghor-Clan'd and trampled through. I'd rather just play Vampire Nighthawk to kill a creature and gain 2 life while blocking 3 damage, although he is famous for getting Searing Spear'd. Plus, electrickery is coming in!
I don't like Sin Collector, I'd rather have Duress in the side. It allows for the same effect and a better body.
I've been playing Zombie-ocrats. Could you post or link or state what PTQ that was with the zombie-crats?
If you care...here's my list.
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Gravecrawler
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Cartel Aristocrat
4 Blood Artist
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
Spells: 13
4 Lingering Souls
3 Tragic Slip
3 Victim of Night
3 Mutilate
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Blood Crypt
4 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
6 Swamp
1 Vault of the Archangel
3 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Appetite for Brains
3 Knight of Infamy
3 Electrickery
2 Slaughter Games
1 Tragic Slip
1 Victim of Night
It hasn't done all that well. :/
No one is really brewing very hard in the Bx Zombies very hard and IDK what to do and everyone else has just basically given up and stuck with BW Zombies. I thought splashing Red for Falkenrath and turning it into a crazy aristocrats deck might give it a chance.
I'd drop the Blind Obedience. It's only used against decks with Hellrider, Falkenrath, and Thundermaw and I'd rather have instant removal for them anyways.
-3 Blind +3 Victim of Night
Victim of Night won't cover Falkenrath but you are packing Tragic Slip and Souls.
I'd consider Blood Baron in the side. Orzhov Charm has always been sub-par for me and its instant removal...which is good..but with Victim and Slip in the main I see it as unnecessary. Blood Baron is way more relevant against Aggro/Midrange than Obzedat so you should conisder him.
Thats about all I have to suggest.
I keep seeing this BR Zombies deck place well...its packing Thrill Kill Assassin as a 3 of. I don't understand that card or how to play it lol.
http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=10834&iddeck=79103
I've been using this on a cockatrice server and its been doing fairly well. Can handle RDW and Naya Aggro decks fairly handily.
This is the list:
4 Gravecrawler
3 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Diregraf Captain
4 Blood Artist
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
3 Evil Twin
Instans:8
2 Spell Rupture
3 Victim of Night
3 Tragic Slip
3 Spectral Flight
Land: 23
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Watery Grave
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Blood Crypt
2 Island
5 Swamp
2 Duskmantle Seer
3 Woodlot Crawler
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Spell Rupture
1 Spectral Flight
1 Victim of Night
1 Tragic Slip
2 Appetite for Brains
2 Slaughtergames
The deck actually has pretty darn good reach between Diregraf Capt' and Blood Artist. They usually deal 5 to 6 damage a game. I wanted to re-try UB Zombies. Its still capable of T4 kills. I splashed red simply because Falkenrath Aristocrat is godlike and we could support it.
Spectral Flight may seem like it doesn't fit...but it allows us to race against RDW and Naya Blitz and allows us to play a tempo game by backing up our Gravecrawler/Diregraf Ghoul( who is a 4/4 Flier on T2) with Spell Rupture, Victim of Night, or Tragic Slip.
Diregraf Capt' is worth it. He triggers alot and makes our zombies able to trade with the metagame and makes combat math harder for our opponent. Blood Artist only compounds that fact. Capt' also trades well.
The side is pretty self-explanatory. I side Duskmantles in against Control/High CMC curves. Woodlot crawler is good against naya blitz and holding off Jund Aggro until Ghor Clans start to come down.
I have the rest of the playset of our control suite in the side for when we want to go tempo against aggro.
So Aggro:
+1 Victim of Night
+1 Tragic Slip
+1 Spell Rupture
+1 Spectral Flight
-3 Evil Twin
-1 Blood Artist
Control:
+1 Spectral Flight
+2 Slaughter Games
+1 Spell Rupture
-3 Tragic Slip
-1 Victim of Night
Midrange(Naya and Jund):
Not entirely sure for this MU yet.
+3 Woodlot Crawler
-3 Victim of Night(versus Jund)
-3 Tragic Slip(versus Naya)
Reanimator:
+1 Spectral Flight
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+2 Slaughter Games
-3 Blood Artist
-2 Tragic Slip
Tired. Finish write up later.
Really like it so far. Spell Rupture is awesome. The deck can maintain board presence and still keep the opponents at bay.
Thank you very much!
If he has protection from Green and a Strangleroot Geist with Rancor swings in for 4 and Woodlot blocks...why would the trample go through?
My understanding of protection from a color is that all damage is prevented...which means the damage doesn't occur which means there is no damage dealt so that trample isn't triggered and goes over to the player.
It seems like everyone agrees that trample goes through so I guess I'm wrong...can someone please explain?
The only qualms I have with this list is Orzhov Charm. I used it and regretted it. The only relevant ability I see in it is the removal option. The bounce is great in attrition wars and you need to pump through more damage with Geralf's. I'd replace Orzhov Charm with Victim of Night, unless you really get use out of returning Diregraf Ghoul.
How has Liliana served you?
Im running a very similar list but I've gotten pretty TERRIBLE results. Losing to every kind of Aggro in the format. Im running three in the main. I really like being able to clear the board. Each time I played it my opponent had two or three cards in hand while I had Falkenrath and Lingering Souls which would dominate in a vacuum.
Although, I don't have Gloom Surgeon in the side.
I feel like Blood Scrivener is there to give your plan gas....remember that he ISN'T the ACTUAL plan. So don't play him like that..I feel like people expect him to just win games when they empty their hands.
Here's my most recent list.
Revisions:
11 Zombie Suite(-1 Diregraf)
4 Blood Artist
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
2 Cartel Aristocrat
3 Bloodthrone Vampire
Spells: 13
3 Mutilate
4 Lingering Souls
2 Victim of Night
4 Tragic Slip
8 B/R Duals
8 B/W Duals
5 Swamps
2 Plains
2 Slaughtergames
2 Appetite for Brains
3 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Ultimate Price
3 Gloom Surgeon
3 Pillar of Flame
I REALLY want Vampire Nighthawk in the main. He answers so much and still applies pressure.
Any suggestions?
I feel like you aren't gaining much by splashing white if you aren't playing Lingering Souls or Cartel Aristocrat. This deck would benefit more from splashing Red and replacing Restoration Angel for Falkenrath and running more removal. Plus you could replcae Illness in the Ranks for Electrickery which hits so many more relevant threats in the metagame for one more mana.
You also have access to more dependable sideboard options against control. Slaughter Games is a freaking bomb against them. I would replace Thalia for Slaughter. I'd also consider Spike Jester over KOI if you go Jund. He puts on crazy good pressure and in my playtesting, I've found it more relevant than KOI's pro-white and exalted. Although I'd keep KOI in the side versus Naya Blitz and other White based decks.
I'd be highly tempted to put Deathrite Shaman in the Side for Reanimator and replace him with Brimstone Volley or Searing Spear.
Junk Zombies would definitely have an appeal for its resilience...which is probably the most resilient aggro deck in the format. But I feel like the resilence is almost redundant. There isn't someone I know that would bother trying to remove our creatures. Half of them don't care to be put in the yard and the other half WANT to be put in the yard. It forces our opponents to run exile effects.
I feel like if you want to stick to Junk Zombies you need to run Lingering Souls and Cartel Aristocrat. You'd have one of the most annoying board states to have to remove.