Zombie Hunt Companions [Budget/Casual/Jank]

Modern Budget Casual Combo Gyruda, Doom of Depths Jank UB (Dimir)

Kazierts

Land (55)

• 4x Aether Hub
• 4x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Contested War Zone
• 4x Dismal Backwater
• 4x Faerie Conclave
• 4x Hidden Cataract
• 4x Hostile Desert
• 4x Ifnir Deadlands
• 2x Island
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Ramunap Ruins
• 4x Reliquary Tower
• 4x Shivan Reef
• 4x Sunken Citadel
• 1x Surtland Frostpyre
• 2x Swamp
• 2x Tolaria West
• 4x Vivid Creek
• 1x Westvale Abbey  ^Flip

Enchantment (2)

• 2x Zombie Infestation

Sorcery (3)

• 3x Treasure Hunt

Companion (1)

---

Sideboard

Creature (4)

• 1x Gyruda, Doom of Depths
• 1x Kaheera, the Orphanguard
• 1x Lutri, the Spellchaser
• 1x Zirda, the Dawnwaker

Enchantment (2)

• 2x Molten Vortex

Instant (4)

• 1x Empty the Pits
• 1x Lightning Storm
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Shred Memory

Land (5)

• 2x Ghost Quarter
• 3x Nephalia Academy

---

Maybeboard

Land (8)

• 1x Blast Zone
• 1x Creeping Tar Pit
• 1x Echoing Deeps
• 1x Hidden Necropolis
• 1x Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• 1x Valgavoth's Lair
• 1x Vault of the Archangel
• 1x Westvale Abbey  ^Flip

Creature (1)

• 1x Umori, the Collector

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Conflagrate

---

RIP Lurrus (07/03/2022) - May people finally stop saying every companion is broken now that you're finally gone

Well, maybe third time is the charm and now companions can rest in peace. RIP Jegantha (16/12/2024).

Ok, I know I'm kinda late to this meme. Seth made a video on it right after the London Mulligan change and Treasure Hunt alongside Zombie Infestation hasn't seen any top8 aside from a Standard event in 2011. BUT I think this deck is ridiculously funny. So I decided to add a little bit of myself so me and my friends can laugh our asses off when win or be completely not surprised every single time I lose (also be a little surprise with my Companion tech, but that's for the rest of the description).

Why should I play this deck? Show

This is the first time I'm adding this section, mainly because I want to make this primer even funnier. Which means I'm not necessarily gonna make for every single of my decks. Maybe for some of the more janky ideas, but it's definetly not gonna happen all the time.

Shor answer: You shouldn't. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Jokes aside, this is a bad deck. The main selling points, in my opinion, are the fact it's very, very funny and inexenpensive. My version is not as cheap as it could be but the core of the deck is possibly the cheapest deck. One thing that contributes to it being funny is it's made up of basically just Lands and needs to be made up of them, even to its tech choices and sideboard options.

If funny, fragile and weird decks are you thing, then, by all means, consider pilot a train wreck like this. Just don't try this one. This has been a meme version of an already meme deck. Meaning it's even worse than the normal deck.

What's the goal? Show

If you have never heard of this "combo" deck, in which case I'm not really sure if you're unlucky or not, the idea is to cast Treasure Hunt to fill the hand with lands and discard all of them to Zombie Infestation to create a huge army of zombies and win the game. However, after hearing a bit about fakeout decks and transformative sideboards (in Yu-Gi-Oh!) I had the idea o mixing things up.

Taking a lot at some lists and the comments on Seth's video, some people talk about including Seismic Assault and/or Lightning Storm in the sideboard as a way to throw the opponent off. There's also a very nice list here in TappedOut , that doesn't run Zombie Infestation, which is more focused on the combo with Swans of Bryn Argoll *list*, but they run Molten Vortex which I think it's a very interesting card for any Treasure Hunt deck.

If I'm already including red to splash other cards to confuse my opponents, what else could I include? The answer is Companions. I'm not gonna dwell a lot in this subject here as this section is already big enough. When the sideboard section comes, I'll be explaining why I chose to include each of the Companions. Just as a quick summary, the ideia behind them is to use each of their deckbuilding restrictions to force opponents to think about what could possibly be in the list.

By the way, this is the Swan deck, Treasure Hunt should be banned!!! (now w/ discord)

Maindeck Show

Normally, I separate everything in its proper categories (creatures, sorceries, instants and etc). However, this deck is almost 100% lands. Due to this, I'll just divide it as Combo and Lands.

Combo Show

3x Treasure Hunt {1}{U}

The Combo Enabler

Normally, combo decks tend to be extremely intricate, with lots of lines and plans. This is a completely different combo.

Treasure Hunt, at least when building this type of deck, demands it to be mostly lands. The intention is to cast it, preferably on turn 2, add lots of lands to the hand, either stopping when hitting another Treasure Hunt or card:Zombie Hunt.

There's one problem though. You can't cast it on turn two without Reliquary Tower in play. Otherwise you're gonna discard all the cards you added and have no fuel for Zombie Infestation. And since I mentioned the wincondition, if you have Zombie Infestation instead of Reliquary Tower, you can cast the Infestation turn 2 and cast Treasure Hunt on turn 3, then you proceed to dump your hand in order to make the army of zombies. Oh, I almost forgot. Thanks to the ratios of the combo cards, it's an acceptable play to cast Treasure Hunt on turn 3 BEFORE making the land drop. The reason is you can end up finding Reliquary Tower, in which case you can play it and not have to discard anything.

One important aspect to discuss is ratios. I mentioned basing this deck on SaffronOlive's video, in which he uses 4 copies of Treasure Hunt. I've also seen a few other lists using 4 copies. The issue with this is it increases the fizzle rate. Chaining Treasure Hunts together is good, but it's better to fill your hand and find your wincondition. The more copies of nonland cards you have the less chances you have of getting enough fuel. I chose 3 copies because it's enough to have it consistently in my opening hand without it making me lose turns having to cast another copy. Moreover, 1 or 2 copies is out of the picture. It's too risky to have such a low amount of copies. This deck is already weak to disruption as it. Having 1 or 2 copies just makes it completely dead against any form of disruption.

To reiterate what was said:

• It's obligatory to have it in your opening hand. So, mulligan aggressively.

• Don't cast it unless you have Reliquary Tower or Zombie Infestation in the field.

• I chose fo run only 3 copies, but 4 can be okay. However, never run 1 or 2, or you're asking to lose.

Sidenote: I know it seems weird talking like that about ratios and have Lutri, the Spellchaser in here. That's just for the memes, as I'll explain when I get to the otter. Just know these ratios have to do with a normal Treasure Hunt deck.

2x Zombie Infestation {1}{B}

The Combo Payoff

The primary wincondition.

Very differently form Treasure Hunt, you don't want this to be in your opening hand, and this is true for any other wincondition used rather than this one. You also don't want to have multiple copies of this, which is also the same for other wincons. When you cast a Treasure Hunt you want to hit either one of two things, another Treasure Hunt or a wincon. While you are revealing cards from the top, you need as many Lands as possible, as you need the fuel for Zombie Infestation, which means you don't want to have a lot of nonlands in the deck, as those could/would decrease the amount of Lands you'd add.

Once the hand is full of fuel, just dump everything into the graveyard and watch as the opponent's face fills with horror. One important note is to always discard during the opponent's turn.

Lands Show

This is where the deck actually gets interesting. In a deck made up of basically only Lands, we have to get creative and find the more useful ones.

However, if you to just play this deck for the meme combo, without getting too fancy, you can just play with basic lands.

4x Aether Hub {T}{1} or {T}{W}/{U}/{B}/{R}/{G}

If a deck needs multiple colors of mana, the best options are Mana Confluence and City of Brass, or Cavern of Souls, Ancient Ziggurat and Unclaimed Territory in case you're talking about Creature decks. However, some of these can be quite expensive.

Where does Aether Hub stand in all of this? Well, being a combo deck with very few pieces and most of them not having a lot of pips, Aether Hub is essentially the same as a City of Brass but infinitely cheaper. Of course, there will be extreme cases where it could matter, like needing to activate a creature land. So it certainly has its upsides and downsides but I'm not paying that much for a meme deck. Also, they feed each other, meaning if you don't need to add mana of any color as soon as it enters the battlefield, you could potentially use it multiple times (up to 4) later in a game.

3x Contested War Zone {T}{C}

I'm considering cutting a copy for a singleton of Vault of the Archangel. I see the vault as a much stronger option to pressure opponents, but I understand is more expensive. As such, I'll leave the war zone here. I'll talk about the vault in its proper section.

This is here to help in case there aren't enough Zombies to close the game. Let's have a situation to serve as an example. Your opponent is at 20 with one blocker. You have ten Zombies totaling twenty damage, which isn't enough to end the game given the opponent has this one blocker. With one activation of Contested War Zone it now becomes thirty damage, enabling you to end the game.

It does have a significant downside, which is why I'm thinking about. It's normally something you want to play only if it's gonna make you win the game (when you already have an established board). Otherwise you run the risk of losing a land for nothing, especially if you have more than one on board.

4x Dismal Backwater {T}{UB}

With 55 Lands, it's bound to get a bit complicated to find lands, specially being budget. Just the lifegain on ETB and the mana fixing are enough to award this a spot.

1x Dimir Aqueduct {T}{U}{B}

Bounce lands are quite interesting for this type of deck. They are known for being a little bit awkward due to forcing the player to return a land to hand and coming into play tapped. However, in this "archetype", bouncing a land isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Looking at this list, you'll see quite a few lands which have ETBs, such as Aether Hub and Bojuka Bog. Dimir Aqueduct allows us to reuse these ETBs when needed without losing too much tempo. Of course, this isn't something that won't be happening too much (if you need to Bojuka Bog someone twice, you're probably losing already), which is why there's only one copy of it and Izzet Boilerworks

4x Faerie Conclave {T}{U}

Islands are good, but sometimes it's good to have something to rely on aside from just the combo. Faerie Conclave, despite entering the battlefield tapped, it's a pretty decent beater if needed. You can see it as a budget Creeping Tar Pit (which after taking a look at Ligamagic, a Brazilian site for card prices, it's not that expensive) with the added benefit of being able to block fliers and its ability costing a bit less.

4x Hostile Desert {T}{C}

Another creature land to rely on in case everything goes to hell. The main differences from Faerie Conclave are this has a beefier body, a 3/4 instead of a 2/1, it enters untapped, meaning you can play this on turn 2 and cast Zombie Infestation, and its activation cost is completely colorless, though it demands a land to be exiled.

The main "downside" I'd say is the lack of evasion. While the body is indeed bigger, the lack of Flying can actually matter if the opponent has enough blockers. Additionally, it can also matter for defensive purposes, as the keyword also allows Faerie Conclave to block better than Hostile Desert.

Other options for this slot could be the Creature lands from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. However, those are a bit more expensive and not exactly necessary.

I'd say run Hostile Desert in every Treasure Hunt + Zombie Infestation list. This is the "beauty" of this deck. These are just tech options everyone is free to experiment with the lands they want.

4x Ifnir Deadlands {T}{C} or {T}{B}

While it's not a Swamp per say, which isn't that relevant anyway as there are no cards that care about that typing here, it's an untapped {B} source with an upside. It's probably rarely gonna matter, but having a Land that can also work as removal is worth the occasional life payment to add {B}.

4x Bojuka Bog {T}{B}

A swamp (that doesn't have the typing), meaning it doesn't take an actual spot in the deck, that's a pretty good graveyard hate, which is something most players don't expect to be in the main deck, not as four copies at least.

6x Island {T}{U}

The most powerful basic land. A untapped blue source and a search target in case an opponent blows up a land with Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin.

1x Izzet Boilerworks {T}{U}{R}

See the Dimir Aqueduct section. Izzet Boilerworks serves the exact same purpose, but fixes for {R}.

Ratios depend on the player's preference. I'm going {U}{B}{R}, so it makes sense to have both bouncelands.

1x Mountain {T}{R}

A single copy because it's budget, allows for a turn 1 Molten Vortex and is also a search target for Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin.

4x Shivan Reef {T}{U} or {T}{R}

Depending on where you live, this may not be so budget. Despite this, it's still a very good untapped Land that you can just consider as an Island with the upside of producing {R}.

Normally, it would be a downside to not have subtypes but this deck doesn't care, and doesn't like, fetchlands. Given this, it doesn't need shocklands.

If you want to spend as little as possible, in case you want to build this deck, any land that produces both {U} and {R} will do the job, though most Lands cheaper than this will come into play tapped.

1x Ramunap Ruins {T}{1} or {T}{R}

Untapped Mountain with an upside.

1x Surtland Frostpyre {T}{R}

This a huuuuuuuuuge stretch, BUT there can be situations where having a boardwipe built in a Land can be useful. It goes without saying you should never, or almost never, after use it after making the tokens.

Aside from its utility, it's a {R} source. Definitely not needed. Basically a slot for a Land of your preference based on your meta and money available (to burn).

3x Swamp {T}{B}

A untapped {B} source that's a target in case we are hit with a Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin.

Could go up or down depending on your preference regarding the win condition.

1x Tolaria West {T}{U}

In terms of price, cheap and efficient tutors can be very expensive. Scheming Symmetry, Infernal Tutor, Eladamri's Call and Grim Tutor are all kinda pricy. Even Wishclaw Talisman and Solve the Equation are increasing in price. What does Tolaria West have to do with this? Well, in a deck with 55 Lands, it's basically Grim Tutor.

Tolaria West was commonly used in Monoblue Tron to find the missing pieces of Tron, but nowadays is more used in Amulet Titan. In both cases, those decks are very reliant on some specific lands, which they can find with Transmute {1}{U}{U}. Now, let's focus on the deck you're reading about at this moment. Because it consists mostly of Lands, there's almost no opportunity cost in include a free "tutor". Granted, there aren't a lot of things to tutor for but I believe it can help to find some utilitiy tools, such as Bojuka Bog and/or Surtland Frostpyre.

The only downsides I can think of are that it's a tapped Island and a Nonbasic Land, meaning Blood Moon wrecks this deck even more. Then again, it's pretty easy to obliterate this deck.

1x Tomb of Urami {T}{B}

Remember what I said about Ifnir Deadlands? This is almost the same case. The few differences between them are the Tomb's inability to produce colorless mana, due to only being able to produce {B}, while damaging the player, and, instead of working as removal, can produce a 5/5 Flying Demon in exchange for all of your lands.

This is definitely not necessary, but in some niche situations the flyer can help the deck cross the finish line.

4x Vivid Creek {T}{U}

Because this trainwreck of a deck isn't something I want to spend a lot of money, instead of adding a good Land that can produce any mana, I chose something that's budget and technically doesn't hurt the strategy.

Looking at the curve, the actual important turn is 3. So, if Vivid Creek comes into play on any other turn besides the third, there's no real downside. But why care about having a Land that produce any mana? Gotta be real honest with this, it's to support my memes. If it produces {R}, I can cast my sideboard, Molten Vortex and Lightning Storm. If it produces {W}, Kaheera, the Orphanguard becomes an option (though I don't know if that's a good thing). With {B}, I can cast the win cons, Zombie Infestation and Empty the Pits, which is on the sideboard. There's no use for {G} right now, but you never know when you could have a mental breakdown and spend dubious amounts of money on a meme deck. Aside from these specific card, it also helps to activate the abilities of the Lands.

Despite of everything I said, I'd say it's not necessary. You can just use a regular Island.

Also, out of the "Vivid" Lands, this one is the cheapest one, for some reason.

Sideboard Show

This is where the spice starts. I'll divide the sideboard into two parts.

Companions Show

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, Internet wanderer. There are, in fact, 5 Companions in my sideboard. Why? Because that's the point of the deck being a fake out one.

1x Gyruda, Doom of Depths {4}{UB}{UB}

This is the one I envision as being the default one. The others can be used too, but Gyruda, Doom of Depths raises the least suspicious as it has the same color identity (I know this isn't Commander but it makes things easier to explain) and looks like a freebie anyway, given both Treasure Hunt and Zombie Infestation have an even converted mana cost.

Aside from what was mentioned above Gyruda, Doom of Depths has an okay ability, allowing the deck to have a threat that potentially brings another one with itself. This is just gonna be useful if, somehow, the game doesn't end on turn 3 or 4. It can also serve as a "mana sink" of sorts in case you have to wait to play something (probably gonna be waiting for Reliquary Tower

1x Lutri, the Spellchaser {1}{UR}{UR}

While too powerful for Commander, Lutri, the Spellchaser is terrible literally everywhere else. Poor thing never even got a top8 at any even- wait, wtf? He's been seeing play in VINTAGE? With multiple top8s??? Well, let me rephrase. It never saw any Standard top8, and people normally dismiss as its condition can be a bit too tough for certain strategies.

However, what if you want to play him in a strategy that's not good to begin with? He won't make it worse, that's for sure (I think). So let me list the reasons why I decided to include this adorable otter:

• I'm dumb

• Similar to all other reasonings behind his bethren, the ideia is to confuse the opponent's. Lurrus of the Dream-Den? Sure, it makes sense in order to recover Zombie Infestation. Zirda, the Dawnwaker? Makes creature lands easier to use. Gyruda, Doom of Depths and Jegantha, the Wellspring? Basically freebies. BUT what the hell is the opponent supposed to think? That you cut two copies of Treasure Hunt, your main combo enabler? And also believe there's only one Zombie Infestation, a.k.a the wincondition?

• This is one is specifically regarding Kitchen table. I normally play a lot of Magic like this, and with 3/4 players. These games tend to go the distance, which means I'd have a ton of mana to spare. So, Lutri, the Spellchaser could very well actually copy something and get some value. I do admit that it is a very niche scenario, but I figured I'd mention them just because yes.

• It's also, technically, the world's worst Snapcaster Mage. However, not in the same way. In normal situations, Snapcaster Mage serves to reuse a counter, burn, cantrip or whatever other low mana value spell needed, and even a boardwipe in some specific cases. However, when desperation mode kicks in, it's a blocker due to having Flash. That's where they're similar. It's just that Lutri, the Spellchaser costs a total of {4}{UR}{UR} ({3} to put in had + it's own {1}{UR}{UR} cost). But, hey, it's a 3/2, that makes it worth, right?

It's just one more meme I'm packing in this deck. Of course it's probably not the best ideia, but I really see the potential for fun this Otter can be.

Sidenote 1: I know it wasn't pre-banned due to power level, rather it was due to the unfair card advantage any deck with, at least, {U}{R} colors would have.

Sidenote 2: Those wore MTGO Challenges and/or Leagues. Still, that's pretty impressive considering it faces completion with the other Companions. He also seems to see some fringe play in Pioneer.

1x Jegantha, the Wellspring {4}{RG}

Well, its restrictions aren't much more restrictive than other Companions. It only prohibits the deck from playing Lightning Storm and the Muddle the Mixture I'm considering to include.

Its ability could help with casting something, but, realistically, it won't.

Probably the least exciting and funny of the Pokémons in the sideboard. It's literally just here to also confuse the opponent.

Oh, it's important to say it's cheaper to cast than Gyruda, Doom of Depths while being just slightly smaller. So... That's that.

1x Kaheera, the Orphanguard {1}{GW}{GW}

At first, the other cat, Lurrus of the Dream-Den, was the second in command here. However, WOTC dropped a nuke on him (again) and thus Kaheera, the Orphanguard assumed the position.

It may seem this is just like any other creatureless deck, but actually her ability is useful. By looking at the Lands, you can see Hostile Desert is an Elemental. So, she "transform" it into a 4/5 with Vigilance. Is that amazing? Probably not but it's a freebie anyway.

Also, yes. It is a bit hard to cast her, though I probably won't want to do it regularly anyway.

1x Zirda, the Dawnwaker {1}{RW}{RW}

Zirda, the Dawnwaker may not seem like it does anything. Anyone could just think I included her because it's a freebie. However, she CAN reduce some costs. What costs are those, since Zombie Infestation and Molten Vortex can't have their costs reduced and everything else is either an Instant or a Sorcery? Activated abilities of Lands.

This list is mostly made up of Lands, which can, and probably will, suffer some changer. However, I'm gonna be talking about the ones already in deck. If I end up making changes, I'll try to update here.

• Faerie Conclave - Reduces its ability from {1}{U} to {U}.

• Hostile Desert - Reduces the ability from {2} to {1}, making this actually one of the best Lands with Zirda, the Dawnwaker since it's one of the few that doesn't need specific colored mana.

• Ifnir Deadlands

• Ramunap Ruins - Even though its ability is reduced from {2}{R}{R}, it's probably the one I expect to use least as I don't believe I'll ever go on the Desert Burn plan.

• Surtland Frostpyre - Transforms this "boardwipe" from an overcosted {2}{R}{R}{U} niche option into an ok {R}{R}{U} "boardwipe".

• Tolaria West - It may not be clear at first, but Zirda, the Dawnwaker reduces the cost of activated abilities of cards in hand. Meaning Tolaria's ability ends up costing {U}{U}.

• Tomb of Urami

Additionally, I'm gonna explain why I don't have the other Companions (or maybe why I don't have them yet) and give a bit of a reasoning for each.

Bear's Companion {2}{U}{R}{G}

Being in Temur ({U}{R}{G}) colors really complicates things. With no ramp at all, a turn 5 creature that creates a 4/4 Bear isn't that big of a deal. I'd rather have any of the other Companions.

Cathar's Companion {2}{W}

He sure is a good boy... But not for this deck. Indestructible whenever a Noncreature spell is cast is nice, though the deck runs very few of those, even in the sidedeck. So, I believe it's best to not let the dogs out.

Iniatie's Companion {1}{G}

An extremely situational ramp. Having four copies would brick too much and a single would make it almost useless. Aside from this, it has to connect with an opponent and can't be used in the next turn. WOTC needs to print the Treasure Hunt cat combo tribal ASAP to make this work.

Keruga, the Macrosage {3}{GU}{GU}

Keruga, the Macrosage is in a similar place to Obosh, the Preypiercer, which I'll be talking about a bit ahead.

This, alongside Yorion, Sky Nomad, seems like a Companion that wouldn't be useful at all besides being funny and "confusing" for the opponent.

Its restrictions already cuts off Treasure Hunt, without which there's no way to reach out wincondition. Zombie Infestation could be swapped by Seismic Assault but that still wouldn't solve the problem of getting to it.

Mowu, Loyal Companion {3}{G}

Probably the goodest, bestest boy among all companions. Unfortunately, while the keywords are nice they don't synergize very well with the deck. Umori, the Collector can "start in my hand", reduce the costs of a card type of my choice and has a bigger body.

Not this time, buddy. It's probably for the best.

Lurrus of the Dream-Den {1}{WB}{WB}

Well, we all know that would happen anyway. Rest in pepperoni, my sweet child.

For those who don't know, on 07/03/2022 Lurrus of the Dream-Den was absolutely yeeted out of existence, even more than he already was. After being literally, temporarily, banned in Vintage and the biggest responsible for the Companion errata, WOTC decided to ban the kitty after realizing how present and homogenizing it was in formats. I don't think I need to say more.

Obosh, the Preypiercer {3}{BR}{BR}

I really, really, REALLY wanted to include Obosh, the Preypiercer in this deck. Sadly, I couldn't find anything similar to Treasure Hunt but with an odd mana cost. The closest I found was Fathom Trawl but it it adds Nonland cards. It would only buff Lightning Storm and Molten Vortex but I just see Obosh, the Preypiercer as a very cool card.

Sidenote: Don't you worry, reader. I'm actually thinking about a similar strategy with Countryside Crusher to use Obosh, the Preypiercer.

Trusty Companion {1}{W}

Umori, the Collector {2}{BG}{BG}

TL;DR: It's terrible. Don't even think about running it.

So, when Lurrus of the Dream-Den got banned, I immediately thought of swapping it with Umori, the Collector. Then, I realized it's so bad, but so bad, I can't use it because Empty the Pits and Lightning Storm because both are Instants. This proves not every Companion was not made the same way.

Anyway, even though I don't want to include it now, it's technically doable by including Conflagrate in either main or sideboard. I'll probably cut one Zombie Infestation and run a 1:1 ratio just to test it, but not on this list, just on my personal deck when I decide to buy it.

Yorion, Sky Nomad {3}{WU}{WU}

I'm only not including Yorion, Sky Nomad because I have a tiny amount of self-control left in me.

It is, technically, possibly to play,without downsides the sky noodle in this deck by just including twenty more Lands. Well... If you don't consider making this even more inconsistent, by fulfilling a condition that directly makes the deck more inconsistent, just to add a flying beater that has ZERO synergy with the strategy, even considering sideboard ones, then there are absolutely no downsides. In fact, your opponent will probably be so worried you have some form of brain damage they won't even realize you're attacking for lethal!

Unless you're going for some ultra gigachad levels of memeing, don't do this. If you're doing this because you don't have any friends, Yorion, Sky Nomad can't flicker things into existence if they never existed to begin with. Seek professional help.

Tech Cards/Hate Cards Show

1x Empty the Pits {X}{X}{B}{B}{B}{B}

Before I start explaining why it's here, can I just say I love the card? I don't know exactly the reason but it seems so cool. It think has to do with the art and the Delve keyword, which, technically, gives it potential to make a tons of Zombies. That's all I wanted to say.

Since I was already in a quest to break expectations with this deck, I Opted to add some more spice, and this one is pretty hot. Being a Combo deck, means this list is very vulnerable to cards such as Extirpate, Surgical Extraction, Test of Talents, Necromentia, Lost Legacy and Unmoored Ego, which all have the ability to eliminate every single copy of our combo enabler or wincondition (though, against this deck, the correct choice is always to name Treasure Hunt). Academic Probation, Meddling Mage, Nevermore, Ashiok's Erasure and Gideon's Intervention, while being technically different from previously mentioned cards, have basically the same function, to stop combos from going off (it's important to mention Runed Halo cannot name tokens.)

Okay, so I said a lot of things this deck is weak to, but what's the point of all of this? Empty the Pits serves as an alternative wincondition that's still within our colors and has a neat little trick. You see, almost 100% of the time you want Treasure Hunt and Reliquary Tower in your opening. Otherwise you'll have to discard each one of the lands added to hand. Empty the Pits wants things in the graveyard, thus relieving some of the need to have specific pieces in hand, while also synergizing directly with Zombie Infestation, effectively doubling the amount of Zombies.

There a few downsides, of course. Those are:

• The fact it has {B}{B}{B}{B}. It shouldn't be shuch a problem given the kill range of the deck, but demands way more specific mana than any of the other cards.

• The tokens come into play tapped. Zombie Infestation tokens can be used to block and save a bit of life, while the ones from Empty the Pits are more like finishers.

There are more, probably, but these are the ones I could remember/think of.

Overall, I think it's gonna be a fun card to cast most of the times and a brick sometimes.

2x Ghost Quarter {T}{C}

As any self-respecting deck, we have here our spot of

WOW F*CKNTRON

Of course, there are situations other than Tron lands where Ghost Quarter are useful. Blowing up Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and/or card:Yavimaya, Cradle of the Earth messes with mana fixing and/or some interactions where lands types matter. There's also Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle which is a pretty good target to blow up, given it's a win condition.

I should mention why I chose Ghost Quarter rather than Field of Ruin. The Quarter doesn't cost mana but requires the player to lose a land. Field demands {2} mana AND tapping itself but doesn't force you to go down a land. I prefer the ghostly land specifically as Field of Ruin isn't online before turn 3, which, coincidentally, is the same turn Tron counts to {7}. It shouldn't matter to much when being on the play. However, it can instantly transform the game into a loss if the Zombie Hunter is on the draw.

1x Lightning Storm {1}{R}{R}

I talked about how Empty the Pits is an alternative wincondition. Guess what Lightning Storm is? Another wincondition, which differentiates itself by being more commonly used in Treasure Hunt decks and demands less colored mana than Empty the Pits.

Since I already talked abundantly about the importance of varying winconditions, there's isn't much else to say. Lightning Storm can't be destroyed like Zombie Infestation and by playing a land that doesn't directly give away the deck can make {R}, such as Aether Hub, on game 1, is possible the opponent just scoops as the sight of the combo, without actually seeing the cards Treasure Hunt puts in hand. Additionally, it's an instant, meaning it's way less telegraphed than an enchantment that needs to stay on the field.

Last thing. Seismic Assault could be in this slot. However, it's more taxing on the manabase and Lurrus of the Dream-Den isn't a huge fan of it.

2x Molten Vortex {R}

Taken directly from the Seismic Swans deck I mentioned right after the beginning of the primer.

While it can work as a another wincondition, this is not its main purpose. The idea behind Molten Vortex is to use the plethora of Lands as fuel to control the board by killing the opponents creatures. Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, Esper Sentinel and Dragon's Rage Channeler are some of the threats that die with a single activation. And, because it's quite unlikely the opponent will side in protectio (given this deck has practically zero interaction), it's very improbable there'll be ways to protect this small threats, being more likely the scenario where the opponent side out ways to protect their creatures.

Important to mention Seismic Assault. It's basically a {R} Zombie Infestation that's stronger. I chose Molten Vortex as it's less mana intensive to cast and I initially intended to play Lurrus of the Dream-Den. Even with the cat banned, I still prefer to run something that's cheaper and not as hard to cast.

1x Muddle the Mixture {U}{U}

I retroactively decied to include this here. You can see that with my Honorable Mentions, since I haven't taken it out of there. I intend to keep it that way because I know this isn't a good inclusion. I'm just doing it for fun.

I'm gonna be 100% honest, this is just here because of Lutri, the Spellchaser. There's absolutely ZERO reason to include Muddle the Mixture. I'm gonna explain the only two uses it has but I am completely aware that this isn't optimal.

1. Basically the real reason it's here, Transmute. Lutri, the Spellchaser has a rough restriction. There are very, very few cards that are similar to Treasure Hunt. The workaround I found was to include two cards that have a converted mana cost of {2}, which is also why I'm not including a fourth copy of Treasure Hunt. Otherwise I'd have to include Dimir Infiltrator in the sideboard just to fit the Otter, and I really don't want to do that. Anyway, back to Transmute. By having cards that can fetch Treasure Hunt, it's almost as if I was running the three copies the "normal" list runs while meeting the conditions for Lutri, the Spellchaser. So, Muddle the Mixture is basically just a tutor.

2. If the previous reason wasn't good enough, this one is going to feel even worse. On the extremely rare occasion the opening hand has both Treasure Hunt and card:Muddle the Miture, the pilot can wait until turn four to have a single form of protection. Then, you can counter your opponent's Counterspell, get your hopes up because you think your combo is getting through and get wrecked by a Force of Negation.

Just to reiterate, don't run this.

2x Nephalia Academy {T}{1}

I'll add a few links to some Tibalt's Trickery combo decks as I write the primer. The reason for this is it actually functions similarly to this deck, and Nephalia Academy servers the same purpose as in that deck. As soon as watch I'll post the links here.

This is a controversial one in my opinion. In theory, it protects the combo against discard, such as Thoughtseize and Duress. However, this only happens if you're going first, which is a huge problem.

Keepable hands normally consist of a single copy of Treasure Hunt and a ton of lands. If the opponent is able to pick it off specifically, with cards similar to the ones mentioned in the previous paragraph, then the game goes into topdeck mode, but just for you. You'll either have to draw another Treasure Hunt, hope the chosen Companion carries you or make a miracle with the lands. However, this is only likely if you aren't on the play and the opponent has discard.

Let's now look the other way, what if we're on play with Nephalia Academy in hand? Well, it just protects against discard by putting the card on top of the deck rather than in the graveyard. Kinda underwhelming after all this build up, ain'it?

Thinking about swapping it for a certain amount of Muddle the Mixture and/or Throes of Chaos. Ratios are still undecided.

1x Shred Memory {1}{B}

See the Muddle the Mixture section. Everything said there applies here, with the difference being this interacts with the Graveyard rather than the Stack.

Honorable Mentions (though nothing is honorable about this deck) Show

Sigh... There are some things you could consider when building this deck and I'm gonna spend some more of my limited time on this earth talking about it.

Trapfinder's Trick {1}{U}

This one is a bit complicated to include as it can be too conditional, but I think it's important to mention it's not unreasonable to have protection against strong Trap cards. Some examples are Solemn Judgement, Infinite Impermanence and Dark Bribe.

Also suffers from the same problems of Nephalia Academy.

Amulet of Safekeeping {1}

While it's yet another form of protection against discard, it has a few benefits over the other protection I mentioned.

• It also shields from burn spells and/or abilities, such as Lightning Bolt and Grim Lavamancer. It's not as good as Leyline of Sanctity which just completely blanks both discard and burn, but much, much cheaper

• Being colorless means it can fit in any variation of this mess.

• While its mana value is higher than a Land, it's less than every other protection I mentioned so far (except Leyline of Sanctity but that's in a category of its own and it's more expensive).

• Though very niche, it can help against go wide token decks. I still think this wouldn't help much.

To conclude, it also suffers from all the same problems mentioned when I talked about discard protection.

Conflagrate {X}{X}{R}

Gint-Horn Buccaneer {1}{R}{R}

Muddle the Mixture {U}{U}

This is here literally just so I can shoehorn Lutri, the Spellchaser in this deck. If you aren't as dumb as me, you can just consider a second copy card:Shred of Memory.

Throes of Chaos {3}{R}

Thassa's Oracle {U}{U}

I initially considered it for the Possible Upgrades section but I don't think it would benefit the deck that much. Due to this, I moved it to this section.

Look, I know everyone hates this f*cking fish but this is a thorough and detailed document (kinda?) explaining and describing what could be done to "improve" this deck, so I feek obligated to include it, even if I despise it myself.

Sigh... The bane of cEDH, scourge of Historic and only evaded Pioneer's banlist because Inverter of Truth took the shot. This thing has seen play in a myriad of format, and with some tweaking it could probably see play in this deck too.

I don't think I could include in this particular list but, in theory, by changing the goal of the deck to just empty itself by "drawing" everything card with Treasure Hunt and then playing Thassa's Oracle it could work. Though in this particular case Thoracle would need to be in hand to begin with or be tutored with Transmute from either Shred Memory or Muddle the Mixture.

It also reduces the downside of having to have Reliquary Tower on the field. It doesn't matter what happens to your hand if Thoracle is your wincondition.

Vivid Marsh {T}{B}

Just as another small note, even though I already said this ina section above, this encompasses all the other Vivid Lands. I'm not really sure if any of the others would be better than the {U}. This merely a reminder that the others exist and maybe could be considered.

Waterveil Cavern {T}{U} or {T}{B}

Waterveil Cavern and its brethen are a very interesting cycle of Lands. At face value, they can seem pretty terrible. However, I believe it can be an interesting option in budget combo decks. If you think about it, for a combo deck, it doesn't matter a lot if your Land won't untap next turn, considering your winning the turn you tap it for colored mana. Of course, there is the problem of it not allowing cantrips and interaction, which is something combo decks normally want. I just say it's interesting as a budget option.

Specifically regarding this deck, both combo pieces, Treasure Hunt and Zombie Infestation, only have one colored pip. Which means you afford to tap it for {U} or {B} since you are most likely to win when casting the last of either piece. If it doesnt happen, it not it not untapping that going to be the game loss. The only actual downside I can "see" is it doesn't work very weel with manlands.

Possible upgrades (please don't spend your money on this) Show

One important thing to note is fetchlands aren't good for this deck. You want a critical mass of lands to discard to the wincondition. Fetchlands reduce the amount of lands, thus weakening the payoffs. Plus, with 55 Lands mana fixing shouldn't be an issue.

Leyline of Sanctity {2}{W}{W}

Literally the best form of protection against not only discard, but also burn and anything that could possibly think of targeting you.

All of the other forms of hand protection I mentioned here lose to a discard spell turn one, be it Duress, Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize. Leyline of Sanctity is the single one that actually gives some real protection. Everything else I mentioned in this primer, which I don't blame you if you can't remember all, are workarounds that rely in some form of luck. I say luck because if you're not going first and your opponent has any form of discard, nothing can stop it aside from a Leyline of Sanctity. However, I don't believe it's worth including it in this deck because of its price. It isn't THAT expensive, but also not THAT worth it either.

On a similar note, it's also very effective against burn. While a lot of zombie tokens are very good at player removal, Lightning Bolt and Lava Spike don't care about creatures. Leyline of Sanctity just blanks all of it. Still, I maintain what I said about the price.

Sidenote: I know burn decks run creatures and that this doesn't do anything against it. I just want to mention it effectiveness against targeting spells.

Literally any Shockland or Triome

Not much to say. They cost a lot of money, but are very good at fixing mana. Buy only if you like blinging meme decks.

Literally any Channel Land from Kamigawa Neon Dynasty, except maybe Takenuma, Abandoned Mire.

I mean, WOTC must know those were broken, right? Even the weakest of them, maybe Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance, are still very useful in this deck. Any of the cards in this cycle is either interaction with the opponents board or, as the aforementioned red one, produces bodies to help block or attack. Heck, even the black one can be used if someone decided to run Glint-Horn Buccaneer instead of Zombie Infestation. Their opportunity cost is zero, more so in a deck almost completely made of Lands. The only reason to no run them is their price as they're already quite pricey.

I wasn't going to, but because I want to run away from my responsibilities, I decided to explain why each one of these would be great for this list:

• Boseiju, Who Endures - I could write how it deals with so many problematic cards how insignificant giving the opponent a land is. However, I'm just going to say it's an card:Assassin's Thropy that can't be countered, except by very specific cards. Also, no. Having to use {G} shouldn't be a problem to the few lands capable of producing mana of any color.
• Otawara, Soaring City - Same explanation as Boseiju, Who Endures. The difference being it doesn't have the "downside" of giving the opponent a land and it costs {3}{U}. However, it does fit the manabase better.
• Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire - This particular version I'm running can't use this very well, aside from a few Lands. Despite that, if it weren't so expensive, I'd actually consider run at least one copy, given how useful it can be. It's a removal spell that doesn't disrupt the main strategy, a.k.a adding as many Lands as possible. It's only a matter evaluating thee cost of its price and if you should/want to run {W}.
• Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance - The cheapest one and also the one I'm actually considering running. It's essentially a basic Mountain with an upside. Instead of working as a manland, becoming a creature to attack, block or whatever else, it produces tokens that are , most likely, going to be used as blockers. Only reason I can find to not run it is the price.
• Takenuma, Abandoned Mire -

Boseiju, Who Shelters All {T}{C}

The literal only reason I'm not playing this is its price.

Almost any good Creature Land

Initially, I was just gonna include Hive of the Eye Tyrant and Hall of Storm Giants. However, the more I thought about it, you can really just include any good Creature Land that can produce the colors you desire. Some examples are Creeping Tar Pit, Den of the Bugbear, Mutavault and whatever else tickles your fancy.

Vault of the Archangel {T}{C}

Thisis isn't strictly necessary. A horde of zombies should be enough to close any game. In case it's not, Vault of the Archangel helps the player to stay alive after an attack or makes an opponent's block a tough decision. I believe Contested War Zone is more than enough to close out a game, but it definetly cannot work as a defensive tool and can technically be harmful, if your opponent manages to hit.

If you choose to play it, probably one or two copies is enough. Tolaria West would be enough to find it and I don't believe having multiples of a Land with {2}{W}{B}, in a {U}{B}{R} deck, is a good idea.

Westvale Abbey {T}{C}

Colorshifted variations (yes, I'm actually dedicating a section to talking about how you could build with different color combinations) Show

Why do i insist on doing this to myself...

Let's say you have a lot of free time. Let's also say you don't want to be productive with your time. Finally, let's say you hate yourself. Here I'll have every possible color combination in which I think its possible to play this "archetype". This does not it cannot be done in colora I didn't mention. It just means I have enough sanity to not dive even deeper in this hellhole.

In all seriousness though, this is more like me just brainstorming the endless possibilities to play MTG. Even if this a completely unnecessary primer, it's been a lot of fun for me. In case, anyone reading this decides to take a bite at this "archetype", the following ideas are meant to help you in your own brainstorming.

Monoblue {U}

Monogreen {G} (yes, it's technically possible)

We already have a good start considering Ayula's Influence exists, which is basically {G}'s version of Seismic Assault. It's not necessarily better or worse than those. Allow me to demonstrate.

• When compared to Seismic Assault:

  Advantages

  When it comes to burn cards, Modern has quite the number of hate cards. Kor Firewalker, Leyline of Sanctity, Burrenton Forge-Tender and Feed the Clan to name a few, but there's plenty more. Ayula's Influence sets itself apart by transforming the 2 damage into 2/2 bodies, meaning the aforementioned cards aren't really useful against it.

  Disadvantages

  While in some matchups having a body is more beneficial, it can be detrimental in others. Aside from cards that prevent damage and/or gain life, you can't really interact with direct damage (I know Leyline of Sanctity does neither but you know what I meant). Multiple bodies can be blocked and destroyed. Another issue with Ayula's Influence in a Monogreen version is you don't have an easy way to fill your hand with Lands. Life from the Loam and Creeping Renaissance are the only ways I found to do so but they'll their own spot here.

• When compared to Zombie Infestation:

  Advantages

  This is pretty clear. Having to discard one card instead of two to create the same amount of tokens is a huge upside. Moreover, {G} is pretty good at finding Enchantments (without using using tutors that either cost a lot of mana or money).

  Disadvantages

  These are also pretty clear. Starting with its mana cost. Sure, in a Monogreen deck triple {G} isn't really a problem but it limits the player if they want to splash other colors. However, it makes it harder to fit utility lands such as Field of Ruin, Radiant Fountain and Hostile Desert. Another problem is it does cost more than {1}{B}, which can complicate the curve if you're playing, or planning to play, with other colors.

The one actual problem is finding something that works similarly to Treasure Hunt. My initial thought was to use card:creeping rennaissance to re-add Lands back to hand in order to have more fuel. The problem is it's very costly to cast, thus making the strategy very slow. Another option would be Life from the Loam as there's no need for the draw step since it works as "draw" three every turn by adding Lands back. However, this isn't a very budget friendly card.

Recently, I've watched a video from the Thraben University channel on Youtube where he played a Lands deck in Legacy. That list used four copies of Mulch. Whie I don't remember if it also had four copies of Winding Way, that's the other option to fill the remaining slots. Each of those become basically a draw four every turn if the deck is built with mostly Lands. The one issue with these is, because they aren't exactly like Treasure Hunt, one cast isn't enough to fill your hand, meaning you need more copies, which mean you one has more chances to hit the others, which means having more weakens it, and so on and so forth...

TL;DR: card:Life form the Loam would be the best for this, but it's too expensive. Mulch and Winding Way are the second best options, but testing is needed for ratios. Play only if the normal Treasure Hunt combo isn't spicy enough for you.

Dimir {U}{B}

This is actually the most basic form of this deck. A lot of what I could say about this variation has already been said in this primer, since I'm just running a small {R} + meme choices package.

An example of a {U}{B} list: - 4x Treasure Hunt - 2x Zombie Infestation - 44x Basic or Nonbasic Lands

If anyone wants to play this type of deck, but doesn't know how/where to begin, I'd suggest starting with this example list. It has a lot of room for customization and it's probably the cheapest deck I've ever seen.

Golgari / Witherbloom {B}{G}

Simic / Quandrix {U}{G}

This version differiates itself by swapping Zombie Infestation for Ayula's Influence, which, in general, is a better card. The only actual downside is the fact it costs {G}{G}{G}, meaning it's hard to include utility Lands, since quite a few of them produce {C}.

Aside from what I said above, it's literally the same thing as the base version. Slap 4x Treasure Hunt and 2/3x Ayula's Influence and have fun, while playtesting for ratios on utility cards (maybe even 1/2 copies of Ayula, Queen Among Bears.

Izzet / Prismari {U}{R}

Rakdos {B}{R} (I know it seems weird but hear me out)

Sultai {U}{B}{G}

Bant {W}{U}{G}

Esper {W}{U}{B}

Temur {U}{R}{G}

Rainbow/5 colors {W}{U}{B}{R}{G}

No amount of money we'll make me actually consider this (though there's nothing stopping anyone from trying).

plz gimme money

Top Ranked	Achieved #48 position overall 3 years ago Achieved #28 position in Modern 3 years ago Achieved #1 position in Modern Primer 3 years ago
Date added	3 years
Last updated	3 days
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	0 - 1 Mythic Rares 14 - 6 Rares 26 - 6 Uncommons 11 - 2 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.00
Tokens	Energy Reserve, Human Cleric 1/1 WB, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Ideas, Fun Stuff, Stupidly mean decks, Great Modern Decks