What comprises the ideal zombie deck?
Table of Contents
- The Basic Idea
- Death Baron
- Speed
- Sideboard
- Suggested Swaps
- Feedback
- Additional Improvements
Zombies Domini
Exploration of Mono-Black Tribalism
Solomon's Final Revision
The Basic Idea:
To date, I've spent a significant amount of time mulling over possible concepts (some thought up, others published online) for an adequate Zombie deck. Eventually, I decided to assemble a deck based on the 'Zombie Lord' rush strategy seen so often online, only this time with an alternate take on the common approach.
This deck aims to reduce casting costs early on using Jet Medallion, Undead Warchief, and Dark Ritual in preparation for multiple copies of the Zombie Lords Cemetery Reaper, Lord of the Undead, Death Baron, and Undead Warchief mid-game.
Lords, Lords, and more Lords! The +1's add up, especially when you pile on one Lord after another. Pretty soon, you'll have an army of buffed-up zombies with Deathtouch (thanks to Death Baron). Lord of the Undead allows you to replace your killed off critters time after time, while Cemetery Reaper continually expands your undead numbers! In the meantime, Undead Warchief keeps your zombie-generating machine running mana efficiently.
With removal solutions for obstacles spanning early (Go for the Throat, Doom Blade, Geth's Verdict) to late (Nameless Inversion) game, you can spring clean your opponent's side of the battlefield. Use the opportunity to take potshots at your enemy's health!
Hopefully, this won't be needed very often. Clearing the field with Damnation immediately before bringing back all of your undead friends with Zombie Apocalypse effectively guarantees you a direct strike on your opponent's life.
Finally, in case you require it, Soulless One, Coat of Arms, and Grave Titan pump up your late game like heck, performing the finishing blow on your foes.
Death Baron:
One of the most powerful zombies of all time, this card serves as an important staple of this deck's main strategy.
Thank you so very much for all of the wonderful suggestions recommending useful Zombie additions! After carefully reading every one of the comments posted since last week's update, I decided to feature my interpretation of an incredible three-drop with this latest update. My choice for this revision is Death Baron.
As a Lord, this creature feeds into the deck's main strategy of compiling multiple Lords on the battlefield. With its ability to grant all your Zombies deathtouch, you'll be destroying your opponent's army, no matter its strength, in no time! As the one creature that can turn your chump blockers into doom-bringing machines, Death Baron functions as a necessary component of this card list.
As one of the highest rated Zombies on the Gatherer, it is no wonder why this Lord was included. To conclude briefly, the numerous players on Gatherer recommending Death Baron have been dead on. As a well-deserved veteran of this deck, let's give this priceless three-drop a warm welcome!
Speed:
I haven't playtested the deck enough to be able to accurately assess its speed. However, as it appears now, the game looks pretty 'solid' after about five turns of gameplay.
Sideboard:
Part of the sideboard is dedicated to establishing basic defense, should you need it while using the deck. Cards like Nevinyrral's Disk and Darkness defend you against pesky artifacts, enchantments, and blitzkrieg Elemental creatures (like the notorious Ball Lightning + Berserk combo).
Hymn to Tourach, Unmake, and an extra copy of Damnation will help perfect your arsenal of mono-black removal. With a little bit of luck, you can force your opponent to rid his trump cards before they even make their way onto the battlefield, and gain much-needed card advantage in the process! For one extra mana, Unmake will take that annoying regenerating creature and remove it for the rest of game, taking care of your problem permanently. In case you need to clear the field one more time, a sideboard copy of Damnation will grant you just that opportunity.
If Lord of the Undead cannot perform reanimation to your satisfaction, Animate Dead and Reanimate should take care of the problem. For an equal or lesser mana cost, these spells can directly transport your soldiers from the grave to the battlefield where they're needed. Lastly, if Zombie Apocalypse factors in later than you please, for one mana less, Patriarch's Bidding will do the job as well. Just make sure you don't play against an opponent who's also using a tribal deck!
The rest of it is still a scattered mess that's up in the air, so any suggestions will be very much appreciated.
Suggested Swaps:
Unmake == Geth's Verdict, Go for the Throat, Doom Blade, Coat of Arms, Nameless Inversion, or some combination thereof
Animate Dead == Geth's Verdict, Go for the Throat, Doom Blade, Nameless Inversion, or some combination thereof
Reanimate == Geth's Verdict, Go for the Throat, Doom Blade, Jet Medallion, Nameless Inversion, or some combination thereof
Darkness == Geth's Verdict, Go for the Throat, Doom Blade, Nameless Inversion, Jet Medallion, or some combination thereof
Hymn to Tourach == Geth's Verdict, Go for the Throat, Doom Blade, Nameless Inversion, or some combination thereof
Nevinyrral's Disk == Zombie Apocalypse, Damnation, Coat of Arms, Jet Medallion, or some combination thereof
Patriarch's Bidding == Zombie Apocalypse, Damnation, Coat of Arms, or some combination thereof
Feedback:
I can see plenty of potential weaknesses in this deck.
As I am still relatively new to Magic the Gathering, I would indeed greatly appreciate any suggestions and/or constructive criticism that you may have to offer.