Josu Vess, Zombie Ramp Lord

Commander / EDH* Mono-Black Ramp Tokens Zombie

xSindrix

Other (14)

• 1x Army of the Damned
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Cultist of the Absolute
• 1x Filth
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Gravecrawler
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Phyrexian Tribute
• 1x Plague Belcher
• 1x Rise of the Dread Marn
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Whip of Erebos
• 1x Wretched Confluence

Zombie Power (9)

• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Cemetery Reaper
• 1x Coat of Arms
• 1x Death Baron
• 1x Eldrazi Monument
• 1x Gauntlet of Power
• 1x Liliana's Mastery
• 1x Lord of the Undead
• 1x Obelisk of Urd

Recursion (6)

• 1x Beacon of Unrest
• 1x Lord of the Undead
• 1x Phyrexian Delver
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Relentless Dead
• 1x Unholy Grotto

Haste (1)

• 1x Akroma's Memorial

Ramp (13)

• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Crowded Crypt
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Extraplanar Lens
• 1x Gauntlet of Power
• 1x Heraldic Banner
• 1x Jeweled Lotus
• 1x Liliana of the Dark Realms
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Wayfarer's Bauble

Card Advantage (10)

• 1x Ambition's Cost
• 1x Ancient Craving
• 1x Blood Divination
• 1x Bolas's Citadel
• 1x Cryptbreaker
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Undead Augur
• 1x Village Rites

Tutors (4)

• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Win Conditions (2)

• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Torment of Hailfire

Commander (1)

Removal (11)

• 1x All is Dust
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Dead of Winter
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Force of Despair
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Infernal Grasp
• 1x Mutilate
• 1x Plague Engineer
• 1x The Meathook Massacre

Land (33)

• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 26x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Unholy Grotto
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Westvale Abbey  ^Flip

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Maybeboard

Other (1)

• 1x Necropotence

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Josu Vess has returned from beyond the grave to lead his army of knights against the forces of the Multiverse!

Unlike most zombie tribal commanders, Josu Vess has the inherent ability to be an army all by himself. Rather than focusing on playing a lot of zombies, this deck revolves around ramping like a green deck and and empowering Josu's tokens. People tend to expect a zombie tribal deck out of Josu, forgetting that for 10 mana you get 9 creatures that require 18 blockers and have a damage potential of 20 per turn, making Josu one of the most mana-efficient cards in Magic.

Ramping

Although Josu runs a lower land count, it can ramp very heavily.

• Extraplanar Lens, Gauntlet of Power, Crypt Ghast and the like increase the amount of mana our swamps will produce.
• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Cabal Coffers for the obvious mana production synergy; tutors and Expedition Map can fish these two out early.

• Lake of the Dead has the potential to drop a VERY early kicked Josu, if you can push for the win before someone finds a response. (Ramping early with Lake can backfire if you don't end the game quickly, as your "ramp" effectively shoots your late game in the foot.)

Token Enhancement

While our tokens are difficult to deal with thanks to their menace ability, two damage per connection simply won't get the job done. Josu's boys need to get stronger if we're to conquer the Multiverse.

Artifacts/Enchantments such as Obelisk of Urd and Liliana's Mastery provide static power to our menace tokens.

Zombie lords such as Lord of the Undead and Undead Warchief further enhance Josu's undead horde.

Coat of Arms by itself is often enough to overwhelm our foes, and

Akroma's Memorial adds more evasion to bypass our enemies' defenses.

Haste

Summoning an insurmountable army of zombie knights is useless if they never get the chance to attack! Josu's soldiers have to be quick if they're to win him the day!

Akroma's Memorial is always the best option for hasting our zombie army.

However, with proper planning and preparation for Josu's invasion, Mogis's Marauder or Crashing Drawbridge can provide the speed boost we need.

Win Conditions

While beating our opponents to a pulp with a buffed up army of zombie supersoldiers is always the preferred method of victory, Josu has learned enough military strategy to know that having a backup plan is always a wise decision.

Josu has a great deal of card draw, but possibly his greatest card advantage lies in the synergy between Bolas's Citadel and Necropotence. Digging for Gray Merchant of Asphodel or Sensei's Divining Top can end the game in a single turn. (Be warned - not everyone will enjoy watching you solitaire your deck into exile just to throw Gary at them repeatedly.)

Always a staple amongst the zombie hordes, Gray Merchant of Asphodel will serve Josu well as a Plan B. With several ways of resurrecting Gary, should he fall to the enemy (or otherwise), Josu can return him again and again to batter his foes into submission.

With all the ramping Josu will be doing, Torment of Hailfire can be a win condition all on its own.

I've had a great deal of fun playing this deck with multiple play groups. Josu's kicker makes him a constant threat, being able to drop an army with a single spell. He's also fast enough with his ramp and card advantage to get on the board before the table unites against the horde and bashes your face in. I hope you all get a kick out of him too!

Notable Exclusions

• Endless Ranks of the Dead While I love the flavor of this card, it has never failed to underwhelm in this deck. Unlike Army of the Damned which spawns an army instantly, this card just has that "win more" feel to it. If Army and Josu can't get the job done, this card will never get there.
• Geth, Lord of the Vault While his utility is undeniable, he doesn't do anything specifically Josu related, and it's a gamble on whether he'll find something that impacts my board enough to justify his cost. He still sits on my maybeboard, dancing in and out of the deck looking for a home.
• Mana Crypt, Mana Vault, Damnation, Toxic Deluge: Just don't have em for this deck. They'll find their way in once I can pick up additional copies.

Date added	4 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	17 - 0 Mythic Rares 34 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 6 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.24
Tokens	Emblem Liliana of the Dark Realms, Foretell, Human Cleric 1/1 BW, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie 2/2 B w/ Decayed, Zombie Berserker 2/2 B, Zombie Knight 2/2 B
Folders	EDH decks, Funni