This Zombie deck was created with a budget in mind and is also incredibly fun to play. I feel most zombie "tribal" decks will use an excess of lord creatures(e.g. Death Baron), but I think that these cards makes a zombie deck can "cheapen" the strategy.
So I wanted to make a zombie deck that didn't rely on creature lords to win. I also feel that The Risen Army plays like a zombie deck should. Endless Ranks of the Dead puts zombies into play every turn, and when I think of zombies, I think of the overwhelming number of zombies, not the overwhelming power of a few zombies.
The basic strategy is too shovel zombies onto the battlefield as quickly as possible. Most of my zombies have a low cost so I can get 5 or 6 out before I cast Endless Ranks of the Dead, and once its out, I try to maintain a good number of zombies until I am able to overwhelm my opponent's defense.
I use
Tragic Slip
and Geth's Verdict as spot removal,
Tragic Slip
for things I can target, and Geth's Verdict for the things I can't.
Gnawing Zombie
is a real beast here because he combos so well with others in the deck, the synergy between
Gnawing Zombie
with
Black Cat
, Vengeful Pharaoh, and
Tragic Slip
is awesome. Plenty of times I've sacrificed a
Black Cat
to discard my opponent's only card after his draw step, or sacrificed Vengeful Pharaoh after I block a much stronger creature to stop combat damage from the blocked creature and destroy any of the attacking creatures, not to mention either of those triggers
Tragic Slip
morbid ability.
Diregraf Ghoul
and
Vile Rebirth
serve the same purpose, cheap expendable zombies.
Ghoulcaller's Chant allows me to reanimate my dead zombies, I usually use this to dig up the cheapest mana cost zombies so I can put them out immediately.
Liliana's Reaver is a huge deterrent for aggressive creature decks, leave him untapped and they'll stall for whole turns trying to draw that removal, all the while Endless Ranks of the Dead is building an army.
Just like Liliana's Reaver, Vengeful Pharaoh is another big deterrent, I play really aggressive with him, because I mostly want him in my graveyard, being able to chose which attacking creatures dies is awesome, if even the attacking creature I chose didn't trigger Vengeful Pharaoh's ability.
Diabolic Tutor allows me to search for the situation specific card that I might want. Nothing going on? Endless Ranks of the Dead!! Too many white wienies?? Of Course!! Get rid of them with
Zombie Apocalypse
! And who doesn't love the late game finisher with the 13 2/2 defensive linemen for Zombie Community College(ZCC for short, Goooo Zombies!!!) , maybe that's too many players on one team, but zombies don't care, and just for noticing here's 13 more next turn from Army of the Damned's flashback!
Any help, feedback, or discussion I would love, and as usual, +1's are much appreciated. Thanks for taking a look!
"The living are born small and weak. The dead rise ready to serve. The choice is obvious." --Gisa, ghoulcaller of Gavony
