Varina the Mad Lich

Commander / EDH* Casual Discard Theme/Gimmick Tokens WUB (Esper) Zombie

DarkSwitch

Land (36)

• 1x Arcane Sanctum
• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Azorius Chancery
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Castle Locthwain
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Deserted Beach
• 1x Dimir Aqueduct
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Field of the Dead
• 1x Glacial Fortress
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 1x Island
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Orzhov Basilica
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Plains
• 1x Raffine's Tower
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Sea of Clouds
• 1x Shipwreck Marsh
• 1x Snow-Covered Island
• 1x Snow-Covered Plains
• 1x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 4x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Temple of Enlightenment
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Unholy Grotto
• 1x Watery Grave

Instant (6)

• 1x Frantic Purification
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Mausoleum Secrets
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Time to Reflect
• 1x Utter End

Creature (25)

• 1x Archfiend of Ifnir
• 1x Bone Miser
• 1x Cemetery Reaper
• 1x Containment Construct
• 1x Corpse Harvester
• 1x Cryptbreaker
• 1x Death Baron
• 1x Death Tyrant
• 1x Diregraf Colossus
• 1x Fleshbag Marauder
• 1x Ghoulcaller Gisa
• 1x God-Eternal Oketra
• 1x Grave Scrabbler
• 1x Graveborn Muse
• 1x Gravecrawler
• 1x Lazotep Chancellor
• 1x Lord of the Undead
• 1x Murderous Rider
• 1x Noosegraf Mob
• 1x Noxious Ghoul
• 1x Poppet Stitcher  ^Flip
• 1x Silversmote Ghoul
• 1x Tainted Adversary
• 1x The Scarab God
• 1x Undead Augur

Artifact (8)

• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Orzhov Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Wand of Orcus

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Liliana, Death's Majesty
• 1x Liliana, Waker of the Dead

Commander (1)

Enchantment (11)

• 1x Anointed Procession
• 1x Curse of Disturbance
• 1x Endless Ranks of the Dead
• 1x Etchings of the Chosen
• 1x Kindred Discovery
• 1x Oversold Cemetery
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Psychic Vortex
• 1x Reconnaissance
• 1x Teferi's Ageless Insight

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Army of the Damned
• 1x Call to the Netherworld
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Echo of Eons
• 1x From Under the Floorboards
• 1x Kaya's Wrath
• 1x Merciless Eviction
• 1x Nightmare Unmaking
• 1x Rite of Oblivion
• 1x Stitch Together
• 1x Victimize

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Welcome to my (unfinished) primer for Varina, Lich Queen! Despite Commander 2018 being a bit disappointing, it did give us this wonderful Zombie commander that I haven't seen anyone really talk about. I originally had a deck built around her and just filling the board with zombies and cycling through my deck like a madman, but then I realized I could use cards with Madness to cast them when I discard them. This deck tries to accomplish a few things. 1. Make zombies to kick butt and eat brains 2. Madness shenanigans to help make more zombies or kill your opponent's dudes

But why?

Here I explain why I built the deck. I started playing Magic with the Shadows Over Innistrad expansion, and I loved it. I never had a bunch of cards for it, my two best cards being Descend upon the Sinful and Behold the Beyond. I only recently got into Commander and playing the game more seriously instead of just on the kitchen table. I really loved the whole zombies and madness thing the set had going on, so I thought it'd be great to build a deck making zombies and getting value with Madness; two things that went perfectly with Varina.

Card choices

There are a few cards that are pivotal to the deck running smoothly so I'll explain those right here - Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre is a big eldrazi boi that has the handy-dandy effect of shuffling your graveyard into your library when he's sent to the gravy-zone from anywhere. He's also super strong if you manage to cast him, but that's just a bonus. - Psychic Vortex OH BABY this card is THE STUFF. This card just gets better and better with each turn, with only the measly cost of having to sacrifice a land at your end step. However, be warned that if you play this card, you can expect to lose 2-4 lands by not drawing a land during the very first turns this card is out on the field. Once you make it to 4 age counters on this bad boy though, you'll basically be drawing at least one land in your hand so you can replace [but not grow] your mana base. The "downside" of discarding your hand at the end step isn't really a downside, as it allows you to just jam all of your madness cards at once, without having to declare attacks with zombies. Godly card if it sticks for a few turns. - Dimir House Guard and Brainspoil are both tutors for some of the most important cards of the deck, those being Psychic Vortex and Kindred Discovery. I prioritize tutoring those two out first since they're all insane value engines, however, if I desperately need a board wipe I can use Dimir House Guard to grab Kaya's Wrath or Supreme Will, or use it to grab a Graveborn Muse for insane draw power, or Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet to exile opponent creatures and make you more zombies, and Brainspoil can alternatively be used to grab a Scarab God, Noxious Ghoul to get rid of indestructible creatures, Ghoulcaller Gisa, or Corpse Harvester.

Thanks for checking out my deck! Please leave feedback and suggestions in the comments if there's anything you think I should add to the deck.

Champion of the Perished

Date added	5 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 43 - 0 Rares 26 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.28
Tokens	Copy Clone, Emblem Liliana, Waker of the Dead, On an Adventure, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie 2/2 B w/ Decayed, Zombie Army 0/0 B, Zombie Warrior 4/4 B