Is control Zombies a thing?
Standard Deck Help forum
Posted on Nov. 16, 2016, 9:59 p.m. by GemKnightDante
Greetings! Rather new to Magic the gathering and I've built my first deck (Red/White Vehicle/Dwarves) to reasonable success, though now I want a full on control deck that's blue/black and I've noticed a few synergies between Zombies and various black control cards... so does the deck work well? Or is there a better token spawning mechanic for stuff like Bone Splinters to synergize with?
Also I really like the card Hedron Alignment so I'd like to put that in there.
skrid54321 says... #3
How competitive are you playing? It is reasonable to win at FNM with any dedicated theme, but if you want a tournament deck, Zombie control won't get you there. If you want to play control, you want to run answers, not creatures. The only creatures in those decks contribute to staying alive in some way
November 16, 2016 10:16 p.m.
GemKnightDante says... #4
I've considered going to FNM, too intimidated to go to any big tournament, I simply don't know enough yet. I mostly play with friends who have some beefy net decks though.
And well the zombies can be the first thing to go. I mostly wanted to use them to fuel sacrifice abilities on the black cards, (eg Bone Splinters, Altar's Reap and Eliminate the Competition)
I mainly want to focus on blue for the myriad of bounce effects, (its my favourite mechanic) Drag Under is one of my favourite cards!
There's also the fact I have no idea of a good boss card if I'm not putting Hedron Alignment in.
November 16, 2016 10:34 p.m.
GemKnightDante says... #5
Also thanks Delta-117 for the deck suggestions but those aren't really the kinds of looking for!
November 16, 2016 10:35 p.m.
Well they were what first just came to my mind for a possible deck.
But I suppose I can try to create a decklist for you incorporating some of this stuff.
November 16, 2016 10:38 p.m.
GemKnightDante,
UB Zombie Control was moderately popular during Eldritch Moon Standard (see for example, this article), since it was one of the few decks that had a good match up vs. Bant Company. The archetype hasn't made much impact at all though in Kaladesh Standard. That said, I recommend checking out ...
Good luck (and good skill) on the build!
November 16, 2016 10:39 p.m.
GemKnightDante says... #8
To put a less work on you, how about you simply suggest some boss cards for me? I'll manage building the deck but with most decks I build in card games I usually suck at having a strong win condition.
November 16, 2016 10:41 p.m.
I have no idea what you will think of this, but here is the rough sketch of the deck I mentioned:
U/B Zombies
Standard*
0 VIEWS
November 16, 2016 10:58 p.m.
Another deck you could always do is W/B fabricate, the only reason I suggest this is because of the things you can do with Marionette Master, and Zulaport Cutthroats.
Here is an example: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/498947#paper
November 16, 2016 11:15 p.m.
UpperDeckerTaco says... #11
You can take a gander at my B/R Zombies deck that does some stuff. Not sure how controlling it is. But it definitely has a "Snowball" type effect to it as well as potentially getting them down to 10 life on turn 3.
Puppies and Kittens
Standard
SCORE: 8 | 20 COMMENTS | 1615 VIEWS | IN 4 FOLDERS
November 16, 2016 11:37 p.m.
Thank you clayperce for the mention.
There are 2 types of Zombie meta right now, the least popular(mine) zombies and the more popular zombies.
Ive decided to stick with since it has access to counter spells which for me is a bad match up against the counterpart. Why? Counter Cathartic Reunion and the will stall for let's say, 2 turns. By that time, you can go for the kill.
Also, I can match up pretty well against Vehicles and some other midrange/aggro decks. IDK how i match up with Flash decks TBH, but i think it plays more or less like Bant company decks in which, they most of the time cast their creatures on your end step making them vulnerable to Voldaren Pariah Flip which is an MVP in those kind of matches. Well, that's theoretically speaking though.
The bad side here is, if your opponent is playing exile removal spells. Personally, my worst nightmare is facing a deck with Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and he has enough mana for removal and enough mana for pumping. 2nd are spells like Declaration in Stone. Stasis Snare poses a somehow big problem as well.
Also, the zombies type is somewhat under the curve and most of the time, you will go defensive in the first few turns then go knock them out in 5-7 turns.
Overall, B/U Zombies are somewhat alive especially, "few" are prepared for it simply because people tend to go full kaladesh or go with the flow of the current meta. Catch them by surprise and yup... you will most likely win.=)
November 17, 2016 12:58 a.m.
You really have to give more of an idea of the kind of deck you want if you want relevant suggestions. Try looking for similar decks and seeing what you like first then we'll be able to help much more.
November 17, 2016 9:37 a.m.
skrid54321 says... #14
Dante, The best control Win cons in U/B are Thing in the Ice Flip, Torrential Gearhulk, and one to three walkers. The best control spells right now are Void Shatter and Grasp of Darkness. Your best bet for draw power is Glimmer of Genius. As for incorporating zombies, eh. I couldn't get that to work even at my FNM. At least, not as a control deck.
_Delta_ says... #2
I found these decks that seem most like what you are describing:
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/standard-b-r-zombies#paper
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/standard-grixis-emerge-29622#paper
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/standard-b-u-zombies-30492#paper
Give these all a look I recommend, and as you will notice they make use a card with a Bone Splinters type of effect, and that's from Voldaren Pariah Flip. They run lots of cheap cost creatures that do a variety of things, and all are the closest I can think of ti what your wanting.
I know you like the card Hedron Alignment, I kind of do too, but you have to realize it's a very difficult card to pull off a win from in standard, it's just so difficult to make work,and it doesn't have any synergy with the type of deck your describing by the looks of it. I would save that for another entirely new deck to be truthful. But as I already said do check those decklists and see what you think of them, and if you have questions regarding any of them I will try my best to answer them. Next I would advise you to make up a decklist based on these deck examples or if these still are not entirely what you want, do something of your own but either way, go and post a decklist here for me and possibly others to help make suggestions. It's much easier to give suggestions afterall if there's something we can see.
November 16, 2016 10:16 p.m.