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| Hobbling Zombie card art |
Last time was Goblins; today, I look at mono-black Zombies.
Zombies are death reanimated, so I have been seeking a deck that reflects this concept. On Arena, the options are limited (based on the cards available on that platform).
Zombies (1)
2 Ayara, First of Locthwain (ELD) 754 Cryptbreaker (EMN) 864 Death Baron (M19) 904 Diregraf Ghoul (M19) 924 Gempalm Polluter (LGN) 704 Graveyard Marshal (M19) 994 Gray Merchant of Asphodel (THB) 992 Heartless Act (IKO) 914 Lazotep Reaver (WAR) 963 Midnight Reaper (GRN) 772 Murderous Rider (ELD) 9719 Swamp (IKO) 2684 Castle Locthwain (ELD) 241
My first iteration has some 'mainstays' (cards you'll see in almost all iterations that follow) like Cryptbreaker and Death Baron:
This version was focused more on 'devotion to black' than zombies specifically (due to Ayara and Gray Merchant of Asphodel). I wanted something more 'flavorful.' But before I dropped those two cards, I tweaked this design a bit . . .
Zombies (2)
2 Ayara, First of Locthwain (ELD) 754 Cryptbreaker (EMN) 864 Death Baron (M19) 903 Gempalm Polluter (LGN) 704 Graveyard Marshal (M19) 994 Gray Merchant of Asphodel (THB) 993 Midnight Reaper (GRN) 773 Murderous Rider (ELD) 974 Foulmire Knight (ELD) 902 Champion of the Perished (MID) 914 Shambling Ghast (AFR) 11919 Swamp (IKO) 2684 Castle Locthwain (ELD) 241
I added Champion of the Perished, Foulmire Knight, and Shambling Ghast. Graveyard Marshal also bears mentions a frequent staple in zombie decks.
Zombies (3)
2 Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia (MID) 1084 Cryptbreaker (EMN) 864 Lord of the Accursed (AKR) 1143 Gempalm Polluter (LGN) 704 Graveyard Marshal (M19) 994 Gray Merchant of Asphodel (THB) 992 Midnight Reaper (GRN) 772 Murderous Rider (ELD) 973 Foulmire Knight (ELD) 902 Champion of the Perished (MID) 913 Shambling Ghast (AFR) 1192 Tainted Adversary (MID) 1241 Zombie Infestation (JMP) 2881 Ghoulcaller Gisa (JMP) 23619 Swamp (IKO) 2684 Castle Locthwain (ELD) 241
This time, I put in Jadar for 'auto'-zombie generation (and guaranteed zombie death, with the 'decayed' mechanic). But I'll highlight Lord of the Accursed (another zombie lord) and Gempalm Polluter (who was used for its cycling ability).
Zombies (4)
2 Cryptbreaker (EMN) 864 Lord of the Accursed (AKR) 1142 Midnight Reaper (GRN) 772 Murderous Rider (ELD) 972 Champion of the Perished (MID) 914 Shambling Ghast (AFR) 1192 Tainted Adversary (MID) 1243 Deadly Dispute (AFR) 941 Ghoulcaller Gisa (JMP) 2363 Archghoul of Thraben (VOW) 934 Headless Rider (VOW) 1182 Eaten Alive (MID) 992 Innocent Blood (JMP) 2442 Doomed Dissenter (VOW) 1062 Morbid Opportunist (MID) 11319 Swamp (IKO) 2684 Castle Locthwain (ELD) 241
Here, I added Archghoul of Thraben and Headless Rider among other cards. The Former sees a lot of play in the zombie meta. This version focused the most on death, with plenty of cards (the aforementioned cards, Midnight Reaper, Morbid Opportunist, and more) that required sacrifice or provided benefit when a creature of mine died.
Zombies (5)
4 Cryptbreaker (EMN) 864 Lord of the Accursed (AKR) 1142 Champion of the Perished (MID) 914 Shambling Ghast (AFR) 1193 Tainted Adversary (MID) 1243 Ghoulcaller Gisa (JMP) 2363 Archghoul of Thraben (VOW) 934 Cemetery Recruitment (JMP) 2173 Death Baron (M19) 903 Fleshbag Marauder (J21) 534 Siege Zombie (MID) 12119 Swamp (IKO) 268
4 Castle Locthwain (ELD) 241
The final iteration to date included Ghoulcaller Gisa, which is where I'm trending. Her ability, when sacrificing a zombie pumped by the zombie lords, can produce a ton of zombie tokens and ratchet Champion of the Perished up quickly, as well as providing Cryptbreaker with plenty of creatures to tap for card draw. Cemetery Recruitment, Siege Zombie, Tainted Adversary, and Fleshbag Marauder also proved useful. This is probably my favorite zombie deck on Arena.
Other Cards/Ideas
There are lots of zombie cards out there. For cards outside of Arena, we turn to the Internet to give us some ideas. There are, naturally, a bunch of options. Here are select decklists for budget modern mono-black Zombies:
-- MTGDecks1
-- MTGDecks2
In many of these, you'll see cards already mentioned (Cryptbreaker, Graveyard Marshal, Death Baron, Lord of the Accursed, Champion of the Perished, Headless Rider, etc.). Some new options unavailable on Arena include:
- Promising Options:
Gravecrawler, Lord of the Undead, Geralf's Messenger, Undead Warchief, Undead Augur, Cemetery Reaper, Carrion Feeder, and Relentless Dead. Gravecrawler, Geralf's Messenger, Undead Augur, and Relentless Dead will be options I try in paper. Zombie lords (Lord of the Undead, Undead Warchief, and Cemetery Reaper) may also get a nod. Carrion Feeder is less useful in my current deck, but is included often in the zombie deck meta.
Festering Mummy, Butcher Ghoul, Shepherd of Rot, Mire Triton, Diregraf Ghoul, Stitcher's Supplier, Putrid Goblin, Sepulcher Ghoul, Plague Belcher, Highborn Ghoul. Many of these have a flavor more aligned with my initial hope for the deck: death.
Unearth, Ghoulcaller's Chant, Bone Splinters, Village Rites, Fatal Push, Dark Salvation, Zombie Apocalypse, Ghoulish Procession, Geth's Verdict. Most of these are thematically sound and have the graveyard (going to or coming back from) in mind.
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