Havengul Lich is a really nice card to get back creatures you discard to Varina, and if you run Chromatic Lantern you can cast creatures in your opponents graveyards no matter their colors. They are also fine individually, so it doesn't feel bad when you don't get them out together.

Raphiezar Hey thanks! I'd actually forgotten about the Havengul Lich (sometimes I can be such a noob), and the Chromatic Lantern would be a perfect addition to complement it. Any suggestions on what to remove in favor? I'm thinking of one of the one-shot reanimator spells for the Lich, and possibly Herald’s Horn for the Chromatic Lantern.

Just curious, what's your reasoning behind excluding Binding Mummy? Since Vaina's first ability requires you to attack, it seems like a good enough way of getting rid of blockers (and on occasion it'll shut down dorks/rocks people are planning to use for e.g. counterspells)

Actually Varina, Lich Queen has way more potential then grim-fuck

Thoughts on Pull from Eternity? It combos with the Varina's exile ability.

+1 from me!

Podkomorka Agreed!

Enral It's a consideration. Although I think that, by the time I accept exiling cards to make zombies, I'd be washing my hands of whatever is being exiled. I like to think of Pull from Eternity as a way to get back something that I didn't choose to exile.

In typical zombie builds that I have run, Gravespawn Sovereign always has a place, and for good reason. Though tapping 5 zombies is pretty expensive considering you'll want to be tapping your zombies to be attacking, hear me out. It's instant speed, meaning if you lose some lords from removal and you have newly created zombies or lords hanging back, you can summon back that lord before your next turn. It's also great when there's a sac outlet on board and a zombie with a great etb, like Sidisi or Gray (typically when I've had a bunch of stuff, Gray, and Sovereign, it typically spells doom for all opponents, it especially goes well when Mik is on board). Other inclusions you may consider are Shepherd of Rot to end the game after making everyone lose life from swinging with the bois, Liliana, Death's Majesty to fill the grave while making tokens/ recurring lords, and the Undead Alchemist to make your opponents mill and taking away their creatures so that you get more (though this is depending on 2 things: one, your playgroup, if they run a lot of creature decks, it's a solid inclusion; two, whether or not the mill plan seems interesting to you).

Coward_Token I forgot to send him an invite. His more popular friend in the white club, the Wayward Servant, sucked up my attention. It'll be added to the maybe board, at least. (:

Chaostrash The Gravespawn Sovereign is a definite to find a spot for. Liliana DM is a possible, worth weighing. Shepherd of Rot will also go in the maybe; but I always ended up filtering him out of my previous zombie decks because winning with it was about as climactic as LotusChannelFireball. Undead Alchemist is in my notable exclusions because mass mill is about as popular as infinite combos. One person in my meta has a Phenax deck that elicits mass groans when it hits the table. If I had to pick, and chose the Sovereign, what would you recommend to cut for it?

Didn't notice the notable exclusions, so no to the alchemist, but the other suggestions are still up for grabs

Personally, I would cut the Havengul Lich. Yes you could be casting things from other peoples' graveyards, but they don't become Zombies, and you have to cast them instead of just taking them, whereas Sovereign taps Zombies, in which you should most likely have plenty of to spend, and says "yoink" to anything juicy, whether it be things in your grave or others.

Glad to help out; another neat thing about the Binder that I missed myself is that you can use instant-speed ways of getting zombies on the field (like Varina herself) to tap down stuff on other people's turns, like attacking creatures.

How about adding Sunken Hollow for better fixing and Halimar Depths to get some topdeck manipulation?

Vlasiax Both admirable considerations. It seems pretty well fixed, but some play-time will tell. I've run Esper before and this is pretty close to what I've done for a land package then and never had any problems. Although this is the first Esper I've run with such a heavy focus in black. Halimar Depths is intriguing for the manipulation, so I'll look into that!

I have also Battlebond dual lands for fixing instead of some basic lands like Morphic Pool. What are your thoughts on Graveborn Muse? Does this 4-drop have a place in a deck like this?

An interesting list you have here. I personally went with a token/aristocrats build for this commander. I found some nice additions on here in any case. May I suggest Rings of Brighthearth and Illusionist's Bracers to you? This way you'd get double profit of here exile ability. Two tokens for two cards sounds nice.

If you'd like to check out my full deck list, I'll leave you the link.

ZOMBISTOCRATS [[Varina Token Tribal EDH]]

Vlasiax Graveborn Muse has always scared me. Just the pure, nearly uncontrolled card draw, more coupled with the loss of life, can be frightening. In a deck that has a few zombies, it's one thing, but when you have a lot on the deck it can kill you! In this deck it could work though, because there is a lot of potential for life gain to counter it. Time will tell.

BlueBat93 I've been wanting an excuse to but a Rings of Brighthearth, maybe this will be it. I want to play the deck more and see how much I actually use Varina's zombie creation ability. BUT! ... There are certainly plenty of other activated abilities that would benefit. cough Aetherflux Reservoir cough

Ok, I'd still try one in my build :) Also have you considered adding some tutors here? Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor and maybe Mystical Tutor might be good here

Vlasiax I have. You'll find them in my Notable Exclusions. For me, it's part the feeling that they just won't be needed, part consideration for my meta. Excluding tutors is a minor handicap I've been imposing on myself lately. For anyone else, I do certainly encourage at least the black tutors!

Have you considered Liliana's Mastery ? Or do you think the impact is too small in multiplayer Commander?

Speaking of copying abilities, don't forget about Strionic Resonator either; apart from Varina's looting/life gain it also works with Gary, the Delver, Sheoldred, Zidizi, Scab. God's lifeloss/scry, the Throne aaaaaand Covenant's ETB.

Also, Training Grounds might be worth it since it works with Varina and five other creatures (although half of those only get a discount of ).

What about Aven Wind Guide? You can pitch it to turn it into a zombie then give all your tokens a spicy buff

This is a nice list and all, but how did you show up on the featured list when the site thinks that Commander 2018 isn't "Commander Legal"?

Slayroth I've thought about Liliana's Mastery, but previously found it underwhelming - especially in multiplayer games. There's generally better ways to make zombie tokens, and generally better anthems on bodies.

Coward_Token Both admirable considerations. I'll see how it plays out and decide if either would fit. Strionic Resonator is a definite possibility. I'm not so sure about the value of Training grounds here though; as you say, there's only a few things which it benefits.

SpookyToe I've noticed many decks using Aven Wind Guide, and I'll consider it too. I like that it offers Vigilance, as well as flying; I don't like that it only affects tokens (even though there will be many of them). For me, Wonder is possibly a better consideration. Too, if Throne of the God-Pharaoh works as well in this deck as it did in my vampire deck, then I would want my creatures tapped!

CaptainGalvanic It shows up on the Featured List if you spend a token to do a Feature Cycle. Beyond that, I don't think it's relevant if the deck is legal.

I am waiting for my order to arrive, so I can get her up and running. One card I plan to run is Tombstone Stairwell, might be awesome after few cards get into grave :)

A fun gimmick to help justify Training Grounds would be Diviner's Wand. Curves into Varina, auto-equips to her and turns her into an evasive threat.