This deck is probably the most competitive deck I have built for Modern. As a format with a high level of competitiveness, solidity and ferocity, Modern has routinely been a place of great annoyance for me. Since most of my decks are either budget Modern decks, or in Standard, it is difficult for me to enjoy such a competitive and brutal format. This deck is essentially my lifeline for Modern, I hope you like it.
Zombies, something that many players have been trying to get to work in both Standard and Modern ever since the support was given through planes like Innistrad and Alara. Since visiting Innistrad twice, there has been a huge amount of cards that can be viable, or even devastating in modern, however, usually the cards will have some sort of downside, or lack basic support. I challenged myself to build using zombies multiple times. Yet, this Modern deck is, what I believe, the most powerful Zombie deck I've ever built (It is most definitely the most powerful Zombie deck in my Meta). The basic idea behind the deck is clog the board with as much mana symbols possible to then cast a Gray Merchant of Asphodel. This deck acts slightly as a graveyard recursion deck, slightly as a lifedrain deck but primarily as a Zombie tribal deck that uses Devotion to win. The ideal turn sequence consists of; Turn one; either cast a Gravecrawler, or a Cryptbreaker. Turn two; either cast a Relentless Dead, or activate Cryptbreaker's discard ability to drop Prized Amalgam in the graveyard. You can also cast
Collective Brutality
to do this. then throw your gravecrawler into the face of your opponent. Turn three; there are many ways to spend your turn between Geralf's Messenger, Cemetery Reaper and Liliana, Heretical Healer
. The best way to spend this turn is to cast a Gravecrawler from your graveyard, provided it was killed in combat last turn to drop any Amalgam from the graveyard to your battlefield. However, another great way to spend your turn is to cast a Geralf's Messenger to remain a threat and drain your opponent. Turn four-five; Drop a Gray Merchant of Asphodel to drain up to nine life.
Creatures;
(Remember every creature in this list is added for up to three reasons, they are recurring threats, they add to the effectiveness to devotion, or they set up my turns to allow me to stay on top.)
Gravecrawler; This is the best creature card to throw in any Zombie list, thus, is in my Zombie devotion list.
Cryptbreaker; I am play-testing an entire playset of these to let me throw my Prized Amalgam's in my graveyard and populate the board. Cryptbreaker also has the added ability to give me card advantage.
Relentless Dead; Will act as a recursion tool that can activate Prized Amalgam's ability. Relentless Dead also allows me to, upon death, trade him for a larger threat.
Cemetery Reaper; Reaper will act as my tribal lord, however, he can also give me extra blockers/attackers when need be. Most of the time his token population ability will be used against Dredge builds. Watching your opponent throw damn near an entire deck into a graveyard, then rely on creatures recurring is irritating. Cemetery Reaper will alleviate that slightly, all while building a board presence.
Prized Amalgam; Hopefully I don't have too high of hopes in adding Amalgam in many Modern decklists. This guy can get out of control with either a Corpse Connoisseur or a Mikaeus, the Unhallowed.
Geralf's Messenger; A full playset of these guys are expensive, however, his ability to become a constant threat and to drain my opponent are well worth it.
Corpse Connoisseur; I absolutely adore this guy. Flavor's insane, art is beautiful, ability is pretty ridiculous and he's a Zombie. What more can a guy ask for? He also has the added bonus of retrieving anything I want and throwing it in my grooveyard.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel; Gary is the whole reason why this deck is even possible, he'll allow me to drain my opponent at an exceedingly powerful rate, he gets even more powerful when I routinely recur him through Relentless Dead, Liliana, Heretical Healer
or use undying from Mikaeus, the Unhallowed.
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed; I have yet to purchased this guy, yet I think he'll be a game ending drop once I cast him and chances are, I'll be able to cast him every game as long as I have a Relentless Dead and a Corpse Connoisseur in hand.
Instants/Sorceries
Victim of Night; Typical kill stuff spell
Collective Brutality
; This card is absolutely amazing, when I cast this I'll either drain you, remove something you love and if I have a Prized Amalgam or two in my hand I basically win.
Mutilate; Swamp pain is always fun.
Lands
Crypt of Agadeem
; this can act as a slight mana ramp as long as
Collective Brutality
and Cryptbreaker have been doing their job.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx; This allows a possible mana ramp up to Gray Merchant of Asphodel, or Mikaeus, the Unhallowed.
Leechridden Swamp; There really is no reason to not run this card in a mono-black decklist. This card also counts towards a Swamp landtype which helps my Mutilate's in my sideboard.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth; Since I have one lying around my collection, this shouldn't hurt to throw at least one in the deck list. This card also helps against Blood Moon.
Swamp; I needz mana
Sunken Hollow; I found that not having a way to drop my Prized Amalgam's into my graveyard is incredibly awful for my deck, so, to compromise, I've added two blue producing lands that also count towards the Mutilate's in my sideboard.
Bojuka Bog; This card can absolutely shut down most of my creatures, however, keeping them handy when decks get out of control, such as Zoo decks, Delve shenanigans, Dredge mechanics and overall recursion techniques. The good thing about the amount of discard in my deck is, I could always throw it in my graveyard when I know it won't be useful and it will hurt me.
If you like the deck, upvote and give your feedback. If you don't like the deck, tell me what could make it better. As always, thank you for reading this much and thank you for peeping my decklist. Below is the Sideboard analysis, for those of you who are curious.
Sideboard analysis:
Bile Blight; This card stands up effectively against token builds and some Dredge decks that are using Prized Amalgam's. However, when matched up against Dredge builds, this card is a temporary solution.
Duress; This card helps keep the opponents hands decidedly controlled. I would use Thoughtseize, but they would cost me my soul, so I'm going to have to be patient.
Elixir of Immortality; Yeah, mill decks are still an issue in my Meta.
Erebos, God of the Dead; This guy used to occupy the mainboard, but I've decided he only helps in token matchups, namely, Soul Sisters.
Mutilate; Sometimes this card can absolutely devastate decks that rely on low costed creatures, Boggles comes to mind as a huge example, I just need to time it correctly. Mutilate also proves pretty successful against aggro decks containing Goblin Guide's, Boros Reckoner and most Infect builds.
Crypt Incursion; Dredge can't get much done without a graveyard. Dredge also can't do much when I've got thirty life.
Sadistic Sacrament; Hopefully, this will help me stop graveyard hate and combo decks. Taking care of three Gifts Ungiven is totally worth three black mana. Another bonus for this under-looked card is the fact it can be used in decks that have a ton of mana, which isn't difficult considering we've got Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and
Crypt of Agadeem
.
Zombie Apocalypse
; Sometimes aggro decks need to just chill out and take a hint, this card is a great hint, sometimes mill decks need to stop taking your damn cards, this allows you to benefit from their ridiculously jank deck.
