LILIANA'S CHILDREN - Zombie Tribal [Ret.]

Standard* zAzen7977

SCORE: 114 | 75 COMMENTS | 35503 VIEWS | IN 45 FOLDERS


Sweet deck! As for suggestions I might consider cutting a few of your one-mana creatures as you currently have twelve + the Fatal Pushes. Maybe something like 3 Dread Wanderer, 3 Diregraf Ghoul, and maybe a couple more copies of Plague Belcher or a couple Lord of the Accursed? That might be wrong, but I feel like that would help you to go big and go wide at the same time. +1!

June 24, 2018 11:22 p.m.

Pyruscreed says... #2

Considering you have a couple reanimaters, why not add a few cards that can take advantage of them like Razaketh, the Foulblooded or Demon of Catastrophes? They're no zombies, but still powerful cards.

June 24, 2018 11:39 p.m.

zAzen7977 says... #3

Thanks for the suggestions DeviousPenguin666 and Pyruscreed! You are both right - I have too many 1 drops and I can take advantage of the reanimators more. I'm adding two Demon of Catastrophes for an additional win-con and to deal with opposing flyers.

June 24, 2018 11:56 p.m.

kdown says... #4

This is screaming for Desecrated Tomb might help you stabilize against mid-range/agro as a concern should be the number of creatures that enter/re-enter tapped if graveyard shenanigans are you long game plan. Also Josu Vess, Lich Knight or some other big mana payoff to warrant the strongholds.

June 25, 2018 3:27 p.m.

Pyruscreed says... #5

I second Josu Vess, Lich Knight as a payoff for the strongholds, though I recommend just a single copy. One more thing, with red aggro still being a thing until rotation, it may be prudent to run a playset of Gifted Aetherborn. The lifelink alone can be a (pardon the pun) lifesaver. Plus, toughness 3 and deathtouch make it a nice blocker.

Sideboard wise, I'd recommend at Yahenni's Expertise over Golden Demise. It does cost one more mana, but it does guaranteed -3 and can let you play a 3 mana card, which you have an abundance of.

June 25, 2018 4:08 p.m.

zAzen7977 says... #6

Thanks Pyruscreed and kdown! I haven't played Standard in years so these suggestions are very useful.

I swapped out Golden Demise for Yahenni's Expertise.

Desecrated Tomb is a great option for this build, so I'm going to sideboard it for now.

I'm going to throw a Josu Vess, Lich Knight in and see how it goes. I ran simulations with Demon of Catastrophes, but they always ended up useless in the graveyard. At least I can cast Josu Vess with Liliana, Untouched By Death.

June 25, 2018 5:36 p.m.

zAzen7977 says... #7

Also regarding Gifted Aetherborn, its an amazing card, but it doesn't synergize with the zombie/skeleton theme and cannot be cast from the graveyard with Liliana, Untouched By Death. Against burn, I'm hoping Liliana's +1 ability will help with life-gain, but it may not be enough. Battle at the Bridge is on the sideboard for that reason.

June 25, 2018 8:15 p.m.

Sweet deck +1, though I would stick to one tribe (zombies in my opinion) for consistency, I also think a 4 of Lord of the Accursed is a must, as well as a 4 of Liliana's Mastery, Metallic Mimic also helps to smoothest your curve, and come on, it's a 2 mana lord.

June 26, 2018 3:11 a.m.

FastIsFaster says... #9

It might be a matter of preference, but I think Liliana, Death's Majesty might serve a little better in this deck than Liliana, Untouched By Death. Or maybe a mix of two of each. Her minus will just put a zombie back for you, whereas LUBD will allow you to cast zombies, but you would still have to pay for each one you want to reanimate

June 26, 2018 9:02 a.m.

w33m4n says... #10

Liliana, Death's Majesty Would def be a better fit I feel than LUBD, the Demon of Catastrophes would also be a nice big and cheap flying answer, Metallic Mimic would def be a good fit if you wanna up the power level overall of the deck a bit more.

My big thing with this deck is with how much recurison you have Desecrated Tomb Would be good mainboard. Solid way to get some flyers on the field and board control

June 26, 2018 11:23 a.m. Edited.

INFINITE_CAPO says... #11

I think Crucible of Worlds is wasted here. there is no need for it in my opinion. maybe main boarding Desecrated Tomb in the main board will give you more value since you want to cast from the grave yard.

June 26, 2018 1:56 p.m.

zAzen7977 says... #12

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!!! I'll heed the advice regarding Desecrated Tomb and add a couple to the mainboard.

I'm trying to focus on self-mill and creature recursion. I think Liliana, Untouched By Death was designed for this reason, and she is actually more efficient than she seems. Between her and Stitcher's Supplier I can fill up my graveyard and bring back 3+ creatures simultaneously. It's almost like having an extension of your hand. This is where Cabal Stronghold comes in (after you control at least 5 swamps). Plus she can gain life and kill indestructible creatures if you control enough zombies.

Bone Dragon isn't a zombie, but it can return to the battlefield on its own, and takes advantage of useless cards in the graveyard. Death Baron synergizes with Bone Dragon and Reassembling Skeleton.

Metallic Mimic is great, but it can't be brought back from the graveyard, so it doesn't fit this build.

liliana, death's majesty costs 5 mana and only revives a single creature at a time, so for now I'm keeping it as a maybe.

I'm sideboarding Liliana's Mastery for now. It doesn't synergize as much with the discard theme, but the extra bodies and boost may come in handy against control.

June 26, 2018 9:41 p.m.

Morthius says... #13

Nice deck +1! I think Stitcher's Supplier is very "risky" card. You can also lose your Liliana, Untouched By Death easily with this card. Do you thought about Apocalypse Demon? You can use the cards in your graveyard and you can easily sacrifice Reassembling Skeleton or Dread Wanderer every turn. Settle the Score is also a nice remover and can push your liliana, death's majesty easily to 7 or 8 and clear the board.

June 27, 2018 2:25 p.m.

zAzen7977 says... #14

Thanks Morthius! Stitcher's Supplier can be risky because it discards lands and Lilianas, and its really up to you whether you think the risk is worth it. Also the Suppliers should be played and sac'd when the time is right. Ultimately Bone Dragon is there to use up any useless cards in the graveyard.

Apocalypse Demon is interesting but I'm trying to stick to zombies and skeletons only.

Settle the Score is also interesting with Liliana, but I'm keeping it as a maybe for now. Never and Return are a better fit because of Return's Aftermath ability.

June 28, 2018 2:01 p.m.

cdogdakilla says... #15

I don't know how your LGS meta is, but if I were you I would put Settle the Score in just because it exiles instead of destroys. Exiling gets rid of a plethora of tricky threats like Rekindling Phoenix and The Scarab God.

I would also consider mainboarding more hard removal. Fatal Push is great, but it's not gonna save you from late game bombs if the zombies don't curve out early game. So no matter if you decide on Never or Settle the Score I think either one could find a place in the mainboard. Possibly consider moving Desecrated Tomb to the sideboard for the midrange matchups?

Of course I don't know how your testing is going, so maybe you don't need any of this advice, but these are just my thoughts.

June 28, 2018 2:50 p.m.

zAzen7977 says... #16

Thanks cdogdakilla! I appreciate your comments. It's been years since I've played Standard and I do not have a grasp of the entire meta yet.

You bring up great points about exiling creatures. I'm going to swap some stuff around to mainboard Never and sideboard Settle the Score.

My conflict is whether to mainboard Desecrated Tomb. It helps in the long run, but in the short run removal may be more useful. I'll think about it.

June 28, 2018 5:30 p.m.

Maaagic says... #17

I think that you should run the full playset of Lord of the Accursed and maybe some Metallic Mimics.

June 29, 2018 11:33 a.m.

zAzen7977 says... #18

Thanks for the suggestions Maaagic. I've run some simulations with Metallic Mimic, and I am on the fence about including it. It isn't a zombie until it comes into play and only buffs zombies played after it.

Also, I want to include more Lord of the Accursed, but I don't want to run so many 3-drops that it throws off the curve. I'm not sure what to cut to run the full set.

June 30, 2018 5:38 p.m.

DonkeyPunch says... #19

I think Josu Vess Lich Knight would go great in here since you have those cabal strongholds

July 2, 2018 2:20 p.m.

clark1424 says... #20

Liliana's Mastery should fit right into this deck

July 2, 2018 3:22 p.m.

zAzen7977 says... #21

Thanks for the comments DonkeyPunch and clark1424.

I've been on the fence about including Josu Vess, Lich Knight because without the kicker, it's a more expensive Plague Belcher without the -2/-2 effect. The earliest I can play Josu kicked is turn 8, assuming I draw the lands I need. But a lot of people seem to think it's worth including, so I'll throw one back in and continue testing.

I have Liliana's Mastery on the sideboard to bring in against control. It's expensive at 5 mana and I think it fits better in a more straightforward zombie build, rather than self-mill.

July 2, 2018 6:18 p.m.

clark1424 says... #22

Or maybe... Play a WB version with lots and lots of draining thru Wayward Servant and lots of tapping with Binding Mummy

July 3, 2018 7:29 a.m.

notorioez says... #23

Deck is not Standard Legal?

July 3, 2018 7:39 p.m.

zAzen7977 says... #24

Clark1424, that would probably work as well, but I chose not to go the white route since I already have a white/black modern zombie deck, and I wanted something different for standard.

In my opinion, it's not enough to splash white only for Wayward Servant and Binding Mummy. The latter is not aggro enough. There's no Tidehollow Sculler-equivalent that would make me want to play white. Also, adding white to the manabase reduces consistency and prevents you from using Cabal Stronghold. The Stronghold isn't great, but I think it may help the deck go wide during long games.

Notorioez, the deck will be legal as soon as Core 19 becomes legal.

July 3, 2018 8:07 p.m.

joaoguaxinim says... #25

Mind to say how you have chosen the numbers for the creatures on your deck?

July 5, 2018 12:06 p.m.

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