I like it. Why no extra discard in the sideboard? Sculler is good and all but you only have 4 of it, so it'd be best to make room for at least a couple Thoughtseize as a catch-all, in my opinion. Also, lately I've considered playing more permanent LD such as Rain of Tears or Evil Presence in my sideboards alongside Damping Sphere, Tron generally packs a ton of artifact hate in their sb ever since it was printed. May be overkill though.

Thanks hungry000! Good point about the sideboard, I added a couple of Thoughtseize. I forgot about Evil Presence, I'll consider that as well, but I'm not sure what to cut!

Well if you don't want to cut anything Damping Sphere and Thoughtseize are probably good enough for Tron and Storm.

Does Relentless Dead tickle your fancy?

Thanks for the suggestion Chasmolinker! I want to like Relentless Dead, but its abilities are conditional upon it dying and require spending mana. The mana curve of this deck is so low that every mana counts. But I haven't tested Relentless Dead, so I'm just speculating.

This is a really cool deck! Zombies are really amazing, and it looks like you have a very competitive version of them.

What made you pick the Zombie lords over other lords, such as Cemetery Reaper, Lord of the Accursed, Lord of the Undead, and Risen Executioner? Or other Zombies-matter cards, like Skirk Ridge Exhumer, Plague Belcher, and Graveborn Muse.

If you're looking for crazy, kind of out-there ideas, it might be worth checking out Helldozer, Army of the Damned, Endless Ranks of the Dead, Grave Titan, Josu Vess, Lich Knight, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, Liliana, Death's Majesty, or Necromancer's Stockpile.

Lifebane Zombie, Stillmoon Cavalier, Shamble Back, Celestial Purge, and even Selfless Spirit could make good SB additions.

I'm fascinated by Withered Wretch and Revoke Existence. What brought you to choose them over more traditional choices?

I'm even more interested as to why you didn't choose Path to Exile, considering that nearly every other brew out there running white uses it. Lack of slots? Helps opponent too much? Does it not synergize like Fatal Push does?

Also, what are your thoughts on Blue for zombie decks? There are plenty of good cards

Finally, your mana base. I'd consider taking out Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Bloodstained Mire, and a couple Swamps for Marsh Flats, a Plains, and ~2 Mutavaults. The Plains allows for you to cast stuff with a Blood Moon on the field, or fix your mana after getting a creature Path to Exiled. Also, Concealed Courtyards might be worth checking out, since you're so low to the ground. They're rotating out of Standard soon as well.

Sorry for the wall of text full of stuff you probably thought of before! Thanks for posting your deck!

TKDbeast, thank you for your detailed suggestions! I'm really happy that you like it :) I've tried to streamline it as much as possible.

The deck has several objectives - first, the goal is to generate as many zombies as possible in as little time as possible. Second, I've kept mana costs as low as possible so I can dump my entire hand within the first few turns and draw more cards with Blood Scrivener and Sign in Blood. Third, I want to get a combo going with Gravecrawler, Nantuko Husk, and other zombies if possible.

That's where the Aether Vials come in. They allow me to play additional zombies and dedicate my limited mana to reviving Gravecrawler if possible. The vials also help with Blood Moon, although I haven't gone up against a deck running it. That's something I need to consider more.

I chose Death Baron over other zombie lords because it gives my horde death touch for no additional activation cost, which makes every zombie an immediate threat. Other lords like Lord of the Undead require mana to activate their abilities and manipulate my graveyard. I don't want to bring zombies back from the graveyard except for Gravecrawler, because the more zombies in my graveyard, the bigger Diregraf Colossus becomes.

I've chosen to make the mana base as black-heavy as possible to improve the odds of starting with a black mana for Gravecrawler and Fatal Push. This is why I'm not running any Plains and I do not run Path to Exile - plus the latter helps the opponent too much, especially against ramp. Yes, Fatal Push definitely is more synergistic. Cavern of Souls helps against control and ensures that I can produce the white mana for zombies, so I'm not worried about additional white mana sources.

Regarding the sideboard, I chose Revoke Existence because it exiles the target and the deck is designed to spend mana on my turn and not my opponent's, so there is no incentive to run an instant like Disenchant. Withered Wretch is an old favorite of mine and it synergizes with Aether Vial. I want to target the opponent's graveyard and leave mine alone.

Other cards like Stillmoon Cavalier and Lifebane Zombie are too easy to kill at 1 toughness. Plus Stillmoon Cavalier consumes too much mana for this deck. I avoid expensive enchantments, planeswalkers, or non-zombies to maximize synergy. I have considered Plague Belcher due to its life-loss ability, but there is no room for it.

As far as blue cards go, I like Diregraf Captain, but I like white more as a splash color because of Tidehollow Sculler, which really helps against control, and I prefer having access to artifact and enchantment destruction.

Oops, I got a little carried away with this comment lol

Liliana, the Last Hope can kill off opposing creatures and has a devastating last ability, worth a include?

Thanks for the suggestion Flooremoji, Liliana, the Last Hope is an awesome card and one of my favorites. Check out my deck TWIN LILIANA CONTROL (Mono-black Devotion), which features that Liliana and Liliana of the Veil.

In this deck, I didn't include any planeswalkers to maximize the usefulness of Aether Vial.

zAzen7977:

Nice deck. I have a sideboard suggestion for Affinity & Tokens: Flaying Tendrils. It is super great against Etched Champion. It also helps against Dredge, exiling a decent amount of their cards; Bloodghast being the worst enabler. Just a suggestion. + 1 for certain.

Thanks cplvega0811! I appreciate the suggestion. I didn't include Flaying Tendrils because I am worried about exiling my own creatures along with the opponents'. Exiling my creatures isn't fatal but it makes it hard to set up a Gravecrawler combo.

I have also thought about Bontu's Last Reckoning to deal with cards like Etched Champion, since the Aether Vials allow me to cast creatures without lands. The 4 mana for Damnation is hard to hit until the late game sometimes.

zAzen7977:

You are welcome friend. I see your dilemma there. I know it is a tad pricey, but how about Settle the Wreckage? It is instant speed. That would save your un-dead horde and get rid of their shenanigans. I do know that could be an issue though. Either way, still a nice concept.

I agree with you regarding Damnation in a shell like this. To tap out on your turn is harsh. Instant speed is what matters. I have tried Bontu's Last Reckoning, and while I did like the Turn 3 wipe - I very much found myself needing to untap my lands the following turn.

Thanks again for your input cplvega0811! I will test Bontu's Last Reckoning and see how it goes, but like you I'm wary of tapping out for two turns. I hadn't considered Settle the Wreckage due to the WW mana in its cost and because it helps the opponent find lands. But I can see it being useful in a build with more white in the mana base.

zAzen7977:

I don't mind at all! I really feel as though I learned some neat stuff by your little writeup there.

What if you were to play Unclaimed Territory, allowing you to cast Diregraf Captain and the like, dropping some of your white lands and Revoke Existence?

GOOD STUFF +1

I'm glad my comment was helpful TKDbeast! :) I've never seen Unclaimed Territory , but its essentially Cavern of Souls without the "cannot be countered" ability. For that reason I wouldn't run it over Cavern of Souls. If I cut white altogether, it will be much harder to deal with artifacts and enchantments and I'll have to rely on discard like Thoughtseize. If I were to run both the Caverns and the Territories it would double the odds of casting Diregraf Captain and other multicolored zombies, but it would also make it harder to cast non-creature spells.

It would be interesting to set up a giant combo with Gravecrawler + Diregraf Colossus + Wayward Servant + Nantuko Husk + Diregraf Captain! Hmm...Maybe I'll swap out the Death Barons for the Captains and stick in a Watery Grave or two. The Aether Vials may help as well. I'll think about it.

Thanks hamiam!!! :)

TKDbeast, to follow up, I've been running simulations with -3 Swamp, -4 Death Baron, +2 Polluted Delta, +1 Watery Grave, and +4 Diregraf Captain. It seems to run well, so it is really up to whether you prefer Death Baron or Diregraf Captain. The former makes all of your other zombies instant threats with deathtouch, while the latter itself has deathtouch and works better over time as your zombies die.

How work your deck with Diregraf Captain? Did you make any change?

Neat, zAzen7977! I wonder what other benefits there might be in splashing .

Anyways, did you hear the news? They're reprinting Death Baron in M19!

Thanks for the comments Yesso91 and TKDbeast!

I've run more simulations with Diregraf Captain, but I haven't actually played with them. The advantage with the Captain is the direct life loss when you get a Gravecrawler + Nantuko Husk combo.

If you really want to splash more watery graves, you could throw in Serum Visions or Opt for draw instead of Sign in Blood. Or a couple Mana Leak, Remand, or Countersquall. But the deck really isn't designed for reacting, so I don't recommend this route.

And yes, I'm excited for Death Baron, check out my standard zombie deck: LILIANA'S CHILDREN (Mono-black Zombies M19)

TKDbeast and Yesso91, check out my latest zombie list, it started off as esper and it turned into dimir, featuring Diregraf Captain, Prized Amalgam, and Skaab Ruinator.

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/lilianas-zombie-factory-esper-zombie-tribal/

I love all of these Zombie Shard builds. What's your thoughts on Prized Amalgam?

Thanks Chasmolinker, I appreciate that!!!

I have tried using Prized Amalgam in similar Zombie Vial builds, and I've found that Amalgams are only worth including if you are running numerous creatures with return to battlefield abilities. In my Grave Blaster (Sultai Reanimator) deck, I run self-mill with Bloodghast, Gravecrawler, Vengevine, and Skaab Ruinator, so the Amalgams work well. Otherwise, the Amalgams usually end up being vanilla 3/3s for 3 mana, and other cards have better value.