Zombie tribal?
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on March 10, 2020, 7:52 p.m. by thewyzman
Are zombies viable in EDH as a tribe? I'm not talking about some combo deck with a couple zombies in it, I'm talking lords, synergies, and flavor.
Dimir seems to be the most basic colors with some versatility (but are Gisa and Geralf and Grimgrin, Corpse-Born really good enough for multiplayer metas?). Going grixis opens up more options like Sedris, the Traitor King as commander and the looting mechanic red is so generous with. Hell, I'm sure there's even a market out there for 5-color zombies (I just don't have a good enough land base for this)!
At any rate, has anyone played or seen some LEGIT zombie tribal decks for multiplayer format?? Discuss.
IDK how competitive it would be for your group, but I had a strong Gisa/Geralf deck way back when. It was strong and consistent enough that I bagged it. It's real strength was through the utilization of Rooftop Storm, and abusing Gray Merchant of Asphodel.
I've got a new brew going now with Varina, Lich Queen
for access to White zombies, and Necromancer's Covenant. I'll be leaving the storm out cause it was too easy to win with it.
If you want me to post the deck I will so you can peep it, but don't wanna spam your thread.
March 10, 2020 8:01 p.m. Edited.
DrukenReaps says... #5
It is solid in most metas. I don't know if there are any interactions that threaten to consistently win turn 5 or sooner so not cEDH but definitely solid enough for other groups. I would use at least Dimir colors so you get Rooftop Storm but mono black is good too. Either Grixis or Esper are good color combos. I don't know if there is any reason to do more than 3 colors. At a certain point you just start to spread yourself thin for marginal power increases.
March 10, 2020 8:05 p.m.
maxon Sure, I don't have her, or covenant, so I couldn't go down that route... but i'd be curious to see what Z's you run.
March 10, 2020 8:05 p.m.
I know there's combos out there like Rooftop Storm + Diregraf Captain + Carrion Feeder + Gravecrawler, but i'm more interested in board-centric old school.
March 10, 2020 8:09 p.m.
GhostChieftain says... #9
You could reasonably build any color combo using black as a strong zombie tribal deck in EDH. Definitely has good enough lords and synergies.
March 10, 2020 8:31 p.m.
420Dragon69 says... #10
Varina, Lich Queen is under a dollar on tcgplayer and is imo the best zombie commander.
March 10, 2020 9:24 p.m.
LordBlackblade says... #11
Gotta recommend The Scarab God as a zombie commander. Powerful filtering and life drain that hits all opponents plus the ability to “reanimate” any creature as a zombie token! It’d only be better if it was a zombie itself.
March 11, 2020 6:33 a.m.
GhostChieftain says... #12
One thing to note, while all colors have zombies and some form of zombie synergy any color other than black will basically be a splash.
March 11, 2020 5:09 p.m.
I'm playing a mono black zombie tribal deck, Gisa raising zombies, tips and/or advice is very welcome. I'm not that well of a deck builder.
March 20, 2020 7:42 a.m.
Alchemichael says... #14
Varina is not too be trifled with, if you can get her on board early enough by getting fixed well. She lets you begin looting at an alarming rate, and her ability to filter your hand to the right bulk or combo bits you need is supreme. My personal deck abuses untap shenanigans to win somewhere between Shepherd of Rot and Wayward Servant or Corpse Knight triggers off new zombies hitting the field. It's a well supported tribe and can probably work for whatever direction you'd like to spin them, though I'll note they're the cheapest muscle a single mana (sometimes less!) can buy, especially when processing in bulk, though they're often extra shambly, by virtue of coming in tapped. Good luck!
griffstick says... #2
Short answer yes. A tuned zombie tribal with lords and stuff falls right at the 6-7 power scale. I think for non competitive purposes its viable and strong.
March 10, 2020 7:56 p.m.