Priest of the Crossing

Creature — Zombie Bird Cleric

Flying

At the beginning of each end step, put X +1/+1 counters on each creature you control, where X is the number of creatures that died under your control this turn.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Gladiator	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (1)

SaberTech on Varina: Unalive in 2025

1 month ago

Well, I'll try picking some options to cut from different points in your curve so that I don't mess with the balance you are trying to go for too much.

• Changeling Outcast I don't think that this one is really worth it. It is an early drop that can net you some value off of Varina if attacks don't look great but I think that I would prefer to see a mana rock over that in my starting hand pretty much every time.

• Champion of the Perished, Shambling Ghast, and Lazotep Reaver are also pretty low value options that I would prefer to be a mana rock in my opening hand but they at least have a bit of potential scaling value. The Champion could get big enough to pressure opponents a bit even though it doesn't have trample, and both the Ghast and Reaver could potentially do something late game with the Liliana, Untouched By Death combo line. Still, I would consider any of those three to be cuttable for other stuff.

• Relentless Dead I think that this card is too mana hungry. Varina's card filtering lets the deck be pretty consistent in finding cards that it wants to cast, so it's a waste to leave mana untapped just so that you can make use of Relentless Dead's abilities if it dies. You have other ways of getting creatures back in the deck, and I think that Zul Ashur, Lich Lord already fills the role better.

• Headless Rider Preferably, you don't want to be trading away your utility zombies in combat if you can help it so the Rider becomes more of a backup to get some value if an opponent uses removal than a way of getting ahead on board. It can produce infinite tokens off of some of the decks combos, I'll give it that, but on its own it is trying to compete with Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver, which can also combo and draw you cards. If you are looking for an alternative to it, I've actually been very impressed with Geralf, the Fleshwright in my own list. Geralf also combos and his ability to pump your zombies can get pretty nuts.

• Priest of the Crossing is a card that I'm just uncertain of. It's more a suggestion to just watch how this card performs for you in practice to see if it's worth it. I think that how well it fits will come down to play style.

• Noxious Ghoul and Temmet, Naktamun's Will kind of play a similar role in the deck, but from different angles. They both ultimately make your creatures harder to block. The Ghoul removes creatures, synergizes well with cards like Cryptcaller Chariot, and can fit in with some of your combos. It's dependent on other cards working well for it to do more than clear some small creatures each turn though. Temmet is a better body for your mana and his looting effect helps to fuel both itself and other cards in the deck. With other cards in the deck like On Wings of Gold, Zombie Master, or Death Baron that also make it harder for the opponent to block you could decide which of them ends up doing more for you overall after some testing.

• Land Tax is a card that I like in my own deck but what I mainly use it for is a way to put a bunch of cards in my hand to loot away for something better. I don't put too much emphasis on it as a way to mana fix. With only 6 basics in your deck you only get a couple shots with it, but considering that it is only 1 mana that still could be enough value for what you spend. Just something to keep your eye on.