Zombie Master

Creature — Zombie

Other Zombie creatures have swampwalk. (They can't be blocked as long as defending player controls a Swamp.)

Other Zombies have "{B}: Regenerate this permanent." (The next time this creature would be destroyed, instead tap it, remove it from combat and heal all damage on it.)

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	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
Oldschool 93/94	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Premodern	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (49)

SaberTech on Varina: Unalive in 2025

2 months 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.

Profet93 on Gisa: So Undead It’s Criminal

1 year ago

Santiago1011

I'm glad I was able to inadvertently point it out. Now for some actual suggestions/thoughts....

Cabal Stronghold - You do not have enough basics to warrant it's inclusion. You need at least 4 basic swamps to make it mana neutral. Assuming you draw 5 basics and stronghold in a row, you only get 1 extra mana. Stronghold is best for budget decks without a lot of non-basics in the mana base. Another potential replacement is Thespian's Stage to copy coffers or opposing utility lands like cradle, nykthos, Crypt of Agadeem, etc... Crypt of Agadeem is also another decent replacement as you run more than 25% creatures. Lastly, my favorite option is Deserted Temple as it allows you to untap your large mana producing lands and has a political aspect as well.

Zombie Master > Zombie Trailblazer - While I understand trailblazer allows you to commit a crime, I feel the redundancy is not needed whereas the protection is super useful. I do understand what most wipes make it so you can't regenerate your creatures, but this is another hurdle for opponents to play around which I believe warrants the swap.

Priest of Forgotten Gods - I get the need for crimes, but the impact of the ability itself really needs to be taken into consideration as well. It's not impactful enough to warrant an inclusion. Perhaps something more on flavor such as Zombie Apocalypse? Mikaeus, the Unhallowed is also a great choice and is a combo enabler

Wayfarer's Bauble - With a deck whose avg cmc is so low, I feel another card in your maybeboard or otherwise could pull more weight. Jeweled Lotus, Mana Crypt or a more budget friendly Mana Vault can help you establish an earlier board presence.

Last thought, I see feed the swarm for enchantment removal, but how do you deal with artifacts? Perhaps an Oblivion Stone might be worth considering depending on the prevalence of artifacts within your meta and how much trouble they give you.

NV_1980 on Dimir No-Brainer

1 year ago

I'm missing a Rooftop Storm in here; maybe you think it's too OP :) Zombie Master is pretty cool; will catch other players featuring black off-guard and the regeneration ability on all your zombies makes them even harder to kill than they already were. Lich Lord of Unx's secondary ability can also be a pretty nasty mana sink to use.

mrweaselman on Stumbly Boys (EDH)

1 year ago

Starting with mana, you only have 44 sources. I would recommend going around 47. Sapphire Medallion and Jet Medallion are a lot better than the monuments, although more expensive. You want to avoid 3 mana rocks like Dimir Locket and Commander's Sphere, you have better options in two mana ones. Add Coldsteel Heart, Fellwar Stone, Dimir Signet, Talisman of Dominance and at least one land.

For interaction, you could add enchantment removal like Feed the Swarm. Bitter Triumph is new and may be better than Infernal Grasp here.

Since mill and discard can basically act as card draw, you can run cards like Mire Triton, Stitcher's Supplier, Undead Butler, Palantir of Orthanc, and Fact or Fiction, as well as sacrifice based card draw like Corrupted Conviction, Village Rites, and Deadly Dispute. There's also always all-stars Black Market Connections, Phyrexian Arena, and Rhystic Study if you want to go that direction.

Some card to protect your commander like Netherborn Altar, Malakir Rebirth  ^Flip, Zombie Master or Lightning Greaves / Swiftfoot Boots may be helpful if you rely on Gisa and it keeps getting removed.

There are certain cards I am not a fan of in this deck including Master of Death, Prized Amalgam, Scourge of Nel Toth, Tomebound Lich, Dead Revels, and Syphon Flesh.

Some other cards to consider include Cryptbreaker, Geralf, Visionary Stitcher, Ghoulcaller Gisa, Lord of the Undead, Noxious Ghoul, Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, The Scarab God, Distant Melody, Buried Alive, Diabolic Intent, Liliana, Dreadhorde General. You could probably replace similar cards with these if they are better.

Gravecrawler + Rooftop Storm + Sac Outlet is infinite. I don't think you run many sac outlets. You could add Acererak the Archlich to go infinite with just Rooftop Storm.

multimedia on Gisa, Zom Zom Queen *Work In Progress*

2 years ago

Hey, well done so far, but I think you overestimate needing so many buffs (anthems).

All the artifacts for anthem effects is overkill, you have tutors that can get the better anthem. Adding more repeatable draw sources can do more for gameplay than anthems because more reliable draw helps to draw the better anthems. Coat of Arms, Eldrazi Monument and The Immortal Sun are much better than the other artifact anthems here.

In my opinion anthem effects to be worth playing need to also have card quality for the mana cost. Instruments of War and Hall of Triumph are bad cards, only providing a small anthem effect nothing else for their mana cost isn't good enough to take deck spots. Obelisk of Urd is subpar, but at least it can be mana cost reduced even to 0 with Zombies. Bad Moon is only 2 mana, but there's greater two drops that have much better card quality. Heraldic Banner can be a mana rock, but even so you can do better for a three drop.

Adaptive Automaton is a creature who Gisa can sac and who can be a Zombie lord (anthem), but it's a bad card compared to all other Zombie lords who provide another good repeatable effect. Icon of Ancestry and Vanquisher's Banner aren't worth it since there's too many nonZombie creatures here. You can get more reliable repeatable draw from other sources.

You have Crypt Ghast, Cabal Coffers and tutors to get them, you don't need Caged Sun and Gauntlet of Power mana effects. These cards are better in mono white, red or blue because these colors can really use the mana ramp. Liliana's Mastery is a very low budget five drop for Zombies, not needed here.

---

There's several cards in the maybeboard to consider adding main deck if you have them. Areas to focus on improving with cards from the maybeboard are early game ramp, repeatable draw for only you, reanimation and more Zombie evasion.

• Dark Ritual, Ashnod's Altar
• Braids, Arisen Nightmare, Species Specialist
• Reanimate, Animate Dead, Altar of Bhaal
• Zombie Master

Other cards to consider adding from the maybeboard.

• Champion of the Perished, Plague Belcher
• Phyrexian Dreadnought
• Zulaport Cutthroat
• Pitiless Plunderer
• Grave Pact
• Dreadhorde Invasion, Grave Titan

Some cards to consider cutting:

• Instruments of War, Hall of Triumph, Obelisk of Urd, Bad Moon
• Adaptive Automaton, Icon of Ancestry, Liliana's Mastery, Vanquisher's Banner
• Caged Sun, Gauntlet of Power
• Temple Bell, Howling Mine
• Yargle, Glutton of Urborg
• Death-Priest of Myrkul

Good luck with your deck.

multimedia on Cards that buff zombie tribal?

2 years ago

Zombie Master and Filth don't buff, but instead they can make your Zombies unblockable. Noxious Ghoul can wreck your opponent's creatures since it triggers each time a Zombie token is created. This effect is essentially giving your Zombies evasion since it will clear away opponent blockers.

Zombies can have an advantage using your life as a resource for repeatable draw. Cryptbreaker, Graveborn Muse, Undead Augur is Zombie tribal draw using life. Bolas's Citadel is powerful black card that uses your life which can also be a sac outlet for 10 Zombie tokens.

Augur/Dark Prophecy/Erebos, Bleak-Hearted + Blood Artist/Bastion of Remembrance/Zulaport Cutthroat pairing these cards can be a draw engine with Zombie tokens.

Plague Belcher, Vengeful Dead are Zombie tribal aristocrats and with Zombie tokens they pair well with a free activation sac outlet such as Carrion Feeder, Phyrexian Altar, Viscera Seer, Blasting Station, Ashnod's Altar.

Gravecrawler is Zombie tribal repeatable sac fodder for Gisa. Skullclamp is nice draw with tokens, when you're sacing creatures and with Gravecrawler.

sdtech58 on Wilhelt Tribal

2 years ago

Gray Merchant of Asphodel - life drain/gain. Bounce him a few times for maximum benefit

Havengul Lich - reanimation source. Has underperformed in games for me. Borderline

Headless Rider - tokens

Midnight Reaper - card draw

Murderous Rider - spot removal if needed. Versatile

Noxious Ghoul - one-sided board wipe potential

Plague Belcher - potential sac outlet, death trigger payoff

Relentless Dead - recurrence, reanimate

Shepherd of Rot - life drain. ALL players. Don't kill yourself...

Sidisi, Undead Vizier - tutor, sac outlet and big body

Undead Augur - card draw

Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver - alternate commander. Tokens and sac outlet

Zombie Master - reanimation, swampwalk. Nice when Urborg is on the field!!

Dormin53 on help w/ my Gisa Arcade

2 years ago

I don't know if you're budget conscious but below are some recommendations.

Noxious Ghoul to replace Magus of the Coffers Same CMC but turns into a one sided board wipe at instant speed with a sac outlet. Also I'd add Cabal Coffers to maintain the same effect as Magus of the Coffers while not being a creature.

Zombie Master to replace Maralen of the Mornsong. Master has more synergy and tribal type then Maralen. particularly if you add Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in place of a basic land.

Shepherd of Rot to replace Tattered Mummy. The effect is repeatable and on demand but it does hit yourself. You can use it as leverage to keep someone from board wiping or to force to do something "or else" haha Also if you're playing aggro this just applies even more pressure.

Ashnod's Altar may be a better choice over Phyrexian Altar. You're mono so you don't need the color fixing but doubling colorless mana may be more beneficial. Or you could run both for the best of both worlds.

Skullclamp is a must an any token deck. Especially good with Gravecrawler.

I don't have direct replacements but Jet Medallion and Coat of Arms.

Dictate of Erebos in addition or rather then Grave Pact for the flash protentional.

Then lastly two creatures you could consider but I have no replacement in mind are Josu Vess, Lich Knight and Diregraf Colossus.

Hope you find some of these suggestions helpful :) and yes I get the tokens pun :P