UPDATE: This is an outdated version of my zombies deck. My current one is esper, and can be found on my profile.
These gosh-dang creatures just keep coming back? Why my removal speeelll no work? -Jund player
Update: trying out cutting relentless dead and unearth for village rites and 1 more death baron and cryptbreaker.
What does this deck do?
This deck is a decently fast aggro deck with a twist. Many of it's creatures can come back from the grave after they are killed, hence the name: relentless zombies. It uses Tidehollow Sculler as disruption, and can do tricky stuff with Aether Vial on their draw step and sacrificing the Sculler to carrion feeder before the trigger to make the card be exiled permanently. Using Unearth or Relentless Dead it can get back any creature, making kill spells almost worthless. The creatures combined have insane resilience, and with Undead Augur can even outdraw control. This deck is my own pet brew inspired from that budget 100$ mono black zombie mtggoldfish video, that I slowly upgraded. It is super fun to play, and has some tricky lines and interaction to work with.
Quick Notes:
The side board still needs some working out, still a bit clunky(suggestions are welcome)
Obviously Cavern of Souls in but could be taken out for budget, just use swamps or unclaimed territory instead
It seems to have a very good matchup against Bant Spirits and Jund. So far always close against Tron and good against control as long as they don’t have Terminus. Some bad matchups include Eldrazi, Goblins, Burn/Prowess
Decisions in the Main 60:
Champion of the Perished:
This card is absolutely amazing in zombies. It provides amazing early pressure, for only one mana. Combined with all the low cost creatures in the deck, and Carrion Feeder + Gravecrawler, this guy can get massive, forcing the opponent to kill it. Because it's a zombie, Undead Augur appreciates it's death(again?) so that's always okay. Although this card is lacking late game, creatures such as Gravecrawler and Geralf's Messenger can allow it to grow large. Overall a fantastic addition to the deck.
No Mutavault:
The main reason I don't run this card is that many of my spells such as Geralf's Messenger, Undead Augur, and Relentless Dead require exclusively black mana. I try to save my colored mana for non-creature spells, as Cavern of Souls cannot cast them. The upside of a 2/2 creature is there, but with little lord effects compared to other tribes such as merfolk it just doesn't seem worth it. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth could work, but it jut seems clunky and unreliable.
No Wayward Servant:
This card I am honestly on the fence on. It seems good at first, utilizing ETB triggers with zombies returning from death, but in play it doesn't seem as good. Drawing it late is pretty useless, and it feels like a win more card, with that is usually just a 2 mana 2/2. Initially I wanted this against Burn, but Lone Missionary honestly just seems better against it.
Dread Wanderer:
Although this card seems underwhelming, in this deck it is essentially just a worse 5th and 6th copy of Gravecrawler. Aggressive one drops are really good, and this can actually be beneficial when paired with Gravecrawler. For example, if you have a game go long and a boardwipe occurs, with no zombies on the field you cannot recast Gravecrawler. You could return Dread Wanderer first however, then be able to replay your Gravecrawlers.
card:Relentless Dead(Replaced with Champion of the Perished):
This card seems underwhelming early game, but in the late game it really shines. You feel like you always want to hold up one mana for it, and when it is later in the game this doesn't make as much of an effect on decision making. Hence the 2x, as it is good but not as useful early on as say Undead Augur or Tidehollow Sculler. Sacrificing it to Carrion Feeder allows you to both get it back and return a zombie from the graveyard to the battlefield which can be very very good late game with a Death Baron or Sculler.
Tidehollow Sculler:
This card is largely why I decided to splash white. It is a great disruptive creature who can still keep the pressure on. It also has some tricky synergy effects with both Aether Vial and Carrion Feeder, where you could vial it out on their draw step; and/or use Carrion Feeder to sacrifice it before the initial trigger, resulting in the leaves trigger happening first, allowing you to see their hand and exile a card from it for forever. Then because the Sculler in in the grave you can recure it with Unearth or Relentless Dead.
Cryptbreaker:
This card is a one of because it is just a great late game/versatile card. Being able to create zombies with useless cards from hand is great, and tapping three zombies to dig for a land is always an upside if needed. I really don't need more than one, as it is probably the 60th card in the deck, but it is certainly a good 60th.
Plague Belcher:
Plague Belcher is an amazing top end of a card. combined with Gravecrawler the 2 -1/-1 counters are negated, and a 5/4 menace is nothing to scoff at. You can also put the counters on a Geralf's Messenger, killing it and triggering undying, plus 3 life loss to the opponent. If Messenger has a +1/+1 counter on it already, putting the -2/-2 on it then sacrificing it to Carrion Feeder gets rid of the undying +1/+1 and resets it. Great card.
Questions about any other inclusions? I'm happy to explain them, just let me know.
Synergies and Tricks:
Basically Carrion Feeder:
Gravecrawler:
Carrion feeder using gravecrawler can grow itself for each mana you have available. This works really well with other additional cards, such as Undead Augur to draw each time you do this or Plague Belcher for that extra reach against decks that try to stop you from attacking.
Geralf's Messenger:
is also useful with carrion feeder, making them lose more life and combining with Undead Augur and Plague Belcher as well. Unearth is also great with this: with one Carrion Feeder, one Geralf's Messenger, and one Unearth, you can create a 4/4, a 4/3, and make your opponents lose 8 life. Not to mention the rest of the deck having death triggers and such.
Aether Vial and Tidehollow Sculler:
Pretty simple, you can vial in a Tidehollow Sculler on your opponent's turn. More explanation in the section on why I include Sculler.
