I’m trying different options post-banning of Faithless Looting - sadly the deck is no longer the same.
Top Rank: #1 on T/O - thanks for reading!!!
GREETINGS!
This is my experimental Jund self-discard/mill zombie build featuring Diregraf Colossus, Lotleth Troll, and Fling/Thud.
OBJECTIVE
Fill your graveyard with zombies, pump up your Diregraf Colossus or Rotting Regisaur, attack with your army, and then launch the biggest corpse at your opponent's face with Fling/Thud!
CARD CHOICES
Rotting Regisaur, Cryptbreaker, Lotleth Troll, and Burning Inquiry allow you to discard Gravecrawlers and other zombies from your hand. Cryptbreaker also allows you to tap your zombie tokens during the mid-late game to draw additional cards.
Stitcher's Supplier and Grisly Salvage enable self-milling. Always try to block with the Suppliers if possible to continue self-milling. The goal is to fill the graveyard with zombies as fast as possible.
My zombie lords of choice for this build are Death Barons, which bestow your horde with deathtouch, and Lord of the Undeads, which enable you to bring back discarded zombies.
Diregraf Colossus and Rotting Regisaur are your primary Fling/Thud targets. Try to save at least one in your hand for turn 3. Become Immense helps pump up your biggest zombie for the win.
Fatal Push, Assassin's Trophy, and Dreadbore on the sideboard are necessary removal cards for eliminating troublesome obstacles.
Treasured Find is your ace-in-the-hole. It brings back any card in your graveyard, which can win you the game if you need a discarded Become Immense or Fling/Thud.
The mana base is tight with only 21 lands, but the deck runs very lean and only Become Immense has a CMC greater than 3. There are no mana sources which do not produce black mana, guaranteeing that you will always be able to play a zombie. I included a sole Dakmor Salvage in case I am short on lands and need to dredge it up from the graveyard. It may also come in handy during the late game to self-mill.
OPENING STRATEGY
Mulligan if you draw no 1-drops or if you draw less than 2 lands. Since the deck runs so few lands, taking a risk with only one starting land is a bad idea.
Play a green mana generator before a red one. Lotleth Trolls and Grisly Salvages are higher priority in the early game than Fling/Thud.
Turn 1: Play Stitcher's Supplier, Faithless Looting, or Cryptbreaker, discarding 0-3 zombies. Or for a more aggro approach, open with a Gravecrawler.
Turn 2: Play Grisly Salvage, Lotleth Troll, Stitcher's Supplier, or Faithless Looting, discarding 0-5 zombies. Or use Cryptbreaker to discard a zombie.
At some point before turn 3, if you played 1 or more Stitcher's Suppliers, block with them and discard an additional 0-6 zombies.
Turn 3: Play Diregraf Colossus or Unbreathing Horde, which in theory can hit up to 13/13 or more, but will most often reach 6/6-9/9.
Turn 4: If the opponent is exposed, swing with the big zombie and then use Thud for the win. Otherwise, save your Fling/Thud, and then prepare to swing next round. Continue self-milling, play another big zombie or lord, or play Gravecrawlers from the graveyard to generate zombie tokens.
Turn 5+: Play more big zombies, swing with your army, and fling the biggest zombie for the win when your opponent least expects it. Become Immense or Treasured Find help seal the deal. Or if that approach fails, play as many zombie lords as possible and overwhelm the opponent with waves of zombies.
WHY JUND?
Splashing green gives me access to Lotleth Troll, Grisly Salvage, Become Immense, Treasured Find, Abrupt Decay, Maelstrom Pulse, and Nature's Claim.
Splashing red gives me access to Faithless Looting, Dreadbore, and Fling/Thud.
My goal in designing this deck was to come up with a zombie variant that doesn't need Aether Vial to be competitive. I've previously experimented with Vials and Mono-B, B/R, U/B, B/W, U/B/W, B/G, and U/B/G zombies. This Jund variant seems to be the most competitive due to its draw advantage and damage potential.
SIDEBOARD
Cards to remove:
1 Treasured Find
1 Fatal Push
1 Become Immense
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Fling
Against ramp and Tron, bring in Damping Sphere, Thoughtseize, and Dreadbore.
Against reanimator, dredge, or the mirror, bring in Surgical Extraction and try to mulligan for one.
Against artifact-heavy decks, bring in Ancient Grudge, Abrupt Decay, and Nature's Claim.
Against control, bring in Dreadbore and Thoughtseize, and Surgical Extraction if necessary.
Against aggro, weenie, tokens, or enchantments, bring in Abrupt Decay, Maelstrom Pulse, Dreadbore, and Surgical Extraction if necessary.
If you encounter indestructible creatures or Wurmcoil Engine, bring in Unmake.
This is a work in progress - suggestions are welcome and all help is appreciated! Please comment and +1!
