Varina, Lich Queen EDH

Commander / EDH Competitive Tokens WUB (Esper) Zombie

ZyelTheFallen

Land (31)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 2x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 2x Plains
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scrubland
• 1x Sea of Clouds
• 5x Swamp
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Watery Grave

Tutor (7)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Reshape
• 1x Vampiric Tutor

Board Wipe (4)

• 1x Archfiend of Ifnir
• 1x Austere Command
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Toxic Deluge

Ramp (12)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Azorius Signet
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Cabal Ritual
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Talisman of Progress

Counter (10)

• 1x Drannith Magistrate
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Narset's Reversal
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Praetor's Grasp
• 1x Silence
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Teferi's Protection

Zombie Horde (8)

• 1x Bone Miser
• 1x Death Baron
• 1x Diregraf Colossus
• 1x Gleaming Overseer
• 1x Lazotep Chancellor
• 1x Lord of the Accursed
• 1x Lord of the Undead
• 1x Undead Warchief

Spot Removal (5)

• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Vindicate

Commander (1)

Card Advantage (10)

• 1x Alhammarret's Archive
• 1x Bolas's Citadel
• 1x Cryptbreaker
• 1x Graveborn Muse
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Teferi's Ageless Insight
• 1x Undead Augur
• 1x Windfall

Win-Con (10)

• 1x Carrion Feeder
• 1x Corpse Knight
• 1x Diregraf Captain
• 1x Exsanguinate
• 1x Gravecrawler
• 1x Nantuko Husk
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Plague Belcher
• 1x Rooftop Storm
• 1x Wayward Servant

Recursion (2)

• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Unholy Grotto

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Introduction

I have loved playing Varina, Lich Queen for some time now. I began with a $100 budget deck based around discarding synergies but quickly realized that I enjoyed playing her as a commander enough to invest more into a more competitive/ tuned deck.

I built this deck to have an engine-style commander for zombie tribal. Varina, Lich Queen allows me to fill my hand with effects like Teferi's Ageless Insight & Alhammarret's Archive. Coupled with tutors (i.e. Demonic Tutor, Enlightened Tutor, etc.) I can get my game-winning combos and use my ragtag team of zombois to defend or deal with opponent threats.

Win-Cons

The main win-con generator here is Gravecrawler. You can pair it with Rooftop Storm to do some pretty necromantic shenanigans. Pair it with Carrion Feeder or Nantuko Husk as sac outlets to get zombie ETB triggers and make those creatures insanely big. Gravecrawler + Phyrexian Altar + Rooftop Storm allows for infinite mana for a game-ending Exsanguinate. Pair with Corpse Knight, Diregraf Captain, Plague Belcher, or Wayward Servant to drain your opponents to death. Other than that you can always win the old-fashioned way with big zombies swinging for face.

Comments and Feedback Welcome!

I am always looking for great suggestions and feedback. I especially appreciate suggested cuts along with adds, but will consider any card that seems like it would improve this build. Thanks for reading!

Date added	2 years
Last updated	2 years
Key combos	Gravecrawler + Phyrexian Altar + Rooftop Storm
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 51 - 0 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 7 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.51
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Elephant 3/3 G, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie Army 0/0 B