So I figured I may as well create a thread to discuss this now, since it is definitely something being pushed in the set. I know a lot of people, myself included, are looking forward to seeing what we can do with Orzhov Zombies.
We still don't know which cards we will be getting and which cards we won't yet, so at this point a lot of the discussion is going to be speculative, but I feel it is still worth having and there is still a lot of things to consider before we get to that point.
So I will start by listing the cards that I think have the most potential for this particular archetype, and how many of them we could be getting based on rarity. Remember that this is still a tentative list, as Stainless may just decide to not give us some of these cards, at which point I can come back and update to reflect what we actually get.
So then.
Dread Wanderer (Rare, 2 copies) - The best of the new 1 drop zombies. 2 power 1 drop is exactly what an aggressive tribal deck wants and the recursion ability makes it potentially difficult to get rid of permanently. Also gives us another card we can dump to Cryptbreaker, kill off and bring back to stick a Plague Belcher or repeatedly trigger the life drain effects on Wayward Servant and Plague Belcher.
Festering Mummy (Common, 4 copies) - While 1/1 stats definitely aren't great, being another cheap zombie to dump out early is definitely relevant for big alpha strikes with Lord of the Accursed and In Oketra's Name. The -1/-1 counter has the potential to make combat math even more of a nightmare combined with all the other effects available (tap effects, life drain, and menace). It is also another creature we don't mind killing off to stick a Plague Belcher and/or trigger life drain.
Fan Bearer (Common, 4 copies) - Another zombie without great stats at 1/2, but is again another cheap zombie to drop on the table to facilitate those alpha strikes or trigger life drain. It's activated ability is a bit expensive, but it is yet another way to mess with combat, which is something this deck seems to be able to double down on doing.
Time to Reflect (Uncommon, 3 copies) - Shouldn't have to say much about this, Zombies to Plowshares. May be a little difficult to set up, but this is permanent removal against basically every creature in the format for
Wayward Servant (Uncommon, 3 copies) - A serviceable 2 drop for Zombie tribal. The life drain effect is likely to be a little slow, but will likely still be relevant, especially if you run a large quantity of cheap zombies to trigger it multiple times per turn.
Binding Mummy (Common, 4 copies) - Another 2 drop for us. I personally think this one is better than Wayward Servant. This card has the potential to make combat math a complete nightmare, especially if you are run a large quantity of cheap zombies.
In Oketra's Name (Common, 4 copies) - Cheap alpha strike. Combine with Lord of the Accursed and/or a large amount of cheap zombies to finish games. Yet another card that can screw with combat math.
Lord of the Accursed (Uncommon, 3 copies) - Zombie lord. Shouldn't need to say much more here.
Plague Belcher (Rare, 2 copies) - Zombie with a fat body and evasion for cheap. Helps to push the life drain angle. Having to kill one of our own creatures to get it on the table could be annoying, but with a lot of cheap zombies that we don't mind killing off (Festering Mummy and Dread Wanderer in particular) that may not be much of an issue.
These are the cards that I consider to be the most important for us to get to make this really work the way it should. I have left out some of the more derpy zombie tribal cards from the set we may get (like the 5cmc anthem) because I don't think that is the way this deck wants to go. Although that shouldn't dissuade anyone from discussion those cards (or alternate takes on the the deck) here.
Personally I feel like going as low to the ground as possible is the best bet for the deck. The more cheap zombies we can run the better we can facilitate the life drain angle, the tap down angle, and generate potentially huge tempo swings with the Lords and In Oketra's Name.
The biggest question I now have in my head is how much land the deck should run, as I could easily see a build with a metric ton of 1 cmc spells that runs 22 (or less) land.
So assuming we get everything, here is my initial take (in spoilers, as to not make this post any larger than it already is).
Spoiler
What do you guys think? Different takes on
Zombies?Interested to hear others ideas on it, I know we don't know if we will be getting all of this stuff of not, but we can make adjustments once we do.
and going Esper.
