IBC: Zombies

Toby Wachter

Creature based theme decks aren't normally considered tournament worthy, much less at the Pro Tour level. Just mentioning the words "Goblin Deck" brings forth images of a twelve year old kid shuffling up his 100 card deck at a tournament, unaware of the finely crafted decks that surround him. With the exception of the Fish deck that had a strong showing at Regionals a few years back, decks based on a specific creature type have been dismissed as "for casual only."

Therefore, it's pretty easy to understand why a serious tournament player would overlook the Zombie theme as a viable strategy. By glancing over the set a few times, it slowly becomes evident that there is some serious potential in a Zombie build for Invasion Block. The little subtle things, such as the fact that Phyrexian Scuta is a Zombie, in addition to the less obvious things such as Lord of the Undead all add up to set up the framework for this deck.

3 Void
4 Blazing Specter
3 Pyre Zombie
4 Terminate
4 Skizzik
4 Phyrexian Scuta
3 Flametongue Kavu
4 Shivan Zombie
4 Lord of the Undead
3 Lava Zombie
4 Urborg Volcano
11 Swamp
9 Mountain

The deck's primary theme lies within the Zombies, and Shivan Zombie is the most basic included in the deck. Its main purpose is to serve as a "Bear" creature - a 2/2 for two mana that can get in some early beats. The Protection from White ability isn't likely to be very useful, but in some situations it will be relevant. The Shivan Zombies will really act as the grunts in your deck. They are the primary target for a turn three Lava Zombie's gating requirement, and don't become particularly menacing until a Lord or two hit the table.

Moving from the grunts to the lieutenant, we come to Phyrexian Scuta. This card is considered the best card in Planeshift by many, and with good reason. Black mages have been looking for a Juzám replacement for years, and this guy comes close. Keep in mind that there is a tremendous amount of bounce in this environment. Against a Blue deck, you may want to reconsider paying Kicker, or the Scuta will hit you for three damage multiple times.

Pyre Zombie is a card most players hope to open in Invasion drafts. This creature is a Hammer of Bogardan with power and toughness, and can win games by itself. Pyre Zombie is efficient even without the recurring ability, so having multiples around isn't anything to be mad about. Plus, you want to increase your odds of drawing at least one every game. This card also guarantees you'll always have something to bounce for Lava Zombies, and can become especially nasty if a Lord or two are around.

Speaking of which, the Lord is what really makes this deck tick. Other Lords such as Goblin King, Elvish Champion and Lord of Atlantis are pretty solid leaders for their respective armies, as they pump them up and can attack with them. Another characteristic all those Lords have in common is that they all grant the landwalking ability symmetrical with that color's basic land type. With Lord of the Undead, things become a little more impressive than a simple walk through the forest.

Instead of a landwalking ability, which may not have an impact on a game, the Zombie Lord can dominate the board position. The recursion ability is excellent, bringing back monsters in Lava Zombies and Phyrexian Scuta. Note that the Lord can pull back a creature to fulfill the Lava Zombie's gating requirement as well. Things become especially ugly when multiple Lords are out. Your army will be twice as large, and come back from the graveyard twice as quickly.

Filling out the ranks of this undead army is Blazing Specter. It isn't a Zombie, but its efficiency is too impressive to ignore. Considering that the deck is already Red/Black, the Specter finds four spots simply due to its power. Its disruptive nature is the perfect addition to a deck that pounds the ground while the opponent scrambles for answers. In this case, with the Specter looming overhead, the only thing being scrambled is your opponent's brain.

By the same logic, Skizzik isn't a Zombie but it fits the deck's aggressive nature well. The trampling ability gives you a way to get around regenerators and protection from Red creatures as well. Even if it's blocked by a Galina's Knight, it will trample over for three damage and live to attack on the following turn. More importantly, Skizzik gives the deck a large creature to end the curve. It's also a great follow-up to a turn four Scuta. Just imagine the look of terror on your opponent's face when two five powered monsters come at him on turn five, and a Fires of Yavimaya wasn't even involved!

The last creature to fit into the deck serves a dual purpose. Flametongue Kavu is Lightning Blast and fattie rolled into one, and its power is incomparable. By simply casting one, you swing a previously grim board position into your favor. One of your opponent's best creatures will be headed for the graveyard, and you'll have a 4/2 beast around to attack. Also note that Flametongue Kavu has incredible symmetry with Lava Zombies. Simply play the Kavu, and shoot something down. Bounce it back, and on the following turn shoot down yet another creature on your opponent's side. Does this seem unfair? That's because it is.

This deck can also easily support one of the best spot removal cards we've seen in a while in Terminate. Many believe that while its efficiency is incredible, Terminate cannot be on level with the classic Swords to Plowshares because of its narrow casting cost. Indeed, its two color mana base will restrict its use in certain decks. Their loss, and the Zombies' gain. This card will clear the path of any obstructions, from the largest Shivan Wurm to the smallest mana producing Elf.

Since this deck runs an efficient targeted removal spell exclusive to Red/Black decks, there's no reason not to run its mass removal cousin Void. This card's uses are too many to mention here, but anyone who has been on the receiving end of a Void for 5-1 card advantage can attest to its power. Unfortunately, Void can occasionally wipe out one or two of your creatures. Hopefully in this sort of situation, your Lord will be around to pick up the pieces of your fallen army.

A few good choices for sideboard spots include Plague Spitter, Breath of Darigaaz, Addle, Urza's Rage, Obliterate, Trench Wurm, Tsabo's Decree, and Slay. The Spitter is a strange card, as it is symmetrical and can sometimes do more harm than good on your side of the table. There's nothing worse than an opponent killing off a Spitter on your turn when you have a bunch of two toughness creatures out. Still, the most effective way to use the card is to side it in against decks which contain many one toughness creatures, such as Quirion Sentinel and Thornscape Familiar. The Spitter can go beyond simply plinking things on your upkeep, as it changes combat drastically. Make sure to play with this creature carefully, or it can blow up in your face (literally) and cost you a game.

Slay is rather straightforward and effective. It takes down a Green creature of your choice, from Elves to Wurms. Oh! It also lets you draw a card, gaining you a significant amount of card advantage. With these in the sideboard supplementing your Terminates, the life expectancy of creatures that oppose you is pretty narrow.

Speaking of which, Breath of Darigaaz can serve a similar purpose. It can wipe out just about everything on the ground, and deals four points of damage too. The best way to abuse this effect is to hold back creatures, wait for your opponent to overextend, and then destroy most, if not all of their creatures. Then, simply play out your Zombies to rush the empty battlefield. Keep in mind that the Breath will do little to handle large Green monsters such as Shivan Wurm and Kavu Titan.

Invasion brought us a few uncounterable card which can give Blue mages fits, and the Red contribution is Obliterate and Urza's Rage. Obliterate is likely a card to sideboard one or two copies of in case things get bad. Simply cast it, reset the board, and rebuild a Zombie army. Urza's Rage is very simple, as this environment does not provide a clear way to deal with it kicked, except for a discard spell. Sideboarding these in will ensure your opponent sweats more and more as you approach your twelfth land.

On the topic of sideboarding against control decks, Addle is also a great choice. This discard spell is especially important because it can strip away a Teferi's Moat, which is a potential problem card for this deck. If nothing else, it can take away a powerful spell such as Fact or Fiction or Rout.

Seeing as how multi-color decks are a big part of this format, Trench Wurm could be a great way to disrupt the mana base of many decks. Granted, this is working off the assumption that three color decks will be played. If this is the case, Trench Wurm can be a machine, much like Dwarven Miner in Extended. Destroying a land every turn is a great advantage, but ultimately it may not be good enough to earn a spot in the sideboard. Three mana a turn is quite a lot for a deck that really needs to optimize its mana every turn and apply pressure.

Finally, Tsabo's Decree is yet another mass removal spell option. It isn't as accurate as Void, but it will rarely touch creatures on your side of the board. Additionally, the card advantage potential is only as strong as the deck you play against. Certain decks don't care about the Decree, but armies of Kavus and Elves fall to it.
Cards to Look Out For:

Tsabo's Decree

This one is pretty much a no-brainer. While there are advantages to playing a theme deck based on creature type, selective spells such as this one will hit you pretty hard. Granted, a Lord can pick up the pieces when your army is wiped out, but that takes a few turns. That much tempo loss should be enough for your opponent to win the game.

What's worse is that unlike other mass removal spells such as Wrath of God, you can't really play around Tsabo's Decree. Previously, you would simply hold back creatures in anticipation of the board clearing spell, and then play out your reserves. Unfortunately, in this case that simply isn't an option. It does mean that there's less to play around, and there's no reason not to go fully aggro and play out your hand. When you expect a Decree, this is likely to be your only option.
The Other Build

While the Zombie deck does look good on paper, it is possible that a different build to the Black/Red deck is more powerful. The reasoning is that if you use cards such as Vicious Kavu and Hate Weaver, and additional burn in the form of Scorching Lava, you won't need to rely on drawing a Lord to help your deck reach optimal performance. This is certainly something to consider, as it is essentially the same aggressive minded deck, but with a different approach. The deck could still use some of the Zombies that are solid on their own, such as Pyre Zombie and Phyrexian Scuta. Their Lord simply wouldn't be around to rule over them, but in his place would be a better attacking creature than a 2/2 for three mana.

So which build is best? That's still up in the air. Once Tokyo is said and done, the metagame will be defined and these questions will be answered.