Zom-bae (Varina)

Commander / EDH WUB (Esper)

kimosabe

Creature (30)

• 1x Champion of the Perished
• 1x Cryptbreaker
• 1x Corpse Knight
• 1x Lazotep Chancellor
• 1x Mire Triton
• 1x Undead Augur
• 1x Wayward Servant
• 1x Cemetery Reaper
• 1x Death Baron
• 1x Diregraf Captain
• 1x Diregraf Colossus
• 1x Gleaming Overseer
• 1x Headless Rider
• 1x Lord of the Accursed
• 1x Midnight Reaper
• 1x Murderous Rider
• 1x Vizier of the Scorpion
• 1x Zombie Master
• 1x Cleaver Skaab
• 1x Tomb Tyrant
• 1x Tormod, the Desecrator
• 1x Undead Warchief
• 1x Bone Miser
• 1x Eternal Skylord
• 1x God-Eternal Oketra
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Hordewing Skaab
• 1x Phyrexian Delver
• 1x The Scarab God
• 1x Grave Titan

Instant (6)

• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Fracture
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Dismember
• 1x Void Rend
• 1x Return to Dust

Land (34)

• 1x Ancient Spring
• 1x Arcane Sanctum
• 1x Brightclimb Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Clearwater Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Ebon Stronghold
• 1x Esper Panorama
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Fetid Heath
• 1x Fetid Pools
• 1x Field of Ruin
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Hallowed Fountain
• 2x Island
• 1x Isolated Chapel
• 1x Mortuary Mire
• 1x Obscura Storefront
• 2x Plains
• 1x Raffine's Tower
• 1x Shattered Sanctum
• 1x Shipwreck Marsh
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 5x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Thriving Moor
• 1x Watery Grave

Enchantment (8)

• 1x Kaya's Ghostform
• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Dreadhorde Invasion
• 1x Oubliette
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Necroduality
• 1x Teferi's Ageless Insight
• 1x Rooftop Storm

Commander (1)

Artifact (10)

• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Bontu's Monument
• 1x Crowded Crypt
• 1x Herald's Horn
• 1x Heraldic Banner
• 1x Urza's Incubator
• 1x Wand of Orcus
• 1x Alhammarret's Archive

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Damn
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Victimize
• 1x Vindicate
• 1x Deep Analysis
• 1x Cleansing Nova
• 1x Army of the Damned
• 1x Revival / Revenge

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Liliana, Untouched By Death
• 1x Liliana, Death's Majesty
• 1x Liliana, Dreadhorde General

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Sideboard

Creature (4)

• 1x Binding Mummy
• 1x Eternal Taskmaster
• 1x Unraveling Mummy
• 1x Gisa and Geralf

Instant (1)

• 1x Lazotep Plating

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Curse of Disturbance
• 1x Endless Ranks of the Dead
• 1x Liliana's Mastery

Sorcery (2)

• 1x Distant Melody
• 1x Necrotic Hex

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Varina is a pretty standard zombie aggro commander. However the esper archetype lends itself to longer games. Balancing these two can be difficult, but in harmony, creates a very aggressive engine of a deck.

Aggression

Early Zombies: Champion of the Perished, Cryptbreaker, and Corpse Knight and/or Wayward Servant<-- these help mitigate early life loss/expenditure.

Midgame aggression: Necroduality is extremely potent especially when doubling the various lords: Lord of the Accursed, Cemetery Reaper, Undead Warchief, and Death Baron

Curve toppers: Grave Titan, The Scarab God, God-Eternal Oketra, Army of the Damned, and Revival / Revenge

Rooftop Storm + Liliana, Untouched By Death= play all zombies in hand and from graveyard

Commander Combos

• Varina, Lich Queen + Bone Miser. If you discard a land make sure you use that mana w/ Varina's 2nd ability before passing through phases of combat so it doesn't disappear.

• Tormod, the Desecrator + Varina, Lich Queen= 2nd ability activation yields double the amount of zombies per trigger.

• Lazotep Chancellor +Varina, Lich Queen= Massive zombie armies. can also be used to pump an already existing zombie army during combat. tricky tricky.

The Long Game

My biggest struggle with this deck was card draw. Varina's ability allows you to find the cards you need but not always maintain a sizable hand. Cards like Alhammarret's Archive, and Teferi's Ageless Insight are amazing at keeping this deck going, and I HIGHLY SUGGEST putting those cards in your deck. I've also included a few clutch removal spells. Unlike most esper decks I do not run a strong control shell. Enjoy and critique!!! :D

Date added	3 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 1 Mythic Rares 42 - 3 Rares 26 - 4 Uncommons 12 - 2 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.41
Tokens	Copy Clone, Zombie 2/2 B, Zombie 2/2 B w/ Decayed, Zombie Army 0/0 B, Zombie Warrior 4/4 B