So, I guess it's announcement time, and none of us should be overly surprised, but http://mtgnexus.com is now live. I've made an account there, and will be moving my lists over; this one being the first, purely because it has been the most recently active.
My thread is active here, so feel free to follow. I won't be updating my list here any further, and once my lists are fully ported over I will be asking the mods here at salvation to lock these.
I wish all here at salvation and those who choose to stay the best of fortune into the future, and hope to see at least some of you over on Nexus in due course.
Well i ment thran turbine not myr turbine.. anyway im cutting it. Free zombie a turn just aint spectacular enough. At 1 mana its better then endless ranks of the dead tough..
For sure. I think Thran Turbine is kinda cool for the extra zombie, although it does mean it comes in summoning sick, and it does mean finding a good way to drop cards in your yard - for a super cheap price, Zombie Infestation could go well with it if you end up keeping it. Drop cards for one zombie, exile for another. But yeah, you're right, as flavourful as Endless Ranks of the Dead is, it just sucks for how slow and dependent on board state it is.
Dude.. varina makes tokens. Gravecrawler recurs. Better play contamination! Far better faster then infernal darkness.
I'm well aware, the simple fact is that I don't have a copy, and it's hella expensive for something I'm trying out. Even if this goes well, I'm not convinced I want to spend that much money. Besides, I live in NZ, cards that old aren't easy to get hold of. I was lucky my LGS had a copy of Darkness.
I really dislike you not playing grave titan. Sure 6 mana is a lot but hes strong has death touch and makes 2 zombies even when het catches instant removal. Its a army in a can.
Fair assessment. Again, I have one copy and it's in use. I'm not entirely convinced it's absolutely required here either. Sure, it's very good in general. The fact is that I've had really good success with lower cost zombies curving into Varina and using her draw from there. Aside from that, most of the lists posted in the thread here have a real speed bump at around 5 or 6 mana, which forces a difficult choice; Esper isn't great at ramp unless you have Crypts and Vaults spare, and I just felt like it wasn't AS good a fit as what I have here.
Also.. maybe some lightning greaves? The deck is about attacking to trigger varina so it means haste and maybe protection when needed.
I had both Greaves and boots in here, and they were surplus to requirements 90% of the time. At the time I cast either of these I'd much prefer to be dropping a signet/talisman or a utility zombie for curving into Varina with. The thing is our tokens and janky 2-3 drops are more than the sum of their parts anyway, so I tend not to see a lot of targeting. Wipes, sure - I run a few myself and I'm not afraid to wipe the board if I have an aristocrat on board, sometimes even if I don't. Plus we've got mass reanimation there, so no biggie. And haste, well, like I say, the idea is to curve into Varina anyway, and a lot of the time I'm happy not to swing with Varina anyway - I will if I have to, but her ability doesn't rely on her attacking, so why risk it unless necessary?
Im currently testing myr turbine.. with varina thats a free zombie each upkeep. Seems cool, altough maybe not spectacular enough.
It's a free token, sure, but I'm not seeing how Myr Turbine makes zombies....on its own at least. Are you running Arcane Adaptation or Conspiracy with it? Neither of those are things I'm totally keen on personally, but that's cool if it works for you. My preference for token generation is a little different personally. Diregraf Colossus has been great of late, God-Eternal Oketra has done some work, and Zombie Infestation is remarkably decent. And of course, Tombstone Stairwell wrecks face in the most devastating fashion.
Thanks for the suggestions here, feel free to share your thoughts on my justifications here or further suggestions if you like
I'm trying a few new things here, purely because there's been some discussion around them for and against and I have the opportunity to test them, so why not? Some of this has come from the now defunct Zedruu build, and some I've just added to try out.
So the planeswalker subtheme is pretty much gone. Sorin wasn't bad, but his uses were a little conditional, and Aminatou had a similar impact, in that she was great in some situations, but they were too niche to justify inclusion anymore. Creation and Gisa were creatures I'd noticed I was just hanging on to and not casting when they came up in the last couple of games. Likewise with Runes, and Stage was too corner for this deck, which really just needs colour fixing as a priority in its lands.
I like the idea of upping the mana rocks slightly, and we've discussed Archive back and forth enough that now my copy isn't in use I ought to try it here. We all know I'm a little skeptical of it in a vacuum, but we'll see how it goes. Beacon is decent reusable spot reanimation for some of our more key pieces where needed, with versatility for artifacts too. Again, trialling - if it doesn't pull weight there's options to replace it with I guess. Darkness I want to try as a way of changing the momentum of the table. There's options to keep it in play with Soul Diviner and Hall of Heliod's Generosity, but even without them I think the idea would be to put the pinch on our opponents while we draw into answers and make a horde. Most of the creatures in the deck are mono black, as are all of our reanimation spells, so I can definitely play around it. It might do nothing, might do something, time will tell. Agent I like as a way to skew the bilateral nature of our reanimation spells like Patriarch's Bidding and Living Death, while still being tribe relevant and a reasonable control piece in it's own right. There's enchantments here to trigger it, but even just sacrificing it and reanimating it could get some value out of it.
I'll try to get some playtesting in over the next few days and see how all of this plays out!
So all of the talk back and forth regarding Gravespawn Sovereign leaves me with hesitation about it. Sure if you've got a reasonable token state it's nice, but currently there's not a lot in my list that swarms me out hugely - maybe 2-3 pieces, Tombstone Stairwell, Zombie Infestation and Diregraf Colossus. That being said, with Stairwell, the tokens have haste, so I wonder whether it's worth holding them back for chump blocking anyway - the other side is 90% of the time when Stairwell resolves I win, and predominantly before it's even my turn again. There could be something here I'm not seeing, but at present I'm not going to order a copy. I'd have to grab one from overseas anyway, so it's just a bridge too far right now.
Zombie Trailblazer is a budget Zombie Master lite. If you don't have a copy of the lord, run Trailblazer, sure. If you do have the lord, it's a hard pass.
As an aside, I took apart my Zedruu the Greathearted deck over the weekend, and there was somereally, reallyexcellentstuff in there. At least one or two pieces of it will make its way in here, I'll update the list later on this afternoon most likely.
Yeah, I get that. I have a feeling there's a fair possibility it could be a win more addition, in that it might be a dead draw when the chips are down. I'd be happy to hear more though - I do want some options for spot reanimation that are a little less mana intensive than Havengul Lich. Phyrexian Delver is an option I guess, but...I dunno.
I will admit Twister is likely a bad call. I put it in because I like the card, it can help out early if I need it, and it can be a safety valve for all the drawing and discarding that might happen. The latter reason is the main one as I just didn't want to get into games where I lost because I drew too many cards but somehow couldn't keep a board or spent all my reanimation. Since adding Zombie Apocalypse, running out of mass reanimation might not be as big a deal as I am thinking it could be. I might end up cutting it later once I get a better feel for the deck. And, in all honesty, if I do need it there is a possibility that Commit // Memory or even Echo of Eons are better since they can be used after discarding. Or, maybe Mission Briefing to just use my mass reanimation again.
It does seem to be one of those cards that you hold on to but doesn't quite fit anywhere well. I kinda like Mission Briefing to be honest. We don't have a lot of ways to recur spells effectively here, so that sort of helps with recasting the big reanimators. Shame it doesn't defy timing restrictions, but it's still decent. Funnily enough I just lost a game to decking out. It's always the turn before you win too. Had a stacked yard, Wayward Servant, Tombstone Stairwell and Eldrazi Monument in hand. Ah well.
Bontu seems like he should be good but I haven't really gotten him yet. Coffin Queen I am not sure of but she is a Zombie and I never tried her in my previous builds so I thought I would give her a try here. And I just like Agent and he fits by being a zombie. I actually don't have a lot of grave hate Hin this deck so he can help make my Living Death and Patriarch's Bidding less detrimental (as you said). Though, I think it is worth calling out that this is one of the reasons I think Zombie Apocalypse is better: it already only affects you so preemptive grave hate isn't as necessary.
I kind of like Coffin Queen for a proto-Havengul Lich for less. I'd be interested to hear how she plays out. Likewise with Agent, there's every reason to think it'd be a reasonable addition, and I have a couple of spots I could free up.
Oddly enough, of those 4 cards, I have only ever cast Liliana. She was a beast and drew me a bunch of cards so that alone was worth it. And helping to clear my opponent's boards (more or less) is relevant as well. I will admit the high mana cost can be tough and I have only gotten her the one time where I had the mana so it is possible that was the exception. But she did a lot of work.
That's a decent endorsement. I think I'll probably skip her anyway, purely because my mana is very lean in this build. Plus she's still expensive
How does Gravespawn Sovereign stack up? Academically I like it for spot reanimation, but I worry about CMC and tapping down my board.
Sounds like a solid win! I've gone into some rough games recently and got a little left behind. The last game was against Omnath 3.0 and Omnath 1.0, so I got ramped out of the game.
I've tossed up adding Lili to a couple of builds, but she's weird one in that her ultimate is nasty and her static ability is good but I don't think I run enough attrition in any of my decks to justify casting her for 4BB. Agent I hadn't realised was a zombie to be honest. I had wondered how often you would get to trigger it, but that sort of answers that question, and I guess once or twice in a game is enough to make Patriarch's Bidding, Living Death and Zombie Apocalypse a little more unilateral. How well is Bontu working out? I've been hesitant to add it myself, purely because there's not a ton of stuff I really want to sac for draw (thinking on it, having Bontu and Lili out is kinda obscene draw value).
I have to admit I'm a little surprised to see Timetwister in the list, seems a strange add for such a graveyard oriented deck.
Yeah, I'm less convinced. Sidisi is fine for me when it turns up, but I just don't see a glut of 'must have in hand' instants or sorceries in the list. There's plenty of removal, and I'd prefer to go for redundancy, which, mostly, I do have. Mostly in spot removal, so I guess I could use one or two more wipes, but it's fine for now.
I'll hold on to the other little bits for now and see how these play out for now. Obviously will be trying to squeeze Corpse Knight in somewhere in the next few weeks too, so I'll make more changes then. I'm also on the ropes about my existing Zedruu the Greathearted deck, which I haven't played in months. It has an Alhamarret's Archive in it, so I could potentially pull it apart for value and bolster Varina's draw ability. I've yet to decide, but it's a possibility. I'm sort of waiting for a commander I want to build around that could use some of the pieces I've got in my folder. They're mostly WG, but I'm not sure who if anyone deserves a new build. I'll mull it over.
As well as a copy of Infernal Darkness, which I'd been thinking of maybe squeezing in. Not entirely sure it'll fit well, but it's not the worst idea to my mind, considering we've got colour fixing rocks and mass reanimation spells to keep us going. Plus it's something else Aminatou can keep going, and something for Soul Diviner to draw from.
Makes sense. I'd be just as happy to run Elixir of Immortality or Psychic Spiral personally, but Reclamation is pretty lean so I get why you'd go for that.
1) I maintain Vizier of the Scorpion and Eternal Skylord are important for this deck, because Flying and Deathtouch are two extremely important abilities to have in EDH (the latter to allow this removal-less deck to keep other aggro players honest, and the former to check all those big flying threats that are always running around in the format). That said, I do see Amass not being very powerful on cards that do JUST that, so I removed Aven Eternal and put Prized Amalgam in its place. As for Phyrexian Delver, it was already there
Whoops, missed the Delver . I think there's a place for the ability granting amass creatures, but really only if you're leaning into tokens heavily. It's not something I have a TON of, although there are a few; if they granted abilities to all of your zombies they'd obviously be an absolute lock. As it is, I prefer Death Baron in replacement of the Vizier, and for flying I use sweepers and Eldrazi Monument (it's so perfect with Gravecrawler).
3) I never thought about Aetherflux Reservoir, but now that you mention it, it seems like a badass idea! I put that and Mana Vault in, replacing the two tribal artifacts which, while not really redundant per se, are just too pricey in terms of mana.
I think it's a disgusting card personally, but I fully acknowledge that it ends games in the most surgical fashion. It makes sense for it to be in a deck that gains life regularly, and it leans really nicely up against your Gravecrawler/Phyrexian Altar combo; essentially you could either find an aristocrat, or this.
4) Beacon of Unrest is another card that I'd never considered, but I do see it being useful in a deck that has lots of graveyard shenanigans but no Eternal Witness. I'll test it and see how it goes
I'd be interested to hear how it goes; I've got a spare copy myself, and it's done really well in my Dralnu build, I've wondered if it would be worth running here. The shuffle effect is what makes it worth paying 3BB.
5) I chose not to include any wheels no Smothering Tithe, because doing so would require too many and too significant alterations to how the deck plays.
Fair enough. They do well for me here in terms of mass reanimation strategies, Archfiend of Ifnir devastation, and digging for things I need. Tithe is a KOS piece against most people, and in Esper it's well worth having some extra colour fixing.
edit - I know blinx28 was tossing up inclusion of Phyrexian Reclamation. What does it do for you here, and how well does it fit?
Mostly these are strict upgrades. The signets and talismani I concur with WizardMN regarding - the xB variants are far more relevant, as we are heavy in that colour. I am still tracking down Talisman of Hierarchy, but it'll end up in here at some point. Gift trumps Vindicate on speed and colour cost, I can forgive the elephant. It's an easy add. And Augur is decent draw value with a lot of our pieces, so I'm pleased to have it in here.
It looks decent. My thoughts are you could probably dispense with a lot of the tribal aspects and lean into the combo a bit more for extra efficiency. You’ve got most of what you need to make the deck revolve around the combo pretty quickly, I guess you just need a really reliable way to find the Altar early, and a reliable zombie to keep on the field for Gravecrawler. It’s come up in the thread a few posts ago, Unsettled Mariner would be a really good pick for that (or Prized Amalgam). Add an Entomb to get you to your Crawler quick, Aetherflux Reservoir for a secondary win con and you’ve got yourself a nasty combo deck. If you have the money for it I’d drop some of the top tier rocks in to speed things up early too - the usual stuff like Crypt, Vault etc. Also, curious - what is Mystical Tutor picking up in the deck? Enlightened is solid here, I’d love a copy for my Smothering Tithe (you should consider adding btw), Tombstone Stairwell and such, but Mystical doesn’t seem to have a lot of targets.
Honestly, I have to say in my experience with the amass mechanic I found it...disappointing. It’s slow, even in the most efficient iterations of the effect like Dreadhorde Invasion and Lazotep Reaver. It just seemed like the mechanic was trying to create a middle ground between lots of zombies and big zombies, and sort of failing at both; kind of a jack of all trades, master of none scenario.
I am a little biased, but I’d look at adding some wheels to dig deep for your pieces. They work well with the aforementioned Tithe, they’re semi-control for your opponents, play nicely into Varina, fuel mass reanimation, and potentially they can put your Crawler right where you want it. You could add Beacon of Unrest to get pieces into play that you need, or Phyrexian Delver or Reanimate. I’ve honestly found the downside of drawing your opponents into answers is fairly uncommon, most people hate being wheeled.
Hope all this helps - I’ve sort of assumed you wanted to go all in on that combo, but I could have the wrong idea entirely
My thread is active here, so feel free to follow. I won't be updating my list here any further, and once my lists are fully ported over I will be asking the mods here at salvation to lock these.
I wish all here at salvation and those who choose to stay the best of fortune into the future, and hope to see at least some of you over on Nexus in due course.
For sure. I think Thran Turbine is kinda cool for the extra zombie, although it does mean it comes in summoning sick, and it does mean finding a good way to drop cards in your yard - for a super cheap price, Zombie Infestation could go well with it if you end up keeping it. Drop cards for one zombie, exile for another. But yeah, you're right, as flavourful as Endless Ranks of the Dead is, it just sucks for how slow and dependent on board state it is.
I'm well aware, the simple fact is that I don't have a copy, and it's hella expensive for something I'm trying out. Even if this goes well, I'm not convinced I want to spend that much money. Besides, I live in NZ, cards that old aren't easy to get hold of. I was lucky my LGS had a copy of Darkness.
Fair assessment. Again, I have one copy and it's in use. I'm not entirely convinced it's absolutely required here either. Sure, it's very good in general. The fact is that I've had really good success with lower cost zombies curving into Varina and using her draw from there. Aside from that, most of the lists posted in the thread here have a real speed bump at around 5 or 6 mana, which forces a difficult choice; Esper isn't great at ramp unless you have Crypts and Vaults spare, and I just felt like it wasn't AS good a fit as what I have here.
I had both Greaves and boots in here, and they were surplus to requirements 90% of the time. At the time I cast either of these I'd much prefer to be dropping a signet/talisman or a utility zombie for curving into Varina with. The thing is our tokens and janky 2-3 drops are more than the sum of their parts anyway, so I tend not to see a lot of targeting. Wipes, sure - I run a few myself and I'm not afraid to wipe the board if I have an aristocrat on board, sometimes even if I don't. Plus we've got mass reanimation there, so no biggie. And haste, well, like I say, the idea is to curve into Varina anyway, and a lot of the time I'm happy not to swing with Varina anyway - I will if I have to, but her ability doesn't rely on her attacking, so why risk it unless necessary?
It's a free token, sure, but I'm not seeing how Myr Turbine makes zombies....on its own at least. Are you running Arcane Adaptation or Conspiracy with it? Neither of those are things I'm totally keen on personally, but that's cool if it works for you. My preference for token generation is a little different personally. Diregraf Colossus has been great of late, God-Eternal Oketra has done some work, and Zombie Infestation is remarkably decent. And of course, Tombstone Stairwell wrecks face in the most devastating fashion.
Thanks for the suggestions here, feel free to share your thoughts on my justifications here or further suggestions if you like
I'm trying a few new things here, purely because there's been some discussion around them for and against and I have the opportunity to test them, so why not? Some of this has come from the now defunct Zedruu build, and some I've just added to try out.
In:
Glacial Fortress
Hall of Heliod's Generosity
Talisman of Hierarchy
Alhammarret's Archive
Infernal Darkness
Beacon of Unrest
Agent of Erebos
Out:
Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord
Aminatou, the Fateshifter
Read the Runes
Forgotten Creation
Ghoulcaller Gisa
Thespian's Stage
Island
So the planeswalker subtheme is pretty much gone. Sorin wasn't bad, but his uses were a little conditional, and Aminatou had a similar impact, in that she was great in some situations, but they were too niche to justify inclusion anymore. Creation and Gisa were creatures I'd noticed I was just hanging on to and not casting when they came up in the last couple of games. Likewise with Runes, and Stage was too corner for this deck, which really just needs colour fixing as a priority in its lands.
I like the idea of upping the mana rocks slightly, and we've discussed Archive back and forth enough that now my copy isn't in use I ought to try it here. We all know I'm a little skeptical of it in a vacuum, but we'll see how it goes. Beacon is decent reusable spot reanimation for some of our more key pieces where needed, with versatility for artifacts too. Again, trialling - if it doesn't pull weight there's options to replace it with I guess. Darkness I want to try as a way of changing the momentum of the table. There's options to keep it in play with Soul Diviner and Hall of Heliod's Generosity, but even without them I think the idea would be to put the pinch on our opponents while we draw into answers and make a horde. Most of the creatures in the deck are mono black, as are all of our reanimation spells, so I can definitely play around it. It might do nothing, might do something, time will tell. Agent I like as a way to skew the bilateral nature of our reanimation spells like Patriarch's Bidding and Living Death, while still being tribe relevant and a reasonable control piece in it's own right. There's enchantments here to trigger it, but even just sacrificing it and reanimating it could get some value out of it.
I'll try to get some playtesting in over the next few days and see how all of this plays out!
Zombie Trailblazer is a budget Zombie Master lite. If you don't have a copy of the lord, run Trailblazer, sure. If you do have the lord, it's a hard pass.
As an aside, I took apart my Zedruu the Greathearted deck over the weekend, and there was some really, really excellent stuff in there. At least one or two pieces of it will make its way in here, I'll update the list later on this afternoon most likely.
It does seem to be one of those cards that you hold on to but doesn't quite fit anywhere well. I kinda like Mission Briefing to be honest. We don't have a lot of ways to recur spells effectively here, so that sort of helps with recasting the big reanimators. Shame it doesn't defy timing restrictions, but it's still decent. Funnily enough I just lost a game to decking out. It's always the turn before you win too. Had a stacked yard, Wayward Servant, Tombstone Stairwell and Eldrazi Monument in hand. Ah well.
I kind of like Coffin Queen for a proto-Havengul Lich for less. I'd be interested to hear how she plays out. Likewise with Agent, there's every reason to think it'd be a reasonable addition, and I have a couple of spots I could free up.
That's a decent endorsement. I think I'll probably skip her anyway, purely because my mana is very lean in this build. Plus she's still expensive
How does Gravespawn Sovereign stack up? Academically I like it for spot reanimation, but I worry about CMC and tapping down my board.
There's some interesting choices in your list - how have the following worked for you?
God Eternal Bontu
Coffin Queen
Liliana, Dreadhorde General
Agent of Erebos
I've tossed up adding Lili to a couple of builds, but she's weird one in that her ultimate is nasty and her static ability is good but I don't think I run enough attrition in any of my decks to justify casting her for 4BB. Agent I hadn't realised was a zombie to be honest. I had wondered how often you would get to trigger it, but that sort of answers that question, and I guess once or twice in a game is enough to make Patriarch's Bidding, Living Death and Zombie Apocalypse a little more unilateral. How well is Bontu working out? I've been hesitant to add it myself, purely because there's not a ton of stuff I really want to sac for draw (thinking on it, having Bontu and Lili out is kinda obscene draw value).
I have to admit I'm a little surprised to see Timetwister in the list, seems a strange add for such a graveyard oriented deck.
That being said, the bits I can't get redundancy for (specifically Tombstone Stairwell, but also Kindred Discovery, Eldrazi Monument and Alhamarret's Archive if you run it) are worth being able to bring out at the right time, so if I were to run one of the harder tutors I'd probably run Enlightened Tutor. I've got a spare Diabolic Intent and I've tossed up running it here, but....*shrug*.
Command the Dreadhorde becomes Patriarch's Bidding
Noosegraf Mob becomes Zombie Apocalypse
I'll hold on to the other little bits for now and see how these play out for now. Obviously will be trying to squeeze Corpse Knight in somewhere in the next few weeks too, so I'll make more changes then. I'm also on the ropes about my existing Zedruu the Greathearted deck, which I haven't played in months. It has an Alhamarret's Archive in it, so I could potentially pull it apart for value and bolster Varina's draw ability. I've yet to decide, but it's a possibility. I'm sort of waiting for a commander I want to build around that could use some of the pieces I've got in my folder. They're mostly WG, but I'm not sure who if anyone deserves a new build. I'll mull it over.
Patriarch's Bidding
Zombie Apocalypse
Talisman of Hierarchy
As well as a copy of Infernal Darkness, which I'd been thinking of maybe squeezing in. Not entirely sure it'll fit well, but it's not the worst idea to my mind, considering we've got colour fixing rocks and mass reanimation spells to keep us going. Plus it's something else Aminatou can keep going, and something for Soul Diviner to draw from.
Here's what's potentially on the chopping block for these:
Command the Dreadhorde
Read the Runes
Noosegraf Mob
Forgotten Creation
I'll unpack the deck tonight and see what my thoughts are, these seem reasonable to chop.
Whoops, missed the Delver . I think there's a place for the ability granting amass creatures, but really only if you're leaning into tokens heavily. It's not something I have a TON of, although there are a few; if they granted abilities to all of your zombies they'd obviously be an absolute lock. As it is, I prefer Death Baron in replacement of the Vizier, and for flying I use sweepers and Eldrazi Monument (it's so perfect with Gravecrawler).
I think it's a disgusting card personally, but I fully acknowledge that it ends games in the most surgical fashion. It makes sense for it to be in a deck that gains life regularly, and it leans really nicely up against your Gravecrawler/Phyrexian Altar combo; essentially you could either find an aristocrat, or this.
I'd be interested to hear how it goes; I've got a spare copy myself, and it's done really well in my Dralnu build, I've wondered if it would be worth running here. The shuffle effect is what makes it worth paying 3BB.
Fair enough. They do well for me here in terms of mass reanimation strategies, Archfiend of Ifnir devastation, and digging for things I need. Tithe is a KOS piece against most people, and in Esper it's well worth having some extra colour fixing.
edit - I know blinx28 was tossing up inclusion of Phyrexian Reclamation. What does it do for you here, and how well does it fit?
In:
Talisman of Dominance
Generous Gift
Undead Augur
Out:
Azorius Signet
Vindicate
Lazotep Reaver
Mostly these are strict upgrades. The signets and talismani I concur with WizardMN regarding - the xB variants are far more relevant, as we are heavy in that colour. I am still tracking down Talisman of Hierarchy, but it'll end up in here at some point. Gift trumps Vindicate on speed and colour cost, I can forgive the elephant. It's an easy add. And Augur is decent draw value with a lot of our pieces, so I'm pleased to have it in here.
Honestly, I have to say in my experience with the amass mechanic I found it...disappointing. It’s slow, even in the most efficient iterations of the effect like Dreadhorde Invasion and Lazotep Reaver. It just seemed like the mechanic was trying to create a middle ground between lots of zombies and big zombies, and sort of failing at both; kind of a jack of all trades, master of none scenario.
I am a little biased, but I’d look at adding some wheels to dig deep for your pieces. They work well with the aforementioned Tithe, they’re semi-control for your opponents, play nicely into Varina, fuel mass reanimation, and potentially they can put your Crawler right where you want it. You could add Beacon of Unrest to get pieces into play that you need, or Phyrexian Delver or Reanimate. I’ve honestly found the downside of drawing your opponents into answers is fairly uncommon, most people hate being wheeled.
Hope all this helps - I’ve sort of assumed you wanted to go all in on that combo, but I could have the wrong idea entirely