So I have been toying around with a few zombies I have and not sure where to go.
I do want this for the "casual night magic" at the lgs but I would love to take it to anything "real" just for fun because why not.
I do like goblins and merfolk decks but they really are not my tribe. Been a fan of zombies ever since I started mtg really.
Not sure if I should take ideas from goblins and merfolk like vial, port, wasteland, Lords and that sort.
I do need cavern's for sure, wasteland is not good as most zombies I chose are 1 and multiblack so I would have to have urborg to make port and wasteland usable to cast stuff.
But if I use vial then it don't matter, I really want to use rituals for speed but consistency against counter magic vial with cavern should be a must.
But dropping in 3 carnophage t1 is just sweet but like anything a fow means I'm done for. Now on to cards
Creatures I am interested in using
Carnophage
Corpse Harvester
Geralf's Messenger
Gravecrawler
Gurmag Angler
Maggot Carrier
Sangrophage
Shepherd of Rot
If I do use rits dark and culling are my top picks, I don't have any other fow user at the lgs so I think I can get away with a ritual build for the time being.
Removal in the form of edict effects and dismember.
Discard I don't really have room for but can be good to have, but then again at my lgs removal is almost non existent to the point of laughing your way out of the store.
I ha e been toying with draw in the form of sign in blood, nights whisper and alters reap.
And my creature curve is picked so low so I can use unearth, if it's useless I draw.
Reasons for creatures
I love the good 1drop zombies, I almost want maggot carrier over gravecrawler because it causes life lose on entering.
But repeatability the crawler is by far the best for the long game.
Maybe maggot can go.
The phages because the most damage for the cost, life loss is a thing but I hope I do more damage before it matters.
Corpse harvester is fantastic, any zombie and a land for the payment of a creature that I can recure or it just comes back(messenger).
The fish because it's a big beatstick
Shepard of rot is really my endgame, I love that card because it reminds me of old pestilence which is another card I really found interesting.
I have it as a 1 of in the idea but tendrils of agony, it gives life back, takes life and works with all the rits and such.
But if I go vial its useless and I need a different way to get life back from the phages and Shepard.
I really want to make this a strong contender but it will never be "t2" unless we get a zombie recruiter and a 2/2 haste for 1.
I have gone through almost every zombie in the cmc top of 3 and these are the ones I really like.
Only 3drop I like is messenger and I'm not a huge fan of the Lord's, I want to drop creatures, get some beats in and finish with SoR.
I do have 1 big issue and that's a lot of 2 cmc spells which can lead to bad opening hands and reliant on rits to do anything.
Not sure on numbers at this point or which direction to go to plan the deck.
Just tossing around the idea and decided to ask for opinions on the subject.
I've messed around with some Zombie ideas for Legacy, but unless we play blue I don't know that the deck will be very competitive. I do like thinking about it though, so I'll post a couple quick suggestions for now, and maybe take the time to write a more thorough post of my testing in the past.
Zombies will not out-aggro Goblins, rarely out-combo Elves, and never out-tempo Merfolk, but they can certainly outlast all of those other tribes. I think a midrange build with a possible Tendrils of Agony/Shepherd of Rot finisher is a good way to go.
I think with vial and cavern we can make a strong play with zombies, depending on which zombies we use.
If we are talking from a pure aggro attack the phages are the best power to cmc we got.
I still dont know how we could make a mini tendrils combo work consistently but Shepered of rot is a strong card if we can into.
Obviously any deck with a sweeper or good spot removal will make sure we untap and take damage.
Maybe we could go the way of zombie master and urborg with Lords using gravecrawler, diregraf and carrion feeder.
If we run blue then that means we need to dedicate slots to fow, brainstorm, maybe misdirection? If we stayed mono black we can run much discard and deal with lackluster draws.
Only other blue zombie I find interesting is undead alchemist.
BW tidehollow is a good zombie
BG skullbriar, the walking grave is interesting but you need to deal damage.
Not a fan of the Br zombies
And ghoultree is unplayable
Yeah, I was thinking that adding blue would be an interesting way to go, because we can play like a UB or BUG midrange style.
I agree that a mini Tendrils win condition seems difficult to use at this point. Shepherd of Rot is awesome though, and combined with the Zombie Monastery Mentor (Diregraf Colossus) we could potentially make a Zombie Mentor(TM) deck. In fact, Zombie Mentor is going to be the next version of the deck I test. I realize this won't be as good as Miracles, but it will be way cooler, that's for sure.
I tested some GB zombies, with things like Hymn to Tourach, Sinkhole, and Abrupt Decay. It has a lot of potential because of the three powerful cards I just listed, among others, but I'm not sure the best zombies to play in GB yet. We might want to go for Shepherd win with those colors as well.
Okay, here is my first version of Zombie Mentor. It's surprisingly good so far. Of course, I don't expect this to tier 2 or 1, but the testing seems promising so far. Theoretically there is no matchup that should just be a massive blowout or unfair game.
I haven't tried Vial yet. I'm thinking it might be better to skip it because we already have Dark Ritual, and our creature CMC might be all over the place.
Skinrender I'm still testing. It seems good in theory, but may be better as another Dismember.
Lifebane Zombie steals a lot of really good creatures, like Goyf and DRS, and the creatures in Death & Taxes and Elves. It's basically an unblockable attacker against those decks as well.
Noxious Ghoul does cost five, but it's a massive game changer against fair decks. I've only drawn and cast it in one game so far during my limited testing, but I killed a TNN and a DRS that turn.
I haven't tried Zombie Master. It sounds pretty decent, though maybe it's not a big enough threat when you cast it. Against Goblins and Merfolk the Ghoul and Ratchet Bomb give us some really good ways to gain the advantage.
I just played against Infect and Grixis Pyromancer. Every card I drew past turn 3 I wanted to be Noxious Ghoul, so for now I am totally in love with it.
So I played against Enchantress tonight and took notes on the match, so here you go!
Game 1
Carrion Feeder and Gravecrawler start the early aggro. I cast two Hymns and a Zombie Mentor to rock a solid midgame. He drops Elephant Grass and stops my attacks for three turns but I draw a Gempalm Polluter and win without having to attack to finish him.
Game 2
I start with two Duress and a Hymn, then a Zombie Mentor on turn three. I'm doing very well until he top decks a Doomwake Giant and then Sterling Grove (his hand was empty and his board state terrible). He stalls for many turns and finally kills me with angels. I had five zombies in play and he was at 11 life before his two amazing top decks.
Game 3
My turn 1 Lifebane Zombie takes Argothian Enchantress. He is able to Green Sun's Zenith for a second Enchantress, which I kill with a Fleshbag Marauder. His turn 5 Doomwake Giant and Elephant Grass do nothing for at least five more turns while I draw nothing but lands and Dark Rituals. He eventually kills me through my 33/33 Carrion Feeder with Helm of Obedience and Rest in Peace.
So, I didn't see Ratchet Bomb in game 2 or 3. They would have been extremely helpful in this, which is probably the worst of all matchups. Black is really bad at disrupting enchantments. I'm going to test four Bombs (or splashing green for Abrupt Decay in the main board) in the sideboard for now because I figure when we need them we really need to see them.
Overall I felt like another Gempalm Polluter here and a Ratchet Bomb there and I could have won the match. I'll take some notes on other matches soon.
I know I keep posting, sorry, I just wanted to remind myself that splashing green for Abrupt Decay could be worth it. These would take the place of Dismember most likely.
I think that Braids is a little ehhh for this deck. If she were a zombie then I'd like her better. Sculler is pretty good but I don't know that he's good enough to splash white.
I took notes on a lot of testing today and changed my list significantly. I'll post it soon, Alias.
Loss against Enchantress -Game 1
Carrion Feeder and Gravecrawler start the early aggression. I cast two Hymn to Tourach and a Zombie Mentor to rock a solid midgame. He drops Elephant Grass and stops my attacks for three turns but I draw a Gempalm Polluter and win without having to attack to finish him. -Game 2
I start with two Duress and a Hymn, then a Zombie Mentor on turn three. I'm doing very well until he top decks a Doomwake Giant and then Sterling Grove (his hand was empty and his board state terrible). He stalls for many turns and finally kills me with angels. I had five zombies in play and he was at 11 life before his two amazing top decks. -Game 3
My turn 1 Lifebane Zombie takes Argothian Enchantress. He is able to Green Sun's Zenith for a second Enchantress, which I kill with a Fleshbag Marauder. His turn 5 Doomwake Giant and Elephant Grass do nothing for at least five more turns while I draw nothing but lands and Dark Rituals. He eventually kills me through my 33/33 Carrion Feeder with Helm of Obedience and Rest in Peace.
Win against Elves -Game 1
I play turn 2 Shepherd but he has a much faster start with three creatures. I untap and Wasteland his Gaea’s Cradle. He has turn 3 Natural Order for Craterhoof Behemoth anyway and attacks. I go to 5 life. I play the attrition game attrition for a while with Carrion Feeder and Gravecrawler, chump blocking his Craterhoof Behemoth several times. He finally kills me on turn 8 by attacking with his two tiny elves because my 9/9 Carrion Feeder can’t block. -Game 2
My opponent quit the match, probably because he was mad it took him so long to barely kill me. He used most of his match time in game 1 and probably would have run out of time during game 2 or 3.
Win against Doomsday -Game 1
I start with a good hand of Gravecrawler, Lotleth Troll, and Abrupt Decay but no second colored source so I have to Loam from the Loam for my fetchland back on turn 2. Turn 6 he casts Doomsday, going to 1 life, and wins. I kept drawing lands and rituals so I couldn’t kill him any faster. -Game 2
I start with Duress, Cabal Therapy, and Surgical Extraction. I draw another Cabal Therapy and cast Surgical Extraction targeting Doomsday. He concedes. -Game 3
I start with Duress, Hymn to Tourach, and Surgical Extraction. I draw another Surgical Extraction and cast both, targeting Duress and Gitaxian Probe. I put medium pressure on him for a few turns but he draws Doomsday, going to five, and makes his pile wrong by 1 card. I thought he might, which is why I chose to use Surgical Extraction on Gitaxian Probe. A more experienced Doomsday pilot probably would have made a correct pile.
Win against Shardless BUG -Game 1
Turn 2 Ritual into Hymn into Troll leaves him with a DRS and some lands
I attack for a few turns, drawing a Gravecrawler (which he exiles the second chance I give him)
He casts a Tarmogoyf, I Wasteland his Creeping Tar Pit, and it’s pretty much over after that -Game 2
He starts with a DRS into turn 2 Liliana of the Veil and makes us discard, which I think is wrong because I go to 5 cards and he goes to 2
I play a Lotleth Troll, two Mentors, and then another Troll
He ends up having a total of three DRS, two Agents, and a Tarmogoyf but he can’t out-attrition my two Trolls and Mentor
Loss against RW Painter’s Servant -Game 1
Gravecrawler and Carrion Feeder outrace his Painter’s Servant for damage but the turn 7 Grindstone finally comes down and activates thanks to two Simian Spirit Guides. I use Unholy Grotto to put Zombie Mentor on top of my deck (he’s a 20/20 when I cast him) but he has Pyroblast to kill my Unholy Grotto before the next turn. -Game 2
I kill his turn 1 Blood Moon with Abrupt Decay by fetching a basic Swamp and having the basic Forest already in hand. He has two more Blood Moons but I have two more Abrupt Decays (that’s only fair, right?). My Lotleth Troll races his Painter’s Servant until he topdecks (seriously, every opponent I play has amazing topdecks) two(!) Grindstones. Two Unholy Grottos save me for two turns but the Grindstones eventually get me when he’s at 2 life.
Loss against Death & Taxes -Game 1
He has a perfect hand and I can’t beat it. -Game 2
My early 1 Zombie Mentor is targeted by his Path to Exile, but I sacrifice it to Carrion Feeder.
I cast Evil Presence on his only land on turn 3, but he draws another and casts Stoneforge Mystic. I cast Abrupt Decay his Umezawa’s Jitte in response to the equip activation, Dark Ritual out another Zombie Mentor, use Phryexian Tower and Gravecrawler to get some counters on my Carrion Feeder and some zombie tokens, and he concedes. -Game 3
I cast Dark Ritual, Duress, and Carrion Feeder on turn 1. He has Rishadan Port and two Wastelands, keeping me from casting anything anything else. He topdecks(!!!) a Stoneforge Mystic, gets Umezawa’s Jitte, and that’s pretty much it.
Win against Slivers -Game 1
A Carrion Feeder and two Gravecrawlers start the early aggression. He plays two lords and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, then concedes. I’m not sure why seeing as I was only a little ahead. -Game 2
He plays two lords and I Abrupt Decay one. I play a Zombie Mentor on turn 3. He plays Crystalline Sliver (shroud) but I have the Fleshbag Marauder in hand already and kill a lord. He plays Syphon Sliver (lifelink) and I cycle a Gempalm Polluter for four or so and he concedes. Again, I’m not sure why.
Loss against 12 Post -Game 1
I have a slow, but decent hand with a turn 2 Shepherd of Rot and a turn 3 Lotleth Troll. He has turn 3 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and Chalice of the Void, then Trinisphere on turn 4. -Game 2
I have turn 1 Zombie Mentor and he has turn 1 Thought-Knot Seer. I play another Zombie Mentor on turn 3 and he has Kozilek, the Great Distortion. He draws and plays a second Ugin, the Spirit Dragon (after I Duressed the first one) on turn 4. I did get him to 9 life with 8 zombies on the board before all that nonsense, though.
That's not all the testing I've done in the past few days, but it's a decent variety of matchups. My general experience has been losing matches in surprising ways, usually because my opponent topdecks exactly what he needs. Here's my list as of this afternoon:
Hey Alias, I'm thinking about starting my own thread because as I test my deck it's getting kind of all over the place and I don't want my ideas to stop you from trying your own.
Zombie Mentor has been a lot of fun to test, but even that has been more like my version of the deck than yours. I don't want to take over your space with my constant posting. Anyway, I'm not going to go make my own thread immediately, so if you want to keep collaborating just let me know!
I've been playing legacy zombies for a little bit now and Undead Warchief is great! Although I am a complete noob to Legacy. Just dipping my toes in the water from Modern and this budget zombie deck has been a blast! I only play it on MTGO currently and mostly in the Just for Fun room but have recently started playing it in the Tournament Practice rooms with some surprisingly good results and tons of laughing moments!
Recently I tossed in a few Dark Ritual's to speed up the deck a bit more.
Let me know what you guys think and if you have any suggestion for improvement. I am pretty sure the SB needs work because I am so little knowledge when it comes to Legacy and what decks are played out there. So my SB is mostly a guess and looking at others lists. Once the deck is more dialed in, I pan to build it in paper and play it at our LGS for fun mostly.
Here is my current list: (Note: I just added the Withered Wretch and Evil Presence after seeing Eretoryi's list above )
I do want this for the "casual night magic" at the lgs but I would love to take it to anything "real" just for fun because why not.
I do like goblins and merfolk decks but they really are not my tribe. Been a fan of zombies ever since I started mtg really.
Not sure if I should take ideas from goblins and merfolk like vial, port, wasteland, Lords and that sort.
I do need cavern's for sure, wasteland is not good as most zombies I chose are 1 and multiblack so I would have to have urborg to make port and wasteland usable to cast stuff.
But if I use vial then it don't matter, I really want to use rituals for speed but consistency against counter magic vial with cavern should be a must.
But dropping in 3 carnophage t1 is just sweet but like anything a fow means I'm done for. Now on to cards
Creatures I am interested in using
Carnophage
Corpse Harvester
Geralf's Messenger
Gravecrawler
Gurmag Angler
Maggot Carrier
Sangrophage
Shepherd of Rot
If I do use rits dark and culling are my top picks, I don't have any other fow user at the lgs so I think I can get away with a ritual build for the time being.
Removal in the form of edict effects and dismember.
Discard I don't really have room for but can be good to have, but then again at my lgs removal is almost non existent to the point of laughing your way out of the store.
I ha e been toying with draw in the form of sign in blood, nights whisper and alters reap.
And my creature curve is picked so low so I can use unearth, if it's useless I draw.
Reasons for creatures
I love the good 1drop zombies, I almost want maggot carrier over gravecrawler because it causes life lose on entering.
But repeatability the crawler is by far the best for the long game.
Maybe maggot can go.
The phages because the most damage for the cost, life loss is a thing but I hope I do more damage before it matters.
Corpse harvester is fantastic, any zombie and a land for the payment of a creature that I can recure or it just comes back(messenger).
The fish because it's a big beatstick
Shepard of rot is really my endgame, I love that card because it reminds me of old pestilence which is another card I really found interesting.
I have it as a 1 of in the idea but tendrils of agony, it gives life back, takes life and works with all the rits and such.
But if I go vial its useless and I need a different way to get life back from the phages and Shepard.
I really want to make this a strong contender but it will never be "t2" unless we get a zombie recruiter and a 2/2 haste for 1.
I have gone through almost every zombie in the cmc top of 3 and these are the ones I really like.
Only 3drop I like is messenger and I'm not a huge fan of the Lord's, I want to drop creatures, get some beats in and finish with SoR.
I do have 1 big issue and that's a lot of 2 cmc spells which can lead to bad opening hands and reliant on rits to do anything.
Not sure on numbers at this point or which direction to go to plan the deck.
Just tossing around the idea and decided to ask for opinions on the subject.
Zombies will not out-aggro Goblins, rarely out-combo Elves, and never out-tempo Merfolk, but they can certainly outlast all of those other tribes. I think a midrange build with a possible Tendrils of Agony/Shepherd of Rot finisher is a good way to go.
Diregraf Captain with something to sacrifice (like Carrion Feeder) and something to recur (like Gravecrawler) is a super strong attrition engine. Against other fair decks, Graveborn Muse can be solid card advantage.
Anyway, I'm excited about the idea of brainstorming Zombies again, so I'll keep an eye on this thread. Maybe we can get some cool ideas going!
If we are talking from a pure aggro attack the phages are the best power to cmc we got.
I still dont know how we could make a mini tendrils combo work consistently but Shepered of rot is a strong card if we can into.
Obviously any deck with a sweeper or good spot removal will make sure we untap and take damage.
Maybe we could go the way of zombie master and urborg with Lords using gravecrawler, diregraf and carrion feeder.
If we run blue then that means we need to dedicate slots to fow, brainstorm, maybe misdirection? If we stayed mono black we can run much discard and deal with lackluster draws.
Only other blue zombie I find interesting is undead alchemist.
BW tidehollow is a good zombie
BG skullbriar, the walking grave is interesting but you need to deal damage.
Not a fan of the Br zombies
And ghoultree is unplayable
I agree that a mini Tendrils win condition seems difficult to use at this point. Shepherd of Rot is awesome though, and combined with the Zombie Monastery Mentor (Diregraf Colossus) we could potentially make a Zombie Mentor(TM) deck. In fact, Zombie Mentor is going to be the next version of the deck I test. I realize this won't be as good as Miracles, but it will be way cooler, that's for sure.
I tested some GB zombies, with things like Hymn to Tourach, Sinkhole, and Abrupt Decay. It has a lot of potential because of the three powerful cards I just listed, among others, but I'm not sure the best zombies to play in GB yet. We might want to go for Shepherd win with those colors as well.
More to come!
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Phyrexian Tower
7 Swamp
3 Unholy Grotto
3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Wasteland
(24 Creature spells)
4 Carrion Feeder
4 Diregraf Colossus
4 Gempalm Polluter
1 Graveborn Muse
4 Gravecrawler
1 Lifebane Zombie
4 Liliana's Reaver
1 Noxious Ghoul
1 Skinrender
4 Dark Ritual
1 Diabolic Intent
3 Dismember
4 Hymn to Tourach
1 Recurring Nightmare
4 Duress
2 Fleshbag Marauder
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Lifebane Zombie
1 Pithing Needle
2 Ratchet Bomb
Muse is interesting not sure about lifebane, noxious or skinrender.
What about zombie master? We have urborg and it can finish games quick.
I'm worried goblins will just walk us, merfolk will have a better end game.
Skinrender I'm still testing. It seems good in theory, but may be better as another Dismember.
Lifebane Zombie steals a lot of really good creatures, like Goyf and DRS, and the creatures in Death & Taxes and Elves. It's basically an unblockable attacker against those decks as well.
Noxious Ghoul does cost five, but it's a massive game changer against fair decks. I've only drawn and cast it in one game so far during my limited testing, but I killed a TNN and a DRS that turn.
I haven't tried Zombie Master. It sounds pretty decent, though maybe it's not a big enough threat when you cast it. Against Goblins and Merfolk the Ghoul and Ratchet Bomb give us some really good ways to gain the advantage.
Game 1
Carrion Feeder and Gravecrawler start the early aggro. I cast two Hymns and a Zombie Mentor to rock a solid midgame. He drops Elephant Grass and stops my attacks for three turns but I draw a Gempalm Polluter and win without having to attack to finish him.
Game 2
I start with two Duress and a Hymn, then a Zombie Mentor on turn three. I'm doing very well until he top decks a Doomwake Giant and then Sterling Grove (his hand was empty and his board state terrible). He stalls for many turns and finally kills me with angels. I had five zombies in play and he was at 11 life before his two amazing top decks.
Game 3
My turn 1 Lifebane Zombie takes Argothian Enchantress. He is able to Green Sun's Zenith for a second Enchantress, which I kill with a Fleshbag Marauder. His turn 5 Doomwake Giant and Elephant Grass do nothing for at least five more turns while I draw nothing but lands and Dark Rituals. He eventually kills me through my 33/33 Carrion Feeder with Helm of Obedience and Rest in Peace.
So, I didn't see Ratchet Bomb in game 2 or 3. They would have been extremely helpful in this, which is probably the worst of all matchups. Black is really bad at disrupting enchantments. I'm going to test four Bombs (or splashing green for Abrupt Decay in the main board) in the sideboard for now because I figure when we need them we really need to see them.
Overall I felt like another Gempalm Polluter here and a Ratchet Bomb there and I could have won the match. I'll take some notes on other matches soon.
List of cards I still want to test/get back to testing, and I'm really pumped:
Shepherd of Rot
Sidisi, Undead Vizier
Lotleth Troll
Grave Titan
Shambling Shell
Yixlid Jailer
Cabal Therapy
Night's Whisper
Contamination
Mutavault
I took notes on a lot of testing today and changed my list significantly. I'll post it soon, Alias.
-Game 1
Carrion Feeder and Gravecrawler start the early aggression. I cast two Hymn to Tourach and a Zombie Mentor to rock a solid midgame. He drops Elephant Grass and stops my attacks for three turns but I draw a Gempalm Polluter and win without having to attack to finish him.
-Game 2
I start with two Duress and a Hymn, then a Zombie Mentor on turn three. I'm doing very well until he top decks a Doomwake Giant and then Sterling Grove (his hand was empty and his board state terrible). He stalls for many turns and finally kills me with angels. I had five zombies in play and he was at 11 life before his two amazing top decks.
-Game 3
My turn 1 Lifebane Zombie takes Argothian Enchantress. He is able to Green Sun's Zenith for a second Enchantress, which I kill with a Fleshbag Marauder. His turn 5 Doomwake Giant and Elephant Grass do nothing for at least five more turns while I draw nothing but lands and Dark Rituals. He eventually kills me through my 33/33 Carrion Feeder with Helm of Obedience and Rest in Peace.
Win against Elves
-Game 1
I play turn 2 Shepherd but he has a much faster start with three creatures. I untap and Wasteland his Gaea’s Cradle. He has turn 3 Natural Order for Craterhoof Behemoth anyway and attacks. I go to 5 life. I play the attrition game attrition for a while with Carrion Feeder and Gravecrawler, chump blocking his Craterhoof Behemoth several times. He finally kills me on turn 8 by attacking with his two tiny elves because my 9/9 Carrion Feeder can’t block.
-Game 2
My opponent quit the match, probably because he was mad it took him so long to barely kill me. He used most of his match time in game 1 and probably would have run out of time during game 2 or 3.
Win against Doomsday
-Game 1
I start with a good hand of Gravecrawler, Lotleth Troll, and Abrupt Decay but no second colored source so I have to Loam from the Loam for my fetchland back on turn 2. Turn 6 he casts Doomsday, going to 1 life, and wins. I kept drawing lands and rituals so I couldn’t kill him any faster.
-Game 2
I start with Duress, Cabal Therapy, and Surgical Extraction. I draw another Cabal Therapy and cast Surgical Extraction targeting Doomsday. He concedes.
-Game 3
I start with Duress, Hymn to Tourach, and Surgical Extraction. I draw another Surgical Extraction and cast both, targeting Duress and Gitaxian Probe. I put medium pressure on him for a few turns but he draws Doomsday, going to five, and makes his pile wrong by 1 card. I thought he might, which is why I chose to use Surgical Extraction on Gitaxian Probe. A more experienced Doomsday pilot probably would have made a correct pile.
Win against Shardless BUG
-Game 1
Turn 2 Ritual into Hymn into Troll leaves him with a DRS and some lands
I attack for a few turns, drawing a Gravecrawler (which he exiles the second chance I give him)
He casts a Tarmogoyf, I Wasteland his Creeping Tar Pit, and it’s pretty much over after that
-Game 2
He starts with a DRS into turn 2 Liliana of the Veil and makes us discard, which I think is wrong because I go to 5 cards and he goes to 2
I play a Lotleth Troll, two Mentors, and then another Troll
He ends up having a total of three DRS, two Agents, and a Tarmogoyf but he can’t out-attrition my two Trolls and Mentor
Loss against RW Painter’s Servant
-Game 1
Gravecrawler and Carrion Feeder outrace his Painter’s Servant for damage but the turn 7 Grindstone finally comes down and activates thanks to two Simian Spirit Guides. I use Unholy Grotto to put Zombie Mentor on top of my deck (he’s a 20/20 when I cast him) but he has Pyroblast to kill my Unholy Grotto before the next turn.
-Game 2
I kill his turn 1 Blood Moon with Abrupt Decay by fetching a basic Swamp and having the basic Forest already in hand. He has two more Blood Moons but I have two more Abrupt Decays (that’s only fair, right?). My Lotleth Troll races his Painter’s Servant until he topdecks (seriously, every opponent I play has amazing topdecks) two(!) Grindstones. Two Unholy Grottos save me for two turns but the Grindstones eventually get me when he’s at 2 life.
Loss against Death & Taxes
-Game 1
He has a perfect hand and I can’t beat it.
-Game 2
My early 1 Zombie Mentor is targeted by his Path to Exile, but I sacrifice it to Carrion Feeder.
I cast Evil Presence on his only land on turn 3, but he draws another and casts Stoneforge Mystic. I cast Abrupt Decay his Umezawa’s Jitte in response to the equip activation, Dark Ritual out another Zombie Mentor, use Phryexian Tower and Gravecrawler to get some counters on my Carrion Feeder and some zombie tokens, and he concedes.
-Game 3
I cast Dark Ritual, Duress, and Carrion Feeder on turn 1. He has Rishadan Port and two Wastelands, keeping me from casting anything anything else. He topdecks(!!!) a Stoneforge Mystic, gets Umezawa’s Jitte, and that’s pretty much it.
Win against Slivers
-Game 1
A Carrion Feeder and two Gravecrawlers start the early aggression. He plays two lords and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, then concedes. I’m not sure why seeing as I was only a little ahead.
-Game 2
He plays two lords and I Abrupt Decay one. I play a Zombie Mentor on turn 3. He plays Crystalline Sliver (shroud) but I have the Fleshbag Marauder in hand already and kill a lord. He plays Syphon Sliver (lifelink) and I cycle a Gempalm Polluter for four or so and he concedes. Again, I’m not sure why.
Loss against 12 Post
-Game 1
I have a slow, but decent hand with a turn 2 Shepherd of Rot and a turn 3 Lotleth Troll. He has turn 3 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and Chalice of the Void, then Trinisphere on turn 4.
-Game 2
I have turn 1 Zombie Mentor and he has turn 1 Thought-Knot Seer. I play another Zombie Mentor on turn 3 and he has Kozilek, the Great Distortion. He draws and plays a second Ugin, the Spirit Dragon (after I Duressed the first one) on turn 4. I did get him to 9 life with 8 zombies on the board before all that nonsense, though.
That's not all the testing I've done in the past few days, but it's a decent variety of matchups. My general experience has been losing matches in surprising ways, usually because my opponent topdecks exactly what he needs. Here's my list as of this afternoon:
2 Bayou
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Forest
1 Mutavault
1 Phyrexian Tower
2 Swamp
2 Unholy Grotto
3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
(20 Creature spells)
4 Carrion Feeder
4 Diregraf Colossus
3 Gempalm Polluter
4 Gravecrawler
4 Lotleth Troll
1 Undead Gladiator
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Dark Ritual
1 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Thoughtseize
1 Unearth
3 Choke
3 Evil Presence
2 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Life from the Loam
2 Noxious Ghoul
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Withered Wretch
Zombie Mentor has been a lot of fun to test, but even that has been more like my version of the deck than yours. I don't want to take over your space with my constant posting. Anyway, I'm not going to go make my own thread immediately, so if you want to keep collaborating just let me know!
Recently I tossed in a few Dark Ritual's to speed up the deck a bit more.
Let me know what you guys think and if you have any suggestion for improvement. I am pretty sure the SB needs work because I am so little knowledge when it comes to Legacy and what decks are played out there. So my SB is mostly a guess and looking at others lists. Once the deck is more dialed in, I pan to build it in paper and play it at our LGS for fun mostly.
Here is my current list: (Note: I just added the Withered Wretch and Evil Presence after seeing Eretoryi's list above )
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
18 Swamp
(28 Creatures)
4 Gravecrawler
3 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Rancid Rats
4 Lord of the Undead
3 Death Baron
2 Zombie Master
4 Undead Warchief
4 Gempalm Polluter
3 Dark Ritual
3 Tragic Slip
3 Victim of Night
3 Sudden Spoiling
3 Thoughtseize
1 Tragic Slip
2 Vampiric Link
1 Cemetery Reaper
1 Death Baron
1 Noxious Ghoul
2 Extirpate
2 Withered Wretch
2 Evil Presence