When it comes to Pioneer, one style of archetype that has largely fallen off the map in recent years is typal. Decks like mono-blue Spirits that used to be elite are nearly nonexistent at this point. Mono-white Humans is still around in small numbers, but it’s still rare to see a typal deck of any kind have a dominant tournament finish.
Yet, in the last 48 hours, one player took it upon themselves to make the finals of a Pioneer Challenge with a typal deck that no one saw coming. This Zombies deck utilizes a bunch of cards that haven’t seen Pioneer action in ages. Even if Zombies isn’t poised for long-term success, the deck’s dominance out of nowhere cannot be overlooked.
Assertive Starts
- Mana Value: B
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 1/1
- Card Type: Creature- Zombie
- MTG Sets: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, Innistrad: Double Feature, Starter Commander Decks
- Card Text: Whenever another Zombie enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on Champion of the Perished.
As you might expect from a typal strategy, Orzhov Zombies is capable of some aggressive draws. By far the deck’s strongest starts involve a quick Champion of the Perished. Champion of the Perished is an incredibly powerful card. Mirroring Champion of the Parish, this creature provides a big incentive to playing a Zombie deck to begin with.
Your goal is simple once you land Champion of the Perished: play a bunch of Zombies and continue to accumulate +1/+1 counters. In the one-drop slot, both Dread Wanderer and Cryptbreaker help the cause.
From there, Wayward Servant threatens your opponent’s life total outside of combat. Wayward Servant pairs nicely with Cryptbreaker, since you can turn your excess lands into Zombies and continue to drain the opponent over time.
Once your opponent is on the backfoot, Unstoppable Slasher makes for a strong follow-up. Unstoppable Slasher is incredibly difficult to block or remove in a profitable manner. If your opponent ever lets Unstoppable Slasher hit them, they’re life total will dwindle. This only makes your other small Zombies more threatening.
Grinding Through Interaction
- Mana Value: BB
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: 2/2
- Card Type: Creature- Zombie
- MTG Sets: Shadows Over Innistrad
- Card Text: Menace (This creature can’t be blocked except by two or more creatures.) When Relentless Dead dies, you may pay B. If you do, return it to its owner’s hand. When Relentless Dead dies, you may pay X. If you do, return another target Zombie creature card with converted mana cost X from your graveyard to the battlefield.
While this deck is capable of beating down, what actually separates it from other typal archetypes is its ability to grind through disruption. One weakness many typal decks tend to have is that in attrition battles where the opponent has lots of removal and board wipes, you risk running out of gas.
Fortunately, Zombies has some tools that match up favorably against removal. At the top of that list, we have Relentless Dead. Relentless Dead is a pesky two-drop that doesn’t go away in the face of Fatal Push if you play your cards right.
As long as you hold up one black mana, you’re free to return Relentless Dead to your hand if it gets killed. Once you get further into the game, you can sink even more mana to resurrect copies of Champion of the Perished or Wayward Servant that had already bit the dust.
Both Dread Wanderer and Unstoppable Slasher are also difficult to kill permanently in their own right. Dread Wanderer and Relentless Dead give you access to mana sinks in case you flood or games go long, which is very valuable.
Playing the Control Role
- Mana Value: XXB
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: sorcery
- MTG Sets: Eldritch Moon, Midnight Hunt Commander
- Card Text: Target player creates X 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens, then up to one target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn for each Zombie that player controls.
Another area of strength for the Zombies deck is that you get access to some elite interaction of your own. Having your primary color be black makes utilizing Fatal Push and Thoughtseize a breeze.
These cards are as efficient as they come. Fatal Push clears away frustrating blockers, while Thoughtseize can get rid of removal spells from your opponent’s hand to keep the pressure on.
Once you delve into world of Zombies, you even get to play an incredibly flexible kill spell in the form of Dark Salvation. Dark Salvation scales nicely as the game goes on. When facing aggro decks like Gruul Prowess, Dark Salvation can serve as a one-mana removal spell, assuming you’ve built out your board.
Against slower decks, like Rakdos midrange, you’ll typically want to hold Dark Salvation until you can get some more value. Even with a board of no Zombies, casting Dark Salvation for X=2, creating two Zombie tokens and removing a Bloodtithe Harvester or Goblin Shaman token from Fable of the Mirror-Breaker can swing the game in your favor.
Because of how strong Dark Salvation becomes in longer games, it’s perfectly reasonable to assume the control role against aggro decks in your sideboard games. Dark Salvation, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, and Crippling Fear all make it easy to turn the corner if you can stave off early pressure, all while Cryptbreaker generates card advantage.
Areas of Concern
- Mana Value: 1WW
- Rarity: Rare
- Card Type: Enchantment
- MTG Sets: Dominaria United
- Card Text: When Temporary Lockdown enters the battlefield, exile each nonland permanent with mana value 2 or less until Temporary Lockdown leaves the battlefield.
Unfortunately, despite the deck’s excellent finish, Zombies still has a number of weaknesses to exploit. One major issue is that if the opponent can land a board wipe that exiles your creatures, you don’t have a ton of recourse.
Temporary Lockdown and Sunfall are major beatings to play against. Even Torch the Tower can render your copies of Relentless Dead useless.
Like most creature decks, Zombies is bound to struggle in the face of Cauldron Familiar and Witch’s Oven out of Jund Sacrifice. Most of your creature removal doesn’t line up too well against Enduring Innocence out of Selesnya Company, either.
The good thing about playing a deck with Thoughtseize and Duress out of the sideboard, though, is that you can often strip your opponents of their best resources in the matchup. It’s tough to go wrong with a proactive gameplan that abuses these cards, and let’s face it… Who doesn’t love some old-fashioned Zombie synergies?