Zombie decks work really well against Aggro War, and since that is such a huge part of the meta, this is definitely a list to consider running. Also, it only costs $20, is fairly easy to learn, but does have room for some solid skill expression. I'd like to think my gameplay video shows that off, but I'll let you be the judge. First the deck.
Deck Code:
GU_1_1_CCcCCcIBxIBxHAFHAFKCBKCBCEWIBZIBZCDSCDSPAaIADIADCEaIAJIAJIACIACPAePAeIAFIAKIAKCCeCCeCAgIBP
It's nothing revolutionary. A zombie deck is a zombie deck after all, but a few things have changed since Band of the Wolf. Now we have these beauties:
Chira and her minions have actually made a huge impact on the traditional zombie deck. Aggro zombies (capping out at 5 mana with Swarmlords) never felt exactly right. The leech from zombies drags many games out to high mana, but you had no tools. At the same time, mid-range zombies running Overseer struggled to control the board early - particularly if you couldn't find your scepter.
Chira and Perserverance have tilted zombies to decidedly midrange. Along with Olympians, BOTW was successful in making midrange archetypes a thing. These aren't just control lists that drop a Thaeriel at 7 to win. They battle for board the entire game. In my opinion, this makes for a much more enjoyable gaming experience. Interesting board states and trading decisions is way more interesting than removal from hand that wipes the board every turn (again for me anyway).
While being cheap, I don't think this deck suffers from it. The nether synergies are really strong, so the strong neutrals aren't missed as much. If you have Hortuk, I think adding him to the list (probably dropping an axewoman) would be a good upgrade.
As with other midrange decks, the strategy changes depending on aggro vs control matchups. This adds to the appeal of the deck given that it has two modes of play.
There is an argument to made for Blood Ritual against aggro; however, I've just been sticking with Soul Burn. As you'll see in the gameplay vid, you can't take Blood Ritual against hidden rush deception. Their stuff is hidden! You aren't going to get a lot of great targets to kill. At the same time, being able to proc frenzy and spawn zombies keeps you in the game and forces them into trading (which they hate). In general, I've found that being able to spawn extra zombies is worth sticking with Soul Burn. Also, running 1x Corpse Explosion is another argument for Burn.
Aggro War deserves special mention. They don't have direct damage spells to reach your obelisks. Perseverance wrecks shielded creatures like Master Tactician and Raid Reveler. Most importantly, leeching even 4-8 HP can be enough to survive until they gas out. Like with HRD, when you have a lot of leech on the board, your War opponent is forced to trade. You can't go face knowing zombies will heal back to full next turn. Chira is excellent against buffed targets and against White-Fur Guards. If you can stall to 7 mana, Overseer often wipes their entire board because war loves strength-heavy creatures (e.g. 3/2 stat lines).
Always Soul Burn. Hard mulligan for Necroscepter and hope for no removal. It's not game over if it gets removed, but it does get harder. You're looking for big stats like Void Banshee, Rhino, and Cambion boosted to 4/4+. At the same time, generating favor with token zombies goes a long way. Best case scenario is you can get them down to 15-18 HP and then finish then with Corpse Explosion.
Unlike some other zombie decks I've featured, this list does not run necronomics, so the Explosion is a backup win condition against hard control. However, having it in the deck definitely affects your deck-peeking opponents. It's funny watching them trading out 1/1 zombies when you don't have CE in hand. That fear that you have it is often enough to win.
This game against HRD was actually pretty tricky. Several of the board states made me think, and barrels definitely messes with the gameplan. Still, I was able to play my penultimate turn like a pro and seal the win.
We're going first and we have a great opening hand. This never happens to me, but when it does I'll take it. I tossed Void Banshee in the mulligan thinking I didn't want to take damage against HRD, but when I get it back, I open with it. Maybe I should have kept it. It makes for a great 2-2-3 open (mana cost of cards) into obelisk, and leech hits the board turn 2 to recoup the initial damage.
All going according to plan. Get out the Fiend. Absolutely happy to see them trading out their Switch Duelist. HRD doesn't want to trade under any circumstances, so any trade you can force is a win.
I love when a plan comes together (that's an A-Team reference for my younger readers). Obelisk is on board, we go face, and we have a board full of leech.
Pro tip: you never play two obelisks at the same time. I don't care what the scenario. So instead, we just hit our GP first to make sure we heal it up and then pass.
Madame is a definitely a pain to see. It generates almost as much value as an obelisk.
This is the first tricky board state. I want to play Perseverance, but I need room to get all three zombies from it. The order I play here gives me maximum leech on board while killing the target. I also snag the frontline from the Sanctum. I don't have scepter, so I can't worry too much about relic hate showing up. Also, frontliners complicate HRD's gameplans a bit making them unable to re-hide their creatures if they have to hide yours.
Remember what I said about the impact of having CE in the deck? Our opponent's reaction here is the perfect illustration. We happen to have CE in hand, but that is almost immaterial. He has to spend favor, mana, and trades for fear of CE. Even trading his switch duelist.
Chira + Fiend is so nice here, but Surprise Delivery sucks for us.
There were a few lines here, but I liked how sacrificing Fiend let us clear board while keeping Chira healthy.
Sneaky Bruiser is always scary. Luckily, he made room for that frontline we bought. I assume he forgot about it. Also, after some consideration, I decide to hit the GP. I almost didn't (HRD has crazy surprise damage), but then I remembered that the barrels die first and then obelisks spawn. This ends up being the pivot realization of the game.
Our opponent is forced to hide our frontline and then play Pietro. They do missplay by not clearing a zombie with their shiv, but it wouldn't have mattered since I could play Wicked Fae + CE next turn.
Boom! We've got surprise burst of our own! GG.
