Deck name: “Lord of Voltronhorn”
Commander:
Lord of TresserhornColours:
Blue/
Black/
RedTheme/s: Voltron, Zombie Tribal
Primary Win Condition/s: Commander damage, Creatures attacking
Secondary Win Condition/s: Zombie-related infinite combos
Budget: None set. Most , if not all, of these cards I already own.
Intended Power Level: 50-75%
Playgroup: I no longer have a specific playgroup, instead playing at my local gaming store. As such I can expect to play any number of different decks, ranging from unmodified precons all the way up to a rather strong Grand Arbiter Augustin IV control deck.
The primary reason I realise that I'm a Timmy is that I love tribal. I just can't get enough of it and love to theme decks around it, even to the detriment of it (during INN/M13/RTR Standard I ran a BR Vampire tribal deck, despite the fact it didn't have a great deal of tribal support).
I've always known that I wanted to do a Zombie tribal EDH deck, or at least for over three years – the first date I have on my files planning this deck out is the 15th of November 2013, just after Theros was released. Grimgrin, Corpse-Born and Thraximundar stood out as decent generals (even though, at the time, I didn't own a copy of either) but as soon as I saw
Lord of Tresserhorn I knew that I had to run a zombie tribal deck with a Voltron sub-theme. A 4 CMC creature with a power of 10? Yes, please!
His ETB ability isn't the nicest of things to have to deal with, so something will have to be done to ameliorate it, but I'm pretty sure I can have some fun doing so. And, if not, then I can always overrun my opponents with a zombie horde.
As ever, I’m looking for feedback on this deck. It’s currently in its second incarnation, thanks to feedback from people both here and on Reddit. It’s a lot more balanced (in terms of Zombie Tribal vs/ Voltron) but I’ve had to make a number of cuts I wasn’t particularly happy with. I suppose that’s my fault for trying to blend two different archetypes in the same deck.
-------------
The Commander – 9 cards
Lord of TresserhornThe big man himself. With any kind of Power boost he can kill any given opponent in two turns. His only real downside is the triggered ability printed on the card. So let's see what I can do about that.
DisallowStifleSundial of the InfiniteTorpor OrbTrickbindSummary DismissalDiregraf ColossusPsychic PossessionThe first 6 cards are the main ways this deck can deal with his ETB ability. Each of these can either counter the ability or can end the turn (and exile the ability whilst it's on the stack). There aren’t many other things they’re good for, though they do allow me some interaction with things on the stack and preventing other players’ ETB effects. I could have possibly also included
Quicken and
Day’s Undoing but I figured that needing
two specific cards in hand to cast my Commander would be too tricky to pull off. I also used to have
Time Stop but needing 10 mana just to cast my Commander for the first time seemed a little excessive.
The latter two cards are actually ways to allow me to cast the Commander in spite of his ETB trigger. The Diregraf Colossus, if cast on turn 3, allows me to cast Lord of Tresserhorn on turn 4 without too much pain (as the cast trigger gives me a second creature to sacrifice to his ETB ability). Psychic Possession can be cast on any given Blue player to give me extra card draws, but if I then cast my Commander and target that player with the “draw 2 cards” part of his ETB trigger then I’m actually drawing cards off of it too.
Voltron – 12 cards
Aggravated AssaultBlood MistFervorInquisitor's FlailRing of Evos Isle Swiftfoot BootsSword of Feast and FamineSword of Vengeance Unscythe, Killer of KingsSavage BeatingTemur Battle RageVolcanic RushI have a variety of cards here that pump my Commander, spread out over various different card types. I have ways to increase his Power, ways to give him Double Strike, Haste, Trample, and Hexproof, and ways to double the damage he deals.
Of particular note is the combination of Aggravated Assault with Sword of Feast and Famine: together they effectively give me infinite combat steps as long as he keeps connecting with an opponent.
Volcanic Rush was chosen to give my entire team a boost, giving me the flexibility to use it with a horde of Zombies instead if necessary.
Alternative Win Conditions – 14 cards
Originally, this deck was going to include the traditional Mike/Trike combo, but as I was putting this particular deck list together I decided that I didn’t want to just put a 2-card combo in the deck. There
are multiple combos in the deck that can win the game for me on the spot, but all of them require three or more cards.
Ashnod's Altar (sac outlet)
Phyrexian Altar (sac outlet)
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born (sac outlet)
Mikaeus, the UnhallowedDeathbringer ThoctarRooftop StormGravecrawlerDiregraf CaptainPlague BelcherNim DeathmantleGrave TitanMaalfeld TwinsHavengul LichDeadapultThese cards can, in various combinations, win the game for me immediately (or in the next Combat phase):
- Any sac outlet + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Deathbringer Thoctar = infinite damage,
- Any sac outlet + Rooftop Storm + Gravecrawler + Diregraf Captain/Plague Belcher = infinite life loss,
- Phyrexian Altar + Gravecrawler + Diregraf Captain/Plague Belcher = infinite life loss,
- Ashnod’s Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Grave Titan/Maalfeld Twins = infinite Zombie tokens,
- Ashnod’s Altar + Phyrexian Altar + Nim Deathmantle + Grave Titan/Maalfeld Twins + Deadapult = infinite damage,
- Ashnod’s Altar + Havengul Lich + Rooftop Storm + any Zombie in Graveyard = Infinite mana,
- Ashnod’s Altar + Havengul Lich + Rooftop Storm + any Zombie in Graveyard + Diregraf Captain/Plague Belcher = Infinite life loss,
- Ashnod’s Altar + Phyrexian Altar + Havengul Lich + Rooftop Storm + any Zombie in Graveyard + Deadapult = Infinite damage,
- Ashnod’s Altar + Diregraf Colossus + Gravecrawler + Rooftop Storm = Infinite Zombie tokens.
Zombie Lords – 3 cards
As is appropriate for a tribal Zombie deck, there are a number of cards that will boost the other Zombies in the deck.
Cemetery ReaperLiliana's MasteryLord of the UndeadAll of these pump up my Zombie creatures (including my Commander). Liliana’s Mastery is a little more difficult to deal with than the other two, and also comes with two bodies. The other two give me Graveyard hate and recursion, making them a little more valuable than any other possible Lords for the deck.
I had to cut a lot of cards from this category, as I previously had 11 Lords. I do wonder if I’ve gone too far in cutting them, seeing as they pump up my Commander, but something had to go in order to make room for the Voltron aspect of the deck.
Other Zombie Tribal – 7 cards
Graveborn Muse Lich Lord of UnxVizier of Many FacesEndless Ranks of the DeadZombie ApocalypseCall to the GraveArmy of the DamnedGraveborn Muse is one of the few sources of card draw in the deck, the Lich Lord gives me Zombie tokens as well as an alternative way to attack my opponents, the Vizier is a Zombie Clone (at least when I Embalm him), and the other four cards are pretty much a given for a Zombie Tribal deck.
Removal – 4 cards
HelldozerNoxious GhoulScour from ExistenceLeyline of the VoidThe Helldozer gives me a form of land destruction and the Noxious Ghoul gives me a nice way to deal with creatures with Hexproof or Shroud. Scour from Existence is there as Enchantment removal, to deal with things I can’t otherwise handle. The Leyline gives me some one-sided Graveyard hate that is quite effective whilst still allowing access to my own Graveyard.
Tutors – 4 cards
Sidisi, Undead VizierCorpse HarvesterJhessian ZombiesTwisted AbominationSidisi gives me a general tutor for whatever card I need, whilst Corpse Harvester acts as pseudo-ramp as well as getting me any Zombie in the deck. The other two give me some landcycling, in case I need to trade them in for a land.
Planeswalkers – 3 cards
Liliana, Death's MajestyJace, Unraveler of SecretsChandra, FlamecallerLiliana is, of course, probably the most appropriate Planeswalker for this deck, seeing as the word ‘Zombie’ appears in each of her abilities.
Jace and
Chandra will be the SDCC16 versions, where they are Zombie versions of themselves. Their abilities don’t particularly fit in well with the deck, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to have literal Zombie Planeswalkers in here.
Ramp and Card Draw – 8 cards
Blood ScrivenerCorpse AugurCryptbreakerDistant MelodySkullclampUnstable ObeliskCommander’s SphereChromatic LanternThis was one of the places where the first version of this deck had problems, as I often emptied out my hand but had no way to refill it in playtesting. Blood Scrivener, Corpse Augur, and Cryptbreaker are all Zombies that let me draw, as Distant Melody is good as long as I have a couple of Zombies on the board. Skullclamp combos with Gravecrawler, allowing me to pay 1B on my turn (as long as I have another Zombie in play) to draw 2 cards, as many times as I like. Unstable Obelisk doubles as another piece of Enchantment removal, whilst Commander’s Sphere and Chromatic Lantern are there to ramp me up, especially with coloured mana as that can be a problem with the deck.
Lands – 36 cards
Phyrexian TowerMutavaultRogue's PassageUnholy GrottoBojuka BogCabal CoffersUrborg, Tomb of YawgmothCommand TowerDrowned CatacombDragonskull SummitTemple of DeceitTemple of MaliceWatery GraveBlood CryptPolluted DeltaBloodstained MireTainted IsleTainted PeakDismal BackwaterBloodfell CavesDimir GuildgateRakdos Guildgate6 x
Swamp3 x
Mountain5 x
IslandPhyrexian Tower gives me an additional sac outlet, albeit only once per turn. The Mutavault acts as another Zombie, and with enough Lords in play could get pumped up to some quite impressive Power and Toughness numbers. Rogue’s Passage allows me to slip my Commander past my opponents’ defences whilst Unholy Grotto is pretty much an essential part of any Zombie Tribal deck (especially with the Nameless Inversion, as mentioned above). Bojuka Bog gives me some more Graveyard hate whilst Cabal Coffers and Urborg give me the chance to ramp me up.
Everything else just happens to be the multicolour lands I have to hand. I don’t have enough of the newer dual lands to use them in this deck, though I’d like to, especially
Sunken Hollow/
Smoldering Marsh and possibly
Fetid Pools/
Canyon Slough as they can be Fetched.
-------------
So that’s where the deck is right now. I’m much happier with the Voltron side of the deck (as it was practically non-existent in the first draft of the deck) though I’m not too happy at the number of Zombie Tribal cards I’ve had to drop to make room for them.
I think that I could do with more Blue and Red cards in the deck, to make my colour ratio a lot more balanced, though it’s hard to see how I’m going to do that whilst still keeping the Zombie and Voltron theme. At least most of the Voltron cards I added were Red so helped push that side of the deck up a bit.
I’m debating dropping the Chromatic Lantern and the Commander’s Sphere for 2-CMC mana rocks that still give me multiple colours of mana, such as
Talisman of Dominance/
Talisman of Indulgence,
Corrupted Grafstone, and/or
Dimir Signet/
Rakdos Signet, since my goldfishing sometimes shows that I can have a difficult time getting up to 3 mana. I could possibly do with a few more mana rocks as the deck doesn’t have a lot of ways to ramp otherwise, but it’s making room for them that’s the biggest problem.
