Varina by user9160740

Format: Commander

Commander: Varina, Lich Queen

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 18

Deck overview

The deck uses Varina, Lich Queen to turn Zombie attacks into card selection, graveyard setup, and life gain. Early creatures such as Champion of the Perished, Cryptbreaker, and Gravecrawler establish the tribe, while Diregraf Colossus, Headless Rider, Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver, and Necroduality increase the number of bodies. Tribal payoffs including Death Baron, Undead Warchief, Wayward Servant, and Plague Belcher convert that board into combat pressure and life loss. The plan usually becomes threatening around turn 7, but it lacks a compact, deterministic finish. Its main weaknesses are reliance on combat, exposure to sweepers and graveyard hate, and inconsistent access to the right mix of commander, creatures, and payoffs. Rooftop Storm offers a powerful late-game engine, but it costs six mana and is not itself a win. The deck is a solid general-power tribal strategy rather than a competitive fast-combo or lock deck.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Accursed Duneyard
  • 1 Alhammarret's Archive
  • 1 Anointed Procession
  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Azorius Chancery
  • 1 Beacon of Unrest
  • 1 Bleachbone Verge
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Bone Miser
  • 1 Bontu's Monument
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Caves of Koilos
  • 1 Cemetery Reaper
  • 1 Champion of the Perished
  • 1 Charcoal Diamond
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Contaminated Landscape
  • 1 Corpse Knight
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cryptbreaker
  • 1 Cryptcaller Chariot
  • 1 Death Baron
  • 1 Deserted Beach
  • 1 Despark
  • 1 Dimir Aqueduct
  • 1 Dimir Signet
  • 1 Diregraf Captain
  • 1 Diregraf Colossus
  • 1 Eaten Alive
  • 1 Elixir of Immortality
  • 1 Empty the Laboratory
  • 1 Entomb
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 1 Fracture
  • 1 Gisa and Geralf
  • 1 God-Eternal Oketra
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Grave Titan
  • 1 Gravecrawler
  • 1 Hashaton, Scarab's Fist
  • 1 Havengul Lich
  • 1 Headless Rider
  • 1 Helm of the Host
  • 1 Hordewing Skaab
  • 1 Kindred Dominance
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Liliana, the Last Hope
  • 1 Nantuko Husk
  • 1 Necroduality
  • 1 On Wings of Gold
  • 1 Orzhov Basilica
  • 1 Orzhov Signet
  • 1 Overcharged Amalgam
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Phyrexian Altar
  • 1 Plague Belcher
  • 1 Prairie Stream
  • 1 Reconnaissance
  • 1 Relentless Dead
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Renewed Solidarity
  • 1 Rooftop Storm
  • 1 Secluded Courtyard
  • 1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
  • 3 Snow-Covered Island
  • 3 Snow-Covered Plains
  • 4 Snow-Covered Swamp
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sunken Hollow
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Temmet, Naktamun's Will
  • 1 Temple of the False God
  • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
  • 1 Three Tree City
  • 1 Tragic Slip
  • 1 Unburial Rites
  • 1 Unclaimed Territory
  • 1 Undead Augur
  • 1 Undead Warchief
  • 1 Underground River
  • 1 Unholy Grotto
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Varina, Lich Queen
  • 1 Wand of Orcus
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Wayward Servant
  • 1 Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver
  • 1 Windbrisk Heights
  • 1 Zombie Apocalypse
  • 1 Zombie Master
  • 1 Zul Ashur, Lich Lord