Varina, Lich Queen (Esper) Zombies by An0nym0us

Format: Commander

Commander: Varina, Lich Queen

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 50

Deck overview

This deck is an Esper Zombie tribal aristocrats engine commanded by Varina, Lich Queen. It blends proactive token generation, aggressive looting, and potent graveyard recursion to control the game and assemble lethal drain combos. Early turns focus on deploying efficient mana rocks and low-cost Zombies to establish board presence. Once Varina or Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver enters the battlefield, attacking creatures continuously sculpt the hand and stock the graveyard with high-impact payoffs. The primary win condition revolves around recurring Gravecrawler with Phyrexian Altar or Warren Soultrader, converting infinite casts and deaths into table-wide life loss via Corpse Knight, Wayward Servant, Plague Belcher, or The Meathook Massacre. Alternatively, resolving Living Death or Patriarch's Bidding floods the board with synergistic lords and Gray Merchant of Asphodel for an immediate lethal burst. Supported by efficient Esper removal and countermagic, the deck transitions smoothly from mid-game value into a decisive same-turn finish.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Agadeem's Awakening // Agadeem, the Undercrypt
  • 1 Altar of Dementia
  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Arcane Denial
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Ashnod's Altar
  • 1 Bleachbone Verge
  • 1 Blind Obedience
  • 1 Buried Alive
  • 1 Carrion Feeder
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Corpse Knight
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cryptbreaker
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Death Baron
  • 1 Diabolic Intent
  • 1 Dimir Signet
  • 1 Diregraf Captain
  • 1 Diregraf Colossus
  • 1 Dismember
  • 1 Dovin's Veto
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Entomb
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Farewell
  • 1 Field of the Dead
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Gisa and Geralf
  • 1 Gloomlake Verge
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Gravecrawler
  • 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Headless Rider
  • 2 Island
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Kindred Discovery
  • 1 Lazotep Plating
  • 1 Liliana, Untouched by Death
  • 1 Living Death
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Midnight Reaper
  • 1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Necroduality
  • 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
  • 1 Orzhov Signet
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 1 Patriarch's Bidding
  • 1 Phyrexian Altar
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 1 Plague Belcher
  • 2 Plains
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Raffine's Tower
  • 1 Ratadrabik of Urborg
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Reflecting Pool
  • 1 Relentless Dead
  • 1 Reliquary Tower
  • 1 Rooftop Storm
  • 1 Sea of Clouds
  • 1 Shipwreck Marsh
  • 1 Skullclamp
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Species Specialist
  • 1 Stitcher's Supplier
  • 5 Swamp
  • 1 Swan Song
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 The Meathook Massacre
  • 1 The Scarab God
  • 1 Thought Vessel
  • 1 Undead Augur
  • 1 Unholy Grotto
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Varina, Lich Queen
  • 1 Vault of Champions
  • 1 Vault of the Archangel
  • 1 Victimize
  • 1 Void Rend
  • 1 Warren Soultrader
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Wayward Servant
  • 1 Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver
  • 1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
  • 1 Zul Ashur, Lich Lord
  • 1 Zulaport Cutthroat