Esper - Life, Death, and Taxes by DarkShadows

Format: Commander

Commander: Varina, Lich Queen

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 34

Deck overview

This deck is an Esper Zombie tribal and aristocrats build commanded by Varina, Lich Queen. Its core strategy revolves around establishing early Zombie presence to trigger Varina's attack-based looting, which filters the hand, fills the graveyard, and provides a continuous life buffer. Once the graveyard and board are developed, the deck transitions into powerful mid-game payoffs such as mass reanimation via Living Death and Zombie Apocalypse, overwhelming token multipliers like God-Eternal Oketra and Necroduality, or asymmetric board suppression via Noxious Ghoul. Opponents are pressured through wide combat attacks backed by evasion from Hordewing Skaab or Zombie Master with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, alongside aristocrat drain from Corpse Knight, Wayward Servant, and Diregraf Captain. The deck possesses strong mana velocity and resilient recursion engines, balanced by reliance on draw filtering rather than direct tutors.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Accursed Duneyard
  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Anointed Procession
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Ashnod's Altar
  • 1 Azorius Signet
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Bone Miser
  • 1 Cabal Coffers
  • 1 Carrion Feeder
  • 1 Cemetery Reaper
  • 1 Champion of the Perished
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Corpse Knight
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cryptbreaker
  • 1 Cryptcaller Chariot
  • 1 Damn
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Death Baron
  • 1 Dimir Signet
  • 1 Diregraf Captain
  • 1 Diregraf Colossus
  • 1 Dovin's Veto
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Field of the Dead
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Gisa and Geralf
  • 1 God-Eternal Oketra
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Gravecrawler
  • 1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
  • 1 Hallowed Fountain
  • 1 Hashaton, Scarab's Fist
  • 1 Headless Rider
  • 1 Hordewing Skaab
  • 4 Island
  • 1 Isolated Chapel
  • 1 Kindred Discovery
  • 1 Lazotep Plating
  • 1 Living Death
  • 1 Lord of the Accursed
  • 1 Lord of the Undead
  • 1 Monument to Endurance
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Necroduality
  • 1 Noxious Ghoul
  • 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
  • 1 On Wings of Gold
  • 1 Orzhov Signet
  • 1 Path to Exile
  • 1 Phyrexian Altar
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 3 Plains
  • 1 Prairie Stream
  • 1 Raffine's Tower
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Rooftop Storm
  • 1 Shattered Sanctum
  • 1 Skullclamp
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spymaster's Vault
  • 1 Stitcher's Supplier
  • 1 Sunken Hollow
  • 7 Swamp
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 Teferi's Ageless Insight
  • 1 The Scarab God
  • 1 Three Tree City
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Unclaimed Territory
  • 1 Undead Augur
  • 1 Undead Warchief
  • 1 Unholy Grotto
  • 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1 Varina, Lich Queen
  • 1 Vault of Champions
  • 1 Victimize
  • 1 Void Rend
  • 1 Warren Soultrader
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Wayward Servant
  • 1 Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver
  • 1 Zombie Apocalypse
  • 1 Zombie Master
  • 1 Zul Ashur, Lich Lord