Varina Zombies

Format: Commander

Commander: Varina, Lich Queen

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 40

Deck overview

This deck is an Esper Zombie tribal and aristocrats strategy commanded by Varina, Lich Queen. It establishes early board presence with low-cost Zombies and mana rocks before deploying Varina on Turn 4. Attacking with Zombies triggers Varina's loot ability, aggressively filtering through the library, gaining life, and stocking the graveyard with powerful targets. During the midgame, asymmetric control tools such as Grave Pact, Noxious Ghoul, and Archfiend of Ifnir suppress opposing creature boards while premium interaction protects your development. The deck transitions into a lethal win on Turns 6–7 by casting mass reanimation spells like Living Death, executing aristocrats loops with Gravecrawler and Phyrexian Altar, or resolving an unblockable combat swing with Akroma's Will or Wonder. Its deep graveyard recursion provides exceptional recovery against board wipes.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Akroma's Will
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Anguished Unmaking
  • 1 Animate Dead
  • 1 Arcane Sanctum
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Archfiend of Ifnir
  • 1 Ashnod's Altar
  • 1 Bojuka Bog
  • 1 Bolas's Citadel
  • 1 Bone Miser
  • 1 Buried Alive
  • 1 Carrion Feeder
  • 1 Cavern of Souls
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Corpse Knight
  • 1 Counterspell
  • 1 Cryptbreaker
  • 1 Cryptcaller Chariot
  • 1 Damn
  • 1 Deadly Rollick
  • 1 Death Baron
  • 1 Diregraf Captain
  • 1 Diregraf Colossus
  • 1 Dovin's Veto
  • 1 Drowned Catacomb
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Field of the Dead
  • 1 Fierce Guardianship
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Gisa and Geralf
  • 1 Glacial Fortress
  • 1 Gloomlake Verge
  • 1 God-Eternal Oketra
  • 1 Godless Shrine
  • 1 Grave Pact
  • 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 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Living Death
  • 1 Lord of the Undead
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Midnight Reaper
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Necroduality
  • 1 Noxious Ghoul
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 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 Reanimate
  • 1 Reconnaissance
  • 1 Renewed Solidarity
  • 1 Rooftop Storm
  • 1 Sea of Clouds
  • 1 Shadowy Backstreet
  • 1 Shepherd of Rot
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 2 Swamp
  • 1 Swords to Plowshares
  • 1 Tainted Field
  • 1 Tainted Isle
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Hierarchy
  • 1 Talisman of Progress
  • 1 Temmet, Naktamun's Will
  • 1 The Scarab God
  • 1 Three Tree City
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Undead Augur
  • 1 Undead Warchief
  • 1 Undercity Sewers
  • 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 Wonder
  • 1 Zombie Apocalypse
  • 1 Zombie Master