In last week's article, I sketched out a Zombies deck and this week we are going to see how good it is. This list has a lot of the synergies Mono-Black Zombies has, but with Scrapheap Scroungers, Prized Amalgams, and Stitchwing Skaabs it is much better against sweepers and removal. When you factor in Negate, which can tag not only sweepers but the best cards in opposing decks (Aetherworks Marvel, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Liliana's Mastery), it is clear that this deck is tuned extremely well against the current meta game. One thing in particular I want to highlight; a big appeal to zombies are the draws when a turn one Cryptbreaker goes uncontested and you can start drawing extra cards. Unfortunately, sometimes none of the extra cards matter because the opponent either has a sweeper or an Aetherworks Marvel. When you have access to counterspells, the turn one Cryptbreaker draws are GG, especially if you have a Stitchwing Skaab and Prized Amalgam in your hand.

B/U Zombies ? Amonkhet Standard | Andrew Boswell

• Creatures (28)
• 4 Cryptbreaker
• 4 Diregraf Colossus
• 4 Dread Wanderer
• 4 Prized Amalgam
• 4 Relentless Dead
• 4 Scrapheap Scrounger
• 4 Stitchwing Skaab

• Instants (5)
• 2 Negate
• 3 Fatal Push

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Dark Salvation

• Lands (23)
• 2 Island
• 9 Swamp
• 4 Choked Estuary
• 4 Fetid Pools
• 4 Sunken Hollow

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Negate
• 4 Convolute
• 1 Fatal Push
• 3 Grasp in Darkness
• 2 Never // Return
• 2 Liliana, the Last Hope
• 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet

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Time Stamps

00:04:14 - Match 1: Pummeler

00:19:09 - Match 2: Energy Aggro

00:54:49 - Match 3: Temur Marvel

01:08:00 - Match 4: Temur Midrange

01:38:04 - Match 5: Abzan Aristocrats and Closing Statements

I was really happy with this display. I had a 6th match that I didn't record against Aetherworks Marvel and I won through a Chandra, Flamecaller and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger in the same game to take the match. One of the ways I have had success in Magic is when I can line everything up so that I have answers to the haymakers in my opponents deck and the rest of my "filler" (random 2-4 cmc creatures) can run over the rest of their deck. This updated threat base simply cannot be answered, people can only fit 4 Magma Sprays into their deck and that is simply not enough. Being able to pivot between the efficient Black removal and counter spells means that this deck can have appropriate answers to the haymaker plays in the opponent's deck, no matter what they are playing. The deck can play offense and defense. It can win by drawing a bunch of extra cards and grinding the opponent out, or by curving out. It kind of does a little bit of everything and it does it all pretty well. For the updated list, I only have a few minor changes. I would suggest swapping Haunted Dead for Stitchwing Skaab and Spell Shrivel for Convolute. These are just strict upgrades that I had originally missed. The one thing that could be a problem as we saw in the one match I lost is Glorybringer, which means Archangel Avacyn is probably a problem too. This might be over compensating, but I would suggest cutting the 4th Fatal Push and both Never // Returns for the 4th Grasp of Darkness and 2 Murder. Never // Return is particularly good because it can kill Planeswalkers, but Planeswalkers are not a problem with all the recursion in this threat base. Instant speed answers to big creatures like Glorybringer, Avacyn and Torrential Gearhulk are more important than the possibility of killing a Planeswalker.

Updated U/B Zombies ? Amonkhet Standard | Andrew Boswell

• Creatures (28)
• 4 Cryptbreaker
• 4 Diregraf Colossus
• 4 Dread Wanderer
• 4 Haunted Dead
• 4 Prized Amalgam
• 4 Relentless Dead
• 4 Scrapheap Scrounger

• Instants (5)
• 2 Negate
• 3 Fatal Push

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Dark Salvation

• Lands (23)
• 2 Island
• 9 Swamp
• 4 Choked Estuary
• 4 Fetid Pools
• 4 Sunken Hollow

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Negate
• 4 Spell Shrivel
• 4 Grasp in Darkness
• 2 Murder
• 2 Liliana, the Last Hope
• 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet

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Finally, I just want to mention this is my last article with Gathering Magic. They are a great company and it has been a real joy to work with them. I want to thank everyone there, but in particular Evan Erwin for asking me to join, Richard Castle for doing all my editing and helping me with audio issues, and Robert Burrows for being patient with me when I was late on deadlines. Magic is great, I love it, but my personal studio work has been taking off and it has been getting really difficult for me to find the time for these video articles. I will be playing in the Legacy GP at Vegas, feel free to come say hi, and if you are interested, you can check out my studio work on www.KaolinTigerStudios.com

GLHF friends. May you smite thy enemies with a Golden Axe and never stop cleaving!

— Andrew Boswell