Amonkhet Standard is almost upon us, and it brings with it all manner of new and exciting cards and interactions. It’s easy to get distracted by shiny new things, but equally important is the new context provided to cards that were already in the format. In particular, it’s important to explore places where the themes of new sets interact with the themes of old ones. One particularly good example is the Zombie support in Amonkhet given that we’ve still got Shadows over Innistrad in Standard. That sure is a lot of Zombies, and that means there’s got to be a deck in there somewhere, right? Seth Manfield has some ideas on the matter.

Zombies - Amonkhet Standard | Seth Manfield

• Creatures (23)
• 2 Diregraf Colossus
• 2 Lord of the Accursed
• 3 Relentless Dead
• 4 Cryptbreaker
• 4 Dread Wanderer
• 4 Plague Belcher
• 4 Wayward Servant

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Liliana, Death's Majesty

• Instants (4)
• 2 Anguished Unmaking
• 2 Fatal Push

• Sorceries (6)
• 2 Never // Return
• 4 Dark Salvation

• Enchantments (1)
• 1 Liliana's Mastery

• Lands (24)
• 3 Plains
• 9 Swamp
• 4 Aether Hub
• 4 Concealed Courtyard
• 4 Shambling Vent

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On top of that, Liliana, Death's Majesty is an on-theme and powerful curve-topper that does absolutely everything this deck wants to do, from gumming up the board to rebuying your key creatures, to sweeping away your opponent’s board so you can get in for lethal.

However, while it’s exciting to think about all the cool new things you can do, it’s important to keep in mind the context of the previous format. Heart of Kiran isn’t going anywhere, which is why the removal suite of this deck is so important. Fatal Push is incredible against the fast aggro decks featuring Heart of Kiran. Dark Salvation is reasonable if you expect the format to be more midrangey, and is also a great way to kill large creatures on the cheap, particularly if sweepers remain as poorly positioned as they are in the current format. Last, Never // Return is yet another exciting value engine, letting you pick off key threats while threatening to stay ahead on the board.

All told, this is a deck with a number of interesting angles and very flexible and efficient removal. You have the ability to be very aggressive with some hands, much more controlling with others, and even have the ability to win largely outside of combat thanks to Wayward Servant. There’s a lot to like about what’s going on here, and can’t wait to see it compete against the superstars of the previous format.