rkhart
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Commander
Size: 100Salt sum: 48.16
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Commander
Commander
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Artifact
Artifact
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Creature
Bard, King of Dale
Reach, vigilance
If you would draw a card except the first one you draw in each of your draw steps, draw two cards instead.
If one or more tokens would be created under your control, twice that many of those tokens are created instead.
If you would draw a card except the first one you draw in each of your draw steps, draw two cards instead.
If one or more tokens would be created under your control, twice that many of those tokens are created instead.
Legendary Creature - Human Archer Noble
Gisa, the Hellraiser
Ward—, Pay 2 life.
Skeletons and Zombies you control get +1/+1 and have menace.
Whenever you commit a crime, create two tapped 2/2 blue and black Zombie Rogue creature tokens. This ability triggers only once each turn. (Targeting opponents, anything they control, and/or cards in their graveyards is a crime.)
Skeletons and Zombies you control get +1/+1 and have menace.
Whenever you commit a crime, create two tapped 2/2 blue and black Zombie Rogue creature tokens. This ability triggers only once each turn. (Targeting opponents, anything they control, and/or cards in their graveyards is a crime.)
Legendary Creature - Human Warlock
Hordewing Skaab
Flying
Other Zombies you control have flying.
Whenever one or more Zombies you control deal combat damage to one or more of your opponents, you may draw cards equal to the number of opponents dealt damage this way. If you do, discard that many cards.
Other Zombies you control have flying.
Whenever one or more Zombies you control deal combat damage to one or more of your opponents, you may draw cards equal to the number of opponents dealt damage this way. If you do, discard that many cards.
Creature - Horror Zombie
Creature
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Enchantment
Black Market Connections
At the beginning of your first main phase, choose one or more —
• Sell Contraband — Create a Treasure token. You lose 1 life.
• Buy Information — Draw a card. You lose 2 life.
• Hire a Mercenary — Create a 3/2 colorless Shapeshifter creature token with changeling. You lose 3 life. (It is every creature type.)
• Sell Contraband — Create a Treasure token. You lose 1 life.
• Buy Information — Draw a card. You lose 2 life.
• Hire a Mercenary — Create a 3/2 colorless Shapeshifter creature token with changeling. You lose 3 life. (It is every creature type.)
Enchantment
Mystic Remora
Cumulative upkeep (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
Whenever an opponent casts a noncreature spell, you may draw a card unless that player pays .
Whenever an opponent casts a noncreature spell, you may draw a card unless that player pays .
Enchantment
Touch the Spirit Realm
When this enchantment enters, exile up to one target artifact or creature until this enchantment leaves the battlefield.
Channel — , Discard this card: Exile target artifact or creature. Return it to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
Channel — , Discard this card: Exile target artifact or creature. Return it to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
Enchantment
Enchantment
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Instant
Lethal Scheme
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for or one mana of that creature's color.)
Destroy target creature or planeswalker. Each creature that convoked this spell connives. (Draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded a nonland card, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.)
Destroy target creature or planeswalker. Each creature that convoked this spell connives. (Draw a card, then discard a card. If you discarded a nonland card, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.)
Instant
Instant
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Land
Spymaster's Vault
This land enters tapped unless you control a Swamp.
: Add .
, : Target creature you control connives X, where X is the number of creatures that died this turn. (Draw X cards, then discard X cards. Put a +1/+1 counter on that creature for each nonland card discarded this way.)
: Add .
, : Target creature you control connives X, where X is the number of creatures that died this turn. (Draw X cards, then discard X cards. Put a +1/+1 counter on that creature for each nonland card discarded this way.)
Land
Land
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Sorcery
Decorum Dissertation
Target player draws two cards and loses 2 life.
Paradigm (Then exile this spell. After you first resolve a spell with this name, you may cast a copy of it from exile without paying its mana cost at the beginning of each of your first main phases.)
Paradigm (Then exile this spell. After you first resolve a spell with this name, you may cast a copy of it from exile without paying its mana cost at the beginning of each of your first main phases.)
Sorcery - Lesson
Winds of Abandon
Exile target creature you don't control. For each creature exiled this way, its controller searches their library for a basic land card. Those players put those cards onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
Overload (You may cast this spell for its overload cost. If you do, change "target" in its text to "each.")
Overload (You may cast this spell for its overload cost. If you do, change "target" in its text to "each.")
Sorcery
Sorcery
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Deck Info
Deck stats
CategoriesQtyOdds
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Deck extras (0)
Description
{"ops":[{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Varina, Lich Queen Primer"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Concept"},{"insert":"\nThis is an "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Esper draw-go control deck that uses Zombies as a secondary engine and eventual win condition"},{"insert":".\nThe deck is not trying to flood the board with tribal creatures. Instead, it wants to spend most of the game holding up interaction, answering whatever actually matters, and using Varina to make sure that keeping mana open never comes at too much opportunity cost.\nThe basic plan is:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"hold up interaction → spend unused mana on Varina → build Zombies → use those Zombies to fuel Varina’s attack trigger → turn that advantage into control and eventually lethal pressure."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Why Varina?"},{"insert":"\nVarina is ideal for this strategy because both halves of her card support a control plan.\nHer activated ability gives the deck a powerful "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"instant-speed mana sink"},{"insert":". I can pass the turn with mana open for counters, removal, or other interaction, and if nobody gives me a worthwhile target, I can simply spend that mana before my turn making Zombies.\nThat means I rarely have to choose between advancing my board and staying ready to interact.\nIf opponents act, I answer them.\nIf they do nothing, I still develop.\nThose Zombies then attack on future turns to trigger Varina’s other ability, creating a natural feedback loop between control, board development, card selection, and graveyard value.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Draw-Go Control"},{"insert":"\nThe deck is built to operate comfortably at instant speed.\nA large suite of countermagic and flexible removal lets me pass with mana available and decide where to spend resources only after the table reveals what actually matters.\nThis is especially strong in multiplayer, where committing mana proactively can leave a control player helpless when the real threat appears later in the turn cycle.\nVarina changes that equation.\nOpen mana is never truly wasted because any portion left unused can become Zombies at the end of the last opponent’s turn.\nThat makes the deck very comfortable playing patiently.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Zombies as a Resource"},{"insert":"\nThe Zombie package is intentionally compact.\nMost Zombies in the deck are included because they support the control engine rather than simply because they belong to the tribe.\nThe deck can also generate Zombies without relying on creature-heavy draws, especially through Varina herself.\nThose bodies serve several roles:\nfuel Varina’s attack trigger"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"pressure planeswalkers and vulnerable players"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"survive as a threat while I keep mana open"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"provide value for Zombie-specific engines"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"eventually become the primary way the deck closes games"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"The tribe supports the strategy rather than defining it.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Varina’s Attack Trigger"},{"insert":"\nOnce a modest Zombie board exists, Varina turns combat into powerful card selection and life gain.\nThe creatures do not need to connect. Simply attacking lets me dig through the deck, keep the interaction or engine pieces I currently need, and discard cards that are less useful.\nThat is particularly valuable in control because the usefulness of individual answers changes constantly.\nA counterspell may be excellent now and terrible later. A sweeper may be essential in one game and dead in another. Extra lands eventually become expendable.\nVarina helps continuously reshape the hand around the current game state.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Discard and Graveyard Value"},{"insert":"\nThe discard is not merely a cost.\nSeveral cards reward cards leaving the hand or entering the graveyard, turning Varina’s filtering and the deck’s larger hand-cycling effects into real engines.\nThe graveyard then becomes another resource through Varina’s activated ability, while cards such as Wonder and other graveyard synergies make discarded cards continue contributing after leaving the hand.\nThis creates a useful cycle:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"filter cards → stock the graveyard → convert graveyard cards and unused mana into Zombies → attack with those Zombies → filter again."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Card Advantage"},{"insert":"\nVarina herself primarily provides selection rather than raw card advantage, so the deck backs her with strong independent draw engines.\nRhystic Study, Black Market Connections, Graveborn Muse, Kindred Discovery, Shadow of the Second Sun, Teferi’s Ageless Insight, and related effects provide the volume of cards necessary to sustain a multiplayer control strategy.\nTeferi’s Ageless Insight is particularly potent with Varina because it turns her normally even exchange of draws and discards into genuine card advantage.\nThe goal is to maintain enough cards that I can keep answering threats without eventually running dry.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Board Control"},{"insert":"\nThe deck has access to a broad suite of sweepers and spot removal.\nBecause the Zombie board is relatively easy to rebuild, I do not need to protect it at all costs. If wiping the battlefield is the correct control play, I am often perfectly happy to lose my own creatures and rebuild afterward.\nSeveral Zombie-related cards also contribute directly to controlling opposing boards, allowing the creature engine and the control plan to overlap rather than compete.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Turning the Corner"},{"insert":"\nFor most of the game, the Zombies exist to support the control strategy.\nEventually that relationship reverses.\nOnce I have accumulated enough bodies and stabilized the table, the Zombies become the clock.\nEvasion, tribal support, and repeated token production can suddenly turn a modest board into meaningful combat pressure.\nThis lets the deck transition naturally from defense to offense without needing to devote many slots to dedicated finishers.\nThe same resources that allowed me to survive the game eventually end it.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Mulligans"},{"insert":"\nGood opening hands generally want:\nreliable Esper mana"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"early acceleration"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"at least one useful piece of interaction"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"some source of ongoing card advantage or a reasonable path to Varina"},{"attributes":{"list":"bullet"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"There is no need to aggressively mulligan for Zombies.\nThe deck is perfectly happy spending the early turns developing mana and interacting before beginning to manufacture its own board.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Sequencing"},{"insert":"\nThe most important habit is to avoid spending mana simply because it is available.\nThe deck is strongest when it keeps options open.\nPass with interaction.\nLet opponents commit first.\nIf something matters, answer it.\nIf nothing matters, use Varina at the end of the turn cycle and turn otherwise-unused mana into permanent advantage.\nDiscard decisions also matter heavily. Varina lets the deck see a large number of cards, but control still requires anticipating which answers are likely to matter before the next opportunity to filter.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Strengths"},{"insert":"\nThe deck has excellent flexibility, card selection, interaction, and inevitability.\nVarina removes much of the normal tension between "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"holding up answers"},{"insert":" and "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"advancing the board"},{"insert":", allowing the deck to do whichever becomes correct.\nEsper provides answers to nearly every permanent type as well as spells on the stack, while the Zombie engine creates a steady source of bodies without requiring a creature-heavy deck.\nThe deck also transitions naturally from control into offense once the table is stabilized.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Weaknesses"},{"insert":"\nThe deck is somewhat dependent on maintaining access to its commander for maximum efficiency.\nWithout Varina, holding large amounts of mana open carries a greater opportunity cost, and the Zombie engine develops more slowly.\nThe strategy also requires strong threat assessment. Multiplayer control cannot answer everything, so using interaction on the wrong threat can be costly.\nFinally, the deck generally wins through accumulated advantage rather than a compact combo, so extremely fast decks can force it to spend resources before its engines are fully established.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Summary"},{"insert":"\nThis is "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Esper draw-go control with a built-in way to turn patience into board presence"},{"insert":".\nVarina allows the deck to keep mana open for interaction without sacrificing development. Unused mana becomes Zombies, those Zombies fuel her attack trigger, the attack trigger improves the hand and graveyard, and the resulting resources feed the engine again.\nThe Zombies are not the primary strategy.\nThey are the mechanism that lets the control deck keep progressing even while it waits.\n\n"}]}