{"ops":[{"insert":"2nd Hand Zombies"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Varina, Lich Queen — Esper "},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Zombies / Discard / Recursion / Synergy"},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"2nd Hand Zombies"},{"insert":" is built around Varina’s ability to draw and discard while attacking with Zombies. The aim isn’t simply to fill the graveyard or assemble one particular combo. Instead, the deck tries to make almost every part of the process useful:\n\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Draw → discard → graveyard → recursion → Zombies enter → things trigger → things die → more things trigger."},{"insert":"\n\nThe result is a deck with a lot of overlapping little engines rather than one big engine.\n\n\nHow it plays"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nThe early game is normally about getting a few Zombies onto the battlefield and establishing whichever pieces happen to appear.\nOnce Varina is attacking, the deck starts rotating through cards quickly. Her ability doesn’t inherently create card advantage — draw five, discard five still leaves the same number of cards in hand — but it lets me choose what stays in my hand and, just as importantly, "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"what I want in my graveyard"},{"insert":".\nThat said, many games still work without player her at all! (Little engines!)\n\nSome cards actively prefer being discarded. \n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Wonder"},{"insert":" sitting in the graveyard can give the entire army flying. "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Master of Death"},{"insert":" can be discarded and picked back up later. \n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Archfiend of Ifnir"},{"insert":" turns every discard into -1/-1 counters across opponents' creatures.\n\nSo “discard five cards” is frequently less of a cost and more of a threat.\n\nFrom there, the deck tends to adapt to whatever it draws.\n\nIt can win through a wide Zombie attack, drain opponents without combat, repeatedly recur creatures, turn Zombie ETBs into removal with "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Noxious Ghoul"},{"insert":", turn discards into removal with "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Archfiend of Ifnir"},{"insert":", rebuild after board wipes, or suddenly create an unreasonable number of bodies.\n\nSometimes the correct strategy is an intricate graveyard chain.\nSometimes it's "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Army of the Damned"},{"insert":".\n\n\nThe Graveyard"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nCards such as "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Patriarch's Bidding, Living Death, Zombie Apocalypse, Victimize, Tortured Existence, Gravecrawler"},{"insert":" and various Zombie recursion effects mean killing the board doesn't necessarily solve the problem.\n\nIn fact, occasionally it helps.\n\tA board wipe can go from:\n\t\t"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"\"Oh no, all my Zombies!\""},{"insert":"\n\tto:\n\t\t"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"\"Anyway, I'll have those back.\""},{"insert":"\n\nThe deck also has sacrifice effects such as "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Carrion Feeder"},{"insert":", which means creatures can deliberately be moved into the graveyard when a mass-recursion play is coming.\n\nThe ideal situation is that the battlefield, hand and graveyard all feel like different parts of the same resource pool.\n\n\nDeath and Taxes... Mostly Death"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nThe deck doesn't have to deal all of its damage through combat.\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Corpse Knight, Wayward Servant, Diregraf Captain, Plague Belcher, Vengeful Dead"},{"insert":" and "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Shepherd of Rot"},{"insert":" can gradually turn ordinary Zombie activity into significant life loss.\n\nThis creates some entertaining situations:\nMake Zombies? You lose life.\nMy Zombies die? You lose life.\nI sacrifice my Zombies? You lose life.\nNobody does anything?\nShepherd of Rot would like a word.\n\n\nRooftop Storm"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nYes, everyone hates "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Rooftop Storm"},{"insert":".\nNo, Rooftop Storm is not actually the deck.\nIt can produce some spectacular turns by making Zombie creature spells cost {0}, particularly once there are several ETB, drain and discard effects available. But many games are won without ever seeing it.\n\nThat's an important part of the deck: stopping one card doesn't stop the strategy.\nThere isn't really a single piece that says "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"“remove this or the deck doesn't function.”"},{"insert":"\n\nDestroy one engine and another slightly different collection of nonsense tends to emerge.\n\n\nWhy it sometimes looks like it's losing"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nThe deck, in practice, frequently looks and feels behind.\nThe hand may be small. The battlefield may not look threatening. Other players may have larger creatures or stronger individual permanents.\nBut the deck tends to accumulate "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"potential"},{"insert":" rather than obvious power.\n\nA few Zombies, several creatures in the graveyard, a discard payoff and one recursion spell may suddenly turn into a very different board.\n\nThere tends to be a point where several mediocre-looking interactions overlap and one card stops doing one thing.\nA Zombie entering might:\ngrow another creature,\ndrain an opponent,\nreduce opposing creatures' toughness,\ncreate another Zombie,\ntrigger another card,\nand provide another attacker for Varina next turn.\n\nThat is normally the moment someone realises that the player who appeared to be losing is no longer losing.\n\n\nPower level"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nArchidekt currently classifies the deck as "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Bracket 2: Core"},{"insert":".\n\nTechnically that fits: no mass land denial, no extra turns, no two-card infinite combos and no Game Changers.\n\nIn practice, however, this is a "},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"fairly tuned synergy deck"},{"insert":" and can play considerably stronger than the bracket number might suggest.\nIt isn't trying to execute one hyper-efficient deterministic win. Its strength comes from resilience, flexibility and the number of ways its cards connect to one another.\n\n \n\n"}]}