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Zombie Mill

I am a big fan of vertical cycles.

My first deck is a vertical cycle of Spirit token generators: Doomed Traveler, Mausoleum Guard, and Geist-Honored Monk. It's now complete, and I'm looking to build my second deck.

The next vertical cycle to catch my eye in Innistrad is the :manau: Zombies: Stitched Drake, Makeshift Mauler, and Skaab Goliath. I'm leaving Skaab Ruinator out of the deck for budget reasons.

Creatures
4x Makeshift Mauler
4x Skaab Goliath
4x Stitched Drake

The main problem with these is that I must have Creatures already in the Graveyard to Exile so I can pay the extra Cost to Cast them.

Armored Skaab is a good start, with an Ability that puts cards into my Graveyard. It is also a :manau: Zombie, so it gets extra theme points from me.

Deranged Assistant doesn't let me put as many cards into my Graveyard as Armored Skaab does, however it lets me accelerate to the :mana6: Mana Cost Skaab Goliath earlier.

Civilized Scholar is the last Creature addition. He is there to offer me some Draw power, as well as to take advantage of the fact I want my Creatures in the Graveyard for my Zombies anyway.

Creatures
4x Armored Skaab
4x Civilized Scholar
4x Deranged Assistant
4x Makeshift Mauler
4x Skaab Goliath
4x Stitched Drake

I don't want to have too many Spells, otherwise the usefulness of Armored Skaab and Deranged Assistant will be lower.

Ponder is a good start to make sure that there are Creatures in the top three cards of my deck. It also gives me more Draw power.

Dissipate is good for removing threats.

Creatures
4x Armored Skaab
4x Civilized Scholar
4x Deranged Assistant
4x Makeshift Mauler
4x Skaab Goliath
4x Stitched Drake
Spells
4x Ponder
4x Dissipate

I also have some cards for the sideboard.

Sideboard
3x Halt Order
3x Flashfreeze

Beyond this, I'm at a loss of how to fine-tune this deck. I am considering Forbidden Alchemy and Memory's Journey, but the extra :manab: and :manag: Mana Cost is turning me off. Any suggestions are welcome.
Posted 27 October 2011 at 04:01

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3 replies

After running this deck through the gauntlet at today's Game Day tournament, I've made some changes

Creatures
4x Civilized Scholar
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Deranged Assistant
4x Makeshift Mauler
4x Skaab Goliath
4x Stitched Drake
Lands
3x Ghost Quarter
3x Shimmering Grotto
18x Island
Spells
2x Dismember
4x Mana Leak
2x Dissipate
4x Forbidden Alchemy
Sideboard
3x Halt Order
4x Neurok Commando
3x Steel Sabotage
3x Flashfreeze
2x Negate
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Posted 29 October 2011 at 23:35

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as a disclaimer i do see that your deck is solid blue, and this involves adding black to it, but it could help improve that way you have more creature killer instances and stuff if you so choose and not just dismember in the sideboard.

I'll tell you something that really helped me build my blue black zombie deck that ran those creatures. like you i started out trying to mill myself to get zombies in the graveyard. it was very frustrating especially when i rarely milled any creatures and always milled what i needed.

like you i then moved into trying to scry first then mill. it was frustrating because i hated to mill unless i scryed first, and i rarely had both available to me, i usually had a scry card only or a mill card only. i just about gave up.

then, i found the card that made it all click Zombie Infestation 4 zombie infestation plus lots of draw cards. suddenly my deck clicked together and all worked. no need to worry about milling, i just discard 2 creatures from my hand, which i can use for casting my other creatures AND i get a 2/2 zombie token!

later i eventually moved in 3 liliana of the veils and removed my zombie infestation and added more card draw, but you mentioned a budget so i would say go get 4 zombie infestations. they are very cheap because no one wants them lol.
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Posted 30 October 2011 at 01:54

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Here is the revised deck so far:

Creatures
3x Civilized Scholar
3x Delver of Secrets
3x Deranged Assistant
2x Skaab Goliath
2x Skaab Ruinator
2x Stitched Drake
3x Diregraf Ghoul
3x Walking Corpse
Lands
3x Drowned Catacomb
3x Ghost Quarter
12x Island
6x Swamp
Spells
4x Mana Leak
2x Zombie Infestation
3x Dissipate
3x Forbidden Alchemy
3x Think Twice
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Posted 31 October 2011 at 17:14

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I think I want to remove all the cards left that force me to mill myself.

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=221171&type=card http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=226758&type=card

I find that when I don't really get to choose what goes into my Graveyard it's more of a Hail Mary Pass than anything else. The cards that really make this deck work are ones that are 100% sure to drop a Creature into my Graveyard.

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=241860&type=card http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=221209&type=card

Then, to replenish my Hand, I need Draw Spells.

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=230626&type=card

Well, that's a good start, but it isn't enough. What about a Draw Spell that also puts a Creature into my Graveyard 100% of the time?

http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=213735&type=card http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=226890&type=card

This is what my version of the deck looks like now.

Creatures
3x Civilized Scholar
3x Delver of Secrets
2x Skaab Goliath
2x Skaab Ruinator
2x Stitched Drake
3x Diregraf Ghoul
3x Walking Corpse
Lands
3x Drowned Catacomb
3x Ghost Quarter
12x Island
6x Swamp
Spells
3x Vivisection
4x Mana Leak
2x Zombie Infestation
3x Dissipate
3x Think Twice
3x Altar's Reap
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Posted 02 November 2011 at 06:01

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Not quite sure what you mean by vertical cycles, but was looking at your deck and had a few suggestions.

Without filling your deck with too many non-creatures, you might look at putting a pair of either Grimoire of the Dead ( http://http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewCard_Popup.aspx?CardName=Grimoire of the Dead&Edition=ISD&Print=1) or even Cellar Door (http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewCard_Popup.aspx?CardName=Cellar Door&Edition=ISD&Print=1).

Other than that was thinking some quick one drop creatures might help. Phantasmal bears are always nice and they don't usually last very long on the battlefield, so that would add some gy fodder for you.

Anyways, just wanted to make a quick post - might come back and edit to add some more comments.
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Posted 08 November 2011 at 17:15

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A vertical cycle is a series of cards, usually three in the same color, with the same Ability on each. Typically, they increase in Power and Rarity: one Common, one Uncommon, and one Rare. They differ from the regular horizontal cycles, which are usually a set of five cards with a similar Ability, one for each color.

I've pretty much given up on this deck now. I don't think I'll find a way to make it work. You guys are all free to play with it, and come up with strategies for it, though after considering the best options for Skaab Ruinator, I've become convinced that the only way to make it work is to bring it out without having to actually Cast it, with a card like Birthing Pod.
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Posted 08 November 2011 at 17:43

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