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[u]Basic Idea[u]I stumbled upon the red Gempalm-creature and looked if there where other pauper legal ones. [[Gempalm Polluter]] quickly showed up, and I decided to go for a black pauper zombie deck. [u]Maybe-board[/u][[Gray Merchant of Asphodel]], [[Putrid Goblin]] and [[Priest of the Haunted Edge]][u]Tests[/u]I have tested this deck against other pauper decks. The decks I tested against are a mixture of Control and Aggro and the result are recorded in a spreadsheet. If you're interested in details from the spreadsheet, feel free to ask. [u]Conclusions from the tests[/u]The deck is fun to play, and getting [[Gempalm Polluter]] is quite easy. It surprised me how defensively the deck could be played. [[Shepherd of Rot]] deals damage to all players, but when using some of your zombies to deal damage or you get a [[Gempalm Polluter]] into your hand things can quickly get worse for your opponent. The problems start when playing against decks, that are aggressive, so that your own life will constantly be under your opponents life, so that [[Shepherd of Rot]] cannot be used any more. I'm open to all suggestions and ideas that may help to improve this deck.
Play cheap zombies to fill increase the number of zombies on the battlefield, then use [[Shepherd of Rot]] and [[Gempalm Polluter]]'s ability to drain your opponents life without having to attack. [[Ghoulcaller's Chant]] and [[Ghoulraiser]] can bring back [[Gempalm Polluter]] from the graveyard to your hand, so you can re-use his ability. And if you cycle him, you even get to draw a card![[Carrion Feeder]] can be used to eat creatures that would otherwise die when blocking or getting blocked, but you can also use him to remove the zombie army token you get from [[Lazotep Reaver]], so you can cast another Reaver and get another token (Instead of strengthening the first one)
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NOTE: Set by owner when deck was made.
I’ve dabbled with pauper zombies a bit, here is my current build that I haven’t updated recently - not sure too much has changed though.https://www.mtgvault.com/gdudey/decks/pauper-zombie-v2/I liked the concept of lower lands, and always having a turn 1 play. Late game equipment mana syncs and gempalm are simply to go over the top.Think it’s better than the midrange gray merchant version.
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I was toying around with using Butcher Ghoul and Putrid Goblin, the second one perhaps instead of Festering Mummy. Yes, you loose a T1 drop, but you get another creature that's simply a pain in the ass and hard to get rid of. If you bring one back with [[Ghoulcaller's Chant]] it can slow your opponents advance while serving as solid count for Gempalm Polluter/ Shepherd of Rot. Three of my testdecks could take out this decks without large efforts. Mono Black control simply has to much removal, so you will never get the numbers to effectively use you drain zombies. Mono Green stompy simply is a powerhouse that's incredible hard to stop, if you don't run a ton of removal yourself, one time I even got beaten by a Vault Skirge, enchanted T2 with Rancor and followed T3 by Elephant Guide... without removal in the right moment you're helpless. Last one was Orzhov Life gain/ Drain, my personal favourite, which simply generates more life than you can drain yourself.
I like putrid goblin more because it starts out as a 2/2 beater that pressures early and the 1/1 is more relevant for drain later. With 4 shambling ghast, 4 festering mummy, 9 sac outlets and equipment you can trade up for a 4/5 toughness relatively consistently. If you’re against other aggro decks than the 8 weenie -1/-1 drops are great. Don’t like shepherd for a couple of play testing reasons as you stated (no haste, slow, can’t be used in some instances).. Gempalm avoids counters and can be played at instant speed and recurred from graveyard.The equipments too help against mono black because they don’t have artifact removal and help prevent you from getting 2 for 1ed since they make your innocent 1/1s into 3/1s.Take a look at my deck I posted above if you want suggestions, I left a description in it. Think you really need to lean into the mid range drain with merchant/shepherd/ghoulraiser or a super early aggro variant.Nameless inversion is a fun tribal instant that can be recurred from graveyard if you are interested in play testin. Carnophage is also a great 1 drop.Toll of the invasion, gloomhunter, plague white are also cards I have play tested with to varying success if you want nuanced suggestions.
Infernal caretaker is also an interesting card. The main issue is that it’s mana intensive and it does not specify only your zombies (similar to gempalm but in this case it is detrimental rather than beneficial), and it is slightly mana intensive. Really hope you take a peek at my version, I had many variations and spent a lot of time balancing, I think it would help you a lot!
Hi! nice deck! My playgroup is starting to play pauper and im building a zombie, so im taking yours as a solid starting point. I wonder if you consider SHAMBLING GHAST, and if so, why it didn't make it.Also would it be worth to change the lands to snow lands and add PRIEST OF THE HAUNTED EDGE?Any advice will be much appreciated
Thank you for the suggestions. I didn't add Shambling Ghast because I simply overlooked it. Festering Mummy delivers a -1/-1 counter, that can weaken stronger opponents, while Shambling Ghast is more versatile and allows you to generate more mana. For the moment I added 2 Shambling Ghast and if I get the time to make some playtests, I will see which I prefer. Priest of the Haunted Edge "only" target's creatures, so it can be a viable sideboard option, if you're up against creature heavy decks and need more removal that can be recycled with [[Ghoulcaller's Chant]]/ Ghoulraiser.I would love to hear how your deck performs, feedback, even if it#s not my own deck and myself playing, is always welcome.
I would def mainline the gray merchant. maybe go down on a few of the moans