Zombies

Game Plan

Zombies is a mono-black tribal aggro deck that uses Dark Ritual to deploy threatening boards a full turn ahead of schedule. The opening plan is to land Carnophage or Sarcomancy on turn one (Carnophage as a 2/1, Sarcomancy as a 2/2 token) then Dark Ritual on turn two to resolve Lord of the Undead, Shepherd of Rot, or Rotlung Reanimator before the opponent can mount a defense. Bad Moon lifts every black creature by +1/+1, converting a modest board into a racing machine and making Carnophage a true 2/2 threat. Cabal Therapy and Duress clear the one card (sweeper, key blocker, or disruption) that would otherwise break the board before the kill resolves.

The deck pressures opponents along two converging tracks simultaneously. The first is straight combat, where Bad Moon's pump turns a three-body board into a clock that outpaces most stabilization attempts. The second is the drain engine: Shepherd of Rot's tap ability causes all players to lose life equal to the Zombie count, scaling lethally once four or more bodies are in play and applying instant-speed pressure that cannot be answered by simply not blocking. When combat stalls, Gempalm Polluter provides unblockable reach by cycling for drain equal to the Zombie count, and Lord of the Undead returns it from the graveyard to repeat the effect. Rotlung Reanimator sustains the board through removal by spawning a fresh 2/2 whenever a Cleric (Withered Wretch, Shepherd of Rot, or Rotlung Reanimator itself) dies, ensuring one-for-one answers never truly trade up.