Back in early May, I wrote about a deck I was working on that I liked to call Kamikaze. It was a B/U aggro deck that mostly revolved around the Zombie clan in addition to abusing Blood Artist. Early iterations were fairly successful but lacked refinement.
Creatures (28)
- 4 Phantasmal Image
- 4 Diregraf Ghoul
- 4 Gravecrawler
- 4 Geralf's Messenger
- 4 Diregraf Captain
- 4 Blood Artist
- 4 Soulcage Fiend
Lands (23)
Spells (9)
Sideboard
In the end, that deck was missing one to two cards.
Oh look! M13 happens to have those needed cards!
Creatures (31)
- 3 Bloodthrone Vampire
- 2 Fume Spitter
- 4 Phantasmal Image
- 4 Diregraf Ghoul
- 4 Gravecrawler
- 4 Geralf's Messenger
- 4 Blood Artist
- 3 Soulcage Fiend
- 3 Disciple of Bolas
Lands (23)
Spells (6)
Sideboard
Let’s start with the downside to get that out of the way: both of these cards can backfire if they are the only card in your hand and you lack creatures on the battlefield. Those scenarios do come up, and they are something you need to keep in mind when you are spewing your hand every turn. Basically, be wary of what your opponent can do to you in terms of removal and blowout plays like Terminus. These are the reasons there are only three copies of each in the list.
Besides what I just said, these cards are exactly what this synergistic deck needed to maintain its potential as a viable Standard option. Not only did Zombies (aka Kamikaze) get another two-drop it needed; it also got a four-drop it needed. Before this, B/U Zombies never had a fantastic four-drop like B/R does with Falkenrath Aristocrat. Some lists would play Phyrexian Obliterator or even Skinrender, but both were only occasionally powerful.
Let’s start with the less obvious inclusion: Disciple of Bolas.
One of the arguments brought up in my stream the other night was the fact that B/U Zombies is a pure aggro deck and that a 2/1 for four mana is not aggro. There are a couple things wrong with this statement. The deck is definitely considered an aggro deck, but I’d also argue the deck is aggro-combo (is that a thing?) because of its crazy synergies and the reach the deck provides.
Sure, a 2/1 for four isn’t really "aggro." However, what if when he hits the battlefield you draw three cards and deal three direct damage to your opponent? That’s what happens when you hit your curve of Soulcage Fiend into Disciple of Bolas on turn 4, and that’s not including the possible three damage Soulcage Fiend already did by attacking. And there’s obvious synergy with Geralf’s Messenger that need not be explained.
What’s important to take from this is the fact that despite only getting a 2/1 for four mana you are reloading your hand, which is a key factor that was missing from original lists. Often a Wurmcoil Engine or a wall of guys could stone cold stop you and you’d be living off the top of your deck. But Disciple of Bolas provides the reload necessary to achieve the reach you need to finish your opponent, who is most likely at very low life.
For instance, your opponent is at six life from your early game beats, and you manage to draw three off a Geralf’s Messenger and Disciple of Bolas to bring your opponent down to four life. You draw a Phantasmal Image, land, and Go for the Throat. The next turn, barring your opponent not gaining any life, you can Clone your Messenger and Go for the Throat the Clone to deal the final two damage. In fact, there are quite a few draws like this that let you deal direct damage, including Soulcage Fiend, Geralf’s Messenger, or Blood Artist with removal or a sacrifice outlet. But perhaps you get stalled out by something like a Wurmcoil Engine—sometimes Phantasmal Image alone is good enough to give you a fighting chance.
In a nutshell, it’s the reach and win percentage increase in the mid-game that Disciple of Bolas provides. And occasionally you can chain Disciple of Bolas by drawing into more of them or Phantasmal Image copying Disciple. The amount of life you gain while reloading to a full seven cards makes it very difficult to lose.
The additional synergies and options Disciple provides makes the deck far more capable of handling difficult situations the deck wasn’t able to handle before.
Now on to the more obvious choice, but a card that still hasn’t been seen in most Zombies lists from what I’ve looked at: Bloodthrone Vampire.
Bloodthrone Vampire does what Falkenrath Aristocrat does but at two mana. It can act as an Arcbound Ravager, a burn spell, a draw spell, and a combo piece. There are too many different abusable interactions with Bloodthrone to fit in one article, but let’s go over a few of them.
One of the more exciting synergies is when you have a Gravecrawler in play with at least one other Zombie plus a Bloodthrone Vampire. For each mana you have access to, you can sacrifice a Gravecrawler and keep doing so to make Bloodthrone Vampire a gigantic body. With that gigantic body, you can either attack for heavy damage and/or draw a fresh new hand of cards with Disciple of Bolas. If you are fortunate enough to have a Blood Artist out, you are also life draining for each mana spent.
Bloodthrone also acts as a sacrifice outlet when your opponent is low on life; she can clear the board if you have a Blood Artist or two out and finish off your enemy. She helps dodge Vapor Snags on your Geralf’s Messenger, doing damage in the meantime, and one of the biggies: she lets you block a Wurmcoil Engine and sacrifice your creature to prevent the lifelink. This also works when attacking into a Wurmcoil with your team, making the card no longer the game ender it used to be for Zombies. The addition of Bloodthrone Vampire makes the deck harder to pilot as well, but in my opinion that makes the deck much better and can give you an edge with practice.
There are countless board positions and synergies with Bloodthrone Vampire. You almost always want to see one or two but never have them on the board at the same time. And despite being a 1/1 on turn 2 in an aggro deck, much like Blood Artist, Bloodthrone Vampire sets you up for some very damaging turns 3 and later.
Looking back on the original cards in the list, Phantasmal Image shines even more than usual in here. Nearly every creature is worth copying, and that’s not taking into consideration your opponent’s options. Geth’s Verdict hasn’t been as good and is also not necessary because the only hexproof guys worth killing are taken care of by Phantasmal Image in the first place. In fact, the entire reason the deck splashes for blue is because of this single card. It’s just that good. From copying Geralf to chaining Disciple of Bolas, there are plenty of options to abuse this master Clone. The inclusion of Bloodthrone Vampire, although not a great Phantasmal Image copy, makes multiple Blood Artists even better. And this used to be, and still is, one strategy that can be a route to victory, primarily against decks like Birthing Pod and green decks in general that lack removal.
B/U Zombies (Kamikaze) doesn’t fold to very many cards or strategies; every deck feels beatable because of the consistency and power plays that the deck provides. And as long as Birds of Paradise and Delver decks stay kings of the hill, I think B/U Zombies is a fantastic option because we can stop all their turn 1 plays with some solid removal. I like Fume Spitter more now than I ever have because of this, and it’s an extra body for Bloodthrone Vampire. Before M13, I wasn’t a huge fan of Fume Spitter.
This is a deck I’m once again very excited about, and it wasn’t until I tried Disciple of Bolas that I was sold on him in a list like this: creature heavy, explosive, and capable of reach. B/U Zombies (Kamikaze) is definitely his home.
Bonus: M13 Limited
Some of you may not believe it, but I actually do play Limited formats from time to time, and this past weekend I drafted a cool B/U control deck that I just had to share. Unfortunately, I don’t have all my picks, but here is the list I ended up with and with which I didn’t drop a game. Control seems like a very viable limited strategy in M13, more than I’ve seen before.
To build a good control deck in M13 Limited, I think you need at least one solid board sweeper like a Mutilate, a couple of removal spells, and a couple draw spells in addition to some support cards. In fact, I didn’t even have a finisher in my list; I grinded games out with a Staff of Nin and a Stuffy Doll.
Creatures (7)
Lands (17)
Spells (16)
So far, cards like Crippling Blight and Cower in Fear have been amazing. Clearly I had a good draft and ripped quite a few good Limited rares, but I just wanted to point out how insane a control deck can be in this format if people are passing these kinds of cards to you. I fell into this by a pack 1 pick 1 Mutilate, which was clearly an all-star. Having rebuys and Tutors was huge each game as well. I often stabilized at around five life versus a variety of decks such as B/W Exalted strategies.
M13 is a fantastic Draft format; my favorite since I’ve been around. As my buddy Mat Marr put it, "There are a million more playables than in Avacyn Restored."
And it’s oh so true.
Twitch.tv/Smi77y (streaming schedule varies)