Dimir Zombies 2021 - Magic: the Gathering Artisan Deck
Narf! No not like Pinky’s catchphrase, I mean like Narfi, Betrayer King, the snow/zombie lord who has allowed me to cruise to an easy 3 wins in this week’s Midweek Magic: Artisan event in MtG: Arena. This deck was so effective for me that I was able to score my first two wins before I even realized I fucked up by not including any Snow Lands, which kept me from activating Narfi’s recursive ability.
Not having access to rares in this format means that we don’t get access to some of the fun toys introduced for Zombie Tribal in Crimson Vow, most notably Necroduality. Even without this tank of an enchantment, there are still plenty of ways to keep the battlefield stuffed with bodies that are bigger than your opponent's.
The recipe for success with this deck relies on an aggressive opening, using creatures like Hobbling Zombie to deal with whatever setup on a stick your opponent is attempting, which you can do in combat fairly fearlessly knowing that you’ll either be bringing your creature cards back from the graveyard (Crawl from the Cellar) or at the very least, that they’ll be backed up by a token with Decay. Once you have your boardstate established with just one or two zombies that won’t seem to quit, you bring in Narfi to buff them and swing away for the win. Narfi is an easy removal target, but you won’t care because you will remember to put Snow Lands in your deck from the beginning and (unlike me) won’t end up stuck staring at Narfi’s in your graveyard.
There are a lot of one-offs in this list because A) MID and VOW have given us a ton of Zombie tribal gems and I wanted to test out cards like No Way Out (forcing a 2 card discard is very effective if you can pop it early game) and B) Midweek Magic is a one-off event and I’m not trying to grind tournaments in my local Artisan Scene (does that even exist, anywhere?).
If your opponent manages to stay on curve, there is plenty of control effects to deal with them among the five-drops in this list. Priest of the Haunted Edge is also a must for any decks in black running snow lands, and can remove very large threats late-game, so long as it survives on the board for a turn.
Overall, I thought this deck was a fun way to experience the current Dimir Zombie suite of cards without feeling too pushed. Here’s the list:
Deck
2 Bladestitched Skaab (MID) 212
14 Snow-Covered Swamp (KHM) 281
9 Snow-Covered Island (KHM) 279
2 Corpse Cobble (MID) 214
3 Narfi, Betrayer King (KHM) 224
1 Karfell Kennel-Master (KHM) 101
1 Diregraf Horde (MID) 96
1 Jarl of the Forsaken (KHM) 100
1 Draugr Recruiter (KHM) 87
1 Diregraf Scavenger (VOW) 105
4 Ice Tunnel (KHM) 262
1 No Way Out (MID) 116
1 Hobbling Zombie (MID) 106
1 Larder Zombie (MID) 58
1 Draugr Thought-Thief (KHM) 55
3 Priest of the Haunted Edge (KHM) 104
1 Karfell Harbinger (KHM) 65
1 Ghastly Gloomhunter (ZNR) 103
1 Draugr's Helm (KHM) 88
2 Shambling Ghast (AFR) 119
1 Rotten Reunion (MID) 119
3 Crawl from the Cellar (MID) 93
1 Falcon Abomination (MID) 52
4 Berg Strider (KHM) 47
Let me know how it goes for you in the comments, and for more decklist fun, check out my recent video and write-up on upgrading an Akiri, Fearless Voyager deck for EDH. NARF!
