Varina, Lich Queen

[WWolfe]

With work and school, I really don't have time to build a "new" deck so I've decided to unretire my Varina, Lich Queen deck. What changes would you guys suggest? Especially anything that's came out in the two years since I retired it.

https://deckstats.net/decks/6217/1129995-varina-zombies

[The Golgari Guy]

I've never played Varina, but I recently brewed (untested yet) a Josu Vess zombie tribal: https://deckstats.net/decks/149180/2149724-josu-vess-zombie-tribal/en.

I'd consider Midnight Reaper and Liliana's Standard Bearer as sources of card advantage. Also Night's Whisper could be better than Sign in Blood in your deck since it's easier to cast.

Pact of the Serpent is another great card for tribal decks that came out recently. Oh, and Species Specialist, whilst not a zombie, is an absolute banger in tribal decks (I play it in Lathril and it's great --notice that it doesn't say nontoken!)

Plumb the Forbidden and Village Rites are two other great card draw spells that came out recently.

Vizier of the Scorpion, Eternal Skylord and Gleaming Overseer seem like solid inclusions if you plan to create a lot of zombie tokens.

I don't personally like Utter End and Hero's Downfall: Have you considered Generous Gift and Despark?

Also this deck seems perfect for one of my favorite cards, Living Death. I'd strongly consider it.

Also, is there a reason why you didn't include Patriarch's Bidding?

Hope this helps!

[WWolfe]

Midnight Reaper and Liliana's Standard Bearer are definitely cards I'll look at. Night's Whisper was one I had sat aside to move in for Sign in Blood when I retired the deck. In fact, I think it's in the deckbox with the remnants of the deck.

Pact of the Serpent is amazing in my Sliver deck (mental note- update that decklist). Species Specialist looks spicy. Plumb the Forbidden and Village Rites are cards I was thinking about but have yet to get to play in any deck.

Vizier of the Scorpion, Eternal Skylord and Gleaming Overseer I can probably do without. I don't aim to create many tokens in this deck. I try to swarm the board with zombies from my hand. At least that's how I use to play it. We'll see if that changes any now 2 years later.

As for removal, I probably should rework the entire removal package. I know I was looking at Damn but I can't decide if I like it for this deck. I already slotted it into my Karador Shadowborn Apostle deck but have yet to draw it.

I had Living Death in an earlier incarnation of the deck but took it out, I can't remember why now.

Patriarch's Bidding I didn't include because the copy I had was in my Sliver deck, however it's currently sitting in my staples binder and this could be a good home for it.

Thanks man!

I had thought about Lazotep Chancellor but I don't think it's worth a slot. Maybe if it created a token each time instead of just amassing.