Pioneer: Orzhov Zombies - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

Zombies are one of the most famous creature types in Magic, and have had competitive results in several formats over the years. Their most recent appearance was in Modern with an Aggro-Combo deck running Gravecrawler and Goblin Bombardment, which never achieved major results.

The last time Zombies achieved top-tier results and were a competitor in the Metagame was in Standard 2017, shortly after the release of Amonkhet, which, together with the archetype's already established core in Shadows Over Innistrad, gave it what it needed to play on par with other well-known decks of the time: Ramunap Red, Temur Energy, among others.

Now, it's Zombies' turn to make their appearance in Pioneer, with an Orzhov list using the new Zahur, Glory's Past, and in this article, we present a guide to this new variant of one of Magic's most well-known creature types!

This is the same decklist that KingHairy used to finish in second place in the Pioneer Challenge on March 8th. It seems like a great starting point for what this archetype is all about, while taking advantage of most of the new features released in 2024 and 2025, mixing them with cards that were successful the last time Zombies was a competitively viable deck in Standard.

The plan here is pretty clear: we are an Aggro deck focused on micro-synergies. Ideally, we want to start with Champion of the Perished followed by Zahur, Glory’s Past or two more one-drops to pressure the opponent or start farming for max speed, where Zahur becomes a powerful engine with the recursive creatures in the list.

Sweepers that exile, such as Anger of the Gods, Temporary Lockdown and Extinction Event are the biggest enemies. In games against Midranges or lists where the opponent takes a more Control-like stance, our victory is defined by being able to keep these cards in check or playing around them without compromising our game plan too much.

In Aggro mirrors, the plan is as usual: put a lot of pressure on the board, trade in combat when it seems pertinent and use our removals to deal with the most threatening creatures - a Slickshot Show-Off has a much greater explosive potential than a Monastery Swiftspear, and, therefore, Fatal Push or Dark Salvation are better used on it since we have fewer ways to block creatures with flying.

Maindeck

Champion of the Perished is our main beatdown in the early turns and the card that benefits the most from the typal interactions in our list. It is usually our ideal one-drop, but loses value as the game goes on, becoming a bad topdeck.

Cryptbreaker doubles as a one-drop that can discard our creatures that return from the graveyard to create more zombies while allowing us to generate card advantage, tapping zombies to draw more cards and granting more gas in longer games.

Unstoppable Slasher is not accompanied by Bloodletter of Aclazotz, but operates as a creature that threatens the opponent's life total every combat while also being a zombie. In addition, it requires two removals against cards like Get Lost or Fatal Push.

We also have an engine around the new Zahur, Glory's Past, which in addition to being an aggressive two-drop, also serves as a sac outlet and feeds its Max Speed ability, where it creates a 2/2 Zombie whenever a non-token creature dies.

We pair it with Dread Wanderer and Relentless Dead, two creatures that can constantly return from the graveyard to generate value and more pressure on the board with Zahur while also functioning as cheap and aggressive threats.

To finish complementing the engine, we have Wayward Servant, which drains the opponent's life whenever a Zombie enters the battlefield, allowing cards like Relentless Dead or Dark Salvation to have a strong impact on the board.

The interaction.

Fatal Push and Thoughtseize are staples of all black decks in Pioneer and essential means of interacting with the early game.

Dark Salvation works wonderfully in this deck, as it did when Zombies were a competitive archetype in Amonkhet Standard. Since we have plenty of Zombies, it is possible to deal with even the demon tokens of Unholy Annex with it, and its mana sink ability puts even more pressure on the opponent.

The lone copy of Smuggler’s Copter was one of the most important cards in my games, as it provides a way to play “over” blockers while filtering our hand. Perhaps, swapping a copy of Unstoppable Slasher for a second Copter is an option.

Our choice of duals comes down to having as many untapped lands as we can, including the new Bleachbone Verge. Since we're mostly Mono-Black with a splash of , we still have a considerable number of Swamps to trigger the new land.

Cavern of Souls is an obvious choice in a creature-oriented list, but we don't want four copies of it due to the requirements we have on our cards, especially in the Sideboard. For the same reason, we don't run Mutavault in this deck.

Hive of the Eye-Tyrant works as a complementary threat and is also an effective graveyard hate against specific cards.

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth seems redundant in the list, but there's no reason not to use it if we already have a copy of it in our collection.

Sideboard

Crippling Fear is a one-sided sweeper that we can use against practically all Aggro in the format, and that can also come in against some archetypes running small creatures, such as Dimir Ninjas.

Get Lost is our main answer against a dozen threats: Unholy Annex, Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, among many others that make it one of the best options we have in the Sideboard.

Sheltered by Ghosts has a similar function, but it plays primarily in games against Aggro. I like to have it against Nykthos Ramp as well, since it's not uncommon for the opponent to fail to interact with our creatures, but if they do, the "doubled" ETB of a Cavalier of Thorns can cost the game.

Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is one of the most important cards in the Sideboard. It's a great option in attrition games, interacts well with our removals, becomes a constant source of life gain and dodges cards like Anger of the Gods and Temporary Lockdown.

Liliana of the Veil and Duress usually works in games against Control, or in non-interactive games where we need to pressure the opponent's hand, like Lotus Combo or Quintorius Combo.

Leyline of the Void comes in against Izzet Phoenix and has some utility against Lotus Combo, as well as being a definitive solution against Greasefang, Okiba Boss and other graveyard-based archetypes.

Rakdos Demons

IN

OUT

Rakdos / Gruul Prowess

IN

OUT

Atarka Gruul

IN

OUT

Izzet Phoenix

IN

OUT

Nykthos Ramp

IN

OUT

Selesnya Company

IN

OUT

Azorius Control

IN

OUT

That's all for today!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!