This is the complete guide to piloting the Undead Unleashed precon deck, led by Wilhelt, the RotcleaverWilhelt, the Rotcleaver. This guide contains all the secrets to maneuvering the deck to victory straight out of the box!

The main strategy that Undead Unleashed is going to employ will be to flood the board with Zombies and close out the game with tribal synergies and payoffs. The deck has a heavy Zombie tribal theme, with about 28 cards in it that provide bonuses to Zombies.

Wilhelt himself supplies a very unique ability to the deck: he gives all Zombies a second life as a Decayed Zombie token. He allows for the repeated sacrificing of Zombies by creating new ones to take their place. This means the deck can expend Zombies more frequently while advancing its game plan and getting Zombie payoffs into play. Wilhelt also draws an extra card each turn, providing access to even more resources for this game plan.

All of this ties into the deck’s primary strength: its Zombie tribal synergies. 

• Lord of the AccursedLord of the Accursed, Liliana’s DevoteeLiliana’s Devotee, Death BaronDeath Baron, Cemetery ReaperCemetery Reaper, Diregraf CaptainDiregraf Captain, Tomb TyrantTomb Tyrant, Havengul RunebinderHavengul Runebinder and Liliana’s MasteryLiliana’s Mastery all provide stat bonuses to this deck’s horde of Zombies. Chaining multiple anthem effects will be the primary way this deck closes out games. Cleaver SkaabCleaver Skaab can also make token copies of these lords for additional damage.
• Undead AugurUndead Augur, Gleaming OverseerGleaming Overseer, Hordewing SkaabHordewing Skaab, Eternal SkylordEternal Skylord, Undead AlchemistUndead Alchemist, and Rooftop StormRooftop Storm all grant beneficial static abilities to Zombie creatures. Rooftop StormRooftop Storm is usually insane in Zombie tribal, but it underperforms a bit in this precon. 
• Diregraf ColossusDiregraf Colossus, Gisa and GeralfGisa and Geralf, and Zombie ApocalypseZombie Apocalypse each become more powerful with more Zombie cards in the graveyard.
• Dark SalvationDark Salvation, Empty the LaboratoryEmpty the Laboratory, Endless Ranks of the DeadEndless Ranks of the Dead, Ravenous RotbellyRavenous Rotbelly, and Gravespawn SovereignGravespawn Sovereign care about the number of Zombies in play and get better with expendable Decayed tokens. It’s worth noting that Empty the LaboratoryEmpty the Laboratory and Ravenous RotbellyRavenous Rotbelly are huge overperformers in Undead Unleashed, and are two of the best cards in the precon.

The powerful Zombie synergies and high concentration of lord effects are quite good for a precon, but while this deck shows excellent focus on the main game plan and a proficiency at clogging the board with Zombies, several other key pieces of the deck are missing.

The first of those missing pieces is spot removal: removal that lets its controller choose and destroy one specific threat. 

• For general removal, this deck gets Fleshbag MarauderFleshbag Marauder, Syphon FleshSyphon Flesh, AetherspoutsAetherspouts, Ruthless DeathfangRuthless Deathfang, and Butcher of MalakirButcher of Malakir. They can take creatures off of opponents’ boards, but can’t target specifically.
• For targeted removal, the deck received only the following: Go for the ThroatGo for the Throat, Feed the SwarmFeed the Swarm, Dark SalvationDark Salvation, and at a much higher mana cost, Overseer of the DamnedOverseer of the Damned and Eater of HopeEater of Hope. With so few options, this deck could easily fall victim to a troublesome creature like Riders of GavonyRiders of Gavony, to use the Coven Counters deck as an example. If surrounded by other creatures, that threat will be nearly impossible to eliminate. None of these five single-target spells are exactly premium, and two of them cost seven mana.

The second weakness of this deck, which might not be obvious after the first playthrough, is that it basically cannot sacrifice its own creatures.

Sacrifice outlets are critical for decks that are looking to control death triggers and fill the graveyard. This deck is interested in both objectives, but seems to be almost incapable of pulling off either goal with the cards included in the precon.

• The only repeatable sac outlets in the deck are Spark ReaperSpark Reaper, Tomb TyrantTomb Tyrant, Cleaver SkaabCleaver Skaab, and Eater of HopeEater of Hope. All of these effects are extremely inefficient, and only two can be activated more than once each turn.
• Not being able to sacrifice creatures at will creates a ripple effect that weakens other cards. Cards like Butcher of MalakirButcher of Malakir, Ruthless DeathfangRuthless Deathfang, Havengul RunebinderHavengul Runebinder, and Prowling GeistcatcherProwling Geistcatcher all get noticeably weaker. They’re all going to be almost impossible to take advantage of and will play worse in this deck than an upgraded Zombie deck.

Those are some pretty hefty weaknesses of the deck, but knowing them means placing a higher priority on cards that help offset them. Feed the Swarm becomes a premium spell that is saved for an emergency. Cards that mill and draw cards go up in value, since they’re at a higher premium. Here are a few more cards that have inflated value in Undead Unleashed specifically:

• Dread SummonsDread Summons, Drown in DreamsDrown in Dreams, Gisa and GeralfGisa and Geralf, and Liliana, Death’s MajestyLiliana, Death’s Majesty serve as some of the only self-mill this deck has access to. They’ll be pulling extra weight for graveyard synergies.
• Midnight ReaperMidnight Reaper and Distant MelodyDistant Melody help keep the deck’s hand full, which can mimic the advantage of milling powerful Zombies, without being exactly the same.
• Ghouls’ Night OutGhouls’ Night Out can get around a lack of creatures in the graveyard by also stealing from opponents’ graveyards. Giving Decayed to these creatures might actually serve as an upside, since this deck is desperately looking for creatures that can die at will.

Undead Unleashed might struggle with single target removal and sacrificing its creatures, but it’s a powerful Zombie tribal deck that does have ways of lessening the pain felt from these weaknesses. Working around them will help Wilhelt and his army of Zombie tokens score many future game wins!