As one of the characteristic creatures for the color, Zombies show up everywhere. Most prominently they've found stardom on planes such as Innistrad or Amonkhet, and there are even sub-categories of Zombie such as the flesh-grafted Skaabs. While not mechanically distinct, it's a reinforcement of how ubiquitous Zombies are to Magic's setting.

Zombies have been around since the beginning of the game. Probably the most famous early zombie is Frankenstein's MonsterFrankenstein's Monster. Yes, that Frankenstein's Monster.

Immediately, Zombies established themselves as almost exactly what you'd expect: hard to kill, swarming, and an absolute nightmare to face. As they developed along the game's future sets they leaned more into self-sacrifice, recursion, and token generation. Specifically, the oh-so-famous 2/2 black Zombie token that shows up in just about every set featuring any other Zombies.

They also have expanded quite comfortably into , mostly due to the aforementioned Skaabs and immortal warriors of Amonkhet.

Your Board Is Never Empty

Zombies, true to their pop culture inspirations, are nigh impossible to keep clear off the board. Not only are they broadly quite cheap, they have fantastic recursion. When you send a Zombie to the graveyard, even from the hand or deck, it's usually quite easy to have them return in some form or another.

This may be in-built with a card like GravecrawlerGravecrawler or simply due to Zombies firmly being entrenched in .

Every Death Makes You Stronger

It shouldn't be a surprise that Zombies dying gives you benefits. After all, they're a characteristic creature of ! That's the self-sacrifice color.

While Vampires brush past self-sacrifice to prioritize life loss and self-discard, Zombies love to lose creatures. This might deal damage from a source such as Diregraf CaptainDiregraf Captain or just give you more Zombies to toss in the Zombie-blender via Open the GravesOpen the Graves.

More so than most creature types, Zombies really enjoy your cards being sent to the graveyard. Which makes sense, it's like a family reunion for them!

One In A Million

Despite their broad appeal being horde mentality, which for token generation 2/2 is already a leg-up above most other creature types, but there are some very strong Zombies out there! Particularly the God-Eternal cycle from Amonket with cards like God-Eternal OketraGod-Eternal Oketra.

Most creature types have at least a handful of well-known staples to be included in most decks. Zombies walk a very interesting line of having many, many options for the strategies its staples: token generation, self-sacrifice, and creature destruction.

So that means that, without baseline function to fill as a niche, powerful Zombies are allowed to get somewhat crazy with their effects.

Not all of them are created equally, of course, but most of them hold their own even outside of a Zombie deck.

Zombies Need Support

While Zombies don't struggle at getting board presence, or even removing opposing creatures... that's about all they can do. Most Zombies don't deviate from immediate value, with a few centerpieces being responsible for the majority of your utility or scaling.

There are a number of Zombies that provide incremental bonuses to one another, but as a creature type they expect to really just run with what you have. Maybe herded along by a creature like The Ghoul, GunslingerThe Ghoul, Gunslinger, but ultimately restrained by a general range of power.

That means they'll need to be supported by noncreature spells, which luckily Zombies have in spades. Particularly with enchantments such as Necromancer's CovenantNecromancer's Covenant.

Anti-Zombie Sentiments

Made most famous in from Innistrad sets, there are multiple spells that focus on removing or protecting against Zombies. Specifically Zombies, sometimes with the addition of other creature types as seen in Slayer of the WickedSlayer of the Wicked. But when fielding Zombies, there are enough cards out there specifically intended to counter them that you need to prepare for this.

The preparation can be as simple as packing your deck full of recursion or baiting out a counter with a spell you won't miss. Playing Zombies, you have the flexibility not in your mana or card draw, but in the sheer volume of competency you have access to. With just a little forethought, you can smash your head against a wall hard enough to break it down, just like a Zombie should.

Wilhelt, the RotcleaverWilhelt, the Rotcleaver

Wilhelt, the RotcleaverWilhelt, the Rotcleaver is the 42nd most played commander at the time of this guide's writing. It's for the very straightforward reason that it doubles your Zombie production.

Whenever a Zombie you control dies, if it didn't have decayed then create another Zombie with decayed. That just means that it can't block and it gets sacrificed after attacking. Which, as discussed throughout this guide, Zombies like being destroyed!

Particularly given that this has no restriction on nontoken Zombies, just non-decayed Zombies. That means you can have a fantastic followup to a board wipe or simply double your value from self-sacrifice.

Then on top of all of this, you get some card draw. The fact you have to sacrifice a Zombie to do it isn't even an issue.

The Scarab GodThe Scarab God

The Scarab GodThe Scarab God gives a more concrete value out of having an unfathomable number of Zombies. Every turn after you play it, your opponents are losing life and you're scrying equal to the number of Zombies you have. That is not only good, sustainable damage that distributed evenly without being diluted, it also gives you great ability to sculpt your deck.

In addition, The Scarab GodThe Scarab God can exile a card from a graveyard to make a 4/4 black Zombie copy of it. This doesn't have to be your graveyard, meaning you can cheat out a great utility piece from an opponent while denying them reclaiming it.

And like the various deities of Amonkhet, it has a means of being played again shortly after being destroyed.

Varina, Lich QueenVarina, Lich Queen

Varina, Lich QueenVarina, Lich Queen leans more in its value, providing a staggering amount of card draw once your board state gets ready. You draw cards equal to your number of attacking Zombies, then discard that many cards. Which isn't even an issue with how easy it is for you to reclaim cards from your graveyard. Then you gain an equal amount of life to boot, meaning your offense sustains you.

If you have any cards sent to the graveyard that you can't or won't effectively use, you can exile them without worry to create some more Zombies. They're tapped, which means you'll have to use some clever timing to get immediate use of them. But at worst, they're two more bodies that can be sacrificed.

Gisa and GeralfGisa and Geralf

Gisa and GeralfGisa and Geralf is a non-Zombie Zombie commander, allowing you to cast a Zombie from your graveyard once on each of your turns. The flexibility of this means you can respond to just about any threat you're up against depending on how far into the game you are. And the fact you're casting these Zombies can be either a blessing or a curse based on what supplementing cards you have in hand.

The fact Gisa and GeralfGisa and Geralf self-mills upon entering the battlefield just helps you add more Zombies to your graveyard. Like with most of but particularly with Zombies, the graveyard becomes a second hand.

Ghoulcaller GisaGhoulcaller Gisa

Ghoulcaller GisaGhoulcaller Gisa is another Zombie-oriented non-Zombie commander, the same Gisa character from the previous commander. What makes this version of her so special is not just that it's yet another way of gaining value from sacrificing your Zombies. It's that it allows you to choose what approach works best for the opponents you're up against.

If you need high-power creatures, you don't need to sacrifice your biggest creature. If you sacrifice one of the 2/2 tokens Gisa or another source created, you get two more tokens. Which means you get a net positive off a single token. But if you need more attackers or you have a spell that will scale off your number of Zombies, you can sacrifice your heavy hitters in order to swarm the board.

She's a commander reliant on being able to leverage the strengths of Zombies through supporting cards, but in turn makes those engines hum.

Gisa, the HellraiserGisa, the Hellraiser

Gisa, the HellraiserGisa, the Hellraiser is a fantastic commander who really benefits more aggressive or active playstyles. Not only does she have a two-part ward making anyone targeting her spend both and life but she also buffs both your Skeletons and Zombies.

Menace on a token swarm is incredible for dealing with defenders!

But the defining guideline of the card is that every time you commit a crime, create two tapped Zombies, but only once per turn. Committing a crime is targeting opponents, anything they control, and/or cards in their graveyard. So if you're playing more actively and interacting with their board state, you're rewarded.

While the Zombies created can't act immediately, if you use an instant to proc it on an opponent's turn then you can expand your horde that much faster.

Hashaton, Scarab's FistHashaton, Scarab's Fist

Hashaton, Scarab's FistHashaton, Scarab's Fist lets you turn your discarded creature cards into 4/4 Zombie copies for . This will add up quite quickly, but the real value of it is copying more expensive creatures to get a discount on them. And if they're utility creatures, you might improve their stats!

Despite the fact this works best in a Zombie deck, it actually isn't reliant on that. This is just a great way of cheating out expensive creatures for cheap, regardless of creature type. But that means having both a consistent means of self-milling or discarding as well as having enough expensive creatures to make it worth it.

Accursed HordeAccursed Horde

Once you get your board state going, you likely won't be spending all your mana each turn. That allows something like Accursed HordeAccursed Horde to give you great reactionary defense to whatever your opponents throw at you.

It only applies to attacking Zombies, but granting any creature indestructible for a turn can absolutely throw a wrench in your opponents' plans.

In particular, the threat of it may ward off an opponent's strategy. They could respond to your threat, but what if you make your creatures indestructible? So long as you have at least available, they can't stop your attacks in confidence. And they decide to wait until after combat is over, you can use this ability preemptively during the combat phase.

Wayward ServantWayward Servant

Wayward ServantWayward Servant grants an enter the battlefield (ETB) effect to all of your Zombies. All opponents lose one life and you gain one life, which, with how many Zombies you'll be playing, will add up.

The small pings of life loss aren't the thing to be focused on; it's actually the sustain from the lifegain. Whether it's decayed Zombies that can't block or a utility piece you can't afford to lose, there will be times where you have creatures on the board but need to allow hits to come your way.

Or you might just not be able to deal with fliers! Even a single source of lifegain can mitigate that to a non-issue.

Undead WarchiefUndead Warchief

While expensive for a 1/1, Undead WarchiefUndead Warchief not only makes every other Zombie cheaper, it also affects itself with its +2/+1. So it's actually a 3/2 for , which already feels better.

Reducing the cost of your Zombies is a great thing, particularly at scale. There are a few wrinkles in this, such that it doesn't affect non-Zombie spells that bring a Zombie back from your graveyard, but that doesn't make the card worse. It's just an edge case to keep in mind in such a recursion-heavy archetype.

Wand of OrcusWand of Orcus

By now you already know how impactful being able to flood the field with Zombies is, so the Wand of OrcusWand of Orcus facilitating that through damage deal by the equipped creature is simply a scaling form of an old classic. It's nothing new and benefits most heavily from being equipped to a high-power creature, given it doesn't actually increase the creature's power itself.

But granting deathtouch to all of your Zombies? Now that's a showstopper. All of the Zombies you can rush onto the field, which benefit you when they die or come back easy, now instantly destroy any creature they deal damage to.

That feels more like the Zombies in pop culture.

Cryptcaller ChariotCryptcaller Chariot

Cryptcaller ChariotCryptcaller Chariot is a Vehicle, meaning it's an artifact you can tap creatures to become a creature for the turn. As a 5/5 with menace, that's pretty good for crew 2! Particularly given that most of your Zombie tokens will be 2/2, meaning a single Zombie token can give you something much more impactful.

But again, the ability to create Zombie tokens on discard shouldn't be overstated. It's easy to do and doesn't have a limit. So long as you have cards to discard, you have potential Zombies.

Cursecloth WrappingsCursecloth Wrappings

Cursecloth WrappingsCursecloth Wrappings gives all of your Zombies +1/+1 and allows you to embalm the creature cards in your graveyard (you pay their cost, exile the card from your graveyard, and then create a copy of the creature as a white Zombie in addition to its other types).

While a more permanent solution than just returning the card to your hand, it comes with a few benefits. The creature becomes a Zombie in addition to its other types, meaning if you have any other typal synergies this won't interrupt them. But the fact your creature becomes means you can circumvent any protection from or .

It's not the most common obstacle you'll face, but it's something to keep in mind!

Endless Ranks of the DeadEndless Ranks of the Dead

Endless Ranks of the DeadEndless Ranks of the Dead is a signifier you're in the endgame. Every one of your upkeeps, you're increasing how many Zombies you have by 50%.

The biggest issue with this enchantment is that it requires you to either play it early and allow it to grow or already have a massive force of Zombies. In the former's case, there's no reason your opponents won't nip the threat at the bud by either destroying your Zombies or the enchantment. In the latter's, more Zombies aren't a bad thing, but they won't change the game either.

But the message of playing this is clear. You will, in all liklihood, win the game if you are not stopped in the next few turns. If you can back it up, you will do exactly that.

Dreadhorde InvasionDreadhorde Invasion

Dreadhorde InvasionDreadhorde Invasion allows you to create a single, scaling Zombie Army. Armies are unique tokens that represent a mass of creatures, which start at 0/0 but gain +1/+1 counters as they amass in size. This particular effect has amass Zombies 1, meaning it begins at 1/1.

There are entire deck archetypes devoted to amassing Armies, mostly relying on cards like Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord. In those decks, this enchantment allows you to swing with a massive Zombie creature token that has lifelink alongside whatever other Zombie support you have.

NecrodualityNecroduality

NecrodualityNecroduality doubles your non-token Zombies by giving token Zombies based off of them. This doesn't apply to legendary Zombies, due to the legend rule preventing multiple copies of legendary permanents with the same name existing, but aside from that it's fair game!

Zombies love hordes and this helps you do that. Even for Zombies without ETB effects or those that are just bodies to throw at the enemy, you will be able to get value from them one way or another.

Feast or FamineFeast or Famine

Feast or FamineFeast or Famine's value doesn't come from its cost; the effects you get from it aren't worth . The flexibility of either creating a token at instant speed or destroying a creature is what matters.

There are cheaper forms of creating Zombie tokens or removing opponents' creatures, but if you have the mana to spend then the modal nature of this instant allows it to be used easier. is primarily known for fast but not necessarily sustainable mana, which means you can likely afford this instant in a pinch.

It's just a matter of if you want to rely on it over a different, more specific option

Feeding FrenzyFeeding Frenzy

In all likelihood, you will have enough Zombies to make Feeding FrenzyFeeding Frenzy destroy whatever creature you point it at. The reason to choose it over something like MurderMurder is if you're running a multi-color deck, since is more consistent across multiple colors than .

This does actually come with an odd note. X is the number of Zombies in play, not the number of Zombies you control. This means this spell is actually more effective against an opponent who is also running Zombies, which, while not particularly mechanically impactful, is worth noting!

Cemetery RecruitmentCemetery Recruitment

Cemetery RecruitmentCemetery Recruitment lets you reclaim a creature card from your graveyard. Then, if it's a Zombie, draw a card. All around a cheap form of recursion that pays for itself with card draw, allowing you to play whatever heavy hitter you sacrificed previously.

An alternative option is something like Ghoulcaller's ChantGhoulcaller's Chant, which, instead of drawing an extra card, gives you a second Zombie reclaimed. Or take both! The nature of Zombies involves their inevitable return, so the more ways the better.

Liliana, Death's MajestyLiliana, Death's Majesty

Liliana, Death's MajestyLiliana, Death's Majesty gives everything you want from a Zombie-oriented planeswalker. It creates Zombie tokens for you and mills cards, meaning you can reclaim them later. You can return cards from the graveyard straight to the battlefield, capitalizing off of the self-mill in order to play a creature for free.

Then you can board wipe everything that isn't a Zombie, which is just a great thing to build up to.

Given her cost, Liliana's -3 ability will see great value as soon as you play her. By that time, you'll likely already have a few decently-costed creatures in the graveyard to cheat out, which you can do as soon as you play her. It might be tempting to save up for her -7, just keep in mind that it would take three uninterrupted turns to get to that point, where all you would get for would be two 2/2 Zombies and some milled cards.

Liliana, Dreadhorde GeneralLiliana, Dreadhorde General

Liliana, Dreadhorde GeneralLiliana, Dreadhorde General grants card draw whenever a creature you control dies simply by existing. That by itself, given its complete lack of restrictions - either per-turn or for nontoken creatures only - adds fantastic value even for the cost.

Once more, she gives slow-growing Zombie production and substitutes reclamation with forcing opponents to sacrifice their creatures. But the main event she has, her -9, forces each opponent to sacrifice all permanents except one of every type. This includes lands, so opponents will all be left with just one land if you pull off this ultimate.

It's expensive, and it will take some time. But the passive ability to draw cards as your creatures die means it will be worth it to try.

Angrath, Captain of ChaosAngrath, Captain of Chaos

Angrath, Captain of ChaosAngrath, Captain of Chaos grants menace to all of your creatures, which, for a token horde of Zombies, can be oppressive.

Menace means a creature must be blocked by more than a single defender, meaning you've effectively halved the opponents' defenders. If all of your attackers are 2/2 tokens, they have to "waste" multiple blockers on what would otherwise be a chump to stomp.

Angrath's ability to amass Zombies 2 is certainly useful, particularly when paired with similar cards. But with no means of natively increasing its loyalty counters, that stunts the Army's growth without external support.

Accursed DuneyardAccursed Duneyard

Accursed DuneyardAccursed Duneyard gives you one more way of ensuring your Zombies simply don't die. Which sounds counter-intuitive, given Zombies' love of self-sacrifice, but this isn't used on chaff. This is used to save your commander from being sniped or a token producer from being caught up in a board wipe.

It gives a good "backup" option if you ever have any untapped lands at the end of your turn. Which, if you're running , could very easily couple with a bluff that you're holding a CounterspellCounterspell.

Unholy GrottoUnholy Grotto

Unholy GrottoUnholy Grotto returns Zombies in your graveyard to the top of your deck for only . It's not as rapid as going straight to the battlefield, tapped or otherwise. And it even loses out returning it to your hand!

But it's a land. This is a permanent, cheap, repeating way of returning your Zombies back to a spot where you can play them. That's something that can change games over the course of a few turns.

Zombies make more Zombies. Then some more Zombies. And then a few more Zombies for good measure. Then they swing and win in a turn or two.

Zombies aren't really interested in building their tokens up to being threats on their own, by and large they're comfortable just swinging dozens of 2/2s and shrugging when half of them die. After all, any of the important Zombies will just come back later.

There are certainly Zombies or enchantments that make this more unique, granting menace or +1/+1 or reducing opponents' life totals on ETB, but broadly most Zombies just want to march forward and kill the opponent. Probably dying in the process, then triggering one or more effects off of their death.

And then coming back for round two a turn later!

Many Zombies prefer to go "tall" rather than "wide," most notably Zombie Armies. Sauron, the Dark LordSauron, the Dark Lord, of all commanders, is actually fantastic at this alongside the various amass Orcs cards.

When you amass X an Army, you put X counters on an existing Army you control and make its creature type also include the new keyword. Amass Orcs 2 would increase Dreadhorde InvasionDreadhorde Invasion's 1/1 Zombie Army to become a 3/3 Zombie Orc Army.

That means there's an entire archetype of Zombie Orc Army decks fielding Saruman, the White HandSaruman, the White Hand alongside God-Eternal BontuGod-Eternal Bontu. These tend to be Zombie decks that treat the creature type closer to a subtheme under the Army header, but they're a vastly different way to field the same or similar cards.

Not to mention, a single Army being supported by a horde of tokens gives you great threat range!

Zombies in Magic are a great representation of how they're depicted in media: they're slow to grow, they're hard to kill, and there's so many of them. And they can always supplement their brutish tactics with any number of out-of-archetype shenanigans given how tied to they are!