Unleash the Zombie Horde!!!

[ELD]

Horde Magic is a new cooperative way of playing Magic.  Players are pitted against a continuous stream of mindless zombies.  Victory only comes by surviving long enough to destroy the source of the zombies, and all zombies on the battlefield.  The horde can be battled by 1 to 4 players, and rules tweeks can be applied to make the game as fun as possible.  I decided to build this so players could have some fun during the bye at our Monday Night Vintage events at Scholars.  The deck can be battled with any deck, but EDH decks have been the most fun so far.  

Additional Rules not covered in the article:
1) When the Horde gains life, they take that many cards from the top of their graveyard and put them on the bottom of the Horde Deck.

2) When the Horde has to make a choice, I think it's more fun if they do it consistently.  Zombies aren't random, they always do the same thing, consequences be damned.  Once they decide it's a good idea to pound on that door and see if there are any brains inside, they keep doing it, despite it not budging one bit.  They are the embodiment of the "can do" attitude.  They never give up.  They never lose hope.  They keep trying no matter how hopeless it might seem.  If given a choice, zombies always go for the most brains possible.  If you have a planeswalker out, the Horde ignores him.  They don't want Jace's tiny brains, they want yours (and then Jace's once you're dead).  This doesn't always work out best for the Horde.  Yes, sometimes it means you can outsmart them.  Good for you.  They're an unthinking mob.  You should out-think them from time to time  When in doubt, ask yourself, WWZD.  

Here is the original article.

This is my current list:

Tokens:
Zombie Token   55
Giant Zombie Token   5

Cards:
Abattoir Ghoul   1
Bad Moon   2
Balduvian Fallen   1
Barrow Ghoul   1
Bog Raiders   1
Brain Gorgers   1
Call to the Grave   1
Consuming Vapors   1
Corpulent Corpse   1
Death Pits of Rath   1
Delirium Skeins   1
Dripping Dead   1
Fallen Cleric   1
Fleshbag Marauder   2
Ghoulraiser   2
Gluttonous Zombie   1
Grave Titan   2
Hellfire   1
Infectious Horror   1
Living Death   1
Mass of Ghoul   1
Nested Ghoul   1
Noxious Ghoul   2
Rotting Legion   1
Scathe Zombies   1
Soulless One   1
Syphon Flesh   2
Undead Warchief   2
Unnerve   1
Vengeful Dead   2
Walking Corpse   2
Warpath Ghoul   1

I'm very interested to hear feedback, especially in person.  The deck has a mix of bombs, duds, removal and disruption, along side a huge mass of undead.  Come down to Monday Night Vintage and see how you fend off the undead!

[DubDub]

The link to the 'original article' actually just points to the picture again.  I assume that's not intentional.  I'm interested to read more, seems cool.

[boggyb]

Is this the original article..? http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=7515028

Does the zombie horde get a life total? Might be cooler if, instead of dealing the horde damage, you put cards from the top of its library into its graveyard instead.

[Nefarias]

Might be cooler if, instead of dealing the horde damage, you put cards from the top of its library into its graveyard instead.

That is in fact how the horde takes damage.

[ELD]

Link Fixed.  Hope to see some zombie slaying at tonight's Monday Night Vintage!

[ELD]

First runs show Vintage decks benefiting waaaaay to much from 3 turns set up.  I killed the horde before they even got a turn when I played my tournament deck.  I may tweek the card list, but overall, figuring out the proper amount of turns, as well as how many draws the horde can have will need to be balanced through testing.  It was a lot of fun, and I look forward to getting the bye soon

[Norm4eva]

I like the idea of a game of Magic with an 'AI'.  Heh.  Beats goldfishing anyway.

So, like, don't cards like Elesh Norn just dominate the Zombie token scene?  I get that they can , like, Hex/Damnation/Plague Wind/etcetc for free and stuff, but it seems like in order to make the fight more fair for the Zombie deck there are more than a handful of effects that aren't very fair to play against them, especially since the Zombie deck isn't really meant to be 'piloted'.

Also don't they just mill themselves after a while?  Moat FTL Zombies

[ELD]

So, like, don't cards like Elesh Norn just dominate the Zombie token scene?  I get that they can , like, Hex/Damnation/Plague Wind/etcetc for free and stuff, but it seems like in order to make the fight more fair for the Zombie deck there are more than a handful of effects that aren't very fair to play against them, especially since the Zombie deck isn't really meant to be 'piloted'.

Also don't they just mill themselves after a while?  Moat FTL Zombies Sad

Yes, it's not hard to outsmart zombies.  I mean, you could look at a zombie movie and say, pfft, they could totally fix the zombie problem if they just had a FREAKING MOAT!    And that would be the worst zombie movie ever. 

There are plenty of effects that blank the zombie deck.  Iona on black, Moat, Infinite turns with Vault Key - This is not so much the point of a fun casual format.  The idea is to sleeve up a deck that you can have a challenge with.  I played against it with my Gush deck, and the zombies literally never got a turn.  That was no a lot of fun for me, and less so for my teammates.  Rules tweeks to create a challenge are encouraged as well.  Less life, and less start up time are on the table for balancing things out a bit, as well as extra draw steps for the zombies. 

[Norm4eva]

So, like, don't cards like Elesh Norn just dominate the Zombie token scene?  I get that they can , like, Hex/Damnation/Plague Wind/etcetc for free and stuff, but it seems like in order to make the fight more fair for the Zombie deck there are more than a handful of effects that aren't very fair to play against them, especially since the Zombie deck isn't really meant to be 'piloted'.

Also don't they just mill themselves after a while?  Moat FTL Zombies Sad

Yes, it's not hard to outsmart zombies.  I mean, you could look at a zombie movie and say, pfft, they could totally fix the zombie problem if they just had a FREAKING MOAT!    And that would be the worst zombie movie ever. 

There are plenty of effects that blank the zombie deck.  Iona on black, Moat, Infinite turns with Vault Key - This is not so much the point of a fun casual format.  The idea is to sleeve up a deck that you can have a challenge with.  I played against it with my Gush deck, and the zombies literally never got a turn.  That was no a lot of fun for me, and less so for my teammates.  Rules tweeks to create a challenge are encouraged as well.  Less life, and less start up time are on the table for balancing things out a bit, as well as extra draw steps for the zombies. 

Ok ok ok LOL.  I see what you did there.

Magic's been becoming more and more of a no-fly zone for me over the years - I sell my collection to make up for a shitty roommate, I lose a couple jobs, I subsequently fall behind on relevant technology, my decks are a few years old and getting older all the time - so trust me, trust me, to see a fresh take on the game that doesn't have to cost money I don't have sounds positively wonderful.

Still, I guess after watching what's become of EDH - the fun-for-everyone format definitely has its share of vicious decks - I slightly fear any format that sets itself up to be fantastic in its execution but still lets Spike put a cigarette out on its tit.  Maybe I just need better friends, so I can control the level of broken I entertain in my own house (or start playing Magic wearing my .22. Whatever.)

What can I say, I'm a Johnny who was raised by Spikes - I want to have fun but I want the environment have fairness built-in.  I just want too damn much out of life.
spoiler - I don't have a .22.

[Nefarias]

All those points make sense, but I think it's different. I am one of the Spike-y EDH players, but I legitimately enjoy playing and not just making everyone miserable, especially when I'm playing against another Spike rather than a lame deck. But the difference here is that it's everyone against an AI. If your friends enjoy playing Mario Kart with the computers set to 50cc then sure, maybe they'll enjoy goldfishing against the Zombie deck. But I think the majority of players would prefer if it was a bit more of a challenge, and not always winnable.

[ELD]

Took this with me to Comic Stop in Watertown for their two Teams Legacy event.  My team was two Hive Mind Decks, so after 5% of the round time being spent explaining why they lost on turn two, we had 95% left to battle The Horde.  Thus far, it looks like the easiest way to handicap is set up turns.

Vintage and Legacy Decks - no set up, but go first
Standard and EDH Decks - 3 turns before you pass to the horde

Pro Tip:  Reanimator is not fun vs The Horde.  Iona on Black or Blazing Archon are pretty much GG.  Even Sphinx of the Steel Wind is a bit much.

[ELD]

What can I say, I'm a Johnny who was raised by Spikes - I want to have fun but I want the environment have fairness built-in.  I just want too damn much out of life.
spoiler - I don't have a .22.

You can have it all at Monday Night Vintage!  Proxy up your 75 (or play with whatever real cards you have too), or borrow a deck, and play vs The Horde between rounds, before or after the tournament!