Category:Zombies

Zombies are animated corpses. They are normally simply animated and have little to no connection with the soul of the deceased, though some especially powerful necromancers know how to bind the dead to their bodies to create smart zombies. The first card to bear the type was Scathe Zombies in Alpha. That set also contained Zombie Master and Scavenging Ghoul which later gained the subtype Zombie, as well.

Notable types

The following zombies all have distinctive characteristics or had enough storyline impact to put them above the general undead-warriors/servants that zombies usually are.

Liches are beings who have stored their life force in an object called a phylactery so that their mortal body will endure upwards of millenia in undeath.

Dominarian zombies

-to be written-

Otarian zombies

-to be written-

Phyrexian zombies

While, as noted above, Phyrexian Scuta and Phyrexian Rager have the creature type "zombie" while actually being Phyrexians, zombies of Phyrexian origin do exist. Cards like Metathran Zombie and Vodalian Zombie represent creatures that were killed by a Phyrexian tingler. The tingler is a nasty device that resembles a spiny centipede-like insect. One end of the tingler is fashioned with small hooks used both for movement, and for carrying out its main function, which is to zombify enemy troops in the midst of battle, turning them against their allies.

The tingler zombifies by crawling into its victim's mouth and using its hooks to literally rip out their spinal cord, effectively killing them. It will then crawl down their mouth and into the cavity once occupied by the spine and replace the spinal cord, controlling their body. This process is short and leaves the corpse mostly intact, as opposed to the long process by which Phyrexian soldiers usually are created.

Mirrodin's zombies

In the plane of Mirrodin, they are known as the nim, and inhabit the Mephidross swamps.

Ravnican zombies

In the plane of Ravnica, two guilds employ zombies: the Golgari Swarm and the Cult of Rakdos.

Golgari Swarm

The Golgari uses ritualistic magic to make zombies, which can deliberately be made to be mindless deadwalkers for labor purposes, or letting them keep their full faculties and abilities, like their Guildmasters Svogthir and Jarad, who were zombies themselves. Their zombies are usually imbued with plants, insects or fungi.

Cult of Rakdos

They are usually made as mindless deadwalkers and servants. Unlike the Golgari's these ones have their bodies altered with spikes, metal teeth and other torturing implants to make them more deadly.

Alaran zombies

Esperian zombies

In the Shard of Alara called Esper, artificers animate corpses grafting them with etherium modifications.

Grixian zombies

In Grixis, necromancers create zombies to do their bidding or to prolong their own life. One of the major powers of the Shard, Sedris, is a zombie himself.

Innistrad zombies

Innistrad is a plane partially infested with Zombies. Zombies come in two variants. On one hand, there are the common shambling corpses associated with the color black, called ghouls. Reanimated by necromancers and ghoulcallers they go about making more zombies, killing the living and devouring their flesh. Even gameplaywise these Zombies are slow but overwhelming if the opponent cannot contain them, typically being powerful creatures for their cost and difficult to permanently kill (either through the undying mechanic or occasionally the ability to be recast such as on Gravecrawler) but with some kind disadvantage (coming into play tapped, unable to block etc).

The second variety are in the vein of Frankenstein's Monster, the failed experiments of mad scientists who attempted to toy with life itself, associated with the color blue. These are called skaabs. A common mechanic for them is the requirement to have creature cards in the graveyard removed, such as corpses as the base for these medical abominations. These creatures are typically very powerful but can be difficult to get into play because they need dead bodies first. This can be provided by self-milling that the mad scientists enable, such as on Deranged Assistant.

Notable zombies

• Balthor the Defiled
• Dakkon Blackblade
• Dralnu, Lich Lord
• Frankenstein's Monster
• Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
• Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
• Golgari Guildmaster Jarad
• Phage the Untouchable
• Sedris, the Traitor King
• Golgari Parun Svogthir
• Geth
• Glissa Sunseeker
• Thraximundar

Trivia

• Zombie Apocalypse is a sorcery that return all Zombie creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped, then destroys all Humans.

Zombie tokens

1/1 black Zombie Goblin Creature tokens are created by:

• Skirk Ridge Exhumer (named Festering Goblin)

1/1 black and blue Zombie Wizard Creature tokens are created by:

• Lich Lord of Unx

2/2 black Zombie Creature tokens are created by:

• Archdemon of Unx
• Army of the Damned
• Bridge from Below
• Cellar Door
• Cemetery Reaper
• Endless Ranks of the Dead
• Feast or Famine
• Grave Titan
• Grixis Slavedriver
• Havengul Runebinder
• Maalfeld Twins
• Midnight Ritual
• Moan of the Unhallowed
• Necromancer's Covenant
• Nested Ghoul
• Reap the Seagraf
• Rotlung Reanimator
• Sarcomancy
• Syphon Flesh
• Tombstone Stairwell
• Undead Alchemist
• Unscythe, Killer of Kings
• Vile Rebirth
• Wakedancer
• Zombie Infestation

5/5 black Zombie Giant Creature tokens are created by:

• Quest for the Gravelord

Grand Creature Type Update

In the Grand Creature Type Update the following creature types were changed into Zombie:

• Fallen (The Fallen)
• Ghoul (for example (Ashen Ghoul)
• Horseman (Headless Horseman)
• Monster (Frankenstein's Monster)
• Mummy (Cyclopean Mummy)
• Murk-Dweller (Murk Dwellers)
• Necrosavant (Necrosavant; also a Giant)
• Tombspawn (Tombstone Stairwell)
• Walking-Dead (Walking Dead)
• Wight (Dread Wight)

Notes

References

External links

• Mark Rosewater (March 3, 2003). "I cc: Dead People". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.

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