In this series, I discuss the deckbuilding process while building casual 60-card decklists based on cards chosen by Scryfall's Random Card function. This is intended as a creative exercise, to give new players a sense of how deckbuilding works while giving more experienced players examples of the kinds of brewing challenges they might encounter in Limited formats. The decks in this series will not be optimized for competitive play, especially when the random seed is not an especially powerful card. My goal is to use the properties of those seeds to make interesting decks.

This week's seed is the Conspiracy printing of Wakedancer|CNS.

Card Features

Wakedancer is a common black 2/2 creature that costs three mana. It enters the battlefield with a 2/2 Zombie token if a creature died earlier in the turn, suggesting a deck with sacrifice themes and maybe some Zombie tribal synergy.

Choosing Creatures

Let's start by building a deck that sets up opportunities for Morbid triggers. Ulvenwald Bear and Festerhide Boar are creatures that become more powerful if a creature died during the turn they enter the battlefield. Carrion Feeder gives you an excuse to sacrifice creatures, and if it stays on the battlefield long enough it becomes a powerful threat in its own right. And Footlight Fiend is useful as a blocker early in the game, and a sacrificed creature later on, because when it dies it deals extra damage. I'm also tempted to include Fireblade Artist, which is an amazing sacrifice outlet, but I'd like to keep the deck to two colors for now.

Choosing Noncreature Spells

All the noncreature spells in this deck either have Morbid, or enable Morbid by either killing a creature or requiring you to sacrifice a creature. Tragic Slip is the most famous Morbid card, dealing one damage if Morbid isn't active and 13 if it is. Vicious Offering does the same thing less intensely, but can still kill most creatures you're likely to encounter. And Evolutionary Leap allows you to activate Morbid and then potentially find a creature that has Morbid to cast on the same turn.

Choosing Lands

Since I'm only using two colors, I'm including a few of each of the nonbasic lands that tap for both of those colors and can enter the battlefield untapped. If you're splashing red for Fireblade Artist, you might want to replace a few of those with Savage Lands.

Another Option: Zombie Tribal Oathbreaker

Since Wakedancer makes Zombie tokens, here's an Oathbreaker deck that takes full advantage of Zombie tribal. The commander is Liliana, Untouched by Death . In addition to packing the deck with zombies and Zombie tribal spells, the list includes other Lilianas that contribute to the zombie horde, including Liliana, Dreadhorde General and Liliana, Death's Majesty.

Let us know what other decklists you come up with for this seed, or if there's a card you want us to try building around. Happy brewing!