Necromancer - Zombie Swarm

[MrSaucy]

As far as tactics go I like harmonizing graveyard and using graveyard to summon all level 2 and level 3 zombies. I try to deploy from graveyard every round to keep the pressure on. Then I deploy zombie crawlers from libro every other round. Crawlers are more effective in your mages zone so it is sensible to deploy them from libro. From there you can either keep your crawlers around your mage to act as a buffer OR use a zombie frenzy to surge your crawlers forward.

[Sand Goblin]

I really like this spellbook, and I am definitely going to use it to make my necro spellbook better. 
 
Rise Again seems to be a good choice on account of the fact that the creatures rises in the zone it was killed in.  Combine this with the fact that all of those kinds of zombies are Slow, and maybe you should take out an animate or 2 for Rise Again.

[sIKE]

I really like this spellbook, and I am definitely going to use it to make my necro spellbook better. 
 
Rise Again seems to be a good choice on account of the fact that the creatures rises in the zone it was killed in.  Combine this with the fact that all of those kinds of zombies are Slow, and maybe you should take out an animate or 2 for Rise Again.

Be careful with Rise Again, you need to keep mana banked in order to successfully use it. One game I foolishly attacked a creature near death, after my Mage had acted and used most of his mana. The creature died as the result of my attack and my Enchantment (less the "enchantment" more the wasted action) when straight to my discard pile, did not pass go, did not collect $200. It was quite painful, so much so, that I swapped it out of the book for another Animate Dead. It is a very cool card, just with my books I always seem mana starved and as a result it doesn't work well for me.

[MrSaucy]

I really like this spellbook, and I am definitely going to use it to make my necro spellbook better. 
 
Rise Again seems to be a good choice on account of the fact that the creatures rises in the zone it was killed in.  Combine this with the fact that all of those kinds of zombies are Slow, and maybe you should take out an animate or 2 for Rise Again.

For me Animate Dead > Rise Again because Necromancer can be very mana-starved, especially if you are using two spawnpoints. Another reason is that I think killing the enemy creatures faster is more important than killing them with the intention of reanimating them. Necromancer can be fragile so I tend to think of reanimation as more of a perk than a necessity. If anything the Necromancer is the last mage who needs reanimation since he practically has an infinite creature supply already.

If you want to fit in more curses and perhaps a block or two to keep your zombies alive then I would trim down to only 2 Unstable Zombie and 2 Plague Zombie. I just like having a lot of Plague Zombies because, like Venomous Zombies, they are very effective against mages that only use living creatures.

[MrSaucy]

Recent change: 2 Animate Dead out, 3 Block in

[barriecritzer]

I use both the altar of skulls and libro in my swarm book. I also use a combination of skeletons and zombies.

[MrSaucy]

I use both the altar of skulls and libro in my swarm book. I also use a combination of skeletons and zombies.

A mix of skeletons and zombies can be very effective. Both Deathfang's speed and Skeleton Archer's range can make up for your slow zombies, and it is helpful to have skeletons to guard your mage while your zombies go on the offensive.

[sdougla2]

I'm thinking of changing my Necromancer build to be skeletons + Venomous Zombies.

[MrSaucy]

I'm thinking of changing my Necromancer build to be skeletons + Venomous Zombies.

I have tried skeletons+zombies necromancer where the only zombies I had were Venomous Zombies and Zombie Brutes. I have also tried a mix of mostly zombies supported by Grey Wraiths and Skeleton Archers. Both builds worked just as well as 100% zombies. With Necromancer you can easily just pick your favorite undead creatures (whether skeleton or zombie) and build a spellbook around them.

[Sand Goblin]

Hey, is it just me, or does zombie frenzy seem to be a bit OP?  In both necro games now, it's done tremendous damage.  Namely, I can get his mage locked in a corner with the first, and then bind the second to a Mage Wand in the late game and play it every turn.  We've found that this guy is unbeatable with anything or any strategy other than mass flyers (which can be countered by adding skeleton archers, maim wings, and drain life), and doing an all-in at the very beginning of the game, which isn't much fun.

[sIKE]

Hey, is it just me, or does zombie frenzy seem to be a bit OP?  In both necro games now, it's done tremendous damage.  Namely, I can get his mage locked in a corner with the first, and then bind the second to a Mage Wand in the late game and play it every turn.  We've found that this guy is unbeatable with anything or any strategy other than mass flyers (which can be countered by adding skeleton archers, maim wings, and drain life), and doing an all-in at the very beginning of the game, which isn't much fun.

He is very powerful late game if you have a bunch of zombies out and use Zombie Frenzy, you end up with mobile kill pit. This strategy does not play well with a agro deck and one that puts at least a little pressure on early though.

[Sand Goblin]

He did put a lot of pressure on me though - he had to retreat when I took his bat and his imp out, leaving his Mage alone and vulnerable.  The zombie-swarm style necro seems to be unbeatable at anything short of an all-in.  Please tell me I'm wrong.

[sIKE]

A bat and an Imp is not a lot of pressure, it is some pressure though. Luckily for Necromancer, [mwcard=DNC06]Kralathor, The Devourer[/mwcard] is Epic, so you only have to deal with one of them, as this guy loves to munch on zombies.

I think that Orb + Obelisk once the zombie swarm is out, is quite the killer as you will not have the mana needed for the Frenzy and then they are just lumbering around.

I think the new Fire based Warlock will be tough to deal with, with here ability to move Direct Damage around easily via her burns.

The main thing with the zombies is either separate one out from the heard and focus kill it, then rinse and repeat otherwise focus on the Mage as most of the time he is light on armor, Dissolve the Cloak of Shadows and any Mage Wand you see. And by all means don't let Shaggy get buffed up as he is a beast once he has eaten four or five of his kind.

[Sand Goblin]

A bat and an imp is not a lot of pressure, correct.  It is, however, a lot of pressure when said bat and imp are accompanied by a Warlock with demonhide armor, a fireshaper ring, a lash of hellfire, and an elemental wand with a fireball bound to it (Battleforges are nasty!!).   We are going to play again, and this time, he will build his spellbook to make sure he can hurt me.  He will try singling them out, as you said.

[MrSaucy]

Hey, is it just me, or does zombie frenzy seem to be a bit OP?

When you are playing against Druid your zombies are hindered by the Druid's vine markers, making Zombie Frenzy nearly useless as far as mobility is concerned. Zombie frenzy only seems OP if the opponent lets you get out too many zombies, but at that point the opponent is probably losing anyways. Zombie Frenzy has a steep cost for Necromancer, especially when you add in the fact that he can easily become mana starved if he is running two spawnpoints and/or the opponent puts down Obelisk or Suppression Orb.

So to answer your question I don't think zombie frenzy is OP. A card isn't OP just because it is very strong in certain scenarios. Kralathor is extremely powerful against Necromancer but that doesn't make him OP because he isn't as effective against the other mages.