Introduction
Deck list
Decklist
Approximate Total Cost:
This is my current list, purely theory and some goldfishing. Right now there is nearly no interaction in this list but as I play and tune further the weaker pay offs and enablers will be cut for more interactive elements.
The plan
Early game: Start the game by setting up your mana base using dorks and the land ramp in the deck. Establish your graveyard through self mill, hopefully hitting a dredger in the process.
Mid game: Play Gallia to get extra draws (hopefully replacing them with dredgers). Hopefully you will also get to resolve one of the big ramp spells in the deck Harvest Season, Far Wanderings or Splendid Reclamation to set you up for the late game.
Late game: By now your yard should be filled or you should have enough mana to fill it further. You can win with a huge Golgari Grave-Troll, Kessig Cagebreakers or do some combo shenanigans with Underworld Breach and Strength from the Fallen.
Card choices
//Commander
- Gallia of the Endless Dance She allows for extra draws, hopefully dredges in the mid and late game once you are set up. It's also card advantage that you are generating with her ability. The random discard is hit or miss ofcourse but I does make games interesting.
- Llanowar Elves Mana dork #1
- Arbor Elf Mana dork #2
- Boreal Druid Mana dork #3
- Fyndhorn Elves Mana dork #4
- Birds of Paradise Mana dork #5
- Elvish Mystic Mana dork #6
- Werebear Mana dork #7 but also a nice beater in the late game.
- Krosan Restorer Mana dork #8, super charges when you hit threshold.
- Sakura-Tribe Elder Land ramp on a body that can serve as an attacker for Gallia and adds towards your graveyard creature count.
- Avenging Druid This card is amazing as it ramps and mills at the same time.
- Silverglade Pathfinder Discard outlet that ramps you. Remember to use on upkeep if you have a dredger in hand.
- Greenseeker Another discard outlet and one that helps you to hit land drops.
- Llanowar Mentor Discard outlet that cre
- Insolent Neonate Hard to block attacker and discard outlet. Also great in combination with underworld breach.
- Noose Constrictor Discard outlet that can be activated at instant speed and as many times as I want. Also fine attacker and can become a sizable threat.
- Wild Mongrel See above.
- Ox of Agonas Can help you turbo dredge from the graveyard in the mid/late game.
- Seasoned Pyromancer Another discard outlet, important that this discard and then draws, great for dredging. Helps you to get three attackers and has some marginal graveyard value.
- Fauna Shaman Survival is busted and although this is much slower it's still worth it.
- Anje's Ravager Madness synergizes with all the discard outlets. This is also great when you have a dredger.
- Cavalier of Flame Another discard outlet but also provides mass pump and haste as well as a wincon when it dies.
- Glint-Horn Buccaneer Not super sure about this one but the damage from his discard trigger can add up. His second ability is a great mana sink in the late game. Again important that this discards, then draws.
- Satyr Wayfinder Satyr tribal representation! But really just fills the yard and gets you a land.
- Splinterfright Beefy better and mill engine, all in one package.
- Loyal Apprentice Helps meet Gallia's requirement of three attackers. Unsure if really needed.
- Eternal Witness Recursion on a stick.
- Goblin Dark-Dwellers Recursion on a beefier stick. Great to flashback Harvest Season,Far Wanderings or any of the regrowth effects especially.
- Golgari Brownscale Dredger and some incidental lifegain. Have loved this guy from my days of playing zombieloam in modern.
- Golgari Grave-Troll The card that really makes this deck go fast. Having a Grave-Troll going vs. not having one is a huge difference. Can also just be cast as a massive threat.
- Squee, Goblin Nabob Some value from the yard and helps all your discard engines running.
- Vengevine Additional threat from the yard and helps rebuild after potential wipe to meet the three attacker clause again.
- Genesis Black has Volrath's Stronghold, green has Genesis. Great recursion engine. It's ability is costly and the reason why there is quite some ramp in this deck.
- Brawn Trample helps win games.
- Anger I love haste and as such love this card.
- Kessig Cagebreakers Probably the number one win con. Can easily make 10+ wolves. Especially effective with haste.
- Worldly Tutor Mostly here to help find Golgari Grave-Troll but obviously has more utility.
- Grapple with the Past Self mill and recursion for key creatures.
- Gamble Tutors for key cards (GGT early). List runs enough recursion for the random discard to not be a huge deal
- Traverse the Ulvenwald Great creature tutor. Delirium shouldn't be too hard to hit.
- Faithless Looting Probably my favourite card ever and I can't play it in modern anymore
- Acorn Harvest Some graveyard value and attackers to help with Gallia's requirements.
- Rofellos's Gift There is a small enchantment package in the deck (might build on this more in the future and this can help recur key pieces and provide CA in the process.
- Regrowth Recursion that feels like a demonic tutor in the late game.
- Nostalgic Dreams Mass recursion and a discard outlet? Yes, please. Great card for the deck.
- Recoup Recursion that can be milled and still work.
- Life from the Loam I love loam, it's a dredger that helps you hit land drops and in the process bins itself again.
- Gather the Pack Self mill.
- Mulch Self mill.
- Winding Way Self mill.
- Commune with the Gods Self mill.
- Harvest Season This deck is quite mana hungry and resolving a decent sized harvest season can really set you up for the win. I'm happy with 3 lands, anything beyond that is obscene.
- Far Wanderings Far wanderings doesn't have the same high ceiling as harvest season but is very consistent.
- Splendid Reclamation Our last absurd ramp card. This one can really set you up for the rest of the game.
- Exploration Helps ramp and combos with Life from the Loam.
- Survival of the Fittest Survival is almost a one card combo. If you have this on the board.
- Strength from the Fallen This might seem odd with not that many enchantments and maybe I'll have to add more in the future but I wanted a wincon that that was not a creature as those can get answered more easily. This let's me do that and also adds a combo element to the deck when paired with the next two cards.
- Underworld Breach Yawgmoth's will is good and this is the red will, except you don't need to exile anything important. This can serve as great recursion as well as enable combo turns with Strength from the Fallen.
- Unbridled Growth Mostly here for it's combo potential with breach and strength from the fallen.The draw also let's you dredge.
- Rhythm of the Wild Haste is good and I wanted to up my enchantment count. Could also perhaps be a [cardFires of Yavimaya[/card] as that can help combo on breach + strength turns.
- Greater Good Drawing and discarding is what this deck wants to do. Even discarding dorks can help you dig and discard stuff you want in your yard. Combine with GGT for massive CA.
- Vessel of Nascency An additional enchantment and self mill card.
- Smuggler's Copter This does three things the deck likes; draw, discard and attack.
- Bonehoard Massive threat that can make all your creatures huge.
- Chandra, Acolyte of Flame More recursion. Like Goblin Dark-Dwellers Great to flashback Harvest Season,Far Wanderings or any of the regrowth effects especially.
Not that many noteworthy lands.
- Kessig Wolf Run If you have ramped throughout the game this can serve as an additional wincon.
- Barbarian Ring Little bit of interaction.
- Grove of the Burnwillows Not that noteworthy now but allows the addition of [punishing fire] once the deck starts packing more interaction.
- Forgotten Cave, Tranquil Thicket, Sheltered Thicket as always combine these with Life from the Loam for a nice little engine.
Future considerations
As mentioned this is currently a very linear and untuned list. I'm trying to already think ahead of some different options to try. Some stuff on the list:
- Firestorm This is high on the list of more interactive cards to add.
- Punishing Fire Already alluded to this when talking about Grove of the Burnwillows but this could add some extra, recurable, removal to the deck.
- Heartpierce Manticore Another graveyard threat but one that doesn't need to get into the redzone to win. Seems clunky but the non-combat angle could be interesting.
- Ancient Grudge Another great interactive card.
- Greater Mossdog If I find I need more dredgers.
- Dryad of the Ilysian Grove More ramp, another creature and another enchantment to help the Strength from the Fallen plan.
- Collector Ouphe I'm scared of graveyard hate and this helps to stop the most common forms of that as well as shut down artifact mana bases.
- Altar of Dementia, [Mesmeric Orb[/card] I'm not sure I want to add to many artifacts to the deck and these also only mill but don't do much else. The orb being symmetrical is also a bit scary if there are other graveyard decks at the table.
- Hermit Druid Considered it but ultimately decided against it as I think I'm running too many basics for this to really give me the boost I would want.
- Running some additional goodstuff utility creatures. I have quite some ways to find and recur creatures so those would fit right in. Also want my removal etc to be mostly creatures as a high graveyard creature count is needed for my wincons.
- To aid the Strength from the Fallen plan even further I'm considering an alternate list that is using enchantress effects. Makes Roffelos's Gift more potent and the draw from the enchantresses could be used for dredging. Unsure if it will end up trying to do too many things at once though.