Golgari(from the grave up)

[ChazA4]

First decklist I'm posting here after the exodus from Salvation...the rest may follow eventually, but for now, here we are. Hope this is the right place to ask for help, since I have a decklist.

Some quick background: I take a great deal of pride in building my decks without looking at others too much. I may refine after looking at others, but I always start the base build off of my own thoughts. That has led to some easy builds(Sisay 1.0, Thrax zombie tribal, Merieke thievery) to some hard ones(Niv 1.0 still needs occasional rebalancing). This new deck falls into the latter category right from the get-go, as I'm not sure how much to balance, and for what.

Basic strategy is to utilize saccing for maximum profit and efficiency: sac Garruk, Cursed Huntsman's wolves to not only utilize their innate trigger, but also get profit from Viscera Seer, Aetherworks Marvel, Ashnod's Altar, etc, then swing with more creatures than can be blocked(or one big creature that's 'eaten' all the stuffs). Having gone with a bit of a Food subtheme, even life is fair game for utilizing in this regard. I'm well aware the decklist needs to be adjusted(I only have 33 lands), so I'm sharing all the information I have for ideas. Any help to streamline endgame and/or stabilize early and midgame is greatly appreciated. Preferred budget is casual, power level is between casual and 75%, roughly in the middle.

Decklist

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

General

Savra, Queen of the Golgari or Meren of Clan Nel Toth

Creatures

Rampaging Baloths

Royal Assassin

Sorceress Queen

Crypt Ghast

Keeper of Fables

Engulfing Slagwurm

Vizier of the Menagerie

Protean Hulk

Pawn of Ulamog

Sangromancer

Skullbriar, the Walking Grave

Reassembling Skeleton

Savvy Hunter

Malevolent Noble

Tempting Witch

Feasting Troll King

Lovestruck Beast

Spells

Bake into a Pie

Kenrith's Transformation

Return to Nature

Once and Future

Cast Down

Diabolic Tutor

Forever Young

Dread Return

Read the Bones

Primal Command

Tempt with Discovery

Crop Rotation

Harrow

Eldritch Evolution

Hypergenesis

Nature's Spiral

Farseek

Torment of Hailfire

Settle the Score

Spore Cloud

Sudden Spoiling

Foreboding Fruit

Planeswalkers/Enchantments

Phyrexian Reclamation

Rancor

Lignify

Druid's Repository

Nissa, Voice of Zendikar

Oath of Nissa

Black Market

Pernicious Deed

Lifeforce

Garruk Relentless

Garruk Wildspeaker

Underworld Dreams

Deathgrip

Garruk, Cursed Huntsman

Artifacts

Tree of Tales

Sorcerer's Broom

Solemn Simulacrum

Spine of Ish Sah

Tablet of the Guilds

Skullclamp

The Chain Veil

Ashnod's Altar

Heraldic Banner

Darksteel Ingot

Fellwar Stone

Commander's Sphere

Crashing Drawbridge

Gingerbrute

Lands

Gingerbread Cabin

Twilight Mire

Temple of Malady

Woodland Cemetery

Oran-Rief, the Vastwood

Survivor's Encampment

Rogue's Passage

Witch's Cottage

Westvale Abbey

Haunted Fengraf

Ghost Quarter

Swamp 14

Forest 7

Approximate Total Cost:

Cards known to be needed:
Aetherworks Marvel
Grave Pact
Dictate of Erebos
Viscera Seer

[Sharpened]

So I think you need to make some more choices to set the foundation of you deck. I know you say that you want it to be a 'sacrifice' deck, and while I see some of that in there, the list feels more like a 'medium-stuff' mishmosh (I'd say good stuff, but some of the cards are just not good).

And that's fine. Lower powerlevel and more open ended playstyle are up to you, and I certainly see the fun in that.

But I think you need to set a more basic straightforward goals(you don't even have a commander picked) and streamline on how you want your initial gameplan to be. There's a classic quote about no plan surviving contact with the enemy, so having a plan doesn't mean you won't have a deck that can shift and adjust and provide varied gameplay experiences.

So let's start with the basics -
We want the deck to be a sacrifice focused deck. Cool, there's lots of those and there's lots to do with them.
Does it have to be Golgari?
If so, you are giving up some goodies Mayhem Devil comes to mind. Personally, I'm feeling Korvold, Fae-Cursed King as a sacrifice general at the moment, but there are goodies in every color, and a bunch of different generals which shape the decks in interesting ways.

But for Golgari generals:
Savra, Queen of the Golgari - Several things stand out with her. She controls the board, so you probably need less creature removal. You are also going to want more Black/Green tokens and less Eldrazi Scions/Spawns because colorless tokens don't interact with her.
Meren of Clan Nel Toth - Gives you more creature recursion. Your going to want creatures that do well going in and out of play, as opposed to the massive token creation of other sacrifice generals.
and others you didn't mention:
Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest - Gets big and smashes face.
Izoni, Thousand-Eyed - Wants a full graveyard and draws cards


So more than just being a sacrifice deck, what do you want to do?
Do you want to grind your opponents creatures off the board? Savra
Do you want to generate value with a constant stream of creature recursion? Meren
Do you want to sacrifice and smash? Mazirek
Do you want to mulch resources into more and more resources? Izoni
Something else?
Grind your opponents hands to nothing? Nath
Drain your opponents with little saprolings? Slimefoot
Drain your opponents with big monsters? Jarad

Judging by your list, which is all over the place, my guess is you want to deal in big monsters. Aetherworks Marvel and Hypergenesis are cards that seem to want to go bigger than anything the opponent can put out. My recommendation in Golgari then would be Jarad, Meren, or Mazirek. But that's my guess. So why don't you tell me - more specifically, what do you want your deck to do?