Adun Oakenshield, Buckets of Dead Guys

[Sinis]

Korvold proved too strong for my group, and I had this mana base together, so...

Adun Oakenshield

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General

1 Adun Oakenshield

Creatures

1 Satyr Wayfinder

1 Scavenging Ooze

1 Sakura-Tribe Elder

1 Hermit Druid

1 Golgari Thug

1 Murderous Rider

1 Wayward Swordtooth

1 Stinkweed Imp

1 Eternal Witness

1 Nyx Weaver

1 Reclamation Sage

1 Ramunap Excavator

1 Disciple of Bolas

1 Questing Beast

1 Surrak, the Hunt Caller

1 Heart-Piercer Manticore

1 Acidic Slime

1 Golgari Grave-Troll

1 Underrealm Lich

1 Syr Konrad, the Grim

1 Doom Whisperer

1 Apocalypse Demon

1 Xathrid Demon

1 Thorn Mammoth

1 Deathbringer Regent

1 Terastodon

1 Stonehoof Chieftain

1 Apex Altisaur

Artifacts

1 Sol Ring

1 Altar of Dementia

1 Embercleave

1 The Great Henge

1 The Cauldron of Eternity

Enchantments

1 Khalni Heart Expedition

1 Sylvan Library

1 Rhythm of the Wild

Sorceries

1 Demonic Tutor

1 Life from the Loam

1 Explore

1 Farseek

1 Finale of Eternity

1 Far Wanderings

1 Cultivate

1 Kodama's Reach

1 Painful Truths

1 Harmonize

1 Living Death

1 Rishkar's Expertise

1 Decree of Pain

1 Blasphemous Act

Instants

1 Erebos's Intervention

1 Grisly Salvage

1 Golgari Charm

1 Rakdos Charm

1 Beast Within

1 Deathsprout

1 Silence the Believers

1 Return of the Wildspeaker

Planeswalker

1 Garruk, Caller of Beasts

Lands

1 Command Tower

1 Path of Ancestry

1 Savage Lands

1 Bloodstained Mire

1 Wooded Foothills

1 Terramorphic Expanse

1 Evolving Wilds

1 Stomping Ground

1 Overgrown Tomb

1 Blood Crypt

1 Woodland Cemetery

1 Rootbound Crag

1 Dragonskull Summit

1 Llanowar Wastes

1 Sulfurous Springs

1 Karplusan Forest

1 Spinerock Knoll

1 Mosswort Bridge

1 Yavimaya Hollow

1 Geier Reach Sanitarium

1 Rogue's Passage

1 Kessig Wolf Run

1 Memorial to Folly

1 Bojuka Bog

6 Forest

4 Mountain

6 Swamp

Approximate Total Cost:

The deck is pretty simple and is intended to be low power/fair. Get stuff into the yard, have Adun pick up what you want, and use it. The strength here is intended to be in versatility, where you can pick and choose with Adun, and the creature density makes cards like Cauldron or Garruk shine (a little). I'm also fond of the fact that the deck uses all three Legendary Eldraine artifacts in Jund to reasonable effect. The deck is also a fair bit of fun; playing big and stompy creatures is terribly amusing, and cards like Apocalypse Demon don't really get to shine elsewhere. I like to think of Apocalypse Demon as the the kind-hearted and reasonable sort of demon. I can just see him saying in Korg's voice (from Thor: Ragnarok) "You don't want to sacrifice a creature this turn, that's okay, just come back later when you wanto , I'll sit here for now" and "raaawr, I'm an enormous beater, but, I don't have trample, it's just playing fair, okay?"

The problems with the deck are few. It may be short on basics (and there's plenty of candidates that can be removed, I would say). Memorial to Folly is just kind of backup, Terramorphic/Evolving may be unnecessary if they were replaced with Forests. The second issue (if it's even an issue) is that I'm running something like 4-6 red cards, and the deck is actually just mostly Golgari. I'm sure there are good red cards to play, but, I'm not sure what they are? Chaos Warp seems unnecessary with the removal flexibility we already have in green and with the charms.

Red cards to think about

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Anger (I'm only playing six mountains total)
Balefire Dragon
Inferno Titan
Mina and Denn, Wildborn to hit those land drops with Life from the Loam
Xenagos, God of Revels
Dragonmaster Outcast

Changelog

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2020/07/17
-Xathrid Demon
-Surrak, the Hunt Caller
-Wayward Swordtooth
+Urabrask the Hidden
+Apocalypse Demon
+Xenagos, God of Revels

I found I never really wanted to sacrifice big creatures to Xathrid Demon, which is the whole point of its existence. Realistically, that role is fulfilled by Heartpiercer Manticore, which can be reused via Adun or its own Embalm ability. It's possible this deck would want Xathrid Demon more if Adun were more mana efficient (like, if Adun were Meren of Clan Nel Toth and was just capable of rezzing a giant creature for free every turn), but Adun isn't super efficient that way. Surrak is just worse than Urabrask as weltkrieg rightly pointed out, and Wayward Swordtooth, while not bad, wasn't doing what I wanted it to. It might find its way back in, depending. Xenagos takes its place as a way to beef/haste some of the creatures in the deck (which would clearly like it).

[weltkrieg]

First, I am jealous that you have adun oakenshield. That card is one of the more awesome legendary creatures from Legends!

Second, you've already noted some of the red cards to consider removing. My first suggestion would be surrak, the hunt caller. While surrak is pretty solid in green, you have plenty of options that could be considered better when you're in red (like Urabrask the Hidden ).

A red card that is pretty casual that might have application here is Vicious Shadows . Creatures surely die a lot in your deck (and others). Why not spread a little pain? Goes well with the balefire dragon (very good addition, in my opinion).

As much as I love the creatures, you're in red and black. Thornfoot mammoth and apex altisaur probably shouldn't be starting any fights. You have cards like Ravenous Chupacabra , Shriekmaw , Flametongue Kavu etc. that just kill the creature outright and ultimately cost less to cast.

[Sinis]

First, I am jealous that you have adun oakenshield. That card is one of the more awesome legendary creatures from Legends!

I have quite a few of them; I think the only interesting ones that escaped my grasp before they got too expensive were Angus Mackenzie, Gwendlyn Di Corci and Hazezon Tamar. Most of the Legends-legends are pretty vanilla though, or have abilities that have aged so poorly as to not matter (looking at you Boris Devilboon).

Second, you've already noted some of the red cards to consider removing. My first suggestion would be surrak, the hunt caller. While surrak is pretty solid in green, you have plenty of options that could be considered better when you're in red (like Urabrask the Hidden ).

Oh, those were red cards I was considering adding; the deck only has about 6 red cards in it right now. You're right in that Urabrask is probably better than Surrak.

A red card that is pretty casual that might have application here is Vicious Shadows . Creatures surely die a lot in your deck (and others). Why not spread a little pain? Goes well with the balefire dragon (very good addition, in my opinion).

Worth thinking about. I've played it before in big stompy decks to punish wraths, though, I think it's probably better suited to lower-to-the-ground decks, but it could be welcome here.

As much as I love the creatures, you're in red and black. Thornfoot mammoth and apex altisaur probably shouldn't be starting any fights. You have cards like Ravenous Chupacabra , Shriekmaw , Flametongue Kavu etc. that just kill the creature outright and ultimately cost less to cast.

Well. Those guys aren't there for mana efficiency; they're there to win the game by clearing away multiple creatures and then swinging for a lot of damage. Equip an Embercleave and they absolutely will get the job done. If I remove those, the deck is actually pretty short on ways to win. Realistically, if Altisaur fights something, it's going to die, and Thorn Mammoth too. For any other target, I have some kill spells around. They're also there to fuel some of the cards that depend on creature size; Disciple of Bolas, Heart-Piercer Manticore, Return of the Wildspeaker, Xathrid Demon and Altar of Dementia all really like big creatures. The bigger the better.

I also think the clutch part about Mammoth and Altisaur is that they will fight a lot. Mammoth turns every creature in the deck into a fight with the Mammoth, and since there are so many, it means I have a continual supply of removal until it's answered. And then, Adun can dig it up.

[weltkrieg]

As much as I love the creatures, you're in red and black. Thornfoot mammoth and apex altisaur probably shouldn't be starting any fights. You have cards like Ravenous Chupacabra , Shriekmaw , Flametongue Kavu etc. that just kill the creature outright and ultimately cost less to cast.

Well. Those guys aren't there for mana efficiency; they're there to win the game by clearing away multiple creatures and then swinging for a lot of damage. Equip an Embercleave and they absolutely will get the job done. If I remove those, the deck is actually pretty short on ways to win. Realistically, if Altisaur fights something, it's going to die, and Thorn Mammoth too. For any other target, I have some kill spells around. They're also there to fuel some of the cards that depend on creature size; Disciple of Bolas, Heart-Piercer Manticore, Return of the Wildspeaker, Xathrid Demon and Altar of Dementia all really like big creatures. The bigger the better.

I also think the clutch part about Mammoth and Altisaur is that they will fight a lot. Mammoth turns every creature in the deck into a fight with the Mammoth, and since there are so many, it means I have a continual supply of removal until it's answered. And then, Adun can dig it up.

If you like fighting as a mechanic, then why not run Vigor ? It will prevent the enrage triggers on altisaur, but you could replace that easily enough with Gruul Ragebeast (cheaper, too). Also, it makes your creature much bigger allowing your "size-matters" themed creatures an even better chance to shine.

[Sinis]

If you like fighting as a mechanic, then why not run Vigor ? It will prevent the enrage triggers on altisaur, but you could replace that easily enough with Gruul Ragebeast (cheaper, too). Also, it makes your creature much bigger allowing your "size-matters" themed creatures an even better chance to shine.

Ooo, I like those suggestions. Vigor interacts somewhat poorly with the dredge/self-mill stuff, but the shuffle trigger can be responded to with Adun. Gruul Ragebeast is just exciting, and a card I'm rather fond of.