I do not know how my land will look, something along the lines of shocklands obviously and the dual lands that drop without the 2 life expense. Ideas ?
Once again, I don't like Exava in this kind of deck. You don't get much value out of it with Varolz or its own effect.
Another card you should look into is Slumbering Dragon. It is a R cost 3/3-base creature that is perfect with Varolz.
Also, over Ash Zealot I would probably use Strangleroot Geist for its resiliency to removal and being great sac fodder for Varolz regening. I also like Spike Jester over Cackler because you can potentially do more damage with it sooner.
Rather than Abrupt Decay, which should be in your sideboard, try Putrefy. It will be more useful to you than Abrupt Decay unless you're going up against a ton of Aggro.
I have also looked at creating a list centered around Varolz.
I am not a huge fan of trying to get Ash Zealot into Varolz. That could be a bit awkward. The list I have been putting together focuses more on the zombie theme.
Lotleth troll, gravecrawler, blood scrivener. Add in Varolz, Vexing Devil, and top out at Ghor-Clan Rampager and I think there is some synergy there.
@grimpow - I was just looking at Slumbering dragon.. It just sits there for 5 turns ? It's good if they get rid of it right away, other than that, I don't know. Unless I throw in a Corpsejack Menace whilst I wait ... ? What would you suggest if not Exava ?
It will sit there for 5 turns if they attack you with 1 creature each turn. And if they do... more time to use Varolz to scavenge and place +1/+1 counters on it.
Corpsejack Menace would also not be good here for similar reasons to Exava. You just don't have nearly enough +1/+1 counter generation to make them good.
If you don't want to play Slumbering Dragon, then Lotleth Troll would be similarly good with Varolz because it can discard Scavenge fodder for it.
Falkenrath Aristocrat is just about the best aggressive creature in Standard, as well as being easier for you to cast than Hellrider (BR is easier to come by in a BRG deck than RR)- and is a better target to scavenge onto because of its evasion and indestructibility. She also is provides more counters when scavenged.
Boros Reckoner is going to be next to impossible to cast in a BGR deck. I know he is good and all but we need to be realistic. Did you try to work out a mana base???
I see what you are doing with Xava, trying to grant haste through Varolz, but a lot has to go right for that to work out, and you really don't want a whole lot of 4 drops- since Varolz is going to give you plenty of things to do with your mana late game. The last thing you want to do in a deck like this is be top heavy. Not only that, she is legendary- so you don't want 4 even if you play her (and you probably shouldn't- at least until Falkenrath rotates).
The best place to go for a 4 drop besides Falkenrath Aristocrat is Ghor-Clan Rampager, since he is a combat trick or burn spell more than half the time as to not clog you up on 4 drops. Granting trample to your guy with scavenge counters is also very good.
You only have 8 creatures that cost less than 3 mana (Vexing Devil doesn't count, since he will just dome for 4). Not only is this not acceptable for curve purposes in an aggro deck, but you really want inexpensive creatures to scavenge and to sacrifice to regenerate Varolz as well.
Lotleth Troll is really good with Varolz, as you can pitch guys to scavenge onto Lotleth, who conveniently has trample to make use of all those tokens, and regenerates so you don't get blown out. Since Lotleth Troll is a zombie- it then makes sense to run Gravecrawler and Diregraf Ghould.
Gravecrawler is not only awesome to pitch to Lotleth Troll, since you can bring him right back- but he is perfect to sacrifice to sacrifice to Varolz to regenerate- since you can bring him back. Diregraf and Crawler are both awesome to scavenge because 2 counters for one mana is a good deal (keep in mind the Cackler only scavenges for 1 counter). These cards will give you the early aggression you so badly need.
4 Vexing Devil is probably too many, because he stone cold sucks in this deck without a Varolz in play. He is still worth playing 2 or 3 because with Varolz he is just insane.
This list has 40 cards. You really cannot expect to play 3 colors with 8 4 drops and only 20 lands- especially when you are trying to run 4 spells that cost RRR (though that needs to get dropped anyway).
Whatever you do, do not listen to people telling you to play Slumbering Dragon. The card is bad, and Varolz making him better doesn't make him good. There will also be times when you don't draw Varolz.
Spike Jester should be in in some number, because he is explosive and scavenges for a lot- I would only run 2 though, because he eats it hard vs lingering souls.
So in short, you need to drop the Boros Reckoner because you won't be able to cast him. Run Falkenrath Aristocrat as your main 4 drop because it is just better than the other options in almost every way. Lower your curve and change your primary color from Red to Black so you can run Zombies to have more synergy with Varolz as well as better early game. Run Ghor-Clan Rampagers because Bloodrush is awesome with Varolz's scavenge and it gives you a possible 4 drop that won't clog your hand early.Run less removal because it will often be dead. Run more lands (I would run 22). Don't run Slumbering Dragon because it is a bad card.
I propose this list for you. Keep in mind this is not hypothetical, I have tested it to much success against the known tier 1 and tier 2 decks of the format.
Someone commented that you need to run Putrefy MB to be able to deal with all sorts of threats. That isn't necessary, as you want to be the aggressor- the removal is primarily just to clear the way for your attackers, not to deal with threats.
As far as the removal suite goes- the Dreadbores (and SB Decays) are necessary to deal with Boros Reckoner- who can give you fits depending on your draw. The Decays are there in the sb over more Dreadbores as they will occasionally deal with something like Rest in Peace or Detention Sphere. The Ultimate Price is there to deal with Restoration Angel and Thundermaw Hellkite since Dreadbore is not an instant. I guess they could be Putrefy- but 2 mana is a lot less than 3 in an aggro deck. The Tragic Slips need to be there and need to be a 4 of because Falkenrath Aristocrat is no joke. You need to be able to deal with her. They also do a good job at taking out Mana Dorks and opposing regenerators. The Pillars are for Voice of Resurgance and Undying creatures (as well as the occasional Gravecrawler).
Tormod's Crypt is in the board instead of Ground Seal because you really would rather use your mana to continue applying pressure against reanimator than to draw the extra card.
The mana base is really solid- having 16 black sources (you want a lot because you often need to keep B up to regenerate Lotleth, as well as cast your mainly black spells and scavenge your mainly black creatures) and 12 of each Red and Green. No card in the deck requires more than one of any single color, making your spells easy to cast.
Rancor is an awesome addition to the deck, as it gives you explosive early plays (even lets your 1 drops swing into a Loxodon Smiter)- as well as granting trample to whatever guy you have scavenged up. It is also awesome to Rancor a Gravecrawler and just dare them to kill it.
I would also like to mention that I have tested Blood Scrivener (as has been suggested by others), and he just doesn't cut it. Going Hellbent is generally bad, and it isn't even always possible when you run removal, combat tricks, and 4 drops. Often they will just wait until you empty your hand and then kill him, leaving you totally boned. The 2/1 body is also not very effective in combat.
The 12 Zombies (Crawler, Lotleth, Ghoul) tend to be enough to activate Gravecrawler when you need to, especially because you will often just want to scavenge them instead of rebuying them anyway.
I've been playing around a lot with different ideas for Varolz. This is very different than your deck, but maybe it will give you some ideas on things to try.
Playing 3 colors without any mana fixing other than Burning-Tree means that the full set of duals go in. It doesn't work without them. Most of the spells are cheap, but there are added mana costs, particularly when scavenging with Varolz, so 23 lands are needed.
Experiment One can easily evolve to 4/4 in this deck, and after turn 4 it's a human to regen and pump Falkenrath. Being able to sac 2 counters to regenerate helps against removal as well.
I don't like Vexing Devil in most decks, but it's huge with Varolz and it enters play to evolve Experiment One even if your opponent takes the 4.
Lotleth isn't great in this deck, but it can win on its own sometimes and it's handy when you draw multiple Varolz, so 2 seems right.
I think Burning-Tree and Flinthoof are too good to leave out of an aggro deck playing GR.
This deck isn't built around Falkenrath, but it's still very good. Sacrificing creatures hardly slows you down at all if Varolz is in play.
Mark of Mutiny gives you wins out of nowhere by stealing your opponent's big dude, and with 8 sac outlets in the deck it's also good removal that deals with problem creatures like Boros Reckoner and Thragtusk.
The most recent addition to the deck is Slumbering Dragon. I tried it in different versions and didn't like it, but in this deck it's pretty good. The interaction with Varolz is obvious, but the other thing that helps is that this deck has 14 creatures that regenerate. If the opponent plans to win with creatures, he/she usually needs to attack with several guys to get any damage through. Slum D is a house in that situation.
This is a very typical situation. Your opponent has 1 Flinthoof Boar and 2 Loxodon Smiters. You have 1 Slumbering Dragon with no counters, 1 Burning-Tree Emissary, and 1 Varolz in play and a Searing Spear in hand. Your opponent attacks with 3/3, 4/4, 4/4 into your Slum D which can do nothing and your 2/2, 2/2. It seems like you are totally outclassed.
You add 3 counters to Slum D, then Spear the Boar. You chump block both Smiters and sac the BTE to regen Varolz taking no damage. Next turn even if you have no cards in hand and top deck a land, you can scavenge BTE onto Slum D and attack in the air for 8 (and Slum D will keep growing if your opponent keeps attacking). Admittedly Varolz helps a lot in that scenario, but even if you have Lotleth instead, your opponent cannot attack to advantage. I would probably side out Slum D against decks running very few creatures. I don't think it's worth playing expensive spells or sub-standard spells like Hunger of the Howlpack to try to pump Slum D.
A) Slumbering Dragon is bad bad bad. You won't always have Varolz in play. You more often only have 1 of the 2 in play than both. You say it is still good because of the regenerators to block, but not every deck is an aggro deck. Reanimator and Control won't give a damn about him as he just sits there.
Most often he will just sit there, acting as a pseudo-mulligan on your part. You also won't always have the optimal draws when you do face an aggro deck to make the Dragon work. It isn't even like the payoff is huge when things do go perfect for the Dragon. You are relying on a whole lot of things to go right for Dragon to pay off. And what then? Is he really going to be better than the other cards you could have played? Its not like you are going to win every time things go perfect for the Dragon- and how many games is he going to make you lose?
B) You only have 1 other creature (4 cards- 8 if you count Searing Spear, but you shouldn't) to cast off of a turn 2 Burning Tree Emissary. You also have no reason to sandbag him for later (Like how RG Midrange can cast a turn 2 Gyre Sage, then cast Burning Tree on turn 3 to Evolve Gyre Sage and end up with 4 mana). This makes him pretty much just a Grisly Bear, which is not constructed playable.
C) 3 Mark of Mutiny is too many MB. Some decks won't even have anything to take, and some other decks won't care much. There is a reason Artistocrats.dec doesn't MB them (except the occasional 1x or rarely 2x) despite being based around sacrifice outlets.
D) You want more than 4 one drops in a deck that aims to be so aggressive. Vexing Devil does not count as he will dome for 4, not come down as a threat. Slumbering Dragon does not count because it is not like he will be applying pressure any time soon (and he is bad). You want the one drops even more as you need expendable creatures to sacrifice to Varolz and Falkenrath. 4 Vexing Devil is also probably too many, because as much as he is awesome with Varolz, you really don't want to draw him when you don't draw Varolz.
how about running grisly salvage to flood your graveyard and also increase your chances of pulling Varolz to get the combo working. Also, do you see this deck being competitive vs any of the constructed play lately ? I am just worried it takes a bit too much to happen to make it work.
What would I drop to run Dsphere removal of a pumped creature. That is what I am more worried about happening. Dreadbore too without open land or creatures to sac to make anything regen/indes.
If you run the list I posted- then, yes- it is competitive. Not so much your first draft or any deck with Slumbering Dragons.
Don't run Grisly Salvage and don't think of it or play it like a "combo" or anything you need to get going. The last thing you want to be doing is spending 2 mana to dig and MAYBE bin some cards that will be of marginal use later. This is an aggro deck, and you need to be establishing board presence. Varolz is just another resilient creature that gives you some late game play by turning your dead or discarded guys into +1/+1 counters.
You play it like any other aggro deck, it just has some added resilience and late game play/ways to go over the top against other aggro decks. If you spend your time trying to set up large scavenges/fill your graveyard instead of creating board presence and attacking, you are going to lose.
You can't be super afraid of cards like Detention Sphere. You can't expect to just be immune to all removal. If you know they have it- do your best to play around it- don't scavenge too much onto one creature, don't drop 3 copies of Lotleth Troll into play, don't discard too many creatures to a Lotleth Troll. There is also always Abrupt Decay and Duress.
I don't know why you would be worried about "Dreadbore... without any open land or creatures to sac to... regenerate/indestructible". If you don't have mana up to regenerate that is your own play error. If you play Varolz onto the board with no other creatures you do so knowingly. These things are under your control. Obviously, sometimes you must take calculated risks or throw caution to the wind- but you need to remember, most aggro decks don't have any creatures that regenerate at all- and they can still win games when the opponent plays removal spells.
Remember, you're looking at it from the wrong angle. You aren't trying to make anything work. You shouldn't care if you don't even draw Varolz the whole game. He is just another threat. Do yourself a favor and try out the deck I posted. You don't need to scavenge anything to win- playing cards that interact favorably doesn't make it a combo or any sort of engine that you need to get running- and if you play it like that it will lead to losses. The goal is to get the opponent from 20 to 0, not to put 100 +1/+1 counters on one of your creatures or make a 10/10 Slumbering Dragon or give creatures haste with Exava- you just do whatever you can to bring them to zero life- anything else if just the means to that end. Keep that in mind.
So far in my testing (this could be heavily effected by variance as I obviously have not been playing it for that long)-
The positive match ups are other aggressive decks, junk reanimator, and GW based midrange or token decks
The match ups you don't want to see are Esper control, Jund, and UWR Flash (Putrefy/Tragic Slip and Azorius charm are not your friends)
Jund might not actually be too bad of a match up- Most of my losses to it have also had something to with mana screw/flood or play errors on my part. I will let you know more the more testing I get done if you would like.
This deck is at a good middle ground; due to its resilience it doesn't really have any match ups that are abysmal- but it also doesn't have any match ups that are auto wins.
As for a quick SBing guide, I generally take out the Spike Jesters vs anything with Lingering Souls. Bring out some Rancors vs decks with lots of instant speed removal or that don't really ever block (B/R Zombies). Obviously, swap your removal around accordingly to what you need to kill. The Vexing Devils come out vs decks with Azorius Charm (he is only really there to scavenge, so it sucks to get your pumped up creature charmed and then you are down a card)
The Tormod's Crypts are for Reanimator. The Duress is for control, flash, and even Jund (I would only bring in 2 vs Jund tho). The Appetite is for Reanimator, Jund, or any midrange decks with lots of 4-6 drops. The Tragic Slips are for Falkenrath Artistocrats and mana dorks. The Abrupt Decays are mostly for Boros Reckoner, but can also come in for Detention Spheres and Rest in Peace. The Ultimate Price is for Thundermaw Hellkite, Resoration Angel, and Craterhoof Behemoth. The Pillar is for Voice of Resurgance, Strangleroot Geist, and Zombies, or white/red decks with small creatures.
No. This is an aggro deck. You can't spend your turns trying to stop what they are going to do later. You need to win as fast as possible. The longer the game goes on vs non-aggro decks (you are favored in the long game vs aggro) the less a chance you have of winning. If you are spending your turn casting Slaughter Games, you are not killing them- so you are just letting them get that much closer to stabilizing- even if you take their Sphinx's Revelation or whatever. You also don't even have the mana to support Rakdos's Return, even if you wanted to play it.
Duress is good because it costs only a single mana and helps to stop them from answering your threats.
But on turn 4, you want to be casting Falkenrath Artistocrat and going into the red zone, not durdling around with cards that don't win you the game. It is the same reason you don't want to be running cards like Grisly Salvage.
Good thread. I have a similar deck and posters above already did a good part of the analysis so I won't repeat it all. The only piece that is missing from my testing is Flesh // Blood only for the blood part. I won a few games where I would play ghor-clan on dreg mangler, swing, and blood for lethal. It is also good to clear out blockers and synergizes well with rancor and spike jester. One last thing, falkenrath is hard to stop so tragic slip in the side is a good idea.
As soon as I saw Varolz I knew I would want to build a list around him, here is one I am thinking about trying if I can get last few cards together for it if I can.
I had originally also though about doing the slumbering dragon thing, but after noticing how many 1 and 2 drops this list has, the potential punch of the legion loyalist is like a mini-Hellrider. Less needing to wait/dump into one card. Also, first strike+trample, and evasion from tokens till end of turn? seems good to me, call this a sleeper rare if this deck or similar ones take off.
This deck is also built around also being able to dump a whole lot into lotleth for an alpha strike+blood rush.
Rancor: Always kind of a easy choice for building an quick aggro deck that you want a card that can help get that early dmg through.
Same for Searing spear, helps either get that last bit of damage through, adds combat tricks, or clears the way.
Sideboard:
Abrupt decay: see easy removal. Yes its aggro, doesnt mean you dont need to pack forms of removal for things like spheres, seals, or the odd pithing needle even!
Skullcrack; last thing we need is for our opponent to just need to gain 2+ life to stabilize, decent SB choice IMO.
Domri; just a test atm, but when over half your deck is creatures, seems good.
Creeping Renaissance; just a test atm, but again, against control seems like if you got this off, it could be a blow out if they didnt see it coming.
Blood Scrivener; Control/mid range card, helps us fill our hands after we quickly dump it and fill it some more! possible MB card.
Duress; take your poisons, this, Appetite for brains/etc, to fit the meta, always a good choice.
Chefnatzer, you obviously havn't read the thread. Bad card is bad. It doesn't matter if it synergizes- you want all your cards to be good on their own.
Boros0311
On Dreg Mangler, He competes for the 3 drop slot with Varolz, and his scavenge ability is useless with Varolz in play- Spike Jester serves a similar role. He is a fine card to play but the list is already pretty tight, and he doesn't add too much that you don't already have. Spike Jester gets the nod because you are light on 2 drops otherwise (and would rather have low drops anyway) and he is better with Varolz.
On Mogg Flunkies, Spike Jester is better unless your meta has a ton of Lingering Souls. As bad as the Jester is vs. decks with Lingering (and obv. as I said you side him out), he is an absolute beating vs Jund and other black based aggro decks.
Trust me, just sleeve up the deck is posted, it is pretty close to optimal and has been tested and modified rather thoroughly. The only other worthwhile suggestion I've seen is running Flesh//Blood, but that is only going to be great when you are already ahead. I would rather have cards that will pull me into a winning situation than ones that only secure it once I'm there.
Findlyn- your deck looks like an OK start but you have 1 drops in 3 different colors. You need 12 sources of whatever color your 1 drops are in to come in untapped on turn 1 to be optimal (you have only 8 of each- 10 with Cavern but that then you can't cast your 2 drops- probably shouldn't run Cavern at all with all the different creature types), so you really need to stick to one base color and have all your 1 drops in that color. I would suggest black, since the Zombies synergize well with Varolz (Crawler to sac for regen, and Lotleth to discard). There is no excuse to not run Falkenrath Aristocrat, and Legion Loyalists first strike and trample is almost useless when your guys already regenerate and trample (he also doesn't scavenge for much or have very much of an impact without battalion, which is easy for a skilled opponent to play around). You should really also run a smattering more of removal or other utility. Why would you not run Diregraf Ghoul when you're running Gravecrawler???
Chefnatzer, you obviously havn't read the thread. Bad card is bad. It doesn't matter if it synergizes- you want all your cards to be good on their own.
Boros0311
On Dreg Mangler, He competes for the 3 drop slot with Varolz, and his scavenge ability is useless with Varolz in play- Spike Jester serves a similar role. He is a fine card to play but the list is already pretty tight, and he doesn't add too much that you don't already have. Spike Jester gets the nod because you are light on 2 drops otherwise (and would rather have low drops anyway) and he is better with Varolz.
On Mogg Flunkies, Spike Jester is better unless your meta has a ton of Lingering Souls. As bad as the Jester is vs. decks with Lingering (and obv. as I said you side him out), he is an absolute beating vs Jund and other black based aggro decks.
Trust me, just sleeve up the deck is posted, it is pretty close to optimal and has been tested and modified rather thoroughly. The only other worthwhile suggestion I've seen is running Flesh//Blood, but that is only going to be great when you are already ahead. I would rather have cards that will pull me into a winning situation than ones that only secure it once I'm there.
Findlyn- your deck looks like an OK start but you have 1 drops in 3 different colors. You need 12 sources of whatever color your 1 drops are in to come in untapped on turn 1 to be optimal (you have only 8 of each- 10 with Cavern but that then you can't cast your 2 drops- probably shouldn't run Cavern at all with all the different creature types), so you really need to stick to one base color and have all your 1 drops in that color. I would suggest black, since the Zombies synergize well with Varolz (Crawler to sac for regen, and Lotleth to discard). There is no excuse to not run Falkenrath Aristocrat, and Legion Loyalists first strike and trample is almost useless when your guys already regenerate and trample (he also doesn't scavenge for much or have very much of an impact without battalion, which is easy for a skilled opponent to play around). You should really also run a smattering more of removal or other utility. Why would you not run Diregraf Ghoul when you're running Gravecrawler???
was wondering why u didn't choose geralf's messenger (i assume cuz it competes at the 3 drop slot and the CMC) because i'd figure if u put in some caverns it wouldn't be that difficult to use. anyway, love your list. ill try it
Geralf's Messenger is a powerful card, and it wouldn't be too bad to have 6-8 3 drops to fit in such a powerful creature- but the thing is - this deck is 3 colors. Cavern might help with that, if your off color spells were Zombies- but, besides Lotleth, they are not.
You have Varolz at 1BG, Spike Jester at BR, Aristocrat at 2BR, Searing Spear at 1R, Dreadbore at BR, Abrupt Decay at BG, Rancor at G, Vexing Devil at R, Pillar at R, and especially Ghor-Clan at RG or 2RG- and those cards are all non-Zombie.
This deck runs on a low mana curve, and if you have a land that you can't use to cast a large portion of your spells- you are going to be in trouble. The biggest mistake many less experienced deckbuilders make is not respecting their mana. Your mana is the most important part of your deck. It doesn't matter how powerful your spells are if you can not cast them or cast them on time.
Cavern really has no place in this deck. Competent control players will side out their counterspells vs you anyway- and it will trip up your mana much more than it will ever help you.
The only non-black spell that Cavern naming Zombie would help you cast is Lotleth Troll- and even if you more often used the Cavern calling something other than Zombie, what would you call? Troll, Warrior, Vampire, Beast? There is just not enough overlap. Not only that, but there are non-creature spells that you want to cast in both Red and Green, and even Ghor-Clan's Bloodrush in both colors.
Even if you dropped all of the non-creature spells in one of the colors, if you want to fit in Messenger, you won't be able to have more than 8-10 sources of your other colors (and any more than 8 and you have to run Guildgates- Then if you run Guildgates, your M13 duals won't be consistently untapped). It just isn't consistent.
There is a reason BRG Zombies never caught on before- despite Lotleth Troll being more powerful than any other options BR Zombies had at the 2 slot. Cavern naming Zombie isn't really any better than just a Swamp when you think about it. This isn't even to mention, that even if you can cast Messenger off a Cavern, the Cavern won't produce colored mana if you want to scavenge him.
Emissary is a little awkward at times, but it allows for some very explosive draws. The only other real option for that slot would be LolTroll and my creatures will likely die enough as it is to show up in the graveyard. Sideboard is heavily meta based, but it should hold for most events.
Standard: RWUJeskai Modern: RWGBurn, GRWUBSlivers Legacy: RBurn EDH: RWGUBSliver Overlord, UWGeist of Saint Traft (Tiny Leaders) Current decklists are posted here
Blaklanner , you need more creatures that you can cast off Burning Tree Emissary on turn 2 to make him worthwhile. In your deck, more often than not, he is just a Grisly Bear. The few times he will function properly does not make up for this. You also need more than 8 mountains for Flinthoof Boar.
4 Flesh//Blood is most definitely too many. You need more 1 and 2 drops as well. Vexing Devil doesn't count because he will only function as a burn spell early game. Olivia is out of place in a deck with 22 lands.
Also, you need more untapped turn 1 green sources to reliably cast Experiment One.
And you are missing the point on Lotleth Troll- the creature pitch isn't why he is good- it is just icing. Cheap regeneration and trample are very strong.
As I said before, your mana base comes first. It doesn't matter how powerful your spells are if you can not cast them on time.
Discard outlet, trample, regeneration. I might be missing something here, but why the hell not run five of these other than getting disqualified?
As for some of these other list, I like the Emissaries and Exp.1s with Aristocrat. +1/+1 for Aristocrat's sacrifice seems to be a bonus, but do those two humans really belong here? This deck feels like it won't beat out naya aggro when you pretend it curves like naya aggro. Silverblade Paladin the the soul bond haster were pretty solid picks to support those cards and they dont/wont exist here.
Putrefy has taken off big in my meta, lots of Jund Midrange players. Troll is hardly bad, just try not to rely on the regen too much.
As far as my deck goes, 12 creatures come off Emissary but, as I said, Troll might take its place. I do admit that the mana can get awkward at times. I have could possibly cut 2 Summits and 2 Cemeteries to add 2 Forest and 2 Mountain, but am worried about having black sources. If I do add Troll, that will mean I need a decent amount more black mana than I currently do, so I will likely have to keep them in. Perhaps adding only one of each would work as my GR Aggro/Midrange only runs 9 "Mountains" and I almost never have trouble with the Boar getting pumped when it comes out.
I cannot cut more than maybe one Blood. In playtesting, I have too many wins off of Bloodrush/Blood and Devil/Scavenge/Blood or the like. I never plan on having the mana to cast the Flesh side. It provides me with the reach the deck desperately needs.
Standard: RWUJeskai Modern: RWGBurn, GRWUBSlivers Legacy: RBurn EDH: RWGUBSliver Overlord, UWGeist of Saint Traft (Tiny Leaders) Current decklists are posted here
Went 4-0 against my buddy playing Junk rites. So far, solid deck, will try at a local tourny tmrw, hopefully i can play with the aggro and control decks in my local meta. Thanks 1000.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Add/Drop Quantity?
4 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
4 Vexing Devils
4 Ash Zealot
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Hellrider
4 Dreadbore
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Searing Spear
I do not know how my land will look, something along the lines of shocklands obviously and the dual lands that drop without the 2 life expense. Ideas ?
Other cards I have been thinking of adding...
Flintboar - Spike Jester - Strangleroot Geist - Dreg Mangler - Ambush Viper
Slaughter Games - Far seek
Ideas ? Suggestions ? Thanks
Another card you should look into is Slumbering Dragon. It is a R cost 3/3-base creature that is perfect with Varolz.
Also, over Ash Zealot I would probably use Strangleroot Geist for its resiliency to removal and being great sac fodder for Varolz regening. I also like Spike Jester over Cackler because you can potentially do more damage with it sooner.
Rather than Abrupt Decay, which should be in your sideboard, try Putrefy. It will be more useful to you than Abrupt Decay unless you're going up against a ton of Aggro.
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
I am not a huge fan of trying to get Ash Zealot into Varolz. That could be a bit awkward. The list I have been putting together focuses more on the zombie theme.
Lotleth troll, gravecrawler, blood scrivener. Add in Varolz, Vexing Devil, and top out at Ghor-Clan Rampager and I think there is some synergy there.
Corpsejack Menace would also not be good here for similar reasons to Exava. You just don't have nearly enough +1/+1 counter generation to make them good.
If you don't want to play Slumbering Dragon, then Lotleth Troll would be similarly good with Varolz because it can discard Scavenge fodder for it.
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
Boros Reckoner is going to be next to impossible to cast in a BGR deck. I know he is good and all but we need to be realistic. Did you try to work out a mana base???
I see what you are doing with Xava, trying to grant haste through Varolz, but a lot has to go right for that to work out, and you really don't want a whole lot of 4 drops- since Varolz is going to give you plenty of things to do with your mana late game. The last thing you want to do in a deck like this is be top heavy. Not only that, she is legendary- so you don't want 4 even if you play her (and you probably shouldn't- at least until Falkenrath rotates).
The best place to go for a 4 drop besides Falkenrath Aristocrat is Ghor-Clan Rampager, since he is a combat trick or burn spell more than half the time as to not clog you up on 4 drops. Granting trample to your guy with scavenge counters is also very good.
You only have 8 creatures that cost less than 3 mana (Vexing Devil doesn't count, since he will just dome for 4). Not only is this not acceptable for curve purposes in an aggro deck, but you really want inexpensive creatures to scavenge and to sacrifice to regenerate Varolz as well.
Lotleth Troll is really good with Varolz, as you can pitch guys to scavenge onto Lotleth, who conveniently has trample to make use of all those tokens, and regenerates so you don't get blown out. Since Lotleth Troll is a zombie- it then makes sense to run Gravecrawler and Diregraf Ghould.
Gravecrawler is not only awesome to pitch to Lotleth Troll, since you can bring him right back- but he is perfect to sacrifice to sacrifice to Varolz to regenerate- since you can bring him back. Diregraf and Crawler are both awesome to scavenge because 2 counters for one mana is a good deal (keep in mind the Cackler only scavenges for 1 counter). These cards will give you the early aggression you so badly need.
4 Vexing Devil is probably too many, because he stone cold sucks in this deck without a Varolz in play. He is still worth playing 2 or 3 because with Varolz he is just insane.
This list has 40 cards. You really cannot expect to play 3 colors with 8 4 drops and only 20 lands- especially when you are trying to run 4 spells that cost RRR (though that needs to get dropped anyway).
Whatever you do, do not listen to people telling you to play Slumbering Dragon. The card is bad, and Varolz making him better doesn't make him good. There will also be times when you don't draw Varolz.
Spike Jester should be in in some number, because he is explosive and scavenges for a lot- I would only run 2 though, because he eats it hard vs lingering souls.
So in short, you need to drop the Boros Reckoner because you won't be able to cast him. Run Falkenrath Aristocrat as your main 4 drop because it is just better than the other options in almost every way. Lower your curve and change your primary color from Red to Black so you can run Zombies to have more synergy with Varolz as well as better early game. Run Ghor-Clan Rampagers because Bloodrush is awesome with Varolz's scavenge and it gives you a possible 4 drop that won't clog your hand early. Run less removal because it will often be dead. Run more lands (I would run 22). Don't run Slumbering Dragon because it is a bad card.
I propose this list for you. Keep in mind this is not hypothetical, I have tested it to much success against the known tier 1 and tier 2 decks of the format.
// Lands
3 Rootbound Crag
3 Stomping Ground
4 Swamp
2 Woodland Cemetery
4 Blood Crypt
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Dragonskull Summit
// Creatures
4 Gravecrawler
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Lotleth Troll
4 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
2 Vexing Devil
2 Rakdos Cackler
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
2 Spike Jester
// Spells
2 Searing Spear
1 Pillar of Flame
2 Dreadbore
3 Rancor
1 Ultimate Price
// Sideboard
SB: 1 Pillar of Flame
SB: 1 Ultimate Price
SB: 3 Duress
SB: 2 Abrupt Decay
SB: 4 Tragic Slip
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Appetite for Brains
Someone commented that you need to run Putrefy MB to be able to deal with all sorts of threats. That isn't necessary, as you want to be the aggressor- the removal is primarily just to clear the way for your attackers, not to deal with threats.
As far as the removal suite goes- the Dreadbores (and SB Decays) are necessary to deal with Boros Reckoner- who can give you fits depending on your draw. The Decays are there in the sb over more Dreadbores as they will occasionally deal with something like Rest in Peace or Detention Sphere. The Ultimate Price is there to deal with Restoration Angel and Thundermaw Hellkite since Dreadbore is not an instant. I guess they could be Putrefy- but 2 mana is a lot less than 3 in an aggro deck. The Tragic Slips need to be there and need to be a 4 of because Falkenrath Aristocrat is no joke. You need to be able to deal with her. They also do a good job at taking out Mana Dorks and opposing regenerators. The Pillars are for Voice of Resurgance and Undying creatures (as well as the occasional Gravecrawler).
Tormod's Crypt is in the board instead of Ground Seal because you really would rather use your mana to continue applying pressure against reanimator than to draw the extra card.
The mana base is really solid- having 16 black sources (you want a lot because you often need to keep B up to regenerate Lotleth, as well as cast your mainly black spells and scavenge your mainly black creatures) and 12 of each Red and Green. No card in the deck requires more than one of any single color, making your spells easy to cast.
Rancor is an awesome addition to the deck, as it gives you explosive early plays (even lets your 1 drops swing into a Loxodon Smiter)- as well as granting trample to whatever guy you have scavenged up. It is also awesome to Rancor a Gravecrawler and just dare them to kill it.
I would also like to mention that I have tested Blood Scrivener (as has been suggested by others), and he just doesn't cut it. Going Hellbent is generally bad, and it isn't even always possible when you run removal, combat tricks, and 4 drops. Often they will just wait until you empty your hand and then kill him, leaving you totally boned. The 2/1 body is also not very effective in combat.
The 12 Zombies (Crawler, Lotleth, Ghoul) tend to be enough to activate Gravecrawler when you need to, especially because you will often just want to scavenge them instead of rebuying them anyway.
4x Dragonskull Summit
4x Blood Crypt
4x Stomping Ground
4x Overgrown Tomb
3x Mountain
4x Forest
4x Experiment One
4x Vexing Devil
3x Slumbering Dragon
2x Lotleth Troll
4x Burning-Tree Emissary
4x Flinthoof Boar
4x Varolz, the Scar-Striped
4x Falkenrath Aristocrat
1x Ghor-Clan Rampager
4x Searing Spear
3x Mark of Mutiny
Playing 3 colors without any mana fixing other than Burning-Tree means that the full set of duals go in. It doesn't work without them. Most of the spells are cheap, but there are added mana costs, particularly when scavenging with Varolz, so 23 lands are needed.
Experiment One can easily evolve to 4/4 in this deck, and after turn 4 it's a human to regen and pump Falkenrath. Being able to sac 2 counters to regenerate helps against removal as well.
I don't like Vexing Devil in most decks, but it's huge with Varolz and it enters play to evolve Experiment One even if your opponent takes the 4.
Lotleth isn't great in this deck, but it can win on its own sometimes and it's handy when you draw multiple Varolz, so 2 seems right.
I think Burning-Tree and Flinthoof are too good to leave out of an aggro deck playing GR.
This deck isn't built around Falkenrath, but it's still very good. Sacrificing creatures hardly slows you down at all if Varolz is in play.
Mark of Mutiny gives you wins out of nowhere by stealing your opponent's big dude, and with 8 sac outlets in the deck it's also good removal that deals with problem creatures like Boros Reckoner and Thragtusk.
The most recent addition to the deck is Slumbering Dragon. I tried it in different versions and didn't like it, but in this deck it's pretty good. The interaction with Varolz is obvious, but the other thing that helps is that this deck has 14 creatures that regenerate. If the opponent plans to win with creatures, he/she usually needs to attack with several guys to get any damage through. Slum D is a house in that situation.
This is a very typical situation. Your opponent has 1 Flinthoof Boar and 2 Loxodon Smiters. You have 1 Slumbering Dragon with no counters, 1 Burning-Tree Emissary, and 1 Varolz in play and a Searing Spear in hand. Your opponent attacks with 3/3, 4/4, 4/4 into your Slum D which can do nothing and your 2/2, 2/2. It seems like you are totally outclassed.
You add 3 counters to Slum D, then Spear the Boar. You chump block both Smiters and sac the BTE to regen Varolz taking no damage. Next turn even if you have no cards in hand and top deck a land, you can scavenge BTE onto Slum D and attack in the air for 8 (and Slum D will keep growing if your opponent keeps attacking). Admittedly Varolz helps a lot in that scenario, but even if you have Lotleth instead, your opponent cannot attack to advantage. I would probably side out Slum D against decks running very few creatures. I don't think it's worth playing expensive spells or sub-standard spells like Hunger of the Howlpack to try to pump Slum D.
I'd appreciate any feedback you have.
A) Slumbering Dragon is bad bad bad. You won't always have Varolz in play. You more often only have 1 of the 2 in play than both. You say it is still good because of the regenerators to block, but not every deck is an aggro deck. Reanimator and Control won't give a damn about him as he just sits there.
Most often he will just sit there, acting as a pseudo-mulligan on your part. You also won't always have the optimal draws when you do face an aggro deck to make the Dragon work. It isn't even like the payoff is huge when things do go perfect for the Dragon. You are relying on a whole lot of things to go right for Dragon to pay off. And what then? Is he really going to be better than the other cards you could have played? Its not like you are going to win every time things go perfect for the Dragon- and how many games is he going to make you lose?
B) You only have 1 other creature (4 cards- 8 if you count Searing Spear, but you shouldn't) to cast off of a turn 2 Burning Tree Emissary. You also have no reason to sandbag him for later (Like how RG Midrange can cast a turn 2 Gyre Sage, then cast Burning Tree on turn 3 to Evolve Gyre Sage and end up with 4 mana). This makes him pretty much just a Grisly Bear, which is not constructed playable.
C) 3 Mark of Mutiny is too many MB. Some decks won't even have anything to take, and some other decks won't care much. There is a reason Artistocrats.dec doesn't MB them (except the occasional 1x or rarely 2x) despite being based around sacrifice outlets.
D) You want more than 4 one drops in a deck that aims to be so aggressive. Vexing Devil does not count as he will dome for 4, not come down as a threat. Slumbering Dragon does not count because it is not like he will be applying pressure any time soon (and he is bad). You want the one drops even more as you need expendable creatures to sacrifice to Varolz and Falkenrath. 4 Vexing Devil is also probably too many, because as much as he is awesome with Varolz, you really don't want to draw him when you don't draw Varolz.
What would I drop to run Dsphere removal of a pumped creature. That is what I am more worried about happening. Dreadbore too without open land or creatures to sac to make anything regen/indes.
Don't run Grisly Salvage and don't think of it or play it like a "combo" or anything you need to get going. The last thing you want to be doing is spending 2 mana to dig and MAYBE bin some cards that will be of marginal use later. This is an aggro deck, and you need to be establishing board presence. Varolz is just another resilient creature that gives you some late game play by turning your dead or discarded guys into +1/+1 counters.
You play it like any other aggro deck, it just has some added resilience and late game play/ways to go over the top against other aggro decks. If you spend your time trying to set up large scavenges/fill your graveyard instead of creating board presence and attacking, you are going to lose.
You can't be super afraid of cards like Detention Sphere. You can't expect to just be immune to all removal. If you know they have it- do your best to play around it- don't scavenge too much onto one creature, don't drop 3 copies of Lotleth Troll into play, don't discard too many creatures to a Lotleth Troll. There is also always Abrupt Decay and Duress.
I don't know why you would be worried about "Dreadbore... without any open land or creatures to sac to... regenerate/indestructible". If you don't have mana up to regenerate that is your own play error. If you play Varolz onto the board with no other creatures you do so knowingly. These things are under your control. Obviously, sometimes you must take calculated risks or throw caution to the wind- but you need to remember, most aggro decks don't have any creatures that regenerate at all- and they can still win games when the opponent plays removal spells.
Remember, you're looking at it from the wrong angle. You aren't trying to make anything work. You shouldn't care if you don't even draw Varolz the whole game. He is just another threat. Do yourself a favor and try out the deck I posted. You don't need to scavenge anything to win- playing cards that interact favorably doesn't make it a combo or any sort of engine that you need to get running- and if you play it like that it will lead to losses. The goal is to get the opponent from 20 to 0, not to put 100 +1/+1 counters on one of your creatures or make a 10/10 Slumbering Dragon or give creatures haste with Exava- you just do whatever you can to bring them to zero life- anything else if just the means to that end. Keep that in mind.
3 Stomping Ground
4 Swamp
2 Woodland Cemetery
4 Blood Crypt
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Dragonskull Summit
4 Gravecrawler
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Lotleth Troll
4 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
2 Vexing Devil
2 Rakdos Cackler
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
2 Spike Jester
1 Pillar of Flame
2 Dreadbore
3 Rancor
1 Ultimate Price
1 Ultimate Price
3 Duress
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Tragic Slip
3 Tormod's Crypt
1 Appetite for Brains
So far in my testing (this could be heavily effected by variance as I obviously have not been playing it for that long)-
The positive match ups are other aggressive decks, junk reanimator, and GW based midrange or token decks
The match ups you don't want to see are Esper control, Jund, and UWR Flash (Putrefy/Tragic Slip and Azorius charm are not your friends)
Jund might not actually be too bad of a match up- Most of my losses to it have also had something to with mana screw/flood or play errors on my part. I will let you know more the more testing I get done if you would like.
This deck is at a good middle ground; due to its resilience it doesn't really have any match ups that are abysmal- but it also doesn't have any match ups that are auto wins.
As for a quick SBing guide, I generally take out the Spike Jesters vs anything with Lingering Souls. Bring out some Rancors vs decks with lots of instant speed removal or that don't really ever block (B/R Zombies). Obviously, swap your removal around accordingly to what you need to kill. The Vexing Devils come out vs decks with Azorius Charm (he is only really there to scavenge, so it sucks to get your pumped up creature charmed and then you are down a card)
The Tormod's Crypts are for Reanimator. The Duress is for control, flash, and even Jund (I would only bring in 2 vs Jund tho). The Appetite is for Reanimator, Jund, or any midrange decks with lots of 4-6 drops. The Tragic Slips are for Falkenrath Artistocrats and mana dorks. The Abrupt Decays are mostly for Boros Reckoner, but can also come in for Detention Spheres and Rest in Peace. The Ultimate Price is for Thundermaw Hellkite, Resoration Angel, and Craterhoof Behemoth. The Pillar is for Voice of Resurgance, Strangleroot Geist, and Zombies, or white/red decks with small creatures.
also... Rakdo's return ?
Duress is good because it costs only a single mana and helps to stop them from answering your threats.
But on turn 4, you want to be casting Falkenrath Artistocrat and going into the red zone, not durdling around with cards that don't win you the game. It is the same reason you don't want to be running cards like Grisly Salvage.
4 Dryad Militant
4 Gravecrawler
4 Legion Loyalist
4 Vexing Devil
4 Lotleth Troll
4 Spike Jester
4 Varolz, the Scar-striped
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
3 Searing Spear
Enchantments(4)
4 Rancor
Lands(22)
4 Blood Crypt
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Dragonskull Summit
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground
4 Woodland Cemetary
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Skullcrack
2 Domri Rade
2 Creeping Renaissance
3 Blood Scrivener
2 Duress
I had originally also though about doing the slumbering dragon thing, but after noticing how many 1 and 2 drops this list has, the potential punch of the legion loyalist is like a mini-Hellrider. Less needing to wait/dump into one card. Also, first strike+trample, and evasion from tokens till end of turn? seems good to me, call this a sleeper rare if this deck or similar ones take off.
This deck is also built around also being able to dump a whole lot into lotleth for an alpha strike+blood rush.
Rancor: Always kind of a easy choice for building an quick aggro deck that you want a card that can help get that early dmg through.
Same for Searing spear, helps either get that last bit of damage through, adds combat tricks, or clears the way.
Sideboard:
Abrupt decay: see easy removal. Yes its aggro, doesnt mean you dont need to pack forms of removal for things like spheres, seals, or the odd pithing needle even!
Skullcrack; last thing we need is for our opponent to just need to gain 2+ life to stabilize, decent SB choice IMO.
Domri; just a test atm, but when over half your deck is creatures, seems good.
Creeping Renaissance; just a test atm, but again, against control seems like if you got this off, it could be a blow out if they didnt see it coming.
Blood Scrivener; Control/mid range card, helps us fill our hands after we quickly dump it and fill it some more! possible MB card.
Duress; take your poisons, this, Appetite for brains/etc, to fit the meta, always a good choice.
Boros0311
On Dreg Mangler, He competes for the 3 drop slot with Varolz, and his scavenge ability is useless with Varolz in play- Spike Jester serves a similar role. He is a fine card to play but the list is already pretty tight, and he doesn't add too much that you don't already have. Spike Jester gets the nod because you are light on 2 drops otherwise (and would rather have low drops anyway) and he is better with Varolz.
On Mogg Flunkies, Spike Jester is better unless your meta has a ton of Lingering Souls. As bad as the Jester is vs. decks with Lingering (and obv. as I said you side him out), he is an absolute beating vs Jund and other black based aggro decks.
Trust me, just sleeve up the deck is posted, it is pretty close to optimal and has been tested and modified rather thoroughly. The only other worthwhile suggestion I've seen is running Flesh//Blood, but that is only going to be great when you are already ahead. I would rather have cards that will pull me into a winning situation than ones that only secure it once I'm there.
Findlyn- your deck looks like an OK start but you have 1 drops in 3 different colors. You need 12 sources of whatever color your 1 drops are in to come in untapped on turn 1 to be optimal (you have only 8 of each- 10 with Cavern but that then you can't cast your 2 drops- probably shouldn't run Cavern at all with all the different creature types), so you really need to stick to one base color and have all your 1 drops in that color. I would suggest black, since the Zombies synergize well with Varolz (Crawler to sac for regen, and Lotleth to discard). There is no excuse to not run Falkenrath Aristocrat, and Legion Loyalists first strike and trample is almost useless when your guys already regenerate and trample (he also doesn't scavenge for much or have very much of an impact without battalion, which is easy for a skilled opponent to play around). You should really also run a smattering more of removal or other utility. Why would you not run Diregraf Ghoul when you're running Gravecrawler???
was wondering why u didn't choose geralf's messenger (i assume cuz it competes at the 3 drop slot and the CMC) because i'd figure if u put in some caverns it wouldn't be that difficult to use. anyway, love your list. ill try it
Geralf's Messenger is a powerful card, and it wouldn't be too bad to have 6-8 3 drops to fit in such a powerful creature- but the thing is - this deck is 3 colors. Cavern might help with that, if your off color spells were Zombies- but, besides Lotleth, they are not.
You have Varolz at 1BG, Spike Jester at BR, Aristocrat at 2BR, Searing Spear at 1R, Dreadbore at BR, Abrupt Decay at BG, Rancor at G, Vexing Devil at R, Pillar at R, and especially Ghor-Clan at RG or 2RG- and those cards are all non-Zombie.
This deck runs on a low mana curve, and if you have a land that you can't use to cast a large portion of your spells- you are going to be in trouble.
The biggest mistake many less experienced deckbuilders make is not respecting their mana. Your mana is the most important part of your deck. It doesn't matter how powerful your spells are if you can not cast them or cast them on time.
Cavern really has no place in this deck. Competent control players will side out their counterspells vs you anyway- and it will trip up your mana much more than it will ever help you.
The only non-black spell that Cavern naming Zombie would help you cast is Lotleth Troll- and even if you more often used the Cavern calling something other than Zombie, what would you call? Troll, Warrior, Vampire, Beast? There is just not enough overlap. Not only that, but there are non-creature spells that you want to cast in both Red and Green, and even Ghor-Clan's Bloodrush in both colors.
Even if you dropped all of the non-creature spells in one of the colors, if you want to fit in Messenger, you won't be able to have more than 8-10 sources of your other colors (and any more than 8 and you have to run Guildgates- Then if you run Guildgates, your M13 duals won't be consistently untapped). It just isn't consistent.
There is a reason BRG Zombies never caught on before- despite Lotleth Troll being more powerful than any other options BR Zombies had at the 2 slot. Cavern naming Zombie isn't really any better than just a Swamp when you think about it. This isn't even to mention, that even if you can cast Messenger off a Cavern, the Cavern won't produce colored mana if you want to scavenge him.
4 Experiment One
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Flinthoof Boar
3 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
1 Olivia Voldaren
4 Flesh // Blood
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Putrefy
3 Domri Rade
3 Dragonskull Summit
3 Woodland Cemetery
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Stomping Ground
3 Appetite for Brains
3 Pillar of Flame
2 Dreadbore
2 Golgari Charm
3 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Olivia Voldaren
Emissary is a little awkward at times, but it allows for some very explosive draws. The only other real option for that slot would be LolTroll and my creatures will likely die enough as it is to show up in the graveyard. Sideboard is heavily meta based, but it should hold for most events.
DCI Rules Advisor
MTGO/Cockatrice: BlakLanner
My YouTube Channel
Modern: RWGBurn, GRWUBSlivers
Legacy: RBurn
EDH: RWGUBSliver Overlord, UWGeist of Saint Traft (Tiny Leaders)
Current decklists are posted here
4 Flesh//Blood is most definitely too many. You need more 1 and 2 drops as well. Vexing Devil doesn't count because he will only function as a burn spell early game. Olivia is out of place in a deck with 22 lands.
Also, you need more untapped turn 1 green sources to reliably cast Experiment One.
And you are missing the point on Lotleth Troll- the creature pitch isn't why he is good- it is just icing. Cheap regeneration and trample are very strong.
As I said before, your mana base comes first. It doesn't matter how powerful your spells are if you can not cast them on time.
Discard outlet, trample, regeneration. I might be missing something here, but why the hell not run five of these other than getting disqualified?
As for some of these other list, I like the Emissaries and Exp.1s with Aristocrat. +1/+1 for Aristocrat's sacrifice seems to be a bonus, but do those two humans really belong here? This deck feels like it won't beat out naya aggro when you pretend it curves like naya aggro. Silverblade Paladin the the soul bond haster were pretty solid picks to support those cards and they dont/wont exist here.
As far as my deck goes, 12 creatures come off Emissary but, as I said, Troll might take its place. I do admit that the mana can get awkward at times. I have could possibly cut 2 Summits and 2 Cemeteries to add 2 Forest and 2 Mountain, but am worried about having black sources. If I do add Troll, that will mean I need a decent amount more black mana than I currently do, so I will likely have to keep them in. Perhaps adding only one of each would work as my GR Aggro/Midrange only runs 9 "Mountains" and I almost never have trouble with the Boar getting pumped when it comes out.
I cannot cut more than maybe one Blood. In playtesting, I have too many wins off of Bloodrush/Blood and Devil/Scavenge/Blood or the like. I never plan on having the mana to cast the Flesh side. It provides me with the reach the deck desperately needs.
DCI Rules Advisor
MTGO/Cockatrice: BlakLanner
My YouTube Channel
Modern: RWGBurn, GRWUBSlivers
Legacy: RBurn
EDH: RWGUBSliver Overlord, UWGeist of Saint Traft (Tiny Leaders)
Current decklists are posted here