Hello, just wanted to start off saying that I haven't played standard for a bit and am not to sure about the format, but I wanted to get back in. Thank you for looking and possibly helping me.
Using Groundskeeper I can keep recycling a basic to hit for 2 damage for every 3 mana I have avaliable. Gitrog allows me to draw with each discarded land possibly allowing me to keep pinging for 2. With Mina and Guul I can keep bouncing a Smoldering Marsh to reduce the cost of Mina's ability to 1 green mana and giving out +2/+0 pumps for each land played. To help with the flow I decided to add Retreat to Hagra for a little life steal.
Other cards I looked at: Tireless Tracker would allow for another path to drawing cards, plus can grow into a beating stick. Tunneling Geopede would replace Guul Draz to lower the cost of the deck and allows for more direct damage without having to attack. Cryptolith Rite would replace the Deathcap if I wanted to use cheaper creatures as they don't have much affect other than sitting there and using them for mana would be better than just the Deathcaps. Crawling Sensation would work with the Vortex's discarding land, but didn't see it to helpful as it triggers only once a turn. Zendikar Resurgent would be to finish off the game on the following turn, but at the cost I didn't see it as that useful, plus if Groundskeeper wasn't already a target, it wouldn't live most of the time after this was played.
I can see this deck having a problem with decks that mill or have heavy control, but should have a good game versus midrange and agro. Well, that is most of what I have worked on, still waiting for cards to come in then I can test the deck myself. So no results as of yet.
After a few play tests, I got the feeling that the higher cost cards didn't seem to really cut it. I also was drawing to many Vortex and Grounds. So I made a few changes to the card counts and lowered the overall cost of the deck.
I added draw to the deck as not having lands in hand can be a problem. Since most of my creatures will be sitting out of combat I added Cryptolith Rite to help with the flow of mana and give me more resource for Vortex. I also added Zendikar Resurgent as an end game card, giving me a way to draw from just about anything I play to get Burn from Within into hand and finish that turn or next. This is the deck I will be testing now.
Haven't been able to test the deck that much but so far it seems that the high end is not of much use so I will work using the low cost part of the deck. Also will change a few numbers on the quantity of some cards as I get multiples with no benefit. Will update the first post when I get better play test results.
So, I like the new The Gitrog Monster card and saw some potential with Molten Vortex and decided to try a new deck idea.
4x Groundskeeper
3x Deathcap Cultivator
4x The Gitrog Monster
3x Mina and Denn, Wildborn
3x Guul Draz Overseer
2x Nissa, Vastwood Seer
3x Oblivion Sower
1x Omnath, Locus of Rage
Sorcery
3x Sylvan Scrying
2x Animist's Awakening
4x Molten Vortex
3x Retreat to Hagra
Land
4x Game Trail
2x Cinder Glade
4x Smoldering Marsh
2x Llanowar Wastes
2x Drownyard Temple
4x Evolving Wilds
3x Forest
3x Mountain
1x Swamp
4x Jaddi Offshoot
4x Crater Elemental
3x Languish
2x Fall of the Titans
2x Seasons Past
The idea is to try and abuse the Molten Vortex with Groundskeeper or maximize with The Gitrog Monster, with a backup plan with Mina and Denn, Wildborn and Guul Draz Overseer.
Using Groundskeeper I can keep recycling a basic to hit for 2 damage for every 3 mana I have avaliable. Gitrog allows me to draw with each discarded land possibly allowing me to keep pinging for 2. With Mina and Guul I can keep bouncing a Smoldering Marsh to reduce the cost of Mina's ability to 1 green mana and giving out +2/+0 pumps for each land played. To help with the flow I decided to add Retreat to Hagra for a little life steal.
Other cards I looked at:
Tireless Tracker would allow for another path to drawing cards, plus can grow into a beating stick.
Tunneling Geopede would replace Guul Draz to lower the cost of the deck and allows for more direct damage without having to attack.
Cryptolith Rite would replace the Deathcap if I wanted to use cheaper creatures as they don't have much affect other than sitting there and using them for mana would be better than just the Deathcaps.
Crawling Sensation would work with the Vortex's discarding land, but didn't see it to helpful as it triggers only once a turn.
Zendikar Resurgent would be to finish off the game on the following turn, but at the cost I didn't see it as that useful, plus if Groundskeeper wasn't already a target, it wouldn't live most of the time after this was played.
I can see this deck having a problem with decks that mill or have heavy control, but should have a good game versus midrange and agro. Well, that is most of what I have worked on, still waiting for cards to come in then I can test the deck myself. So no results as of yet.
After a few play tests, I got the feeling that the higher cost cards didn't seem to really cut it. I also was drawing to many Vortex and Grounds. So I made a few changes to the card counts and lowered the overall cost of the deck.
3x Groundskeeper
3x Tireless Tracker
3x Tunneling Geopede
2x Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2x Mina and Denn, Wildborn
3x The Gitrog Monster
Sorceries
3x Magmatic Insight
2x Sylvan Scrying
2x Burn from Within
Enchantments
3x Molten Vortex
3x Cryptolith Rite
3x Retreat to Hagra
2x Zendikar Resurgent
2x Ob Nixilis Reignited
Lands
3x Game Trail
3x Smoldering Marsh
3x Drownyard Temple
4x Evolving Wilds
5x Mountain
4x Forest
2x Swamp
4x Jaddi Offshoot
3x Crater Elemental
3x Radiant Flames
2x Seasons Past
3x Asylum Visitor
I added draw to the deck as not having lands in hand can be a problem. Since most of my creatures will be sitting out of combat I added Cryptolith Rite to help with the flow of mana and give me more resource for Vortex. I also added Zendikar Resurgent as an end game card, giving me a way to draw from just about anything I play to get Burn from Within into hand and finish that turn or next. This is the deck I will be testing now.
(Thx to Craven of Epic Graphics)
(Thx to Craven of Epic Graphics)