History:
I've always loved the Golgari color combination, but I was never really happy with the generals they had available. The initial G/B deck was Savra, and it was full of sac/recur Grave Pact shenanigans. It kept the board clear through some Rube Goldberg contraptions, but it never really had a way to win. I switched the general over to Nath of the Gilt-Leaf so that I could insert some control as I assembled chains of Rune-Scarred Demon and Primeval Titan into the obvious Urborg/Coffers and Rude Awakening into a massive Exsanguinate. It won, but it took me a while to set up the win, and my playgroup didn't like how long it took and I didn't either. I also didn't like that this deck operated on a single wincon.
Enter Jarad. His ability gave me another way to win. RWF_Less's list (http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=438443) was ground zero for Jarad brainstorming. The deck, like my original G/B frame, was chock-full of creatures waiting to the hit the GY with a heavy dredge theme supported by Hermit Druid.
However, maybe it's just me, but the creature route always seemed to play much too slow for my tastes. In exchange for possible recursion, creatures gave up efficiency in mana cost. ex. Rune-Scarred -> Diabolic Tutor, Yavimaya Granger & friends ->Explosive Growth, Phyrexian Delver->Reanimate, etc. With Primeval Titan being the main creature keeping the list together, his ban hit the deck hard; I decided to fill the deck up with sorceries instead. My original idea for the deck was to storm off into Tendrils of Agony, but I don't think I have enough support for that without just going infinite.
Card Choices and How to Play
First off, there's more than 100 cards; I'll cut them down to size after assembling all the pieces.
36 Sorcery cards and only 13 creatures! Doesn't buff Jarad much, but don't worry, he shouldn't be swinging much. If he wanted to, there's Runechanter's Pike to buff him, but it's there to buff other sac fodder such as Bloodghast to Jarad's ability.
Also, there's a boatload of basic lands and all the usual dual suspects are nowhere to be seen. I decided to go basic heavy due to the amount of basic land ramp we have, especially with Boundless Realms. Having a bunch of swamps also helps Cabal Coffers get online without relying on Urborg too much.
Cycle lands are in for Life from the Loam engine. A single turn can mill a decent amount; hope I don't get blown out by grave hate.
This deck is, for the most part, a budget list. I lack both the ABUR dual and shockland. It is also the reason why I don't have Damnation, Entomb, or Maelstrom Pulse. They are replaced by other, more budget friendly options. Maybe I'll get around to obtaining them, but for right now, I'm okay.
Gameplan:
Early game: Ramp, ramp, ramp, draw cards
Midgame: Set up graveyard or other combos
Lategame: Win (hopefully)
Ways to win:
1. A full graveyard gets Lord of Extinction or Sewer Nemesis to be fat enough to win with Jarad's ability. Barring that, Runechanter's Pike on some other creatures should take hefty chunks out of people's life late game as well.
3. Since Prime Time is gone, he's been replaced by Kokusho, and we're gonna abuse him, goddammit. This deck has plenty of recursion options and multiple recursions of Koko should take decent piece of life out of opponents while providing a nice buffer for all the life you pay for spells. There are several chains for looping him infinitely, I believe, involving Eternal Witness + Victimize/Living Death.
4. General damage. While unlikely, a late game Jarad may be able to push the final points in, especially with Runechanter's Pike. Hope it doesn't ever come down to that, but he can get fat too.
Suggestions/Recommendations:
As this is still a rough work-in-progress, I'm still looking to find the right balance between ramp, draw, and recursion. A lot of the draw spells seem subpar. I also might try out Riftsweeper to deal with those Swords/Paths.
Genesis plays well alongside E Wit and Clamp, and functions the same as many cards you already have in the list (returning creatures from yard to hand).
As for what to cut, I'd sleeve it all up, and then when you start to come across cards you find to be subpar, note it, and eventually you should have a decent list of things to cut.
Also, I would recommend either adding "[Budget]" to the title or having a mod place it the budget forum so that people know how you're building.
When you get this refined to where you want it to be, I'd love to use your list as an example of another route Jarad decks can take (if you're okay with that).
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Amazing Avy & Sig by mchief111 @ Rising Studios [4/22/11]
I've always loved the Golgari color combination, but I was never really happy with the generals they had available. The initial G/B deck was Savra, and it was full of sac/recur Grave Pact shenanigans. It kept the board clear through some Rube Goldberg contraptions, but it never really had a way to win. I switched the general over to Nath of the Gilt-Leaf so that I could insert some control as I assembled chains of Rune-Scarred Demon and Primeval Titan into the obvious Urborg/Coffers and Rude Awakening into a massive Exsanguinate. It won, but it took me a while to set up the win, and my playgroup didn't like how long it took and I didn't either. I also didn't like that this deck operated on a single wincon.
Enter Jarad. His ability gave me another way to win. RWF_Less's list (http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=438443) was ground zero for Jarad brainstorming. The deck, like my original G/B frame, was chock-full of creatures waiting to the hit the GY with a heavy dredge theme supported by Hermit Druid.
However, maybe it's just me, but the creature route always seemed to play much too slow for my tastes. In exchange for possible recursion, creatures gave up efficiency in mana cost. ex. Rune-Scarred -> Diabolic Tutor, Yavimaya Granger & friends ->Explosive Growth, Phyrexian Delver->Reanimate, etc. With Primeval Titan being the main creature keeping the list together, his ban hit the deck hard; I decided to fill the deck up with sorceries instead. My original idea for the deck was to storm off into Tendrils of Agony, but I don't think I have enough support for that without just going infinite.
Without further to do, the decklist:
1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
Creatures (13)
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Bloodghast
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Eternal Witness
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Lord of Extinction
1 Massacre Wurm
1 Nether Traitor
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Phyrexian Delver
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Sewer Nemesis
1 Skirge Familiar
Sorceries (36)
1 Ambition's Cost
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Barter in Blood
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Boundless Realms
1 Buried Alive
1 Caress of Phyrexia
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Cultivate
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Dread Return
1 Explosive Vegetation
1 Far Wanderings
1 Harmonize
1 Harrowing Journey
1 Innocent Blood
1 Jarad's Orders
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Life from the Loam
1 Life // Death
1 Life's Finale
1 Living Death
1 Mutilate
1 Nature's Lore
1 Praetor's Counsel
1 Rampant Growth
1 Reanimate
1 Reap and Sow
1 Recollect
1 Regrowth
1 Rude Awakening
1 Scapeshift
1 Stitch Together
1 Siphon Mind
1 Victimize
1 Greater Good
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Sylvan Library
Artifacts (6)
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Phyrexian Altar
1 Runechanter's Pike
1 Semblance Anvil
1 Skullclamp
Instants (5)
1 Beast Within
1 Dismember
1 Early Harvest
1 Go for the Throat
1 Putrefy
Lands (37)
1 Barren Moor
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Cabal Coffers
1 High Market
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Strip Mine
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
16 Forests
12 Swamps
Card Choices and How to Play
First off, there's more than 100 cards; I'll cut them down to size after assembling all the pieces.
36 Sorcery cards and only 13 creatures! Doesn't buff Jarad much, but don't worry, he shouldn't be swinging much. If he wanted to, there's Runechanter's Pike to buff him, but it's there to buff other sac fodder such as Bloodghast to Jarad's ability.
Also, there's a boatload of basic lands and all the usual dual suspects are nowhere to be seen. I decided to go basic heavy due to the amount of basic land ramp we have, especially with Boundless Realms. Having a bunch of swamps also helps Cabal Coffers get online without relying on Urborg too much.
Cycle lands are in for Life from the Loam engine. A single turn can mill a decent amount; hope I don't get blown out by grave hate.
This deck is, for the most part, a budget list. I lack both the ABUR dual and shockland. It is also the reason why I don't have Damnation, Entomb, or Maelstrom Pulse. They are replaced by other, more budget friendly options. Maybe I'll get around to obtaining them, but for right now, I'm okay.
Gameplan:
Early game: Ramp, ramp, ramp, draw cards
Midgame: Set up graveyard or other combos
Lategame: Win (hopefully)
Ways to win:
1. A full graveyard gets Lord of Extinction or Sewer Nemesis to be fat enough to win with Jarad's ability. Barring that, Runechanter's Pike on some other creatures should take hefty chunks out of people's life late game as well.
2. Fuel a massive Exsanguinate via Urborg/Coffers + Rude Awakening/Early Harvest + infinite mana combos
3. Since Prime Time is gone, he's been replaced by Kokusho, and we're gonna abuse him, goddammit. This deck has plenty of recursion options and multiple recursions of Koko should take decent piece of life out of opponents while providing a nice buffer for all the life you pay for spells. There are several chains for looping him infinitely, I believe, involving Eternal Witness + Victimize/Living Death.
4. General damage. While unlikely, a late game Jarad may be able to push the final points in, especially with Runechanter's Pike. Hope it doesn't ever come down to that, but he can get fat too.
Suggestions/Recommendations:
As this is still a rough work-in-progress, I'm still looking to find the right balance between ramp, draw, and recursion. A lot of the draw spells seem subpar. I also might try out Riftsweeper to deal with those Swords/Paths.
Change Log
RGodo, Bandit WarlordR
GSeton, Krosan ProtectorG
BGJarad, Golgari Lich LordGB
Genesis plays well alongside E Wit and Clamp, and functions the same as many cards you already have in the list (returning creatures from yard to hand).
As for what to cut, I'd sleeve it all up, and then when you start to come across cards you find to be subpar, note it, and eventually you should have a decent list of things to cut.
Also, I would recommend either adding "[Budget]" to the title or having a mod place it the budget forum so that people know how you're building.
When you get this refined to where you want it to be, I'd love to use your list as an example of another route Jarad decks can take (if you're okay with that).