MTG Salvation

My first Commander deck ever was a Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper goodstuff deck assembled from the piles of accumulated Jund junk in my binder. It didn't focus much on the death trigger parts of the deck and generally just ramped up so I could cast 7cc beaters.

After several years of inactivity, I went back to my deck. A second look revealed that I had been effectively running a B/G deck with a splash of red. With that in mind, I decided to switch strategies, creating a recursion/sacrifice-based deck around Varolz, the Scar-Striped, the remains of my Sek'Kuar deck, and whatever I could buy after selling off my Innistrad cards.



This deck intends to win in three ways:

1. Life loss via Blood Artist, Falkenrath Noble and Gnawing Zombie.
2. Using Death's Presence and Scavenge to load a beater (Cloudthresher, Butcher, Varolz, Trike) with counters for the win.
3. Using Gruesome Encore and/or Rise from the Grave to steal an opponent's creatures from the graveyard.

At present, the list is not yet final. I intend to add more win conditions, sac outlets, and other useful cards as my budget permits. My current priority is finding a way to stop combos like Mike and Trike or Kiki-Conscripts from ruining my plans (long enough to assemble my own win cons). I'm thinking either Torpor Orb or Pithing Needle/Phyrexian Revoker would serve.

For the record, I'm using ISBPathfinder and SaraceenPsycho's lists for comparison.



Comments and suggestions are very much appreciated.

Glad to see more Varolz lists out there

Dark Prophecy - cool to see someone running this. I myself sort of rolled the idea arround a little but but I ended up not running it because of my lack of token support. I am interested to hear how it works for you though. I suppose in conjunction with things like Mikaeus, the Unhallowed it could be a crazy effect.

Obviously you have seen my list so I wont bother suggesting my own build or anything like that. I would watch out for how many sort of vanilla guys you have in your list like Scythe Tiger / Mortivore.

It looks like a fun build though. Good luck with it.

Quote from ISBPathfinder

Dark Prophecy - cool to see someone running this. I myself sort of rolled the idea arround a little but but I ended up not running it because of my lack of token support.

I've only been able to play one game with this list yet, so it hasn't been rigorously tested yet. That said, I see several ways to make tokens in this list and ways to sacrifice them, so I think I can make it work. Maybe adding generators like Bitterblossom and Awakening Zone as well as sac outlets like Ashnod's Altar would make it trigger much more often, but I'm a bit concerned that would dilute the recursion/sac/scavenge plan I've got in mind.

Quote from ISBPathfinder

Obviously you have seen my list so I wont bother suggesting my own build or anything like that. I would watch out for how many sort of vanilla guys you have in your list like Scythe Tiger / Mortivore.

They're just holdovers until I can get my hands on Death's Shadow and Skithyrix.

Thanks for the feedback though.

Update (9/7/2013): Switched out several cards.

Contagion Clasp --> Makeshift Mannequin: I want more reanimation support for my deck. Contagion Clasp, while a cheap source of removal and a proliferator later on, just isn't as good as my other choice.

Mortivore --> Hell's Caretaker: A sac outlet that's also a reanimator versus a vanilla creature that might be a big beater and/or good to scavenge? The sac outlet, no contest.

Golgari Cluestone --> Golgari Signet: Pretty much switching in a better card here.

Civic Wayfinder --> Fresh Meat: At the moment I have several rampers in the deck. The Wayfinder doesn't put the lands on the battlefield, unlike Dawntreader Elk and Viridian Emissary: nor does it draw me cards like Yavimaya Elder, or get me more for the same amount, like Cultivate. And once I get a Farhaven Elf, it's going to be obsoleted anyway. Thus, I can afford to replace it with something that can create a huge amount of creatures with all my sacrifice outlets.

UPDATE (9/16/2013): Added more cards.

Tragic Slip --> Krosan Grip (Modern Masters): Tragic Slip is cheap and will more often than not have its Morbid active: however, it does nothing to stop infinite combos like Mike & Trike. Krosan Grip does, since it stops my opponents from saying "In response, I go infinite." It's also cheap enough to be cast when it matters most.

Steel Hellkite --> Spinebiter: While the Hellkite has two very nice abilities, it's not the sort of thing I need in this deck. Spinebiter is a poor man's Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon, with its "supertrample" ability. It also serves as another place to dump all the +1/+1 counters this deck makes.

Geth's Verdict --> Elixir of Immortality: I think I don't need a second Diabolic Edict, especially with all my other removal coming from my creatures. Better to stock up on more GY protection. (Of course, I may reverse this if I find out it doesn't work.)

Makeshift Mannequin --> Kessig Cagebreakers: One of the cards on my wish list in exchange for a one-shot effect.

Sign in Blood --> Moriok Replica: Moriok Replica is a death trigger and can be recurred with Trading Post/Nim Deathmantle. Sign in Blood can do neither.

Palladium Myr --> Greenweaver Druid: I was building a Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer deck with stuff I found in my MTG stacks, and I put the Myr there.

Swamp --> Grim Backwoods: Another utility land makes it in.

Ok, my 2 cents ^^.

* Tenacious Dead -> Reassembling Skeleton: Reassembling might be 1 mana more to cast, but you don't have to hold open any mana like with Tenacious Dead.
* Rogue Elephant: Scythe Tiger N°2
* Tormented Soul: Another cheap beater if you load him up with scavenge.
* Sakura-Tribe Elder: cheap, mana ramp, sacs himself
* Tainted wood: cheap mana fixer
* Sacrifice based without Grave Pact? (Allthough Butcher is the walking version of it..)

Why so much artifact ramp?: Armillary Sphere, Darksteel Ingot, Manalith, Golgari Cluestone (Replaced by Golgari Signet now), Dreamstone Hedron..
Green is the best color for mana ramping! Why would you run Armillary Sphere while you can run something like Kodama's Reach or Skyshroud Claim?
Black is probably the best color for drawing (after blue): Ancient Craving, Promise of Power, ..
(Green has Harmonize)

If you're looking for another gravepurge effect: Footbottom Feast
Are you aware of the combo between Triskelion and Mikaeus?

Overall, are you sure you wanna use Varolz, or have you thought about Savra, Queen of the Golgari? =)

Ooh, a comment! I like comments.

Quote from SaraceenPsycho

* Tenacious Dead -> Reassembling Skeleton: Reassembling might be 1 mana more to cast, but you don't have to hold open any mana like with Tenacious Dead.

A definite upgrade, I have to say. I'll look for a copy.

Quote from SaraceenPsycho

* Rogue Elephant: Scythe Tiger N°2
* Tainted wood: cheap mana fixer

Scythe Tiger's really just there to hold a spot until I put in Death's Shadow. I don't need another one.

Quote from SaraceenPsycho

* Tormented Soul: Another cheap beater if you load him up with scavenge.

Not sure I want that many cheap beaters. I just really see the Scavenge part as a way to deliver the final blow.

Quote from SaraceenPsycho

* Sakura-Tribe Elder: cheap, mana ramp, sacs himself
* Sacrifice based without Grave Pact? (Allthough Butcher is the walking version of it..)

Will definitely have to find a copy of both in the future.

Quote from SaraceenPsycho

Why so much artifact ramp?: Armillary Sphere, Darksteel Ingot, Manalith, Golgari Cluestone (Replaced by Golgari Signet now), Dreamstone Hedron..
Green is the best color for mana ramping! Why would you run Armillary Sphere while you can run something like Kodama's Reach or Skyshroud Claim?
Black is probably the best color for drawing (after blue): Ancient Craving, Promise of Power, ..
(Green has Harmonize)

I don't have either the Reach or the Claim, and reading the debates on this site about Ramp vs MLD has convinced me not to over-extend with my ramping. I don't want to get all the lands out only to run into an Armageddon or Destructive Force and spend the next few turns top-decking.

That said, I could probably junk the Sphere and Manalith, and add Kodama's Reach and put the Sign in Blood back (to be replaced with Read the Bones after Theros). As for Skyshroud Claim/Ranger's Path, I'll save them for when I have an Overgrown Tomb or something.

Quote from SaraceenPsycho

Are you aware of the combo between Triskelion and Mikaeus?

Hence why I intend to find a copy of Mikaeus. It also interacts with all the other stuff in my deck, so I'm not just putting him in to combo out.

Quote from SaraceenPsycho

Overall, are you sure you wanna use Varolz, or have you thought about Savra, Queen of the Golgari? =)

Admittedly, now that I think of it... Savra does seem fitting for this deck. That said, I'll stick with Varolz for the time being. If I do switch generals, I'll make sure Varolz finds a spot in the 99.

I don't run Varolz, but my Sek'kuar morphed into Glissa. My vantage point was a bit earlier I guess My deck has (obviously) a bit more of an artifact theme, but since I want to keep the deck a bit casual I'm not going all-out on the artifacts. So with a similar heritage in Sek'kuar I'm sure you don't mind pointing out some cards I enjoy.

First off, I had a serious problem finding a theme for my deck. Every deck needs a theme imvho, otherwise it'll become A Pile Of Goodstuff(tm). I have the idea you have fallen into that trap with Sek'kuar (by the way, look at this article: you could turn it into a combo beast if you want to). So, theme, theme... the deck was more or less a Grave Pact deck. That's what made me play Sek'kuar in the first place, but GP makes Glissa trigger as well. With Varolz I guess you don't mind letting your creatures die. Grave Pact has been mentioned by other posters, but keep it in mind. It's a great card to build your deck around. It led me to the theme of my deck: ""Whenever a creature dies". Grave Pact and Glissa share this line of rules text . Well, almost, since it differs whether you or your opponent controls the dying creature. This lead me to a list of cards that are "coincidentally" (not really, since I had most of the cards in the list already) tied together by their rules text.

I know, it's a bit of a stretch.

Anyway, while you're in the process of adding Grave Pact, you might want to take a look at Nether Traitor. That card is a beast: you'll always have fodder to sacrifice, and as it has shadow it's very good at carrying Sword of This and That. Or scavenge counters, I assume.

Massacre wurm and Sangromancer do something similar to Falkenrath Noble. And while you're in the process of killing everything, try Grim Feast.

Quote from SaraceenPsycho

Overall, are you sure you wanna use Varolz, or have you thought about Savra, Queen of the Golgari? =)

Quote from Mix Master Mikaeus

Admittedly, now that I think of it... Savra does seem fitting for this deck. That said, I'll stick with Varolz for the time being. If I do switch generals, I'll make sure Varolz finds a spot in the 99.

I just thought I would comment on the above. For me, the reason to run Varolz is that I want a free sac outlet as a commander. I have seen Savra decks and they tend to be pulled into playing as sort of a police the creatures type of deck where everyone will shift answering everything to you (which is annoying). In my opinion the difference between them though is that Varolz is more of an offensive build where as Savra is more of a defensive build. I don't know if that helps or changes anything but I just thought I would spin my perspective of the two as commanders.

Quote from ISBPathfinder

I just thought I would comment on the above. For me, the reason to run Varolz is that I want a free sac outlet as a commander. I have seen Savra decks and they tend to be pulled into playing as sort of a police the creatures type of deck where everyone will shift answering everything to you (which is annoying). In my opinion the difference between them though is that Varolz is more of an offensive build where as Savra is more of a defensive build.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. Having a guaranteed sac outlet on turn 3 in BG is huge. Varolz fits nicely into the curve given the sheer number of 2- and 4-drops in our colors that enjoy being killed.

On another note, I urge you guys to at least play-test Yavimaya Dryad. She did some work in my testing this last weekend. She's basically a Wood Elves that you can then load up with scavenge counters late game to get in there against any opponent running G.

Ooh, more responses!

@Shabbaman: Nether Traitor and Massacre Wurm sound good. I'll have to add them to my wish list. Sangromancer just gains me life, which isn't really as important as the other things this deck wants to do.

And yeah, I saw the Sek'Kuar list. It was pretty cool, and made me think of re-converting this deck to use him as the general.

@Bismuth: Gonna keep the Dryad in mind. Sounds cool.


Anyway: UPDATES! (9/23/2013) (Now with Theros cards!)

Moldgraf Monstrosity --> Abhorrent Overlord: Forgot what I took out for the Monstrosity, but whatever. The Overlord is what my deck really wants: a powerful effect that also provides a sac outlet.

Gnawing Zombie --> Corpse Traders --> Reaper of the Wilds: The Traders was there to pick out any combos in my opponents' hands, but I've replaced it with the Reaper for now since it's more versatile.

Rise from the Grave --> Rescue from the Underworld: Morning Rescue nets me more than Rise, even if the latter does let me target others' graveyards.

Gruesome Encore --> Fade into Antiquity: With the Gods coming to EDH soon, I need a way to deal with indestructible enchantments and artifacts. Come to think of it, I could probably take out the Relic Crush I have in favor of the Encore. It has helped me in the past though...

Armillary Sphere --> Harrow --> Nighthowler: Another of my wish list cards; Nighthowler feels like it'd be versatile in this deck as it can be an Aura, a creature, and a scavenge target. (Not sure on the ruling for the last one.)

Manalith --> Kodama's Reach: Lowered the amount of mana rocks in this deck, as SaraceenPsycho recommended. My Jor Kadeen deck could use more artifacts, anyway.

Quote from Mix Master Mikaeus

Armillary Sphere --> Harrow --> Nighthowler: Another of my wish list cards; Nighthowler feels like it'd be versatile in this deck as it can be an Aura, a creature, and a scavenge target. (Not sure on the ruling for the last one.)

My guess would be that it'd be a 0/0 in the graveyard regardless of whatever else is there. It's not a characteristic-defining ability like Lord of Extinction (or anything else with a */* P/T). Someone else can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though :).

Quote from Mix Master Mikaeus

Better to stock up on more GY protection. (Of course, I may reverse this if I find out it doesn't work.)

I don't see how essentially exiling your graveyard is protecting it. None of the cards there do you any more good in your library than, say, lost to a Tormod's Crypt. A better use of a card slot would be something that fills your graveyard again and does something useful with it, like Deadbridge Chant.

Lord of Extinction is pretty crazy with your general, he's a 28/28 (or whatever) even when in the graveyard and thus makes a nice piece of gear for a trampler or flyer to wear.

Quote from Bismuth Von Pherson

My guess would be that it'd be a 0/0 in the graveyard regardless of whatever else is there. It's not a characteristic-defining ability like Lord of Extinction (or anything else with a */* P/T). Someone else can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though :).

Ah. Well, that's a disappointment.

Either way, I'm keeping the Nighthowler, since it pumps my finishers such as Spinebiter or Champion and helps raise the devotion count for the Overlord.

Quote from PochetteRecharge

I don't see how essentially exiling your graveyard is protecting it. None of the cards there do you any more good in your library than, say, lost to a Tormod's Crypt. A better use of a card slot would be something that fills your graveyard again and does something useful with it, like Deadbridge Chant.

Lord of Extinction is pretty crazy with your general, he's a 28/28 (or whatever) even when in the graveyard and thus makes a nice piece of gear for a trampler or flyer to wear.

Lord of Extinction is definitely on my wish list, alongside Jarad (so I can toss it for 20+ life loss to everyone).


Updates: 10/28/2013

Mortarpod --> Ashnod's Altar: Using the Altar, I can now go infinite with any one of my creatures that makes more than one token (Mitotic Slime, Abhorrent Overlord) for infinite life loss with Blood Artist/Falkenrath Noble. I will definitely have to find a copy of Exsanguinate to exploit this.

Triskelion --> Mindslicer: Without Mikaeus, Trike is slow and unwieldy. Considering the sacrifice outlets I have, the 'Slicer can be genuinely nasty.

Elixir of Immortality --> Sakura-Tribe Elder: One of the cards recommended to me.

Strider Harness --> Gray Merchant of Asphodel: Gary, as I like to call him, can act as a finisher with all the BB cards in my deck, particularly Dark Prophecy. The Harness is rather slow, and isn't really fitted to this deck's strategy.

Grafted Exoskeleton --> Pawn of Ulamog: I tossed the Exoskeleton into my Jor Kadeen deck since it can use it with Hellrider. Pawn works better in this deck and can go infinite with the Altar (as long as I sacrifice something before sacrificing the Pawn).

Gruesome Encore is back in the deck, to be replaced in the future with Puppeteer Clique. I forgot what I took out for it though.


This is my current deck list:

After a bit of a hiatus, I've updated my deck. I've forgotten exactly which pieces I switched out for new ones so I'll just post the full deck list.




What this deck needs:

• More sacrifice outlets. I'm planning to add Sadistic Hypnotist and Greater Good, perhaps even Feed the Pack and Life's Legacy.
• More fodder. Obvious choices are Bloodghast and Nether Traitor.
• More "whenever a creature dies" effects: perhaps Skirsdag High Priest or Kuon, Ogre Ascendant? Maybe I'll even put back Dread Return.

Quote from dalumon »

Ummmmm have u thought about Blood Artist or Ashnod's Altar, the first as diying effect and the 2nd as sack outlet?

I almost forgot Bloodsoaked Champion as a maybe for the deck

I already have Blood Artist and Ashnod's Altar in the deck. As for the Champion, I am on the fence, as having to attack is a tougher condition to fulfill, unlike playing a land (Bloodghast), having one of my creatures die (Nether Traitor), or having open mana (Reassembling Skeleton).

-----

Anyway, update.

Cultivate Harrow: Harrow puts the cards untapped, which is better for me I think.
Pawn of Ulamog Satyr Wayfinder: Wayfinder feeds my 'yard and helps me ramp. And I can do silly things using it and Victimize/Nim Deathmantle. Definitely a good deal.
Viridian Emissary Dawntreader Elk: Rather similar cards, but Emissary needs a sac outlet to be good.
Spinebiter Plague Stinger: The Stinger comes out much faster and one-shots as good as Spinebiter with Death's Shadow.
Dreamstone Hedron Mind Stone: Ideally that should be a Thran Dynamo, but the Stone does the job well enough I think.
Increasing Ambition Sidisi, Undead Vizier: Sidisi is much easier to recur than Ambition, which can only be recurred once.
Death's Presence Grim Haruspex: The Presence is rather expensive. I'd just rather have reliable card draw.
Acidic Slime Bloodgift Demon: The Demon is more card draw and an evasive body. I can afford to lose the Slime since I've got other anti-artifact/enchantment stuff that doesn't cost 5 mana.
Abyssal Gatekeeper Explosive Vegetation: More ramp.
Darksteel Ingot Forest: This brings me up to 37 lands. I'd like to keep my land count at around 37-38 to make sure I don't get mana-screwed too many times.
Wickerbough Elder Sadistic Hypnotist: Sad Hyppie is worth taking over another artifact/enchantment killer, I think.
Fresh Meat Murderous Cut: With Delve, I can Cut for B(ieber). Not only that, but I don't have enough many token generators to make the Meat viable. I'll be happy if I'm wrong, though.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel Hooded Hydra: I'm not sure I can cast Gary for a ton of damage in this deck. It also feels like I'm diluting this deck's game plan by putting it in. If I were to keep it, what do you think should go?
Skullmulcher Tuskguard Captain: The Captain gives Varolz trample, which can help him get through for damage.
Sanguimancy Life's Legacy: Sanguimancy is a tad expensive for my tastes. I'll stick to this one-shot Greater Good until I find an actual copy of Greater Good or that draw-X-lose-X spell in Dragons of Tarkir.
Rupture Spire Jungle Hollow: The Hollow is far more reliable than the Spire, and gains me life to boot.

I'd like to find some space for some of the following cards:

Bramblewood Paragon (probably replacing Tuskguard Captain)
Wild Beastmaster
Beastmaster Ascension
Triumph of the Hordes
Strength from the Fallen
Lotleth Troll

Sadly, I feel like this deck is so tightly-put together that deciding which cards to remove is difficult, as if I changed anything I might lose out on card draw, ramp, or removal. I was thinking of going for a +1/+1 counter theme/Warrior tribal sub-theme with Raiders' Spoils, but again this is a pretty tight list to take apart.

Any advice, EDH mavens?