I wanted to build a more aggressive deck and had originally settled on Ruric Thar, the Unbowed but couldn't settle on a build I liked. Going through the other RG options led me to Xenagos. There were a number of lists already built that I liked and drawing inspiration from ScorpioRage, plushpenguin and Jusstice I built a list and started tweaking it. This is what I ended up with and while it certainly needs some more work it's been pretty effective so far at taking people out. This version of the deck is designed to kill opponents in one hit as quickly as possible.
Xenagos has quite a bit of history. Not the nicest guy around, apparently he kills his twin sister and tries to murder his mother. Then his hedonistic lifestyle ignited his planeswalker spark so he decided to become a god. This pissed off Heliod so he sent Elspeth to go kill Xenagos which she did, probably.
Don't be too afraid of turning Xenagos "on". He can beat face just fine and most of the time the trampling 20 power infect creature is slightly more demanding of attention than a 6/5. He can't pump himself but with a couple pump spells commander damage isn't out of the question and he doesn't die to Berserk.
Even if you don't have a finisher it's often still a good idea to get Xenagos in play. The deck becomes very dangerous with him in play and it can force opponents to alter their game plan by having to leave mana up and/or get chump blockers in play.
Joraga Treespeaker - Turn 3 Xenagos, that's the plan and this does it with one card.
Orcish Lumberjack - This guy is pretty silly and enables some very dangerous starts involving turn 2 Xenagos and you still have a possible 5 mana turn 3. Obviously blowing up your land is not always a very good idea so use responsibly.
Sylvan Safekeeper - Spot removal is one of the banes of this deck. Having protection on a one mana creature (that can even protect itself!) is pretty awesome. It does counter your pump spells so be mindful of that. Again blow up your own lands responsibly.
Tinder Wall - Hunding Gjornersen suggested this. Been testing well so far as a good early ramper and mana fixer that can get Xenagos in play turn 3 or possibly earlier.
Devoted Druid - Enables turn 3 Xenagos though losing out on the extra mana the following turn is a bummer. If you do this cast Xenagos in your second main so he doesn't kill the druid. There are also some fringe uses where you can use Vines of Vastwood or Blazing Shoal + Xenagos to make the Druid pretty big and generate a burst of mana.
Lotus Cobra - Turn 3 Xenagos with a fetchland and then he can smack someone for 4.
Plague Myr - Another suggestion by Hunding Gjornersen seems like a low risk option that can potentially get kills with the right cards.
Scavenging Ooze - Mostly in here as a silver bullet for graveyard shenanigans it is possible for it to grow quite large and turn into a serious threat of draw you a bunch of cards with Momentous Fall or similar.
Tarmogoyf - Being a cheap large creature is beneficial both because it can attack for good damage and also draw lots of cards with a power matters draw spell. In multiplayer Tarmogoyf gets big fast.
Dosan the Falling Leaf - Counterspells are bad for us as is spot removal. Dosan can protect us long enough to kill the offending player that would dare use spot removal against us. At least that is the hope. Again a silver bullet.
Eternal Witness - Just a great creature. It's a Regrowth that can equip Skullclamp which is all you can really ask for in a creature.
Magus of the Wheel - Draw 7 on a creature makes it easy to access. Xenagos can give him has so he can be activated right away and he's got a decent body as a 3/3 for 3.
Prophetic Flamespeaker - Double red can be troublesome but this gets much needed card advantage on a stick.
Simian Spirit Guide - He helps ramp into Xenagos and sometimes when I draw a large amount of cards I'm not able to cast Last Chance/Final Fortune because I didn't have the mana so the Spirit Guide is in to help with this issue.
Viridian Corrupter - I'm trying this guy out over Reclamation Sage. Happy with the change so far.
Ghor-Clan Rampager - Pump on a creature making it easier to fetch. Also a decent sized beater if needed.
Malignus - Now here's a real creature. With Xenagos or one of the Berserk effects Malignus will one shot anyone at any life with unpreventable damage. With both Xenagos and a Berserk effect it's unlikely their attempts at blocking will prove successful. Malignus is also fantastic with Life's Legacy, Momentous Fall, Greater Good & Garruk, Primal Hunter though you do need to worry about decking yourself if he's pumped with Xenagos or a Berserk.
Phyrexian Hydra/Putrefax/Phyrexian Juggernaut - Same thing as Malignus but here we're using infect. Again you can just ignore your opponents life total. Phyrexian Hydra is the best but redundancy is key. Putrefax can create surprise kills without Xenagos in play which is something this deck has a tough time doing otherwise.
Bane of Progress - I have mixed feelings about Bane of Progress. Many times he's just bad because he doesn't do enough and blows up my mana rocks and other times he's amazing. He's in as a silver bullet when I need him.
Godo, Bandit Warlord - The idea is to grab Grafted Wargear and double pump with Xenagos for 36 damage. Sadly none of the creatures in my deck practice the samurai arts.
Balefire Dragon - I really wanted a way to clear the board in creature form and despite the hefty mana cost I believe this is the best option. Not many things survive 12 damage.
Greater Gargadon - Gargadon is a cheap threat I can suspend early and provides value until he's ready to come out in the form of a sac outlet. You can protect your key creatures from exiling removal and being able to sac Winter Orb and Tangle Wire right before your turn is pretty neat. He's also a serious threat with Xenagos and a pump spell. Lastly he's the 3rd creature I play which lets you blow up your own land so he's got that going for him.
Sorceries
Faithless Looting - I'm trying to assemble key pieces but often end up with extras such as having multiple pump spells or too much ramp. This is a great way to turn junk into treasure for minimal mana investment.
Gamble - Red Demonic Tutor!! Most of the time anyways. Turn 1 it's often best to try for Sol Ring or Mana Crypt. Later on it just grabs whatever you need at the time.
Green Sun's Zenith - This is here to grab Dryad Arbor, one of our silver bullets or a win condition. Really nice flexible card that can play many roles.
Life's Legacy - We can get some rather huge creatures and this lets us draw a large amount of cards. Just be careful around Malignus, sometimes you really don't have 70 cards left in your deck.
Nature's Lore/Three Visits - Ramp that can fetch dual lands and that's all they do. Pretty boring cards.
Wheel of Fortune - Draw 7s are pretty amazing since we're trying to dump our hand pretty quickly.
Chandra's Ignition - The creature deals the damage so if you cast it on an infect creature or Malignus that happened to be pumped by Xenagos they will kill everyone but you.
Instants
Berserk - An old classic this helps us punch through defenses and can often surprise opponents that felt safe with a chump blocker. Doubling power for the Life's Legacy spells is pretty nice too. It's even creature removal in a pinch!
Vines of Vastwood - This is great surprise protection against spot removal and the pump is quite relevant. With Xenagos and a power matters draw spell you're netting 8 extra cards for 2 mana which is a pretty impressive deal. Pumping Inkmoth Nexus before getting it's power doubled is pretty sweet. You can also use it on your opponent's creatures to counter spells and abilities. For example if they try to equip a creature you can cast this in response to negate the equip and prevent it for the rest of the turn.
Worldly Tutor - A great tutor to get any creature. It can be cast during upkeep if you didn't have any mana EOT but need to draw the creature now.
Blazing Shoal - This is a wildly swingy card but often it's amazing. It can give huge card advantage with the power matters draw spells and with Greater Gargadon makes for a very lethal Inkmoth Nexus though any red spell that costs 4+ and Xenagos is sufficient. In an emergency it can make a mana dork big, double it's power with Xenagos then cast a Life's Legacy and you're back in business. It can also create surprise Putrefax kills without the aid of Xenagos.
Final Fortune - Same as Last Chance but an instant. Probably best not to cast it at instant speed though.
Temur Battle Rage - This helps power through defenses and is one of the reasons blocking against this deck is not always effective. It doesn't help with the power matters draw spells but it also doesn't kill the creature so it's got some upside as well. 10 power double striking trampling infect creatures are no joke.
Soul's Fire - This is a pretty sweet card since the creature deals the damage the infect goes with it and Malignus deals unpreventable damage. It can also be spot removal if you need it but it's best as spot removal for opponents.
Momentous Fall - Another power matters draw spell. Get a huge creature, double it's power, draws lots of cards. It can gain a bunch of life too which is not a drawback.
Enchantments
Survival of the Fittest - Nothing particularly exciting here just trying to turn mana dorks into useful creatures.
Sylvan Library - I often use my life as a resource and draw aggressively. Great with fetches to shuffle away junk.
Sneak Attack - I don't run lots of expensive creatures so the purpose is to cheat a fatty into play, kill someone and still have enough mana to hopefully draw a pile of cards. Being able to use ETB at instant speed is also sometimes helpful. It can also set up kills without Xenagos easier which is good.
Greater Good - We're trying to make large creatures and this lets us turn them into cards.
Artifacts
Chrome Mox/Mox Diamond - Part of the ramp package and great after a large draw spell that leaves us light on mana.
Mana Crypt/Sol Ring/Mana Vault - Broken fast mana, yay! These can fuel some pretty crazy starts (surprise, surprise).
Sensei's Divining Top - This is just a concession that sometimes things won't always go my way and I might need to dig for key cards.
Skullclamp - Mana dorks are pretty bad in the late game so you can use this to turn them into draw spells. Also fetchable with Godo.
Winter Orb - We don't want our opponents to play expensive spells and with the mana rocks and dorks can play around it well enough.
Grafted Wargear - Get it with Godo or make your power matters draw spells better. It can be blown up and you'll have to sac the creature so don't equip if you don't need to.
Tangle Wire - Winter Orb's best buddy is still a fine card on it's own to slow down our opponents. It can tap itself and since you can stack the triggers to remove the counter first you should only be tapping 2 other things the first time while your opponents must tap 4.
Planeswalker
Garruk, Primal Hunter - I like him over Soul's Majesty because he can actually create his own threat which can be 6 cards with Xenagos. Dropping him turn 3 and making a beast then following up with Xenagos on turn four and drawing 6 cards is a solid line of play.
Lands
Ancient Tomb - 2 mana on 1 land and doesn't even enter tapped! It's almost like this card is too powerful.
Kessig Wolf Run - Pump effects are generally useful for us and getting one on a land is great.
Mishra's Factory - I like manlands like this because it can turn into a 3/3 (by pumping itself, watch that summoning sickness). With Xenagos this can turn into a decent sized draw spell. A 3/3 blocker also deters a decent number of attackers.
Mosswort Bridge - The requirement is usually pretty easy to get making this a pretty reliable free spell on a land.
Interesting take on the deck. It looks like you went all-out in trying to speed kill each player out of the game.
What difficulties have you currently run into?
I figured if I was going to play beatdown I should be as aggressive as possible. It’s a glass cannon but the speed helps kill control decks before they get started and it can even keep up with some of the faster combo decks, though it can only kill one person a turn in most cases. As far as issues I’ve been having I need to diversify my mana base some so I’m less susceptible to sweepers. Other than that I probably still need to tweak some of the slots and there are some cards in particular that I would like better options for, the main ones being Soul’s Majesty and Balefire Dragon. Not having a big draw spell on a stick really hurts, I’d really like a Disciple of Bolas type of creature. I haven’t had a chance to dig around for a replacement for the dragon, might just keep him or give Crater Hellion or something similar a try. Wilderness Elemental has been terrible. I initially tried Managorger Hydra and didn’t like it either but I do want a cheapish creature with high power, maybe Tarmogoyf is the right call but I don’t have one on MTGO to test. I’m hoping to get a chance to playtest some this evening and will make some adjustments to see how they work.
Wilderness Elemental has been bad and I cut it and Managorger Hydra has its moments but is a bad topdeck. However as a creature with certain cards you can turn it into something else more useful.
I'm just hoping future sets give me better threats for this deck.
So, how do you deal with setups with a solid amount of removal or when you don't have a berserk effect to pair with an infect target? Granted, you have guile and vines which are solid protection spells...
Also, while killing players quickly does lessen the time they have to either draw into or setup a draw into removal and counters, sometimes players will keep hands with swords to plowshares in the opener.
Wilderness Elemental has been bad and I cut it and Managorger Hydra has its moments but is a bad topdeck. However as a creature with certain cards you can turn it into something else more useful.
I'm just hoping future sets give me better threats for this deck.
So, how do you deal with setups with a solid amount of removal or when you don't have a berserk effect to pair with an infect target? Granted, you have guile and vines which are solid protection spells...
Also, while killing players quickly does lessen the time they have to either draw into or setup a draw into removal and counters, sometimes players will keep hands with swords to plowshares in the opener.
Played a couple games yesterday went 1-1. Loss was a mull to 5 where I still managed to kill a player but it was essentially playing kingmaker at that point. The game I won was pretty slow I dropped Xenagos turn 3 or 4 but couldn’t get a good set up until a couple turns later where I dropped Sneak Attack and Greater Good. Surprisingly neither got destroyed so I untapped, cheated Malignus in play, killed a player then drew 40 cards to set me up to kill the other players.
Spot removal hasn’t been as problematic as I thought it would be. I want to find room for Dosan the Falling Leaf as a tutor target which would help but other than that I don’t feel I need to do anything else unless I start running into problems. City of Solitude was in my initial list and I ended up cutting it though a creature version might be more useful. Dense Foliage turns off a lot of my important spells but that’s an option. Sylvan Safekeeper is very cheap and accessible though so he’s definitely my go to. Regardless of what I do though I won’t ever be able to beat STP.dec so I’ll just accept that as a bad matchup.
I haven't actually tried Blazing Shoal yet but I do have Greater Gargadon & Blasphemous Act to live the dream. Rush of Blood may actually be a better call since Blazing Shoal looks really inconsistent or there may be something even better but that's the best I came up with. Sometimes I would be able to draw most of my deck but after I did I didn't have enough mana to cast Last Chance or Final Fortune so Simian Spirit Guide is in to help with that issue, as is Utopia Sprawl since it can filter a mana for me. Somberwald Sage can be given haste with Xenagos so late game can be free to cast which is a cool bonus. Dosan is in to help fight spot removal which Vexing Shusher didn't help with.
I do have concerns about simply running out of cards with all the card disadvantage but aside from having to mulligan heavily I've been able to draw just enough gas to keep going until I either win or die. Removing Soul's Majesty doesn't help but I disliked that card every time I drew it.
Haven't changed much but I did add a card choices section to explain why I'm running these cards and give a better idea of how to play the deck. Next up I'll add in a strategy section but this should give a good idea.
Glad it's worked out for you so far. Couple of things:
I like Spinebiter at least as much as Phyrexian Juggernaut but think you could probably be playing both for the redundancy.
There's a pair of reasonable creatures in Plague Myr and Viridian Corrupter that can help get the last few points through or set up an easier combo turn.
If you could fit a few four drops in here you'd have a great curve for Birthing Pod.
Spinebiter has built in evasion which is nice but not always necessary. The extra 2 power is crucial for killing in one hit and Juggernaut also goes better with the power matters draw spells. He's actually fine I would just rather have another 5 mana option (4 mana asking too much?). Phyrexian Swarmlord might also be better but I've only tested the Juggernaut. 4 does seem like the magic number so I haven't felt the need to put in another one. Plague Myr is a low cost inclusion and I've certainly killed a lot of people with Inkmoth Nexus. I'll give it a go. I did consider Viridian Corrupter over Reclamation Sage (and Caustic Caterpillar) but opted to keep in the Sage because otherwise my toolbox could only kill enchantments with Bane of Progress and sometimes I just need a cheaper option or he hurts me too much. A reasonable inclusion but I don't feel I need it enough to make room. I'm one of the few people that doesn't like Birthing Pod. It's slow, clunky and only gets me what I need with additional help, and sometimes takes numerous turns. Being repeatable isn't nearly as important as being explosive when it comes to pump spells. I think Rush of Blood is next in line though I would really like an option on a creature. I don't currently run Elvish Spirit Guide or Lotus Petal because I can't always rely on a large draw spell so I can only 2 for 1 myself so many times before I run out of cards. They're certainly options though and I may try one or both out at some point. I think 2 is the right number of extra turn cards, you can't ever use more than 1 and it's not always needed and is terrible in the opening hand unless you can loot it away.
Have you considered running Blood Moon effects in your meta?
It generally doesn't hurt you that hard with your landbase + ramp package and you can roll it out earlier than my builds could.
T2 blood moon against tri-color decks when they don't have fetches ready to crack can be brutal.
It does slow you down a tiny bit, but the moon is a serious piece of passive disruption that can help you push through.
Have you considered running Blood Moon effects in your meta?
It generally doesn't hurt you that hard with your landbase + ramp package and you can roll it out earlier than my builds could.
T2 blood moon against tri-color decks when they don't have fetches ready to crack can be brutal.
It does slow you down a tiny bit, but the moon is a serious piece of passive disruption that can help you push through.
My meta learned to build and play around Blood Moon a long time ago so it's not a very effective card. There's only a small handful of decks that are really crippled by it. Ruination is also common enough people go for basics when they can. I've never tried it on MTGO so maybe it's better there, the decks it cripples are usually the scary ones.
How about adding Godo, Bandit Warlord? You can use him to find Skullclamp or any trample-giving equipment to help your guys get through and he attacks two times meaning he gets pumped by Xenagos twice.
Thanks for the suggestion but I think I'll pass on Godo. Skullclamp is the only equipment I want to run and it's not integral to the deck. Double attacks is nice but I ended up cutting Scourge of Thrones because it wasn't quite deadly enough and I think Godo would be the same. He'd really need some bomb equipment with 0 equip cost for me to want to run him, Grafted Wargear is a bit too clunky.
This deck looks awesome. It reminds me of one I made when urzas saga came out. I had sneak attacks, orcish lumberjacks, tinder walls, and the biggest creatures I could find (at that time it was colossus of sardia). I also used berserk, fork (to counter counterspells or copy berserk/fling) and fling. Man it was fun. I miss that deck.
The plan is to make a single creature large enough to kill in one hit. Inkmoth Nexus and Plague Myr are included as low cost backups but I don't want to devote more slots to the infect plan. Viridian Corrupter over Reclamation Sage is a meta call. Without the Sage the only enchantment removal you can tutor for is Bane of Progress. Glad you like the deck, I've had a lot of fun with it.
This deck looks awesome. It reminds me of one I made when urzas saga came out. I had sneak attacks, orcish lumberjacks, tinder walls, and the biggest creatures I could find (at that time it was colossus of sardia). I also used berserk, fork (to counter counterspells or copy berserk/fling) and fling. Man it was fun. I miss that deck.
It's a blast to play but pretty inconsistent. Sometimes you'll get dealt with and do nothing but it's great being able to straight up murder someone on turn 3-4. I got to live the dream in my first or second game drawing most of my deck with Malignus and killing off my last opponent with a 40 power double striking Putrefax. It was glorious.
Those are definitely some good options. I have to limit my colorless producing lands but I could probably fit some more fixing in here over basics without hurting Arbor Elf and Orcish Lumberjack too much. Skarrg is redundant with Kessig Wolf Run which is not necessary a bad thing and there are situations where it's better. Still I think I will pass on it for now but might come back to it later. Spinerock Knoll is pretty terrible in my meta because people ALWAYS scoop when you kill them to deny things like Spinerock Knoll and sword triggers. On MTGO it's common enough that I wouldn't be triggering it much, especially when I kill with infect because people hate it. Probably a great card if this isn't an issue for you. Yavimaya Hollow pulling the creature out of combat is a big problem. It's definitely something I considered but I've been watching in game for instances where that would be a problem and it comes up frequently. Centaur Garden looks amazing so I will definitely try that one out. Rogue's Passage seems a bit expensive but there are certainly situations where it could be great. Something like
Considering the low land count, I think Mox Diamond should be at least looked at for getting cut, maybe for one of those lands. Having tested the deck, Mox Diamond rarely does what you want it to.
I also think Scourge of the Throne should be included, as long as the first attack hits someone on the throne, its deals 33 damage to that player over two combats. That is very near one hit kill status. It also is another red card to pitch to Blazing Shoal, as the majority of the time the red cards in the deck are not very high mana costs.
What about Invigorate as a free pump? Probably not very good, but it seems interesting.
Godo, Bandit Warlord is nuts. Grafted Exoskeleton on anything is practically lethal with Xenagos. It is very powerful, and I understand your misgivings about both of these cards, but I think they both deserve slots.
I do remember reading that you were lacking card draw, and Dragon Mage fills that role pretty well in the sense that giving it haste and +5/+5 isn't too bad as well.
Natural Order also seems very powerful.
If you do run Natural Order, it might be worth replacing Simian Spirit Guide with Elvish Spirit Guide on the virtue of being green and only costing 3$ instead of 11$.
I love Mox Diamond and have played it for years in a variety of decks. It ramps, fixes mana, comes down for free after a large draw spell and is great with Winter Orb. I do agree it's not always what you want to see but I think it's well worth the risk. Getting incidentally blown up by Band of Progress is a bummer though.
Scourge of the Throne - I tried it but didn't think it was deadly enough. He's also really bad if you have the highest life. Not terrible but not good enough I wanted to keep him.
Invigorate - I thought about it but I really want to limit my pump spells and it doesn't give evasion.
Godo, Bandit Warlord - With Grafted Wargear he's 36 damage which should be sufficient and that let's him get in immediately. He's still got some utility by fetching Skullclamp. OK I'm sold and will try him out though for now I'll hold off on the Exoskeleton because I just don't know where to fit it or if it's needed.
Dragon Mage - Another card I considered but may come back to. I think I found my answer in Prophetic Flamespeaker though.
Atarka, World Render - I figured it was worse than Scourge of the Throne so I never tried it.
Heartless Hidetsugu - I agree it's funny but not exactly the metric we're attacking on.
Become Immense - The low cost is nice and it's probably better than Invigorate. If it gave trample I would play it but getting through chump blockers is extremely important. It does go nicely with the power matters draw spells.
Hydra Omnivore - Just 16 damage isn't enough I don't think. Plus people can just scoop so it doesn't trigger.
Hunter's Insight - I didn't like it, people can scoop so you don't get your cards. Any card with this drawback I'll probably pass on no matter how good it could be.
Natural Order - It's only going to save me one mana in most cases but it is a tutor. I'll test Chord of Calling some more and see if I want to make that swap.
Cinder Glade - I don't think it would ETB untapped enough.
Armed // Dangerous - Very interesting card. I don't think it's what I'm looking for but definitely on my radar for things to try.
I had added in more ramp and feel I went overboard. The burst ramp was doing better than the 3 mana ramp spells so I cut those in favor of some more utility. Lands were also rearranged and also will add in Ghor-Clan Rampager since I think it will be a good fit. Swapping Godo for Juggernaut as well and see how that goes.
I only played one game so far with this configuration but Prophetic Flamespeaker was awesome. Tarmogoyf adds a cheap creature that is very large for the draw spells and just beating on people. Chord gives me better access to my finishers though this could become Natural Order. Grove of the Burnwillows was really expensive and I just got a Tarmogoyf and a Wasteland (for other decks) so my MTGO budget is shot this month.
I wanted to build a more aggressive deck and had originally settled on Ruric Thar, the Unbowed but couldn't settle on a build I liked. Going through the other RG options led me to Xenagos. There were a number of lists already built that I liked and drawing inspiration from ScorpioRage, plushpenguin and Jusstice I built a list and started tweaking it. This is what I ended up with and while it certainly needs some more work it's been pretty effective so far at taking people out. This version of the deck is designed to kill opponents in one hit as quickly as possible.
Xenagos has quite a bit of history. Not the nicest guy around, apparently he kills his twin sister and tries to murder his mother. Then his hedonistic lifestyle ignited his planeswalker spark so he decided to become a god. This pissed off Heliod so he sent Elspeth to go kill Xenagos which she did, probably.
Game Plan
The plan is to use Xenagos, God of Revels to pump Malignus, Phyrexian Juggernaut, Phyrexian Hydra, Godo, Bandit Warlord fetching Grafted Wargear or Putrefax to kill an opponent in one shot (probably with Godo). Lots of ramp and tutors to get to these cards early and Berserk, Temur Battle Rage, Soul's Fire, Chandra's Ignition and Ghor-Clan Rampager to get through defenses. Life's Legacy, Momentous Fall, Greater Good and Garruk, Primal Hunter can all capitalize on a large creature and Final Fortune can give you that extra turn to kill the last player. There's a small toolbox of creatures that can be fetched if a finisher isn't what's needed. Inkmoth Nexus and Plague Myr provide other options for the pump spells to be lethal. Xenagos makes tapping out a very scary position to be in and chump blockers are often not enough to stop you. Spot removal is your weakness though there are ways to mitigate this.
You might enjoy playing Xenagos, God of Revels if you
- like turning large creatures sideways
- like having the ability to draw half your deck in R/G
- think hitting an opponent twice is one time too many
- want a commander that's very important to the deck (but it is possible to win without)
- enjoy surprise kills out of nowhere
You might not like Xenagos if youDeck List
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
Creatures
1 Arbor Elf
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Caustic Caterpillar
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Orcish Lumberjack
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Tinder Wall
2 Devoted Druid
2 Lotus Cobra
2 Plague Myr
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Tarmogoyf
3 Dosan the Falling Leaf
3 Eternal Witness
3 Magus of the Wheel
3 Prophetic Flamespeaker
3 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Viridian Corrupter
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
5 Malignus
5 Phyrexian Hydra
5 Putrefax
6 Bane of Progress
6 Godo, Bandit Warlord
6 Phyrexian Juggernaut
7 Balefire Dragon
10 Greater Gargadon
1 Faithless Looting
1 Gamble
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Sylvan Tutor
2 Life's Legacy
2 Nature's Lore
2 Three Visits
2 Tormenting Voice
3 Wheel of Fortune
5 Chandra's Ignition
Instants
1 Berserk
1 Crop Rotation
1 Vines of Vastwood
1 Worldly Tutor
2 Blazing Shoal
2 Final Fortune
2 Temur Battle Rage
3 Chord of Calling
3 Soul's Fire
4 Momentous Fall
Enchantments
2 Survival of the Fittest
2 Sylvan Library
4 Sneak Attack
4 Greater Good
Artifacts
0 Chrome Mox
0 Mana Crypt
0 Mox Diamond
1 Mana Vault
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
2 Gruul Signet
2 Talisman of Impulse
2 Winter Orb
3 Grafted Wargear
3 Tangle Wire
5 Garruk, Primal Hunter
Land
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Arid Mesa
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Centaur Garden
1 Command Tower
1 Copperline Gorge
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
6 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Gruul Turf
1 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mosswort Bridge
2 Mountain
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Skarrg, the Rage Pits
1 Stomping Ground
1 Strip Mine
1 Taiga
1 Treetop Village
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
Card Choices
Commander
Xenagos, God of Revels - Xenagos has the ability to give haste and double power which is particularly exciting with Malignus, Phyrexian Hydra, Godo, Bandit Warlord fetching Grafted Wargear & Putrefax as they all become lethal with one swing (probably with Godo). Inkmoth Nexus can be set up with Kessig Wolf Run, Blazing Shoal or Vines of Vastwood. Greater Gargadon powered up with a Berserk effect is also 36 power worth of trample which is nothing to ignore. You can target a mana dork to give them haste if you have nothing better to do and Balefire Dragon becomes an effective one sided sweeper as well as a reasonable face smasher.
Don't be too afraid of turning Xenagos "on". He can beat face just fine and most of the time the trampling 20 power infect creature is slightly more demanding of attention than a 6/5. He can't pump himself but with a couple pump spells commander damage isn't out of the question and he doesn't die to Berserk.
Even if you don't have a finisher it's often still a good idea to get Xenagos in play. The deck becomes very dangerous with him in play and it can force opponents to alter their game plan by having to leave mana up and/or get chump blockers in play.
Arbor Elf/Birds of Paradise/Elvish Mystic/Fyndhorn Elves/Llanowar Elves - Suite of mana dorks. We're trying to power out Xenagos by turn 3. They also form a powerful combo with Skullclamp.
Caustic Caterpillar - A cheap Disenchant on a stick. Plays well with Green Sun's Zenith and Chord of Calling.
Joraga Treespeaker - Turn 3 Xenagos, that's the plan and this does it with one card.
Orcish Lumberjack - This guy is pretty silly and enables some very dangerous starts involving turn 2 Xenagos and you still have a possible 5 mana turn 3. Obviously blowing up your land is not always a very good idea so use responsibly.
Sylvan Safekeeper - Spot removal is one of the banes of this deck. Having protection on a one mana creature (that can even protect itself!) is pretty awesome. It does counter your pump spells so be mindful of that. Again blow up your own lands responsibly.
Tinder Wall - Hunding Gjornersen suggested this. Been testing well so far as a good early ramper and mana fixer that can get Xenagos in play turn 3 or possibly earlier.
Devoted Druid - Enables turn 3 Xenagos though losing out on the extra mana the following turn is a bummer. If you do this cast Xenagos in your second main so he doesn't kill the druid. There are also some fringe uses where you can use Vines of Vastwood or Blazing Shoal + Xenagos to make the Druid pretty big and generate a burst of mana.
Lotus Cobra - Turn 3 Xenagos with a fetchland and then he can smack someone for 4.
Plague Myr - Another suggestion by Hunding Gjornersen seems like a low risk option that can potentially get kills with the right cards.
Scavenging Ooze - Mostly in here as a silver bullet for graveyard shenanigans it is possible for it to grow quite large and turn into a serious threat of draw you a bunch of cards with Momentous Fall or similar.
Dosan the Falling Leaf - Counterspells are bad for us as is spot removal. Dosan can protect us long enough to kill the offending player that would dare use spot removal against us. At least that is the hope. Again a silver bullet.
Eternal Witness - Just a great creature. It's a Regrowth that can equip Skullclamp which is all you can really ask for in a creature.
Magus of the Wheel - Draw 7 on a creature makes it easy to access. Xenagos can give him has so he can be activated right away and he's got a decent body as a 3/3 for 3.
Prophetic Flamespeaker - Double red can be troublesome but this gets much needed card advantage on a stick.
Simian Spirit Guide - He helps ramp into Xenagos and sometimes when I draw a large amount of cards I'm not able to cast Last Chance/Final Fortune because I didn't have the mana so the Spirit Guide is in to help with this issue.
Viridian Corrupter - I'm trying this guy out over Reclamation Sage. Happy with the change so far.
Ghor-Clan Rampager - Pump on a creature making it easier to fetch. Also a decent sized beater if needed.
Malignus - Now here's a real creature. With Xenagos or one of the Berserk effects Malignus will one shot anyone at any life with unpreventable damage. With both Xenagos and a Berserk effect it's unlikely their attempts at blocking will prove successful. Malignus is also fantastic with Life's Legacy, Momentous Fall, Greater Good & Garruk, Primal Hunter though you do need to worry about decking yourself if he's pumped with Xenagos or a Berserk.
Bane of Progress - I have mixed feelings about Bane of Progress. Many times he's just bad because he doesn't do enough and blows up my mana rocks and other times he's amazing. He's in as a silver bullet when I need him.
Godo, Bandit Warlord - The idea is to grab Grafted Wargear and double pump with Xenagos for 36 damage. Sadly none of the creatures in my deck practice the samurai arts.
Balefire Dragon - I really wanted a way to clear the board in creature form and despite the hefty mana cost I believe this is the best option. Not many things survive 12 damage.
Greater Gargadon - Gargadon is a cheap threat I can suspend early and provides value until he's ready to come out in the form of a sac outlet. You can protect your key creatures from exiling removal and being able to sac Winter Orb and Tangle Wire right before your turn is pretty neat. He's also a serious threat with Xenagos and a pump spell. Lastly he's the 3rd creature I play which lets you blow up your own land so he's got that going for him.
Sorceries
Faithless Looting - I'm trying to assemble key pieces but often end up with extras such as having multiple pump spells or too much ramp. This is a great way to turn junk into treasure for minimal mana investment.
Gamble - Red Demonic Tutor!! Most of the time anyways. Turn 1 it's often best to try for Sol Ring or Mana Crypt. Later on it just grabs whatever you need at the time.
Sylvan Tutor - Bad Worldly Tutor is still fine.
Life's Legacy - We can get some rather huge creatures and this lets us draw a large amount of cards. Just be careful around Malignus, sometimes you really don't have 70 cards left in your deck.
Nature's Lore/Three Visits - Ramp that can fetch dual lands and that's all they do. Pretty boring cards.
Tormenting Voice - Similar to Faithless Looting this can filter dead cards into business spells.
Wheel of Fortune - Draw 7s are pretty amazing since we're trying to dump our hand pretty quickly.
Chandra's Ignition - The creature deals the damage so if you cast it on an infect creature or Malignus that happened to be pumped by Xenagos they will kill everyone but you.
Instants
Berserk - An old classic this helps us punch through defenses and can often surprise opponents that felt safe with a chump blocker. Doubling power for the Life's Legacy spells is pretty nice too. It's even creature removal in a pinch!
Crop Rotation - This will generally get a manland or Strip Mine, assemble the other piece of Inkmoth Nexus/Kessig Wolf Run or grab Gruul Turf/Ancient Tomb if you're tight on mana.
Worldly Tutor - A great tutor to get any creature. It can be cast during upkeep if you didn't have any mana EOT but need to draw the creature now.
Blazing Shoal - This is a wildly swingy card but often it's amazing. It can give huge card advantage with the power matters draw spells and with Greater Gargadon makes for a very lethal Inkmoth Nexus though any red spell that costs 4+ and Xenagos is sufficient. In an emergency it can make a mana dork big, double it's power with Xenagos then cast a Life's Legacy and you're back in business. It can also create surprise Putrefax kills without the aid of Xenagos.
Final Fortune - Same as Last Chance but an instant. Probably best not to cast it at instant speed though.
Temur Battle Rage - This helps power through defenses and is one of the reasons blocking against this deck is not always effective. It doesn't help with the power matters draw spells but it also doesn't kill the creature so it's got some upside as well. 10 power double striking trampling infect creatures are no joke.
Chord of Calling - It can ramp early fetching Dryad Arbor and later on gets a finisher or utility creature.
Soul's Fire - This is a pretty sweet card since the creature deals the damage the infect goes with it and Malignus deals unpreventable damage. It can also be spot removal if you need it but it's best as spot removal for opponents.
Momentous Fall - Another power matters draw spell. Get a huge creature, double it's power, draws lots of cards. It can gain a bunch of life too which is not a drawback.
Enchantments
Sylvan Library - I often use my life as a resource and draw aggressively. Great with fetches to shuffle away junk.
Sneak Attack - I don't run lots of expensive creatures so the purpose is to cheat a fatty into play, kill someone and still have enough mana to hopefully draw a pile of cards. Being able to use ETB at instant speed is also sometimes helpful. It can also set up kills without Xenagos easier which is good.
Greater Good - We're trying to make large creatures and this lets us turn them into cards.
Artifacts
Chrome Mox/Mox Diamond - Part of the ramp package and great after a large draw spell that leaves us light on mana.
Mana Crypt/Sol Ring/Mana Vault - Broken fast mana, yay! These can fuel some pretty crazy starts (surprise, surprise).
Sensei's Divining Top - This is just a concession that sometimes things won't always go my way and I might need to dig for key cards.
Skullclamp - Mana dorks are pretty bad in the late game so you can use this to turn them into draw spells. Also fetchable with Godo.
Gruul Signet/Talisman of Indulgence - Simple mana rocks, nothing more.
Winter Orb - We don't want our opponents to play expensive spells and with the mana rocks and dorks can play around it well enough.
Grafted Wargear - Get it with Godo or make your power matters draw spells better. It can be blown up and you'll have to sac the creature so don't equip if you don't need to.
Tangle Wire - Winter Orb's best buddy is still a fine card on it's own to slow down our opponents. It can tap itself and since you can stack the triggers to remove the counter first you should only be tapping 2 other things the first time while your opponents must tap 4.
Planeswalker
Garruk, Primal Hunter - I like him over Soul's Majesty because he can actually create his own threat which can be 6 cards with Xenagos. Dropping him turn 3 and making a beast then following up with Xenagos on turn four and drawing 6 cards is a solid line of play.
Lands
Ancient Tomb - 2 mana on 1 land and doesn't even enter tapped! It's almost like this card is too powerful.
Arid Mesa/Bloodstained Mire/Misty Rainforest/Scalding Tarn/Verdant Catacombs/Windswept Heath/Wooded Foothills - Fetches are pretty good.
Taiga/Stomping Ground/Command Tower/Fire-Lit Thicket/Copperline Gorge - Fixing lands of various quality.
Centaur Garden - Pump spell on a land seems solid. Great suggestion from HardCasting.
Dryad Arbor - Target for Green Sun's Zenith. You can get it with Fetches if you have a Skullclamp or need a surprise blocker.
Gaea's Cradle - Even if it taps for just 2 mana it's pretty amazing.
Gruul Turf - Just a little extra card advantage and a target for Crop Rotation sometimes if you're tight on mana or need to protect a key land.
Inkmoth Nexus - If you can pump it up it can easily kill someone. You're looking for Xenagos + Vines of Vastwood, Blazing Shoal or Kessig Wolf Run.
Kessig Wolf Run - Pump effects are generally useful for us and getting one on a land is great.
Mishra's Factory - I like manlands like this because it can turn into a 3/3 (by pumping itself, watch that summoning sickness). With Xenagos this can turn into a decent sized draw spell. A 3/3 blocker also deters a decent number of attackers.
Mosswort Bridge - The requirement is usually pretty easy to get making this a pretty reliable free spell on a land.
Skarrg, the Rage Pits - Still trying this out.
Strip Mine - Deals with pesky lands like Glacial Chasm and Maze of Ith.
Treetop Village - Another manland similar to Mishra's Factory. This one can beat down as a 6/6 trampler.
Changelog
9/17/15
-Vexing Shusher
-Wilderness Elemental
-Ranger's Guile
-Cultivate
+Utopia Sprawl
+Dosan the Falling Leaf
+Simian Spirit Guide
+Somberwald Sage
10/3/15
Cuts
Adds
2/17/16
-Utopia Sprawl
+Tinder Wall
2/20/16
-Sakura-Tribe Elder
+Plague Myr
2/29/16
Cuts
Adds
What difficulties have you currently run into?
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
I'm just hoping future sets give me better threats for this deck.
So, how do you deal with setups with a solid amount of removal or when you don't have a berserk effect to pair with an infect target? Granted, you have guile and vines which are solid protection spells...
Also, while killing players quickly does lessen the time they have to either draw into or setup a draw into removal and counters, sometimes players will keep hands with swords to plowshares in the opener.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Spot removal hasn’t been as problematic as I thought it would be. I want to find room for Dosan the Falling Leaf as a tutor target which would help but other than that I don’t feel I need to do anything else unless I start running into problems. City of Solitude was in my initial list and I ended up cutting it though a creature version might be more useful. Dense Foliage turns off a lot of my important spells but that’s an option. Sylvan Safekeeper is very cheap and accessible though so he’s definitely my go to. Regardless of what I do though I won’t ever be able to beat STP.dec so I’ll just accept that as a bad matchup.
1 Wilderness Elemental
1 Ranger's Guile
1 Cultivate
1 Soul's Majesty
1 Dosan the Falling Leaf
1 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Somberwald Sage
1 Blazing Shoal
I haven't actually tried Blazing Shoal yet but I do have Greater Gargadon & Blasphemous Act to live the dream. Rush of Blood may actually be a better call since Blazing Shoal looks really inconsistent or there may be something even better but that's the best I came up with. Sometimes I would be able to draw most of my deck but after I did I didn't have enough mana to cast Last Chance or Final Fortune so Simian Spirit Guide is in to help with that issue, as is Utopia Sprawl since it can filter a mana for me. Somberwald Sage can be given haste with Xenagos so late game can be free to cast which is a cool bonus. Dosan is in to help fight spot removal which Vexing Shusher didn't help with.
I do have concerns about simply running out of cards with all the card disadvantage but aside from having to mulligan heavily I've been able to draw just enough gas to keep going until I either win or die. Removing Soul's Majesty doesn't help but I disliked that card every time I drew it.
Turn 1 Forest, Tinder Wall
Turn 2 Ancient Tomb, Xenagos
It generally doesn't hurt you that hard with your landbase + ramp package and you can roll it out earlier than my builds could.
T2 blood moon against tri-color decks when they don't have fetches ready to crack can be brutal.
It does slow you down a tiny bit, but the moon is a serious piece of passive disruption that can help you push through.
The Unidentified Fantastic Flying Girl.
EDH
Xenagos, the God of Stompy
The Gitrog Monster: Oppressive Value.
Marchesa, Marionette Master - Undying Robots
Yuriko, the Hydra Omnivore
I make dolls as a hobby.
Its everything I enjoy in commander.
As one side note, why is Grafted Exoskeleton not in here? You could also throw Godo in as well for some serious beats and knockouts.
Maybe Triumph of the Hordes is worth a look? You are running a lot of mana dorkerinos.
Interesting you have Reclamation Sage and not Viridian Corrupter in the deck.
Maybe even Spinebiter?
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My G Yisan, the Bard of Death G deck.
My BUGWR Hermit druid BUGWR deck.
It's a blast to play but pretty inconsistent. Sometimes you'll get dealt with and do nothing but it's great being able to straight up murder someone on turn 3-4. I got to live the dream in my first or second game drawing most of my deck with Malignus and killing off my last opponent with a 40 power double striking Putrefax. It was glorious.
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-3 Forest
-1 Mountain
+Centaur Garden
+Rogue's Passage (this could become Skarrg)
+Grove of the Burnwillows (pumps Malignus!)
+Fire-Lit Thicket (maybe Copperline Gorge is better?)
I also think Scourge of the Throne should be included, as long as the first attack hits someone on the throne, its deals 33 damage to that player over two combats. That is very near one hit kill status. It also is another red card to pitch to Blazing Shoal, as the majority of the time the red cards in the deck are not very high mana costs.
What about Invigorate as a free pump? Probably not very good, but it seems interesting.
Godo, Bandit Warlord is nuts. Grafted Exoskeleton on anything is practically lethal with Xenagos. It is very powerful, and I understand your misgivings about both of these cards, but I think they both deserve slots.
I do remember reading that you were lacking card draw, and Dragon Mage fills that role pretty well in the sense that giving it haste and +5/+5 isn't too bad as well.
Atarka, World Render deals 24 damage, so maybe that is worth including? There are a few utility dragons that might then warran. a small dragon sub-theme (Scourge of the Throne, Dragon Mage).
Wrecking Ogre represents a lot of damage as well.
Heartless Hidetsugu gets haste with Xenagos (probably not very good but pretty funny).
EDIT:
Become Immense seems pretty good.
Hydra Omnivore also seems very powerful, and Omnivore plus Exoskeleton straight kills the table.
Hunter's Insight to help with that card advantage loss?
Natural Order also seems very powerful.
If you do run Natural Order, it might be worth replacing Simian Spirit Guide with Elvish Spirit Guide on the virtue of being green and only costing 3$ instead of 11$.
Cinder Glade
Armed // Dangerous seems potentially game-winning: make a mana elf be blocked by everything, have fatty get in for lethal?
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I had added in more ramp and feel I went overboard. The burst ramp was doing better than the 3 mana ramp spells so I cut those in favor of some more utility. Lands were also rearranged and also will add in Ghor-Clan Rampager since I think it will be a good fit. Swapping Godo for Juggernaut as well and see how that goes.
Cuts
Adds
I only played one game so far with this configuration but Prophetic Flamespeaker was awesome. Tarmogoyf adds a cheap creature that is very large for the draw spells and just beating on people. Chord gives me better access to my finishers though this could become Natural Order. Grove of the Burnwillows was really expensive and I just got a Tarmogoyf and a Wasteland (for other decks) so my MTGO budget is shot this month.
I like the Flames peaked add, should be good. Ghor Clan isn't a bad beater as well.
EDIT:
My computer autocorred Flamespeaker to "Flames peaked"
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