MTG Salvation

Current Build (09/12/2019)


2G for a 3/4 antelope? Yes, please! 3B for a 4/5 scorpion demon? Where can I sign up? There's somewhat of a slight drawback though; you have to put -1/-1 counter/s on a creature you control when these bad boys enter the battlefield (its put on them when no other creatures are in sight, so Ornery Kudu is basically a 2/3 for 2G and Soulstinger, which by the way, is the baddest a** name for a common creature, is a 2/3 for 3B, stats which aren't that eye-popping). So how can we abuse these disadvantages, you ask? Why on Young Wolf, of course! So "killing" the wolf with an Ornery Kudu nets you a 2/2 (Young Wolf) and a 3/4 (Ornery Kudu) on the same turn. much value so wow

And with War of the Spark giving us the proliferate mechanic back, I searched for additional synergies using +1/+1 counters and I came up with the Unleash ability from Return to Ravnica, with Thrill-Kill Assassin's deathtouch and Rakdos Drake's evasion being the most notable ones. This deck is geared towards aggro so blocking is almost always going to be irrelevant. Aquastrand Spider also helps with the counter-less proliferators (Bloom Hulk and Pollenbright Druid) by "donating" a +1/+1 counter to them before proliferating.

Wickerbough Elder (1 main and 1 SB) is there for hitting random Journey to Nowheres as well as for Bogles and Affinity. Festercreep from the sideboard round out the creatures, ideally to bring in against tokens-based decks.

In keeping up with the theme, the deck's removal/interaction is provided by Grim Affliction; the proliferating counters of Serrated Arrows; and Cartouche of Ambition's -1/-1 counter (and life gain to boot). I'm also testing Fate Transfer as a means to punch through the last points of damage or to transfer the random -1/-1 counters to a pesky blocker. And having 30 creatures, drawing 3 to 4 is almost always a guarantee with Lead the Stampede.

Having playtested a bit, the sideboard is geared up towards beating Bogles/Heroic (Innocent Blood, Wickerbough Elder); Boros Bully/Elves (Festercreep, Nausea); Delver (Serrated Arrows, Claws of Wirewood); Tron (Nihil Spellbomb); and Burn/Aggro (Cartouche of Ambition, Pulse of Murasa).

What do you guys think? Have I missed cards that go well with the counter theme?

Interesting list.

Have you considered Lead the Stampede over Scarscale Ritual? With 24 creatures you have a fairly decent chance at snagging 2 creatures when cast as it digs 5 deep. Ritual may not be able to be played if your board is creatureless which can happen quite often with removal heavy decks. You want to have multiple creatures on board to reap the benefits of a Proliferate spell. You could always move Ritual to the SB, or you could try a 2 & 2 split of the two cards in the main possibly. Just a thought.

Hey, thanks for the suggestion WarMachinPrime! I think I'm going to try a 3-1, Scarscale-Lead the Stampede split first. I'm also thinking of dropping the two mainboard Festercreeps and two Rakdos Drakes so I can put in a set of Skarrgan Pit-Skulks for a bit more evasion and a much faster start.

Updated to current list above. The deck plays like Stompy in the initial stages of the game (turn 1 Young Wolf. turn 2 attack with Wolf, play Skarrgan Pit-Skulk. turn 3, Rancor), but can grind it out with massive 3/4s and 4/5s in the mid game.

Thoughts?

Excited to see Proliferate returning, goodies galore! Will update the list once WAR releases.

This deck got a ton of love. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

It has been a long time coming. List updated!