Interesting topic. Here are some cards that could find a spot here : driven // despair : it seems to be a cool reward for swarming strategies. Control decks seems to fear it a lot (discard that fumigate please...) verdurous gearhulk : If the dryad seems too slow and fragile, this could be an interesting topcurve, able to spread enough counters to change a board state immediately. Metallic mimic : not as strong as it is in typical tribal decks, but I think one or two could be tested. Producing 2/2 tokens insteade of 1/1 changes a lot of things.
Sideboard : I think golden demise could be considered. It's easy to get the blessing, and a one sided wrath might help against other creature decks.
Here's my testing of the deck thus far. It's been a lot of fun thus far, especially with Slimefoot/Fungal Plots. Rites works well before and after Spore Swarm, even if it only hits half the time. A lot of times I just try to build up my army until I can push through or sac for damage. One of my first games I defeated a Turn 1 Authority of the Consuls through amassing forces then Torgaaring down from 38.
Vraska's quite good here too, I side her in for certain matches. Tend to side out 1 each of Torgaar, Tendershoot, Growing Rites and Song of Freyalise for sideboard cards. The core of the deck being make of a lot of dudes with lords and pseudo-lord/anthems is still fairly brutal, but helps if you can also grind with Plots.
Sweet deck! I'm glad you're enjoying it. How has Rites worked for you thus far? I'm actually running a copy in my main as well because the flip side is so powerful and, at the worst, it at least (most of the time) replaces itself so it's not dead. Have two copies been too much for you? Have you been able to flip it consistently enough? Still testing it out, but it seems strong.
I could see Vraska being pretty good out of the board against grindier matchups. She's pricey, but if you can get her out she is a powerhouse. I found 2 Torgaar, Famine Incarnate and 3 Song of Freyalise to be a little much, so I went down a copy on each of them. Neither of them are good to get in doubles. Have the extra copies been rewarding for you so far?
And 4 Tendershoot Dryad feels a bit much. There are some who like her and some who don't, but I think that the full 4 is likely to dilute the deck when you least want it to. It's a really frail card and I believe it may be a strict sideboard card after you side in Duresses; you really need to know when it is safe to cast it. Finally, no Fungal Infection, Fatal Push, or, Vicious Offering? Cast Down doesn't seem to be the strongest removal spell here with better, more efficient options. Even if you're looking to hit big non-legendary fatties, Vicious Offering is likely more efficient because it is easy to kick it and it takes out the Amonkhet gods (other than Bontu and Oketra) among other Indestructables and Legends that Cast Down can't.
Interesting topic. Here are some cards that could find a spot here : driven // despair : it seems to be a cool reward for swarming strategies. Control decks seems to fear it a lot (discard that fumigate please...) verdurous gearhulk : If the dryad seems too slow and fragile, this could be an interesting topcurve, able to spread enough counters to change a board state immediately. Metallic mimic : not as strong as it is in typical tribal decks, but I think one or two could be tested. Producing 2/2 tokens insteade of 1/1 changes a lot of things.
Sideboard : I think golden demise could be considered. It's easy to get the blessing, and a one sided wrath might help against other creature decks.
Definitely interested in Driven // Despair; I oft feel as though my horde of Saprolings can't attack because a few of them will get blocked, but this card rewards even 1 or 2 saps sneaking through the gap. I'll probably try a copy in the main because of its usefulness on the front side, and another in the side because the back side can be brutal against some decks
Verdurous Gearhulk: It seems like an interesting option. 5 mana for 8 distributed p/t seems like a sweet deal, whether or not it synergizes particularly well with Saprolings. Worth considering at least.
Metallic Mimic: I kind of dismissed this card because our deck doesn't utilize it to its maximum capacity, but I suppose it would be worth considering; upgrading 1/1s to 2/2s is certainly strong, and getting it out before our token swarms is pretty plausible at 2 CMC. Also nice that if Mimic dies, the Saprolings that already received counters will keep them, unlike with Sporecrown Thallid.
I actually already have a copy of Golden Demise in my sideboard, although I'm not sure how much I like it. It's obviously pretty narrow in its utility - only giving -2/-2, but the ease of turning on Ascend makes it a pretty decent 3 mana investment. The problem I've been finding with Ascend cards like Tendershoot Dryad and Twilight Prophet is that when I need them most, Ascend is never on. For instance: If I've just been wrathed and I'm hoping to rebuild with Twilight Prophet, I may not be able to because I don't have enough creatures. Tendershoot Dryad can be slightly better in those situations because it still makes the tokens even if it doesn't boost them. The good thing about Golden Demise is that if your board is wiped, it doesn't really matter if you have Ascend.
Here is the list I've been working with; not fully satisfied with the ratios and need to playtest more, but it's a start:
As I said before, it's still a work in progress. The manabase may be a little too diluted with the 3 utility lands, but I've been able to turn on Woodland Cemetery consistently enough. Note the 0 Tendershoots in the main. I've found that it runs better in the sideboard with Duress and more knowledge of the opponent's deck.
Waiting on class to start right now so forgive me as my phone is 'meh' but I agree with the Freyalise reduction. Going to tonight cut her to 2 so my first bit of testing from the last list I posted will be -2 Saproling Migrations and -1 Song of Freyalise for 3 of the Fungal Infections. I am sticking to 2 Torgaar for the moment as so far in my testing I haven't doubled up on him as well as I personally like him coming down early and being that 'oh crap' card people might not expect.
Golden Demise is just the kind of card I was looking for, something to help clear some paths for our lil shrooms to take over the field. Sideboard I will add later but it's close to yours Kestral but going to be more 2 of than one of though.
Let's keep this up, loving the shape this is (shi)taking on.
And yes, my son and wife are already tired of mushroom puns and we're just getting started.
Something I haven't seen mentioned, yet, and granted I know it's a bit off the cuff, is Mouth // Feed. The second half is a bomb with Tendershoot Dryad after Ascend is reached. Our lord also gets a number of other creatures into Hungry Hippo mode. There have been a number of games where a flipped Growing Rites of Itlimoc has allowed me to drop Dryad and cast Feed in a single turn, once netting me eight cards. I have been running one copy of Hippo Buffet in every green deck I've played since it was released and haven't ever regretted it. Even in my BG Explore deck with Jadelight, Branchwalker, Ripjaw, and Carnage Tyrant I'm often drawing three+ cards.
Something I haven't seen mentioned, yet, and granted I know it's a bit off the cuff, is Mouth // Feed. The second half is a bomb with Tendershoot Dryad after Ascend is reached. Our lord also gets a number of other creatures into Hungry Hippo mode. There have been a number of games where a flipped Growing Rites of Itlimoc has allowed me to drop Dryad and cast Feed in a single turn, once netting me eight cards. I have been running one copy of Hippo Buffet in every green deck I've played since it was released and haven't ever regretted it. Even in my BG Explore deck with Jadelight, Branchwalker, Ripjaw, and Carnage Tyrant I'm often drawing three+ cards.
That's why I run Bontu the glorified. he is a sac outlet that lets me choose cards like deathbloom thallied as well as get a drain effect and a scry off of that for just 2 mana, plus unlike fungal plots he is indestructable and a beater/defender when needed plus he synergizes well with plots and slimefoot when all three are in play. Slimefoot and plots can produce tokens if needed and you can get the draw effect after scrying with Bontu if the card on top is something you could really use (like a vraska's contempt or torgaar or vicious offering, etc...
one of the best field states to have is: Song of Freyalise, Bontu the glorified, Slimefoot the stowaway, fungal plots and tokens or token producers like deathbloom thallied, tendershoot dryad, or verdant force (having sporecrown's on the field is also really nice but not necessary). With this set up or at least part of it you will be getting tokens consistantly or have the ability to produce some if needed and then go ham sandwich and possibly win.
Song for the first two turns lets your tokens or lords tap for mana which lets you essentially sac them for free with bontu's effect which, if slimefoot is on the field, heals you for 2 each time you do it as well as draining 2 life off your opponent, and nets you a scry trigger each time as well, plus bontu can either attack or defend as neccessary, then you can also sac any left over tokens to draw and gain 2 life which triggers slimefoot healing you for 1 and draining the opponent for 1. then you can remove your deathblooms and sapheards that you saced with bontu to produce saproling tokens with fungal plots, this gets even better when you have tendershoot dryad out (or verdant force, though it isn't as great) and the city's blessing as you'll creat an additional token on the opponent's turn plus the constant buff to the tokens from having the blessing (even better with sporecrown out since it gives a buff regardless) and basically repeat the process the next turn and then go stompy on them on song's final turn.
I know that this kind of board state is perfect/ideal and is not likely to happen or remain up for multiple turns, but just having bontu, fungal plots, and slimefoot out is more than enough to win games so long as you continue to produce tokens (song of freylise just makes things go faster and isn't super necessary and tends to work best as a 2 of).
I also plan on revising the OP decklist to include deathbloom thallid, an additional vicious offering, and an additional fungal infection as well as fixing the mana base.
The OP looks sweet. Have you considered adding more Spore Swarms and more Saproling Migrations? Seems like they should be your key token producers early on.
What does everyone think of Path of Discovery? I've been fiddling around and I'm trying to find a consistent way to dump creatures into the graveyard, and Discovery triggers will certainly keep the ball rolling off of Fungal Plots. Besides, it could act like a pseudo Metallic Mimic for your creatures (not just Saps). Let's say, for instance, you cast a kicked Saproling Migration. With a Path of Discovery, the first Saproling trigger that reveals a non-land card (which is a high percentage) can get the counter and leave the card on top, ripe for the next Sap to get a counter. It also filters through lands so it is good for digging if you need answers. The upside seems strong with all of our token producers.
Obviously, the downside is that it costs 4 mana, so it may be a bit slow. Then again, we have new ramp in Llanowar Elves and Song of Freyalise and our 4-drop slot is completely unoccupied except by Vraska's Contempt (which is only played in some lists) so it looks like a good fit, at least the way I see it. If anyone has any thoughts on Path of Discovery, I've love to hear them. I'd like to do some testing on the card, as it seems to have potential from the synergies mentioned above. Will report back tomorrow with some (hopefully) positive results.
It does have some good interactions but I think it's too slow. And yeah I should have more migrations mained and I think I'll swap them in for duress which will be moved to the side board.
It does have some good interactions but I think it's too slow. And yeah I should have more migrations mained and I think I'll swap them in for duress which will be moved to the side board.
Yeah, mainboard Duress is probably a little optimistic. Pre-board discard is always great, but I think it dilutes too much from the deck, especially when we want to be playing Llanowar Elves T1. On that note, anyone ever feel we need more one-drops? I've never needed any myself, but I feel as though hands lacking Elves will be a little slow if we can't drop a creature T1. I suppose leaving up removal is a valid play most of the time, so maybe I'm just seeing ghosts.
As for Path of Discovery, I think it may not be as slow as some may think. Considering that we don't have anything at that point in the curve, it doesn't steal from any other cards. We have Elves. We have Freya. It seems like a decent little piece of tech. Of course, as I've said, testing will come soon and results will be shared.
So Path of Discovery is good, but it is a bit slow. I swapped out my single copy of Growing Rites of Itlimoc for it and so far it has been better. The multiple Explore triggers are really nice and it does its job well. I encourage other Fungi peeps to test it. It might be a better sideboard card than mainboard, so I'll probably move it over there.
I continued my search for a good graveyard filler card and I found Benefaction of Rhonas. I think it might be really good. It can fetch Plots in addition to all of your creatures, and it dumps the rest into the graveyard for Plots fuel. It's competing with a lot of other 3-drops but seems solid and definitely worth testing.
I also think I'm going to take advice from @Silvos Solitaire and throw in Driven // Despair. Seems like a really solid card advantage card.
So Path of Discovery is good, but it is a bit slow. I swapped out my single copy of Growing Rites of Itlimoc for it and so far it has been better. The multiple Explore triggers are really nice and it does its job well. I encourage other Fungi peeps to test it. It might be a better sideboard card than mainboard, so I'll probably move it over there.
I continued my search for a good graveyard filler card and I found Benefaction of Rhonas. I think it might be really good. It can fetch Plots in addition to all of your creatures, and it dumps the rest into the graveyard for Plots fuel. It's competing with a lot of other 3-drops but seems solid and definitely worth testing.
I also think I'm going to take advice from @Silvos Solitaire and throw in Driven // Despair. Seems like a really solid card advantage card.
I can't speak to Path's ability in this deck, but in my BG deck it's amazing. Against Red decks I side in Wildgrowth Walkers and gain sometimes twenty life in a game with it. Lurking Chupacabra is also amazing with Path. While quirky, Path could allow us some interesting sideboard options.
I think the thing we're doing right now with the mana is just getting more stuff on the field like with Slimefoot's ability. Then we sac em for the damage. Least that's what my side plan is along with attacking once they're low enough you throw the mushrooms at em basically.
Just hoping tonight turns out well, been a while since I have done a token style deck and I need to remember to mull smartly. SB is janky right now but not all the stuff I wanted has arrived like golden demise and such. I would write more but woke up way too early and brain is foggy. Good luck y'all.
So just finished a VERY grindy game against Planeswalker control. Key part of winning was Slimefoot. When they removed him the first time, I was fortunate enough to sac all my saplings to Plots to find another copy of Slimefoot, and then use the combo of Path to Discovery and Plots to make a sap, explore, dump the creature I revealed, and then rinse and repeat until I made just enough tokens to play Slimefoot and win instantly. Granted, parts of that game were very fortunate, but I liked discovering that interaction.
Along with a singleton Path (only game I drew it in) I'm trying a singleton The Immortal Sun, (didn't draw it in above game, will probably sideboard second copy), worked well enough as anthem, and really well as a draw machine. Not as useful in cost reduction, but in may help in other games I get it out early.
Lacked Fungal Plots in most games played tonight, so I might bump it up to 3 copies. A decent amount of Enchant/Artifact removal is being played mainboard, so it might help to have a backup copy.
I would definitely focus on what advantages our new fungi overlords have over other tribes: Going super wide and growing, while being in Green and having strong card draw !
Therefore, I would always start my list with 4x Sporecrown Thallid (2 CMC lords are always great), 4x Song of Freyalise (gives us tons of mana, pumps our team and sometimes allows an alpha strike), 4x Saproling Migration (good turn 2 play before dropping a lord, great lategame play and can make use of extra Freyalise mana), 3x Slimefoot, the Stowaway (nice pseudo-lord with great lategame mana usage), 3x Fungal Plots (our card advantage engine that also doubles as pseudo wratch-protection, only 3 copies because multiples do nothing) and at least 2x Tendershoot Dryad (a cheaper and much better Verdant Force that also becomes a huge lord once we reached a decent board state).
Yup, that sounds about right for the core. I think that there is an argument to be made against Tendershoot Dryad as it is ridiculously frail for a 5-drop; it should always at least be a sideboard card. I would also consider Fungal Infection part of the core for its versatility. I wouldn't run a list without it. 4 Freya may be a lot; I think that the number should be between 2-4, depending on the rest of the flex slots and the meta. The ramp doesn't work well in multiples.
I played with the idea of making thallid / saproling decks, but it came down to the fact that the meta seems very well positioned to deal with tons of small X/1 and X/2 creatures, which puts the deck in the same position as merfolk and tribal vampires. In fact, I'd say red right now in standard is potentially broken in it's power level. Lots of recurring threats and even some level of card advantage and tons of board sweeps.
The good news is that because the deck is green, it has access to some really good tech against red. Blossoming Defense, Heroic Intervention, etc. Also the top end has Vraska, Relic Seeker, which I would take over Verdant Force as it can't be killed with Cast Down. Another card that is really good in token strategies is Vicious Offering. It's not quite Grasp of Darkness, but it does the job so well against indestructible threats from Amonket. The only thing it doesn't hit is Oketra the True. It also kills Lyra Dawnbringer, who is the beat stick of all beat sticks and will see a ton of play coming into the next season.
By the way, with the way removal is positioned right now I'd seriously avoid playing anything above 4 cmc that isn't legendary. The potential to just get it blown out by Urza's Ruinous Blast or Cast Down is real.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I played with the idea of making thallid / saproling decks, but it came down to the fact that the meta seems very well positioned to deal with tons of small X/1 and X/2 creatures, which puts the deck in the same position as merfolk and tribal vampires. In fact, I'd say red right now in standard is potentially broken in it's power level. Lots of recurring threats and even some level of card advantage and tons of board sweeps.
The good news is that because the deck is green, it has access to some really good tech against red. Blossoming Defense, Heroic Intervention, etc. Also the top end has Vraska, Relic Seeker, which I would take over Verdant Force as it can't be killed with Cast Down. Another card that is really good in token strategies is Vicious Offering. It's not quite Grasp of Darkness, but it does the job so well against indestructible threats from Amonket. The only thing it doesn't hit is Oketra the True. It also kills Lyra Dawnbringer, who is the beat stick of all beat sticks and will see a ton of play coming into the next season.
By the way, with the way removal is positioned right now I'd seriously avoid playing anything above 4 cmc that isn't legendary. The potential to just get it blown out by Urza's Ruinous Blast or Cast Down is real.
Saprolings have some pretty decent main deck tech against boardwipes, though, namely Slimefoot, the Stowaway to get some damage out of it and - most importantly Fungal Plots to draw a decent amount of cards in response to a board wipe.
I don't really like cards that go onto the field and do nothing on their own, especially when other decks can play cards that just give them so much more value. At the end of the day, I can play a Merfolk Branchwalker and at least get card filtering out of it if it gets removed or I have to block with it. Fungal Plots the only thing I can do with it is sacrifice two potential blockers to gain life and draw a card. In these token decks there is a huge difference between something that makes you sacrifice one creature and something that requires two.
I guess I'd rather play Spore Swarm or Saproling Migration. With a lord in play like Metallic Mimic or Sporecrown Thalid that is potentially 6-8 power minimum on the board. That and I'm really big on just getting the cities blessing and running with Tendershoot Dryad. Basically, run 12x lords, go wide with the tokens, and just fight through whatever removal the opponent has with efficient restocks on baby fungi. Heck, I prefer Tendershoot Dryad over Verdant Force, since it lands earlier and buffs all the tokens enough to make them lethal.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I think the real question we need to be asking is how can we deal/ignore a resolved chainwhirler. Especially on our first few setup turns. I picked up this deck because I wanted a standard deck that wouldn’t rotate for a long time but that also means the chainwhirler will be with us that whole time.
I started picking up the pieces and had a question. Would it be too greedy to run a few sunpetal grove/concealed courtyard for maybe a 1-2 anointed procession?
It's quite possible, the trouble is getting the mana base right and the fact that your going to want to see blooming marsh no later than turn 3 and woodland cemetery around turn 2. It also opens you up to being able to play some other useful removal spells. Main problem is seeing the chapel too soon, but if you're only running one or two copies of it this shouldn't be a problem
Did you all see SPBKASO's Budget Magic Saproling Tribal list? Looks pretty sweet! He's running 4 Metallic Mimics and had a solid 4 - 2 record, so maybe the card is worth exploring after all.
Went 1-3 last night at FNM. but two of the losses were 1-2 and were down to the wire, so no biggie.
Very close and fun matches. Won against mono red (which I was pretty proud of doing hehe) I only got annihilated by a weird flying unblockable artifact deck. This deck isn't really well suited to dealing with flying stuff even though I had 2 main board Aethersphere Harvester and a sideboarded Skysoveregin. I also sadly didn't pull any of the 8 or 9 removals in either round hehe, damn, would have been nice.
This deck was actually really good at grinding mono red out. You're hanging by a thread most of the time, but you sometiems out of nowhere have huge saprolings.
I had one Driven // Despair in the deck and was one turn away from making a giant attack, but then my Dryad got hit by In Bolas's Clutches and then I got Hadana's Climb'ed to death hehe.
I'd like to try and find space for maybe one or two Song of Freyalise. It seems really good. Especially if you can get an early kick on a Saproling Migration
Also, I can't stress enough how good Vicious offering is in this deck. I seriously killed Hazoret four times with it between the matches all for the price of two mana and one saproling. So good!!!
I'm thinking about putting one Torgaar, Famine Incarnate in the deck. It'll be pretty easy to play it for maybe four mana (sometimes 2) with so many saprolings ready to be sacrificed, and it seems like it would be a good way to do a reversal on really fast decks, because you can target yourself and get more life and then have a 7/6 on the field.
Really fun deck to play and had some really edge of the seat matches.
Yeah hehe, my local game store has standard on Wednesday and modern on Friday (which is actually kinda weird because Wizards apparently won't give out promos or something if it's not a Friday, so the modern players sometimes get standard promos.... and standard players get nothing most of the time, or it's just because I live in Denmark and we're too small of a country to get anything sent.... that happened with the Dominaria promo stuff )
I guess it was one of the guys down there who went 4-0 with a mono black deck who said I may want to look into adding one of that card, because it seems like it would be good (he used it in his deck too). It doesn't directly synergize with the deck, but I mean... That guy usually brews some crazy stuff up that works so I'll take his word for it and slap one in the deck just to try it out.
The life gain or life drain could have been useful to me in some of the rounds last night too. But yeah, it doesn't really synergize that well other than hte sacrifice part.
I know this is a go wide with tons of small creatures that get big deck, but I always like just having one giant beast somewhere in the deck just for fun hehe.
The artwork looks really cool too hehe. Looks like a giant four armed samurai demon beast thing.
Oh yeah, forgot to say, Fungal Infection was a sick sideboard card against red too. Taking care of those bomats and stuff like that. This deck has access to some great removal and there's a lot of space to pack the deck with it. I'm really glad running all four of my Fatal Push again.
Nonsense aside, great run!! I'm definitely an advocate for Fungal Infection, almost specifically with Mono-red in mind. Torgaar is a beatstick I've tried and I definitely like him. I think he goes better in some builds than in others, and is not a great late game card where his secondary effect doesn't matter much. I like him better in the sideboard, since against certain matchups bringing yourself back up to 10 is really strong (looking at you Mono-red) and depleting the opponent to 10 is really good against grindy decks, especially if they have lifegain. With that said, he's never useless against any matchups so I would feel free to try him in the main.
has anyone tried this deck out against the new blue/white historic deck that's been going around (at least a few people consider it to be one of, if not the top deck, in the tier)?
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driven // despair : it seems to be a cool reward for swarming strategies. Control decks seems to fear it a lot (discard that fumigate please...)
verdurous gearhulk : If the dryad seems too slow and fragile, this could be an interesting topcurve, able to spread enough counters to change a board state immediately.
Metallic mimic : not as strong as it is in typical tribal decks, but I think one or two could be tested. Producing 2/2 tokens insteade of 1/1 changes a lot of things.
Sideboard : I think golden demise could be considered. It's easy to get the blessing, and a one sided wrath might help against other creature decks.
Sweet deck! I'm glad you're enjoying it. How has Rites worked for you thus far? I'm actually running a copy in my main as well because the flip side is so powerful and, at the worst, it at least (most of the time) replaces itself so it's not dead. Have two copies been too much for you? Have you been able to flip it consistently enough? Still testing it out, but it seems strong.
I could see Vraska being pretty good out of the board against grindier matchups. She's pricey, but if you can get her out she is a powerhouse. I found 2 Torgaar, Famine Incarnate and 3 Song of Freyalise to be a little much, so I went down a copy on each of them. Neither of them are good to get in doubles. Have the extra copies been rewarding for you so far?
And 4 Tendershoot Dryad feels a bit much. There are some who like her and some who don't, but I think that the full 4 is likely to dilute the deck when you least want it to. It's a really frail card and I believe it may be a strict sideboard card after you side in Duresses; you really need to know when it is safe to cast it. Finally, no Fungal Infection, Fatal Push, or, Vicious Offering? Cast Down doesn't seem to be the strongest removal spell here with better, more efficient options. Even if you're looking to hit big non-legendary fatties, Vicious Offering is likely more efficient because it is easy to kick it and it takes out the Amonkhet gods (other than Bontu and Oketra) among other Indestructables and Legends that Cast Down can't.
Definitely interested in Driven // Despair; I oft feel as though my horde of Saprolings can't attack because a few of them will get blocked, but this card rewards even 1 or 2 saps sneaking through the gap. I'll probably try a copy in the main because of its usefulness on the front side, and another in the side because the back side can be brutal against some decks
Verdurous Gearhulk: It seems like an interesting option. 5 mana for 8 distributed p/t seems like a sweet deal, whether or not it synergizes particularly well with Saprolings. Worth considering at least.
Metallic Mimic: I kind of dismissed this card because our deck doesn't utilize it to its maximum capacity, but I suppose it would be worth considering; upgrading 1/1s to 2/2s is certainly strong, and getting it out before our token swarms is pretty plausible at 2 CMC. Also nice that if Mimic dies, the Saprolings that already received counters will keep them, unlike with Sporecrown Thallid.
I actually already have a copy of Golden Demise in my sideboard, although I'm not sure how much I like it. It's obviously pretty narrow in its utility - only giving -2/-2, but the ease of turning on Ascend makes it a pretty decent 3 mana investment. The problem I've been finding with Ascend cards like Tendershoot Dryad and Twilight Prophet is that when I need them most, Ascend is never on. For instance: If I've just been wrathed and I'm hoping to rebuild with Twilight Prophet, I may not be able to because I don't have enough creatures. Tendershoot Dryad can be slightly better in those situations because it still makes the tokens even if it doesn't boost them. The good thing about Golden Demise is that if your board is wiped, it doesn't really matter if you have Ascend.
Here is the list I've been working with; not fully satisfied with the ratios and need to playtest more, but it's a start:
3 Deathbloom Thallid
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Slimefoot, the Stowaway
4 Sporecrown Thallid
1 Torgaar, Famine Incarnate
4 Yavimaya Sapherd
Enchantment (5)
2 Fungal Plots
1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc
2 Song of Freyalise
Instant (11)
2 Fatal Push
4 Fungal Infection
2 Vicious Offering
3 Spore Swarm
3 Saproling Migration
Land (22)
4 Blooming Marsh
6 Forest
1 Hashep Oasis
1 Ifnir Deadlands
1 Memorial to Unity
5 Swamp
4 Woodland Cemetery
2 Bontu the Glorified
2 Tendershoot Dryad
1 Twilight Prophet
1 Heroic Intervention
2 Naturalize
1 Vicious Offering
1 Vraska's Contempt
3 Duress
1 Golden Demise
1 Lost Legacy
As I said before, it's still a work in progress. The manabase may be a little too diluted with the 3 utility lands, but I've been able to turn on Woodland Cemetery consistently enough. Note the 0 Tendershoots in the main. I've found that it runs better in the sideboard with Duress and more knowledge of the opponent's deck.
Golden Demise is just the kind of card I was looking for, something to help clear some paths for our lil shrooms to take over the field. Sideboard I will add later but it's close to yours Kestral but going to be more 2 of than one of though.
Let's keep this up, loving the shape this is (shi)taking on.
And yes, my son and wife are already tired of mushroom puns and we're just getting started.
Standard
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Sounds... actually really good. I don't know how often we can turn it on, especially as I'm not an advocate of Tendershoot Dryad myself, but it certainly has usage with Sporecrown Thallid who boosts both Slimefoot, the Stowaway and Yavimaya Sapherd into lunch range. I would probably recommend using more Deathbloom Thallids over Yavimaya Sapherds if you run Mouth // Feed because of the extra power on Bloom. Sounds like a fun and powerful option! I'll have to playtest it.
one of the best field states to have is: Song of Freyalise, Bontu the glorified, Slimefoot the stowaway, fungal plots and tokens or token producers like deathbloom thallied, tendershoot dryad, or verdant force (having sporecrown's on the field is also really nice but not necessary). With this set up or at least part of it you will be getting tokens consistantly or have the ability to produce some if needed and then go ham sandwich and possibly win.
Song for the first two turns lets your tokens or lords tap for mana which lets you essentially sac them for free with bontu's effect which, if slimefoot is on the field, heals you for 2 each time you do it as well as draining 2 life off your opponent, and nets you a scry trigger each time as well, plus bontu can either attack or defend as neccessary, then you can also sac any left over tokens to draw and gain 2 life which triggers slimefoot healing you for 1 and draining the opponent for 1. then you can remove your deathblooms and sapheards that you saced with bontu to produce saproling tokens with fungal plots, this gets even better when you have tendershoot dryad out (or verdant force, though it isn't as great) and the city's blessing as you'll creat an additional token on the opponent's turn plus the constant buff to the tokens from having the blessing (even better with sporecrown out since it gives a buff regardless) and basically repeat the process the next turn and then go stompy on them on song's final turn.
I know that this kind of board state is perfect/ideal and is not likely to happen or remain up for multiple turns, but just having bontu, fungal plots, and slimefoot out is more than enough to win games so long as you continue to produce tokens (song of freylise just makes things go faster and isn't super necessary and tends to work best as a 2 of).
I also plan on revising the OP decklist to include deathbloom thallid, an additional vicious offering, and an additional fungal infection as well as fixing the mana base.
edit: The OP deck list has been updated.
What does everyone think of Path of Discovery? I've been fiddling around and I'm trying to find a consistent way to dump creatures into the graveyard, and Discovery triggers will certainly keep the ball rolling off of Fungal Plots. Besides, it could act like a pseudo Metallic Mimic for your creatures (not just Saps). Let's say, for instance, you cast a kicked Saproling Migration. With a Path of Discovery, the first Saproling trigger that reveals a non-land card (which is a high percentage) can get the counter and leave the card on top, ripe for the next Sap to get a counter. It also filters through lands so it is good for digging if you need answers. The upside seems strong with all of our token producers.
Obviously, the downside is that it costs 4 mana, so it may be a bit slow. Then again, we have new ramp in Llanowar Elves and Song of Freyalise and our 4-drop slot is completely unoccupied except by Vraska's Contempt (which is only played in some lists) so it looks like a good fit, at least the way I see it. If anyone has any thoughts on Path of Discovery, I've love to hear them. I'd like to do some testing on the card, as it seems to have potential from the synergies mentioned above. Will report back tomorrow with some (hopefully) positive results.
Yeah, mainboard Duress is probably a little optimistic. Pre-board discard is always great, but I think it dilutes too much from the deck, especially when we want to be playing Llanowar Elves T1. On that note, anyone ever feel we need more one-drops? I've never needed any myself, but I feel as though hands lacking Elves will be a little slow if we can't drop a creature T1. I suppose leaving up removal is a valid play most of the time, so maybe I'm just seeing ghosts.
As for Path of Discovery, I think it may not be as slow as some may think. Considering that we don't have anything at that point in the curve, it doesn't steal from any other cards. We have Elves. We have Freya. It seems like a decent little piece of tech. Of course, as I've said, testing will come soon and results will be shared.
I continued my search for a good graveyard filler card and I found Benefaction of Rhonas. I think it might be really good. It can fetch Plots in addition to all of your creatures, and it dumps the rest into the graveyard for Plots fuel. It's competing with a lot of other 3-drops but seems solid and definitely worth testing.
I also think I'm going to take advice from @Silvos Solitaire and throw in Driven // Despair. Seems like a really solid card advantage card.
I can't speak to Path's ability in this deck, but in my BG deck it's amazing. Against Red decks I side in Wildgrowth Walkers and gain sometimes twenty life in a game with it. Lurking Chupacabra is also amazing with Path. While quirky, Path could allow us some interesting sideboard options.
Just hoping tonight turns out well, been a while since I have done a token style deck and I need to remember to mull smartly. SB is janky right now but not all the stuff I wanted has arrived like golden demise and such. I would write more but woke up way too early and brain is foggy. Good luck y'all.
Standard
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Along with a singleton Path (only game I drew it in) I'm trying a singleton The Immortal Sun, (didn't draw it in above game, will probably sideboard second copy), worked well enough as anthem, and really well as a draw machine. Not as useful in cost reduction, but in may help in other games I get it out early.
Lacked Fungal Plots in most games played tonight, so I might bump it up to 3 copies. A decent amount of Enchant/Artifact removal is being played mainboard, so it might help to have a backup copy.
Yup, that sounds about right for the core. I think that there is an argument to be made against Tendershoot Dryad as it is ridiculously frail for a 5-drop; it should always at least be a sideboard card. I would also consider Fungal Infection part of the core for its versatility. I wouldn't run a list without it. 4 Freya may be a lot; I think that the number should be between 2-4, depending on the rest of the flex slots and the meta. The ramp doesn't work well in multiples.
The good news is that because the deck is green, it has access to some really good tech against red. Blossoming Defense, Heroic Intervention, etc. Also the top end has Vraska, Relic Seeker, which I would take over Verdant Force as it can't be killed with Cast Down. Another card that is really good in token strategies is Vicious Offering. It's not quite Grasp of Darkness, but it does the job so well against indestructible threats from Amonket. The only thing it doesn't hit is Oketra the True. It also kills Lyra Dawnbringer, who is the beat stick of all beat sticks and will see a ton of play coming into the next season.
By the way, with the way removal is positioned right now I'd seriously avoid playing anything above 4 cmc that isn't legendary. The potential to just get it blown out by Urza's Ruinous Blast or Cast Down is real.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I don't really like cards that go onto the field and do nothing on their own, especially when other decks can play cards that just give them so much more value. At the end of the day, I can play a Merfolk Branchwalker and at least get card filtering out of it if it gets removed or I have to block with it. Fungal Plots the only thing I can do with it is sacrifice two potential blockers to gain life and draw a card. In these token decks there is a huge difference between something that makes you sacrifice one creature and something that requires two.
I guess I'd rather play Spore Swarm or Saproling Migration. With a lord in play like Metallic Mimic or Sporecrown Thalid that is potentially 6-8 power minimum on the board. That and I'm really big on just getting the cities blessing and running with Tendershoot Dryad. Basically, run 12x lords, go wide with the tokens, and just fight through whatever removal the opponent has with efficient restocks on baby fungi. Heck, I prefer Tendershoot Dryad over Verdant Force, since it lands earlier and buffs all the tokens enough to make them lethal.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Here's the link! https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/budget-magic-80-35-tix-saprolings-standard
Vicious offering works so well in this deck!!!
Very close and fun matches. Won against mono red (which I was pretty proud of doing hehe) I only got annihilated by a weird flying unblockable artifact deck. This deck isn't really well suited to dealing with flying stuff even though I had 2 main board Aethersphere Harvester and a sideboarded Skysoveregin. I also sadly didn't pull any of the 8 or 9 removals in either round hehe, damn, would have been nice.
This deck was actually really good at grinding mono red out. You're hanging by a thread most of the time, but you sometiems out of nowhere have huge saprolings.
I had one Driven // Despair in the deck and was one turn away from making a giant attack, but then my Dryad got hit by In Bolas's Clutches and then I got Hadana's Climb'ed to death hehe.
I'd like to try and find space for maybe one or two Song of Freyalise. It seems really good. Especially if you can get an early kick on a Saproling Migration
Also, I can't stress enough how good Vicious offering is in this deck. I seriously killed Hazoret four times with it between the matches all for the price of two mana and one saproling. So good!!!
I'm thinking about putting one Torgaar, Famine Incarnate in the deck. It'll be pretty easy to play it for maybe four mana (sometimes 2) with so many saprolings ready to be sacrificed, and it seems like it would be a good way to do a reversal on really fast decks, because you can target yourself and get more life and then have a 7/6 on the field.
Really fun deck to play and had some really edge of the seat matches.
I guess it was one of the guys down there who went 4-0 with a mono black deck who said I may want to look into adding one of that card, because it seems like it would be good (he used it in his deck too). It doesn't directly synergize with the deck, but I mean... That guy usually brews some crazy stuff up that works so I'll take his word for it and slap one in the deck just to try it out.
The life gain or life drain could have been useful to me in some of the rounds last night too. But yeah, it doesn't really synergize that well other than hte sacrifice part.
I know this is a go wide with tons of small creatures that get big deck, but I always like just having one giant beast somewhere in the deck just for fun hehe.
The artwork looks really cool too hehe. Looks like a giant four armed samurai demon beast thing.
Oh yeah, forgot to say, Fungal Infection was a sick sideboard card against red too. Taking care of those bomats and stuff like that. This deck has access to some great removal and there's a lot of space to pack the deck with it. I'm really glad running all four of my Fatal Push again.
Nonsense aside, great run!! I'm definitely an advocate for Fungal Infection, almost specifically with Mono-red in mind. Torgaar is a beatstick I've tried and I definitely like him. I think he goes better in some builds than in others, and is not a great late game card where his secondary effect doesn't matter much. I like him better in the sideboard, since against certain matchups bringing yourself back up to 10 is really strong (looking at you Mono-red) and depleting the opponent to 10 is really good against grindy decks, especially if they have lifegain. With that said, he's never useless against any matchups so I would feel free to try him in the main.