Looks awesome, sadly don't have the money for cradle
However, just want to stop by and give some suggestions of cards that worked well in my meta. Autumn's Veil-Like Pyrobalst or REB, but green and proactive Bosium Strip- This is weird, but if used right it can act as a pseudo Past in Flames (probably not good in a more developed meta) Bubbling Muck- A high tide for swamps that can become crazy with Urborg in play... done lots of work for me!
I would run more topdeck tutors, such as vampiric or personal tutor, however, I understand those arent the easiest on the wallet. Also, while I understand Jeleva doesn't want too many counterspells, Spell Crumple and Hinder are too good not to run.
Look like a really nice build, but have a couple questions. First, why run piwr artifact? Rings of brighthearth does the same combo with Basalt monolith but adds utility ouside of the combo. Also, have you considered Karn and spell crumple? Karn deals with any permanent and is useful recurring from exile, both very rare in mono-U. Spell crumple is just good. Overall, looks like a very nice deck.
Lore:
Varolz the Scar-Striped is a massive troll who is a member of the Golgari. He's who the Golgari call upon when there is real danger. Varolz has a symbiotic fungi (Mycoloth) living on him that repairs his wounds, replacing his skin with tough scar tissue which means that the more battles he's in, the tougher he gets. He has a wicked looking knife and some totemic Golgari charms on him. Varolz is about 12-15 feet tall. The Golgari maze-runner Varolz hungers to prove his fortitude in battle, and his trail of victims feeds other hungers.
Why run Varolz?
Golgari, and Varolz in particular, is very robust. Everything is recurrable in some way, and the deck can bounce back after a Crypt or Relic activation. You can control what lives and what dies with Attrition, as well as just "kill all the things" with Grave Pact. Turing creatures sideways is also a strong subtheme. Finally, it can control the game, but does not feel like an annoying to play against permission deck. It is fun for the whole table.
Why Not run Varolz?
If you like counterspells, Path or Swords or being a permission player, this deck is not for you. If you do not like tracking lots of triggers, do not play this deck. You need to pay close attention to your graveyard. You also need lots of dice/tokens.
General: Varolz, the Scar-Striped
Varolz is the heart of this deck. He is very important to keeping the deck running smoothly. Lets break him down and see why he is good Mana Cost: 1BG
Varolz is cheap, at 3CMC. He drops early and can be recast often during the game. He also drops before most counterspells, and is black, so immune to some black removal.
First ability: Creature cards in your graveyard have scavenge
This is really mice. You can scavenge creatures onto a Wild Beastmaster or a Mycoloth for amazing profits.
Second Ability: Sacrifice a creature: Regenerate
This is GOLD. PURE GOLD. You casting Final Judgement? I'll sac everything. Planar Cleansing? Varolz survives. He both can save himself and protect your creatures from Mind Control effects.
Power / Toughness: 2/2
At 2/2, Varolz flies under the radar. Who will counter a 2/2 when there is an Azami, or an Arcum at the table? He tends to hide and not draw hate, while really, he is an engine.
Guys. Think of it this way. In the right deck (ie: Past in Flames instan/sorcery deck with flashback cards) it is a win-win. Also NO MATTER WHAT THE OPPONENT PICKS, YOU GET CARD ADVANTAGE!
akroan crusader and pyromancer are out of place here. They force you to run inferior cards like basicallly all your instants. dynacharge will not make a token while targetting akroan crusader if you overload it which is really all you want it for. Your curve is weird skipping the 3 drop, with only 1 4 one drops and 8 2 drops, and no accelerator. If they have an answer to your 2 drop with something like tidebinder mage, or banisher priest, you will usually have an empty board until turn 4. Youll have an instant or 2 that you have no targets for. also since you only have 8 2 drops the emissary's ability will often be irrelevant.
Also to get the dragon out turn 4, you are assuming you have 5 creatures by turn 4, which would mean your opening is akroan crusader, young pyromancer, then 1 or 2 instants or on turn 3 depending if you also had a burning tree emissary on turn 2. so basically by turn 4, you need to have drawn Land, Land, Land, Land, akroan crusader, young pyromancer, Xenagos the Reveler, Stormbreath dragon, Instant, Emissary. That is 9 cards out of the 10 you will have drawn.
Ok. First, the deck is built around Xenagos. A deck built around a card that utilizes 1/3 of it is bad. 2/3 is acceptable, especially because it is a planeswalker. Second, whats subpar about the instants/sorceries? Rangers Guile foils a removal spell. I don't know about you, but I think the ability to protect my creatures is important. Dynacharge turns 7 tokens into lethal. Giant growth is probably the most subpar, but again, it pulls double duty.
Do you think an extra 2/2 is irrelevant? I don't. Thats why I run burning-tree emissary. Ok, so first you say I should cut the catalyst for explosive draws, then that I have too few creatures to pull it off? Heres a curve:
1: Akroan Crusader
2: Burning-Tree Emissary into Young Pyromancer
3: Rangers Guile, swing for 6 with a bloodrushed Ghor-clan Rampager.
4: Xenagos, the Reveler into Stormbreath dragon.
I was playing casual against a random kid at my LGS while waiting for friends to show up. He was about 12, and his deck was relativly bad. Game one, duress showed all 5+ mana cards, 2 land. I wondered why he did not mull, but just shook it off and beat him relativly quickly. Game two, duress and i saw... The exact same hand. I was thinking WTF? I had the game go longer, dug for the sigle surgical extraction and when i went to shuffle his deck... "Don't, its ordered." He didnt even try to hide it. Apparently it was a "rule from the early days of magic" that you could stack your decks. I beat him and waited for my friend to show up, but it was very awkward.
Ok, i made this thread with a specific example in mind, but i want to open it up to be as useful as possible.
Ok, so you are the Lazav player, or the mimeoplasm player, or the karador player, or any of the many generals that abuse the graveyard. Your opponent drops rest in peace. How do you combat this hate? The issue is that while i can still fight, the game becomes very grindy and slow. What are the best cards you know of that either preemptively remove it, counter it, or recover from graveyard hate like RIP, relic, bojuka, crypt...
Sorin Markov is BS in an EDH game. At least with most infinate combos you can see some pieces beforehand (Altar). Sorin just appears and takes a safe player to a dead player.
I run lazav and a couple cards stick out as all-stars.
Consecrated Sphinx+Windfall is backbreaking
Also, why are you running tribute to hunger and rapid hybridization over cards like shriekmaw or dark hatchling? Mill is relativly inefficient, so you need all the 2-for-1s you can get.
What if the gods were enchantments that transformed into creatures using double-faced cards?
Ex:
Thassa, Goddess of the Endless Sea
Legendary Enchantment
{1}:Target Creature cannot attack or block this turn
{U}raw a card. If this is the third card you have drawn this turn or more, transform Thassa.
//
Legendary Creature
Thassa cannot be blocked.
{1}: Tap target permanent.
{U}:Exile Thassa. Return it to the battlefield transformed at the beggining of the next step.
[The power level may be off, but this general idea is what I am envisioning]
This would be awesome, and flavorfully embody coming from Nyx to the human world (transforming).
What if the gods were enchantments that transformed into creatures using double-faced cards?
Ex:
Thassa, Goddess of the Endless Sea
Legendary Enchantment
{1}:Target Creature cannot attack or block this turn
{U}:Draw a card. If this is the third card you have drawn this turn or more, transform Thassa.
//
Legendary Creature
Thassa cannot be blocked.
{1}: Tap target permanent.
{U}:Exile Thassa. Return it to the battlefield transformed at the beggining of the next step.
[The power level may be off, but this general idea is what I am envisioning]
This would be awesome, and flavorfully embody coming from Nyx to the human world (transforming).
However, just want to stop by and give some suggestions of cards that worked well in my meta.
Autumn's Veil-Like Pyrobalst or REB, but green and proactive
Bosium Strip- This is weird, but if used right it can act as a pseudo Past in Flames (probably not good in a more developed meta)
Bubbling Muck- A high tide for swamps that can become crazy with Urborg in play... done lots of work for me!
It looks like a really fun deck!
Cut Autumn's Veil for Crystal Ball
Cut Golgari Germination for Sensei's Divining Top
GBVarolz, the Scar-StripedBG
Lore:
Varolz the Scar-Striped is a massive troll who is a member of the Golgari. He's who the Golgari call upon when there is real danger. Varolz has a symbiotic fungi (Mycoloth) living on him that repairs his wounds, replacing his skin with tough scar tissue which means that the more battles he's in, the tougher he gets. He has a wicked looking knife and some totemic Golgari charms on him. Varolz is about 12-15 feet tall. The Golgari maze-runner Varolz hungers to prove his fortitude in battle, and his trail of victims feeds other hungers.
Why run Varolz?
Golgari, and Varolz in particular, is very robust. Everything is recurrable in some way, and the deck can bounce back after a Crypt or Relic activation. You can control what lives and what dies with Attrition, as well as just "kill all the things" with Grave Pact. Turing creatures sideways is also a strong subtheme. Finally, it can control the game, but does not feel like an annoying to play against permission deck. It is fun for the whole table.
Why Not run Varolz?
If you like counterspells, Path or Swords or being a permission player, this deck is not for you. If you do not like tracking lots of triggers, do not play this deck. You need to pay close attention to your graveyard. You also need lots of dice/tokens.
Without any further ado, here's the decklist:
1 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
1 Essence Warden
1 Veteran Explorer
1 Xantid Swarm
1 Golgari Thug
1 Gyre Sage
1 Korozda Guildmage
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Skirsdag High Priest
1 Viridian Emmisary
1 Burnished Hart
1 Champion of Lambholt
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fierce Empath
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Wild Beastmaster
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Ivy Lane Denizen
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Solemn Similacrum
1 Acidic Slime
1 Corpse Connoisseur
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Kalonian Hydra
1 Miotic Slime
1 Mycoloth
1 Plaguemaw Beast
1 Sadistic Hypnotist
1 Shriekmaw
1 Brutalizer Exarch
1 Deadwood Treefolk
1 Paleoloth
1 Abhorrent Overlord
1 Butcher of Malakir
1 Doomgape
1 Mossbridge Troll
1 Avatar of Woe
1 Terastodon
1 Verdant Force
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Liliana of the Dark Realms
Artifacts:
1 Crystal Ball
1 Golgari Signet
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Strionic Resonator
1 Swiftfoot Boots
Enchantments:
1 Asceticism
1 Attrition
1 Awakening Zone
1 Beastmaster Ascension
1 Grave Pact
1 Lurking Predators
1 Vow of Malice
1 Vow of Wilderness
Instants:
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Beast Within
1 Golgari Charm
1 Putrefy
Sorceries:
1 Creeping Renaissance
1 Cultivate
1 Explosive Vegatation
1 Life from the Loam
1 Overrun
1 Twilight's Call
Lands:
1 Barren Moor
1 Buried Ruin
1 Command Tower
1 Dakmor Salvage
1 Encroaching Wastes
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Golgari Guildgates
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Grim Backwoods
1 Haunted Fengraf
1 Homeward Path
1 Khalni Garden
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Svogthos, the Restless Tomb
1 Temple of the False God
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Vivid Grove
1 Vivid Marsh
1 Woodland Cemetery
4 Forest
5 Swamp
General:
Varolz, the Scar-Striped
Varolz is the heart of this deck. He is very important to keeping the deck running smoothly. Lets break him down and see why he is good
Mana Cost: 1BG
Varolz is cheap, at 3CMC. He drops early and can be recast often during the game. He also drops before most counterspells, and is black, so immune to some black removal.
First ability: Creature cards in your graveyard have scavenge
This is really mice. You can scavenge creatures onto a Wild Beastmaster or a Mycoloth for amazing profits.
Second Ability: Sacrifice a creature: Regenerate
This is GOLD. PURE GOLD. You casting Final Judgement? I'll sac everything. Planar Cleansing? Varolz survives. He both can save himself and protect your creatures from Mind Control effects.
Power / Toughness: 2/2
At 2/2, Varolz flies under the radar. Who will counter a 2/2 when there is an Azami, or an Arcum at the table? He tends to hide and not draw hate, while really, he is an engine.
More card-by-card discussion coming soon!
Wishlist:
Changelog
10/27/13
-Autumn's Veil / +Crystal Ball
-Golgari Germination / +Sensei's Divining Top
Ok. First, the deck is built around Xenagos. A deck built around a card that utilizes 1/3 of it is bad. 2/3 is acceptable, especially because it is a planeswalker. Second, whats subpar about the instants/sorceries? Rangers Guile foils a removal spell. I don't know about you, but I think the ability to protect my creatures is important. Dynacharge turns 7 tokens into lethal. Giant growth is probably the most subpar, but again, it pulls double duty.
Do you think an extra 2/2 is irrelevant? I don't. Thats why I run burning-tree emissary. Ok, so first you say I should cut the catalyst for explosive draws, then that I have too few creatures to pull it off? Heres a curve:
1: Akroan Crusader
2: Burning-Tree Emissary into Young Pyromancer
3: Rangers Guile, swing for 6 with a bloodrushed Ghor-clan Rampager.
4: Xenagos, the Reveler into Stormbreath dragon.
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Purphoros, God of the Forge
4 Xenagos, The Reveler
4 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Dynacharge
4 Ranger's Guile
4 Stomping Ground
4 Mutavault
8 Forest
8 Mountain
It would get stormbreath dragon out turn four with Xenagos, The Reveler. Also, It gets tons of tokens and can easily alpha strike with Dynacharge.
Ok, so you are the Lazav player, or the mimeoplasm player, or the karador player, or any of the many generals that abuse the graveyard. Your opponent drops rest in peace. How do you combat this hate? The issue is that while i can still fight, the game becomes very grindy and slow. What are the best cards you know of that either preemptively remove it, counter it, or recover from graveyard hate like RIP, relic, bojuka, crypt...
Consecrated Sphinx+Windfall is backbreaking
Also, why are you running tribute to hunger and rapid hybridization over cards like shriekmaw or dark hatchling? Mill is relativly inefficient, so you need all the 2-for-1s you can get.
Ex:
Thassa, Goddess of the Endless Sea
Legendary Enchantment
{1}:Target Creature cannot attack or block this turn
{U}raw a card. If this is the third card you have drawn this turn or more, transform Thassa.
//
Legendary Creature
Thassa cannot be blocked.
{1}: Tap target permanent.
{U}:Exile Thassa. Return it to the battlefield transformed at the beggining of the next step.
[The power level may be off, but this general idea is what I am envisioning]
This would be awesome, and flavorfully embody coming from Nyx to the human world (transforming).
Ex:
Thassa, Goddess of the Endless Sea
Legendary Enchantment
{1}:Target Creature cannot attack or block this turn
{U}:Draw a card. If this is the third card you have drawn this turn or more, transform Thassa.
//
Legendary Creature
Thassa cannot be blocked.
{1}: Tap target permanent.
{U}:Exile Thassa. Return it to the battlefield transformed at the beggining of the next step.
[The power level may be off, but this general idea is what I am envisioning]
This would be awesome, and flavorfully embody coming from Nyx to the human world (transforming).