Category Archives: Deck tech

Trostani Token Spam Commander Deck

Commander, Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

“I’ll put my usual disclaimer here about my decks. I’m not claiming these are the best decks in the world, they certainly are not top competitive decks. They are hopefully fun affordable (subjective I know) decks. I don’t try and keep to a target price point. I try and use as many cards in my collection as possible to keep my costs down. I proxy in expensive cards and produce them when I play. It helps keep costs down. I can’t afford multiple copies of expensive cards to put in decks. Commander is a casual format about having fun. And that is the ethos I hope I have when brewing the decks.”

Well here it is my Trostani – Selesnya (green/white) token spam deck, that was inspired by the card Divine Visitation. But before we go and look at the boring stuff, let’s just take a moment to take in the absolutely stunning art for the Commander.


I’ve managed to find just the art on the internet and here it is, Chase Stone’s incredible card art of Trostani Discordant.

The core tactic of this deck is to create lots of tokens, which we can hopefully can do with the likes of Anointed Procession, Doubling Season, Parallel Lives and Primal Vigor. Which if we are lucky can then turn into 4/4 Angel tokens when they trigger Divine Visitation.

There are blink/flicker effect cards in the deck to allow me to trigger that etb of Trostani, or any other creature I have with an etb I can miss use! If I can get Panharmonicon out and do all this, that etb triggers twice.

So I’d say this deck apart from being all about spamming out tokens, is a little combo like too. With the combo like behaviour being all around the generation of tokens.

Naturally there are also cards for generating tokens. The nice thing is there are a lot of mana abilities that can be used to generate tokens on creatures and lands.

I don’t have too many anthem effects, so that could be considered a weakness. So if we don’t have our inspiration for this deck out, the tokens generated at best will only get a +1/+1 from our Commander. I think iirc The Immortal Sun and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite are my only other anthems. So they are potentially a bit vulnerable to the likes of a Goblin Chainwhirler or similar effect.

There is also a feeble attempt at tutoring with a couple of cards, along with card draw. Although a few of the non basic lands are cycle lands.

Finally there is plan B. Not much of a plan B. But still it’s a plan. And that is Approach of the Second Sun.

Let’s look at the graphics from the decked app.

I’m happy with the AMC, 4 or under is my target. So nicely under. But bloody hell when did some of these cards get so expensive? I will say this every time we look at that b.s. number that is apparently generated by prices on Card Kingdom. How are people meant to play this game? I for sure on the one or two cards I bought in specially for this deck did not pay anywhere near the prices listed above.

Here is the deck list…

Creatures:24

1 Haazda Marshal
1 Rhys the Redeemed
1 Conclave Guildmage
1 Emmara, Soul of the Accord
1 Shanna, Sisay’s Legacy
1 District Guide
1 Eldrazi Displacer
1 Flickerwisp
1 Ledev Champion
1 Mentor of the Meek
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
1 Baird, Steward of Argive
1 Beast Whisperer
1 Conclave Cavalier
1 Felidar Guardian
1 Leonin Warleader
1 Sumala Woodshaper
1 Trostani, Selesnya’s Voice
1 Vizier of the Menagerie
1 Seedborn Muse
1 Trostani Discordant
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Silent Sentinel
1 Trostani’s Summoner

Spells:43

1 Authority of the Consuls
1 Cloudshift
1 Demotion
1 Flower // Flourish
1 Land Tax
1 Legion’s Landing
1 Sol Ring
1 Assure // Assemble
1 Dawn of Hope
1 Dowsing Dagger
1 Martial Coup
1 Momentary Blink
1 Quest for Renewal
1 Saproling Migration
1 Acrobatic Maneuver
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Commander’s Sphere
1 History of Benalia
1 Idyllic Tutor
1 March of the Multitudes
1 Selesnya Locket
1 Spear of Heliod
1 Sprouting Renewal
1 Teferi’s Protection
1 Anointed Procession
1 Circuitous Route
1 Crush Contraband
1 Panharmonicon
1 Parallel Lives
1 Second Harvest
1 Settle the Wreckage
1 Wrath of God
1 Conjurer’s Closet
1 Divine Visitation
1 Doubling Season
1 Fumigate
1 Primal Vigor
1 Vivien Reid
1 Bounty of Might
1 Hour of Revelation
1 Planar Bridge
1 The Immortal Sun
1 Approach of the Second Sun

Lands:33

1 Blossoming Sands
1 Bountiful Promenade
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Desert of the True
1 Drifting Meadow
1 Field of Ruin
7 Forest
1 Foundry of the Consuls
1 Krosan Verge
8 Plains
1 Secluded Steppe
1 Selesnya Guildgate (a)
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Shefet Dunes
1 Survivors’ Encampment
1 Temple Garden
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Tranquil Expanse
1 Vivid Meadow
1 Warped Landscape

My First Ever Standard Showdown!

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

Wow was Saturday afternoon really my first Standard Showdown?

But what is Standard Showdown? It’s a weekly event where players turn up with their constructed standard decks and compete over a series of rounds for a special showdown booster pack. It costs a fiver at my FLGS The Hobbit Hole to enter, and at a minimum you get a regular booster pack for participating.

The previous weekend I had given my Golgari Stompy deck a test run against, as it would happen another Golgari deck. And it did ok in that match up. But how would it do against the meta at my FLGS The Hobbit Hole?

I’d spent the morning waiting for the post person to deliver our letters. I was hoping some cards for the new Commander deck might turn up. If there was time later I was hoping to give the new deck a play. I had alternatives I could play in the deck if they didn’t turn up. I left it to the absolute last minute possible before leaving. But no sign of the post person.

Round 1

I was up against Michael nephew of Kar-Fai. And both taking part in this Standard Showdown. Michael has infect in one of his Commander decks. That should tell you all you need to know about him! Michael was playing mono green.

Game 1 – “mana screwed: not having enough mana” I had none. That’s despite mulliganing down to 5 cards. I went with 5 cards and no lands, risking I would draw into one quickly. It was the wrong call. I got no lands at all until it was too late and I was going to die. This happens from time to time in the game, no point getting upset over it. Kar-Fai was suffering from being mana screwed too. However he had a couple of lands, just not enough. I could have done a lot with a couple of lands, I was jealous.

Game 2 – I took a lot of early damage. But managed to stabilise at 1 life! Even went back up to 3 after a Vraska’s Contempt! If Michael had been playing red I might have been worried about being lightning bolted to defeat. But he was mono green. Which allowed me to turn the tables and take the win.

Game 3 – The deciding game. A bit more balanced but Michael took the win.

Final score: Loss 1-2

Afterwards while waiting for the next round Michael and I had a Friendly game with our decks. This time it played exactly as designed and swept me to the victory!

Round 2

In this round I was up against Dean and his white (can’t remember if he was playing another colour) token spam deck.

I lost both games, I just had no answer for the token spamming and the pumping up of them. I was able to remove an enchantment in a game to delay the inevitable but it was in reality a token (yes I went there) gesture.

Final score: Loss 2-0


Round 3

Saw me claim my first win of the tournament by default with a bye! So I used that time wisely taking lots of photos. It was an interesting round because it saw 2 uncle against nephew games. Dean crushed his young nephew. Which wasn’t a surprise, we tease Dean about exploiting his nephews for promos etc. Kar-Fai got beat by his nephew Michael. What added to the defeat was the fact Michael’s deck was built for him by Kar-Fai.

Round 4

The final round of the Standard Showdown was the rematch of last weekends game against John the store owner. Would John get his revenge? I felt that things were lining up for that to be the case.

Game 1 – I ended up winning with 4 weenies ( 1/1 creatures). I just didn’t draw into any big creatures.

Game 2 – My deck just worked, John never really drew into any answers. So once again I had defeated John in the battle of our decks.

Final score: Win 2-0

One person I enjoy playing Magic against is Grant. It’s always fun, we seem evenly matched in the games we have played in the past. Sadly in this tournament my poor record meant we never got to play. So Grant kindly accept to play a friendly game with me afterwards. Grant for the record was playing a golgari token spam deck. Which had got him into the top 4!

Game 1 – This token strategy of Grant’s didn’t seem as aggressive as Dean’s. There just didn’t seem as many hitting the battlefield. Enough for me to manage and get through to get the win.

Game 2 – I decided to use the Never Happened in the 60, at the expense of a Chupacabra and a Poisoner. Mainly in the attempt to remove some of the token buffs or creation. It was the best option I had in slowing down the token strategy. I thought I’d give Vraska a chance, so with Mastermind’s Acquisition I went and got her. I got to use her ability a couple of times before falling to the token horde. She bought me a little time if nothing else.

Game 3 – The deciding game. This was a really tense game. It could have gone either way. This time I gave Vivien Reid an outing. Her card draw was really useful, she distracted Grant and bought me time. It’s a shame she is a £20 plus card on eBay. I’d consider a second copy for this deck. But not at that price. However Vivien was the difference that gave me the win.

Really enjoyed the 3 games with Grant. Plus this was a top 4 deck it’d just beat!

Final friendly score: Win 2-1

In the final standings I managed to miraculously end up in 8th out of 12/13. In the participation pack I pulled a 6th Assassin’s Trophy (got my 5th last weekend from the bundle packs I opened). So real happy with that.

Meta round up: some mono green stompy, golgari, token decks (White and Green), and red plus red/blue(?). Will this still be the meta next week? Will there be tweaks being made to cater for decks faced this week?

Potential tweaks for next Standard Showdown

Currently I have no answer to the token spam. John showed me Find//Finality, which is a board wipe (kinda), and should get rid of those pesky tokens. It really is a major weakness of my deck.


I already have a play set of Pilfering Imp already. I like the look of it. Plus it allows me to interrupt the opponents plans. Just need to think is it good enough to replace Skittering Heartstopper? Ritual of Soot is another potential board wipe to consider.

I really enjoyed my first Standard Showdown. It was interesting to see the decks that were making up the meta. Will the meta be similar next week? How much will it have shifted in response to this weeks decks?


This is the final version of the Golgari deck that I played with at The Standard Showdown and the previous weekend against John (the FLGS owner).

For those remotely interested the only real difference between this deck list and the original is that there are now 4 copies of Assassin’s Trophy and Vraska’s Contempt instead of 3 in the main deck, and Duress went to make space for those extra copies. Plus I finalised the sideboard, Tetzimoc, Primal Death was replaced by another Never Happened.

Creatures:29

4 Llanowar Elves
4 Skittering Heartstopper
4 Vicious Conquistador
4 Dire Fleet Poisoner
4 Steel Leaf Champion
2 Thrashing Brontodon
1 Nullhide Ferox
3 Ravenous Chupacabra
2 Carnage Tyrant
1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger

Spells:10

4 Assassin’s Trophy
2 Mastermind’s Acquisition
4 Vraska’s Contempt

Lands:21

6 Forest
1 Foul Orchard
4 Golgari Guildgate (a)
1 Overgrown Tomb
7 Swamp
2 Woodland Cemetery

Sideboard:15

2 Kitesail Freebooter
2 Thrashing Brontodon
1 Demon of Catastrophes
1 Vivien Reid
1 Doom Whisperer
1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
1 Silent Gravestone
2 Walk the Plank
2 Never Happened
1 Vraska, Golgari Queen
1 The Immortal Sun

Horrors from the Deep Commander Deck

Commander, Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

I’ve mentioned this deck in a couple of previous posts that looked at cards I was going to be using. Sadly for you I built the deck and played it.

I’ll put my usual disclaimer here about my decks, although I missed it with the recent Standard deck I shared on here. But still I’m not claiming these are the best decks in the world, they certainly are not top competitive decks. They are hopefully fun affordable (subjective I know) decks. I don’t try and keep to a target price point, whether budget or money is no limit. I try and use as many cards in my collection as possible to keep my costs down. I proxy in expensive cards and produce them when I play. It helps keep costs down. I can’t afford multiple copies of expensive cards to put in decks. Commander is a casual format about having fun. And that is the ethos I hope I have when brewing the decks.

Disclaimer/rant over. Let’s look at the deck.

My Commander for this deck is from the 2018 Commander precons and is Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle. Not only does it turn into a 12/12, it taps for 2 mana, and only costs 4CMC to cast. Which means it can come out pretty early and help with the ramp.

This deck is all about big blue monsters from the depths of the ocean. It really is a deck built around that theme. It’s main tactic is about getting those big monsters out and stomping all over the place. However it has a plan B. It’s not much of a plan, but it’s taking extra turns. The blue version of my mono red plan B of taking extra combat phases. Unlike the green stompy deck there is no massive creatures here that go crazy with +1/+1 counters. However I do like some of the etb effects, to or abilities that mess with the opponents. You want to feel the hate of all the others play Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur. It’s funny because all of a sudden the hand size is zero (unless they have an unlimited hand size).


I know it’s not 100% horrors from the deep, and that I have a handful of creatures that are there for their abilities. But this isn’t a tribal deck so I’m happier about having them in the deck despite them not being entirely on them.

Because my Commander gives me access to Green I’m using that side mainly for the ramp. Mana and lots of it. The main colour of this deck is blue. That gives me access to some classics for removal and countering spells. This isn’t a control deck. But it helps having the tools available to protect a key card, or stop that Planeswalker doing their ultimate.

There should also be a good chance I get to key cards fast. There are cards that allow me to filter my card draw and the classic Rhystic Study for lots of card draw.

I think my favourite card of the deck is Reef Worm. It’s like a Pokemon and keeps evolving! It starts life off so innocently as a 0/1 worm. Then when it dies, it transforms into a 3/3 blue fish. When the fish dies, it sheds it’s scales to become it’s inner 6/6 blue whale. Finally once the whale meets it’s doom it then releases it’s inner 9/9 kraken that has been hiding inside it along. It’s funny how your opponents are so reluctant to attack you with such a small unoffensive 0/1 creature in front of you.

Let’s look at the break down graphic.


I’m not surprised about the AMC being just over 4. Big creatures are not cheap to cast.

I always look at the price of the deck and think “when did that card get so expensive?” You can see why I proxy in the likes Rhystic Study. Who can afford that in every blue deck? It’s a shame that WotC don’t reprint cards like this more and get the price down for the majority of players.

Finally what you have been waiting for the actual deck list…

Creatures:26

1 Kraken Hatchling
1 Shore Keeper
1 Coralhelm Guide
1 Thing in the Ice
1 Timestream Navigator
1 Wall of Mist
1 Cold-Eyed Selkie
1 Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle
1 Reef Worm
1 Vizier of the Menagerie
1 Segovian Leviathan
1 Stormsurge Kraken
1 Archetype of Imagination
1 Shipbreaker Kraken
1 Soul of New Phyrexia
1 Fleet Swallower
1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
1 Scourge of Fleets
1 Simic Sky Swallower
1 Elder Deep-Fiend
1 Lorthos, the Tidemaker
1 Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep
1 Stormtide Leviathan
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Deep-Sea Kraken
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur

Spells:38

1 Opt
1 Scrabbling Claws
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Stifle
1 Unbridled Growth
1 Anticipate
1 Call to Heel
1 Counterspell
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Fertile Ground
1 Ground Seal
1 Heroic Intervention
1 Negate
1 Plummet
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Commander’s Sphere
1 Cultivate
1 Disallow
1 Drag Under
1 Ever-Watching Threshold
1 Myth Unbound
1 Overgrowth
1 Regress
1 Rhystic Study
1 Vessel of Endless Rest
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Cryptic Command
1 Kiora, Master of the Depths
1 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
1 Time of Ice
1 Whelming Wave
1 Octopus Umbra
1 Time Warp
1 Crush of Tentacles
1 The Immortal Sun
1 Nexus of Fate
1 Scour from Existence

Lands:36

1 Command Tower
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Desert of the Mindful
1 Evolving Wilds
11 Forest
1 Grixis Panorama
13 Island
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Rupture Spire
1 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Thornwood Falls
1 Woodland Stream

October 2018 Deck Plans Post

Commander, Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

Every now and again I like to do a post that updates my list of ideas for Commander decks.

Since the last post which was back in July I’ve built the Muldrotha and Horrors from the Deep (deck listing coming soon) decks. I also have an unplanned and untested mono red Goblins deck built.

So what has sparked this update? Driving in to work Monday I had an idea for a new Commander deck based on one of the new cards from Guilds of Ravnica, as you do.

I have to admit when I first saw the legendary creatures for Guilds of Ravnica I wasn’t inspired to build any decks round them. The card that I was thinking of was not a legendary creature. The card inspiring me was Divine Visitation. This card is crying out for a token spam strategy. Apart from my Elf deck, I don’t really do token decks. I go big normally not wide. Having said that my dragon deck has been known to go wide (unintentionally).

But who would my commander be? Then I remembered Trostani Discordant (pulled as a foil at the weekend) but not the colours. I knew it had white, but did it have green?

As luck would have it, it did. I was starting to like this card. It’s 3 abilities were also pretty cool. There is the anthem effect of +1/+1 to other creatures, then an etb generating 2 1/1 tokens (that instantly become 2/2), and the final ability I love, if a nasty opponent steals her away I get her back. And I looove the art on this card.

I already have copies of 2 key components to the main strategy of spamming out tokens and turning them into 4/4 angels. I don’t think I’ve used Anointed Procession at all in a deck, so I’m chuffed that there is a deck that I’m going to be using it in. Doubling Season a classic that doesn’t need explaining.

If by some chance I’m allowed to have all 4 cards out at the same time, that’s 8 4/4 angels that get +1/+1 so 5/5 angels.

So naturally for this new deck I want to be utilising blink/flicker effects on my Commander. I also want cards that create tokens, and I definitely will have to research what tutor cards are available in white and green. Idyllic Tutor was top entry in a quick Google search for white.

So that’s my initial thinking for this new deck. I can see it pushing the others that have been on the list to the back once more.

Here is the new list of deck ideas.

  • Trostani token spam
  • Infect/wither deck (Atraxa as the commander possibly)
  • Atraxa deck upgraded
  • Death and Taxes
  • Care bear
  • Abuse etb – Brago, King Eternal as the commander
  • Saproling and fungus (go wide or go home!) possible Commander Slimefoot, the Stowaway
  • Ninja

Right I’m off to trawl edhrec for ideas.

Muldrotha Graveyard Shenanigans Commander Deck

Commander, Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

It really feels odd not having done one of these MtG deck techs in a while. I should build in a disclaimer really with these posts. I’m not claiming this is the best deck in the world, nor the cheapest. It’s a deck that I threw together and have had fun playing.

Muldrotha was one of those cards that when I saw it made me think I want to build a deck around this. This is my first graveyard shenanigans deck that I’ve built. I own the Meren of Clan Nel Toth precon deck which came with the first Anthology. But I don’t actually remember playing it. I’ve played against it a few times.

So I know I call this graveyard shenanigans, it’s basically with Muldrotha’s ability treating the graveyard as an extension of your hand.

Naturally that means for the deck I needed a way to try and protect my graveyard from being exiled away from underneath me. There is a lot of graveyard hate out there. I should know I’ve used it in other decks. But with this deck I’m on the other side of the fence needing to foil that hate.

I also need to get cards in the graveyard, and so I’m not relying entirely on my Commander, I also need to be able to get things back from the graveyard too.

The real enemy of this deck is anything that exiles a card. That throws a major wrench into the works. Luckily Muldrotha gives me access to blue and important counter spells (which also double up as protection of the graveyard).

Because this is a 3 colour deck it needed some way of fixing our mana base, and ramping. So there are cards that allow us to fetch just the right lands. Whilst there are cards that allow us to play more than 1 land a turn.

There are a few options for targeted removal, but only one “board wipe” if you lump bouncing cards back to the hand in that category. And if I was going to say there was a big weakness with the deck, it’s in this area.

Here is the summary graphic of the important mana curve, and price to build the deck if you were to buy the cards from Card Kingdom today. Works out a little cheaper than my mono white angel tribal deck. I’m happy the amc is below 4.

The couple of games I’ve played with this deck have been fun. I’ve enjoyed the experience. So I’m glad I built the deck.

Here is the all important deck list…

Creatures:30

1 Scute Mob
1 Stitcher’s Supplier
1 Borderland Explorer
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Eternal Witness
1 Isareth the Awakener
1 Loyal Subordinate
1 Ramunap Excavator
1 Demon of Catastrophes
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
1 Gravedigger
1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
1 Meren of Clan Nel Toth
1 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
1 World Shaper
1 Acidic Slime
1 Crash of Rhino Beetles
1 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
1 Taigam, Sidisi’s Hand
1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
1 The Gitrog Monster
1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
1 Muldrotha, the Gravetide
1 Multani, Yavimaya’s Avatar
1 Soul of Innistrad
1 Protean Hulk
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Torgaar, Famine Incarnate

Spells:38

1 Crop Rotation
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Fatal Push
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Vessel of Nascency
1 Counterspell
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Grapple with the Past
1 Grisly Salvage
1 Millstone
1 Perpetual Timepiece
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Stitch Together
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Far Wanderings
1 Gaze of Granite
1 Harrow
1 Putrefy
1 Retreat to Hagra
1 Rhystic Study
1 Ruinous Path
1 Sultai Charm
1 Blood Divination
1 Cryptic Command
1 Explosive Vegetation
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Scapeshift
1 Vraska’s Contempt
1 Moonlight Bargain
1 Nissa, Vital Force
1 The Mending of Dominaria
1 Windgrace’s Judgment
1 Worm Harvest
1 The Immortal Sun
1 Blatant Thievery
1 Praetor’s Counsel

Lands:32

1 Barren Moor
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Command Tower
1 Desert of the Glorified
1 Desert of the Mindful
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Fetid Pools
4 Forest
1 Gateway Plaza
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Grim Backwoods
6 Island
1 Jungle Hollow
1 Khalni Garden
1 Myriad Landscape
1 Reliquary Tower
5 Swamp
1 Temple of the False God
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Tranquil Thicket

Muldrotha Graveyard Shenanigans Early Look Update

Commander, Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

After sharing with you in the earlier post today an early look at the cards potentially going into the Horrors from the Deep deck, I’d also share with you an updated look at the cards going into the Muldrotha Graveyard Shenanigans deck.

I’m unsure about [card]Magistrate’s Scepter[/card], and that may be out by the next time you see another post about this deck.

I’ve still got to go through the lands matter Commander precon and see what cards would fit in here. So this list will be changing again pretty soon. If I remember from playing the deck there are a few that would fit in nicely. I just need to pick up that second copy.

Here is the updated early look list with the new additions highlighted.

Creatures:14

1 [card]Azusa, Lost but Seeking[/card]
1 [card]Eternal Witness[/card]
1 [card]Isareth the Awakener[/card]
1 [card]Gravedigger[/card]
1 [card]Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord[/card]
1 [card]World Shaper[/card]
1 [card]Ob Nixilis, the Fallen[/card]
1 [card]Tatyova, Benthic Druid[/card]
1 [card]The Gitrog Monster[/card]
1 [card]Titania, Protector of Argoth[/card] NEW ADDITION
1 [card]Muldrotha, the Gravetide[/card]
1 [card]Multani, Yavimaya’s Avatar[/card]
1 [card]Protean Hulk[/card]
1 [card]Torgaar, Famine Incarnate[/card]

Spells:18

1 [card]Crop Rotation[/card]
1 [card]Elixir of Immortality[/card] NEW ADDITION
1 [card]Vessel of Nascency[/card]
1 [card]Grisly Salvage[/card]
1 [card]Millstone[/card] NEW ADDITION
1 [card]Perpetual Timepiece[/card] NEW ADDITION
1 [card]Crucible of Worlds[/card]
1 [card]Faith of the Devoted[/card] NEW ADDITION
1 [card]Harrow[/card]
1 [card]Krosan Grip[/card]
1 [card]Magistrate’s Scepter[/card] NEW ADDITION
1 [card]Sultai Charm[/card]
1 [card]Fact or Fiction[/card]
1 [card]Scapeshift[/card]
1 [card]Black Market[/card] NEW ADDITION
1 [card]Nissa, Vital Force[/card] NEW ADDITION
1 [card]The Mending of Dominaria[/card]
1 [card]Worm Harvest[/card]

Lands:1

1 [card]Reliquary Tower[/card] NEW ADDITION

I hope people are liking the change to the deck listings I’m trying out in this and the previous post. It almost makes these types of post seem professional or something. Let me know what you think about this tweak in the comments below. While you are typing away why not also suggest cards you think should be going in to this deck?

Horrors from the Deep Early Look

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

I currently have 3 decks brewing at the moment. It was 2 until yesterday, then a secret third deck was started. So I thought I’d do an early look at one of the known decks I’m working on, the Horrors from the Deep.

So this deck will be a familiar tactic for my decks so far, and that is swing in with big creatures for the win. Except these big creatures will be round the theme of big sea creatures such as leviathan, krakens, fish, serpents, elder dinosaur and octopuses.

Below is a list of early cards I want in the deck. Although this may change. You will notice that my commander isn’t currently on the list. It’s because outside of the Commander 2018 precon deck I currently don’t have the card. So I’m not including it until I have the card.

Currently there are some counter spells in, but there will also be some ramp and fog spells added too. Oh and there needs to be some board wipes. I think that there will only be another 8 creatures added to the deck. I’m thinking about 25 will be about the sweet spot for this deck. Which is about what I’m going with for the Muldrotha deck also.

Creatures:17

1 [card]Kraken Hatchling[/card]
1 [card]Shore Keeper[/card]
1 [card]Fog Bank[/card]
1 [card]Thing in the Ice[/card]
1 [card]Wall of Mist[/card]
1 [card]Reef Worm[/card]
1 [card]Segovian Leviathan[/card]
1 [card]Archetype of Imagination[/card]
1 [card]Shipbreaker Kraken[/card]
1 [card]Fleet Swallower[/card]
1 [card]Nezahal, Primal Tide[/card]
1 [card]Scourge of Fleets[/card]
1 [card]Simic Sky Swallower[/card]
1 [card]Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep[/card]
1 [card]Stormtide Leviathan[/card]
1 [card]Inkwell Leviathan[/card]
1 [card]Deep-Sea Kraken[/card]

Spells:11

1 [card]Opt[/card]
1 [card]Stifle[/card]
1 [card]Anticipate[/card]
1 [card]Call to Heel[/card]
1 [card]Counterspell[/card]
1 [card]Search for Azcanta[/card]
1 [card]Disallow[/card]
1 [card]Drag Under[/card]
1 [card]Helm of the Host[/card]
1 [card]Time of Ice[/card]
1 [card]Crush of Tentacles[/card]

Lands:1

1 [card]Evolving Wilds[/card]

That’s the early look.

Digging up the undead

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

I started to writing a short message to the MtG group of some friends and realised by the end of it I was writing the start of a blog post. So here goes…

After watching the latest episode of The Command Zone with the dreaded return of SJW Jimmy Wong with the deck tech of his for a Zombie Tribal deck around the new legendary creature from M19 (that’s Core Set 2019 for regular folks) Varina, Lich Queen. Which allows for the first time the ability to build a zombie deck that uses the white zombies from the Amonkhet block, and more importantly Anointed Procession, along side the good ol’ black zombies. However I won’t be building a zombie tribal deck around this commander because I prefer my Scarab God as it’s Commander. Although Jimmy demotes Scarab God to just one of the 99. Another reason to dislike him.

So in the cards they talk about there are some cards I could squeeze into my current version of the deck, and also make use in an up coming deck in the planning. And it’s these cards I will start off with in this post.

As sufferers will remember I plan to build a Muldrotha deck where the graveyard is basically an extension of my hand. I actually want cards in my graveyard. So these two cards that Jimmy uses in his zombie deck actually looked pretty good in helping to protect my graveyard in the Muldrotha deck from being exiled. Leave a couple of mana open, and crack the abilities off in response to any exiling nastiness.


These next 2 cards I like rather a lot, casting my zombies for free or cheaper is nice. Even better the Warchief buffs them up as well, it means the 2/2 zombie tokens would come in as 4/3 tokens. Which is cool. Any buff to the tokens particularly (because my deck can generate a lot of them) to keep them on the battlefield longer is good. Plus if the Scarab God tactic isn’t working, it means I can at least start swinging in with these buffed up undead.

What’s better than having the Scarab God on the battle field with a load of zombies? Having him on the battlefield with these next 2 creatures.

Wow, cards that replicate the upkeep ability of the Scarab God in some way. These out with the Scarab God and a few zombies is a scary thought. Potentially game winning combo. Although opponents would have a turn to try and disrupt it and take me out.

I’m not sure about the following card. Probably wouldn’t play the first ability. But the card draw might be useful. It’s not as if I do anything with all the zombie tokens.


So despite Jimmy being annoying, and not as likeable as the temporary host that covered for him (who I thought had a better rapport with Josh), I have to begrudgingly admit there were some nice cards in his zombie tribal deck that I could use in mine, despite our battle plans being different.

Kess – Wizards 2017 Precon Upgrade v2

Commander, Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

Thought I might share my new and improved (that’s going to be a subjective thing I know) Kess Commander deck, which sufferers will remember is based on last years 2017 Wizards Tribal precon Deck and the $20 MtgGoldfish upgrade (original deck list HERE). I also did an post highlighting cards that were begging to put into the deck. So did any of those cards make it into the deck? Too bloody right or we wouldn’t be here with this new deck list, and my poorly written ramblings.

Still not overly sure of the win condition, I’ve added the additional turns to the deck. There are more counter spells, and cards that give me card draw. Naturally I’ve tweaked the creatures, Guttersnipe had to be added to give me a bit more offensive capability from just doing my thing. The deck is still all about recurring spells from the graveyard.

When I remember I like to include the stats that the deck builder app gives me for the deck. The mana curve has dropped a tad, well hardly at all. So I’m relatively happy that it’s not got worse.


I also like to for a laugh have the app tell me how much the deck would cost me to replace if some mishap would occur to it. The app wasn’t able to give me a price for the Nexus of Fate. Which after the recent pro tour where it was part of the Turbo Fog deck that swept all before it, is going for between $25 – $40 at the moment.


As you can see the deck has got a bit more expensive to buy.

Ok here is the updated deck list that you have been patiently waiting for.

Creatures:15

1 Timestream Navigator
1 Young Pyromancer
1 Guttersnipe
1 Izzet Chemister
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Archaeomancer
1 Kess, Dissident Mage
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
1 Bloodline Necromancer
1 Body Double
1 Izzet Chronarch
1 Mercurial Chemister
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
1 Torrential Gearhulk

Spells:47

1 Brainstorm
1 By Force
1 Dark Ritual
1 Faithless Looting
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Cabal Ritual
1 Comet Storm
1 Counterspell
1 Dimir Signet
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Go for the Throat
1 Helm of Awakening
1 Into the Roil
1 Izzet Signet
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Terminate
1 Commander’s Sphere
1 Crosis’s Charm
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Disallow
1 Cyclonic Rift (1 Frantic Search, if you can’t get or don’t have CR)
1 Rhystic Study
1 To the Slaughter
1 Unstable Obelisk
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Cryptic Command
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Jace’s Sanctum
1 Memory Plunder
1 Primal Amulet
1 Dark Petition
1 Increasing Ambition
1 Mana Geyser
1 Silumgar’s Command
1 The Mirari Conjecture
1 Time Warp
1 Game Plan
1 Spelltwine
1 The Immortal Sun
1 Kindred Dominance
1 Necromantic Selection
1 Nexus of Fate
1 Decree of Pain

Lands:38

1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Command Tower
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Dismal Backwater
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Grixis Panorama
10 Island
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Jwar Isle Refuge
4 Mountain
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Scavenger Grounds
6 Swamp
1 Swiftwater Cliffs
1 Temple of the False God
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Marsh

Graveyard Shenanigans with Muldrotha Early Look

Commander, Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

This is an early look at some of the cards I’m putting (at the moment) into my Muldrotha graveyard shenanigans Commander deck.

Naturally considering the name of the deck, Muldrotha, the Gravetide is my Commander.

Which means this deck is all about treating the graveyard as an extension of your hand. So I actually want cards in my graveyard.

So there are cards that have me discarding or sacrificing as part of their cost. Which is fine because these are cards are not gone, I can bring them back either to my hand with spells or use my commanders ability.

I’m also using cards that make use of landfall, or lands on the battlefield and graveyard.

But what’s my win condition? How am I going to win the game? I think it’s going to have to be swing in with creatures. I know at the moment I’m light on the creature front. I think I’ll aim for 25 in total. What the remaining 12 will be I’m not sure.

I know on the spell front I need some targeted removal, especially for getting rid of potential graveyard hate. Can’t have people disrupting the game plan. Because graveyard hate is a big threat to the deck. With access to blue, I can include some counter spells, black will give me access to some board wipes.

Yes Sol Ring, Field of Ruins, Evolving Wilds, and Command Tower will be in the deck. They are a given really.

I need to do more research on the card front for sure.

Ok here are the cards so far.

Creatures:13

1 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
1 Eternal Witness
1 Isareth the Awakener
1 Gravedigger
1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
1 World Shaper
1 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid
1 The Gitrog Monster
1 Muldrotha, the Gravetide
1 Multani, Yavimaya’s Avatar
1 Protean Hulk
1 Torgaar, Famine Incarnate

Spells:11

1 Crop Rotation
1 Vessel of Nascency
1 Grisly Salvage
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Harrow
1 Krosan Grip
1 Sultai Charm
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Scapeshift
1 The Mending of Dominaria
1 Worm Harvest