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Deck Reviews / Re: [EDH / Commander] Off-Brand Midas

« on: June 15, 2019, 10:58:04 pm »

Revision 21

Added/removed cards:
-1 Phyrexian Scriptures
-1 Transmogrifying Wand
-1 Underhanded Designs
+1 Ebony Horse
+1 Skeletal Grimace
+1 Visara the Dreadful

Phyrexian Scriptures proved to be too slow as a board wipe, and I decided that emphasizing more tap sources would better suit this deck. To that end, I added Ebony Horse because it can come down early in the curve before you summon Macar OR it can fit at the 5-drop curve slot, just after Macar, allowing you to tap/untap Macar right away.

I replaced Transmogrifying Wand with Visara the Dreadful. Visara works well with my tap/untap shenanigans and the Wand seemed to always be a low priority card when its in my hand.

Finally, I replaced Underhanded Designs with Skeletal Grimace. Designs always felt clunky and rather underwhelming. Skeletal Grimace can help keep Macar alive and allow us to tap him via regenerate if we have no other safe options to do so.

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Deck Reviews / Re: [EDH / Commander] Off-Brand Midas

« on: May 29, 2019, 02:39:12 am »

I was inspired to make this deck in the first place by reading the recent Macar article over at MTGGoldfish. I already had mono-red and mono-blue EDH decks, so the appeal of making an 'off the wall' mono-black deck was strong.

robhort - thanks for going into the deeper potential of Maddening Imp. The card has more versatility than I initially thought. The idea of forcing opponents to play creatures after combat, even if it is merely annoying, sounds perfect for a deck looking to assert board control. No Mercy is a bit out of my price range right now, but Dread looks very promising.

gNecrOz - I enjoy building 'fun' decks more so than 'ruthless' ones. Part of it is the budget restriction I put on myself when building a new deck. I like to start with a baseline that has some nice cards that really enable the strategy, but I also want to play some more obscure cards that can only see play in a format like EDH/Commander.

I don't have Torment mostly because of price. If I like how this deck plays, I can see myself adding Torment and removing Profane Command or Underhanded Designs. The infinite combo with Silverskin Armor and Clock of Omens is a nice feature of the deck that can quickly eliminate all of my opponent's creatures. It's also helpful to just be able to untap helpful artifacts if need be. The Nim Deathmantle + Si-Chi loop you discussed sounds promising. Nim's would just be generally useful, as the only recursion option I currently possess is either a flipped Conquerer's Gallon or Demon of Dark Schemes. But, again, it comes down to price right now. I like having upgrade options, however, so thanks for pointing out a potential path.

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Deck Reviews / Re: [EDH / Commander] Off-Brand Midas

« on: May 28, 2019, 11:44:00 pm »

This actually opens up an interesting tactic- use the Maddening Imp's ability and then tap down an opponent's creatures so that they are destroyed. It would be better if it was a sacrifice effect, so as to get around Indestructible, but it works well with Puppet Strings and Rathi Trapper. I need to pilot the deck more and see what I think, but I could see this being a good alternative to Hollowsage.

Thanks for the idea!

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Deck Reviews / [EDH / Commander] Off-Brand Midas

« on: May 28, 2019, 10:56:25 pm »

Off-Brand Midas

Updated: 29 May 2018

Poor King Macar. He has all the troubles of old King Midas, but none of the name recognition. As a potential Commander, he has even less going for him. His monochromatic nature and fairly niche ability doesn’t immediately make him an attractive option. But, as the old saying goes, misery loves company and King Macar can be very potent if we provide for him the appropriate supporting cast.

To begin, what is the point of this build? We want to control the boards of our opponents, eliminating creatures with Macar or members of his motley crew, such as the Royal Assassin or Kiku, Night’s Flower. We have beefy demons that can close out games via combat, or we can dome opponents repeatedly with Marionette Master’s triggered ability when we sacrifice our accumulated Gold tokens. Because we will indulge in a fair amount of ramp and possess the potential for an infinite mana combo, we have a few ‘X’ spells, like Exsanguinate or Profane Command, that can win the game as well.

There are a few combos we can pull off in this deck to win, or at least assert control of the board:

1) King Macar, The Gold Cursed + Silverskin Armor + Clock of Omens

Silverskin Armor makes King Macar an artifact, thus subject to Clock of Omens untap ability. Tap King Macar and any other artifact, including Clock of Omens, and then untap the King with the Clock. This will let you exile a creature and create a gold artifact token which you can use to keep the loop going. Tap Macar and the Gold, untap Macar, exile a creature, get more gold.

2) Umbral Mantle or Sword of the Paruns + Magus of the Coffers + four swamps

You pay two to tap the Magus, making BBBB, then pay three to untap it with either the Mantle or the Sword and net one B per loop. This infinite mana can do many things- it can power Exsanguinate or Profane Command, or if you have a Night Market Lookout in play you can use the infinite mana generated to equip the Sword on the Lookout and tap/untap it to drain out opponents. If you have a vehicle in play, providing a free tap source, then either the Sword or the Mantle can be put on the Lookout to drain everyone out.



The inherent constraints in building around Macar means that many decklists are similar in their construction. Let me discuss some of the choices I made that differ from what I’ve usually seen.

-Creatures-

Deadeye Tracker - a nice one-drop that can come out early and help Macar crew some of our more demanding vehicles, not to mention a Springleaf Drum, plus it acts as a source of repeatable graveyard hate/card advantage/self-buff.

Guul Draz Assassin - yes, it’s a level up creature. But, much like Deadeye Tracker, it is a one-drop that can power an early Springleaf Drum, help with crewing vehicles, etc., all while allowing you the option to pour in mana to upgrade the assassin to a truly terrifying threat. This deck can generate a fair amount of mana early on, so leveling up Guul Draz isn’t out of the question. Macar is going to receive a lot of hate, so we need other elimination options that give us some flexibility in their usage.

Kiku, Night's Flower - Another nice removal option. Won’t work on everything, but many creatures carry symmetrical stats that make them ripe targets for Kiku’s ability.

Rathi Trapper - It’s low CMC means it fits on the curve to support Macar, and its ability can allow us to both tap down Macar or threatening creatures on our opponent’s boards.

Maddening Imp - thanks to robhort in the comments for this suggestion. The Maddening Imp allows us to sow chaos for our opponents and potentially reap the benefits if we have a Royal Assassin or Dread in play. As robhort points out, we can target creatures our opponents summon in their first main phase and force them to be destroyed thanks to their summoning sickness. While this may catch one opponent off guard, others will likely wise up and cast creatures in their second main phase, after combat could be declared. It's a small hiccup, but one that prove to be annoying or helpful if your opponents have attack triggers.

Dread - another robhort suggestion. No Mercy on a body is useful, as it deters attacking into our position, and Dread's Fear ability can make it unblockable in certain matchups.

-Enchantments-

Arguel's Blood Fast - many lists I’ve seen run Greed, a 4 CMC enchantment that only costs B to activate. I like Arguel's Blood Fast over Greed in this build for a few reasons. The first is that it fits on curve in a situation where we cast Macar on turn four. Greed comes down later and it competes for turn attention at the 4-drop slot that Marcar also occupies. Yes, Arguel costs more to activate. But I can cast it on turn two, use it on turn three, and still be able to cast Macar on turn four. The second reason I like Arguel's Blood Fast is that is is a transform card that can bail us out if our life total gets too low. This deck has a fair amount of ramp, so I’m less worried about the increased activation cost of Arguel over Greed in the long term.


-Changelog-

29 May 2018

Removed: Victory Chimes, Hollowsage, Reiver Demon
Added: Star Compass, Maddening Imp, Dread

Reasoning: I like Victory Chimes' ability to untap during each player's turn, but I have few abilities I can activate for 1 and would rather have a ramp option that costs less, hence Star Compass. Maddening Imp and Dread seem far more useful in the longterm than Hollowsage or Reiver Demon. If Hollowsage targeted every opponent, that would be more useful. Reiver Demon would act like a one-sided boardwipe, but my gameplan is to have control of the board, or be in the process of controlling it, by the time he could arrive. The Imp and Dread are useful on their own, but really shine when working together.

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Deck Reviews / Re: [Pauper] Gruul Heroic

« on: June 07, 2018, 04:34:37 am »

Revision 12

Added/removed cards:
-4 Crown of Flames
-1 Laccolith Rig
+2 (Main) +2 (SB) Apostle's Blessing
+2 Crimson Wisps
+3 Dragon Mantle
+1 Temur Battle Rage
+2 (SB) Electrickery
+2 (SB) Epic Confrontation
+3 (SB) Gut Shot
+2 (SB) Naturalize
+2 (SB) Pyroblast
+2 (SB) Relic of Progenitus

Changed amounts:
-3 Mark of Fury

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Deck Reviews / [Pauper] Gruul Heroic

« on: June 01, 2018, 06:54:23 am »

Gruul Heroic

After building/playing with Mono-White Heroic, I wanted to see if any other sort of heroic builds would be possible. A quick Gatherer search revealed that Red had the best Heroic creatures available. Red even has a fair amount of good, one-casting cost enchantments/instants to boot as well. But one thing Red doesn’t have is protection, so my mind naturally turned towards…not white. Green. Thus, Gruul Heroic was born. 

I did not want to go down the Akroan Crusader route, making 1/1’s and then finding a way to boost those 1/1’s. (Although that idea looks very interesting) That made Satyr Hoplite the star of the show. Red also has a decent supporting cast member with Prowess - the Nimble-Blade Khenra (or its vampire equivalent- I forget the name). Unfortunately, the Green Heroic creatures at common are all too expensive, or require two green mana, which would be difficult for a dual-color deck looking to be lean on the mana count. That left me with some interesting choices for filling out the creature list. Ultimately, I decided on two options: Intimidator Initiate and Nyxborn Rollicker. 

Gruul cannot provide the protection from colors that White can provide. Therefore, we need some ability to slip by blockers and deal damage directly. Intimidator Initiate provides just such an ability, and thanks to a selection of enchantment spells that can easily return to hand to be cast again, the Initiate can often provide much needed evasion. Nyxborn Rollicker can become a 1/1 body if need be, but it is much better suited as a two CMC Aura that gives target creature +1/+1. If the enchanted creature is bounced or removed, the Rollicker emerges unscathed, ready to do battle. 

Enchantments are the fuel for this deck’s fire, and Red + Green have several sweet options available. The obvious Green options need no introduction; Rancor and Spider Umbra. Treetop Bracers makes a one-of appearance in the deck, as the ability to *only* be blocked by flyers and get +1+1 justifies its two CMC. 

Red offered some very interesting choices for enchantments, and I eventually decided on a set that offered me the ability to re-cast spells again and again. If all Mark of Fury did was give a creature Haste, it wouldn’t be worth it. But tack on the ability to have that enchantment bounce back into your hand on your end step, and suddenly you have real recursion value for a deck that is looking to cast enchantments to trigger Heroic/Prowess. Crown of Flames provides similar value, providing a creature with Firebreathing and the ability to return the enchantment to your hand, at *any* time, for just one red mana. 

If the goal of a Heroic deck is to cast spells, then having a spell easily come back and be able to be cast again is extremely helpful. If you flood mana, but have a Mark of Fury/Crown of Flames- no problem! If you draw a Satyr Hoplite in the mid to late game and need to pump them up- no problem! Mark of Fury/Crown of Flames don’t offer a lot on their own, but the ability to potentially be recast over and over provides value that other enchantments can not match in this situation. 

Laccolith Rig is another one-of, but it deserves special mention here. It allows you, if blocked, to pick another creature and deal damage to it before damage is assigned in the combat phase. If you do so, the first creature that blocked deals no damage to your enchanted creature. That is crazy powerful. This damage comes **before** damage is assigned in combat, meaning you can take out a first strike creature with this ability, or you can take out a meddlesome threat you opponent does not want to lose. Yes, your opponent must block to trigger the ability. But if they don’t block, they risk taking some serious damage over time. 

For instants, I wanted to have some of the protection offered in the Mono-White build. Vines of Vastwood seemed to fit the bill, even if only provides hexproof and not protection from a chosen color. Viridescent Wisps is a fine cantrip, and even allows you to change the color of your Red creatures to Green, which can be helpful in some situations. Lightning Bolt is Lightning Bolt. 

I realize this build cannot match the speed or consistency of a mono-color version, but I did see some potential thanks to the recursion abilities of Mark of Fury and Crown of Flames. Looking for any helpful suggestions - thanks!

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Deck Reviews / [Pauper] Golgari Munchies

« on: May 23, 2018, 07:27:49 pm »

Golgari Munchies

Elevator Pitch: Golgari Munchies is an Aristocrat-style Pauper deck that plays low-cost, ‘multiple-body’ creatures and spells to feed instant-speed ‘free eaters’, like Carrion Feeder and Bloodthrone Vampire.

My weekly gaming group has been playing Pauper Commander for the past few weeks, and the idea was recently floated to try out 60-card Pauper and hold our own mini-tournament. Being fairly new to Pauper in general, I headed over to MTGGoldfish to check out decklists/watch videos of decks being played on MTGO. I quickly focused on a Golgari Aristocrats build that suited my personal playstyle.

I started off by modifying the decklist highlighted by Jake Stiles on his 15 February 2017 ‘Playing Pauper’ post (see link below). For creatures, I cut one Bloodthrone Vampire and all four copies of Brindle Shoat and replaced them with two copies of Deathspore Thallid and two copies of Mortician Beetle. For spells, I cut both copies of Read the Bones, two copies of Tragic Slip, and two copies of Unearth. I replaced them with four copies of Saproling Migration and two copies of Fungal Infection. I also replaced the sole copy of Bonesplitter with two copies of Flayer Husk.

My modifications emphasized saproling production, with the addition of Deathspore Thallid and Saproling Migration. Deathspore Thallid slowly creates more saprolings, a helpful ability against control decks or games that go long, and has the ever helpful ability to instantly sacrifice a saproling to give a creature -1/-1 until end of turn. This not only helps cover the deck’s most glaring weakness- lack of flyers/reach- but it also provides excellent flexibility in terms of using saprolings to block attackers, and then sacrificing them to Deathspore Thallid to give another creature -1/-1. It makes battle math for your opponent just that much more difficult.

Saproling Migration provides solid value, with a 2 CMC generating two saprolings, but gets even more impressive if you manage to pay the kicker cost as well. Even though the deck runs only 19 lands, the fact that Blisterpod and Nest Invader both produce Eldrazi Drone tokens that can be sacrificed for colorless mana allows you to more reliably cast a kicked Saproling Migration. At first, I wasn’t sure the kicker ability would be actually useful/playable. But experience has shown that a mid-game kicked Migration can really tilt the game in your favor.

I really like Tragic Slip in this deck, but decided to cut two copies of the card in favor of Fungal Infection. Fungal Infection has one big advantage over Tragic Slip; it makes a saproling token at instant speed. While its top end isn’t as good as the -13/-13 Tragic Slip provides, Fungal Infection still provides a lot of value as the -1/-1 kills an unflipped Delver of Secrets and the ability to instantly make a saproling means your free eaters can spring a nasty trap on offense or defense. Tragic Slip is still the king of taking out big threats, but I found Fungal Infection to be just as good and, sometimes, even better thanks to the uncertainty it creates for your opponent.

My other substitutions, the Mortician Beetle and Flayer Husk, work nicely with the rest of the deck. Mortician Beetle gets bigger with every creature you sacrifice, and even if you don’t have a free eater out to act as a sac outlet, you can sacrifice your Eldrazi Drone tokens to pump it up with +1/+1 counters in a pinch. Anytime I draw a Beetle + Carrion Feeder + multiple body creature/spell, I know I’m off to a good start. Putting in Flayer Husk over Bonesplitter means sacrificing some offensive capability and speed (Husk only gives +1+1 and costs 2 to equip). But in return it provides another body that can be sacrificed, and the +1/+1 over the +2/+0 can actually be more helpful in saving small creatures from cards like Electrickery or other ‘deals 1 damage to all creature’ spells.

One thing I would like to add to this deck is card draw. Sometimes you need just *one* more ‘multiple body’ creature that can be sacrificed in order to win, and this deck does fall prey to the aggro problem of running out of gas and relying on top-decking for answers. One card that interests me in this regard is Bequeathal, as it fits perfectly with the sacrifice strategy of the deck. Just not sure how what to take out and if it would even be worth the effort.

Comments or suggestions for improvements are welcomed.

Based off the Golgari Aristocrats decklist found at MTGGoldfish:
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/playing-pauper-golgari-aristocrats

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Deck Comments / Re: ABE (Always Be Exerting) - Comments

« on: April 08, 2018, 05:53:11 pm »

Revision 47

After spending some time investing in cards, I am ready to present the latest version of the Boros Exert deck. Big additions include Champion of the Parish/Thalia's Lieutenant and Lightning Bolt. I also managed to shore up the mana base, adding the full playset of Arid Mesa, Sacred Foundry, and Unclaimed Territory (just can't afford its much better cousin, the almost $100-a-pop Cavern of Souls).

The speed and lethality has increased, but I'm not sure it will ever be a 'Tier 1' modern deck. Which is too bad, because it is a blast to play. I'm working on the sideboard now, so any comments for improvements here would be very much welcomed.

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Deck Comments / Re: ABE (Always Be Exerting) - Comments

« on: March 07, 2018, 08:17:38 pm »

Oh, I know it is not near the level it needs to be for Modern play. I got totally thwacked this past week when I went to my FLGS to play Modern. Went 1-3 in matchups, and I had a few of the games I lost close in hand, so I know there is some promise here. Might never be a Tier 1 deck, but it is fun to play.

I'm still making tweaks and hope to slowly build this decklist into something competitive.

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Deck Reviews / [Modern] Scarab Bloodlines

« on: March 02, 2018, 12:37:11 am »

Scarab Bloodlines

This deck began as a version of B/W tokens, with Anointed Procession, but the Black portion focused on putting -1/-1 counters out and using Nest of Scarabs to create tokens. The star of the show was supposed to be Voldaren Pariah - a 3BB 3/3 Flying Vampire that allows you to sacrifice three creatures to transform the Pariah into the Abolisher of Bloodlines, a 6/5 flying Vampire Horror that forces your opponent to sacrifice three of their creatures when it transforms. The kicker is that this card has a Madness cost of BBB - and for a deck that is looking to discard cards to generate -1/-1 tokens + scarabs, this card seemed like a very powerful no brainer.

But I couldn't get it to work with slow cards like Anointed Procession, or Hidden Stockpile, because these cards didn't generate -1/-1 counters or they required other cards to kickstart their ability. I wanted to be able to cast Voldaren Pariah and transform it into Abolisher of Bloodlines somewhat reliably on turn three or four, which meant I needed to generate creatures fast. I didn't want to abandon the Nest of Scarabs idea, because the support cards that make it work - Ruthless Sniper and Archfiend of Ifnir - require you to discard to activate their abilities, and that felt right in line with what I wanted to do with Voldaren Pariah (discard and cast it at instant speed for its madness cost).

The result is a deck that I'm calling 'Scarab Bloodlines', because it uses the synergy between the two strategies- scarab production via -1/-1 counters and instant-speed board control via Abolisher of Bloodlines- to give you varied paths to victory.

The deck is almost entirely Black, with a hint of White thrown in for synergistic effect. The most important thing is to make sure access to a discard effect is provided reliably by turn three, because that is when one could conceivably play a Voldaren Pariah and have enough creatures on the board to satisfy the transform requirement. Stern Constable is a nice, White one-drop that allows you to discard and stall out an opponent by tapping their creatures. Stromkirk Condemned allow you to discard (only once per turn, but once is enough to discard the Pariah) and provide all Vampires you control +1/+1, a helpful ability as almost every creature in the deck is a Vampire. Finally, Olivia's Dragoon allows you to freely discard as many cards as you like (it just keeps getting Flying for every discard).

When combined with either the Ruthless Sniper or the Archfiend of Infir, these creatures can turn a discard into board and creature advantage as they pepper your opponent's creatures with -1/-1 counters. This is particularly nasty if you have multiple Archfiend of Ifnir's in play, as each discard will net multiple -1/-1 counters. Nest of Scarabs amplifies this advantage, giving you 1/1 scarabs that can let you go wide or provide tasty munchies to either the Voldaren Pariah or the Indulgent Aristocrat (the latter giving all Vampires you control a +1/+1 counter for each scarab eaten).

Dusk Legion Zealot gives you card draw, which is helpful considering you will need to discard cards at some point, and, as a vampire, becomes pumpable via the Indulgent Aristocrat. Martyr of Dusk has multiple uses in terms of defense, but is most potent as a two-for-one source of creatures to feed the Voldaren Pariah (one as itself, the other as the 1/1 token it creates), meaning that if you manage to get a Stern Constable out on turn one and Martyr of Dusk on turn two, then you can discard the Voldaren Pariah on turn three and sacrifice them both to transform the Pariah into Abolisher of Bloodlines and, most likely, wipe your opponents board of creatures and attack them with a 6/5 flyer on turn four. If you don't get this specific card draw, you can still most likely drop a Pariah on turn four and attack with it on turn five.

But even if you don't draw a Voldaren Pariah in your opening hand, you still have a viable board control route via discard and activating the Ruthless Sniper and Archfiend of Ifnir's ability to generate -1/-1 counters. A turn five drop of Ifnir and the discard of even two or three cards can wipe out or greatly neutralize opponent creatures.

Still working out the kinks, and the maybeboard has some alternative ideas. All comments or ideas are appreciated.

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Deck Reviews / Re: [EDH / Commander] Korozda Guildmage Pauper Commander

« on: February 28, 2018, 07:50:53 am »

Took the deck out for a spin at my weekly gathering of Magic folk. Won the first Pauper Commander game we played, so that's a good sign. It plays well, but getting enough mana is definitely a concern because Korozda Guildmage's ability costs BG2 to use. But once I was able to get Saprolings out, it was awesome. Had a Mortician Beetle and a Bloodbriar out in the first few turns and they were able to grow tremendously due to the feeding habits of the Gnawing Zombie and a well timed Blood Bairn. Honestly feel like this deck has some promise in it.

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Deck Reviews / Re: [EDH / Commander] Korozda Guildmage Pauper Commander

« on: February 27, 2018, 01:01:10 am »

"two suggestions:
Tragic Slip (efficient removal, triggering morbid is easy in your deck)
Bojuka Bog (graveyard hate)"

Just noticed Tragic Slip the other night while looking for cards for another deck I'm brewing- that's some crazy removal for a very cheap cost and fits perfectly with the deck's theme.
Bojuka Bog - can't argue with this either. Great suggestion.

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Deck Reviews / Re: [EDH / Commander] Korozda Guildmage Pauper Commander

« on: February 27, 2018, 12:57:39 am »

Good catch on the Abzan Banner. I removed it, and replaced it with a Chromatic Sphere (already put in a Commander Sphere- need to update the decklist to reflect that if I haven't done so already).

Yeah, Herd Gnarr seemed like a no brainer for this deck. I'm looking forward to giving this deck a go when my Magic group meets on Tuesday. Even though I sort of built this deck on a whim, because I wanted a second Pauper Commander deck (first one was a Sludge Strider/Artifact heavy deck) for our session, I think I will end up liking this one more because of the strategy involved.

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Deck Reviews / Re: [EDH / Commander] Korozda Guildmage Pauper Commander

« on: February 26, 2018, 04:28:24 pm »

Ahh, you are quite right! Good catch. I definitely remember thinking that ability seemed very overpowered for just a common. Not as helpful as I thought before, but still useful given the Thallids I already have in the deck.

I hadn't thought about graveyard triggering effects. Got about as far as 'Green builds, Black eats' for this deck idea. But that's the nice thing about the Pauper format- it's pretty easy to get some new commons and try out new ideas without breaking your bank.

Thanks again for your help.

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Deck Reviews / [EDH / Commander] Korozda Guildmage Pauper Commander

« on: February 24, 2018, 09:28:54 pm »

Korozda Guildmage Pauper Commander

My Magic group has decided to jump into the Pauper format by making commander decks with the following stipulations:

1) Any uncommon can be your commander
2) Any common in any set can be used

With that in mind, I present the Korozda Guildmage Pauper Commander deck!

My previous Pauper Commander deck was three colors (using Sludge Strider as the commander), so I wanted to try a two color option. I really liked the various Guildmages, but Korozda Guildmage stuck out to me for its second card ability: pay 2BG and sacrifice a non-token creature to get X 1/1 saprolings where X = sacrificed card's toughness.

Immediately the idea of playing cards with Defender sprung to mind. Those cards are often cheap for the toughness they provide, making them a perfect target for Korozda Guildmage's sacrifice ability. Green has several good Defender cards, and they have access to Thallids, which can produce additional saproling tokens on their own.

Some Green cards with Defender are just plain nasty. Archers' Parapet allows you to ding every opponent for one; not the most powerful ability, but it can add up over time. (Also- five toughness for converted cost of two is great) Axebane Guardian allows you to get mana of any color for each Defender you control. Overgrown Battlement is similar, but provides Green mana instead.

Of course, I had to include some Thallid cards in a deck that looks to sacrifice creatures, but the only one worth specifically mentioning is Sporoloth Ancient. This card gives all other creatures you control the ability to generate spore counters and convert two of those counters into 1/1 saprolings. This can create an exponential growth scenario where saprolings keep producing saprolings and your pool of sacrificial creatures/swarm army grows overwhelmingly large in a short amount of time.

Black has access to several common cards that allow you to sacrifice a creature to gain either a temporary stat boost (usually +2/+2) or a permanent +1/+1 counter. It also has access to some interesting cards with Defender as well, although the focus for Black in this deck is to eat saprolings and remove/dredge creatures as needed. Gnawing Zombie is the star of the show here, as it allows you to directly damage opponents via sacrificing saprolings. Pair with a Mortician Beetle and you have quite the potent duo.

Artifacts included in this decklist buff the toughness stat, for obvious reasons. Cathar's Shield and the Accorder's Shield both provide +0/+3 and Vigilance (and cost zero to cast) and Slagwurm Armor provides a whopping +0/+6 when equipped. Giving s Steel Wall (cost 1, 0/4) the Slagwurm Armor provides 10 saprolings with Korozda Guildmage's sacrifice ability. This is especially effective if you also have Gruesome Fate in your hand, which damages *each* opponent 1 life for each creature you control.

Korozda Guildmage isn't just good for making Saprolings- they can also give a creature a small buff and give it Intimidate; this doesn't always guarantee you will be able to attack unblocked, but under the right conditions you can make Vampire Aristocrat or Phyrexian Ghoul unblockable and them pump them up to finish off an opponent.

As always, comments and suggestions for improvements are welcomed!