[EDH / Commander] Korozda Guildmage Pauper Commander

[jantley]

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!

[Feyamius]

"This card gives all other creatures you control the ability to generate spore counters and convert two of those counters into 1/1 saprolings."

Nope, unfortunately it doesn't. It just reduces the Saproling production cost of your other Thallids from three spore counters to two, so you get an Saproling every two turns per Thallid instead of every three turns. But it doesn't grant the spore counter production ability to non-Thallids.

The idea of using defender creatures is quite cool. Have you tried focussing on creatures that have triggered abilities when they die / leave the battlefield? That's what comes in mind first when I read Korozda Guildmage.

[jantley]

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.

[Paulharmonicon]

I don't think you can play Abzan Banner since white is not part of Korozda Guildmage's color identity. You could use Commander's Sphere instead.

This looks like a fun deck to play! I especially like Herd Gnarr in this deck - when your opponent doesn't block it you can sacrifice a creature to Korozda Guildmage and get a bunch of triggers before damage.

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

[jantley]

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.

[jantley]

"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.

[jantley]

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.