I've been playing Magic for a couple decades on and off, always casual. I've really been enjoying this ever-so-slightly Jundified version of Golgari Control that I put together. It's gotten me all the way to rank 40 (though I might be lower at any given moment), and it has Johnny and Timmy appeal as well.
J'GARI CONTROL DECKLIST*
2 Drops
4 x
Perilous Myr4 x
Gatecreeper Vine2 x
Evolutionary Leap4 x
Reave Soul3 Drops
1 x
Liliana, Heretical Healer2 x
Graveblade Marauder3 x
Fleshbag Marauder1 x
Nissa, Vastwood Seer3 x
Reclamation Sage4 Drops
2 x
Gravedigger2 x
Flameshadow Conjuring2 x
Languish5 Drops
2 x
Priest of the Blood Rite2 x
Outland Colossus2 x
Cruel Revival6 Drop
1 x
Woodland Bellower23 Land
4 x
Swamp1 x
Mountain6 x
Forest2 x
Woodland Cemetery2 x
Rootbound Crag2 x
Dragonskull Summit1 x
Golgari Guildgate1 x
Rakdos Guildgate4 x
Evolving Wild*I sometimes run a modified version which drops the Graveblade and Bellower for
Jagged-Scar Archers, Gatecreeper for
Elvish Visionary, and Colossus for
Gilt-Leaf Winnower. It's stronger against Thopters due to the large number of threats with unequal power and toughness and the Archers ability to ping Thopter tokens, and its got nice draw with the Visionaries, but its land fixing is less stable and I miss the offensive punch of the removed cards.
So this is Golgari Control + Flameshadow Conjuring (abbreviated FC from here on), basically. It splashes the bare minimum amount of red lands to make red mana reliably available for casting and powering FC, and until it hits that it plays regular Golgari Control. Unlike some Golgari Control decks it runs either Gatecreeper Vines OR Elvish Visionaries (see variant) because I was getting blown up by some really fast decks that killed me while I was still setting up my board and I needed more room for early game defense. Other than that, FC is the only real change.
But FC is huge, especially with Evolutionary Leap. The basic effect is that every time you create a creature token, you can sac the temporary token to Evo Leap to continue drawing threats while maintaining board presence and creating a disposable offense. It also combines wonderfully with the large number of ETB effects attached to creatures in this deck (including Nissa's Forest grab ability - just be sure to pick the one without the haste marker to keep). Double Fleshbag sac, double Gravedigger rez (including "infinite" where one Gravedigger digs the other out of the Graveyard and the duplicate gets something else), double Bellower (for cc of 9, you can have 3 permanent creatures and 3 tokens), even double Myr followed by double Evo Leap to do 2 packets of 2 damage to anything and draw 2 creatures for 5 mana.
Notes:
- Liliana's -X and emblem abilities also create possible triggers for FC.
- Duplicating Liliana & sacrificing the real one in hopes that the token copy will flip does not work on IOS. AFAIK, it should work by the rules, but it does not.
- Lili's flip requirement is a non-token creature. Just a friendly reminder.
- Due to the order of the stack the first opportunity you have to copy a creature with Flameshadow will be the one you bring in through Woodland Bellower's ability, not the Bellower itself, so if you're on a budget save your m
n
to copy the Bellower.
- I've brought
Gaea's Revenge in and out a bunch of times. I miss it when it's gone, but I feel like I need to run another land when it's in, and if the deck is doing what it does best I usually don't need it while if it's not sometimes the GR feels way too slow. Ultimately I think it's better in Golgari Control than here - I have to have good early control to make space to cast 2 enchants that do nothing without further mana to feed them, and sinking 2 cards into a 7cc creature when I could clone a Priest, Colossus, or Bellower for <= 7 doesn't really appeal. However, just as an FYI you can double GR - it's not targeted so it bypasses the "green only" exception.
Aleph, I like this. I've been constantly tweaking my splash-red Golgari Control list for a while, but actually took it in a different direction. A few questions and comments, if you don't mind:
1) Gatecreepers + Visionaries. Honestly, I never seriously considered dropping one of them. It's interesting, and would certainly free up a few slots, but I fear that without the Gatecreepers I'll lose desperately-needed mana fixing (and an early chump blocker), and without Visionaries I lose the turn 2 stall against the various 2/1s in red and white aggro lists. And, of course, I want that cheap early creature on the board to start Leaping. How's it been playing with just the Vines, particularly against aggro?
2) Love the Colossus over Revenge. I made that switch a while ago and haven't looked back. Revenge is great in strict Golgari, but even there I'm starting to move toward the Colossus + Bellower package.
3) Flameshadow Conjuring has been in and out of my list a few times, but it so often feels like a win-more card to me. Are you finding that you're winning games you wouldn't have without it? It's really only felt worth it to me (in admittedly limited testing, hence the question) when I have Evo Leap up and running, but in 90+% of those cases, I'm almost certainly winning anyway, albeit it might take a few more turns. And it feels terrible to draw it when you're in topdeck mode. I've got Chandra's Ignition in this spot at the moment, but which has been particularly impressive with Colossus in for GR (and with the Zendikar Incarnates, see the next point).
4) I've cut the Gravediggers in the four-mana slot for Zendikar Incarnate, and I have to say that I haven't missed them. So often you sit there with a Gravedigger in hand and think, "am I really going to spend four mana for a 2/2 just so that I can pick back up a Gate/Visionary/Myr and have to spend mana to cast it again next turn?" My list has been gradually moving toward the ability to play a midrange aggro game when necessary, because I found that I was too reliant on Evo Leap, and without it I'd find myself underpowered. ZIs have been fantastic there. This is more a philosophical difference, I suppose. Your list looks a little more strict control, mine leans a little more toward aggro so that I have a decent ramp game if I can't find Evo Leap.
5) Priest of the Blood Rite sometimes feels slow to me, too. I cannot think of a good reason in theory why it wouldn't be great, but in actual play I find my opponent consistently able to deal with my 5/5 flier. How's it been in your testing? All-star, just okay, somewhere in between?
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