Banedon did these for Selesnya and Mono-U Tempo; so I decided to chime in with one for my favourite deck of the season.

Card choices and their reasonings

Staples
These are the cards that I think should be in every single Golgari Midrange deck in a significant number. They're hard or impossible to replace and form the basic gameplan.

Llanowar Elves: 4 mainboard.
The 4-of Elves are actually not as unequivocally thought of as correct as it seems at first glance. Playing them gives you a big advantage in getting your finishers like Vivien Reid and Carnage Tyrant (or even Find // Finality) online a turn (or sometimes two) ahead of the curve. It also greatly helps in casting Jadelight Ranger. However, there are some match-ups in which the card impacts the board too little, and it's also a pretty bad topdeck lategame in a deck that ideally wants to improve their topdeck scenarios. I personally think that they are just too important not to play, but am open to sideboarding some or all of them out in matchups that will go super-late. I should also mention that there are decks that run only 3 or even none at all.

Merfolk Branchwalker: 4 mainboard
This is the single best 2-drop for the deck. Grants card selection/advantage while always providing a relevant body is really good.

Wildgrowth Walker: 2-4 somewhere between mainboard and sideboard
Highly matchup-dependant and somewhat controversial. It really helps against virtually any aggressive deck as well as Phoenix; but generates too little impact against many other decks and is often the first card to go to the sidelines. It also gets awkward if you draw it and none of the cards to go with it.
I've seen people run 4 mainboard and I've seen people run none main and 2 sideboard. Most decks I've seen run 3 mainboard, which I agree with; you draw it consistently enough without having to deal with awkwardness too often.

Jadelight Ranger: 4 mainboard
Absolute staple for similar reasons to Merfolk Branchwalker. Helps you hit land drops, gets creatures in the yard for Find, digs you towards what you need.

Ravenous Chupacabra: 2-3 mainboard.
Great in any even remotely creature-based matchup, can be awkward in multiples though. More of a removal spell that generates a 2/2 body and can be recurred back with Find or Memorial to Folly. Personally going back and forth whether 2 or 3 is the right number, currently leaning towards 2.

Vraska's Contempt: 2-3 mainboard, up to 4 in the 75
This removal spell's value has been on the up and up ever since the start of the meta. What started out as 1 or even 0 copies has gone to a point where most lists mainboard 3, sometimes with number 4 in the board. With Arclight Phoenix decks somewhat out of the picture the fourth copy is overkill IMO, but not running at the very least 2 main 1 side is crazy IMO.

Vivien Reid: 2-3 mainboard
Vivien is the engine to keep the Golgari train running. Her -3 deals with everything Carnage Tyrant cannot (aside from The Immortal Sun), her +1 finds the aforementioned dino or whatever it is that you need, and her ultimate is insanely threatening. Never run less than 2 maindeck, personally I've loved copy number 3 as well.

Carnage Tyrant: 2-3 mainboard, up to 4 in the 75
Doing its name proud. He's big, he's bad and he'll demolish the opponent in short order unless they jump through hoops. Also, guess who's back after Find or Memorial to Folly. IMO you should never run less than 3 in your 75, and it's not far-fetched to just main these 3; I may sideboard out one if I feel like I need other cards more.

Find // Finality: 3 mainboard
Nice, flexible card that acts as a sweeper or as card advantage depending on what you need. Also makes one of your creatures into a legit threat (a 3/5 is nothing to scoff at, as is a 9/8 Carnage Tyrant).
3 is the number needed to draw it consistently especially game 1, though I sometimes board down to 2 or even 1 if I feel like neither half does enough in the matchup.

Maindeck filler or sideboard cards
After adding all your staples, these cards are all decent options to round out your maindeck. Often, these cards also make decent sideboard cards as you may have a 'one or the other' decision turn into a 'Why not both?'.

Druid of the Cowl: 0-2 mainboard
This card is often used to fill out the 2-drop slot; especially in decks that don't run Wildgrowth Walker. It can work in conjunction with Llanowar Elves to get your big plays out even earlier and survives Finality.

Seeker's Squire: 0-2 mainboard
Another alternative to fill out the 2-drop slot. Squire is a lot worse than Merfolk Branchwalker and should only be used in conjunction with 3 or more maindecked Wildgrowth Walkers to make sure they trigger often enough. 2/3 and 1/2 are just much, much worse statlines for 2 mana than 3/2 and 2/1 in Constructed.

Cast Down: 2-4 in the 75
Your most efficient removal spell against aggro of any kind, and your best answer to hate cards like Tocatli Honor Guard. For this reason alone, you need a decent number somewhere. However, since it's really bad when it's bad (against Control of any kind and even against Boros Angels game 1 since they only run Tocatli in the SB), I like to sideboard the bulk, if not all, of them Currently running 3 sideboard, could see mainboarding one or two is the meta gets more aggressive.

Assassin's Trophy: 1-3 in the 75
Cheap catch-all removal spell that should not be played early; also gets worse in multiples. Makes it easy to double-spell later in the game though. I personally am a fan of the 1 copy mainboard, 1 copy sideboard split; some decks run 3 somewhere in the 75 but I can't think of a single matchup where I'd want 3 Trophies in my deck. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of running flat out none, because the card does provide a great deal of flexibility and is impactful even as a 1-of, giving you the ability to even destroy lands that could otherwise get problematic (Detection Tower, Arch of Orazca, the flipsides of Search for Azcanta or Legion's Landing or something as simple as Memorial to Folly).

Midnight Reaper: 1-2 mainboard; up to 3 in the 75
IMO your best secondary 3-drop, mainly for its ability to add to the board while giving you more than due compensation for an opposing sweeper (bar Settle the Wreckage, but you can play around that and get a few lands out of the deal) and makes combat a nightmare for the opponent. Running too many can lead to your ife toal depleting too quickly, though.

Thrashing Brontodon: 0-2 in the 75.
3-drop that is somewhat matchup-dependant. Having access to enchantment hate as well as a card that survives blocking most W Weenie threats as well as Deafening Clarion is almost mandatory, but the 3 slot is crowded. I personally like them more in the board.

Plaguecrafter: 0-2 in the 75.
Another possible secondary 3-drop. It's your cheapest answer against opposing Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Niv-Mizzet, Parun (and cannot be answered by Negate or Spell Pierce), hits even hexproof threats and can be brought back in a pinch. It's highly match-up dependant though, which is why I like them in the sideboard, but some lists maindeck them.

District Guide / Elvish Rejuvenator: 0-1 mainboard
Budget options or options that function as a 7th 3-drop that are somewhat useful in any match-up. Generally a little too low impact, though.
It should be noted that a budget version of the deck can run District Guide and some small number of Golgari Guildgates to replace Jadelight Rangers and either Overgrown Tomb or Woodland Cemetery; you should not go overboard with this since Jadelight is a really important card, though.

Golgari Findbroker: 0-1 mainboard
This card has been on the decline. At the start of the format, most people would include 2, or at least 1 main 1 side; then most people quickly figured out that running more than 1 is too slow in many cases; currently most decks run none at all. There's just too many better options at your 4-drop slot, and while the interaction with The Eldest Reborn and Memorial to Folly is cute, it's too slow to be a staple interaction.
I will note that Findbroker + Eldest Reborn is a budget-friendly variant, though.

Vraska, Golgari Queen: 0-1 mainboard
The GRN addition, Vraska is quite a lot worse than Vivien. I still like to run 1 because her -3 makes her the best answer to dangerous W threats such as Benalish Marshal or History of Benalia, as well as other cheap yet dangerous cards, and her +2 has some utility as well; but she gets absolutely awkward in multiples and sometimes you don't even want the first one.

Karn, Scion of Urza: 0-2 in the 75
Karn will prepare your silver bullets while granting card advantage at the same time. Howevr, it's hard to make room for him without getting too passive. I currently am running 1 main; could see number 2 making the main if I sideboard (or cut) Vraska, Golgari Queen.

Doom Whisperer: 0-2 in the 75
The single most controversial card in the archetype.
5 mana 6/6 flying trample are ferocious stats, and the added bonus of being able to surveil in a deck that cares about the graveyard seem too good to pass up? Well, the big problem here is that it dies too easily. The ability to surveil for life does not make up for the fact that it can be targeted (and, in most instaces, killed) by virtually any removal spell as well as Vivien Reid. It's good against some matchups, but these matchups seem to be on the decline, which is why I personally went ahead and cut them entirely.
That said, some lists jam the full 4 mainboard and eschew Carnage Tyrant.

Vraska, Relic Seeker: 0-1 in the 75
I'm a pretty big fan of diversifying threats, and that's exactly what this PW does. Instead of running a fourth Carnage Tyrant (or a third Vivien), you run a 'silver bullet' type card that can also win the game, and in some instances works better than the aforementioned wincons. Again, I like her as a 1-of main or side, currently I've got her in the board, but shes coming in on a regular basis.

Sideboard cards
These are cards that should only come in out of the sideboard. Most of the time they don't actually contribute to your main deck plan; instead they work against an opposing deck's plan and if you are not facing that specific deck, they're bad; but that's why they are in the sideboard after all.

Duress: 3-4 in the sideboard
The bread-and-butter sideboard card for Golgari. In the matchups it's bad, it's REALLY bad, but it is a very useful tool in the match-ups where it's good, dismantling the opponent's plan. There's some controversy about bringing it in in specific match-ups; but there's little controversy about it deserving these sideboard slots. Never run less than 3, I personally run 4 but can see arguments why you'd only want 3.

Deathgorge Scavenger: 0-3 in the sideboard.
This is mainly good in match-ups where Wildgrowth Walker is good, exiling opposing Phoenixes and gaining life. If you face these match-ups a lot, consider bringing in some more Scavengers, but don't go overboard.
On that note, a shoutout to Blood Operative, which can be a 1- or 2-of in decks with 4 Doom Whisperers (likely taking this slot), but is not good enough with less.

Reclamation Sage: 0-1 in the sideboard.
Alternative enchantment hate if you dislike Thrashing Brontodon. Sage is 1 mana cheaper and leaves a 2/1 body behind, Bronto is better if the opponent has no enchantments out and can actually be recurred and sacced again during the same turn.
It is a bit too narrow to warrant more than 1 copy, but that 1 copy can definitely have a big impact.

Golden Demise or Ritual of Soot: 2 sideboard
I listed both of these sweepers because they compete for slots and you have to decide which one to take. Golden Demise is cheaper and doesn't necessarily hit your stuff, Ritual of Soot answers boards more cleanly (especially through buffs). I personally like Golden Demise a little better, but can see both sides here.

The Eldest Reborn: 0-2 sideboard
Really slow, but highly effective in the matchups it's good in. I've seen (and played) decks with up to 3 copies, but concluded that anything beyond the first copy is probably too clunky. That said, the first copy is highly effective in basically any non-aggro matchup.
It should be noted that you can mainboard one copy if you are on a budget.

Landbase
I'll write about the landbase in a secluded area. Since we're more or less talking deck concept instead of actual deck, I won't go as much into detail as Zerris or me used to back in the Duels subforum, but I will give guidelines in regards to landcount and nonbasic lands that can or should be run.

Landcount: 23-24 lands.
Generally speaking, GB Midrange is a very mana-hungry archetype and wants a high landcount. This is somewhat mitigated here by the presence of mana elves and Explore creatures (as well as the planeswalkers to an extent); though these still need a decent land count to function. I personally like the 23-24 range, depending on the lands you play, but have seen lists that run 25.

Nonbasic lands to be on your radar:
Overgrown Tomb: 4 mainboard
The single most important dual in the deck; makes sure your Woodland Cemetery comes in untapped and lets you cast Llanowar Elves turn 1 while also providing .

Woodland Cemetery: 4 mainboard
Produces Green and Black and comes into play untapped basically from turn 2.

Memorial to Folly: 1-3 mainboard
The ability to recur Carnage Tyrant, Chupacabra and other dangerous threats makes this land a mainstay; it also prevents flooding out. Entering tapped can lead to awkward situations, though. I personally think 2 is a good number as it otherwise competes for resources with Find too much, but you basically always want one on the board (It's also nice to leave up Contempt if you can leave up Folly at the same time).

Golgari Guildgate: 0-1 mainboard
If you need extra fixing, this is there. I persoanlly think it's too much worse than the other duals that I'd rather not start it, but there are people who think otherwise. Also, it's there for you if you're building on a budget.

Detection Tower: 0-1 in the 75
You generally don't want many lands that cannot produce coloured mana, but if you want to run one, this is it. It helps you get past opposing Carnage Tyrant and Dive Down, which you have little ways to beat otherwise.
If you want to put a land into your sideboard, this would be the one; you can also maindeck it if you're running at least 24 lands (running it with 23 leaves you with too few sources of coloured mana for my taste).
I should mention that there's no need to run Field of Ruin in this deck since you have enchantment removal to kill the flip enchantments and also Assassin's Trophy in a dire emergency.



Well, that's it for the primer on card choices.
Not sure whether I'll also write up a sideboard guide (I generally like to do that on a specific example, as the SB plans differ quite a bit especially on Golgari MR).
I also wrote a sideboard guide.
If you feel like I missed cards or should explain some points a bit more, hit me up.


EDIT: Fixed some errors, adjusted a couple numbers (thanks tmp_tmp)
EDIT2: Sideboard guide

My favorite from this season. I mostly agree on numbers with some exception:
Midnight Reaper 2-3 main, 3-4 in 75
District Guide 0-0
Doom Whisperer 0-2 in 75
The Eldest Reborn 0-0 main, 0-2 in 75
sideboard
Reclamation Sage 0-2
25 lands seems too much with Exp-rs an Elfs

Thanks for the reply!

Midnight Reaper I was really close to put it as staple secondary 2-drop, but there's enough lists with 1 or even no Reaper mainboard. I also don't like to go overboard with it, as multiple Reapers in play generally threaten you more than they help you.
I'm currently running 2 Reapers main, 1 side and it's been good, but I only want Reaper number 3 against Control where I have the life total to play with and where I need access to one at any time to dissuade sweepers; and even against Control I think 4 Reapers is going overboard since you're adding tons of 3-drops in that matchup (enchantment hate AND Plaguecrafters).

District Guide honestly isn't THAT bad. Gets card advantage, a relevant body on the board and makes sure to hit your land drop with the colour you need. Not a Jadelight Ranger obviously, but a decent 7th 3-drop if you want one that's useful in all matchups.

Doom Whisperer: Agreed; I wanted to show off the possible high Doom Whisperer count but honestly, I dislike that as well. Will change that number to 0-2 (which I find correct).

Eldest Reborn: Can definitely move this to SB only and mention it as a budget option for the maindeck.

Reclamation Sage: I mentioned it in the Broontodon write-up. I like Brontodon better for the added flexibility of being a 3/4 body and working through Tocatli Honour Guard, even if it costs 1 more mana and doesn't generate the 2/1 body additionally. I'd be okay to mention it as 0-1 SB only, but don't like copy number 2.

Great write up as always. Your guide has helped me understand this deck just a little more, i see it often in ranked. Maybe I will build it if i can get more of the pieces.

Great guide.

Here are some opinions on Golgari
Planeswalkers:
I Find the only good planewalkers to be vivien and Karn.
Little Vraska I find just not good enough. Her +1 does not synergy with the deck. There’s few sac outlets in Golgari as most of our creatures are cards not tokens. The only times when you can use it is later in the game when you have a developed board and extra lands. But then why do we need a little Vraska? Most of the time I’m just using her -3 and recharging it. By the time I get to her ult I would have pretty much already won even without using it.

So I decided to swap Vraska for the third ravenous. With Vraska, I’m mainly using it against aggro (otherwise I would use Karn) but a 4 mana 3 cmc removal sounds awful. With ravenous I get a much stronger kill effect and a chump blocker, which can be the difference. It can also be searched by vivien. The only downside is the double black mana but that’s the risk we run playing Golgari, which has really bad man early on somewhat alleviated by 2 mana explore creatures.

Big Vraska I find pretty powerful but not useful as carnage tyrant. Vraskas edge over ct is against creature decks. But a 6 mana card isn’t effective against aggro anyways, which are majority of creature decks in the meta. It better against angels although I don’t see that much anymore. I find fr also better in mirror as Vraska contempt and assassin trophy easily Nukes it.I used to run it mainboard but then I found her kill effect excluded planeswalkers . The final thing that convinced me was vivien can’t find her and when I run more planies and removal, I sometimes get nothing with vivien or only lands.

Karn I really don’t like as I feel like it’s well below the power level of standard’s planeswalkers but it’s the best thing to cast against control for 4cmc.


Regarding doom whisperer, I find it only worthwhile against aggro and fairly decent in mirror since it can fix your draw especially in conjunction with Wildgrowth. In my bo1 deck I run 3 whisperers and a single ct with 3 vivien. It has been my most successful ce deck since it destroys aggro so well.

I love these primers and hope you'd add a sideboard section! I've not played the deck and probably won't play the deck, but it's good to know what it looks like from the other end of the table, especially since knowing what opponents are likely to sideboard out against me is important.

Three questions:

- Why would you not run 4x Ravenous Chupacabra? If as you mention it's great in any matchup that remotely involves creatures, then that's virtually everything these days. I mean, even control decks have Niv Mizzet / Drakes / Nicol Bolas.
- Why not run 4x Wildgrowth Walker? My experience playing against the card is that it gets big quickly + makes racing a nightmare for opponents, which should mean it's great against everyone. It also survives your own Find//Finality or Deafening Clarion if it's been boosted once. I imagine it's because topdecking it later without an enabler is bad, but you have plenty of ways to recur your enablers, plus it's not different from topdecking a 2-drop, is it?
- Is Vraska, Relic Seeker really niche enough to not run more copies? I'd love to have this kind of planeswalker in Selesnya colors: a CA planeswalker that also immediately impacts the board. She seems flat out better than Vivien except for the fact she costs six mana, but you have Explore creatures to help you reach 6 mana.

Thanks for the replies!




Agreed that Vivien is the single best Walker for the deck and it's not close; and that Karn is mainly in for control match-ups.
Small Vraska is not that high on the power level, but her flexibility and positive interaction with Midnight Reaper keeps her in the deck. Her -3 kills anything they played until that point on the play and still hits a ton of problematic permanents on the draw; her +2 prevents flooding out too badly and her ultimate is threatening. That said, runing the third Chupa or a Karn over her is reasonable.
Big Vraska is in to diversify threats and give you both an answer to enchantments as well as a wincon in a single sideboard slot; she could definitely be a fourth Carnage Tyrant if that floats your boat.

I have run a variant with 2 Doom Whisperer, 2 Carnage Tyrants and 2 Vivien main on ladder; it's been okay but there have been numerous times even against Aggro where I wished the Whisperers were a Tyrant or Vivien. There's the odd 4 Whisperer/1 Tyrant version, but I strongly dislike it.



Both Ravenous Chupacabra and Wildgrowth Walker get awkward in multiples since they rely on circumstances to be great. A 4-of card has a very big chance to appear in your hand twice, and if you cannot leverage their advantage, you're playing from 2 cards behind.
Walker is great for racing situations, but the truth is, Golgari does not want to race in most match-ups. It is forced to do so vs. aggressive decks, hence the 3 mainboard walkers, but I sideboard Walker out in basically every non-aggro matchup. And even against aggro, it's not great if it stays a 1/3, and if you get stuck with 2 Walkers and no Explorers, your best card against them becomes a liability.
Similar thoughts on Chupacabra: Against aggro you don't always have the time to leverage it in time; against Control it risks being a dead card while they set themselves up with Chemister's Insight and counterspells. Also, you need to keep in removal for their Walkers anyway (Contempt/Trophy) and don't want to overload on removal agaiinst Control. I could see 3 mainboard Chupas and plan to sideboard out 1 against Control (or all 3 if facing Esper), but would not want number 4.
I've written a bit about Vraska's purpose above; she's too much worse tha Vivien/Carnage Tyrant to warrant more copies and is mostly a flexibility pick. If you want I can put up why I think Vraska is much worse than Vivien.

Well of the seven most common matchups, which one isn't a race? Monoblue, monored, white aggro are all race matchups. Selesnya tokens is not a race (since usually when the tokens deck attacks, it's attacking for over 40 points of damage); however the fact that Wildgrowth Walker grows and survives Find//Finality is an issue. In fact it's common for the tokens deck to board in Baffling End to deal with Wildgrowth Walker. And then there's Drakes, but you need to keep your life total high in that matchup since they turn the corner very fast + you have no flying blockers. So the only two common matchups left are Golgari and control. Wildgrowth Walker shouldn't be dead in the former matchup - maybe less effective than it usually is, but still effective - leaving just one. My inclination is to play with 4x Walker, but I stress I don't have experience with the deck.

Chupacabra: I don't see why you wouldn't have time to leverage this against aggro? It's a 4-mana removal spell that leaves a body behind. In fact I'd have thought it's one of your best cards against aggro.

Would be interested in seeing more of a discussion on Vraska Relic Seeker. She's a planeswalker, so I imagine her main role is to help you grind + survive board wipes, i.e. she's competing directly with Karn and Vivien. Vraska is good when you're ahead and good when you're behind; comparatively Karn doesn't impact the board as much when he lands. Vivien is fine when your opponent's best threat is a flyer, but she's not good when behind either. My instinct would be to run 2x Vraska Relic Seekers, and I'm interested in a comprehensive explanation on why my instinct is wrong. Only thing I can think of is that she competes with Carnage Tyrant, but control decks have adapted with ways to deal with Carnage Tyrant, so you can't count on him single-handedly winning the game anymore and a split between the two 6-drops makes more sense (?)

I would say main reason not to overload on ravenous are its mana constraints and lack of versatility against control. For matches I like to mainboard the anti control package with midnight reapers, carnage tyrant and Few removals. I feel like anti control Golgari has a better chance against aggro than anti aggro Golgari does against control. Even though midnight reapers and CT’s aren’t great against aggro, you can still play them out or even your Wildgrowths win it out. On the other hand drawing a cast down is basically mulliganing one against control since it’s completely useless. Chupacabra is in the same line. Although it does give you a free niv Mizzet kill here and there, you don’t need more than 1 in your hand. Otherwise ur forced to cast a 2/2 beat for 4 mana.

Regarding the aggro matchups game one. I think white weenies variants are by far the easiest. They’ll need a nut draw to beat you. They have trade with our creatures and have no answer for finality. Furthermore they often can’t deal with Wildgrowth Walker. Their only removal costs 4 mana, so it really slows them down if they are forced to use it on curve.

Mono blue is a good matchup simply because their deck sucks. They can’t only win with curious obsession and tempest djinn. I find ravenous Chupacabra to be bad in the matchup because of dive down. dive down is like a one mana counter to Chupacabra. Most of the time the strategy is to trade with them. Your 3/2 Branchwalker will outrace their 1/1s. They also have no way to deal with Wildgrowth Walker.

Chupa is good, but there's no match-up in which I'd think it's the best card. Against Aggro, Wildgrowth Walker as well as post-board Cast Down (I'm with NoWinCon that the bulk of these should be SB) and sweepers are more important. Against Control, PWs and Carnage Tyrants are more important. I'd even go as far and say that there's a fair amount of match-ups where it's a liability rather than a help; the more prominent ones being mono-Blue (cheap interaction), Esper Control (literally no good targets aside from possible post-board Specters) and Selesnya Tokens (it stays in because Vraska's Contempt sucks even more in that MU, but I'm not ecstatic about it).

The mono-R matchup is a race for sure; but W Weenie (similar to Selesnya Tokens) is more about stabilizing the board, outlasting them and running them out of resources. To be fair, Walker does aid in doing that as well in that MU.


Vraska's main problem is that she tries to occupy a niche between Vivien and Carnage, and both outclass her in their respective fields.
As a win condition, Tyrant's clock is faster and he's harder to answer/interact with. Also, you can have multiple Tyrants on the board at the same time.
As a walker, Vivien deals with the same problematic permanents a turn earlier (most of the time, grounded creatures are hardly a problem for Golgari, and if they are, Vraska probably doesn't deal with it well either) and has the much better uptick ability (drawing a card from a selection and getting you closer to your Carnage Tyrants > 2/2 menace). Both ults win the game; I slightly prefer Vivien for its lasting effect, giving it inevitability, but it doesn't matter in the slightest.
I like to run 1 in the board as a compromise (and because a 4th Vivien would be awkward), but for the second Relic Seeker you'd have to cut Vivien or Carnage, and I cannot get behind that.

B/G has problems with mana? I didn't know that, given that it's a 2-mana deck with on-color shocklands.

About the monoblue matchup, my experience from the other side of the table is that it's favoured pre-board. B/G's removal simply costs too much: even Cast Down trades down on mana against 1-mana protection spells. 3/2 Branchwalkers can outrace their 1/1s, but it's not like B/G is well-equipped to race, and if the monoblue deck is drawing extra cards then it gets even worse since they can chump block every B/G creature except Carnage Tyrant. Post-board however, B/G brings in every single piece of removal spell they have, and it becomes a lot harder for the monoblue deck to stick a creature.



The two most important aggro decks in the meta are monored and Boros aggro. Against monored, Chupacabra can e.g. "kill your Goblin Chainwhirler and then block your Viashino Pyromancer", which should be great. Against Boros, Chupacabra can "kill your Benalish Marshal and then block your Dauntless Bodyguard", which is also great. Wildgrowth Walker can be better of course, but it needs to stay in play until the explore creatures can come down. Have you never had turns such as, Wildgrowth Walker in play, you play Jadelight Ranger and I respond with Lightning Strike on your Walker?

I agree Chupacabra is not at its best against the three decks you mention, but the former two are small portions of the meta - in fact I don't think I've queued into monoblue in traditional constructed yet - and although it's less than ideal against Selesnya, it's not dead either since it can kill Loxodon & Trostani. But then I'm a patzer since I don't play the deck, so yeah

Against mono-Red, Chupa has exactly two good targets: Steam-Kin and Chainwhirler. Basically everything else has you trade down mana since Chupa likely dies to Shock whenever they have it, or needs to have eaten another removal spell (Phoenix). It's a 2-for-1, but card advantage hardly matters against a deck that slings its Wizard's Lightning to your face only to reload with Experimental Frenzy/Risk Factor later.
If mono-R Lightning Strikes the Walker, that's a 1-for-1 exchange on equal mana, and that's about your worst case (technically Wizard's Lightning is the worst case because mono-R is up one mana).

Boros Aggro (which is similar enough to W Weenie that I'm not going to differentiate much) is possibly the best MU for Chupacabra since it has multiple good targets (generally fliers or Marshals) and blocks any ground creature (plus, if you get into a race, it can pose an 8 life swing targeting and blocking an Adanto Vanguard). However, this is also the single best Walker MU, since it blocks everything after 2 Explores, gains you life and requires their Conclave Tribunal.


IMO Selesnya Tokens makes up for a very decent amount of the metagame. Mono-Blue has definitely fallen off, but I still encounter it occasionally even in Traditonal Constructed. Same with Esper Control; and I have to add French Jeskai to the list (creatureless Jeskai that just won the WMC, thus will get traction, and already has a good MU against Golgari).

Well, generally Golgari's early game mana is inconsistent, because we run a lot of double mana colored cards like Jadelight, Vraska's contempt, and Chupracabra. In many games, you'll find a bad land color combination and won't be able to play your cards. However, if you draw your duals or can cast your explore creatures, then you're usually good on mana the rest of the game.

Against mono blue, I tend to not sideboard too much removal. I generally side in cast downs and duress and get rid of carns. My strategy is to play out creatures and race. If mono blue gets their nut draw, yeah I lose, but I'm banking that they don't draw multiple curious obsessions, tempest djnns and protection every game. In my experience, I have a high matchup rate against them, but lose 50 or slightly more in B01.

I'll leave the SB guide in this post as long as it is WIP, will include it into the main post later. For now, I'll put a link to this post into the main post.

Sideboard guide

The main strength of Golgari is its adaptability after sideboard, helping it to assume the role you want it to. In fact, many decks are favored against Golgari game 1, but the matchup is still even or even favorable for Golgari because of the strong sideboard options.

I'll mostly go by metagame % here.

Golgari Mirror

In most cases you don't have to do too much surgery here.
Doom Whisperer and Widgrowth Walker are fairly mediocre in this matchup as they get answered fairly easily, so they should get boarded out.
Vraska, Golgari Queen can also get boarded out, especially on the draw (you can protect her better on the play).
Instead bring in most lategame/card advantage cards you have in the board (The Eldest Reborn, Midnight Reaper, other Planeswalkers, Carnage Tyrant, Vraska's Contempt).
Cast Down is double-edged. Generally, your opponent does not have too many great targets for it; but if they leave in Wildgrowth Walker and/or Doom Whisperer, you have Detection Tower and/or you are on the draw, consider having one or two in the deck.
Assassin's Trophy is double-edged as well; it's a terrible spell to cast early, but can definitely deal with problematic permanents lategame; even lands such as Detection Tower and Memorial to Folly.
Finally, you can board in Thrashing Brontodon if you they have The Immortal Sun or going heavy on The Eldest Reborn.


Selesnya Tokens

Bring in all and any artifact/enchant hate out of the board (Assassin's Trophy/Thrashing Brontodon/Reclamation Sage/Vraska, Relic Seeker), as this means they don't have any more permanent removal spell and you gain ways to deal with their The Immortal Sun (a very frequent SB card for them) among other things.
Also bring in your sweeper of choice (Golden Demise/Ritual of Soot).
Duress is double-edged; on one hand it deals with problematic cards (March of the Multitudes, The Immortal Sun, History of Benalia) in advance, on the other hand it's a terrible topdeck in a matchup that can often go to a topdeck war. I generally like to board in 2 or 3, but not the full 4; and I could see boarding in none at all.
Board out any Vraska's Contempt/Plaguecrafter you may run mainboard. After that it's mostly trimming the cards you feel the least comfprtable about. You can go down to 2-of Find // Finality, Carnage Tyrant or Wildgrowth Walker or trim Druid of the Cowl/Seeker's Squire. Sideboarding here is not exact science.
If you see Tocatli Honor Guard, bring in Cast Down and board out more Wildgrowth Walker/Merfolk Branchwalker. You can also consider adding 1 Vraska's Contempt back in if you have trouble dealing with it otherwise (in which case boarding out Ravenous Chupacabra can make sense as well).


Jeskai Control

For clarification: I'll assume Jeskai Control runs no Dive Down and very few, if any, Spell Pierce. If you see these cards, sideboard more accordingly to Izzet Drakes.

This is a match-up that absolutely thrives on the strength of your sideboard.
Duress is your best tool against them and gives you a good idea what you're up against in general. Thrashing Brontodon deals with enchantment-based removal and survives Deafening Clarion; for similar reasons Vraska, Golgari Queen and Assassin's Trophy are good. Plaguecrafter deals with their planeswalker/threat in play while getting past Negate (their main counterspell against your deck); The Eldest Reborn does a similar job while generating more value.
Board out any Cast Down/Ravenous Chupacabra (you can leave in 1 Chupacabra if they are heavily reliant on Niv-Mizzet/Crackling Drake) and Wildgrowth Walker. I also like to board down to 1-2 Find // Finality, as that card can be very awkward in the match-up. Finally, I'll trim most of my acceleration (Druid of the Cowl before Llanowar Elves) because this match-up is not about speed at all, they die to Deafening Clarion while providing little value and are bad topdecks.


Izzet Drakes

For clarification: I assume this deck is a deck revolving around Drakes and Niv-Mizzet, but not Arclight Phoenix. That deck will be handled separately.

Duress is great again, stripping their cheap interactive spells like Dive Down, Spell Pierce or Negate. Plaguecrafter and The Eldest Reborn deal with a singular threat while getting around Dive Down. Also bring in Cast Down to have enough ammunition to fire through protection spells.
Wildgrowth Walker is fairly bad and should be the first cut. Board down to 1-2 Find // Finality and at most 1 Assassin's Trophy. I also board out Druid of the Cowl on a regular basis and can see trimming 1 Llanowar Elves.
Finally, Vraska, Relic Seeker can be brought in and Vraska, Golgari Queen can be cut; bear in mind that this ups the curve, though.


Izzet Phoenix

This match-up often enough comes down to how many Phoenices they find in their top ~25 cards, and how many answers to them you find. For this reason, Cast Down and Vraska's Contempt are at an absolute premium, and Assassin's Trophy, while quite a bit worse in the match-up, should be considered as well.
You'll instead want to board down to 1 Find // Finality, as that card is very slow in a matchup where your own speed matters quite a bit. You can also consider boarding out either 4-mana Walker as both are not ideal; I'd board out Vraska before Karn though. Finally, you can cut Druid of the Cowl if you need the slots otherwise.


Boros/Mono-W Aggro

These two decks are similar enough that I'll cover them in one fell swoop.
Against both, you want your sweepers and Cast Down to deal with their more dangerous threats. Also bring in Thrashing Brontodon as a great blocker and emergency answer to History of Benalia/Conclave Tribunal; in the same vein Assassin's Trophy is a nice catch-all removal spell and they generally can't do too much with the additional land. Also, if you have any sideboard Wildgrowth Walker, bring them in here.
To make room for these, board out Druid of the Cowl and a little top-end (I like to go down to 2 Vivien Reid and cut Karn, Scion of Urza, for instance). You can also consider boarding out or trimming some Midnight Reaper or trim one Carnage Tyrant, Find // Finality or Vraska's Contempt.


Mono-R Aggro

This match-up will generally come down to a race. Your goal is to quickly establish a board presence and deal with their threats before they can burn you out. Wildgrowth Walker is your single best card here.
Similar to Boros/Mono-W, bring in Brontodon for their Experimental Frenzy and Cast Down and Golden Demise for their creatures.
Board down to at most 1 of both Find // Finality and Midnight Reaper. In this matchup, Planeswalkers and Vraska's Contempt are a bit more important than in the Boros MU, so rather than cutting those board down to 2 Carnage Tyrant (you can go down to 1 if you have Doom Whisperer). Finally you can cut Druid of the Cowl. While it may seem tempting to cut Llanowar Elves over them because of Goblin Chainwhirler, much of this matchup is about getting to cast your cards ASAP and Llanowar helps with that much more than the Druids.


Dimir Surveil Midrange

This match-up is quite bad for you game 1. You have very few answers to their enchantments mainboard, they have sweepers for your boardstate and the only thing you can hope to do is have a Carnage Tyrant survive and ride you to victory.
Post-board, this matchup gets a lot better. Duress, Thrashing Brontodon, Assassin's Trophy and Vraska, Relic Seeker are good answers to their enchantments. I also like to board in Cast Down to deal with their creatures post-sideboard (Thief of Sanity, Doom Whisperer, Dream Eater).
You get to board out a lot of nigh-useless cards like Vraska's Contempt, Wildgroth Walker and Druid of the Cowl; after that consider cutting some number of Find // Finality and/or Llanowar Elves to get down to the 60 cards.


Esper Control

Another match-up that thrives off your sideboard.
Board out all Ravenous Chupacabra and Cast Down, because your better answers to even their post-board creatures, Plaguecrafter/The Eldest Reborn, hit their Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and Chromium, the Mutable as well. Duress is very good again, as are any sideboarded Carnage Tyrant/Vraska, Relic Seeker.
You can cut most acceleration again as well as some Find // Finality. Vraska, Golgari Queen is a bit worse than your other Walkers, but still a threat they have to deal with, and a nice answer to Search for Azcanta.


Boros Angels

This is the deck taht most commonly runs Tocatli Honor Guard, sometimes even mainboard. As a nod to this, I'll board out Merfolk Branchwalker in addition to Wildgrowth Walker to make room for my sideboard cards (Jadelight Ranger and especially Ravenous Chupacabra are way too important to be cut in this MU).
I'll board in any Cast Down, Thrashing Brontodon, Midnight Reaper The Eldest Reborn, Assassin's Trophy and Vraska, Relic Seeker.


Mono-U Tempo

Yet again a fairly bad game 1, but very favorable game 2 and 3.
Duress comes in as a 4-of, which seems odd against an aggro deck, but being able to take their Curious Obsession or cheap interaction can already be game-winning. I also like to board in Cast Down, Assassin's Trophy and Golden Demise; you can also make a case for Thrashing Brontodon and Plaguecrafter.
I highly dislike Vraska's Contempt in this matchup and will generally board down to 0 Find // Finality (could see 1, but I just think it's WAY too slow for the matchup). Other than these, you can board out some of the more unspectacular cards in this matchup, like Druid of the Cowl and Midnight Reaper, and can cut down to 2 Carnage Tyrant.



Well, there you have it. If I have forgotten any matchup, let me know. Also, tell me whether I should go more in detail about virtually anything I whipped up in this post.

Looking at all of this makes me pretty sure that I'm the only one running a more Saps and less (no) Explore version.

I wrote a very in-depth analysis of the matchup vs. Selesnya tokens in the Selesnya thread; you might be interested.

About Chupacabra, yes, it might not have good targets, but it's still killing something and then trading for a Shock that would otherwise have gone face. In other words, it's at least as good as Vraska's Contempt. My instinct is to run 4x Chupacabras, but again the best-performing lists seem to be happy with three.

Finally about monoblue, I'd bring in every single piece of removal. Playing out creatures is possible but you can lose that way if they can outdraw you. On the other hand if their creatures all die instantly, they have lots of useless cards (Curious Obsession / Dive Down). If both players just sit there making land drops then you eventually win because of Carnage Tyrant. Vraska's Contempt on its own may not be good, but if you also have every copy of Cast Down, Chupacabra, Plaguecrafter, etc, you can eventually overload their protection and kill their creatures, so I'd keep it in. Plaguecrafter also gets past Dive Down. Reid Duke had a video on this (https://www.channelfireball.com/videos/ ... nnel-reid/, about 1 hours 30 minutes in) where he mentions this; I agree with him. One of the post-board games ends this way as well, with monoblue showing its Achilles heel: if you can't stick a creature, your deck just doesn't work.

I'll definitely check out your write-up on the Selesnya vs. Golgari match-up when I have time.

I've definitely gone up a bit on Chupacabra again and am running the third one over Vraska, Golgari Queen ATM. Not an easy switch for me to make, but I haven't looked back since; especially with another switch I've made to the mainboard (more on that later).

Contempt I'd only leave in against mono-Blue if I'm really short on removal otherwise. It gets stopped by virtually anything in the deck (Dive Down, Spell Pierce, Retort, Stormtamer activation) and takes your whole turn while doing so. Chupacabra at least leaves you with a 2/2 body to block their Tricksters and is not blocked by Spell Pierce, Cast Down only costs 2 mana, Golden Demise costs 3 while dealing with everything bar Tempest Djinn.
IMO in the mono-Blue matchup keeping a low curve is more important than having access to clunky removal spells; which is why I actually disagree with Reids sideboard plan there.

Speaking of Reid Duke, his most recent version of the deck inspired quite some changes to my deck. Main points of interest to me:

-Running Findbroker instead of a 4-mana walker. It's better against Aggro game 1 than Karn (especially mono-White) while being more useful against Control than Vraska. It still gets sideboarded out a bunch, but it's better than my write-up gave it credit for.
-Running Brontodon main and Midnight Reaper side. This is mostly a notch to having a better game 1 against aggressive decks, but honestly I've fund Bronto to be very useful in a variety of common match-ups.

His list can still be optimized (IMO Detection Tower is too good in the mirror and vs. Drakes to not run it, and I think the sweepers are too important to not run them especially over Moment of Craving), but it's very solid.

Question: how come The Immortal Sun is uncommon in Golgari? It's not even in the sideboards.

The main problem with TIS is that it competes for slots with Vivien Reid (because TIS locks her out), and Vivien Reid is the much better card for the deck. 5 mana vs. 6 mana is big, Viviens +1 is better than TIS' additional draw and destroying artifacts/enchantments/fliers is way more useful than locking out opposing PWs (which you have enough answers for between Trophy, Contempt and the SB Eldest Reborn/Plaguecrafter). The spell cost reduction doesn't do a ton for the deck either and the hymn effect is nice, but doesn't outweigh Viviens other significant advantages.

This is mine. Different, yes. I have a lot of the same thoughts about the same cards you have but I went in a different direction. Demon of Catastrophe and a bunch of Saprolings out is almost always a winning move. A 6/6 flying trample T4 must be answered!
This is mine

2 x Fungal Infection
10 x Swamp
2 x Moment of Craving
2 x Deathbloom Thallid
2 x Murder
3 x Demon of Catastrophes
2 x Ravenous Chupacabra
2 x Vraska's Contempt
4 x Doom Whisperer
3 x Llanowar Elves
8 x Forest
2 x Kraul Harpooner
2 x Sporecrown Thallid
2 x Saproling Migration
2 x Yavimaya Sapherd
1 x Vivien Reid
1 x Slimefoot, the Stowaway
1 x Vraska, Relic Seeker
3 x Woodland Cemetery
3 x Carnage Tyrant
2 x Overgrown Tomb
1 x Vraska, Golgari Queen

2 x Cast Down
2 x The Eldest Reborn
1 x Tetzimoc, Primal Death
1 x Chainer's Torment
1 x Demon of Catastrophes
3 x Josu Vess, Lich Knight
1 x Llanowar Elves
2 x Circuitous Route
1 x Vraska's Contempt