I’ve always thought about Maze’s End as a cool deck archetype since Dragon’s Maze was released. It has first appeared in RtR Block Constructed wherein it showed & proved to be one of the top decks in that format as per Pro Tour Dragon’s Maze.

With that in mind, I thought that the deck might also work in Standard. I partially believed it so because a fellow player here in our Iloilo community played this Maze’s End deck which got him a top 4 finish last Saturday Standard. I’ve checked for deck references and came up with a slightly similar list which we are about to discuss today.

Here it is:

It’s a Maze-ing by Mark Ian Alloso
Standard

Creatures
3 Augur of Bolas
3 Gatecreeper Vine
3 Huntmaster of the Fells

Spells
4 Fog
4 Druid’s Deliverance
4 Riot Control
4 Supreme Verdict
3 Think Twice
1 Blind Obedience
3 Terminus
3 Urban Evolution

Lands
2 Orzhov Guildgate
2 Rakdos Guildgate
2 Selesnya Guildgate
2 Simic Guildgate
2 Izzet Guildgate
4 Maze’s End
2 Gruul Guildgate
2 Boros Guildgate
3 Azorius Guildgate
2 Dimir Guildgate
2 Golgari Guildgate

Sideboard
4 Crackling Perimeter
2 Negate
1 Dispel
2 Pithing Needle
1 Elixir of Immortality
2 Golgari Charm
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Sphinx’s Revelation
1 Wear/Tear

The Creatures

Augur of Bolas digs up most of your fog spells and sweep sorceries and your early blockers for first-turn 2/2s. It also works well with setup of fog when opponents try to Bloodrush with Ghor-Clan Rampagers.

Gatecreeper Vine is a given in the deck, letting you complete your Guildgates faster and of course fixes mana. It can also chump block if needed to in case you tap out for Urban Evolution.

Huntmaster of the Fells is my personal choice of halting aggro decks as well as giving pressure to control decks while you set up your win condition. With lots of fog in the deck, you can just end your turn to flip into Ravager of the Fells without losing the turn value.

The Spells

The deck carries twelve fog-effects. Fog as its classic namesake, Druid’s Deliverance which is at higher cost but has a bonus effect with your Wolf tokens, and Riot Control which prevents and at the same time gains you life.

The sweepers I included are Supreme Verdict and Terminus. The former of course is the Wrath of God of choice in the current Standard and the latter is your answer for recurring critters like Strangleroot Geists and effects of Voice of Resurgence or Xathrid Necromancer.

Urban Evolution is the best card draw in the deck, and helps you play out your guildgates faster. Think Twice is also a standard inclusion for idle turns when you don’t need to fog.

The lone Blind Obedience is for the recently popular Hellrider decks. They setup mostly post-Supreme Verdict turns which will caught you tapped out. Of course you can always verdict and then leave mana open for fog but could cost you extra turns. The bonus Extort effect lets you mini drain life your opponent with your spells while assembling the gates.

The Sideboard

I can say this sb list in yet refined but I mainly based it on the recent popular decks in the metagame. For control & midrange decks, I included a pseudo-tech card in Crackling Perimeter. This changes your plan to dealing damage early on with your gates while they whittle their turns setting up counters for your spells or drawing their discard spells. You can just idly ping them to death. The Negates and the Dispel are also included in these types of matchups.

I have listed certain one of cards in the list for specific decks. Witchbane Orb is to protect you from discards as well as mill effects of Jace and Nephalia Drownyard and to avoid direct damage spells. Elixir of Immortality is your fail safe card in cases of long game scenario. The Sphinx’s Revelation is also your support long game card draw. I’ve chosen to add a copy of Wear/Tear to deal with auras as well as Pithing Needle if they’ve locked Maze’s End.

I haven’t found any M14 cards to support the deck, only the threat of Burning Earth. Good thing we have Golgari Charms to deal with that. You can also include the generic Oblivion Ring if needed (substitute to the elixir).

Let me know if you agree with the deck’s potential in the current Standard. If not, then I’d really like to hear your thoughts. Share and comment it below.

Until next post.

When I think about the deck tech to feature for this weekly column, my usual routine is to through the cards from a recently released set and evaluates its potential interactions with other cards in Standard. One example when Sire of Insanity was released, wherein I built around a deck that benefit when you play with empty hands.

My deck feature for today is about a mythic card which has convinced me to build a control deck with Blue on its colors. That card is Master of Cruelties. Here is the decklist:

Grixis Cruelties
Standard

Lands
4 Blood Crypt
4 Watery Grave
2 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Swamp

Creatures
2 Augur of Bolas
4 Master of Cruelties
2 Olivia Voldaren
2 Snapcaster Mage

Spells
2 Turn/Burn
1 Liliana of the Veil
3 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Rakdos’s Return
4 Think Twice
2 Dreadbore
2 Searing Spear
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Counterflux
2 Dissipate
3 Pillar of Flame
1 Far/Away

Grixis Control is still a viable deck in Standard and has been proven by Patrick Chapin in GP Miami. Though it’s not of the same specific strategy, the core components are similar. Black is the deck’s main color, followed by Blue and Red.
Most of the cards focus on creature control and card advantage, but also on setting up Master of Cruelties to end the game. We have Jace and Forbidden Alchemy to dig for the Demon, aside from the usual Think Twice. There are only three counterspells but a single Rakdos’s Return helps in trumping decks that tapped out for a threat or walker. Messing on opponents hand is always fun (as I’ve learned from Jund).

Liliana of the Veil and Far/Away are your removals for Bant Hexproof and Pillar of Flame as support against Voice of Resurgence and Strangleroot Geist. Dreadbore is your best option removal for any critter in the meta that aren’t indestructible or hexproof, and fend off opposing Planeswalkers.

The other creatures I’ve added in the list are the usual choice for blue based control decks, Augur of Bolas and Snappy. I’ve considered Olivia Voldaren because she’s a standalone removal/finisher, and you need outlet for your extra mana in the late game.

I’ve checked on the Nephalia Drownyard strategy, but considering the colored mana intensive nature of the deck, I abandoned it.

That’s about for Grixis Cruelties, the deck tech for this week’s Marked for Standard. All comments are appreciated so I’d like to hear your thoughts on the deck.

Until next post.

The evolution continues. As we might have already noticed, Standard is currently changing to deal with dominating deck archetypes as in the time of Affinity where certain decks rose to defeat it. It might be of the same level as the current but the same concept of dealing with the deck is still adapted.

The previous domination of Junk Reanimator has been somewhat hosed by fast Naya Blitz decks and main decked hate like Ground Seal in a few of the midrange decks. Our deck feature for today follows that trend – hose various archetypes in today’s Standard.

Here is the list:

Lands
4 Temple Garden
4 Sunpetal Grove
3 Forest
2 Cavern of Souls
10 Plains

Creatures
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Angel of Jubilation
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Dryad Militant
2 Fiend Hunter
4 Mayor of Avabruck/Howlpack Alpha
2 Silverblade Paladin

Spells
1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
1 Pacifism
2 Faith’s Shield
2 Rancor

The Hate

I’ll start by discussing each card that is somewhat anti a certain deck archetype. Let us start with the Angel of Jubilation. We all know the recent rise of Junk Aristocrats and the dominating Acts deck.

To hinder their shenanigans we need to stick this Angel to the board. Not to mention she can also boost your team with her pseudo Crusade ability.

Next up is Thalia. The Thraben guardian just wreaks havoc on midrange control decks. She delays Farseeks and verdicts, degrades the value of Think Twice on the early turns, and can even beatdown in the process.

Voice of Resurgence is just too good not to include in the list. It somehow devalues counterspells and Azorius charms and also gets a token with sweep or removals.

Loxodon Smiter is the best three drop in the deck, it is uncounterable and deals with discard effects.

Dryad Militant is specifically against Flashback cards of Junk Reanimator & American decks.

The Rest of the Crew

I’ve mostly chosen Humans as the main component of the deck because they always provide a fast clock (as reflected in Naya Blitz) while remaining cheap and easy to cast. Champion of the Parish leads the group, followed by the Mayor of Avabruck which serves as a threat itself once flipped into howlpack.

Other Human choices like Silverblade Paladin & Fiend Hunter serve various purposes to hasten victory. The spells also remained cheap but efficient, in the forms of Rancor, Faith’s Shield, and Pacifism. The lone Ajani probably looked like a random inclusion, but I just want variety in how situational cards work.

The Sideboard

The sideboard will typically reflect cards from today’s Selesnya builds, though only the cheaper ones because we lack Avacyn’s Pilgrim or mana Elves. I am considering cards like Selesnya Charm, additional Fiend Hunter, Rest in Peace, a fourth Thalia, and Unflinching Courage. Also, I think Garruk Relentless is another option for controlling decks. I can also utilize a copy of Grafdigger’s Cage for decks that uses Immortal Servitude.

I think that’s about for the deck. To conclude, the deck somehow reflects Hatebears in Modern but with a ‘standard’ taste. If you are the one that hates commonly popular Standard decks, then I might suggest this deck for you.

Until next time, continue to swing in and win.

Our deck feature for this week revolves around a specific Gatecrash creature, Crypt Ghast. This four-casting cost Spirit works on doubling your Swamp mana and in effect maximizes your powerful ‘X’ costed spells. First, here is a decklist:

4-color Ghast
Standard

Lands
1 Forest
1 Island
6 Swamp
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Mountain
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Woodland Cemetery
4 Blood Crypt
4 Watery Grave

Creatures
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Evil Twin
1 Griselbrand
4 Thragtusk

Spells
3 Rakdos’s Return
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Murder
1 Far/Away
1 Staff of Nin
3 Mutilate
2 Bonfire of the Damned
4 Farseek
1 Dreadbore
2 Sign in Blood
2 Liliana of the Dark Realms

We all know there was a Crypt Ghast deck before when Gatecrash was released. We now take a look at its possibilities for the current Standard. The presented list splashes four colors, serving several purposes on the deck.

Ranking the colors, the important one is Green in which we have Farseek for mana fixing, spot removal Abrupt Decay and the ever popular Thragtusk. Second in the list is Red, wherein Bonfire of the Damned and Rakdos’s Return meets their purpose. We also have Dreadbore and Pillar of Flame to utilize in the sideboard.

The last splash color is Blue, wherein the plays can get tricky. Evil Twin is the best card choice which I think is well positioned for the meta. Its main purpose can be on copying your Crypt Ghasts for absolute mana boost. Second, it can be used to kill of Geist of St. Traft or Olivia. Third, since you have Thragtusk, why not make more or copy that of the opponent and kill it later.

The other card choices in the deck includes the usual spells that benefit from the Swamp land type, and I also added Liliana of the Dark Realms as sort of a mana ramp and fix card. Also, there are a few card draw spells just in case. The lone Griselbrand is of course your late game option and can become an early threat if the correct draw & plays are made.

The sideboard is not yet finalized as adjusting to current metagame feels like changing diapers. I might include a few hate cards like Curse of Death’s Hold and Pillar of Flame, and the rest will mostly be Black Green or Black Red. We shall see if the rise of Junk Aristocrats will continue and if the midrange decks will be equipped enough to handle them. We then adjust to that afterwards.

That’s about it for this deck tech for the week. Don’t forget to comment below your suggestion or other ideas for the deck.

Thanks for reading.

I’ve previewed in a blog post before the potential use of the Boros enchantment Legion’s Initiative in Standard. It seemed the card underperformed to expectations and was somewhat left behind in the uses in the format. Given that position, I still think the card has potential to shine.

Here is a decklist that I think it will get the most of its uses.

Naya Initiative by Mark Ian Alloso
Standard

Lands
3 Clifftop Retreat
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Cavern of Souls
3 Rootbound Crag
3 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
4 Stomping Ground
4 Sacred Foundry

Creatures
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Thragtusk
2 Aurelia, the Warleader
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Voice of Resurgence
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
1 Wolfir Silverheart
4 Restoration Angel
4 Avacyn’s Pilgrim
3 Loxodon Smiter

Spells
2 Farseek
3 Legion’s Initiative
3 Mizzium Mortars

The deck is a 95% reference from the current Naya Midrange which also was the deck that I piloted before Dragon’s Maze was released. The new inclusion aside from the enchantment is the Voice of Resurgence.

I’ll explain in detail on a separate post of the benefits of Legion’s Initiative in the deck, which I think is already obvious at the moment. I just need to go more info on a few combat scenarios.

That’s about it, and you guys watch out for part two. Until next post.

Magic Online has been the field of predicting future decks on various formats. We all noticed in the past that before the deck hit in a major tournament, it had been performing well on the online Daily events.

One of the decks that was doing well, but I think is still categorized under the Tier 2 level, was the Golgari Control. It got into the top 8 of one of the SCG Open, and I think it is still a potential archetype if you don’t want to go into the traditional Jund Midrange approach.

Here is a deck list I’ve based on a few decks that made 4-0 online.

Lands
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
2 Golgari Guildgate
14 Swamp

Creatures
2 Bloodgift Demon
2 Desecration Demon
1 Disciple of Bolas
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Thragtusk
2 Vampire Nighthawk

Spells
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Deadbridge Chant
2 Sign in Blood
1 Victim of Night
1 Underworld Connections
3 Mutilate
2 Putrefy
3 Tragic Slip
1 Murder
1 Devour Flesh
2 Garruk Relentless/Garruk, the Veil-Cursed
1 Liliana of the Veil

The singleton removals are for the usual situational purposes. Liliana isn’t that great at the current metagame, so I just leave her at one copy as additional removal for hexproof dudes.

Desecration Demon is a pseudo removal and beater, but still I cut it down to two copies in favor of Bloodgift Demon. Surely it is also killable (because of the four toughness), but the deck needs to compensate for the card advantage.

Geralf ‘s Messenger is the best three-drop of the deck, and Vampire Nighthawk gives an extra early beater.

Deadbridge Chant is my best option for a late-game gas in case the board positioning goes back & forth. I am thinking of including a single Vraska in the main, but she might not be that good in a few specific matchups.

Your sideboard plan will usually be against the top decks of the current meta, though I suggest you focus more on dealing with Jund and control varieties as well as beating Aristocrats and the latest Immortal Servitude decks. I also prefer to be more generic on my sideboard list to be able to be flexible as possible, like having Duress and Deathrite Shamans.

Thanks for the read, and until next post.

The last weekend of May was scheduled for the Dragon’s Maze Gameday event. We had one here in Iloilo on that Saturday, and in Bacolod on a Sunday. Even if I didn’t performed well enough in the local shores and just reached the quarterfinals, I decided to give the deck another shot on Bacolod DGM Gameday.

We initially planned with the group to go there, but last-minute schedule mishap (as well as other factors) made the others unable to join. Oliver and I ended up going there, representing Team Iloilo. I arrived at Bacolod at 11:30 am via Ocean Jet and immediately contacted Sir Anton.

The event was held at O-hotel (which was owned by one of the players there) and started at around 1 pm. 21 players registered for the tournament, with 5 rounds of gameplay. I piloted the same Jund Midrange while Oliver brought Bant Hexproof. Here is a summary of my results per round.

Round 1 – Won.
Round 2 – paired with Oliver, so it was a draw.
Round 3 – Won.
Round 4 – Lost
Round 5 – Lost

The last round should’ve ended with a draw as the game against Junk Tokens was very intense and full of action plays. It was a win-and-in scenario, and if we drew, we would be both eliminated. I decided to just concede to the player to give him a shot at the top 8. We just arranged the prize packs split.

Joma piloting Naya Blitz ended up winning the event after going undefeated in the first 5 rounds. The deck’s just pure & fast beatdown.

We had dinner at a BBQ restaurant after that and went to their tambayan near the San Agustin School for a night of booze. Their place surely is a one-stop shop. The Bacolod peeps are truly friendly and accommodating to us, so kudos to you guys. Big Thanks!

Hi guys, I hope you had a good and well spent weekend. Today is another Standard evolution day as we discuss archetypes evolving from the current metagame. Last weekend at WMCQ III was the showing of Junk Aristocrats, with the conversion of red to green in favor of Varolz, the best Dragon’s Maze card Voice of Resurgence and undying geists. I won’t go into detail on that as there are a few existing articles you can find online discussing this deck. What I’ll present today is its midrange relative. Instead of Scavenging Varolz, we have Deadbridge Chant.

First, here is the proposed decklist.

Lands
2 Blood Crypt
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Temple Garden
2 Stomping Ground
2 Godless Shrine
3 Sunpetal Grove
3 Woodland Cemetery
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Kessig Wolf Run

Creatures
3 Avacyn’s Pilgrim
3 Restoration Angel
2 Angel of Serenity
2 Sire of Insanity
4 Thragtusk
3 Deathrite Shaman
3 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Arbor Elf

Spells
2 Deadbridge Chant
4 Grisly Salvage
4 Farseek
3 Unburial Rites
2 Bonfire of the Damned

The list has been referenced to the 4color frites piloted by Rob Castellon from PT Dragon’s Maze and functions similar to the Junk Reanimator, but with a twist. What are those?

First, Deadbridge Chant is the deck’s mid and late game play and gas, and which combos with Sire of Insanity. You can fast ramp to an early chant to provide card and board advantage, like milling Rites and its juicy targets.

The next question is how do you fix a good trigger for the chant? Enter Deathrite Shaman. This guy takes away unnecessary lands and spells like Far Seek to get you advantage on your every upkeep trigger. Plus, he is a main deck answer to Reanimator, messes up Snapcaster flashback and at most deals the final life loss points.

Now for the Red splash, we have Sire of Insanity, Huntmaster of the Fells and Bonfire of the Damned. These are the best cards that the color can offer and gives you various options on the deck i.e. Sire of Insanity against Esper and American, Huntmaster versus Gruul, Naya Blitz and RDW, Bonfire for agro decks.

I’ve chosen Bonfire as the only maindeck removal of the deck as because it costs only one Red and works well even if you don’t Miracle it. A late game return-to-hand with the chant can also make it your finisher.

As for the sideboard, which is the only thing I can offer from the untested list are as follows:

2 Abrupt Decay
3 Acidic Slime
3 Centaur Healer
1 Duress
2 Purify the Grave
2 Sin Collector
2 Slaughter Games

It is pretty much related to Reanimator’s sideboard plan which I think is best for the current metagame. The card choices are just basic against certain matchups. The only ‘red costed’ card Slaughter Games are for removing certain threats like Aetherling, opposing Angel of Serenity and Sphinx’s Revelation.

If there are certain expected decks in your local scene like the Junk Aristocrats, you can board in cards like Curse of Death’s Hold and Gaze of Granite. That depends on specific decks aside from what I’ve listed.

That’s about it for this deck tech for the week. Any questions and suggestions are very much welcome. As a conclusion, innovation never stops and that makes Standard still a fun format to play.

Until next time.

@zeichen95 on Twitter.

It is still innovation era for me as I discover unexplored versions of the various decks in the Standard format. One main reason is that I will become a regular contributor for the Standard deck discussions on the Pinoy Planeswalker site. The other is that the Ravnica guilds have offered somewhat endless possibilities of color combinations, whether it’s just two or three or more.

Today’s discussion will be on the Orzhov colors, Black and White. The archetype is based on a popular deck in the current meta, which is Naya Humans. I present to you, the Dark Humanity.

Dark Humans by Mark Ian Alloso
Standard

Lands
2 Orzhov Guildgate
4 Isolated Chapel
6 Plains
3 Cavern of Souls
4 Swamp
4 Godless Shrine

Creatures
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Cartel Aristocrat
4 Doomed Traveler
2 Fiend Hunter
2 Frontline Medic
4 Knight of Infamy
3 Restoration Angel
4 Sin Collector
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Spells
2 Lingering Souls
3 Orzhov Charm
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Tragic Slip

Its core components somewhat describe the deck as the Aristocrats without Red. The new inclusions considered it to fit to just on Humans strategy.

The deck’s goal is not only on beating down opponents with a fatty parish champion. It also has disruptions as well in the forms of Thalia (taxes spell) & Sin Collector (exiles relevant removals like Supreme Verdict). As for combat tricks, our options are Restoration Angel and battalion with Frontline Medic.

I considered Angel of Jubilation as its four drop and flying anthem, but she would shut off Cartel Aristocrat’s ability. So Lord Sorin was preferred.

The usual removals of these colors, Tragic Slip & Orzhov Charm were also added, with Fiend Hunter support in case mana complications with Thalia happen.

Knight of Infamy trumps Boros Reckoner and exalts your one-drops for added damage.

Our sideboard options include additional Thalia, Obzedat, Ghost Council, Rest in Peace, perhaps Nevermore, and usual discard spells Duress and Appetite for Brains.

To conclude, the deck archetype is obviously considered of a subpar level but its potential can’t be overlooked. I guess it just needs a little trial and error test.

Thanks for reading and until the next post.

The Pro Tour Dragon’s Maze was concluded moments ago with Craig Wescoe’s Selesnya tokens defeating Dusty Ochoa’s Esper Control three games to nothing in its Finals. Wescoe of Team TCG Player made an impressive showing all throughout the first two days of the event, beating down opponents with an interesting build of the Selesnya deck.

The deck curves out in the first turn with Dryad Militant and Experiment One into either Call of the Conclave or Voice of Resurgence, and into Loxodon Smiter and fourth turn Advent of the Wurm. It also has a lot of defense against removals with Judge’s Familiar and the backbreaking Rootborn Defenses against Supreme Verdict.

Check out the winning decklist below.

Maindeck
9 Forest
9 Plains
1 Selesnya Guildgate
4 Temple Garden

4 Judge’s Familiar
4 Experiment One
4 Dryad Militant
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Loxodon Smiter

4 Call of the Conclave
4 Selesnya Charm
4 Advent of the Wurm
4 Rootborn Defenses
1 Civic Saber

Sideboard
4 Trostani, Selesnya’s Voice
2 Druid’s Deliverance
1 Gift of Orzhova
2 Glaring Spotlight
2 Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
4 Unflinching Courage

It looks basic with a lot of four-ofs on the list, but its match ups resulted pretty well. Again, congratulations to Craig Wescoe for winning Pro Tour Dragon’s Maze.

*the event coverage can be found here.

Pro Tour Dragon’s Maze will be on this coming weekend in San Diego California and two formats of this premier event are RTR Block Constructed and Booster draft. Block constructed isn’t that popular in the local scenario but they are on full swing on Magic Online, even before Dragon’s Maze was released.

Block decks will see action in the premier level this weekend, and a few builds seen already define the future of Standard post-Theros. Mono Red, American Control, Jund, Junk, among others are some of the decks that define this format.

Here is my suggested decklist for RTR Block (which is also one of the Honorable Mentions from Gavin Verhey’s Reconstructed article today):

Selesnya Tokens by Mark Ian Alloso
Return to Ravnica Block Constructed

Lands
8 Forest
8 Plains
4 Selesnya Guildgate
4 Temple Garden

Creatures
3 Armada Wurm
4 Gyre Sage
3 Loxodon Smiter
4 Scion of Vitu-Ghazi
2 Trostani, Selesnya’s Voice

Spells
3 Rootborn Defenses
2 Selesnya Keyrune
4 Advent of the Wurm
3 Collective Blessing
4 Selesnya Charm
4 Call of the Conclave

It’s sort of the usual token list, but powers up to Collective Blessing in the mid game. Advent of the Wurm somewhat completes the curve as a powerful four drop. Gyre Sage goes between early offense and a late ramp critter, getting you to the six mana asap.

Scion of Vitu-Ghazi gives you options on populate, mostly used on Wurm and Centaur tokens. It is also a 4/4 body by itself and a beater nevertheless.

Selesnya Charm is your sole utility card, but helps a lot in most situations. This is backed up by Rootborn Defenses as your ‘defense’ against mass removals. No pun intended.

To conclude, I think the tokens strategy is still much alive even in post rotation of Standard.

Until next post. Ciao.

@zeichen95 on Twitter

Scavenge has been known as Golgari’s comeback mechanic in Return to Ravnica, and surely had effect in the Standard metagame. Cards like Dreg Mangler and Deadbridge Goliath for example. Enter Dragon’s Maze, and provided new Scavenge cards to formulate some tricks.

One card that caught my attention is the guild’s maze champion, Varolz, the Scar-Striped. The first critter that came in mind is Vexing Devil. Early turns will have opponents pay four lives to get rid of it, only to see it later on pump Varolz, or any other creatures (with Varolz in play of course).

Let me explain more of the idea via a decklist. Check it out below.

Scavenge Jund by Mark Ian Alloso
Standard

Lands
1 Forest
2 Dragonskull Summit
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Blood Crypt
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Stomping Ground

Creatures
4 Gyre Sage
4 Lotleth Troll
4 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
4 Vexing Devil
4 Slumbering Dragon
3 Dreg Mangler
3 Flinthoof Boar
2 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch

Spells
3 Increasing Savagery
2 Putrefy
4 Flesh/Blood

There are a few card choices to explain so here it goes:

Varolz, the Scar-Striped – it won’t be named Scavenge Jund if not for this guy. I assure you can do shenanigans with him and your other low costed creatures.

Gyre Sage – this evolving mana elf has seen potential in various stompy Gruul builds and has even appeared in a Naya Aggro deck in the PT. At most it will benefit from scavenge effects and least evolves by just playing your devils and friends.

Lotleth Troll – this zombie is your other engine together with Varolz’ scavenge skill. You can throw excess & irrelevant critters to make him grow and recycle them later on.

Dreg Mangler & Flinthoof Boar – basing before on Jund aggro list, we need these guys to put early pressure when we don’t draw of combo cards.

Slumbering Dragon – this is the most awkward creature that you’ll find in the deck. I say though that it has a big potential with the current meta dominated by hasty aggro decks. It can grow fast against those decks into a flying threat.

There are other options on putting counters like Scavenge and Increasing Savagery, so it will not basically become blank.

Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch – Exava is another card that interacts with Scavenge. She is already a beater on her own, plus she has the passive effect of giving haste to creatures with +1/+1. It can turn draws like Slumbering Dragon & Increasing Savagery an instant win.

Increasing Savagery – the sorcery has pretty many good targets in the deck: boosting up Gyre Sage for Mana, getting an early game ender on Lotleth Troll as well as ‘turning on’ Slumbering Dragon.

Putrefy – the best removal reprinted for the guild. I am thinking of adding two more in the sideboard.

Flesh/Blood – another removal/finisher/other options given for the deck. With extra mana generated from the sage, you can ‘Fuse’ the spell faster. You remove reanimator targets like Angel of Serenity and beef up your critter for added damage.

There is no definite sideboard list just yet, but surely it will compose of graveyard hate and aggro mirror stoppers. Feel free to notify me of any ideas you might suggest for the deck.

Thanks for reading and until next time. Ciao.

@zeichen95 on Twitter