This deck is based on Negative Creep v2.0
Negative counters were not featured in Ixalan, so I've decided to rework the deck for Modern format... Sideboard is still pretty wide-open, any suggestions are welcome for any part of the deck, but especially sideboard.
The theory of the deck is pretty straightforward, generate a ton of tokens with the -1/-1 counter mechanic while having Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons and Nest of Scarabs on the board as constantly as possible. Even better if you can double-down (or triple-down) on Nest of Scarabs.
MAINBOARD
In the one-drop slot is Fatal Push, one of the best creature-removal card in constructed play.
The 2-drop slot is dominated by Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons, which is treated almost like an enchantment in this deck. I rarely attack with it, as having synergy with almost every other card in the deck means that simply having Hapatra on the board can generate deathtouch snake tokens.
An amazing and almost-forgotten card in slot-2 is Fate Transfer, and it really is a great utility player. Use it to pump-up your own creatures by stealing your opponents +1/+1 counters; use it to manage your own -1/-1 counters (Ammit Eternal comes to mind); use it as creature removal... no better utility card in this deck. Every time you move counters, you are "putting counters on" a creature, so Fate Transfer is token generation, removal, creature-pumping... Superstar card for 2 mana.
Channeler Initiate is the obvious choice for mana-fixing and production, and if you don't need that late-game, the ability can be activated at the end of your opponents turn to burn off a -1/-1 counter and make it a bigger creature. It's also a great token generator with Hapatra and at least one Nest in play.
Abrupt Decay is perfect for non-land 3cmc permanent removal. At 2 mana, very cheap removal.Assassin's Trophy is excellent mid- to late-game removal as well.
Technically a 2-drop, one copy of Black Sun's Zenith is included for generating a little extra hurt, and if it resolves gets shuffled back in.
Moving on to the 3-slot we have Nest of Scarabs... enchantment removal is a thing, but I've noticed that not many players are equipping their decks with many (if any) ways to deal with them, at least in my meta. Having said that, Nest is the absolute most important piece of this entire build, due to the wording "create that many" tokens... that's a ton of tokens. If you manage to get two or even three of these out, you can exponentially increase token count very quickly.
Next in 3-slot we have Beseech the Queen. This deck occasionally suffered from sub-optimal topdecking and a tutor was needed. Can tutor almost any card in the deck by T4. Technically a 6-drop, but usually playable by T3 in this deck, so I count it as 3.
Also in the 3CMC slot is Blowfly Infestation. This is a tricky card, as it's a "mandatory effect" enchantment. Sometimes, it's not wise to play it, especially if you are having trouble getting mass tokens on the field. I have occasionally held this card for an entire game, which is pretty frustrating when you really need anything other than Blowfly Infestation. But when it works, it is devastating, and combos well.
3-drop creatures feature Necroskitter for dredging your opponent and Ammit Eternal for Afflict, and when used in a combo with Fate Transfer a bit of creature removal. Ammit is a great token generator also.
Nekroskitter is absolutely essential in this deck, especially against tribal builds which are reliant on synergy. Use your opponents' decks against them! (PLEASE NOTE: Nekroskitter is totally worthless against token decks! ALWAYS use something from the sideboard against token decks. Nekroskitter won't help you much in those situations, other than generating your own tokens.)
The 4CMC spot is occupied by two heavy hitters:Poison-Tip Archer and Soul Snuffers. Soul Snuffers is creature and token removal, yet token generating at the same time. Soul Snuffers can generate massive amounts of tokens upon entering the battlefield, with Hapatra and Nests in play... Snuffers will kill all of your tokens, but does so by placing a -1/-1 counter on each creature (every creature on the board, including itself)... If your opponent has 3 creatures in play, and you have 12 (including tokens), you would net 16 insects and 16 snakes plus Snuffers and whatever other creatures survived the -1/-1 counters.
Archer has reach, and is far more punishing than Throne of the God-Pharaoh, which was recently removed after much debate.
Last but not least is Incremental Blight... able to kill up to 3 creatures and generate up to 3 snakes and 6 insects (with Hapatra and one Nest in play) simultaneously for 5 mana. If your opponent has no creatures out, simply target 3 of your own insects and get 6 in return (net gain of 3) along with 3 more snakes.
SIDEBOARD
Cards in the sideboard have been chosen to be as disruptive as possible. Sideboard is still "under construction", but I'll explain why I've chosen what I have below. As always, sideboard is open to suggestions, and I urge anyone who builds this to try for themselves and comment with their experience and/or suggestions.
Dispossess: Use it against any artifact-heavy deck, or simply for game-1 recon. Artifact decks will be prepared for this, so you may want to sideboard it in on round two. It is a little slow, but can wreck an artifact combo.
Duress: I like Duress, and mainly use it against control decks, or any build that relies on auras/enchantments. I never use it against creature heavy aggro.
Creeping Corrosion: Again, for use against artifact decks, mainly Tron and Lantern Control. Also great for pissing off players who build around artifact lands. Stellar sideboard card, even if only used to bluff. Sometimes the opponent gets thrown off his/her game simply knowing that you have it at all.
Damping Sphere: Tron hate. Also helps to disable bouncelands.
Temporal Extortion: This is included for how badly it can mess with your opponent. Giving them the choice to counter or not at the expense of half of their life-total (rounded up) is cheeky and slightly annoying, and I really get amusement out of that. So it's here.
Wickerbough Elder: Reloadable artifact and enchantment destruction, and you don't even have to tap it. Perfect for this build, though a little high-costed at 4CMC... totally worth it though, in my opinion.
HONORABLE MENTION
The following cards have been considered
and/or tried and rejected:
Throne of the God-Pharaoh;
Obelisk Spider;
Festering Mummy;
Blood Artist;
Ambush Viper;
Oona's Gatewarden.
STILL CONSIDERING
The following cards are still being debated and playtested:
Soulstinger; Canker Abomination.
THE COMBOS
This deck is full of combos. There is no "one" combo that it relies on. Almost the entire deck is synergistic, so you will never really be "one card away" from pulling off a combo. You can start with one combo in mind, and then adjust on-the-fly with whatever you are drawing. It's pretty common to change tactics several times during a round, and few games are exactly the same (even though it has relatively little variety).
All in all this is a fun and competitive deck to play. It started just after the release of Amonkhet and went through 2 evolutions of standard before I realized that it just wasn't competitive in standard at all. In modern, though, it has a lot of potential. Any help is appreciated!
