ManaMasterBolfan, I've had trouble with making Mulch effective. BorBor does it already, and unless I already have him out and stable, it becomes dead in my hand. I do like Lodestone Bauble. The fact that it is free and BorBor can snag them off the top of the deck in a hit when he is out. Not to mention it can be used aggressively to give an opponent dead draws.
Funny you mention Life from the Loam and Groundskeeper for I literally just added them to the deck. I had to use free amazon money, but you know. Life from the Loam is ridiculous with BorBor. Especially with a Snake Umbra on him, there isn't much they can do.
I have considered the Grafted Exoskeleton. Sometimes I feel like it is such a cheap way to win, but if I ever wanted to move to more competitive playgroups, it might be necessary.
May 13, 2015 2:05 p.m.
I would add landfall creatures like Rampaging Baloths and land help like Courser of Kruphix. Courser is down to $5 now that it is going to be rotating and limited in its application in the eternal formats.
Another big card that will make it fun for you is Sword of the Animist. Free land drops off of attacks. Animist's Awakening is a another fun one.
August 2, 2015 9:45 p.m.
snotice, if the lands went into my hand it would be much more powerful. Those cards would help before I get Borbor out. Yet, once I get BorBor out, I only put lands out to have enough to play BorBor again in the likely event they kill him. I prefer to have lands in my hand to kill people or to have BorBor kill himself if they try and take control of him.
August 30, 2015 8:57 p.m.
You just play an all or nothing commander, which is interesting. I guess if it works for you what am I to stop you.
August 30, 2015 9:09 p.m.
If you're one mana short, Simian Spirit Guide or Elvish Spirit Guide could do it for you turn 2, although I'm not sure that they'd be worth it because that's a somewhat Niche scenario.
November 19, 2015 5:37 p.m.
Shakeled, I thought about that, but I already would need a starting hand consisting of Orcish Lumberjack, Sol Ring, Gaea's Touch, 2 Forest and a Mountain. It would be cool just to say I could, but in reality I would drop him just to be killed by Doom Blade haha.
November 20, 2015 12:20 a.m.
Yeah, that's the problem isn't it. Like there are lots of things which can get it to happen, but they're mostly stuff that's not useful outside of that moment, like Lotus Petal or Mox Diamond (which isn't really a worthwhile investment cash wise for a sort of gimmick anyway). What about something like Emerald Charm? It can be used to untap the lumberjack turn 2 for additional mana, but even if it's later in the game, getting rid of flying or destroying a global enchantment that's problematic like an Island Sanctuary or a Grave Pact is pretty nice.
November 20, 2015 12:32 a.m.
Now that is a suggestion! Emerald Charm is multiple use card. I may consider that. Even if I don't use if for a turn 2 BorBor, I could use it help ramp at any time.
November 20, 2015 12:43 a.m.
Glad to help. I play a Selvala, Explorer Returned deck so untapping effects are kind of my bread and butter. Currently looking into Gruul and deciding between this heavy hitter and a weird Wort, the Raidmother brew.
Is a second Snake Umbra effect in Keen Sense not worth it without the totem armor?
November 20, 2015 1:36 a.m.
A conspire deck would be interesting, a mixture of token swarming and burn?
I have seen Keen Sense a lot with Borbor and is definitely something I do want to add. it is just a matter of acquiring it considering it is a bit out of the price range.
November 20, 2015 6:29 p.m.
Wort comments : Yeah. There's some fun interactions with cards like Manamorphose, Fork, etc. and stuff like Forethought Amulet prevent you from killing yourself with an Earthquake. I'd imagine this guy is more likely to win but if I want to build a kind of weird interaction deck, wort seems pretty ideal.
Relevant to your deck comment: Psychotic Fury replaces itself in your hand and lets you trigger BorBor's triggered effect twice during combat.
November 20, 2015 6:56 p.m.
Psychotic Fury does seem like an interesting add. I do have Fireshrieker but it is equipment rather than a spell. What is your opinion? Do you prefer quick and temporary or slow and repeatable?
BorBor does win a lot of games for me but sometimes that reputation is harmful. If I don't drop him soon enough, there is always a counter waiting for him. The weird interaction decks are nice because you can wait in the back unnoticed and then explode. I have a Nekusar, the Mindrazer deck that wins unnoticed unlike this monstrosity.
November 21, 2015 11:49 p.m.
I think if this is an either/or choice, the preference depends on the following criteria:The fireshrieker is better if your playgroup runs minimal instant speed (or better yet any in general) artifact removal, you tend to have more mana than you need, and you rarely find yourself searching for answers.The benefit to the fury then is that it's much harder to prevent it working out, it's less of an initial mana investment, and it digs slightly through your deck.In general, the shrieker is probably better but it depends how often you're actually able to get it equipped and swing with it.
Speaking of how much mana you have available, what about Hellkite Charger. Recurring extra combat steps seem pretty strong. Additionally, if you add that and find room for Bear Umbra, that basically makes a swing a win.
November 22, 2015 12:30 a.m.
Hey, there. I'm back
I'd think maybe cut the Drumhunter? If you're adding both abundance and keen sense, it feels like you're already doing better for card draw and it's relatively weak ramp. Is the scry on the Peregrination good enough for you in general to make it better than a Cultivate? The shrieker and Myojin seem like good cuts to me though.
December 16, 2015 8:48 p.m.
The faithful one, you are. I actually just never got my hands on a Cultivate for this deck. In fact, I don't even own one for any of my decks. I have like ten Kodama's Reach but that doesn't do so well for EDH lol. I haven't considered the Drumhunter but that does seem like the possibility especially once those cards are added. I'll have to playtest it.
December 16, 2015 9:08 p.m.
Well it's hard not to grow attached to a list with this name. I'm the opposite. Stacked with cultivates but not a kodama to be found. Do you think you or your opponents would benefit more from a Rites of Flourishing, perhaps in place of the Weatherseed Totem?
December 16, 2015 9:29 p.m.
Hah thanks. I actually was just looking at Rites of Flourishing. It seems like a good idea, I just would hate it for playing against a blue control deck. If I was only versing zoo decks I would totally run it. I may turn around eventually - but probably not in this wave of rebuilding.
Weatherseed Totem holds a soft spot for me. I was completely locked out of BorBor for an entire game and had nothing but the totem to block for me and Seismic Assault for spot removal. It was a game of Emperor, and the opponent's emperor kept him off the field. The general I was versing was a Mayael the Anima so the consistent blocker was enough to sustain me. That's the reasons I like Dread Statuary, Treetop Village, and Gruul Keyrune for games I have to play without the cheif. But - that hasn't happened in awhile. The deck has morphed a lot since then and hasn't require their services much.
December 16, 2015 11:48 p.m.
I see the concern. In my case, when I swapped in a Rites, I also added stuff specifically to combat blue-control, like Uba Mask and stuff that makes it asymmetrically good for me like Alhammarret's Archive but that kind of stuff does not fit nearly as well here. Better options for Gruul would be like Price of Glory to fight control, but if you don't normally have an issue it's silly to include just as a countermeasure to something that you haven't even put in your deck.
December 17, 2015 12:05 a.m.
GoldenDemon says... #20
I also have a Borborygmos deck! I encourage you to take a look at it, there are lots of minor optimizations I've made that you might find useful.
My primary suggestion to you, though, would be to include Storm Cauldron and Burgeoning. Burgeoning is a really strong and relatively little-known card, and I'm not sure why it's not more popular among Commander players. Storm Cauldron is an excellent way to scoop up 8 or 10 lands and end the game on the spot. Together, they form a brutal mana-denial combo that also gets you a ton of landfall triggers if you have cards that care about that (you only have Rampaging Baloths, but my version of the deck also runs Omnath, Locus of Rage and Avenger of Zendikar).
+1, though! Always cool to meet another Borborygmos player. :)
January 14, 2016 6:10 p.m.
I have been thinking of adding Storm Cauldron! It seems like such a good game ender card, locking the board and dealing some serious damage. Burgeoning is sadly quite out of my price range, otherwise I would add it in a heartbeat. Omnath, Locus of Rage would be hilarious. But I feel like as soon as I add him I would begin to focus more on landfall. But that necessarily isn't a bad thing... I'll have to keep pondering it. And if I got an Avenger of Zendikar I would add him to another deck first. If only my paycheck could go only to magic instead of food I could have it all...
ManaMasterBolfan says... #1
Well if you're needing any graveyard land recovery a few suggestions I have would be Life from the Loam which is about $2-$5 dollars if you can swing it. More budget friendly options would be Groundskeeper, Lodestone Bauble, and (not graveyard recovery, but) Mulch. I'm sure there's a few more, but those are just a few that might help. One worth mention as well might be Rites of Spring just for the land grab utility of it.
On another note one thing I'd recommend is Grafted Exoskeleton. Infect is seriously powerful and almost always being able to 1 shot someone with Boblobber by swinging at them and then throwing a land or two at there face definitely makes it worth mentioning. Judging by the amount of lands you can generate you may just be able to wipe the whole table!
I hope these suggestions help you out and good luck with continuing to build it!
May 13, 2015 12:48 p.m.