The meta I play in is highly competitive and cutthroat. We don't allow wishes and set infect win-con at 50% of starting life total. For this reason this build focuses on speed and lethality. Yes, it is a combo deck, because rolling out a bunch of huge monsters becomes boring and we love finding new and inventive ways of destroying one another. The deck is nimble and lethal, and has made me an instant target in multi-player... which has only improved it further!
This build is designed to win in two ways: by getting many creatures into play and pumping them quickly for a traditional over run win, or by setting up combinations to finish everyone in one fell swoop. This build is a little odd because Marath, Will of the Wild is SCALEABLE . Every time you cast him he enters with "a number of +1/+1 counters equal to the amount of mana spent to cast it." Because of this, one of the primary goals of this deck is to cast and recast him unloading +1/+1 counters, making elemental creature tokens, or dealing direct damage to creatures or opponents. Repeatedly killing your commander seems counter-intuitive but this is where his power is fundamentally developed. Read this far? How about an upvote please and thanks!
Here are some notes examining the deck and its synergies, these notes are currently incomplete.
Land: A few lands I run that have synergy with Marath, Will of the Wild.
Ancient Ziggurat: Any colour lands are great, and this deck is very creature heavy, well worth it.
Blighted Steppe
: I often trade life for mana, and it isn't rare for me to have 8+ creatures in play. Grabbing 16 for 4 mana is a deal, and sometimes a life saver.
Cavern of Souls: My deck depends on my Commander and this makes sure he hits the battlefield.
Gavony Township: Helps replenish Marath, Will of the Wild while adding counters everywhere else. With 5+ creatures on the battlefield its economical.
Kessig Wolf Run: This card has ended many many games.
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood: Tapping this AFTER making tokens or casting a few dorks is awesome. Great Synergy with Hardened Scales and/or Doubling Season.
Opal Palace: This adds a +1/+1 counter for the number of times your commander has been cast from the command zone. That means if Opal Palace wanders in after the commander has been cast 4 times and is used only on the 5th cast it still generates +5 counters. Great synergy with Hardened Scales and Doubling Season.
Mana Dorks
I run 7 mana dorks: Birds of Paradise, Bloom Tender, Elvish Mystic, Gyre Sage,
Skyshroud Elf
,
Xenagos, the Reveler
and Sylvan Caryatid.
Why dorks and not traditional artifact mana ramping?
First, the dorks have the potential to become offensive threats. Second with Mother of Runes or Eight-and-a-Half-Tails they can provide tremendous defence with either protection from colours or white, or simply as chump blockers, although with Marath, Will of the Wild creating tokens they are seldom used as sacrificial blockers. Third, with a fair bit of graveyard recursion available from Sun Titan, Karmic Guide, Eternal Witness, Emeria Shepherd, and Marshal's Anthem they are easily returned to the battlefield.
Of particular note within this group are four dorks: Gyre Sage,
Skyshroud Elf
, and Bloom Tender, and
Xenagos, the Reveler
Skyshroud Elf
: Taps for , but his second ability is key, and can also be used once he is tapped. Pay and filter any mana to or . This mana fixing is awesome, especially with Ashnod's Altar but we will be exploring synergies with the altar later on.
Gyre Sage: With evolve it becomes a dual threat as she evolves quickly providing either offence or mana as she taps for For each +1/+1 counter on her. Bringing her in and evolving her by bringing another creature, then marath, and dumping his 3 initial +1/+1 counters on her quickly creates a 6/7 or +5 mana per turn. Coupling Gyre Sage and
Skyshroud Elf
you can cast Marath, Will of the Wild as a 5/5 without even getting into your land base very early in the game.
Bloom Tender: With Marath, Will of the Wild in play it produces , very nice production for a .
Xenagos, the Reveler
: This guy is a mana machine! +1 him to create a bunch of mana, the many dorks in this deck can double their mana contribution when he uses his +1. I have often brought in Marath, Will of the Wild as a 7/7 using only dorks, unloaded him making 7 1/1 elementals using land, and then by +1'ing
Xenagos, the Reveler
had 7+ mana to play with! Sometimes I recast Marath, Will of the Wild as a 9/9 at that point.
Tap Dorks for a bunch of mana and then, if it so behooves you, cast Village Bell-Ringer and tap them all again! GO DORKS!!!
Slowing them Down
In order to overwhelm my opponents, I need some defence while I set up my offence. To do this I use creatures, sorceries, instants, artifacts, enchantments and land. This defence is not designed to shut an opponent down, the deck is aggro so this defence is designed to disrupt and hinder my opponents while I quickly mount my attack.
Defence, Creatures: Aven Mindcensor, Linvala, Keeper of Silence, Scavenging Ooze, Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, Mother of Runes, Qasali Pridemage, Fiend Hunter and
Shinewend
.
Aven Mindcensor: Shuts down tutors, which can be invaluable. You can flash it in to disrupt a search "burning" the tutor an opponent has played adding more value. The fact that it is flying, and can often chip away at an opponent makes it even better. This card a no brainer for only .
Linvala, Keeper of Silence: Shuts down activated abilities, even mana abilities! Another flyer with a static ability who can chip away at an opponent. A great deal for a 3/4 flyer at .
Scavenging Ooze graveyard hate on a stick, it grows, starts as a 2/2, all for What's not to love?!
Eight-and-a-Half-Tails: Pop an Oblivion Ring off! Shed any aura enchantment! Tragic Slip coming at you? Turn it white and prot its target! Want to get around a big blocker? This creature has so many uses, both on offence and defence. A 2/2 for awesome!
Mother of Runes: Protection from any colour on a stick for . Very Shweet!
Qasali Pridemage: Spot removal for artifacts or enchantments on a stick. I love to declare him as a blocker, and then sac him, the attack fizzles and something else goes boom! Swings for 3 when he is exhalted all for .
Fiend Hunter: This is still rattling around from when I was running Restoration Angel, I will be replacing it as the double takeout combo very rarely materialized.
Shinewend
: This is the weakest card in my defence because I need Marshal's Anthem in play or being cast to return it to the battlefield from the graveyard. It enters with a single +1/+1 counter but Marath, Will of the Wild can quickly boost it, providing repeated removal and a pesky flier to boot. It retails for $0.15 too! Casting it for seals the deal.
Defence, Sorceries and Instants: Armageddon, Boros Charm, and Swords to Plowshares.
Armageddon: Remember all those mana Dorks? Draw a couple lands and don't play them. I have dropped Armageddon with dorks in play and land in hand many many times. This card cripples opposition, and if timed correctly it can provide such an advantage that the opposition has almost no chance to recover.
Boros Charm: I hate board wipes and although I can recover quickly I prefer to cast this. It can also finish off an opponent or planes walker via direct damage or by granting doublestrike to something beefy.
Swords to Plowshares: Great spot removal and I have exiled my own commander with it (thank you tuck rule) to escape aura enchantments more than once.
Defence, Artifacts and Enchantments: Lightning Greaves, Aura Shards, and Vicious Shadows.
Lightning Greaves: This is a staple for Commander. Shroud isn't a problem as it has a equip cost, and haste is always an advantage.
Aura Shards: With Marath, Will of the Wild pooping out 1/1 elementals this annihilates artifacts and enchantments.
Vicious Shadows: Defence? Heck ya! Try a board wipe with this in play! It is also triggered by ANY creature hitting the graveyard so it chips away at opposition and can be a win condition with a sac outlet or Goblin Sharpshooter with Basilisk Collar.
Defence, Lands: Arcane Lighthouse, Homeward Path, and Wasteland.
Arcane Lighthouse: Removes Hexproof and Shroud and prevents a target from acquiring them. Hexproof or shrouded targets beware!
Homeward Path: Grabs your creature back, which prevents all kinds of issues.
Wasteland: Staring at Gaea's Cradle or another troublesome nonbasic land? Boom!
Tutors
I run 6 creature tutors: Green Sun's Zenith, Tooth and Nail, Fauna Shaman, Birthing Pod, Worldly Tutor, and Eladamri's Call.
Green Sun's Zenith: This card is such a powerhouse it is banned in modern, and as a bonus it is shuffled back into your library when used.
Tooth and Nail: Great either entwined or not, when entwined it can tutor Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker with Village Bell-Ringer for a combo that will kill every opponent. (When they arrive tap Kiki to copy the Bell, when then token arrives it untaps Kiki. Repeat till you have a million Bell Ringer tokens and attack everyone with them because they all have haste from Kiki.)
Fauna Shaman: Running such a creature intensive deck discarding one is never a problem, discarding large creatures early can be dangerous, but often it can payoff big time. Also because it tutors with an ability it is harder to counter the tutoring.
Birthing Pod: This is an extremely powerful card. The phyrexian mana allows it to be cast and used quickly. Often i will cast it and sac a 1/1 elemental to bring Birds of Paradise in quickly to mana fix. Like Fauna Shaman it is difficult to counter this tutoring.
Worldly Tutor and Eladamri's Call: Both are great value and can be played at the end step right before your turn, often decreasing the odds of bring countered.
I run 2 equipment tutors: Stoneforge Mystic and Stonehewer Giant.
Stoneforge Mystic: Banned in modern this card is tremendous. I often use it early to grab Basilisk Collar turning Marath, Will of the Wild or Goblin Sharpshooter into a removal or board wipe tool.
Stonehewer Giant: The ability of this to tutor and equip immediately is amazing. Declare him as an attacker and he won't tap due to his vigilance, let blockers be declared, see that open 1/1 token unblocked? NOW trigger the Stonehewer Giant's ability equipping Quietus Spike to the unblocked token. Boom 1/2 their life gone! Pretty slick considering I haven't gotten to the part of this where I start showing you how this deck destroys people!
Enchantment/ artifact tutor: Enlightened Tutor, I often use this and the end of the turn before mine or in my own upkeep before my draw to decrease the chance of counter. I will sit on it trying to bring the creatures I want into play setting things up and then spring it on them setting things off.
This is my only artifact/ enchantment tutor as well, but I find no need for another due to the high level of synergy this deck holds.
Land Tutors
For mana fixing, pulling out buffers like Opal Palace or problem solvers like Arcane Lighthouse I use Weathered Wayfarer and Sakura-Tribe Elder.
Weathered Wayfarer will work wonders! I have often spent a turn or two adding land to my hand and then launching Armageddon. By starting your game without leading off you can tap him on your opponents turn and simply add land to your hand without losing any game pace. He is usually unable to tutor later in the game due to the amount of land in this deck, but I have used Wasteland to destroy one (yes technically 2) of my own lands in order to get to Arcane Lighthouse in a dire situation.
Sakura-Tribe Elder has the wonderful ability to declare as a blocker and then sac for basic land preventing damage and building your base. With emeria shephard he will put every basic plains you have onto the battle field on a single turn. Pulling him out every turn with Sun Titan an then chump block-sac'ing with him is also great.
