The Standard deck I will be using for Theros block. It is a Green/Black deck focused on using the graveyards of all players to my advantage to fuel
Nighthowler
, which I will Bestow most of the time.
NOTE: (This is still a prototype and changes will most likely be made later on as more sets in the Theros block are released.)
EDIT: I have recently made, and still making changes to this deck. You can read the changes at the end of the description.
Creature Spells
~
Experiment One
is an excellent one drop seeing play in most green decks. It's also the only creature with Evolve worthy of being played in Standard because of how it grows every turn and it can regenerate.
~Lotleth Troll was a card that was originally $10 but dropped to $2 for reasons I'm not sure of, but I still see enormous potential with him. Always play him with an extra black mana open to protect him.
~
Dreg Mangler
, again, another creature that sees a lot of play in the aggressive decks because of his 3/3 haste body for only 3 mana. The scavenge is just an extra bonus late game when he dies, but in most cases you will not be scavenging him for his original scavenge cost because...
~
Nighthowler
isn't very pricey at the moment but I feel like it will rise once people realize how much potential it can have. Lets say you bestow
Nighthowler
onto
Dreg Mangler
giving it +X/+X. The enemy then plays Supreme Verdict, everything dies, but Nightholwer stays on the field as a creature with even more power because of all the creatures that just died.
~
Polukranos, World Eater
is one of the best green creatures in standard right now because you can make it fight all of your opponent's creatures to weigh the board in your favor.
~Desecration Demon is our last creature. We all know about this guy. a 6/6 flyer for 4 mana is very, very good. The drawback is that they can constantly keep it tapped if they have enough creatures.
Non-creature Spells
~Hero's Downfall is almost a must-have spell if you're playing black. It deals with anything your opponents may have, as long as it's a creature or planeswalker.
~Putrefy answers the threats that Abrupt Decay doesn't. A must play removal spell if you're in green/black.
~
Vraska the Unseen
is another card I may or may not keep. I was considering Garruk, Caller of Beasts but his +1 ability puts creatures on the bottom of the library. We don't want that, we want them in the graveyard. Vraska does kill things, though. And she kills them good.
Side Board
~Ratchet Bomb in the side board is because of
Elspeth, Sun's Champion
, which is almost guaranteed to see lots of play in many decks that use white. Elspeth creates an enormous amount of 1/1 tokens with her +1 ability, and Ratchet Bomb solves this.
~Golgari Charm can also get rid of all Elspeth tokens on the field as long as they aren't getting any pumps to their toughness. It also destroys enchantments that Abrupt Decay cannot and it regenerates all of our creatures if there is a board wipe.
~Witchstalker gets sided in when facing either blue or black matchups to deal with their threats.
~Bow of Nylea giving all of your attackers you control have deathtouch is pretty solid. Also the ability to destroy certain flyers and gaining life isn't too shabby.
~Duress is in the side board to get rid of planeswalkers or any other big threats early on so we don't have to deal with them later. Thoughtseize is better but I'm on a bit of a budget...
~
Reaper of the Wilds
is our last card. I will side in this against weenie based decks that run Assemble the Legion where creatures will be dying a lot so I get to scry a lot.
~Abrupt Decay is sided in because of all of these cheap threats that exist in the current meta like Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, Anax and Cymede, Fleecemane Lion and Spellheart Chimera. It deals with many threats, and it can't be countered!
Side Notes
~Read the Bones was a possibility for the main board if Jarad's Orders didn't cut it.
~
Nemesis of Mortals
has been a possibility for about a week or so, but I'm unsure of what to cut for them.
I realize the contradiction between scavenging on
Dreg Mangler
and the
Nighthowler
mechanic since you exile things from the graveyard. While this is a minor setback,
Nighthowler
also takes creatures from opponents' graveyards so it's not a complete contradiction.
Changes Since Original
~
Reaper of the Wilds
moved to sideboard with Hero's Downfall to replace it. I felt like I needed more removal and the Reaper wasn't always relevant.
~
Gaze of Granite
replaced with Ratchet Bomb
~Deathrite Shaman replaced with Witchstalker. The Shaman was actually harming my deck by exiling creatures, and sometimes my opponents wouldn't be playing many non-creature spells and the Stalker is an actual threat to the blue/black players.
~Abrupt Decay moved to sideboard because it was not always relevant in certain matchups.
~
Polukranos, World Eater
added to mainboard, replacing 1 Desecration Demon and 1 Vraska the Unseen. This change was made because the Demon was not always something I liked to top deck against decks that ran a lot of tokens or low drop creatures, which happened a lot to me and Vraska was constantly popping up when using Grisly Salvage or Commune with the Gods, making me have to lose her. Polukranos is also another form of removal, which I was lacking.
2
Golgari Guildgate
replaced with 2 Swamp and 2 Forest because tapped lands suck and I felt like they were just slowing my deck down, but I needed some form of duals besides Overgrown Tomb.
Thank you for taking the time to look at my deck and red this long description and I'll appreciate any suggestions!
