This deck looks really solid! The new scry lands in the next set will be very helpful here. I'd like to try a junk deck like this at some point. It looks like you have answers to most decks in the sideboard too. +1 from me

I'd probably run no more than 6 of the scrylands in total since anymore than that would make the deck way too slow. Thanks for the compliment!

Looks crazy fun, +1.

Have you considered Fleecemane Lion ?

hollahollagetdolla, yes, I have considered him (he was in the first draft of the more creature-heavy version of this list). Turns out he clogs the already super crowded two-drop slot and he was the weak link out of all of 2-cmc so he had to go :)

Have you thought of playing Desecration Demon or Alms Beast?

Desecration Demon is all the rage right now, and for good reasons. However, it's because he is so popular that people start to pack efficient answers to deal with him. Don't get me wrong, I love the creature, but I prefer to run more resilient and more well-protected creatures on this list. Not running him turns off their opposing Ultimate Price (save the single Angel of Serenity ) and Selesnya Charm (save the two Obzedat). He's a strong pick, no doubt. I also don't have room to run him.

Alms Beast is just bad on its own and requires support to be good in constructed. There are so many things that can go wrong while running this guy. There are just better picks out there (like Desecration Demon ).

What is stopping you from playing a fourth copy of the Reaper and a Second Decay?

Also, the Desecration Demon is hard to deal with for someone playing outside of black. Sure you can get him by a Supreme Verdict or even a Chained to the Rocks but America Control isn't prevalent in my meta and neither is Esper. Orzhov midrange, however, is...and I find the Demon to be good at forcing removal or forcing the opponent to back pedal to stay alive.

I used to run 2 copies of Abrupt Decay and found it a "dead" draw more often than I want to. There aren't a lot of aggro decks around anymore and ones that are can be dealt with just as easily with other kill spells. I also don't need to have two of it since my mainboard Golgari Charm takes care of whatever I normally use it to take out (like Detention Sphere ). It just became much less useful now that the Blitz has rotated so I instead put in a different kill spell to broaden the coverage of my removals.

As for Reaper of the Wilds , there's just no room for the fourth one. All of the noncreature spells are good where they are and so are the creatures. I can't cut anymore Loxodon Smiter and I think Blood Baron of Vizkopa is good where he is considering he's still pretty well-protected. The only thing I would consider cutting for her is Angel of Serenity , but she still wins be games and as it currently stands, Reaper of the Wilds is not strong enough to warrant a fourth copy just yet.

Like I said, Desecration Demon is great, but people at my LGS pretty much expect them every time they see black. My LGS is chock full of Esper Controls and Black-based decks so he normally doesn't stay on the board for too long compared to others. He's a great creature, but in my meta he's not as good as he normally is.

With that said, I still am considering running him as he is obviously a strong pick and I still have been fidgeting with the list so he may find home on this list eventually.

i think u should add Trostani, Teysa, Angelic Accord, and/or Druid's Deliverance

You are that person who previously gave me a bunch of card suggestions for my BWR deck and no justification behind them, aren't you?

The format has appeared to slow down considerably I think Underworld Connections is a good addition. Card advantage is so important and Underworld Connections does the trick. I've wound up main boarding two underworld connections as well and it really helps. Also that curve is just beautiful + 1 from me

Haha. Not at my LGS. My local meta is full of devotion decks so I'm stuck between rock and a hard place since if I tune my deck to beat Monogreen, I will have weaker game against control and vice versa. It's a really tough meta here :(

Hey mate, great looking deck!

I've been working a junk deck myself, and the list is similar, just a few differences I'd like to ask about.

Is Archangel of Thune really that great in the deck? I see the interactions and the synergies, but how often do you get the combos online and sticking? Is it not 'too cute' to try?

Also, do you have any thoughts on Deathrite Shaman in this deck?

And lastly, there's an abundant of choices at 4 mana with Advent of the Wurm , Polukranos, World Eater , Desecration Demon and Reaper of the Wilds . How do you feel comparing these cards and why did you choose the Wurm over everything?

It's a great deck and I'm definitely going to consider some of your choices as well. Keep it up!

Grenthox, thanks for taking a look at my deck!

1. Archangel of Thune is not bad in testing so far. It is definitely the most "threatening" out of all of my must-answer threats since they usually can't afford to let it swing in even once without risking getting run over the next combat. She usually only comes out against black-heavy decks like black devotion or orzhov control where she won't survive to next combat. Against removal-light decks however, she's very good at helping you race them with all the little life gain triggers this deck has.

2. Scavenging Ooze is just much better than Deathrite Shaman in this kind of deck. The fact that you don't run any dredge or fetch mechanics that also puts lands in the graveyard severely limits its potential since you can no longer ramp with him. Scavenging Ooze also has the upside of being able to eat multiple things in a single turn since it doesn't require it to tap, letting it swing or sit back while still threatening to get bigger and gain you life.

3. I thought about those other 4-drops as well. The thing is that only Polukranos, World Eater and Advent of the Wurm can deal with Blood Baron of Vizkopa , which we do have trouble against, and we don't have a lot of excess mana like GRx monsters decks do to spend on Polukranos, World Eater 's ability. Furthermore, Advent of the Wurm has the perk of being able to dodge Lifebane Zombie AND can come in at instant speed while also being the only one with trample. This opens us up to a lot wider range of options such as the play I mentioned in the description of curving it into Ajani, Mentor of Heroes to turn it into 8/8 trample (essentially with haste).

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Thanks for the response!

I can agree with most of your views, now that I have done some virtual testing.

I really like Scavenging Ooze (which was Fleecemane Lion before in my list) a lot more, and I've also seen how Advent of the Wurm indeed feels like the best choice. I actually love the card now, and its interaction with Ajani, Mentor of Heroes is indeed pretty nasty.

Unfortunately, I never got to draw the Archangels in my tests, but also didn't feel I really needed them. So I might just opt to not use them (yet). Maybe I'll change my mind after actually playing some FNMs and feel like I do need it, but right now, I might just look for something else to add.

I also had concluded that Deathrite Shaman , although strong, doesn't have the same snowball effect that Scavenging Ooze has. Ooze all the way!

Thanks again for the time and thoughts!

Archangel of Thune is definitely the first card on the chopping block if any changes are to be made. It's one of those "nail in the coffin" cards where if your opponent can't deal with it, you pretty much just win, but if he does deal with it, you have other things to play and just find a different nail. The thing about Archangel of Thune is that, you never actually "need" it during a game the same way you do Blood Baron of Vizkopa or Obzedat, Ghost Council or Advent of the Wurm . It's just there.

It more importantly gives us our only flyer to deal with things like Nightveil Specter and other flying things (it only takes a few triggers to make it big enough to slap Desecration Demon or Master of the Feast out of the air and we can accelerate it further with Ajani, Mentor of Heroes .

When it comes to it, it's our only good reliable flyer we have access to that has the best synergy with the rest of our deck. One can argue that Desecration Demon is a good pick (and it is), but it clogs up our 4 drop slot and people (at least at my LGS) have learned to play around it. It dies to a lot of things, but if you plan your plays properly, you can make her dodge some of them (like playing her THEN play your land for turn to trigger off of Courser of Kruphix and make her a 4/5 to dodge Mizzium Mortars ). You also have a ton of ways to deal with permanent-based removals like Banishing Light and Detention Sphere .

You stated a few strong points and I decided to run more tests with her.

When I did draw them I was just sold. I think the fact that she's a flier is the thing that got me convinced the most.

I'm using her for now, all I need is my Coursers to arrive and then I can start playing the deck at my FNM. Thanks for all the feedback (:

Yep. She's pricey and I've never owned a copy until I actually tested this deck out, but as soon as I see how ridiculous it gets with her, I immediately got my self two :)

I won a few games at this last FNM where I wouldn't have had business winning if it wasn't for her. Getting 2-3 lifegain triggers a turn with her on the field really gets out of hand quickly especially when you both are in topdeck mode.

And when that happens, it means that you should already have 1-2 Courser of Kruphix and something else on the field so even if they finally find an answer for her (since they are forced to use the first removal they find on her or the problem doesn't go away), they still end up staring at a couple 5/7ish or bigger Courser of Kruphix and possibly something else. It's extremely overwhelming and it's an impossible situation for your opponent to get out of without the help of something like Supreme Verdict .

Oh yeah, doesn't that make a 2nd Courser in play very valuable?

There have been some people opting for less than 4 Coursers because more than 1 is a bit redundant, but with the angel, won't you then get 2 counters per land played if you have 2 Coursers in play? 'Cause it will be 2 different life gain triggers, right?

Correct. Each Courser of Kruphix 's trigger counts as a separate instance of lifegain. So if you have more than one out and you play a land, Archangel of Thune 's ability will trigger for each Courser of Kruphix . I had two out and each land gives two +1/+1 counters on everything. Swing with the angel (which now hits for 2 more) and that makes a third trigger and by the end of your turn you just got a free Collective Blessing .

Under normal circumstances, you never want more than one Courser of Kruphix out unless you're desperate for some lifegain. However, if you're already ahead and you have Archangel of Thune out and you know for a fact that can't 2+-for-1 you by playing that second courser (like Supreme Verdict or Detention Sphere ), then by all means play it to stay ahead. If anything, it's another blocker that's impossible to go through.

The multi-coursers plus Thune strategy seems a lot like a textbook win-more situation, but in the cases I've had that happen, it was more like stabilizing with style. You usually don't ever swing with the Coursers the first few turns you're building them up and just go in with the angel (I play it very safe with Coursers since they're extremely valuable in the lategame when you're in topdeck mode and you can't afford to draw into lands) until you know you can force blocks or finish them outright with the Coursers.

Why no Athreos, God of Passage or even Pharika, God of Affliction ? Having indestructible fatties and effects like Athreos' would make this so much harder to beat.

Umbreomancer, because there isn't enough synergy between those cards and the rest of the deck. We will rarely see them alive (which is our best way to abuse the indestrucbility and it doesn't ever happen in a 3-color deck anyway) and their static effects are not nearly good enough to warrant running them instead of what we have.

Im no pro, But I've read your updates and I cant get over one thing. You're running a midrange deck with only 9 removal spells. How do you typically fare against early pressure? I could see an early Mutavault giving you quite a bit of grief.

That1bassplayer, remember that Sylvan Caryatid and Courser of Kruphix along with Scavenging Ooze all can deal with early pressure. There is more than a decent chance that I will open with a combination of the above cards and the removals. I have had no problems dealing with early pressure pre-board.

Remember that you can't just look at the removals in a deck and say that that deck may have a problem against early pressure. Jund Monsters typically run around the same number of removals (if not fewer) and you probably already know how well it deals with aggro.