Alright so a description is in order before I go into why I chose the cards that I did. This is a midrange (ROCK) deck, so a combination of creatures and instant/sorcery's, with the main purpose of destroying you land base. The goal is to keep the opponent mana-screwed while you get the value out of Tireless Tracker, Courser of Kruphix, and The Gitrog Monster.
Lets start with the land base. To start I am only running 3 fetch lands in this build (Bloodstained Mire though I would prefer running Wooded Foothills but $$$$.... and I already had the 3 Bloodstained Mire) because of Life from the Loam I can get the same fetch land over and over again. But getting 2 clue tokens out of one land has a ton of value with Tireless Tracker. Tireless Tracker + Life from the Loam + The Gitrog Monster is absolutely OP, The Gitrog Monster has you sacrifice a land on upkeep drawing you a card. Then you Life from the Loam getting three lands back which could be Ghost Quarter, you play 2 lands and if you have Tireless Tracker you get two clue tokens. If both lands you played were Ghost Quarter you can sac both of them drawing 2 more cards netting you 4 cards including drawstep and not including any clue tokens you might sac. The fetch lands are also imperative with Boom/Bust, you are almost always going to cast this for it's boom cost. You target your fetch land and an opponent's land and in response you sac the fetch negating booms sacrificial cost for you while removing an opponents land allowing you to get a land ahead. The fetch land also works very well with Courser of Kruphix for obvious reasons.
I already mentioned Ghost Quarter but this is a key card to the deck, especially against decks in the meta such as tron where they need specific lands or just don't have that many basic lands. Ghost Quarter + The Gitrog Monster + Life from the Loam is a great combo for destroying land base especially if you have Courser of Kruphix and Tireless Tracker. Tectonic Edge made it's way in as well because there are certain situations where Tectonic Edge is more practical than Ghost Quarter.
The last card really worth mentioning in the land base is Canyon Slough. This helps provide the red needed for Boom/Bust and Goblin Dark-Dwellers, but because it is also a swamp/mountain I can grab it with a fetch land and it also allows Woodland Cemetery to come down untapped. The is also a card that can be used as card draw, you can cycle this in to your graveyard for a card but if you also have The Gitrog Monster down you draw 2 cards for the price of one and you can just use Life from the Loam to get it right back.
Next are the instants. This is a pretty simple instant base meant to remove the opponents creatures and with Abrupt Decay other non-creature threats such as Liliana of the Veil. I haven't yet figured out if I want to put Kolaghan's Command in but there it is more than likely to find it's way in to the main deck.
Lets do the Sorcery base next. I have already talked about the best way to use Boom/Bust with the fetch lands, but I have not yet mentioned one of the main win conditions revolving around this card. Typically you cast this card for it's Boom cost then putting it in the graveyard. Goblin Dark-Dwellers can then pull it from the graveyard allowing you to actually play it for it's Bust cost. Now ideally having the The Gitrog Monster is ideal for a win but not always necessary if you have a Life from the Loam. If you have The Gitrog Monster down when you play Goblin Dark-Dwellers, you draw a crap ton of cards, then if you didn't need to play any lands to set this off you play 2 lands because of The Gitrog Monster play a Life from the Loam and your already way ahead of your opponent. Now that your opponent has no lands you can swing and depending on the board state just wreck.
Originally I was running 4 Inquisition of Kozilek but decided to take one out if favor of only one Raven's Crime. I debated taking out another Inquisition of Kozilek or another card for a second Raven's Crime and am still debating it. The reason I haven't yet is because looking at your opponents hand early game and altering their tempo is pretty valuable. Plus your pretty much only ever going to need one because you can continue to use it's retrace with Life from the Loam.
Life from the Loam pretty well explains itself and the interactions it can have with the other cards within the deck. But it is worth mentioning why I am running 4. The reason for this is even though I could run less and just dredge them back to my hand, I don't want to do that if I don't have to. I would much rather play a fresh copy than dredge it to my hand because this deck doesn't center around getting back non-land cards from the graveyard with a few specific exceptions.
Last but not least by any stretch of the imagination is the creature base. First off are Birds of Paradise, having a turn 1 birds into a turn 2 fetch and boom, or turn 2 Tireless Tracker or Courser of Kruphix is a fantastic start. This is especially helpful when you bust already giving you an advantage in the mana game.
I have already talked about a lot of the creatures and the ones I have I will only talk about briefly. Next is Courser of Kruphix. With all the land combos, fetch's and The Gitrog Monster you can gain a ton of life while also thinning out your deck even faster. I am running 4 of them because getting 2 down can allow me to play a shock land for free and gain a lot of life coupled with The Gitrog Monster. Plus, having a 2/4 creature is a great blocker.
I have talked about the main reason that Goblin Dark-Dwellers are in the deck but another thing worth mentioning is that they can also grab every other instant and sorcery in my deck, another reason I am considering running Kolaghan's Command. They are also a 4/4 with menace which can be enough to win a game.
Next in Primeval Titan. Now this card is pretty self explanatory, having a Courser of Kruphix or Tireless Tracker can make his ability ridiculous. Not to mention that if I can a bust he can pull me two more lands from my deck resetting my land base on overdrive. Another reason I have him in is really for him being a 6/6 with trample and he provides instant value even if he does get killed immediately.
I already talked about The Gitrog Monster and Tireless Tracker and their roles in the deck. So the last one to mention is Thrun, the Last Troll. Now this doesn't necessarily provide a ton of synergy to the deck itself and with all of the 4/5's running around such as Siege Rhino and Tasigur, the Golden Fang however Thrun is one of my favorite all time cards. I have always wanted to run him in a deck and he provides a ton of value in being very difficult to deal with and being a blocker against other big creatures.
If you have any suggestions at all they would be much appreciated, this is a homebrew deck that I would like to make competitive so input would be awesome. However, if your input is "You need to run Liliana of the Veil and Tarmagoyf then your input will be graciously ignored. Thank you!
