I'd say Golgari Keyrune is nice to have against U/W/x control, as it's ramp that doesn't die to Verdict. However my sideboard is already pretty cramped. I wouldn't know what to take out for the Keyrune...

Playtested today against mono black. The mono black won but only because it drew gary, gary in game 3. In game 2 black dropped pack rat turn 2 and it looked like golgari had no answer but the deck put on so much pressure that the pack rats could never really get going. Early grisly salvage really set the game up as jarad entered as a bomb, with a couple of deathrites working things down until jarad could finish things off with the assistance of a nighthowler on an elvish mystic. Too funny. Game 1 was rough facing down a handful of removal and double desecration demon. Same turn Hero's Downfall followed by Devour flesh set them up and the demon's did the rest.

Loved this deck. I drew land solidly, or at least it seemed like i did so that might have affected it. When you always have mana dorks you seem fixed even when your not. I tried out a similar deck that was more Golgari reanimator a while back but I like this way more. I would however find room for another land or two, even if you side them for the control matchup, and Whip of Erebos is your friend. The size of some of these creatures with lifelink, good lord. Plus you do not want to exile creatures often, however pulling in a shadowborn demon is pretty sweet. I swing for 5 in the air, you gain 5 life, and destroy a creature and the only downside is you lose a +1 counter. If a card said tap 4 mana and lose a +1 counter, your opponent loses 5 life you gain 5 life, destroy target creature I'd take that all day lol. You can even hook the Whip with Commune with the Gods allowing more creatures to go to the grave. That being said love the deck and only change I'd make is add +2 Whip main, maybe a land or 2 and Mistcutter Hydra in the side

DRS is a viable card in EVERY format....that's why he's still a $13 card...you don't need to MAKE him viable and useful. He always has been, and always will be. Deathrite Shaman is an eternal card

Ranger's Guile and Putrefy little instant kill and protect all for cheap and quite effective it might help personally i think putrefy is good in all G/B/x decks but some ppl are able to get around it try it out and see how it goes

Commune with the Gods

@ valendras Sorry but you are wrong. DRS sees much more modern/legacy play and for a reason. You have no reliable way in Standard to get lands in your gy.

@ mrtibbs24 I have instant speed removal in my SB. I don't think Guile fits my deck properly, it has way too less power to take up a slot in my already very cluttered deck.

@ pingpongball120 What's with that card? Is it really that hard to write complete sentences?

Watch born of gods give us fetches. I know I'm dreaming but that would b sweet

I think I've read in a MaRo-interview that Fetches are going to be reprinted in the future, but not in the same rotation as the shock-lands for obvious reasons. So maybe we'll see a reprint in 'Huey' or they set up a MM2

Oh I'm sorry haha I didn't see it in the deck the first time I saw it. But what do you think about Drown in Filth ?

I had Drown in Filth in the original list but it proved to be too unstable. With 19 lands in my deck I rarely kill a creature when I need/want to. I swapped them out for the 3 Thoughtseize which is much much stronger. I feel 8 enablers are enough and the 3 Thoughtseize give you so much information and early interaction, it's just too good to not play them.

I think your deck is only good against "destroy" removal, azorius charms and bounce will really trouble this deck...

you should replace your Elvish Mystic with Voyaging Satyr . At least that give you an option between what color of land you want to use. It also allows you to more effectively use Guildgates and the new G/B Scry land coming out next set I hope.

On the question of lack of spot removal and answering a Scavenging Ooze , I would say Shadowborn Demon just isn't an answer to him, because by the time you play the demon, you have already lost your whole yard to him, and at that point in the game they probably have another big threat you need to kill, and if you have to use it to kill a ScOoze you leave Polukranos, World Eater or something else big on the field, and you have to start sacking other stuff since your yard is empty. Personally, I would just replace them with some form of Doom Blade .

Also you're right about board wipes like Anger of the Gods (which Big Boros and Jund midrange are using) and Supreme Verdict being a nightmare for you to deal with, because they basically get an X times 2 for 1. Not only do they kill a bunch of creatures, but they also kill a bunch of lands. Once you know what you're facing, you won't play into the wrath effect, but that will slow you down so much that you get into lategame, exactly where control wants you. So just replace some dorks with lands to better suit yourself for the oh-so-common Esper control and midrange that runs red (which will probably side that in once they see how much damage it can do). Also, as far as control matchups, I think Reaper of the Wilds is a better sideboard card than Deadbridge Chant , just because of the resiliency he offers you against removal.

I can hit a demon on T3 which is not too late. Also as stated above I've played a list against this deck that had 4 scooze main backed up with reaper and pukanose. This deck can be very explosive, don't underestimate it. Control isn't such a huge problem after all, I side the demons out eventually so all I need is 4 lands which is doable. Reaper is btw an awful choice against control right now. He can't dodge wraths like troll. And 4 power on T6 dont seem to be that good of a clock.

The mystics however make one landers keepable and that happens quite often with running only 19 lands.

Hi, I've been testing a similar deck running 19 lands as well...I've had a lot of luck with Gatecreeper Vine instead of Sylvan Caryatid . It smooths out my land drops, letting me keep aggressive opening hands, and gives more resiliency vs. board wipes. You do have to sacrifice some ramp though. There might be some kind of pleasant middle ground between Elvish Mystic , Sylvan Caryatid , and Gatecreeper Vine , maybe 3-2-3 respectively.

Control decks have a big problem with Reaper of the Wilds , and it is not t6, it is t4. Yes, Lotleth Troll regenerates if you have manna up for it, but that doesn't help much against Detention Sphere . GP Dallas (I think) had some Jund decks that begrudgingly used him, and they were pretty pleased, because it forced their opponent to wrath to get rid of him, which meant they could hold back until afterwards, then flood the field. I wasn't underestimating your deck, just trying to provide some helpful insight. Sorry if I made you mad bro.

If any one questions Y Lotleth Troll trumps Reaper of the Wilds look at it this way, Trample + Regeneration trumps Deathtouch & Hexproof all day.

Other benefits include...

Withstands Wraths (Anger of the Gods Supreme Verdict (Reaper doesn't)Potential to be as big as 7/6 T2. ...and can get way bigger, Reaper stays the same sizeLower CMC!!! Lower ability mana investment.Has a way to put creature cards directly in the graveyard (which this deck benefits tremendously from)

While I honestly don't think that a Detention Sphere will break this deck, I do think u should drop 1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord & 1 Nighthowler to make room for at least 2 Abrupt Decay MB. Grisly Salvage and Commune with the Gods can both find Jarad & Howler when you need them so it won't make this any less consistent. Having another MB answer in addition to Shadowborn Demon would make this deck that much stronger, especially since Abrupt Decay can hit other things besides creatures.

@Putrefy A lot of BUG decks run Commune with the Gods , so, you're wrong there. Does he see MORE play in Eternal formats? Yes. But he's still a quality Standard card

@ valendras

If DRS is such a high quality Standard card, please tell me how many lists running DRS made Top 8 in the latest Standard Events, or even Top 16. I bet you can't find 5.

So, now that we are clear on that:

@ APPLE01DOJ To be honest I was pondering about dropping 1 Jarad and 1 Nemesis in favor of 2 Abrupt Decay . Nemesis is great and all, but in the end it will never hit the board before T3. Other decks play Polukranos, World Eater on T3. I don't think I have to mention, that Pukanose's power-level is a 'little' bit above the power-level of Nemesis of Mortals

If that's how you feel, then why run it?

@ valendras oh boy... I don't even know what to say... Yeah you're right. So, and now please, cease the discussion about DRS. Much appreciated!

I didn't say Reaper was better than Lotleth, in fact I agree that Lotleth is better (although as a control player I hate discarding cards). I was talking about Deadbridge Chant in the sideboard. It just seems like Reaper would cause more problems than a DB Chant

have you thought about running Liliana of the Veil ?but really it is neat how this seems to have mana to dump despite 19 lands

standard >< lilliana of the veil choose one m8. also this deck has no removal it would get destroyed in my LGS meta.

i feel like you need nylea in this deck, deathrite does too little here atleast as mainboard. nylea would be problematic for your enemies when you have pumped up lotleth trolls and the nemesis of mortals and even jarad.

i feel like this could use more destruction mainboard and it should play atleast 2 mutavaults just because it can and mutavault is a killer vs U/W control and the likes