Varolz, the Scar-Striped

Commander / EDH*

samiamthelaw

Creature (35)

• 1x Aerie Ouphes
• 1x Arashi, the Sky Asunder
• 1x Body Snatcher
• 1x Cinderhaze Wretch
• 1x Corpsejack Menace
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Death's Shadow
• 1x Devoted Druid
• 1x Disciple of Bolas
• 1x Dungrove Elder
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Faceless Butcher
• 1x Force of Savagery
• 1x Fungal Behemoth
• 1x Gaea's Avenger
• 1x Gyre Sage
• 1x Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
• 1x Lord of Extinction
• 1x Lotleth Troll
• 1x Mindless Automaton
• 1x Mindslicer
• 1x Multani, Maro-Sorcerer
• 1x Phantom Nantuko
• 1x Phyrexian Dreadnought
• 1x Phyrexian Soulgorger
• 1x Puppeteer Clique
• 1x Savra, Queen of the Golgari
• 1x Skullbriar, the Walking Grave
• 1x Spike Feeder
• 1x Thought Gorger
• 1x Thragtusk
• 1x Thrun, the Last Troll
• 1x Triskelion
• 1x Woodfall Primus

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Garruk, Primal Hunter
• 1x Liliana of the Veil

Land (37)

• 1x Bayou
• 1x Command Tower
• 15x Forest
• 1x Golgari Rot Farm
• 1x Maze of Ith
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 15x Swamp
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Woodland Cemetery

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Asceticism
• 1x Grave Betrayal
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Ooze Flux
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Rancor

Artifact (9)

• 1x Charcoal Diamond
• 1x Darksteel Ingot
• 1x Golgari Keyrune
• 1x Golgari Signet
• 1x Moss Diamond
• 1x Rings of Brighthearth
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots

Instant (3)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Grisly Salvage
• 1x Putrefy

Sorcery (7)

• 1x Drown in Filth
• 1x Fungal Sprouting
• 1x Gaze of Granite
• 1x Hellfire
• 1x Maelstrom Pulse
• 1x Mulch
• 1x Mutilate

Commander (1)

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Here's a breakdown of the major designs behind this Varolz deck.

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+1/+1 Counter Synergy

Remember that -1/-1 counters and +1/+1 counters actually cancel each other out, so scavenging a 2-Power creature onto a persisted Puppeteer Clique will make it a 4/3 with a +1/+1 counter (not a 4/3 with two +1/+1 and one -1/1), eligible to persist again. This lets us blow things up with Aerie Ouphes and Woodfall Primus, generate mana with Devoted Druid, and turn scavenge into massive discard with Cinderhaze Wretch.

There's more straightforward synergy with Triskelion, Spike Feeder, and Phantom Nantuko. Skullbriar, the Walking Grave is an amusing trick, giving you a second round of cheap scavenge when it dies. Thought Gorger and Mindless Automaton both feed the graveyard and draw cards.

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Scavenge Targets

We have two kinds of scavenge targets: those with inherently huge power-to-cost ratios, and those with characteristic-defined power (i.e. star/star critters).

In the first category, Death's Shadow and Phyrexian Dreadnought lead at 13-to-1 and 12-to-1, each with the added benefit of readily getting themselves into the graveyard. Force of Savagery and Phyrexian Soulgorger are similar, if slightly less efficient.

In the second category, remember that characteristic-defining abilities (star/star creatures) work in all zones, so a Fungal Behemoth in the graveyard can have a sizable power & toughness. The same goes for Lord of Extinction, Multani, Maro-Sorcerer, Gaea's Avenger, and Dungrove Elder.

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Mana Acceleration

This deck packs a typical EDH artifact-mana suite: Sol Ring, Moss Diamond and Charcoal Diamond, Golgari Keyrune and Golgari Signet, and Darksteel Ingot. We also run Deathrite Shaman and Elves of Deep Shadow for Turn-1 accelerators, along with Gyre Sage and Devoted Druid, both of which play well with +1/+1 counters.

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Fill the Graveyard, Removal, and Miscellaneous

There's a handful of generic removal stuff--Beast Within, Putrefy, Maelstrom Pulse, Mutilate, and Hellfire. Additionally, we've got a few ways to get creatures into the graveyard--Grisly Salvage, Drown in Filth, Liliana of the Veil, and Mindslicer. What remains of the deck is mostly EDH staples.

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No Search

This is a personal preference for EDH/Commander games. I create decks that do not use search-your-library effects (or stack-your-library effects, like Sensei's Divining Top) because they slow down play and result in much more predictable games. If you want to add this back in, there are plenty of good tutor and acceleration candidates to choose from.

Date added	11 years
Last updated	11 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 39 - 0 Rares 16 - 0 Uncommons 9 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.37
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Ooze X/X G, Saproling 1/1 G, Wurm 6/6 G
Folders	Card Ideas to Golgari