ghoultree

I was juggling that idea around at first, just ended up with skirsdag, but i think you are right about griselbrand. also i looked at your card list and asceticism looked like it could be a viable option for this deck in order to protect the finishers, your thoughts?

If you're in it for the long haul, Asceticism is the way to go as far as protection is concerned in green. I can't think of much in black that would help. Green's also got Autumn's Veil (which is great imo) and Ranger's Guile (which I'm not too fond of). Both of those are more for spot protection though.

I can't believe I forgot to mention this card earlier, but I think it would do you some good to run Prey Upon in this deck. It's great with those Deathtouch creatures, and if you happen to use it with Ghoultree, well, there isn't much in standard right now that can take a 10/10 like that.

Thanks for those card suggestions. I will definitely be running autumn's veil and prey upon in my mainboard. I can see that ranger's guile could be useful depending upon the situation, it might end up in the sideboard. Also, what do you think about the size of the deck, I am usually an advocate for keeping the decks as near to 60 cards as possible, but there seems like there are just quite a few cards that I really do need to add to the deck. Any suggestions as to what I might consider taking out of the deck, or do you think that going over 60 is not a huge problem in this case?

Personally, I prefer keeping a deck as close to 60 cards as possible. Here is what I would do.

I'd drop the Trees of Redemption, Unburial Rites, two Tracker's Instincts, and a forest. This opens up 8 slots.

Put in two Asceticisms, three Autumn's Veil, and three Prey Upon. And swap the Skirsdag Flayers for Disciple of Griselbrand.

Just my opinion.

Do you think that I will experience mana problems with that amount of lands or do you believe that the ramping will suffice for that? I agree with the trees of redemption, and the two tracker's instincts, but I feel like the unburial rights open up some options in the event that one of my ghoul trees or splinterflrights go to the graveyard.

As far as mana, with the Mulch and early Dawntreader Elks, it shouldn't be an issue. You'll still have 23 lands to work with, which is fine since you are only running two colors. In regards to the Ghoultree/Splinterfright issue, you're running four Ghoultrees and three Splinterfrights. The chances of you tossing all of them to the graveyard before they make it to your hand is unlikely. However, if it does become an issue, you can make room for Birthing Pod and rely on Ambush Viper or Disciple of Griselbrand to fish it out of your library. I wouldn't fret too much about that though.

Thank you for your insight, I bought all of the cards that I decided upon, except the card store did not have any Splinterfrights, so I am running 3 Rampant Growths in their place, and are actually pleased with their performance. Also, as far as a sideboard right now I have 3 crushing vines, and 3 Tragic Slip. On a side note, how do you think two Garruk Relentless would do in this deck, I have someone giving me a good deal on them but I am still unsure.

Well, the flipped side of Garruk does offer some great benefits to this deck, but I wouldn't run/rely it. If you are getting a good deal for them though (they are about $10 each) I would still pick them up. You never know when you might need them.

I have been testing this deck in a few games so far (without the Splinterfrights) and have had some good success. I decided to throw in some Garruk's Companions in the event that I would see fit to use them. Also, I have been using a few Wild Hungers to buff up my Ghoultrees and give them trample, and that has been really good as well.