This deck pretty much reminds me of Voodoo magic with the given compliment of creatures and spells.
It's a standard, post rotation deck consisting of zombies, demons, large insects, fungus, trolls, and some shamans for good measure. While it works out remarkably well as a tribal "voodoo" theme, it's actually quite synergistic as well, and plays as a very fast counter growth deck.
FNM Playtest, 2013-08-30:
Went 3-2, placing 15/39 tonight.
First match against Naya humans, 0-2, outclassed, and not enough progressive drops to be effective. Rest in Peace killed most of the scavenge and Deathrite Shaman advantages. This makes the solid case for running Golgari Charms in the sideboard.
Second match against Selesnya, 2-1, beat by an early hydra in the first game, pushed him onto his heels in second and third game, and he simply couldn't run with the speed. All star performance by Deathrite Shamans after a trio of Grisly Salvages gave me a lot of cannon fodder for ramp, lifegain, and damage at will. In a deck with a curve this small, 7-8 mana means scavenges and new threats every turn, which doesn't end well for a top-decking opponent.
Third match against Boros, 2-0. Opponent's deck a little unfocused and quickly put back on its heels by Desecration Demon and Deathbridge Goliath.
Fourth match against Bant, Giest of St. Traft. 0-2, made a critical mistake in a close game two that cost me the win. Defeated quickly by an overbuffed Giest in game one, ran a very close game two. This was really a very even match. I feel like this match was one I could have won, had I played it correctly in the second game.
Fifth match against Rakdos. 2-1, hard to say if this deck was aggro or midrange, but these games were all the longest games I played of the night. I think this was due to a smattering of extort with Crypt Ghast and Pontiff. First game went long due to significant removal from both of our decks. Ultimately, he started top-decking first, and my deck had more threats to stay in the game. Third game, my deck came out screaming with three one drops on turn two, and a cascade of Dreg Manglers on turn 3 and 4. I started holding stuff in my hand, playing off the smaller threats I didn't care about early on to draw his removal. Dreg Mangler was the workhorse here, as it drew out most of his removal, which cleared the way for Corpsejack Menace, Deadbridge Goliaths, and Desecration Demons to hit the table without answers. One of each of these in play on my side by turn six, and his board was empty.
Side notes: Right before I played this deck tonight, I received my order of painlands from eBay. These, and the Deathrite Shamans I bought a week ago were absolute all stars all night. There's a good reason these collective cards cost me $80. They were serious contenders that made the deck brutally efficient and versatile. I never really saw a situation that caused me to be mana-screwed because of these cards.
FNM Playtest, 2013-09-06:
Went 2-3, placing 21/39 tonight.
Can't remember all matches in detail, other than base archetypes and records.
American Control: 2-0
Black Control: 1-2
Reanimator: 2-1
Jund: 0-2
Azorius Control/Clone: 0-2
Side notes: Really needed some resilience to board wipes. Considering rotating in Experiment One for Slitherhead to get some more regeneration. Need to pay better attention to the fact that Varolz can be regenerated as well. Black control was the most interesting matchup of the night, as it was just difficult to come up with an effective game plan. Haste was definitely the best way in the door, and I just didn't have enough of it. It's possible that Vraska may have done well here.
The deck's curve should roughly work out in this fashion.
Turn 1: Deathrite Shaman, Slitherhead, Golgari Guildgate
Turn 2: Grisly Salvage, Lotleth Troll
Turn 3: Varolz, Dreg Mangler, Putrefy, or Deathrite Shaman ramp to Turn 4
Turn 4: Corpsejack Menace, Desecration Demon, Deadbridge Goliath
Turn 5: Same as turn 4, ideally.
After the one-drop phase, Slitherhead becomes a great way to pump up a Lotleth Troll, and should generally be used as a discard. Use Grisly Salvage as a way to pick up card advantage, as it helps you get what you really need while stocking the graveyard with scavenge fodder either by direct cost, or the often reduced cost that Varolz provides you. If you've got a turn 3 Varolz that you can line up, don't be afraid to drop the monstrous stuff into the graveyard. With a Corpsejack Menace on turn 4, turn 5 can easily be a +10/+10 buff to one of your creatures.
Ideas on the sideboard would be much appreciated. At present, it's kind of both a sideboard and maybeboard all at once. I originally ran Experiment One in this deck because it seemed to support the "growth" curve of the deck, but it pales in comparison to the utility of Deathrite Shaman, which provides me some ramp, some extra damage potential, and extra life potential, all while disrupting other graveyard based advantages. I'm not sure whether to maindeck the Shamans or the Experiment Ones, but I can see more overall utility in the Shamans, which frees up more of the sideboard for specific threats. Finally, Abrupt Decay seems to be a slam dunk here, but midrange seems to be a slightly more popular meta in my area, making Putrefy equally attractive for removal. I'd like to keep this to post rotation of the Innistrad block if possible.
Sideboard Thoughts:
- Vraska seems nice, but may or may not be necessary. I'm not sure what the sideboard strategy would be here. It seems to fit, but I'm not sure how, or what would come out for it to rotate in.
- Golgari Charm strikes me as a weak option. It only seems exceptionally useful for enchantments or board wipes. Since the primary beater of this deck is likely to be Lotleth troll, this is of admittedly limited value.
- Abrupt Decay would definitely serve the purposes of enchantment removal that Golgari Charm can.
- Something to help against control would be nice.