kryo

258 Decks, 3 Comments, 1 Reputation

The Varolz Jund deck should be an aggro creature-based deck without so many removals (i.e. Abrupt Decay, Putrefy), which will give you some slow draws. My take on this deck will be to overwhem the opponent with loads of cheap creatures in the early game, and pump them up with Varolz in the mid to late game.

One of the nut draws for this deck will be turn one Faithless Looting, dropping Slitherhead into the graveyard. Turn two cast Treacherous Pit-Dweller and scavenge Slitherhead to add a +1/+1 counter on Treacherous Pit-Dweller, which will prevent it from going under the opponent's control even if he somehow finds a way to kill the 5/4 demon. In order for this combo to come up frequently enough, four copies of Faithless Looting should be run. It's also a cheaper way to build up a sizeable graveyard for scavenging later. Grisly Salvage is too slow, doesn't curve well in this deck (we want to be casting threats by turn two), and there is more than one way to fill up the graveyard with creatures (e.g. Faithless Looting, Lothleth Troll).

Since we're running Lotleth Troll, the usual suspects - Gravecrawler and Diregraf Ghoul - should come along with it. Diregraf Ghoul is an aggressive turn one play, and Gravecrawler is just perfect for Lotleth Troll to dump in the graveyard followed by casting it back. Comparing these two one-drops with Slumbering Dragon, they may not be as powerful when scavenged, but are definitely more offensive. Hence, I'd suggest dropping the dragon.

For an aggro creature-based deck that runs red and green colors, card-drawing is not an issue with Domri Rade. Imagine running close to 30 cheap creatures (Diregraf Ghoul, Gravecrawler, Lotleth Troll, Varolz, Treacherous Pit-Dweller, Slitherhead, Vexing Devil) in this deck, you'll have close to 50% chance of drawing a creature with the +1 ability. Drawing into creatures, tossing them to pump Lothleth Troll, then scavenge with Varolz (or casting Gravecrawler from graveyard). That can be really sick. Not to mention Domri also allows you to fight your opponent's creatures with your huge guys to remove blockers. He's really great in this deck.

Running a couple of Rancors is actually a good idea as you don't always draw into a Lotleth Troll. A few copies of Abrupt Decay will also be necessary against pesky permanents like Boros Reckoner and Rest In Peace.

If you're thinking of taking this down for the next FNM, the sideboard can be quite interesting. Scavenging Ooze removes threats against reanimator decks, Duress/Slaughter Games removes Sphinx Revelation or other key cards, Devour Flesh/Barter In Blood deals with the hexproof shenanigans or tough creatures like Olivia, and Liliana of the Veil works well against control decks while allowing you to build up your graveyard.

Hope this helps.

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Posted 06 September 2013 at 08:55 as a comment on Devil Boy

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Landy decks should be fast and brutal when it comes to land destruction. Stone Rain and Molten Rain are two essential landy cards with lower casting cost. You can also throw in some fire spells to take care of opponent's creatures, such as Lightning Bolt or Bonfire of the Damned (if budget permits).

I have a friend who runs a successful deck revolving around Nicol Bolas and I can see the key challenge is always to bring him out in time and keep him on the board. Ramping up the mana and preventing the removal of Nicol Bolas are the main focus. Gotta be sure you're still alive when he comes out. :)

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Posted 12 January 2013 at 05:02 as a comment on Bolas Land Destruction

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You're right. The deck is rather low on damage to really finish the opponent quickly, as it's supposed to irritate the hell out of him with the unsummons until you set up the lockdown with abolisher and curse or iso-silence. Most guys will scoop once abolisher and iso-silence are up, cos they can't cast any spell other than instants during their upkeep and there won't be much on the board for them to do anything against you. Colannade helps with the finishing too.

btw, most of my decks are modern cos of the 'house rules' with my buddies.

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Posted 12 January 2013 at 04:28 in reply to #315755 on Unsummon Lockdown

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