Welcome back to Stripped Out. The series where I cake a commander preconstructed deck and pull all the stuff that doesn't quite fit and rebuild the deck. It's been a while/ But here we are staring down 4 new decks for Outlaws of Thunder Junction. All the decks look fun and have some fun build around themes. Stealing other people's stuff is fun but paints a target on your back pretty quick. No one stays a good sport about it forever. Izzet Spellslinger is always a crowd favorite, but I've been doing some other spellslinger work recently, like with these slimes, and don't want to dip back into it right away.
Of all the decks I was most intrigued by the Desert Bloom deck. This is a little outside my normal choice since there are so many lands in the deck. 40 in total. Usually, I cut a land or two from a preconstructed deck because the count is high to begin with. So this will be a worthy challenge. So, what's in the deck already and what is it trying to do? The face card would have you think the deck is about sacrificing lands for value, specifically Deserts. Value is nice but the potential downside to sacrificing lands or putting them in my graveyard may mean I'm without a way to cast my spells, specifically with my haymakers. The more established back up choice also cares about Deserts. Those tricky lands have a way of winding up in the graveyard anyway, so playing them from not our hand can be a powerful way to reuse their abilities and even get some token fodder out of the deal. Hazezon is a well liked character in the game with a substantial following already. I'm not looking to redo one of his decks just starting out of the box. I wanted to go a little further with the deck.
Kirri, Talented Sprout was just the card I was looking for. It still had a way to recur Deserts from my graveyard but it's even better. Putting them in my hand opens up draw options from any land with cycling. The fact that Kirri brings back all land types means I can play more Ghost Quarter and Evolving Wilds effects. One is bad for opponents and the other is good for me. What really got me though was the care for Plants and Treefolk. I love a good tribal deck and this one lets me do double duty, picking the best from both creature types.
So that's my avenue, plants, trees and lands. The first two categories are where I saw a lot of cuts from the deck. There are not a lot of plants, trees, or creatures that make them in the deck. I was left with Genesis Hydra, Dune Chanter, Turntimber Sower, Avenger of Zendikar, and Rumbleweed. That's it. I went from 38 creatures in the deck to 6 with a stroke of the pen. That was very aggressive. That problem was compounded for me since there aren't as many plants or trees in the game as I thought there were. A lot of the cards I was thinking about when I started this are actually elementals. Soul of the Harvest should be a great add for the deck to draw me some cards. It doesn't fit though so I was further behind to start out than I thought I was.
Luckily the set itself has some good cactus people that fit the bill. Like Bristly Bill, Spine Sower. Counters are cool and doubling up Landfall triggers with something like Terramorphic Expanse is even more profitable when Kirri can pull it out of the graveyard that same turn. Aloe Alchemist can sit in exile until I have a beater ready to stomp an opponent's life total. I don't care if it dies since I can pull it from the graveyard next turn. Another card that makes combat more favorable for me is Cactusfolk Sureshot. Trample and Haste together mean I can have an explosive turn and hammer an opponent when shields are down.
A little search and I came up with some great and more established options. Phylath, World Sculptor may just be an elemental, but doing its best Avenger of Zendikar impression, it leaves me plant tokens. Centaur Vinecrasher is a slam dunk in this deck. I can't believe it wasn't in the main deck. It gets more powerful with lands in the graveyard and I can recur it when a land goes to the graveyard. The Centaur is feeding off of everything the deck is set up to do. Wickerborough Elder acts as removal for artifacts and enchantments and gets stronger for doing so. It's nice to have that removal option available multiple times in a game after returning it to hand. But the real reason I wanted to focus on plants and trees.....Mirrorwood Treefolk. That is a card I've had for a very long time and wanted to play with, but haven't had a good home for it. It's the real reason this turned into a theme deck build. With it, I can redirect damage to whatever I want. Attack, block, get hit with an Earthquake, it doesn't matter. I just get to punish anyone or anything that would wrong me. If I tweak the list to include more Treefolk then I would add in Leaf-Crowned Elder. Kinship is a powerful ability in the right build. It's a mechanic I would love to see return. In this case, the free casting would be an even bigger plus since a lot of the best tree people are very costly. As for now, it doesn't make enough sense to add it in.
Back to the main deck! There are several cards, especially in red, that like to trade a card in hand to draw more. I'm keeping a fair number of these. It's a less daunting prospect when I'm pulling one back per turn. So cards like Magmatic Insight, Thrilling Discovery, and Electric Revelation all stay. Similarly, Green has effects where I sacrifice a land and pull 1 or 2 out of my deck. Curiously, this deck only has Harrow. Crop Rotation was an easy add for me.
All this ramp design got me thinking about reverse ramp. It's great for me to get ahead on lands and push my plans through. It's similarly effective for me to knock lands off my opponents' side of the table. Lands like Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin can be swapped in, deal with an opponent's troublesome and value based lands, and ultimately replayed. I can go bigger though. After all, I'm in the 2 colors known for destroying lands. Fall of the Thran wipes out all lands. It gives a couple back on subsequent turns. I'll always hit my landdrops with Kirri, so I'll never be behind. I can get further ahead with effects that enable me to play extra lands. It's great to follow up on some mass land destruction with a land drop or two. The deck already contains Explore. I'll add to the suite with Exploration and Druid Class. This plan plays even better with Beanstalk Wurm. I can play the adventure Plant Beans and then the creature itself. If I ever get to put it back in my hand I can repeat this process.
I have more ramp options available to me besides lands. The deck was very light on artifact ramp. I added in Weatherseed Totem. It's practical and flavorful. I also kept Chromatic Lantern. It was a go to rock for me for a long time. I found myself still tapping lands as if I didn't have it in play though. I was worried the thing would get blown up and I would get stuck unable to cast anything good for a turn. That, and I was worried I would develop bad habits when it comes to sequencing my mana for the times I don't have the Lantern in play.
With all these changes I feel like the deck wants to commit to the board more than the original version. I added in some stuff to protect my position like Boros Charm and Make a Stand. I also went ahead and removed Descend Upon The Sinful. Exile is very powerful, but it doesn't play nice with my recursion plan. Instead, I swapped in Promise of Loyalty. If I keep my commander I can out value my opponents over time. For spot removal, I like Wear//Tear in any Boros plus deck. 3 mana means I can remove 2 pesky permanents. As great as that card is I'm on record saying Requisition Raid is better. I only need 1 color of mana for both effects rather than 2. I don't have to worry about and Fuse shenanigans and I can pump my team with a counter each if I need to push through extra damage.
Here's what the deck looks like now
Kirri, Talented Sprout
Genesis Hydra Abraded Bluffs Phylath, World Sculptor
Dune Chanter Bristling Backwoods Mirrorwood Treefolk
Turntimber Sower Cactus Preserve Reach of Branches
Avenger of Zendikar Command Tower Treefolk Harbinger
Rumbleweed Creosote Heath Cactus Folk Sureshot
Magmatic Insight Desert of the Ferverent Bristly Bill, Spine Sower
Path to Exile Desert of the Indomitable Aloe Alchemist
Requisition Raid Desert of the True Centaur Vinecrasher
Bovine Intervention Dunes of the Dead Rampant Rejuvenator
Cataclysmic Prospecting Evolving Wilds Seedguide Ash
Explore Forest x7 Wickerborough Elder
Thrilling Discovery Jungle Shrine Willow Geist
Valorous Stance Krosan Verge Woodfall Primus
Electric Revelation Mirage Mesa Kurbis, Harvest Celebrant
Embrace the Unknown Mountain x4 Beanstalk Wurm
Harrow Plains x6 Make a Stand
Sevinne's Reclamation Ramunap Ruins Boros Charm
Map The Frontier Scattered Groves Fall of the Thran
Hour of Promise Scavenger Grounds Crop Rotation
Return of the Wildspeaker Shefet Dunes Weatherseed Totem
Vengeful Regrowth Sheltered Dunes Tragic Arrogance
Swiftfoot Boots Teramorphic Expanse Promise of Loyalty
Chromatic Lantern Field of Ruin Wear//Tear
Crawling Sensation Ghost Quarter Fires of Yavimaya
Marshal's Anthem Demolition Field Lifecrafter's Bestiary
The Mending of Dominaria Khalni Garden Exploration
Rhythm of the Wild Liquimetal Torque Druid Class
Generous Gift Selesneya Cluestone Crush Contraband
Beast Within
All in all, I kept 27 of the original 60 non land cards. For a total of 45 %. That's pretty solid. Lands represent such a high percentage of this deck it does feel a little like cheating. Everything I kept had a larger impact on the final percentage. I'm very impressed I kept to the original count. That never happens.
There is plenty of room for the deck to grow. I did happen to retain a fair number of Deserts in the deck. But I think they don't add a lot to the deck in this configuration. Stuff like Blast Zone or Karn's Bastion might be worth adding in depending on the direction you take.
If you're thinking of picking up the deck or any upgrades for it please use my TCG Player link. Every little bit helps keep me churning out these series. And don't forget, it benefits you as I'll be using my first payoff as a giveaway!
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