Golgari Walkers

You've been enjoying my takes on Modular decks for some time now. I have one that swaps Commanders among a half dozen Legendary Elves, one that swaps formats between Pendragon and Pauper EDH, and eve one that swaps Companions from the deck to the “Companion Zone” between games. This doesn't tell the full story though. Along the way I put together another modular deck, or at least I thought I had. I was playing around with Planewalkers some years ago and wanted to explore the potential of the card type in the format. This was around the same time as my Kykar Board Wipe/Vehicles deck. The two ideas are literally written on opposite sides of the same paper.

My problem was I couldn't choose a commander. At the time white was a front runner for Superfriends decks because of Kytheon (Gideon Tribal) and Djeru, With Eyes Open, being a repeatable tutor. The real front runner was Atraxa Preator's Voice because of the Proliferate and acess to 4 colors. In short order Golgari became competetive in the color options with 2 Legendary Creatures. Storrev, Devkarin Lich came along and provided some flexibility with creatures and Planeswalkers. It was firmly in Golgari territory because it used the graveyard as a vector for card selection.

Then came Carth, the Lion. This storied character provided each Planeswalker with extra loyalty every time an ability is activated. That means you grow counters even faster when using a + ability and you reverse the cost of a – ability by reducing it one every turn. With a critical mass of Planewalkers you're in a great place to control the board.

I thought both had great potential to headline my Superfriends deck, but couldn't narrow down my choice to lead the deck. But did I need to choose? Turns out, no, I didn't. I got this wild idea to build the deck in a way that maximizes both Legend's abilities and allowed me to play with either in the command zone. So, I put together a deck. Or at least I thought I did. The idea didn't go anywhere, as some of my ideas and decklists tend to do for one reason or another. After success with the modular ideas I went looking for my decklist in order to build the deck in paper and finally give it a try. This was my first setback.

It turns out I didn't have a deck ready to go. I put together a list of about 3 dozen cards and never got around to finishing the idea. This isn't enough for a deck, it was more a pile of cards with potential. It would take a little more work than expected to make this idea happen. I was undeterred. There were some great cards released in the last 2 and 3 years I could add to my initial pile of cards.

Let's start with the Planeswalkers. Both Carth and Storrev are here to help Planewalkers maximize their potential, either through counters or recursion, so it makes sense to see what they're fighting for. In the time I first put pen to paper, compared to now, there are many more Planeswalkers to choose from. I started at the beginning to build my initial list. You can't get much earlier than Garruk Wildspeaker for the card type. Getting back some mana with the untap is a strong start. The token isn't game ending, but coupled with the Overrun ultimate, it gets way better. Garruk Relentless was a special case. He needs to take a hit, but only a little one. Garruk, the Veil Cursed offers much more, especially the -3 and its Overrun type effect. Garruk Relentless pairs really well with Carth the Lion since it turns the 0s into +1s. It helps me pick better targets with the fight ability for sure. At least with Storrev I get a second chance with him. It's not unheard of to use the fight ability, clear a blocker, let Storrev get in for damage so I can recur Garruk. It's powerful.

Two other classic Planeswalkers were Nissa and Liliana. Nissa, Vital Force is a little pricey but I can use her to immediately return another Planeswalker from the graveyard to my hand. With Carth the Lion out, I can even afford to use the ability again on my next turn. Nissa, Voice of Zendikar is nice because she's very cheap. She really stands out with Carth on the field. Her +1 is rather on the nose for what I described at the beginning. The -2 is a great way to finish an opponent, but it's the -7 that really stands out. That life has been a game changer. It's not uncommon for me to have 7-10 lands out when I use the ability. 10 more life is a big swing. 10 extra cards really upsets people's plans. Liliana, Dreadhorde General turns all of my creatures into cards in hand. I'm not sacrificing them on my own, but the tokens my walkers make tend to die in service of protecting them. So she's very profitable even at 6 mana.

I'm in Golgari colors, so there is plenty of room to take advantage of the graveyard with these colors. Storrev, Devkarin Lich helps me with just that. There just so happens to be a Planeswalker that works great this way too. Nissa of Shadowed Boughs has multiple ways to gain loyalty. A simple Evolving Wilds after I cast her is enough to put me over the top and keep her around after I open up her ultimate. It's been worth it to let her go right to the graveyard and then let Storrev return her to my hand. It's great getting something back every turn.

Before I get into the new Planeswalkers, there is a question I must answer: how am I going to protect these friends I'm accruing? Black offers me plenty of protection pieces. They really disuade opponents from attacking me and make any combat headed my way disadvantageous. Blood Reckoning is great for this. If you want to attack me, be prepared to lose life too. Revenge of Ravens is a strictly better version since it gets me some extra life off of those attack triggers. These are great at dissuading the token player from coming my way. Those 1/1 soldiers or thopters or servos are as much of a liability as anything else. Cunning Rhetoric is a newcomer to the effect and a real standout. As great a I am at drawing cards, I can always use more. Why not make those cards yours? Using 3 other people's decks opens me up to effects you don't usually see in Golgari colors. Attack me at your own peril.

Even with all this protection, my permanents will get destroyed. There are times I will facilitate their destruction for fun and profit. Ravenous Chupacabra is a killer when it hits the field. After that, it's just a 2/2. I'll swing in with him on the next turn to see if I can sneak some damage in, but I prefer if the beast dies. I can easily pull it out of the graveyard and repeat the ability. I have the same thoughts about Pollenbright Druid. Let's proliferate again and again so I can make these loyalty counters grow and grow. Reclamation Sage, Caustic Caterpillar, and Thrashing Brontodon are all great for this.

That whole category of creatures works way better with Storrev than with Carth. That Devkarin Lich is designed to pull things out of my graveyard. It can be at odds to pull a creature vs a planeswalker. Carth presents a different opportunity. With him, I'm not afraid to use a – ability on a walker and let it die. When I do, I just get to look at the top seven cards and find another Planeswalker. There's a benefit to putting the cards back in my Library and not in the Graveyard. A stray Bojuka Bog would cripple most of my strategy.

I want to get back to the Planeswalkers. Specifically, some of the newer additions to the list that weren't around when I first put pen to paper. Nissa, Ascendant Animist offers a lot of flexibility. 4 life in Commander isn't a lot for me to power this Compleated walker out. Those Phyrexian Horror tokens can be very powerful for +1 ability. If I pay full price, I have full access to her ultimate. I also like Sorin the Mirthless. He's a good card draw option, but his -7 is really where I want to go. I've never knocked out anyone with it but the ceiling is there. He may be Sorin Markov as a character, but it's not the same caliber of card. I'll never pass up an opportunity to play Sorin Markov and rip someone down to 10 life out of nowhere.

Before I get to the decklist, I wanted to talk about removal. I have 2 board wipes I really enjoy here. With Planeswalkers, I can spam out most board wipes because my Planeswalkers are untouched. Dead of Winter is very cheap and gets around problems like Indestructibility. I don't need to be playing a snow deck, I just need to have Snow Lands in the deck. It was a small investment to get enough Snow Lands to make these kinds of strategies viable, but it has paid dividends. The other board wipe is Blood on the Snow. It could hit Planewalkers, but I never hit that mode, only creatures. The added benefit comes from the recursion. A 6 mana boarwipe on its own isn't great, but getting back a 6 mana creature or Planewalker makes it worth it. It goes right to the battlefield so I can use a loyalty ability or get an ETB right away. Toxic Deluge is another cheap board wipe option. I don't need to pay a ton of life into this to make it effective, even 2 or 3 will wipe out most token creatures. I can hit a big creature with some spot removal and save the life. Contagion Engine, I feel like,e is a removal option. The -1/-1 counters are a great way to remove value creatures. It's the Proliferate that makes it a creeping imposition on opponents, watching their armies slowly wither to nothing. All the while, my Planeswalkers move that much closer to their ultimates unchecked.

Don't walk away, check out the decklist.

Carth the Lion		Storrev, Devkarin Lich
Ravenous Chupacabra	Draugr Necromancer	Garruk Wildspeaker
Reclamation Sage	Glacial Revelation	Garruk, Cursed Huntsman
Spore Frog	Spirit of Aldergard	Vraska, Golgari Queen
Caustic Caterpillar	Into the North	Vraska, Relic Seeker
Thrashing Brontodon	Rampant Growth	Ob Nixilis, Reignited
Pollenbright Druid	Ohran Frostfang	Nissa of Shadowed Boughs
Golgari Findbroker	Cunning Rhetoric	Garruk, Relentless
Evolution Sage	Revenge of Ravens	Vraska, The Unseen
Daemogoth Woe-Eater	Marchesa's Decree	Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools
Oriq Loremage	Shamanic Revelation	Nissa, Vastwood Seer
Gravebreaker Lamia	Return of the Wildspeaker	Liliana, Heretical Healer
Mosswood Dread Knight	Doubling Season	Nissa, Ascendant Animist
Murderous Rider	Helm of the Host	Sorin the Mirthless
Undying Evil	Kamahl's Druidic Vow	Sorin Markov
Withstand Death	Contagion Clasp	Nissa, Vital Force
Kaya's Ghostform	Contagion Engine	Liliana, Dreadhorde General
Oath of Nissa	Oath of Liliana	Ugin, The Spirit Dragon
Aid the Fallen	Settle the Score	Lolth, Spider Queen
Blood on the Snow	Dead of Winter	Vraska, Betrayal's Sting
Confront the Past	Toxic Deluge	Oubliette
Soul Transfer
Blast Zone	Bojuka Bog	Karn's Bastion
Haven of the Spirit Dragon	Scavenger Grounds	Scrying Sheets
Barren Moor	Desert of the Glorified	Desert of the Indomitable
Tranquil Thicket	Snow Covered Forest x13	Snow Covered Swamp x13

Opponents tend to know what's coming when they see my commanders. So the surprise factor is a little lacking. I also feel like 2 commander options aren't quite enough to keep the deck feeling fresh like the Elf deck does. Even with all that, I enjoyed playing the deck. I see why people like Superfriends as a strategy. Each Planeswalker brings with it a choice each turn on what ability to use.

I think the deck will be worth revisiting once a new option shows up in the command zone. But even as it is now, it's worth a spin so you can explore the card type without having to play Atraxa.

What do you think? Are Planewalkers just too hated for the format? Should you save the for 60 card formats with 1 opponent, or are they a viable and vibrant part of EDH?

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