Out of the Yard

This is a story of a deck cut in half. I was working on my 4 color project and had jammed too many themes into the deck. It started as 4 color leaves the graveyard. I was looking for productive ways to fill the yard with key creatures, and I jumped on cycling. I hit an impasse; contract the subthemes or do something bold. I decided to split the deck in an interesting way. I took all the cycling out and kept that deck as 4 colors (you'll see that soon). I used what I had learned and consolidated my plan.

I also cut out a color. I wanted access to one of my payoffs at all times. Tormod, the Desecrator always makes an impact when it hits the field. Just drawing it randomly wasn't going to be good enough for me. Having it in the command zone became a must. A 2/2 zombie might not seem like a lot, but making 4 or 5 in a turn is very impactful. Imagine casting Murderous Cut and using Delve to knock the cost down by 4 mana and putting 8 power on the field. That's a big swing in a game. I just have to keep the cards coming and going.

There are some clear Tormod analogs available for me in this deck. Desecrated Tomb has half the name and gives me half the power on the field. Those 1/1 bats are better in a way since they also have flying. Defiled Crypt provides me with a similar 2/2 Zombie token, but limits me to one per turn. Slowly removing cards from the yard across a turn cycle becomes a must to maximize the value here. Since it's a room, Cadaver Lab helps me fuel the strategy and gives me a second chance at a key creature. What? The card just has to leave the graveyard for this deck to work. It doesn't really care where it goes. I'm actually better served by recycling my cards in this deck. You'll see more of that to come. Newcomer, On Wings of Gold, is a killer in the deck. It not only makes a 1/1 zombie, but acts as an anthem, pumping my Zombies and giving them flying. It's a homerun that's really been overlooked. Pick one up while it's still less than $1. Finally, we have Quintorious, Field Historian. This Elephant is giving me 2 to 4 times the power as all my other options, per token. The spirits and zombies don't synergize even though they're both dead. What a shame.

Tormod, the Desecrator sets a good example for the deck. He fits into the “an army in a can” archetype. It's tokens for days. Skeleton Crew is like that, making 2/2 Skeleton Pirates and then acting as an anthem for those tokens. Skeleton Crew also reassembles itself onto the battlefield for 6 mana, triggering other key cards in my strategy. I've never actually paid the 6 to make that happen, but I'm glad the option is there. New addition, Teval's Judgement, has made a splash in the deck in a short period of time. Funny enough, the token is usually the last mode I select. I lean toward the card draw, but I have plenty of treasure on the first go, too. I need to get better at choosing to spread the cards out across a turn cycle vs doing 3 cards in a single turn. One of each vs the same thing 3 times across 3 turns. That just takes more practice.

Tokens aren't the only payoff for moving cards out of my graveyard. Fuming Effigy is a great example of this. He spreads damage around to each opponent each time a card leaves my graveyard. As long as Fuming Effigy sticks around for more than one turn, he can easily deal 10 damage to each opponent. The Effigy is in good company with Stonebound Mentor since they're both Spirits. Scry isn't card draw, but it makes the cards I do draw much more impactful on the game. Thran Vigil is a little more limited since it cares about creature and artifact cards specifically, but the +1/+1 counters can really turn my commanders into big threats on the board. Soul Enervation is another game winning effect. It drains life from my opponents to give to me. My favorite aspect though is the Flash -4/-4 effect on an opposing creature. It's a great combat trick and can knock out a surprising number of commanders all on its own.

I have one Boogeyman in here. He always gets a lot of heat from the table since it's a known finisher. I'm talking about Syr Konrad, the Grim. At face value, he's very similar to Fuming Effigy because they both do 1 damage to each opponent when a card leaves my graveyard. Syr Konrad goes much further, though. He hits people coming and going since that one damage extends to creatures dying or winding up in the graveyard in any other way. He's not done, though. For 2 mana, Syr Konrad will mill each player. He gets nutty quick, so I'm never surprised when he gets targeted.

I have an oddball in here worth talking about, Hofri Ghostforge. He's another army in a can, making spirits and providing them +1/+1 and Trample and Haste. What's odd about him, though, is that he takes things off cycle. Hofri exiles my dying creatures and turns them into spirit tokens. After the token copy dies, the original card goes to the graveyard, but I'm missing out on that graveyard fuel for the time being. It adds an interesting level of depth to the deck.

Delve is a powerful effect in EDH. Cost reduction is always a welcome mechanic for a deck, and this is no exception. I don't want to hard cast Afterlife from the Loam, so being able to knock 5 mana off the casting cost can be a big win. I just have to make sure to curate my graveyard and leave my best creature to be returned. I had a game where a guy sacrificed his Soul-Guide Lantern and nuked his own graveyard just to keep me from zombifying anything he owned. It happened to hit my graveyard too, so it had mixed results for him. The other Delve standout is Empty the Pits. This is crazy expensive so I always make the most of my graveyard to pump up the value of X.

I mentioned earlier about cards not having to be exiled from my graveyard; they just have to leave. I could put them back on the battlefield, into my hand, or even back in my library, and still get the benefit I've lined up the strategy of my deck. Luckily, I have access to 2 of the best colors for pulling cards out of my graveyard: red and white. Angel of Serenity does a little bit of everything. It can act as removal, exiling a problematic creature for as long as it sticks out on the field. More often than not, I'm hitting 3 key cards from my graveyard. I'll get 3 triggers, and then when she dies, I'll put those cards back in my hand and cast them again. I will make reckless attacks just to encourage opponents to kill my Angel of Serenity. Ozox, the Clattering King is a surprisingly effective card in the deck. I cast him, and when he dies, I create a token creature that dies and pulls Ozox back out of my graveyard. For only 3 mana, it's a very repeatable effect. Isareth the Awakener and Chainer, Dementia Master both allow me to pay and pull creatures out of my graveyard onto the battlefield. Those creatures are very fragile after that. For instance, Isareth gives those creatures corpse counters, and they exile upon death. It's weird that the corpse counter doesn't send it where corpses go, like the graveyard. With Chainer, my creatures become Nightmares, and if he dies, all those new nightmares get exiled. High risk, high reward.

There's one more bit of tech for the deck. This is also what led to the schism from my 4 color idea to this deck. There is a creature type in MtG that reliably returns a creature from my graveyard as an intrinsic part of its identity. That creature type happens to be Phoenix. The whole identity of this mythical creature is tied up in coming back after death. That's what I needed. Not every Phoenix is created equal, and a lot of the time, their abilities are tied to whatever set gimmick is going on, but there are some standouts. Ashcloud Phoenix dies and comes back face down. No extra cost on my end there, I just have to Morph it so I can repeat that process. Detective's Phoenix allows me to Bestow it from my Graveyard. In doing so, I have to exile some cards from my graveyard. It's all symbiotic.

There's more. Flamewake Phoenix comes back for a single red mana if I have a 4 power creature when I go to combat. Quintorious, Field Historian can make that happen all by himself. Warcry Phoenix is very similar. Sunstreak Phoenix makes the table start tracking Day and Night, which is an awful mechanic to play with. But, when it switches, I can recur it for 2 mana. That's worth it for me. With all the fire birds in the deck, I had to include Syrix, Carrier of the Flame. This weaponizes my recursion. Move a card out of my graveyard, then have my best Phoenix bolt an opponent. If Syrix is in the graveyard and another Phoenix dies, I just get to recur it for free, which triggers the first ability and lets me zap someone. Repeating that cycle rules.

The last bit to talk about is my second choice of commander. There are only 2 Boros partner options: Akiri, Line-Slinger and Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder. I didn't have enough artifacts or artifact recursion to make Akiri a real threat. If the deck gets more effects like Teval's Judgement, she might become a more viable option. I chose Bruse Tarl. The bruiser gives a creature Double Strike and Lifelink when it attacks. Not only is the added damage important, but the life gain is too. Chainer's ability costs life in addition to mana. I'm often attacking when I play, so I'm open to more attacks from opponents. All this can drain my life if I'm not careful. My favorite thing to do is target Syrix, Carrier of the Flame with Bruse Tarl's ability, let the Phoenix get in for damage, then when its own ability triggers, I'll bolt someone and gain 3 more life. 9 damage on the board and 9 life to me is a big swing. I've done it with other, more powerful Phoenixes on the field for greater effect.

Take a look at where the deck stands now

Tormod, the Desecrator		Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder
Angel of Serenity	Eternal Dragon	Detective Phoenix
Chainer, Dementia Master	Sun Titan	Flamewake Phoenix
Defiled Crypt/Cadaver Lab	Reveilark	Lightning Phoenix
Desecrated Tomb	Karmic Guide	Nemesis Phoenix
Diabolic Servitude	Collective Defiance	Syrix, Carrier of Flame
Fuming Effigy	Collective Effort	Warcry Phoenix
Hofri Ghostforge	Damn	Sunstreak Phoenix
Idol of Endurance	Requisition Raid	Phoenix of Ash
Isareth the Awakener	Diresight	Immortal Phoenix
On Wings of Gold	Cruel Truths	Ashcloud Phoenix
Ozox, the Clattering King	Faerie Dreamthief	Bloodghast
Quintorius, Field Historian	Archaeomancer's Map	Grave Crawler
Rot Farm Mortipede	Cemetary Desecrator	Afterlife from the Loam
Skeleton Crew	Orzhov Cluestone	Murderous Cut
Soul Enervation	Rakdos Cluestone	Empty the Pits
Syr Konrad, The Grim	Boros Cluestone	Grimoire of the Dead
Teval's Judgment	Hammer of Purphoros	Cauldron of Souls
Thran Vigil	Fervor	Murderous Redcap
Warleader's Call	Viscera Seer	Twilight Shepherd
Flayer of the Hatebound	Woe Strider	Cauldron Haze
Stonebound Mentor	Wear/Tear	Vat of Rebirth
Blast Zone	Bojuka Bog	Havengul Laboratory
Desert of the Fervent	Desert of the Glorified	Desert of the True
Nomad Outpost	Scavenger Grounds	Shattered Landscape
Mountain x9	Plains x8	Swamp x9

I really enjoyed playing this deck. Recursion is already a big deal, getting rewarded for it is even better. The puzzle part of the deck that keeps it interesting comes from figuring out how many cards to exile vs how many cards to leave and replay later on. This might be the perfect home for Fall of the Thran. I've got lots of resources and want cards to leave my graveyard, so 4 lands coming back means 4 triggers. I might need to tweak the mana base a little for that. Land destruction aside, I highly recommend the deck, and I think it might be sticking around for a little while longer.

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