Viridian Claw

Artifact — Equipment

Equipped creature gets +1/+0 and has first strike. Equip 1

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (27)

Headers13 on

8 months ago

Cheap creatures with deathtouch:

Acidic Slime Ambush Viper Deathbloom Gardener Fang of Shigeki Gnarlwood Dryad Gorgon Flail Greater Basilisk Heir of the Wilds Ichorspit Basilisk Kessig Recluse Mirkwood Spider Moss Viper Narnam Renegade Oakhame Adversary Skullwinder Tajuru Blightblade Thornweald Archer Turntimber Basilisk Underdark Basilisk

Creatures with infect/toxic

Blight Mamba Core Prowler Corpse Cur Cystbearer Ichorclaw Myr Paladin of Predation Plague Myr Rot Wolf Spinebiter Tyrranax Atrocity Venomous Brutalizer Viridian Corrupter Carrion Call

Proliferate:

Adaptive Sporesinger Cankerbloom Carnivorous Canopy Copper Longlegs Courage in Crisis Evolution Sage Expand the Sphere Smell Fear Thirsting Roots Unnatural Restoration Urban Daggertooth

Equipment:

Grafted Exoskeleton Prosthetic Injector Swiftfoot Boots Fireshrieker Bladed Pinions Chariot of Victory Jousting Lance No-Dachi Peregrine Mask Sharpened Pitchfork Surestrike Trident Viridian Claw Livewire Lash Pathway Arrows Rogue's Gloves Sorcerer's Wand Thornbite Staff Viridian Longbow*

Instant kill:

Aggressive Instinct Ambuscade Animist's Might Bite Down Clear Shot Cosmic Hunger Devouring Tendrils Halana, Kessig Ranger Infectious Bite Nature's Way Rabid Bite Spinning Wheel Kick

Unblockable:

Access Tunnel Rogue's Passage Executioner's Hood Prowler's Helm Skeleton Key Wedding Invitation Whispersilk Cloak

TheVectornaut on Who dat boi - please help

3 years ago

Hey, I saw your comment. Is this an alternate account for twechsler or is this deck just inspired by theirs? Either way, I'll go into greater depth on some possible build paths. libraryjoy is correct in that if you're (mostly) mono-green, your best way to destroy creatures is often to take advantage of the abilities on your own creatures. You already have the deathtouch style shell so I'd just focus on that. But even with deathtouch, there are a fair number of options for guaranteeing that damage gets dealt. There are the bow/staff cards like I use in my artifact commander deck A Pile of Cans with the deathtouch from Sydri, Galvanic Genius . Then there's fight effects which you can see working with Wren's Run Packmaster in my wolfless wolf deck Size of the Fight in the Dog (although this strategy doesn't require DT if your creatures have high enough power). A final approach is forced combat damage. Since it's been mentioned the least, that's what I'll focus on here.

Forced block cards like Lure , Gift of the Deity , Indrik Umbra , Ochran Assassin , Roar of Challenge , Tempting Licid , Provoke , Irresistible Prey , or Tangle Angler are the core of such a deck. Most of these cards are rather costly in terms of CMC, and I'd consequently only recommend such a deck for slower casual play. It should be pretty strong in creature-heavy metas though. If that sounds reasonable, the next thing you have to decide on are the creatures and supporting cards. These choices aren't always obvious because of the many things a deck like this wants. For example, it may be better to play cheap deathtouch creatures like Deathcap Cultivator , Gifted Aetherborn , Narnam Renegade , Wasteland Viper , and Nightshade Peddler so you can start controlling the board sooner. But if all your DT creatures have low power, they'll only be able to kill 1 or 2 things off a big forced block. Thus, it may be better to instead grant deathtouch with other cards like Basilisk Collar , Deadly Allure , Virulent Swipe , Bow of Nylea , Archetype of Finality , or Ohran Frostfang . Then, you could just run creatures with high attack for their cost. Still, I think there's something to be said of looking for other abilities that interact well with deathtouch. First strike and double strike are the most obvious examples because they can let your creatures survive combat to attack all over again on later turns. Viridian Claw , Glissa, the Traitor , and Grappling Hook see play in such decks for this reason. Alternatively, you can learn from the synergy of the Frostfang that abilities triggering on face damage pair well with deathtouch. Only a fool would block your 1/1 DT with their 3/3, but if that 1/1 is drawing you a card, suddenly that trade sounds more appealing. Cold-Eyed Selkie , Dimir Cutpurse , Edric, Spymaster of Trest , Oakhame Adversary , Ohran Viper , Tomebound Lich , Fynn, the Fangbearer , and Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons are some cards that might fill this role.

I know I've just rattled off a lot of cards here. I'll try putting together a casual deck to demonstrate what I'm talking about when I find the time.

As an aside, I see that you've included Novablast Wurm as the only meaningful white spell in this version of the deck. It's too slow to see play in anything but ramp, but it can definitely be built around as a beefy Wrath of God too. Consider using something like Heroic Intervention or a Dauntless Escort sacrifice to break the symmetry on the board wipe. Also, creatures that grant boons on death like Thragtusk or Wurmcoil Engine could find a home in a self-wipe deck, although the Wurm might be outclassed then by something more traditional like Austere Command , Settle the Wreckage , Kindred Dominance , or Phyrexian Rebirth .

king-saproling on Abzan Deathtouch EDH

3 years ago

You might like these: Viridian Longbow , Lure , Bladed Pinions , Viridian Claw

ClockworkSwordfish on And Everytime We Touch I Get This Feelin

3 years ago

Deathtouch is a great trick for creature combat, but seeing as most of your critters are quite small, there's no better pairing for it than First Strike! Trading one-for-one every time your creatures are blocked could run you out of resources in a creature-heavy fight, so ensure the fights are only ever one-sided to even the odds. Viridian Claw is probably the cheapest and most reliable option in black, but you could also consider something like Sword of Vengeance for greater combat prowess.

On that note, all of your creatures (other than the Merchant) being three mana or less makes them ripe for cheap reanimation. Little guys die all the time, so you should be prepared to bring them back in the late game. Call of the Death-Dweller can be a two-for-one, but Unearth is only a single mana. Immortal Servitude can get mana-intensive, but six mana to return several of your key creatures to play could really swing a game around!

Optimator on Zagras and the Dethtouch Party

3 years ago

Ash Zealot, Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch, Battle Brawler, Bloodmark Mentor, Goblin Spymaster, Grim Initiate, Kruin Outlaw  ^Flip, Neheb, the Worthy, No-Dachi, Rakdos Ringleader, Rustrazor Butcher, Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep, Splatter Thug, Viridian Claw, and Zada's Commando are the ones worth maaayayybe considering. In my opinion. Budget-permitting, of course.

Agrothorn on Planet of the Apes

4 years ago

Love the tribal theme!

Of course, there are some great tribal and gruul lands you can add, but then it starts getting expensive. I would consider tagging this as a "budget deck"; imo, budget tribal (espically more obsecure creature types) are the best! Really forces for some creative deck building.

I would check out your mana base and decide if Gruul Turf is a really needed. Personally, i'm not a big fan of these cards due to the risk/slow speed, but if you like them, play them!!

I did a few playtests and it plays a bit slower than expected. I would certainly recommend adding a 4th Kird Ape . Are you open to adding mana accelleration? I'm sure there are a few solid ones that won't be too far outside of theme. Oh, have you considered using an Emerald Medallion ?! Monkeys like to steal shiny things!! I think it would create a lot of value. Urza lands would work nice, but I feel it may be too far from the theme.

I think Alpha Status is a "win more" card in this sorta mana heavy/bigger critter deck, where by the time you play it to have value (e.g. 3 or more creatures on the board, for +4/+4), it may be too late or not as rewarding. Now that I look at some of the oracle wording, some apes are now considered a monkey, so they won't help each other out... boo.

For Monkey Cage , maybe cut 1 because I think you will need a lot of mana to guarantee it to give you value e.g. a creature with mana cost 3 or greater.

Man... I so many ideas!

How about Summit Apes !! Those with your Gorilla Berserkers with first strike and/or lure equipment. Viridian Claw , Nemesis Mask <--maybe too slow?? Spells, Roar of Challenge or Declare Dominance <--bonus gorilla art!!

If you go with the Emerald Medallion , maybe swap out Ravenous Baboons for a bigger green one?

Play around with it and I'll check back!

Icbrgr on Don't tread on me...

5 years ago

I love deathtouch. Any ideas for getting mass First strike? All I can come up with are equipments like Viridian Claw ... maybe more pingers would be neat too like Pathway Arrows or even better Kusari-Gama .

Hawk_of_Battle on Gorgeous Girls Deck(list)

5 years ago

Noticed you were a little light on artifacts, so here's a few; Ogre's Cleaver , Harvest Hand  ^Flip (flipside, obviously), Sharpened Pitchfork , Silverskin Armor , Skyblinder Staff , Spidersilk Net , Viridian Claw