Hey Guys! This is my first attempt at a Commander Deck, and it's built around one of my favourite guilds - Golgari! And this time, the commander I've chosen is Varolz, the Scar-Striped. Ever since I saw this guy, I've always felt like there was a lot of potential, and when I learned about the commander gameplay, I knew I had found the perfect place for him!
So for those who don't know, Varolz, the Scar-Striped has this nifty little ability that defined Golgari: all creatures in the graveyard gain scavenge, with the cost equal to the creature's converted mana cost. And of course, this got me thinking about cheap scavenge for big power. This led to a search for cards that can use counters for utility, then card's that abuse the graveyard, and then I had this deck! Here's a list of reasons for some of my card choices:
Gyre Sage, Sylvan Caryatid, Darksteel Ingot, Expedition Map, Chromatic Lantern were all added as ways to mana ramp into big threats faster, or as mana fixers when none were to be found. Mana fixing and ramp are important in all Commander decks and these particular choices work very well with this one. Gyre Sage is especially nice once you've scavenged counters onto her - so much mana!
Hunted Troll, Hunted Horror, Death's Shadow, Phyrexian Dreadnought are what make the basic ways to build counters with Varolz, the Scar-Striped's scavenge ability. Phyrexian Dreadnought and Death's Shadow are easy choices - both sac themselves once they hit the field, and cost one to scavenge their counters.Hunted Troll and Hunted Horror are both relatively cheap creatures which won't give opponents creatures for free as long as they do not get played to the battlefield themselves, and are for the scavenge only.
Lord of Extinction, Mortivore, Kagemaro, First to Suffer, Masumaro, First to Live, Thought Gorger, Skullbriar, the Walking Grave, Psychosis Crawler - These creatures have very interesting interactions from the graveyard. Each of them have power/toughness based on an outside source - either the size of your hand, the amount of creatures in you or your opponents graveyards, or just the amount of cards in said graveyards. In particular Skullbriar, the Walking Grave gets to keep all the counters he's gained throughout the match, as long as he isn't sent back to the library or hand. This makes for lots of flexibility and crazy plays, which is always a plus in commander games.
Xathrid Demon, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord, Death's Presence, Deathrender, Greater Good, Phyrexian Tower, Mycoloth, Miren, the Moaning Well, Dictate of Erebos, Skullclamp - These cards all benefit from sacrificing creatures or having them die. Xathrid Demon and Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord sacs creatures to deal direct damage to opponents. Deathrender lets you get bigger creatures out when smaller or less useful creatures are on board. Greater Good lets you sac creatures for card draw]]. Phyrexian Tower lets you sac for mana ramp. Miren, the Moaning Well lets you sac for lifegain. Mycoloth lets you sac to make mycoloth bigger, and get out blockers each turn that can also be sacced for mana ramp. Dictate of Erebos pretty much lets you kill opponents creatures for saccing your own, and Death's Presence lets you add counters to creatures when your creatures die. And of course, Skullclamp for card draw. These all work together in very powerful ways, giving each card you play huge value.
Executioner's Capsule, Sylvok Replica, Life's Finale, Plague Boiler, Nevinyrral's Disk, Nihil Spellbomb, Oblivion Stone - These cards help remove threats from the board. Specifically, I chose cards with complete board wipe that I can still regenerate through, so my creatures can remain on the battlefield to wreck face.
Cauldron of Souls, Thrun, the Last Troll, Asceticism, Glaring Spotlight, Mossbridge Troll, Troll Ascetic, Lotleth Troll, Experiment One, Nim Deathmantle, Swiftfoot Boots - These cards all help to keep my creatures alive and well, either through regenerate or through providing hexproof.
Bloodghast, Reassembling Skeleton, Gravecrawler, Glissa, the Traitor, Volrath's Stronghold, Eternal Witness, Riftsweeper - These cards have some way to get cards back from the graveyard. Riftsweeper is a special note, as it returns cards that have been exiled, including things you've already scavenged.
Diabolic Tutor, Demonic Tutor, Fauna Shaman, Dimir House Guard, Jarad's Orders - These cards help me find the cards I need so I can get combos off more frequently. Jarad's Orders have a nice touch where you can throw a creature in the graveyard for free, and keep the other. Perfect for this deck.
Rancor, Loxodon Warhammer, Pharika, God of Affliction - These cards help punch through opponent's defenses when you haven't laid waste to it, or give you some more time to play better cards with lifegain. Pharika, God of Affliction seems at first like something you wouldn't want to play, but it fits this deck perfectly. You can get rid of creature cards from opponent's decks if they're a recurring threat, which you can just punch through the token with a regenerated creature, or with Champion of Lambholt make the token useless. Or better yet, let your creature die, so it can hit the graveyard for more scavenging fun. Also, it helps build alliances in a multiplayer game, and indirectly removes another threat you can't deal with.
Corpsejack Menace, Mindless Automaton, Fertilid, Inkmoth Nexus and Champion of Lambholt benefit from making counters, giving them counters, or using said counters. Seeing a Corpsejack Menace on the field when you give your 1/1 Inkmoth Nexus the scavenge counters from a Death's Shadow makes me grin evilly.
And that's it for my deck! If you guys have any Suggestions or feedback, please don't hesitate to leave a comment. I don't know every card in magic and if you think I could really benefit from a card in here, let me know! Thanks for reading :)
