'Lo, all...

First off, I know I'm a day late and a buck short (as well as several other random cliches) as far as Odyssey Block Constructed goes - but I never got around to sharing this decklist, so I figured I might as well not let it completely go to waste:

Gangreen
by Carl Jarrell

4 Zombie Infestation
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Arrogant Wurm
4 Roar of the Wurm
4 Ichorid
4 Carrion Rats
4 Zombie Cannibal
4 Crypt Creeper (KEEPER, etc., etc.)
12 Swamp
10 Forest
2 Tainted Wood

Sideboard:
4 Faceless Butcher
3 Druid Lyrist
4 Spellbane Centaur
2 Possessed Centaur
2 Ground Seal

This deck goes along the same theory of the Blue/Green madness decks, except whereas U/G uses Compulsion to improve card quality and get cheap pressure into play, this deck uses Zombie Infestation to simply beat the opponent about the head, face, and shoulder regions as quickly as possible before card quality can matter.

Wild Mongrel is obviously a staple card if you're going this route, but Zombie Infestation is the linchpin of the deck; frightening things can happen very quickly if this comes down early, and not only can it hit the table under the limited countermagic available, many decks have few if any ways at all to remove it.

Pitching Basking Rootwalla (a.k.a.,"Not Paying The Alternate Casting Cost of G") and Arrogant Wurm are the most obvious combos, as well as pitching Roar of the Wurm so that you can flash it back later for a much cheaper cost - but then you have the Ichorid abuse route.

Would you pitch two cards from your hand during your opponent's end step to make a 2/2 Zombie token? Maybe so, but that's not exactly great.

Would you pitch two cards from your hand during your opponent's end step to make a 2/2 Zombie token, and then put a 3/1 with haste into play during your upkeep? That sounds a little better.

Carrion Rats, Zombie Cannibal, and Crypt Keeper may not be the most optimal creatures in the world - although they're certainly better in Block Constructed than they would be in Standard, for sure. However, while hardcasting them isn't the worst thing that can happen in the world, the majority of the time they're simply there to make tokens or pump the Mongrel while fueling the Ichorids at the same time.

If Infestation or Mongrel come down second turn, the deck can be lightning fast; swinging for eight to ten points of damage on the third turn happens more often than you think, and the deck can occasionally goldfish on the fourth turn (although we all know what goldfish draws mean in general). However, this deck is basically the equivalent of OBC Stompy... Its"removal" consists of just running over chumpblockers constantly, or just trying to remove the opponent as quickly as possible if there's something on the board or in the library that can't be dealt with easily. Also, the tradeoff is that the deck gains incredible speed at the cost that it dumps its hand with the quickness. In any case, the deck has a couple of issues for sure, but anything that can goldfish on the fourth turn in a Block Constructed format deserves at least some consideration before dismissing completely, or should at least be kept on the backburner in case Judgement brings along some goodies to its arsenal.

Onwards...

So - Compost is a good T2 sideboard card? Where have all the good formats gone? Or all the cowboys, for that matter?

I just referenced Paula Cole. Please don't hold it against me. Please don't hold her hairy pits against me either.

Several people have been trumpeting Compost's cause against black-based decks, and rightfully so; one Compost is definitely Above Average if they can't deal with it, and I don't even want to think about what happens When Multiple Copies Attack.

I'm still thinking with the exception of Brian Kibler's unnamed Black/Red, that this is more of a Phantom Menace than anything; in case there truly is a good base-black deck out there somewhere that we don't know about, people don't want to auto-lose to it if they can help it - so in comes Compost.

So let's say you're a sadist and want to play with The Best Basic Land In Any Format With Necropotence. Is there any possible way for you to deal with all your black cards turning into cantrips for your opponent?

The most apparent way to deal with Compost is to splash another color that is well-versed in enchantment removal, of course.

You really don't need me telling you this though, so if you want to go that route, it shouldn't take too much thought and prodding on my part.

However, what if you're really a sadist, and want to keep the deck base-black, or you want to keep the deck Black/Some Other Color That Can't Remove Compost Either?

Is there a way to do that? Possibly. All I ask is that you keep somewhat of an open mind; I myself still am not sure about this, but I figured it was good enough to at least warrant some discussion.

So mono-black has a way to keep up the pace against a Compost?

Stone Cold Steve Austin:"What?"

I thought I used up that wrestling gimmick last week.

"What?"

Bereavement
1B
Enchantment
Whenever a green creature is put into a graveyard from play, its controller chooses and discards a card.

"What?"

Yes, this card was terrible when it first came out - but there was also some sorcery for 2B that tended to do a slightly better job of hosing green that was also legal at the time. So now that that's gone and this is a different format with a different power level, it may deserve re-examination.

Let's look at this from an objective view, with different situations to choose from:

Scenario: Stick McStickerson is playing Red/Green beats (no offense to you Red/Green players in general - *wink*) and has a few lands, a Basking Rootwalla (which he paid the alternate casting cost of G to put into play) and a Compost out. He has just passed the turn to his opponent, Tech von Techerson (from the far-away land of Techsylvania), who has a few lands and a Bereavement out. Tech draws his card for the turn - which we'll say puts both players' hand totals at four. Tech casts Chainer's Edict, targeting Stick. Chainer's Edict resolves, the Rootwalla goes to the graveyard, Stick draws a card off of Compost, and then discards a card to the Bereavement. Stick has four cards in hand, while Tech now has three.

Let's take a second to look at the possibilities here. With neither Compost nor Bereavement on the table, Tech would have traded one card in hand (the Edict) for one card on the board (the Rootwalla), which is acceptable. Keeping in mind the Edict can be flashed back later, this is an acceptable one-for-one trade that can turn into a two-for-one trade as the game goes on.

Now let's take the worst case scenario and assume that Stick has one Compost out while Tech has yet to see a Bereavement. Although the Edict can be flashed back later, that's still no good in the early game when Stick gets to replace the lost Rootwalla immediately with a new card thanks to the Compost. Stick would have five cards in hand in this scenario to Tech's three, which you could say would be Bad Times for Techerson.

Let's now assume the best case scenario: Stick has yet to see a Compost while Tech has one copy of Bereavement out. Tech casts Edict targeting Stick, and Stick sacrifices his Rootwalla. The Rootwalla goes to the grave, and Stick discards a card to the Bereavement. Stick now has three cards in hand to Tech's three cards in hand. Using any other removal spell on a green creature would automatically become a two-for-one trade with Bereavement out - but keeping in mind the Edict can be flashed back later in the game, things look that much better for Tech.

That was just a general example to start out with, the only thing we know from the above is that Tech is playing black spells and Bereavement. Let's go a little deeper and give Tech some specific decks to approach this with.

Scenario: Stick is still playing Red/Green beats, but we now know that Tech is playing a control black build custom spoonfed from Wizards R&D, complete with Innocent Blood, Chainer's Edict, Mutilate, and some other Good Stuff. Let's assume that Stick has four cards in hand, one Compost in play, and a Rootwalla and Yavimaya Barbarian to go with it. Tech once again has Bereavement on the board with three cards in hand. Tech untaps and draws his card for the turn, going up to four. Tech then taps four swamps and casts Mutilate. Mutilate resolves and goes to the grave, as do the Rootwalla and Barbarian. Stick draws one card off of the Compost due to the Mutilate, then discards two cards to each trigger of the Bereavement. Stick now has three cards in hand, as does Tech.

What happens if Bereavement isn't out? Mutilate kills two immediate threats - sure, but one of those cards is replaced by the Compost, so Mutilate ends up trading one-for-one, which is about the last thing you want to do with a global sweeper. Stick has five cards in hand to Tech's three cards now - which again, is Bad Times For Techerson.

The other possibility here is pretty obscene, though: Stick is without Compost while Tech is with Bereavement. Tech casts Mutilate, killing both the Rootwalla and the Barbarian, and grabs two cards out of Stick's hand to boot. Stick now has two cards in hand to Tech's three. Considering holding cards is a good way to play around stuff like Mutilate, this is probably a good thing - never mind the fact that Mutilate just went four-for-one.

Scenario: Stick loves the Red/Green beats, and is with it once more. Tech is still with the Best Basic Land In Any Format With Necropotence... But this time he has Sulfurous Springs and Tainted Peaks to accompany them, since he is with Kibler's Black/Red deck. Let's say that this time Stick has four cards in hand, a Compost out, and a Rootwalla, Barbarian and an Elephant token from Call of the Herd out. Tech has four cards in hand, and has a Bereavement and a lone Shambling Swarm out. (Stick - being a complete and total stick, of course - decides to swing with everyone, however, he remembers to hold off on pumping the Rootwalla for the time being, so there may be hope for him yet.) Tech blocks the Rootwalla with Swarm, and Stick pumps. Damage goes on the stack and resolves. Tech takes five damage from the unblocked Elephant and Barbarian, Swarm and Rootwalla go to graveyard. Stick draws one card off the Compost, then discards one to Bereavement, keeping him at four cards, then Swarm's ability triggers, and Tech decides to put all three counters on the Herd token, killing it. The token evaporates but hits the graveyard nonetheless, and Stick discards down to three.

Now what if Stick is the Stickliest Player Alive and forgets about the pump ability, or simply doesn't have the mana available for some reason to pump the Rootwalla to start with? Tech blocks the Elephant token, then takes three from the Barbarian and Rootwalla. Token and Swarm die, Stick draws one from Compost then discards one to Bereavement, keeping him at four cards. Tech then assigns two -1/-1 counters to the Barbarian and one -1/-1 counter to the Rootwalla, which resolves without further effects. Rootwalla and Barbarian die, and Stick has to pitch two more cards, leaving him with two cards in hand to Tech's three.

That's a slightly more shady situation than the first Swarm scenario, but blatant play errors can and do happen (some of us should know more than others). In the first case, not taking into account whether or not the token was a flashback or the first casting, the Swarm took out two threats on the board for one card - which is generally a Good Thing - and then grabbed two cards from Stick's hand along with it. One of these cards in hand was replaced by Compost, so the Swarm goes three-for-one for the time being. In the second case, Stick was absolutely cremated by his bad play or lack of available mana; Swarm takes out three threats on the table and Stick loses three cards in hand - one of which Compost replaces, but still a nasty end result.

Again, while this is an experiment geared towards seeing whether or not Bereavement is good at canceling out Compost draws; let's look at the other situation where the bad Rootwalla situation occurred, but this time Stick hasn't seen a Compost yet. Swarm takes out three threats on the table and grabs three cards from Stick's hand. Reminding you once again this doesn't take into account the availability of a Call in the grave to be flashed back, Shambling Swarm has effectively went six-for-one, leaving Stick with a lone card in hand during his turn, while Tech still has four cards in his hand and will go up to five cards in hand when Stick passes the turn. This game is effectively over.

Now, here's a couple of slightly less ringing endorsements for Bereavement, just so I'm fair here.

Scenario: Stick has four cards in hand again, as does Tech. Stick has a Compost out, a Rootwalla, and a Wild Mongrel. Tech has a Bereavement out, a Mesmeric Fiend and a Phyrexian Rager. It is Stick's turn, so he Urza's Rages the Fiend, getting a card back in his hand, so he's still at four cards. Fiend hits the graveyard, triggering Compost, and Stick goes up to five cards. Stick then serves it up with both the Rootwalla and the Mongrel, declining to pump the Rootwalla for the time being. Tech decides the best block would be to throw the Rager in front of the Mongrel. Before damage, Stick pumps the Rootwalla - then, after damage goes on the stack, Stick discards a card to Mongrel, making it a 3/3 black creature and going back down to four cards in hand. Damage resolves. Rager goes to the graveyard, Stick draws another card off Compost, and Tech takes three damage. Stick still now has five cards in hand to Tech's four, and Tech has no creatures in play staring down a Mongrel and a Rootwalla still.

Once more, there's some other card advantage possibilities here to take into account seeing as how a card was drawn off of the Rager when it came into play, so this is just taking into account the immediate situation. If there was no immediate way to remove the Fiend and it and the Rager could've chump blocked the Mongrel, Stick could pitch one card to make it a black 3/3, kill both black creatures, draw two cards off of the Compost, and not have to pitch a card to the Bereavement because the Mongrel is now black when it goes to the grave. Never mind the situation where Stick can afford to pitch two cards and save the Mongrel altogether, then get them right back from the dead Fiend and Rager.

Scenario: Tech has switched back to control black for the time being, and has been getting the crap kicked out of himself, but he has finally been able to get rid of all threats on the board. Once more, Stick has a Compost out with two cards in hand this time, while Tech has a Bereavement and two cards in hand as well. Tech casts Corrupt for six, targeting Stick. Stick takes six, Tech gains six, Corrupt goes to the graveyard, and Stick draws one off of Compost. Stick now has three cards in hand to Tech's one, and Tech passes the turn. Once Stick draws his card for the turn and goes up to four versus Tech's one, a single six-point life swing will probably not be enough, and this game is probably over.

So therefore, there are two key things to keep in mind when using Bereavement as a foil to the card advantage Compost generates:

1) With equal copies of Bereavement and Compost in play, Bereavement will negate the pure card advantage generated by Compost... But it can't do a thing about the card quality of those drawn. If the green player gets slightly land-flooded, he can simply afford to pitch excess lands to the Bereavement and draw into more creatures and/or burn off the Compost. The Compost will allow the green player to see more cards, and more cards usually equals better cards... But the Bereavement will at least limit those options to where he won't have them all at once.

2) Bereavement can only keep pace with Compost so long as you're killing off green guys as quick as the cards come. Bereavement doesn't do a thing about your black creatures dying unless they traded with another green creature in combat - and spells that otherwise don't or aren't affecting the board state at the moment (Duress, Corrupt to the head) will still leave the black player down a card or worse.

3) Due to priority issues, there very well could be situations where your opponent would discard to Bereavement first, and then draw cards off of Compost. If your opponent has zero cards in hand when he has to discard before he draws, it's going to be generally bad times anyways.

So is Bereavement a viable solution without corrupting the mana base? I think it certainly has a whole lot more potential now than it did when it first appeared during the Artifact Cycle (it tends to make Slay a little insane, amongst other things), but the question remains whether it is worth it to tie up three to four sideboard slots and keep the deck base-black or B/r, or to go with another color that can just directly deal with the Compost at the cost of possible mana issues, or cards not being as optimal in other matchups to compensate for their usefulness elsewhere. Hopefully, it's gotten you at least to think a little...

Sometimes the answer can be right under your nose if you look hard enough.... Or maybe not.

Next week: How Amugaba breaks the metagame in friggin' half.

*grin*

May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house,

Carl J.
carl_jarrell@hotmail.com
Zeke2517 on mIRC
The King of Greyhounds

 

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