I’ll be the first to admit that since I started played MTG, back in 1994, green has been my least favorite color to play. Back then, even playing a multi-colored deck, I never found the color interesting enough to maintain my attention. During my return to the game I’d always found those combos the most interesting if I wasn’t playing a mono-black deck. Things changed earlier this year when I got back into the game. I found the Guild concept to be a wonderful addition to the game’s mechanics, especially the Orzhov and Golgari Guilds introduced with the original Ravnica block. Since then, my deck building has evolved from a mono-colored to deck to a multi-colored combination and green/black is becoming my favorite color combination.
The deck, with it’s side board, has a dual theme. The first could be considered a self-mill deck. Using cards like Jarad’s Orders, Commune with the Gods and Grisly Salvage, you’re pumping up your graveyard. Then you’re allowed to use Treasured Find and Pharika’s Mender to return cards from your graveyard. Deathrite Shaman is perfect for this deck. Land cards placed in your graveyard, or your opponents, can still be used once before exiling, and instants and sorceries can be exiled to cause damage, or creatures can be exiled to gain life. But be careful how many creatures are exiled, the Nighthowler’s power and toughness are equal to the number of creatures in all graveyards. Don’t be afraid to loose creatures in battle, they may find their way back onto the battlefield.
The second theme is more creature based. Replace the Pharika’s Mender and Nighthowler with the Kalonian Hydra and Jarad’s Orders, Grisly Salvage and Commune with the Gods with the Corpsejack Menace and Savage Summoning to bring some hefty Hydra on to the battlefield. Even in the damage from a 32/32 is prevented, you can still sacrifice the Kalonian Hydra with Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and cause damage to your opponent equal to the sacrificed creature’s power.
Be forewarned though, having multiple Corpsejack Menace and Kalonian Hydra on the battlefield at the same time can get kind of confusing when calculating the number of counters triggered by the Hydra attacking. You’re not placing additional counters on the Kalonian Hydra, you’re placing new counters, which means you’ll be triggering the Corpsejack Menace’s mechanic multiple times. For example, if I have two Kalonian Hydra and two Corpsejack Menace on the battlefield and each Hydra attacks, the Hydra doubles the counters of each, then the second hydra doubles those again and the Corpsejack double the counters each time the counters double. It can get kinda gross if you trigger the mechanics in a specific order of Hydra, Corpsejack, Corpsejack, then Hydra, Corpsejack, Corpsejack.
I added the Plummet to the sidebar because this deck has no flying creatures, and I found that nearly every player in Omaha who uses a black deck has a Desecration Demon in it.
Jarad’s Golgari Graveyard Deck.
2014 Tournament Legal
Land:
Golgari Guildgate x 4
Overgrown Tomb x3
Forest x7
Swamp x8
Creatures:
Nighthowler x2
Elvish Mystic x4
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord x3
Reaper of the Wilds x3
Deathrite Shaman x3
Pharika’s Mender x2
Spells:
Jarad’s Orders x3
Putrefy x3
Commune with the Gods x1
Grisly Salvage x3
Grim Return x2
Hero’s Downfall x3
Treasured Find x4
Abrupt Decay x2
Side Board:
Plummet x4
Savage Summoning x3
Kalonian Hydra x4
Corpsejack Menace x4
