[EDH] Borborygmos Crushes Them, and We Eat.

[Davran]

I've been having a bout with deckbuilding funk lately, so I decided to go back to where it all began: Borborygmos.

The first version of this deck, assembled some 4 years ago now, was terrible. I knew nothing about the format. My collection of "staples" was terrible. I played a handful of games, got crushed, and seriously considered abandoning EDH as a thing. It's been a wild and crazy ride from there...but it's time to go back to my roots.

General:
Borborygmos

Creatures:
Ulvenwald Tracker
Gyre Sage
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Scavenging Ooze
Vexing Shusher
Zhur-Taa Druid
Eternal Witness
Fierce Empath
Rage Forger
Vithian Renegades
Ghor-clan Rampager
Ogre Battledriver
Oracle of Mul Daya
Polis Crusher
Solemn Simulacrum
Acidic Slime
Silklash Spider
Thicket Elemental
Deadwood Treefolk
Duplicant
Inferno Titan
Soul of the Harvest
Avenger of Zendikar
Giant Adephage
Gruul Ragebeast
Woodfall Primus

Instants:
Artifact Mutation
Comet Storm
Signal the Clans
Beast Within
Chaos Warp
Hunter's Insight
Krosan Grip
Savage Beating

Sorcery:
Green Sun's Zenith
Armed // Dangerous
Clan Defiance
Hull Breach
Regrowth
Sylvan Scrying
Cultivate
Kodama's Reach
Harmonize
Skyshroud Claim
Tooth and Nail

Artifacts:
Sol Ring
Mind Stone
Chromatic Lantern
Oblivion Stone
Thran Dynamo
Cauldron of Souls

Enchantments:
Goblin Bombardment
Sylvan Library
Aggravated Assault
Fires of Yavimaya
Greater Good
Gruul War Chant

Planeswalkers:
Garruk Wildspeaker
Sarkhan Vol
Xenagos, the Reveler

Lands:
Command Tower
Dryad Arbor
Fire-lit Thicket
Fungal Reaches
Grove of the Burnwillows
Gruul Turf
Jund Panorama
Karplusan Forest
Kazandu Refuge
Kessig Wolf Run
Mosswort Bridge
Mountain Valley
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
Rootbound Crag
Stomping Ground
Strip Mine
Taiga
Temple of the False God
Winding Canyons
Wooded Foothills
Yavimaya Hollow
8 Forest
8 Mountain



Maybe Board:
Mana Vault
Blasphemous Act
Chain Reaction
Raging Ravine
Brawn
Anger
Hall of the Bandit Lord
Greater Gargadon
Wilderness Elemental
Forgotten Ancient


Wish List:
Fangren Firstborn
Rubblebelt Raiders
Mycoloth

The deck is pretty straight forward to play. Cast creatures and attack. Unfortunately, the list can be a little slow at times...so if your meta is blisteringly fast you might want more ramp. It should be fine for most multiplayer games though, especially if you're following the "2nd scariest" philosophy.

Any suggestions are certainly welcome.

[FTW]

I recommend strong R/G creatures that profit from having +1/+1 counters on them.

E.g.

Gyre Sage
Fertilid
Forgotten Ancient
Mycoloth
Rage Forger


Gyre Sage and Fertilid basically ramp you an extra mana each time Bory attacks.
Ancient is just a great multiplayer card in general. Giving it more counters can't be bad.
Mycoloth gives you exponential rewards.. each attack nets an extra +1/+1 counter which nets an extra creature per turn, and each token gets a +1/+1 counter...
Rage Forger is a Hellrider-type effect. You could also just run Hellrider instead.

You can capitalize on the +1/+1 counters by also running
Rubblebelt Raiders
Fangren Firstborn

[Davran]

I recommend strong R/G creatures that profit from having +1/+1 counters on them.

E.g.

Gyre Sage
Fertilid
Forgotten Ancient
Mycoloth
Rage Forger


Gyre Sage and Fertilid basically ramp you an extra mana each time Bory attacks.
Ancient is just a great multiplayer card in general. Giving it more counters can't be bad.
Mycoloth gives you exponential rewards.. each attack nets an extra +1/+1 counter which nets an extra creature per turn, and each token gets a +1/+1 counter...
Rage Forger is a Hellrider-type effect. You could also just run Hellrider instead.

You can capitalize on the +1/+1 counters by also running
Rubblebelt Raiders
Fangren Firstborn

Hm. I hadn't thought of taking the deck in that direction because Borborygmos is so expensive. I mostly looked at him as the win condition - cast some other dudes, find a haste outlet, cast Borb and smash someone's teeth in.

Rage Forger is a great suggestion - there are already 6 shamans in the deck (soon to be 8 - I have a Wort, the Raidmother and Vexing Shusher on their way to me), and one of those is Woodfall Primus.

I waffled on Gyre Sage in the Zhur-Taa Druid slot when I was building the deck. On one hand, Sage does benefit from the +1/+1 counters, and evolving it shouldn't be all that difficult given the amount of fat in the deck. On the other, Zhur-Taa Druid is more unassuming and its ramp comes with a small life swing. It might be "correct" to simply run both...but that means finding room...

I've never really been a fan of Fertilid. You're paying 5 mana for your first Rampant Growth, which happens on turn 4 at the earliest. Then you either choose to kill it for your 2nd (7 mana spent) or leave it around as a 1/1 hoping to find some other way to dump counters on it. Compare that to Culitvate or Skyshroud Claim, which are much more mana efficient. Hell, even Yavimaya Elder is a more efficient guy. Further, if we're at the point in the game where Borborygmos is pounding someone for +1/+1 counters, chances are I don't really need all of the ramp.

Forgotten Ancient is another one that didn't make the final list that probably should have.

I overlooked Mycoloth because I don't really have all that much for it to devour.

Fangren Firstborn is a card I didn't know existed. I'll have to see if I can find a copy somewhere...it seems perfect for the deck. Rubblebelt Raiders is also probably quite good in here as it can get pretty big pretty fast.

A few changes:

Out:
Spellbreaker Behemoth
Gamble
Expedition Map
Relic Crush
Boldwyr Intimidator
Druids' Repository
Word of Seizing

In:
Vexing Shusher
Signal the Clans
Xenagos, the Reveler
Wort, the Raidmother
Giant Adephage
Gyre Sage
Rage Forger