Absinthe - Mono Green Poison

[ReAnimator]

Brewed this up because of the interaction between 4 Venerated Rotpriest and 4 Bounty of the Hunt.
If you have 2 rot priest and 1 other creature in play, that’s 6 poison all on it’s own, without using the combat step, and can’t be disrupted all that easily. Having a real closing plan that doesn’t involve combat is a game changer for infect. Rot priest is a house, it can punish people for interacting, and it can punish them for not interacting.

This could be adopted in UG infect, and it probably should be in some way, but i want to explore something new and different.

Is this a glass cannon? sure,
Should it have some disruption? maybe,
Does this have a hope in the current meta? probably not.
Doesn’t mean it can’t be a lot of fun.
This is where i’m starting from.
Still really really fast, but more resilient in some ways, and has avenue’s to win a mid game.

4 Glistener Elf
4 Venerated Rotpriest
4 Ignoble Hierarch
3 Elvish Spirit Guide
1 Bloated Contaminator
1 Cankerbloom
1 Dryad Arbor

4 Green Sun’s Zenith
4 Invigorate
4 Bounty of the Hunt
3 Season of Growth
2 Snakeskin Veil
2 Vines of Vastwood
1 Scale Up
3 Berserk
3 Once upon a time

4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Pendelhaven
1 Boseiju, who endures
6 Forest
3 Misty Rainforest

SB Options:
Torpor Orb
Veil of Summer
Viridian corrupter
Seeds of innocence
Faerie Macabre
Dismember
Cursed Totem
Postmortem Lunge

Weirdly enough you can win with normal damage without too much difficulty some times, which is certainly strange.

Some card choices:
Season of Growth can be super powerful in here, giving you some card advantage for games that go a bit longer, while also being great when you are trying to go off.


Snakeskin Veil. A lot of the time you need your protection spells on your opponents turns, as that’s the smart time to be interacting from their side of things. This is the only protection spell that leaves some power behind. These might turn into Vines, but i haven’t kicked many vines, so i think the opposite might be true, but some sort of mix is where i'm starting.


Cankerbloom is a fantastic GSZ target, a disenchant that can proliferate? perfect.


Bloated Contaminator is a high end win con but not really sure if it’s wanted or necessary, i think going for rot priests with a GSZ will guarantee some poison counters more than this guy, but I want to try out the new cards, so i'm giving him a chance. He’s certainly not unreasonable coming down on turn 2 from your hand. It’s possible you want it in your opening hand more than as a tutor target, if so you'd want more, i'm doubtful that's the case here though. Viridian corrupter might claim this spot or the 4th Once Upon a Time.


All the rest of the cards should be pretty self explanatory.


Happy to hear any feedback.

[rufus]

I wonder if it makes sense to try this in green blue with cards like Spellskite, Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief and Croaking Counterpart or in green/red with stuff like Heat Shimmer.

[morgan_coke]

Rotpriest might actually be a dumber card than Tarmogoyf or Delver of Secrets.

Talk about words I never thought I'd type. I'm going to go ahead and guess that they didn't realize it triggered when you targeted it yourself, because I can't honestly believe that ANY level of playtesting wouldn't reveal the problems with that card immediately.

It's early, but all I'm seeing online is Poison and anti-poison. Standard is absolutely fucked given there isn't a single way to remove poison counters in the entire set.

For Legacy, I think you want to add some Proliferate triggers, and just gain the ability to ignore the combat step entirely if needed against someone that can quickly stabilize with only a few poison counters.

Green gives Evolution Sage, Pollenbright Druid, Smell Fear

In Blue you've got Contentious Plan, Tezzeret's Gambit, and Experimental Augury

Also, Prologue to Phyresis, Bring the Ending and Distorted Curiousity work well with poison.

[snugar_i]

Rotpriest might actually be a dumber card than Tarmogoyf or Delver of Secrets.
In Blue you've got Contentious Plan, Tezzeret's Gambit, and Experimental Augury

In blue there's also Flux Channeler

[PirateKing]

Quick search for spells that let you target "any number of target creature"
Cauldron Haze
Energy Arc
Scapegoat
Sway of Illusion

Seems like it'd be a different deck entirely, but Venerated Rotpriest +9 other creatures and any of the spells above is 10 poison. (Scapegoat needs it's goat, +1 creature for that line)
2 Venerated Rotpriest + 3 other creatures would likely be the ideal line.
Need to search up 1/1's for 2 that put a token creature into play or something similar.

[rufus]

Quick search for spells that let you target "any number of target creature" ....

There's a cycle of "one or more" in legends - e.g. Dwarven Song, there's also some "up to" templating like Gird for Battle, and some "one or two" like Elven Rite or the aforementioned Bounty of the Hunt.

Though I'm not sure any of it is all that interesting.

[PirateKing]

Sylvan Paradise being green is probably the biggest get.
An on-color 1CMC Instant that says "your opponent gets X*Y poison counters, where X is the number of Venerated Rotpriest you control and Y is the number of creatures you control"

EDIT:
Nest Invader is the best number of creature for CMC value I could find, 2 creatures for 2 mana.
Grist would be usefull since it plays nice with GSZ and makes creatures.

[ReAnimator]

Thanks everyone for some cool ideas.

I don't think going into another non blue color for unlimited targeting is really worth it, especially for cards that can't stand on their own, but you are right in that it's worth thinking about and seeing if there is some sort of application.

warriors' lesson is interesting as is symbiosis. But i don't know if either can really overcome other options.


rufus

I wonder if it makes sense to try this in green blue with cards like Spellskite (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Spellskite), Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Ivy,%20Gleeful%20Spellthief) and Croaking Counterpart (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Croaking%20Counterpart) or in green/red with stuff like Heat Shimmer (http://deckbox.org/mtg/Heat%20Shimmer).


These are cool ideas, but they are all very mana intensive. twinflame and Phantasmal Image are the cheapest clones, but there'd have to be a good reason to go there. As it stands GSZ is just better than all those options. Spellskite is for sure a consideration for it's combo potential.


Rotpriest might actually be a dumber card than Tarmogoyf or Delver of Secrets.

Talk about words I never thought I'd type. I'm going to go ahead and guess that they didn't realize it triggered when you targeted it yourself, because I can't honestly believe that ANY level of playtesting wouldn't reveal the problems with that card immediately.

It's early, but all I'm seeing online is Poison and anti-poison. Standard is absolutely fucked given there isn't a single way to remove poison counters in the entire set.

For Legacy, I think you want to add some Proliferate triggers, and just gain the ability to ignore the combat step entirely if needed against someone that can quickly stabilize with only a few poison counters.

Green gives Evolution Sage, Pollenbright Druid, Smell Fear

In Blue you've got Contentious Plan, Tezzeret's Gambit, and Experimental Augury

Also, Prologue to Phyresis, Bring the Ending and Distorted Curiosity work well with poison.

Agreed that Rotpriest seems pushed.

In it's current form, this already can avoid the combat step entirely.
I can see adding some more proliferate cards, if those cards are decent on their own, I think the two i have in there currently are better than other options. Throne of Geth is also an option, sac an inkmoth and itself.
I doubt Evolution Sage can out perform just going for a rotpriest. This is a very land light deck, and you are more likely to have pump spells in hand. Bloated Contaminator probably would always win out over sage as well.

[Zoid]

March of Burgeoning Life might be nice to get another Rotpriest with the downside of exposing yourself to abysmal trades.
However you can also use it to force some removal and then counter it with your hexproof spells.

Mutagenic Growth seems also nice as it's free while getting your priest out of bolt range.

[rufus]

March of Burgeoning Life might be nice to get another Rotpriest with the downside of exposing yourself to abysmal trades.
However you can also use it to force some removal and then counter it with your hexproof spells.

I was thinking Mask of the Mimic might be a way to get more copies too since it targets, but you do have to sack a body to use it.

[Barook]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgoR3O3VtjM

Just dropping this video here for ideas.

[ReAnimator]

Summoners pact is certainly worth consideration.
Might be for more of a combo focused build.

[Fox]

I was thinking Mask of the Mimic might be a way to get more copies too since it targets, but you do have to sack a body to use it.

You have to sac a dude and still have a thing you're targeting, otherwise it fizzles.

[PirateKing]

Summoners pact is certainly worth consideration.
Might be for more of a combo focused build.

Infect is already combo-ish, it just uses the combat step.
If we're talking about a deck that wins via Poison counters, but doesn't use the combat step (or doesn't have to use the combat step) then I'd think everything should be up for consideration.

[Zoid]

Infect is already combo-ish, it just uses the combat step.
If we're talking about a deck that wins via Poison counters, but doesn't use the combat step (or doesn't have to use the combat step) then I'd think everything should be up for consideration.

While that is true, this one has the ability to slow roll the game as well so you might not want to go too all-in.

On another note, the priest also works with auras so maybe stuff like Spider Umbra might be an option to removal proof yourself.

[rufus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgoR3O3VtjM

Just dropping this video here for ideas.

That really illustrates the gap in power level between "becomes a target" on the rotpriest and the "cast a spell targetting" template on heroic abilities.

Looking for that template led me toStormchaser Drake might work well with the free spell concept.

[ReAnimator]

Looking for that template led me toStormchaser Drake might work well with the free spell concept.


Season of growth is in there for exactly that reason. I like that drake a lot, I've used it in other formats.

[FTW]

Season of Growth is card negative - you initially go down a card, the first target breaks even, and you only gain a card after the 2nd target. Stormchaser Drake is a 2/x flier so you are never down a card and pull ahead after the first target.

UG would also allow the blue March or Gigadrowse. Either can multi-target or remove blockers from a pumped Infect creature. Blue also has Phantasmal Image to copy Rotpriest (opponent has to double poison themselves to trigger the downside, and you can stack the triggers to add more targeted spells & poison counters before any sacrifice). Plus cards like Force of Will and Daze to protect the combo.

If you want to be a glass cannon and not UG Infect, what about going GR like Bryant Cook's Modern deck?

Ground Rift is a cheap card that can either multi-target for Rotpriest or clear blockers from a pumped Glistener Elf. Seems good.

Edit: Pyrokinesis/Fury are functionally useful SB cards (not just glass cannon pieces) that can also target multiple creatures to combo (nonlethal 1 to each Rotpriest) or remove blockers.

In green Blossoming Defense seems better than Snakeskin Veil if you are trying to kill explosively.

Mutagenic Growth is free. With that, Bounty and Invigorate you can build considerable storm for 0 mana and then Ground Rift away blockers or multi-trigger Rotpriest.

[ReAnimator]

Those are all solid ideas.

Fury, matched with Ground Rift and probably manamorphose for extra red to pitch, sounds cool.
I've tried Mutagenic growth but it not being able to save most of your creatures from bolts always made it sub par. But it would make more sense in a build like this with red.

Blossoming is better on your own turn, Snakeskin is better on their turn. I think it's honestly a wash, so i want to try them out.

[Zoid]

Am I missing something or why would you even consider Fury?
It doesn't work with the Rotpriest while Pyrokinesis does.

[ReAnimator]

Am I missing something or why would you even consider Fury?
It doesn't work with the Rotpriest while Pyrokinesis does.
You are right! D'oh!

[FTW]

Am I missing something or why would you even consider Fury?
It doesn't work with the Rotpriest while Pyrokinesis does.

My mistake. I was trying to get cute with Fury target itself (for an extra creature to target), but missed that it is no longer a spell doing the targetting. Pyrokinesis is a good card though.

[ReAnimator]

A friend mentioned March of Burgeoning Life while i wouldn't want more than 1 or 2 copies, it is worth contemplating. You have to have a rot priest in play already for this to work, so you don't want a lot of copies, it does do some cool stuff at a reasonable cost. I'm going to test a couple out.

[FTW]

March is played in the newer formats like Standard. It's a decent way to find a 2nd Rotpriest for 1G or G + a card. But those formats don't have GSZ, which does the same for 1G.

The big difference with GSZ is it doesn't require a Rotpriest in play and isn't countered by removal on Rotpriest (2-for-1). But March does trigger for 1 poison and the pitch cost could be used to find another in response to removal on Rotpriest.

It may be worth testing in small numbers after 4 copies of GSZ and OUAT.

[snugar_i]

It's a decent way to find a 2nd Rotpriest for 1G
2G, actually. March says "less than X" instead of "X or less" for some reason.

[FTW]

2G, actually. March says "less than X" instead of "X or less" for some reason.

Good point. That is uncommon templating so I missed it. 2G is more prohibitive, though you could pay G + 1 card and treat it like a creature Crop Rotation.

The deck may need something like Sylvan Library for aggressive card draw.


Example:

//Creatures: 20
4 Venerated Rotpriest
4 Glistener Elf
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Allosaurus Shepherd
4 Skyshroud Cutter

//Cards: 12
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Once Upon A Time
2 Sylvan Library
2 March of Burgeoning Life

//Pump: 14
4 Bounty of the Hunt
4 Invigorate
4 Snakeskin Veil
2 Scale Up

//Lands: 14
2 Pendelhaven
2 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
4 Misty Rainforest
5 Forest
1 Dryad Arbor

//Sideboard:
3 Force of Vigor
3 Endurance


Cutter is a desperate attempt to get more bodies in play quickly (opponent life is irrelevant), though it doesn't have infect or toxic so it may be worse than just playing Endurance and casting Bounty with sacrifice on stack (for +1 target).

Allosaurus is a cheap creature to target that makes your comboy spells uncounterable and eventually +s Glistener Elf

[FourDogsinaHorseSuit]

Blame Dryad Arbor.

The good news is that one green card pitched can fetch both Rotpriest or Arbor.

[Zoid]

March makes sense as additional GSZ if you go for an angle which doesn't necessarily turn dudes sideways.
Don't forget it still triggers the original Rotpriest.

If you go for the infect angle there is no need for March.
He could supplement classic infect as guaranteed value in case your opponent has removal or you don't have enough pump spells.

If you don't want to run more Allosaurus Shepherd, Cavern on Phyrexian might be an option.
Since you don't need to actually resolve anything for the Rotpriest, maybe going for Chalice is not that bad.


Blame Dryad Arbor.

The good news is that one green card pitched can fetch both Rotpriest or Arbor.

You can only get an Arbor if you already have one.
That means a) playing more than 1 and b) wanting another one.

[FourDogsinaHorseSuit]

You can only get an Arbor if you already have one.
That means a) playing more than 1 and b) wanting another one.
I'm saying Arbor is why the templating is the way it is, they didn't want a repeat of GSZ.
That's why it's less than X, because they didn't want people paying G to get another Dryad arbor. Esp when every green fetch can be one.
Also each green card pitched adds 2, so you could pay G to get both because G+pitch = 2G

[FTW]

I'm saying Arbor is why the templating is the way it is, they didn't want a repeat of GSZ.

GSZ is G: put Arbor in play (turn 1)

Even if this was "X or less" this would be
G: put 2nd Arbor in play (turn 2) if you spent a fetch getting Arbor (-1 mana), which is not what most decks want to do with their turn 2, much weaker than GSZ, and can be 2-for-1d with Bolt or Gut Shot

[FourDogsinaHorseSuit]

GSZ is G: put Arbor in play (turn 1)

Even if this was "X or less" this would be
G: put 2nd Arbor in play (turn 2) if you spent a fetch getting Arbor (-1 mana), which is not what most decks want to do with their turn 2, much weaker than GSZ, and can be 2-for-1d with Bolt or Gut Shot

Yes it would be weaker. But it's still why they did it.

[Zoid]

Yes it would be weaker. But it's still why they did it.

Or maybe because it's an instant?
Not like it matters since it only searches for something you already have and GSZ is busted anyway.

[ReAnimator]

So can you Proliferate the counters that bounty gives and they stay right?
That's a pretty messed up interaction if there is enough proliferate that is worth running, currently i only have 2 cards that do it, but now i could see wanting more.

Oracle:

Bounty of the Hunt{3}{G}{G}

Instant
You may exile a green card from your hand rather than pay this spell’s mana cost.
Distribute three +1/+1 counters among one, two, or three target creatures.
For each +1/+1 counter you put on a creature this way, remove a +1/+1 counter from that creature at the beginning of the next cleanup step.

[Zoid]

So can you Proliferate the counters that bounty gives and they stay right?
That's a pretty messed up interaction if there is enough proliferate that is worth running, currently i only have 2 cards that do it, but now i could see wanting more.

Oracle:

Bounty of the Hunt{3}{G}{G}

Instant
You may exile a green card from your hand rather than pay this spell’s mana cost.
Distribute three +1/+1 counters among one, two, or three target creatures.
For each +1/+1 counter you put on a creature this way, remove a +1/+1 counter from that creature at the beginning of the next cleanup step.



Well yeah you only have to remove as many counters as you put on your dudes with Bounty so if you proliferate those new counters stay.
However, I fail to see how this is an amazing interaction given that there isn't that much good proliferate in green.
Proliferate doesn't target in case that was the idea.

[ReAnimator]

Well yeah you only have to remove as many counters as you put on your dudes with Bounty so if you proliferate those new counters stay.
However, I fail to see how this is an amazing interaction given that there isn't that much good proliferate in green.
Proliferate doesn't target in case that was the idea.

I know Proliferate doesn't target, but getting permanent counters is valuable out of a pump spell (snakeskin Veil as well) I have a Bloated Contaminator and Cankerbloom in my list to proliferate. So i could see exploring that more. Contaminator does work pretty well with Bounty already cause of the trample.

[Zoid]

I know Proliferate doesn't target, but getting permanent counters is valuable out of a pump spell (snakeskin Veil as well) I have a Bloated Contaminator and Cankerbloom in my list to proliferate. So i could see exploring that more. Contaminator does work pretty well with Bounty already cause of the trample.

Ok, just wanted to make sure.

That plan however is only really good with infect dudes unless you plan to get 10 AIDS counters as well 0 life on your opponent.
Bears the risk of losing with the opponent on 1 life and 9 counters though.

[FTW]

After some brewing, I think the Storm plan is the way to go.

Ground Rift is the most efficient multi-targetting card. It only costs 1 mana & 1 card, only needs 1 creature in play, and can set off many triggers.

Bounty of the Hunt is great but costs 2 cards and needs 3 creatures in play to reach its max of 3 triggers. It costs more resources/setup to get going and has a lower ceiling.

The other multi-targeters cost 2+ mana and usually need multiple creatures in play. Their ceiling is constrained by the number of creatures you can keep out (the "any number of target creatures" spells) or the amount of mana you can generate (e.g. Gigadrowse). Ground Rift can hit its ceiling with just 1 mana and 1 creature. It just needs you to cast many spells - in Legacy that is an easier goal to reach.

GR Rotpriest Poison

//Rotpriests: 14
4 Venerated Rotpriest
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Summoner's Pact
2 March of Burgeoning Life

//Storm Spells: 8
4 Ground Rift
4 Galvanic Relay

//Mana: 24
4 Lotus Petal
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Tinder Wall
4 Land Grant
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Taiga
1 Forest
1 Dryad Arbor

//Support: 14
4 Gamble
4 Veil of Summer
4 Manamorphose
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Allosaurus Shepherd

//Sideboard: 15
3 Force of Vigor
3 Endurance
3 Pyrokinesis
4 Xantid Swarm
1 Aeve, Progenitor Ooze
1 Cankerbloom


Might be better with +4 LED +4 Echo of Eons -8 weaker filler

[Zoid]

After some brewing, I think the Storm plan is the way to go.

Ground Rift is the most efficient multi-targetting card. It only costs 1 mana & 1 card, only needs 1 creature in play, and can set off many triggers.

Bounty of the Hunt is great but costs 2 cards and needs 3 creatures in play to reach its max of 3 triggers. It costs more resources/setup to get going and has a lower ceiling.

The other multi-targeters cost 2+ mana and usually need multiple creatures in play. Their ceiling is constrained by the number of creatures you can keep out (the "any number of target creatures" spells) or the amount of mana you can generate (e.g. Gigadrowse). Ground Rift can hit its ceiling with just 1 mana and 1 creature. It just needs you to cast many spells - in Legacy that is an easier goal to reach.

GR Rotpriest Poison

//Rotpriests: 14
4 Venerated Rotpriest
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Summoner's Pact
2 March of Burgeoning Life

//Storm Spells: 8
4 Ground Rift
4 Galvanic Relay

//Mana: 24
4 Lotus Petal
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Tinder Wall
4 Land Grant
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Taiga
1 Forest
1 Dryad Arbor

//Support: 14
4 Gamble
4 Veil of Summer
4 Manamorphose
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Allosaurus Shepherd

//Sideboard: 15
3 Force of Vigor
3 Endurance
3 Pyrokinesis
4 Xantid Swarm
1 Aeve, Progenitor Ooze
1 Cankerbloom


Might be better with +4 LED +4 Echo of Eons -8 weaker filler

At this point is there any reason not to just play regular storm?
I don't see how being reliant on a creature you can't protect is the way to go.

[ReAnimator]

Thanks for the creative idea FTW, but i think that's too much of a radical departure from what i'm trying to do.


Going to play a 4 round FNM this week with the deck.

Pretty much what i posted on the first page.
I added a Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth as it's randomly great for getting green out of your inkmoths, which can be relevant.

Sideboard is a bit of a mess, as i don't have all the cards i want to run at the moment.

Win or lose i'll write about how it went.

[FTW]

Thanks for the creative idea FTW, but i think that's too much of a radical departure from what i'm trying to do.


Going to play a 4 round FNM this week with the deck.

Pretty much what i posted on the first page.
I added a Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth as it's randomly great for getting green out of your inkmoths, which can be relevant.

Sideboard is a bit of a mess, as i don't have all the cards i want to run at the moment.

Win or lose i'll write about how it went.

No problem. If you plan on sticking monogreen with a plan like the OP list, I would recommend the following changes:

- 3 Season of Growth (I think this card will be too slow/conditional for Legacy vs how explosive you want to be)
- 1 Berserk (you're split between the beatdown and Rotpriest plan, so you don't need to be as suicidal as regular Infect)

+2 Sylvan Library (better card draw for monogreen)
+1 Once Upon A Time (more turn 1 Rotpriest/Elf)
+1 Boseiju (deck feels a bit land-light, plus more ways to kill Chalice is good)

For the SB, the following are musts (Tier 0) in mono G:
Force of Vigor
Endurance
Collector Ouphe

After that you may want some Veil of Summers, Mindbreak Trap for combo, and then some singleton silver bullets.

Viridian Corruptor is on theme, but a 4 mana GSZ play is probably too slow to interact with most things that you really need to destroy. Force of Vigor & Cankerbloom look faster.

[ReAnimator]

Thank you! those are all good suggestions.

[ReAnimator]

So i didn't do so well, but i was fairly competitive with a wide variety of decks. So i'll keep tinkering.
Snakeskin Veil was good, the permanent buff is nice.

One idea i had for going over the top, or mid game, is to natural order into Tyrranax Rex
Might be too expensive or at odds with the low mana count i currently have, but i'm going to try it out.
https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/f/0fb52b44-da5f-4f7a-a6c2-7924b855e051.jpg?1675957171

[Zoid]

Can you give us a bit more detail about your results?
Like what worked and what didn't?
Did you manage to identify any major weak points?

[ReAnimator]

The deck went into the mid and late game better than i thought it would. Despite having little disruption, it's easy to be threatening at all times. Once the disruption comes in from the board it's pretty adept.

I'm of two minds on this deck now, lean into a slightly more midrange slower natural order deck with Cavern of Souls and more Bloated Contaminator, or go for a faster Season of growth free spell engine. When Season is in play it's amazing, and with 2 you can usually win pretty quickly. Having it as support didn't really play to it's strengths, sort of feels like a 3-4 or 0 sort of card. Play a couple mutagenic growths to up the free spell count. Being synergistic with the rot priest engine is a strong pull to me, i understand why some don't like this strategy.

The slower version (which can still win fast) would probably need some sort of disruption engine. Not sure what that would entail. But being a naturally fast deck, with a slow midgame threat seems like a not great place to be? but i could be wrong, and it is a better plan A plan B thing than i suspect.

I did learn a lot about what i'm wanting and liking in the sideboard.
I want a full boat of Torpor orbs.
Scryb Ranger seems like a fun time vs delver, also Run Afoul is good here and vs depths too.
Veil of Summer was nuts and won a few games, no surprise.

[ReAnimator]

Played an in person 4 rounder.

Esper Stone Blade LWL
Yorion D&T WLW
Mono R Prison WLL
Mono B Reanimator, Gristle combo LWW

Ran this list

4 Glistener Elf
4 Venerated Rotpriest
4 Ignoble Hierarch
2 Elvish Spirit Guide
2 Bloated Contaminator
1 Cankerbloom
1 Dryad Arbor

4 Green Sun’s Zenith
4 Invigorate
4 Bounty of the Hunt
4 Season of Growth
2 Snakeskin Veil
2 Vines of Vastwood
2 Berserk
1 Mutagenic Growth
4 Once upon a time

4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Pendelhaven
1 Boseiju, who endures
5 Forest
1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
3 Misty Rainforest

SB:
4 Torpor Orb
3 Veil of Summer
1 Force of Vigor
2 Run Afoul
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Cavern of Souls


Torpor Orb's were amazing out of the board. Would have liked one less Veil and one more Force but i didn't have one.

As good as Once Upon a time is, i'm thinking this might not be the deck for it. If i cut them and moved some Caverns main, it would probably be about the same consistency. I found it equal parts helpful and clunky.

Bloated Contaminator is pretty good! I'm going to explore running more and the higher land count in the natural order build next.
Legacy is sooo interactive right now (or trying to stop interaction with chalice etc) that you end up in the mid game a lot, so i'm going to see what NO can do, and run more contaminators with a higher land count.

[FTW]

Thanks for posting the current list.

OUAT is strong, but in a build with higher creature count. Didn't realize you were running that many spells.

With that configuration you could go up to 4 Bloated Contaminator.

Do you still need Berserk? The deck isn't only Infect creatures anymore, and Berserk doesn't work as well with Toxic.

Was Season of Growth good? How often did it draw multiple cards?

If Glistener Elf was erratad to Phyrexian, then Cavern on Phyrexian looks good. But remember Invigorate needs a Forest in play, so you still need a good number of Forests.

[Zoid]

It seems you prefer to slow roll it a bit more rather than going ultra explosive.
How much do you value the Hierach?
I'm thinking Cavern+Shepherd might be more solid.
The nice thing about the Rotpriest is that you don't need to resolve anything besides him.
So even if you have a Chalice and your pump spells get countered you still distribute aids counters.

I was thinking about a bit more aggressive route with more 0 mana spells like Mutagenic Growth.
Gut Shot seems good too either as removal or on your dude to trigger the priest.
2 toughness helps I guess.

It's maybe a meta call but what about Pact of Negation to protect you in your critical turn?

[ReAnimator]

Berserk was good when it was good, but in a slower build it's less necessary, and with Contaminator having trample naturally, there's less need to break through. Berserk is good for threatening lethal with Glistner and Inkmoth. Berserk is one of my favourite cards of all time, and i love what 2 of them do together, but i guess this isn't the deck to run 4 or maybe even 2. For the slow version, sadly i think the number is Zero.

Glistner has been Errata'd to Phyrexian, so Cavern is a go for that.

Pact of Negation would probably be worse than just running more Snakeskins or Veils i think.

Gut shot is a good idea, having a little removal for small creatures would be welcome.

Hierarchs were fantastic, and help your small infectors attack in, without needing a pump.

It's not that i like the slow rolling more as a strategy, but in all my games, things always went longer, so i was having to play in those situations, despite not wanting to.

I honestly didn't draw season that much on the day, but was good when i did. It won't be in the slow build, but a fast more free spell version i think it would be necessary.

[ReAnimator]

This is where i’m at for the slow build
No berserks to break through, so not sure about that, feel like there needs to be something to get Elf and Nexus through blockers when pumped, just to keep people defensive.

4 Glistener Elf
4 Venerated Rotpriest
4 Ignoble Hierarch
2 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Bloated Contaminator
1 Cankerbloom
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Tyrranax Rex

4 Green Sun’s Zenith
4 Invigorate
4 Bounty of the Hunt
4 Snakeskin Veil
3 Natural Order
2 Infectious Bite

4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Pendelhaven
2 Boseiju, who endures
5 Forest
1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Cavern of Souls

Infectious bite might not be good enough. But want something in there as removal. Having your own removal trigger rotpriest is very cool though and a nice interaction.

I know it’s sorcery speed and 3 mana but Carnivorous Canopy has a lot of desirable modes.
There should maybe be a second NO target, maybe Hoof?

4x Snakeskin in this build is to get better proliferates with Contaminator. Bounty is also great for this.

[FTW]

ESG looks worse in the grindy version. Both modes aren't as great. Card disadvantage mana, or 2/2 non-Poison creature.

Do you want a 2nd Natural Order target in case the T Rex is unavailable? Most decks play 2 targets. Putrefax? Otherwise Atraxa or Archon of Valor's Reach are generically good cards.

Infectious Bite looks like a great way to get blown out by removal. And you don't have many big creatures to fight.

Maybe instead you could make room for more green creatures in the GSZ package (and for NO fodder). Viridian Corruptor? Sylvan Safekeeper? Allosaurus Shepherd?

[Zoid]

I'm still unconvinced that the interaction between Contaminator and Bounty is worth running 4.
If you're not using it as a combat trick then it's a 0 for 2 especially if you don't have any Rotpriests.

Given that you're still doing a lot of regular combat damage, wouldn't be old school Progenitus be a valid NO target as well?

I agree that Bite looks bad.

[ReAnimator]

I was thinking Hoof, or the new Atraxa is a good idea as potential targets as well. Progenitus is cool, but i don't think it's on the level of other options.

I think you need a few ESG just so you can always have some protection up (similar to playing force, just you know way worse lol) while tapping out. Just to keep your opponents honest.

As far as 4 Contaminator goes, why would you just run out a Bounty for no reason? That is just a terrible play. You wait till you can get some value out of it.
Same goes with thinking bite is leading to blow outs, with decks like this you want interactions during combat and then to blow someone out with protection, i'm not advocating playing terribly, that's like infect/combat trick decks 101. Also yes i have a ton of small creatures, but i'm also playing a bunch of pump spells.

I like the idea of expanding the GSZ package too, i like safekeeper as a target a lot. Great suggestion.