[Deck] Varolz, the Scar-Striped

[guybrush3]

Priority stuff. When he enters the battlefield you get the opportunity to do something before your opponent does. It's the same reason a Planeswalker can activate it's +1 the second it enters the battlefield to prevent it from being burnt out instantly.

i think this is wrong.

[lochlan]

i think this is wrong.

No, that's correct. The active player will receive priority after Varolz has resolved.

I simply did not understand that the plan here was to have a creature in the yard, cast Varolz, and then activate the Scavenge ability (Finn didn't really elaborate on this, assuming that's what he meant).

[FTW]

I started another thread with Varolz in an Eva Green shell. This looks fun, but probably suffers from consistency issues if you can't stick a Varolz+protection, since you're then playing 7 1-mana fatties with awkward liabilities. You don't HAVE to scavenge 12-13 each time. Scavenging 4-5 off a Goyf is pretty nice too. Why not just play creatures that are good and then have the option to scavenge them later? Death's Shadow still works in the shell, especially if you run Snuff Out, so you can still get your 1-mana ultraboost. Dreadnought just seems like a liability though.

Or if you want to play Dreadnought too, why not:

4 Phyrexian Dreadnought
4 Hunted Horror

4 Torpor Orb
3 Illusionary Mask

Plus Varolz, Goyfs, Bobs, Death's Shadow, Deathrite...
That way you'd have way more consistency and can just play Dreadnought as a legitimate threat, then scavenge afterwards for added explosiveness. Plus Torpor Orb randomly hoses things.

[Finn]

I think torpor orb decks and Eva are already being discussed elsewhere. I believe we are all on agreement now that Varolz is best as an asset and not the sole focus. I will alter the OP as soon as I can it something concrete that is not simply another deck with the same name.

[Megadeus]

A bit of a twist, what about playing VVives and Entombs? VVives play well with the idea of casting 1CC dudes by triggering, and entomb either fetches a VVive or fetches one of your giant guys to scavenge along with possibly getting Cabal Therapy?

[HPB_Eggo]

An assembly of some interesting things that work well in a GBw Varolz deck...

1) Corpsejack Menace and Ghave, Guru of Spores. They both do something good with Varolz and with one another, and only Corpsejack is actually useless on its own.

2) Kitchen Finks. Generally a pretty good card, only gets better when you can recur it a ton with Varolz.

3) Phyrexian Crusader. Protects itself from a lot of removal, and even a 3/3 Crusader requires either 6 power or evasion to get past. Also wins in a single swing with 10 power, assuming it connects. Often forces decks like Miracle Control to blow Terminus, even if it's your only creature.

Slot some of this into a modified Nic Fit shell and you get what seems like quite strong deck.

4 Veteran Explorer
4 Deathrite Shaman
3 Phyrexian Crusader
2 Varolz
1 KotR
1 Eternal Witness
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Corpsejack
1 Ghave
1 Scavenging Ooze


4 Cabal Therapy
2 Thoughtseize

3 GSZ
1 Diabolic Intent

3 Abrupt Decay
1 Malestrom Pulse
1 Vindicate

2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Sylvan Library

2 Liliana of the Veil

1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Dryad Arbor
18 Land

Only tested it a little bit against RuG and Miracles so far, but it did very well against both. Phyrexian Crusader with 1-2 extra P/T is basically game for RuG and sweep or game for Miracles. List is probably terrible, since its mostly just out of my head, but a lot of the interactions are very strong.

[Mr. Safety]

Has anybody considered that Natural Order is just a more compact, efficient package than a Varolz 'fair' beatdown deck? Of all the options, I think BUG has the best potential, if only because you can go 'oops, Stifle-Dreadnought' and play Force of Will/permission to protect Varolz.

[jhhdk]

If Kitchen Finks works with Varolz, the Scar-Striped, what about Murderous Redcap?

[zulander]

If Kitchen Finks works with Varolz, the Scar-Striped, what about Murderous Redcap?

It does, but it's not an infinite combo. It dies, get's a -1/-1 and then can't do it again. Seems a bit lackluster.



Also playing this in a reanimator shell seems awesome. Cast Varolz, the Scar-Striped play buried alive, get Phyrexian Dreadnought, Phyrexian Dreadnought, anger, win.

Or

Varolz, the Scar-Striped + Murderous Redcap + Melira, Sylvok Outcast = win

[HPB_Eggo]

It does, but it's not an infinite combo. It dies, get's a -1/-1 and then can't do it again. Seems a bit lackluster.

The important bit with Varolz is using a small creature to remove the -1/-1 counter on, say, Finks so you can recur it again. Allows for a lot of stall against, say, RUG with a flipped Delver, and you can add any number of other cards to make it sillier if you really wish to do so.

[zulander]

The important bit with Varolz is using a small creature to remove the -1/-1 counter on, say, Finks so you can recur it again. Allows for a lot of stall against, say, RUG with a flipped Delver, and you can add any number of other cards to make it sillier if you really wish to do so.

How are you removing counters from Kitchen Finks once it comes back into play?

[HPB_Eggo]

How are you removing counters from Kitchen Finks once it comes back into play?

Scavenge. State-based effects and whatnot remove -1/-1 or +1/+1 counters equal to the minimum of the two if both are present. Basically...

1) Veteran Explorer in graveyard, Varolz and Kitchen Finks (no counters) in play.
2) Kitchen Finks dies. Returns to play with a -1/-1 counter.
3) Scavenge Veteran Explorer onto Kitchen Finks. Removes the -1/-1 counter so it can be recurred again.

There are spots in there where the opponent can react to interrupt you, but assuming they don't have anything this should work.

(Stressing should, because I haven't had use for this rule in a few years and there's a possibility it has changed or been removed since then.)

[Zupponn]

Molten Hydra?

[HPB_Eggo]

Molten Hydra?

After thinking about it, not a bad idea. With Varolz, basically turns into a Lavamancer that can also straight-up win the game if you have enough power in your graveyard.

Real problem is what else in Red you would run to do well with Varolz. Guess it's time to wander back to Gatherer and see what else can be turned up...

[Zupponn]

After thinking about it, not a bad idea. With Varolz, basically turns into a Lavamancer that can also straight-up win the game if you have enough power in your graveyard.

Real problem is what else in Red you would run to do well with Varolz. Guess it's time to wander back to Gatherer and see what else can be turned up...

Well, there's always Vexing Devil.

[Barook]

After thinking about it, not a bad idea. With Varolz, basically turns into a Lavamancer that can also straight-up win the game if you have enough power in your graveyard.

Real problem is what else in Red you would run to do well with Varolz. Guess it's time to wander back to Gatherer and see what else can be turned up...

Red has lots of cheap high-power Ball Lightning-type of creatures. Although I doubt that goes along very well with the Varolz plan which takes a bit longer.

Hydra is still a nice find, though.

[metronome2charisma]

so i have had a version of the deck together and tested against esper stoneblade, 4color control, reanimated, dead guy ale, doomsday, and storm..this is my list and my findings.

4 Drs.
3 dark confidant
3 dreadnoughts
3 deaths shadow
2 varolz
2 tarmogoyf
1 snap caster
18

4 brainstorm
4 stifle
4 thoughtseize
3 daze
2 abrupt decay
2 sylvan library
1 Liliana
1 green sun zenith
21

2 underground seas
2 bayou
1 tropical island
1 breeding pool( no its not supposed to be trop)
1 watery grave( no its not supposed to be u.s.)
4 wasteland
2 creeping tarpit
4 verd catacombs
3 misty
1 dryad arbor
21

s.b.
1 malstrom pulse
1 life from the loam
1 abrupt decay
2 e plagues
4 force of will
2 fluster-storm
1 spell pierce adds so much
2 jtms
1 other card i cant think of ...

soooooo... the deck is really fun and really good.the numbers need tweeking but its good.. .varolz makes a lot of choices for them super hard and also sometimes you just win with a stifled dreadnought...try thinking of this as almost a necro style deck that trys to stay ahead but between tar pits,lily,library and varolz it has a ton of late game reach...i'm thinking of testing another library, another dreadnought and maybe torper orb,and unearth seems almost broken in this list (i think post mortum lunge also has a TON of potential) but this list is two weeks old tested around 30 games and to be honest its NOT 100 percent but i am confidant that this IS a real deck and varolz IS legacy playable even as a value creature in a dark maverick deck(which i'm sure would be good as a one or two of...my list has a rough time with fast combo decks which i'm sure can be solved...against anything remotely far this deck wins more than 50-50 pre board (most test games were preboard ) i will be playing this deck at the next few scg events..the opinion of the people i test/play with is a barometer to me when i try anything spicy and the response to this brew(i'm always brewing) has been awesome...opinions and suggestions are welcome from anyone that puts the deck together and tests it.

[TsumiBand]

Is Experiment One worth considering at all? Dreadnaught auto-buffs it whether or not Varolz is in play, Goyf should as well. If things get poopy Death's Shadow might even give it p/t, and failing all else it has synergy with having lots of counters on it that might matter under certain circumstances (remove two counters: regenerate).

[jhhdk]

Since we're talking about evolve creatures. What about Fathom Mage? Win More?

[Finn]

These are all cool ideas, but keep this in mind:

Varolz is not fast enough to kill as a combo. This means he and his components should be an occasional finisher that also masquerades as a strong card when you don't have the goods. These things you guys are mentioning are very interesting. But they belong in a version of this deck that I do not think can ever be competitive past tier 2.