SCD: Grisly Salvage and Deck: Jund

[Richard Cheese]

Since the main problems with Salvage are being restricted to certain card types and binning everything else, it might be worth looking at it in lists that really focus on those card types, especially decks that traditionally take advantage of the yard. GWb Maverick is primarily creatures and lands, RG Combo lands is almost all lands, and both get huge value out of their graveyard. The problem, as always, is what to cut...especially when jamming in Salvage means cutting some of the cards it could find.

[rufus]

Since the main problems with Salvage are being restricted to certain card types and binning everything else, it might be worth looking at it in lists that really focus on those card types, especially decks that traditionally take advantage of the yard. GWb Maverick is primarily creatures and lands, RG Combo lands is almost all lands, and both get huge value out of their graveyard. The problem, as always, is what to cut...especially when jamming in Salvage means cutting some of the cards it could find.

I wonder about taking the same sort of approach, but with a 'BG Enchantments' game plan using Commune with the Gods and Kruphix's Insight, but that list looks very different.

[Barook]

If you run multiple copies of Sylvan Library and GSZ, you must run at least one Courser of Kruphix (two would be better, though). Both parts are good on their own and take over the game rather quickly if both are together.

I also agree with running PF in that kind of shell over Lavamancer.

[Olaf Forkbeard]

I would guess that's a Modern thing. It sounds like some powerful manipulation though. I'll probably proxy up something akin to this to mess around with.

[apple713]

its possible the cards you are missing that could add significant value to a grisly salvage strategy are loyal retainers and treasure cruise

salvage drops 5 cards into grave and replaces itself so thats almost an instant treasure cruise.

[Esper3k]

I've played Grisly Salvage in an Eva Green shell with Necropolis Fiend, Bloodghasts, and Cabal Therapy. I'm not quite certain how great it is but it was a heck of a lot of fun.

[AngryTroll]

Thanks for all the feedback!

I tried Grisly Salvage as a casual card to set up Evershrike, and filled the deck with Shriekmaws and Commune with the Gods and other terrible things, and it was rough even for a casual deck. That's part of what shaped my thinking for this deck; I've been holding Grisly Salvage as the last card in my hand and using it to grab either a Goyf or Lavamancer or to find a land to allow me to GSZ for a Huntmaster of the Fells. I don't think I've ever tried to cast it on turn two, because the tempo loss is too steep.

Punishing Fire might be much better than Grim Lavamancer. I like the improved manabase the Lavamancer allows you to run, and Lavamancer is much less expensive (except in terms of cards in the graveyard), but Punishing Fire might just be better because it doesn't have summoning sickness and isn't so fragile. That also allows you to run Golgari Charm without killing half of your creatures.

Is Courser of Kruphix good enough for Legacy? I had it in here originally but ended up cutting it for higher-powered creatures. It seemed super strong with Sylvan Library but otherwise only alright.

If the Lavamancers get cut, I'd be tempted to run a Nimble Mongoose as a GSZ-able threat, or a pair of Tombstalkers to finish the curve.

[AngryTroll]

I've actually had pretty great success with the deck in my local shop for the last month. My shop is what I like to think of as a small store Legacy scene: All of the major decks are represented, but all of the tier two and tier three decks are played as well. With 11-14 people each week, there will usually be 10-12 different decks, including UR Delver, Elves, ANT, High Tide, multiple flavors of Stoneblade, Death and Taxes, and everything else: Zoo, Deadguy, Merfolk, Ru burn, you name it. I'm 9-2 with the deck (which, admittedly, doesn't mean anything except that it can beat random stuff), but it's been playing really well.

Here's the list I'm running:
4 Green Sun's Zenith
3 Sylvan Library
3 Grisly Salvage

4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Courser of Kruphix
2 Huntmaster of the Fells

4 Cabal Therapy
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Abrupt Decay
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Engineered Explosives

4 Wooded Foothills
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Bayou
3 Taiga
1 Badlands
2 Dryad Arbor
1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Swamp

-----Sideboard-----
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Zuran Orb (Ru burn and Ur Delver are running Price of Progress)
4 Duress
1 Gaddock Teeg
3 Engineered Plague
2 Krosan Grip
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Thrun, the Last Troll

I'm still hunting for a fourth Sylvan Library, but I'm honestly not positive that the fourth one is needed maindeck. I like that with Lavamancer over Punishing Fire my manabase does not need Groves, and the Lavamancer is a body for Therapy and demands removal. Grisly Salvage has actually been very good-it's not a turn two play, but it's a great turn three play after a Goyf or a Lavamancer, it's a great topdeck, and it helps dig for Therapy. Four was overkill, but three seems pretty solid.

Does anyone have any suggestions for the list?

[FoolofaTook]

@AngryTroll

Find a way to get to 60 cards, there are 61 in your list. I'm guessing this is because you've been tuning it a lot and some of the cards float in and out and you just accidentally left an extra floater in when you posted it.

I'd pull a Grim Lavamancer or a Huntmaster of the Fells I think.

[AngryTroll]

@AngryTroll

Find a way to get to 60 cards, there are 61 in your list. I'm guessing this is because you've been tuning it a lot and some of the cards float in and out and you just accidentally left an extra floater in when you posted it.

I'd pull a Grim Lavamancer or a Huntmaster of the Fells I think.

Yup, I'm still tuning it, so I want to draw some of the cards more often to evaluate if they're actually good or only good as situational GSZ targets. The 61st card is either Courser #2, Huntmaster #2, Salvage #3, Lavamancer #4, or the Explosives (especially if Young Pyromancer stops being a major player in the metagame). If I were forced to cut a card right now I'd go with Courser #2. I don't play Standard or Modern, so I'd never cast Courser and only cast Huntmaster a few times before I started working on this deck, but they come with solid pedigrees.

Huntmaster has been particularly good, especially with all of the instants and alongside DRS and Lavamancer. Huntmaster was much, much worse in my Nic Fit build, which was jam packed with sorcery-speed spells.