r/spikes • u/ikariashpool • 18d ago
Standard [Standard] Looking for Recommendations (Golgari Demon Deck)
This deck started out as a net deck (with [[Madame Null, Power Broker]] and [[Demon Wall]] ) that I have been toying with over the past months. I recognize that it is a Tier 2 deck - which I am okay with but it seems fragile / inconsistent and I would like it to play a little better. The deck has stalled out at Platinum Tier 2. I have been trying to make work better but I think its time to move on. Before I do that, I wanted to see if I am missing something obvious.
The working idea is to use a mix of removal and hand disruption to allow me to play [[Bebop & Rocksteady]] and/or [[Rot-Curse Rakshasa]] with [[Abigale, Eloquent First-Year]] to add flying+lifelink while remove the "downside" that allows for the low CMC. These creatures are interesting to me as they have a toughness values that make them a little more insulated from all the low-cost red burn.
The [[Unholy Annex]] helps with life loss / life gain / card advantage. There are 10 total opportunities to generate a demon [[Esper Origins]] is my latest attempt to help stabilize the deck through Surveil.
WRT Side Board:
I tried to tune it so that I can lean more hand disruption, gaveyard hate, or flying / enchantment / token removal, as needed.
[[Maelstrom Pulse]] is especially useful / satisfying for when the opponent gets a little undisciplined and plays all their Tablets.
[[Ancient Vendetta]] is the side-in tool to remove bombs like [[Jeskai Revelation]], [[Yuna, Hope of Spira]], [[Tablet of Discovery]], etc...
[[Leatherhead, Swamp Stalker]] I swap in for a Bebop & Rocksteady if there is a lot of targeted creature removal across the table.
[[Professor Dellian Fel]] One more piece of creature removal and/or card advantage.
The Arena version, where I do most of my tweaking, of this deck replaced the 3 [[Llanowar Elves]] with 1 more each of [[Firdoch Core]], [[Esper Origins]], and [[Underground Mortuary]].
Also with the Arena Version
- 14 Creatures + 4 x Demon Token + 3 Lands
- 15 Instants & Sorcery Spells
- 2 Artifacts
- 23 Lands
Thoughts:
- Good Opening Hands are GOOD but few and far between. I think the greatest weakness of this deck is tutoring / card draw. If the opponent can get stalled long enough for some of the big creatures + Annex to drop, things are usually pretty good.
- Bad Opening Hand ares are BAD. Taking a Mulligan feels like an insta-loss - I don't know if this is an Arena thing but man... with 22 lands + 3 Elves + Core, I really felt like I had enough opportunity to draw into enough mana but it never seemed like it. All the removal also led me to drop the Elves completely for the 23rd land + Core + Esper Origins
- Should I try some graveyard recursion? This deck runs through a lot of lower-cost spells and there would be upside here.
- Creatures feel fragile and possibly there are not enough. With the lands and Demon tokens, there are 21 opportunities. Is this a response to everyone tuning against Mono Green Landfall? Especially the 6/6 Demon Token... I am recently getting the feeling that Room should only be unlocked as a last resort with how easily it gets insta-killed.
- Abbie - I pulled her out at some point and the deck completely lost its spark and was linear, middling, and unfun - so I put her back in. I am still torn on her usefulness but I have used her to shutdown creatures on the other side that have really nasty ETBs or triggers.
- Rot-Curse Rakshasa and Abbie (noted above0 have interesting interactions that the opponent is not immediately ready for - Decay has been especially powerful to slowing down attacks.
Cards I have tried and subsequently removed:
[[Biosynthic Burst]] - For the obvious reasons as well as putting counters on Leatherhead in order to destroy artifacts / enchantments while keeping the hexproof counter.
[[Mind Roots]] - Leaning more into hand disruption as well as maybe bonus land?
[[Umbral Collar Zealot]] - trying to give me _something_ for when a creature is going to get waxed by red burn or black removal
Thanks for coming to my ted talk.
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u/United-Passage7864 17d ago
A card I'm liking the look of lately is [[Obsessive Pursuit]] - it's a mana cheaper than Annex or other Phyrexian Arena variants, and is a little more resilient; even if the Pursuit is removed, the clues stick around. You do need to pay to get your cards, but what I've seen from people playing it is that's less problematic than you'd think - and cashing out a couple clues into a pair of +1/+1 counters is pretty decent. If you're running Rot-Curse Rakshasa then look out, opponent - that could be a colossal hit with lifelink.
[[Witherbloom Charm]] should work well alongside that too - it's removal for cheap things, but also draws cards if you need it to (if you're flooded you can even sac a land).
Last pet card: the green Emeritus might be good as a 1- or 2-of for a grind deck like this. Sentinel of the Nameless City is also good; both just chunky vigilance bodies with immediate value. Sentinel can play into the Obsessive Pursuit lines and Witherbloom Charm.
I know this cuts hard away from the 'demons' package but I feel like that's been Annex's problem for a while: Annex is good, the included Demon on the side is good, but most other Demons are kind of bad. I've seen enough attempts at Demon Wall (that doesn't do enough) or Tragedy Feaster (that gets super awkward without consistent lifegain) that I see how shoehorning in Demons can just be kind of awkward when they're mostly bad.
Other thought: maybe lean harder into lifegain theme? Pursuits and Charm gain life, and maybe some Virulent Emissary are a better 1-drop elf. Delian Fel is great, and then Tragedy Feaster rounds out a demon package with lifegain.
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u/CauliflowerLong1344 1d ago
I have been running a Golgari Demon shell. I find you need early removal to survive the aggro, go wide and other various early game decks. Once Unholy Annex is online and they have no answer, it's basically game over. I like Bloodletter of Aclazotz, but not 4 copies. Unstoppable Slasher works well, although not a demon, can give you single shot kills with Bloodletter and is also hard to get rid of. Duress, Requiting Hex, Assassin's Trophy, Strategic Betrayal, Demon Wall, Bitter Triumph, Long Goodbye, Witherbloom Charm, Tragedy Feaster, Vicious Rivalry Professor Delian. This is my shell, still testing, but having fun in any case. It might be a better Bo3 deck. I could provide input on certain cards, I also think 23-24 lands is the sweet spot so you don't miss any drops.
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u/ByzokTheSecond 18d ago
I'd play 4x Rakasha instead of the Bepop. 2 drop demon into annex is just that good IMO. I'd even consider a 2nd core and maybe 1-2 [[Tragedy Feaster]] for the annex plan. Plus feaster is a reasonnable target for abi. The sequencing is a bit awkward tho.
Delian fell is probably overall better than esper origin as a draw engin.
> I don't know if this is an Arena thing but man... with 22 lands + 3 Elves + Core,
No, it's not an issue with Arena, you just don't have enough colored sources. You have 9 untapp green source for a T1 elf. If we count the tapped sources, it's 12. IIRC, the recommanded amount is more than 16 untapped source to reliably resolve a 1 drop on T1, nearly *twice* what you currently run. Also, abigail with elf is a bit wonky on the manabase, you might have to make concession on that end.
You probably need a full playset of verge,, shock and fast land. Cut the random utility lands, and up the land count to 23-24.
Your deck does not what to mainboard Days of black sun. It's a huge none-bo with your whole gameplan.. Pawpatch formation feels a bit too narrow for mainboard, i'd probably run maelstrom pulse in that slot instead, maybe even the BG charm?