Standard Rocks!

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday, a wave of cards were spoiled, and among them included this card:

Grim Backwoods
Land
Tap: Add 1 to your mana pool
2GB Tap Sacrifice a Creature: Draw a Card

At first I was like - meh, but then I thought about its potential applications and I was like

Lands that draw you cards? Yeah! Lands that trigger death on command? Yeah! Sign me up!

The first thing that come into my http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=1527297850651993869mind when thinking about the applications for this card was Glissa, the Traitor + Solemn Simulacrum. With the 3 cards in play you can sacrifice the Solemn to draw 2 cards, and then when a creature dies on your side of the field (maybe because of that Doom Blade you just drew) you get the Solemn back in hand, which will then allow you to replay it and get tons of value.

A few weeks ago I was working with Defo on a GB Smallpox deck, and I think this card would work fantastically in that deck! Using creatures like Perilous Myr and Viridian Emissary that gain additional value when they die is huge with Grim Backwoods, and Perilous Myr + Glissa is just amazing!

The deck is still rough, but this is how I would build it post Dark Ascension:

4x Perilous Myr
4x Viridian Emissary
4x Glissa, the Traitor
4x Solemn Simulacrum
4x Bloodgift Demon


2x Despise
4x Tragic Slip
2x Smallpox
4x Liliana of the Veil
4x Garruk Relentless

4x Woodland Cemetery
3x Grim Backwoods
10x Swamp
7x Forest

Some other cards to consider for the deck include Beast Within, Mimic Vat, Ratchet Bomb, Acidic Slime, Distress, and Doom Blade/GftT. Depending on where the metagame goes, I can see this deck being very good as it should have a very good matchup against creature heavy decks like BWx tokens and Wx Humans. I don't see any cards in the Dark Ascension that seem like they would be a good in Delver decks, although Gather the Townfolk seems like a natural fit into the Sam Black Champion of the Parish + Delver of Secrets deck. I can't really tell where the metagame is going to go specifically (although I can't possibly see control stepping up right now), but I think playing the rock could be a very good idea going forwards!

When I actually test this deck I will be able to offer updates and improvements, but I think this is a good starting place! Because of all the aggro in the format right now, Dismember loses a lot of value, so our Bloodgift Demon should be remotely safe.

That's all I have for today! Over the next week I will be constantly posting up decklists and new ideas periodically all the way through the actual release of DKA. But until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack
ThingsILack on mtgo