Despite the fact that the Lord of the Rings main MTG set has been out for a while at this point, players are still finding ways to innovate in various formats. While the set has introduced a bunch of powerful new cards to Modern, most of them have simply been slotted nicely into preexisting archetypes.
The One Ring
The One Ring
Indestructible
When The One Ring enters, if you cast it, you gain protection from everything until your next turn.
At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life for each burden counter on The One Ring.
{T}: Put a burden counter on The One Ring, then draw a card for each burden counter on The One Ring.
helped buff mono-green Tron,
Orcish Bowmasters
Orcish Bowmasters
Flash
When this creature enters and whenever an opponent draws a card except the first one they draw in each of their draw steps, this creature deals 1 damage to any target. Then amass Orcs 1.
strengthened Rakdos Scam even further, and
Generous Ent
Generous Ent
Reach
When this creature enters, create a Food token. (It's an artifact with "{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: You gain 3 life.")
Forestcycling {1} ({1}, Discard this card: Search your library for a Forest card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.)
helped make
Living End
Living End
Suspend 3—{2}{B}{B}
Each player exiles all creature cards from their graveyard, then sacrifices all creatures they control, then puts all cards they exiled this way onto the battlefield.
decks more consistent. Each of these decks have existed for years and have certainly gotten stronger with new additions to the format. Today, we will be focusing on one archetype that has flown under the radar, but that may have finally gotten the boost it needs.
This deck is none other than Golgari midrange. Golgari is structured with some similarities to Jund Saga, utilizing efficient Creatures, removal, and the all-powerful
Urza’s Saga
Urza’s Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
to generate value and out-grind the opponent. Still, there are a few key differences, and with multiple Golgari players making top eight of yesterday’s Magic Online Modern Challenge, the deck is starting to gain more traction. To understand why this is the case, it’s important to start by looking at the deck’s core gameplan and how it differs from traditional Jund Saga decks.
Golgari Mainstays
Much like with Jund Saga, Golgari still has the ability to curve either
Thoughtseize
Thoughtseize
Target player reveals their hand. You choose a nonland card from it. That player discards that card. You lose 2 life.
or
Fatal Push
Fatal Push
Destroy target creature if it has mana value 2 or less.
Revolt — Destroy that creature if it has mana value 4 or less instead if a permanent left the battlefield under your control this turn.
into Tarmogoyf. Even after all these years of power creep, Tarmogoyf still hits hard, closing the game in short order and dodging some highly played removal spells, such as
Lightning Bolt
Lightning Bolt
Lightning Bolt deals 3 damage to any target.
and sometimes even
Unholy Heat
Unholy Heat
Unholy Heat deals 2 damage to target creature or planeswalker.
Delirium — Unholy Heat deals 6 damage instead if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard.
. This deck, much like Jund Saga, has also added
Orcish Bowmasters
Orcish Bowmasters
Flash
When this creature enters and whenever an opponent draws a card except the first one they draw in each of their draw steps, this creature deals 1 damage to any target. Then amass Orcs 1.
into the mix. Orcish Bowmasters is another two-drop threat, this time punishing opponents for casting cantrips and one-toughness threats such as
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
Whenever Ragavan deals combat damage to a player, create a Treasure token and exile the top card of that player's library. Until end of turn, you may cast that card.
Dash {1}{R} (You may cast this spell for its dash cost. If you do, it gains haste, and it's returned from the battlefield to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step.)
.
This deck combines these powerful two-drop threats with plenty of interaction and
Jegantha, the Wellspring
Jegantha, the Wellspring
Companion — No card in your starting deck has more than one of the same mana symbol in its mana cost. (If this card is your chosen companion, you may put it into your hand from outside the game for {3} as a sorcery.)
{T}: Add {W}{U}{B}{R}{G}. This mana can't be spent to pay generic mana costs.
as a Companion to help play a grindy game.
One of the best tools this deck has access to in order to play these long, grindy games is
Urza’s Saga
Urza’s Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
. Urza’s Saga is an army in a can that can be used alongside a small Artifact toolbox to generate value. Cards like
Nihil Spellbomb
Nihil Spellbomb
{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Exile target player's graveyard.
When this artifact is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may pay {B}. If you do, draw a card.
and
Shadowspear
Shadowspear
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has trample and lifelink.
{1}: Permanents your opponents control lose hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.
Equip {2}
can be searched for, depending on the matchup. While this core gameplan does overlap a lot with Jund Saga, there are plenty of key differences between the two decks.
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Missing Pieces
Obviously, by staying specifically Golgari, this deck misses out on a few powerful red options. Most importantly, these include
Wrenn and Six
Wrenn and Six
+1: Return up to one target land card from your graveyard to your hand.
−1: Wrenn and Six deals 1 damage to any target.
−7: You get an emblem with "Instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard have retrace." (You may cast instant and sorcery cards from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying their other costs.)
and
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
Whenever Ragavan deals combat damage to a player, create a Treasure token and exile the top card of that player's library. Until end of turn, you may cast that card.
Dash {1}{R} (You may cast this spell for its dash cost. If you do, it gains haste, and it's returned from the battlefield to its owner's hand at the beginning of the next end step.)
. Not having access to Wrenn and Six in particular is a big blow, but this deck makes up for it in other ways. Given that Ragavan gets picked off by Orcish Bowmasters, the powerful Pirate has gotten noticeably less reliable in recent months. With that in mind, Golgari midrange replaces Ragavan with a different one-drop:
Elvish Reclaimer
Elvish Reclaimer
This creature gets +2/+2 as long as there are three or more land cards in your graveyard.
{2}, {T}, Sacrifice a land: Search your library for a land card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
.
Elvish Reclaimer, most importantly, can find copies of
Urza’s Saga
Urza’s Saga
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — This Saga gains "{T}: Add {C}."
II — This Saga gains "{2}, {T}: Create a 0/0 colorless Construct artifact creature token with 'This token gets +1/+1 for each artifact you control.'"
III — Search your library for an artifact card with mana cost {0} or {1}, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle.
to advance the deck’s gameplan more consistently. As a two-toughness Creature, it does not die to Bowmasters or Wrenn and Six. In combination with Fetch Lands, it’s easy to get three Lands in the graveyard to enable Elvish Reclaimer’s buff ahead of schedule. Elvish Reclaimer can even find utility Lands as needed at Instant speed, such as
Bojuka Bog
Bojuka Bog
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, exile target player's graveyard.
{T}: Add {B}.
against
Underworld Breach
Underworld Breach
Each nonland card in your graveyard has escape. The escape cost is equal to the card's mana cost plus exile three other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast cards from your graveyard for their escape cost.)
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice this enchantment.
decks.
This deck also maximizes
Grist, the Hunger Tide
Grist, the Hunger Tide
As long as Grist isn't on the battlefield, it's a 1/1 Insect creature in addition to its other types.
+1: Create a 1/1 black and green Insect creature token, then mill a card. If an Insect card was milled this way, put a loyalty counter on Grist and repeat this process.
−2: You may sacrifice a creature. When you do, destroy target creature or planeswalker.
−5: Each opponent loses life equal to the number of creature cards in your graveyard.
. Grist is a great threat on its own, continuously churning out Insect tokens. In combination with Bowmasters and the Orc Army token it produces, Grist can also be used to answer problematic Creatures or Planeswalkers on curve at very low cost. These cards help effectively fill the void that the missing red cards left.
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Extra Synergy
Beyond simply playing efficient beaters and interaction, this deck has some cool synergies up its sleeve. First and foremost, this deck utilizes Call of the Death-Dweller as a unique way to recur some threats that get dealt with. For three mana, this card can do quite a lot. It can return Grist from your graveyard to play to keep the Insect train rolling. It can return both Elvish Reclaimer and Tarmogoyf at once to the battlefield, giving Menace and Deathtouch to Tarmogoyf to make it harder to block effectively.
The best thing Call of the Death-Dweller can do, though, is bring back Orcish Bowmasters. Typically, Orcish Bowmasters only deals one damage to opposing Creatures when it enters the battlefield or the opponent draws extra cards. However, thanks to the Deathtouch counter from Call of the Death-Dweller, it can immediately pick off Creatures of any size!
In addition to Call of the Death-Dweller, this deck also makes great use of Witherbloom Command. Witherbloom Command is quite versatile, picking off small Creatures and non-Creature non-Land permanents alike. The card can also return utility Lands from your graveyard to your hand, which works quite well with Urza’s Saga and
Boseiju, Who Endures
Boseiju, Who Endures
{T}: Add {G}.
Channel — {1}{G}, Discard this card: Destroy target artifact, enchantment, or nonbasic land an opponent controls. That player may search their library for a land card with a basic land type, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle. This ability costs {1} less to activate for each legendary creature you control.
. These cards are all strong, but are they worth missing out on powerhouses like Wrenn and Six and Ragavan?
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Strengths and Weaknesses
The answer to this question is quite dependent on the shape of the metagame. Given how strong and popular Orcish Bowmasters is, it makes sense that Ragavan is not quite as potent as it once was. However, the biggest strength this deck has in comparison to Jund Saga is a much more reliable manabase. The Jund Saga decks want access to red mana early for Wrenn and six and Ragavan, all while playing four colorless Lands in the form of Urza’s Saga. Not only does this make the manabase very painful with tons of Fetch and Shock Lands, but it makes the deck more vulnerable to
Blood Moon
Blood Moon
Nonbasic lands are Mountains.
and other similar effects.
While Blood Moon is still strong against Urza’s Saga out of Golgari, Golgari has an easier chance letting you Fetch basic Lands to help cast your spells like normal. In this sense, Golgari has a smoother and more consistent manabase. Elvish Reclaimer also helps in this regard, letting you search for basic Lands when necessary. Elvish Reclaimer and Grist add a lot to the Golgari archetype that really separates the deck from Jund Saga. The reality is that Jund Saga is mostly Rakdos-centric, splashing green for Wrenn and Six and Tarmogoyf. Golgari is much more green-heavy, giving it a more unique identity.
Of course, this doesn’t come without some weaknesses. While Ragavan is weak to Orcish Bowmasters, it is quite strong in Jund Saga’s bad matchups, such as mono-green Tron. Wrenn and Six can also continuously recur Boseiju, letting you hit your opponent’s Tron Lands over and over. Golgari is definitely a bit slower without access to Ragavan, which can be problematic against big-mana decks.
However, having access to Grist as well as Call of the Death-Dweller and Orcish Bowmasters helps this deck deal with large Creatures such as
Murktide Regent
Murktide Regent
Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for {1}.)
Flying
This creature enters with a +1/+1 counter on it for each instant and sorcery card exiled with it.
Whenever an instant or sorcery card leaves your graveyard, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
. Having a less painful manabase that is less vulnerable to Blood Moon is a big deal too, helping both against Burn and Izzet Murktide. This deck has a lot to offer, and it continues to put up more and more results.
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