It was only a matter of time before the clearly overpowered “Hoof There It Is” archetype made its presence known to the Modern world. Instead of utilizing the raw power of Somberwald Sage, this deck uses the far more fair engine of Golgari Grave-Troll and Stinkweed Imp to fuel the graveyard, which will eventually find you Unburial Rites and Craterhoof Behemoth.
Brad’s Standard version from years past used Lingering Souls to give him enough bodies, but this deck has things like Bloodghast and Narcomoeba alongside Llanowar Mentor to put a bunch of dinky creatures into play. From there, your Craterhoof Behemoth should be more than lethal.
Lightning Axe and the aforementioned Llanowar Mentor are the discard outlets that get the dredge train rolling, but Greenseeker is also pretty nice since it can get you up to four mana, including the white necessary to Flashback Unburial Rites.
The sideboard is about what you’d expect. Ancient Grudge punishes Affinity players, Gnaw to the Bone gives you plenty of time against Burn, and Engineered Explosives cleans up any problematic permanents like Grafdigger’s Cage. The wild card is definitely Stain the Mind, which is the way this deck beats faster combo decks. Thanks to convoke, this deck can fire it off as early as Turn 3, which should be fast enough to stop them.
Creatures (27)
- 4 Golgari Grave-Troll
- 4 Stinkweed Imp
- 4 Greenseeker
- 4 Llanowar Mentor
- 4 Narcomoeba
- 4 Bloodghast
- 3 Craterhoof Behemoth
Lands (18)
Spells (15)
Sideboard
