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Description
The Golgari Swarm are the ultimate scavengers, finding the utmost value in every life and in every death. This deck puts that philosophy into action, making the most of every creature on the battlefield and every creature card in your graveyard.
Your first mission is defense. Although the deck has removal spells like Tragic Slip and Ultimate Price to make that job easier, your primary weapon will be wave after wave of willing blockers to trade with your opponent’s creatures. Creatures with the scavenge ability, like Slitherhead, Drudge Beetle, and Dreg Mangler are key to this effort. Also consider blocking with Dawntreader Elk even if it’s not powerful enough to take down the creature it’s blocking: you avoid taking damage, and you can sacrifice Dawntreader Elk to get an extra land.
Once you’ve blunted your opponent’s initial assault, it’s time to start attacking. Remember all the scavenge creatures that ended up in your graveyard? Now that you have some breathing room, you can start piling up +1/+1 counters on Daggerdrome Imp and Vampire Nighthawk, which are both flying creatures with lifelink. Your opponent will have a hard time winning a damage race against them. Creatures with the soulbond mechanic, like Trusted Forcemage, Druid’s Familiar, and Wolfir Silverheart, also contribute to your plan to turn your creatures into strong offensive threats.
Korozda Guildmage provides useful support at all stages of the game, whether you’re trying to stabilize, on the attack, or locked in a standstill. Its first ability not only lets one of your creatures sneak past potential blockers but can also deter your opponent from attacking by threatening to make your creatures bigger. Its second ability turns a big creature into a number of 1/1 Saprolings that you can use as desperation blockers or to outflank your opponent’s creatures on offense. Korozda Guildmage’s abilities can even work together: giving a creature +1/+1 before you sacrifice it gives you an extra Saproling!
When it’s time to sideboard, think about your opponent’s strategy. If your opponent is killing all your creatures, bring in Strangleroot Geist. Its undying ability makes it twice as difficult to get rid of. If your opponent relies on returning cards from the graveyard, Vile Rebirth will muck up those plans while providing you a surprise attacker. Your main deck has plenty of creature removal, but if the major threats against you are planeswalkers, artifacts, or lands, turn to Bramblecrush, Duress, and Ghost Quarter instead.
The “Creep and Conquer” deck excels at creating battlefield advantages through a mix of resilient, reusable creatures and efficient creature removal. If you prefer the creature angle, Vorapede (from the Dark Ascension set) and Jarad, Golgari Lich-Lord are both strong threats with built-in defense mechanisms. If you like having answers for your opponents’ best threats, look for Abrupt Decay and the planeswalker Vraska the Unseen.
