The Retired: Intolerance

This one gets filed under; Neat idea, but the game has passed it by.

4 Humble Budoka
2 Blurred Mongoose
4 Jolrael's Centaur
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Pincher Beetles
3 Elvish Lookout
1 Kodama of the North Tree
3 Hawkeater Moth

3 Wrap in Vigor

2 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
19 Forest
2 Slippery Karst

4 Overrun
2 Titania's Boon
1 Overwhelming Stampede

2 Doubling Chant

I really like the concept here; play creatures that cannot be targeted by removal, creating dead cards in your opponent's hand. The fact that I can't target them either isn't a problem and cards like Wrath of God are just passe now. But if they are running (most) Wrath effects, Wrap in Vigor solves that problem! 

Unfortunately for me-but really better for the game-the Shroud ability has been replaced by Hexproof. And sure, there are green creatures to make that deck with there isn't anything particularly powerful happening if I do that. And if I'm going to play around with an off-beat concept, I'd at least like there to be some powerful interactions. 

So it's time to let it go.

Reuse Repurpose

 I got to play two games with Scavenger against Noah; one with Grist, and one with Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler. 

I feel like Tyvar is pretty easy to justify: the ability to use tokens for mana immediately isn't bad, the ability to return a creature from the graveyard is pretty nice too. The +1 isn't amazing but it is still useful!

The first matchup was with Grist in the deck against Goblins and I was able to utilize Night Incarnate to stay in those games. Mana adjustments have been positive-I was even able to play through a couple Wastelands, which felt good. 

Unfortunately, Scavenger still fell short. Noah agreed the games were interesting matches but he was still able to present lethal. 

Later that evening, I swapped the Voracious Larva for Tyvar and found the abilities to be just as useful as I had hoped! I think I ended up playing Goblins again and I still lost but also the plan of the deck didn't come together either; I didn't see any of my engine pieces. 

3 Desecrated Tomb
4 Witch's Oven

3 Urborg Elf
4 Hapless Researcher
1 Guile
1 Dread
4 Cauldron Familiar
3 Reassembling Skeleton
3 Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel
3 Night Incarnate
2 Rootwater Diver
3 Tyvar, Jubilant Brawler

4 Insidious Roots

5 Swamp
1 Salt Marsh
4 Island
5 Forest
3 Jwar Isle Refuge
4 Zagoth Triome

So for now, this is the list. I would like a little more card draw, so it might be worth looking for a Hapless Researcher replacement. However, since this deck has put up a good battle against a solid Goblins deck, I feel like it is in a good place! They don't all have to be A tier decks. 

Still The Best

I know that Legacy and Modern are a bit of a trainwreck right now, but Thraben U reminds us that Magic can still be a great game.

Treasure

I had games against Matt on Doomsday and Noah on Goblins. 

I lost both of them: Doomsday was just too fast for me and Scavenger just has zero interactions with that deck. That's what a sideboard would be for.

Against Goblins though I split the games! That's very promising for a deck that I'm just fucking around with. I might've even taken game 1 if I'd gotten to four mana in time to cast Night Incarnate (I was a turn shy). 

The first thing that became clear: Splinterfright, as much as I like it, shouldn't be here. The second: I should run this through Deckstats and check the mana. 

Turns out I'm shy on Swamps, so I trimmed an Island and a Forest for two more.

As for Splinterfright, well....OK I'll just admit I got diverted by the Glory of Cool Things and added in a Grist, Voracious Larva. But hey, maybe it'll be great!

Sifting Through

My first run against Fuz showed me where I was holding on to ideas that were just not helping. Cutting the 'engine' of the deck-Basalt Monolith and Mesmeric Orb- was clearly mandatory.

So after some consultation with him, this was what I came up with:

4 Desecrated Tomb
4 Witch's Oven

3 Urborg Elf
4 Hapless Researcher
1 Guile
1 Dread
4 Cauldron Familiar
2 Reassembling Skeleton
3 Malcolm, Alluring Scoundrel
3 Night Incarnate
2 Rootwater Diver
3 Splinterfright

4 Insidious Roots

3 Swamp
1 Salt Marsh
5 Island
6 Forest
3 Jwar Isle Refuge
4 Zagoth Triome

I like Malcolm as a way to sift through my library; I'm not sure if it's good but at least it is interesting. And 2 damage in the air per turn is a clock, even if it isn't the fastest one.

More relevant is the Witch's Oven/Cauldron Familiar combo. Now that the Orb/Monolith is out, Scavenger still needs an engine for the deck to help it get wins. This is a great place to start and it's pretty cheap to get going. Plus, it means that Rootwater Diver still holds relevance! 

Scavenger II

(This should've gone up yesterday! Sorry)

I know I did this deck once before but! Insidious Roots wasn't a card then. 

4 Basalt Monolith
3 Mesmeric Orb
4 Desecrated Tomb

3 Urborg Elf
3 Splinterfright
4 Hapless Researcher
1 Guile
1 Dread
1 Den Protector
2 Rootwater Diver
1 Reassembling Skeleton
4 Nightveil Sprite
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder

3 Catalog
3 Price of Fame

3 Swamp
1 Salt Marsh
5 Island
6 Forest
3 Jwar Isle Refuge
4 Zagoth Triome

This was the original. Let's mix it up. Not a lot-but with copies of both Desecrated Tomb and Insidious Roots, I have the opportunity to play into the theme better, without having to add a lot of extra card draw. 

Free Pizza: Deadpool Season

The last day of the season, but I did it. Despite the drag of the game and Deadpool's Diner being a real slog, I earned my free pizza. (Well, so to speak).

I did with a bit of a metagame call: Darkhawk is a decent counter to Arishem decks and those are currently still the rage. Once I got a Cassandra Nova, I figured I might as well use it!

However, prior to having a Cassandra I was using Absorbing Man so if you don't have one, that's a super useful card in this deck and a good replacement. 

I can't say this is the most original idea (the deck name is a reference to the Devil Dino & Darkhawk decks that were popular a year ago), but it did get the job done!