Creature (24)
Sorcery (12)
Sideboard
Instant (7)
Sorcery (4)
Artifact (4)
Maybeboard
Instant (2)
Enchantment (2)
Sorcery (1)
I was perusing some of the older sets one day and came across the card Filth. It has an interesting characteristic, and I decided to build around it.
I quickly realized the end result was playable and pretty fun, but not remotely competitive. For this reason I made some cuts, trimmed down the budget as low as I possibly could and slapped the ‘Casual’ tag on it, all to justify its existence in a format dominated by decks costing thousands of dollars. This means cards like Bitterblossom or Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth are out, and I won’t be taking suggestions for anything over a couple dollars or so. It just isn’t worth the investment. But as a side project built for fun, it’s not half bad!
Not much to go over here; simple Swamps populate the totality of our mana base.
I went with the Lorwyn artwork for the Swamps, since barring a few standouts the artistic design over the past ten years or so has been about as appealing as drinking a nice warm glass of actual swamp water.
I am debating running at least a few Dark Ritual as pseudo ramp, since it’s cheap enough and I have a few sets. Not sure if it’s necessary or if the payoff is worthwhile, but I am aware of the idea.
A smattering of mischief, a sampler platter of the usual tricks and tactics that sustain our dark slice of the color pie.
•Inquisition of Kozilek displaces Thoughtseize in this particular deck due to price. We lose a little in efficacy but it’s significantly cheaper. Cast it every time you draw one, prioritizing the usual graveyard sweepers, Relic of Progenitus, Soul-Guide Lantern, Nihil Spellbomb etc. Not much we can do about Bojuka Bog however.
•Hymn to Tourach is one of my absolute favorite old school cards and it compliments Oona's Blackguard well. Open with the Sorcery, follow up with the Faerie, and if all goes to plan there will be many unblockable Rogues with +1/+1 counters to trigger much discarding.
•Evil Presence is run in lieu of Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth for—you guessed it—financial reasons. Should you own any copies then that’s an automatic upgrade, but the Enchantment plays the role admirably. Ten thousand dollars for an Alpha Tropical Island…only to rendered useless by a .20 card. Let the white border on the Fifth Edition variant be salt upon their wound.
A case could be made for running Contaminated Ground instead, but I’ve opted for the 1 pip spell over the 2 pip. Testing may prove otherwise, but rest assured I am aware the card exists.
•Bone Shards has multiple use cases within this build; as removal is obvious, as a tool to ensure a certain creature is deposited safely in the graveyard is less obvious. Being able to discard on command for a mere one mana will be invaluable. More on that later.
•Thieves' Guild Enforcer may be flashed in at a moment’s notice, and isn’t necessarily dependent on her fellow ruffians for support. She has her own built in parameters for receiving +2/+1 and Deathtouch, and can be buffed further still as the game progresses.
•Frogtosser Banneret is here for the group discount. Getting one or two in play will speed things up dramatically, and the more scoundrels we can field the more powerful they’ll become.
•Oona's Blackguard is our Rogue Lord as it were, granting a +1/+1 counter to anything that follows her. Once our main combo is assembled discarding becomes a reliable, potent tool in our repertoire.
•Stinkdrinker Bandit stands a decent chance of casting for but it might be worth holding onto for when our strategy comes to fruition. Once it sees play, that +2/+1 bump to all our Rogues is fearsome indeed—particularly when our filthy strategy pays off and they become unblockable. A +1/+1 here, a +2/+1 there; it adds up quickly.
•Putrid Imp has a very apropos name considering its singular purpose is to allow us to discard Filth.
•Filth was one of those cards with a particular aura around it. It isn’t ‘good’ in the traditional sense, at least not in any obvious way. The design seems very specific. Deliberate, even. It suggests hints of potential, if one can figure out how to use it.
Thus, the strategy:
1) Manipulate the opponent’s mana base to guarantee at least one Swamp.
2) Ensure Filth finds its way into the graveyard.
3) Attack with a host of synergistic creatures that bolster each other’s performance, pushing through lots of unavoidable damage.
•Inter Filth into the graveyard as quickly as possible, using Bone Shards or Putrid Imp.
•Flood the board with Rogues, at a cost reduction courtesy of Frogtosser Banneret. Attack en masse with unblockable Rogues boasting numerous buffs!
•Cabal Therapy combos nicely off of Inquisition of Kozilek and has the added benefit of being yet another way to ensure Filth ends up in the graveyard.
•I debated running Dismember as removal, but found Defile is just as good (and cheaper) in a deck running nothing but basic Swamps.
•Sign in Blood helps replenish our hand should we be a little light.
•Nihil Spellbomb can hamper any number of graveyard oriented decks populating the format, and the bonus draw is nice.
•Lastly, Ratchet Bomb can hit harder to remove cards, erasing a host of negative status effects.
”And I will throw filth on you And make you despicable; I will make a spectacle of you.”
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95% Casual
Competitive
| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 1 year |
| Last updated | 1 year |
| Legality | This deck is Legacy legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 4 - 2 Rares 24 - 6 Uncommons 12 - 7 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 1.90 |
| Folders | Good and interesting things, Legacy, Maybe I Try, budget decks |
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