Golgari Secures Victory with a Squeeze
A little synergy goes a long way
Winding Constrictor illustrated by Izzy
Golgari Counters squeezes every bit of value out of its pieces until its opponent can’t take any more punishment, much like a constrictor that methodically finishes its prey. Let’s take a look at how TimJressel secured their 4-0 tournament victory.
Counters
Quality paired with synergy is a powerful combo
This deck takes advantage of some small yet potent counter synergies. Winding Constrictor increases the amount of +1/+1 counters your creatures receive and increases the amount of energy counters you get. Curving from the snake into Rishkar, Peema Renegade puts a lot of pressure on the board, especially when most of the creatures have some form of evasion. When menace or flying isn’t enough and the board stalls, the extra mana provided by Rishkar can be dumped into a Walking Ballista turn after turn. Glint-Sleeve Siphoner and Greenbelt Rampager can also be combined in these board-stall scenarios to draw an extra card each turn and break parity.
Threat Diversity
It’s hard to answer everything, especially if they have different card types
While creatures are the primary way that this midrange deck looks to win, it has options, especially in sideboarded games, to diversify its threats. Threat diversity makes it more difficult for your opponent to interact with everything and gives you a better chance to have something stay around for multiple turns. You are reducing your weakness to decks that are creature removal heavy, as you require your opponent to have many specific answers to deal with other permanent types.
Vraska the Unseen is a removal spell that sticks around for extra value. Spiteful Visions puts a clock on opponents when you have the life advantage while allowing you to keep the pressure on with extra cards. Aethersphere Harvester sneaks past sorcery speed kill spells, including board-wipes. Vraska typically needs to be answered by opposing creatures while the other two need disenchant effects. Notably, only one of these threats can be targeted by Abrupt Decay.
The Winning-est Cards
Right now, the greatest question paired with the greatest answer
Dodging Abrupt Decay is important, as Abrupt Decay and Desecration Demon are the only two cards that have appeared in each winning decklist so far. The demon’s stats and evasion allow it to quickly end a game and Abrupt Decay is nearly a catch-all answer to many cards. Since these cards have proven to put in work, it is critical to have a plan to take down the demon that doesn’t involve a permanent with mana value 3 or less. If you really want to keep cheap key cards on the battlefield, you also need to think about how to fight against Abrupt Decay.
Here are some cards that answer Desecration Demon:
Fatal Push, Ultimate Price, Inquisitior’s Snare, Reprisal, Dreadbore, Exile, Selesnya Charm, Counterspell
Here are some cards that protect permanents against Abrupt Decay:
Reknit, Heroic Intervention, Renegade’s Getaway
Greenbelt Rampager
Some cards are more than they first appear
Returning to the main topic, I think Greenbelt Rampager is an excellent example of how the Golgari Counters deck can utilize so many of its cards in different ways. On its own, it is an above-rate creature as a 3-mana 3/4. Paired with the slight energy synergies available, it can be a highly aggressive 1-mana play on turn 3 alongside a 2-drop to be dominant on the battlefield. During a board stall, it can continuously generate energy for a Glint-Sleave Siphoner. If you need to remove a Descecration Demon, this elephant can be a revolt enabler for Fatal Push! Sometimes even the most inconspicuous cards have a plethora of uses.
Congrats again to TimJressel for piloting Golgari Counters to victory.
