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This weekend, everything changed in Standard. This is the first time we’ve seen Shadows over Innistrad Standard, and I’m already enamored. This format seems awesome. We have Human decks, aggressive Eldrazi decks, control variants, and many more. The format is wide open, and there’s all kinds of exciting space to explore. One of the most powerful archetypes leading into the format was ramp, and Michael Majors has put together an exciting take on it featuring one of the most interesting mythics in the set: The Gitrog Monster.
G/B Ramp ? Shadows over Innistrad Standard | Michael Majors
- Creatures (21)
- 2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
- 3 World Breaker
- 4 Deathcap Cultivator
- 4 Elvish Visionary
- 4 The Gitrog Monster
- 4 Ulvenwald Hydra
- Spells (14)
- 4 Explosive Vegetation
- 4 Nissa's Pilgrimage
- 4 Oath of Nissa
- 2 Hedron Archive
- Lands (25)
- 1 Swamp
- 9 Forest
- 2 Blighted Woodland
- 2 Sanctum of Ugin
- 3 Evolving Wilds
- 4 Llanowar Wastes
- 4 Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
- Sideboard (15)
- 1 Den Protector
- 3 Jaddi Offshoot
- 3 Virulent Plague
- 3 Clip Wings
- 2 Pulse of Murasa
- 1 Kozilek, the Great Distortion
- 2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
The core of the strategy is the same as before the rotation. Deathcap Cultivator into Explosive Vegetation allows you to start casting World Breaker and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger well ahead of schedule, and Sanctum of Ugin goes a long way to ensuring you don’t run out of gas along the way. Once you start casting multiple Eldrazi, you’ll be able to just bury your opponent in value and beat them down with giant monsters.
So what’s different about Majors’s build? Instead of playing Red for Chandra, Flamecaller and Kozilek's Return, Majors is playing Black for The Gitrog Monster. This card is a big deal for this strategy because it fills an interesting gap in the deck. It functions as a pseudo ramp spell, since on the following turn you’ll get to hit multiple land drops to try to hit seven or ten mana. More importantly it functions as a way to keep the cards flowing. Each turn you’ll sacrifice a land to draw a card, but also be able to net cards off of Evolving Wilds, Blighted Woodland, and Sanctum of Ugin as the game goes longer, which helps you smooth out your draws and keep your opponent in constant fear of what you’ll cast next.
The other key addition to the deck is Ulvenwald Hydra, which is a pseudo Primeval Titan. This creature serves the dual purpose of being an awesome threat and blocker as well as both ramping and tutoring for value lands like Sanctum of Ugin. It’s important to note Hydra can find Shrine of the Forsaken Gods to jump from six mana to potentially nine, or to find powerful value lands like Westvale Abbey.
The last thing which strikes me about this deck is just how easy it is for the deck to hit Delirium. There’s plenty of land to put in your graveyard, especially with The Gitrog Monster helping. Some of your creatures will be killed, you’ll cast a Nissa's Pilgrimage or Explosive Vegetations. Then you only have to legend-rule an Oath of Nissa or sacrifice a Hedron Archive to get Delirium active. Sure, the only card which cares about Delirium in this shell is Deathcap Cultivator, but that isn’t to say you couldn’t do something similar in a deck splashing, say Descend Upon the Sinful.
