Hello, folks. I've been exploring a few odd ideas lately in this column, but today I have something special. I really think this deck might have what it takes to compete in the current Standard format. It's certainly among the most powerful decks I've made recently, and it all started with Nighthowler.

Nighthowler is a card I've been intrigued by since I first saw it. With a bestow cost of only 4 mana, it has a lot of potential. The problem is consistently putting enough creatures in the graveyard to make it a real threat. I've experimented with it in other decks before, but it never really lived up to its potential. Therefore, I decided to see if I could make a deck built around it.

After a bit of digging, I was staggered by how many cards there are in the current Standard format that care about the graveyard and by how many good options there are for helping you fill it. The best part is that since none of these cards are being used by other decks, you can put something sweet together very cheaply right now. Here's the deck I built:

"Golgari Graveyard"

• Creatures (24)
• 2 Korozda Guildmage
• 3 Lotleth Troll
• 4 Dreg Mangler
• 4 Experiment One
• 4 Nemesis of Mortals
• 4 Nighthowler
• 3 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord

• Spells (12)
• 4 Grisly Salvage
• 4 Commune with the Gods
• 4 Drown in Filth

• Lands (24)
• 10 Forest
• 10 Swamp
• 4 Golgari Guildgate

Buy This Deck

Filling the Graveyard

Unburial Rites decks also took advantage of Mulch to help fill the graveyard. Although Mulch is gone, Theros has given us something even better. Commune with the Gods is almost as good as a Grisly Salvage, and playing eight copies of the effect is awesome for this deck. Grabbing enchantments instead of lands is obviously a drawback here, as is the fact that it can only be cast on your turn. However, the fact that it doesn't require black mana is surprisingly useful, and while it is less effective than Grisly Salvage, I'm more than happy to have the extra support.

Drown in Filth serves double-duty as a removal spell and graveyard filler. So long as you've cast one or two of the other spells earlier, Drown in Filth will easily kill most early creatures. As the size of creatures increases later in the game, so too does the size of creatures Drown in Filth can kill, thanks to the twelve graveyard-filling spells in the deck.

The Beatdown

Although the graveyard-filling spells will often serve as your 2-drop, I've included some other options as well. Lotleth Troll is a hard-to-kill threat with trample, making it a sweet target for Nighthowler. It also allows you to discard unwanted creatures, such as late-game Elvish Mystics to put them into the graveyard, putting a +1/+1 counter on the Troll at the same time.

Korozda Guildmage is something I wanted to try out for the last slot in the deck. As a 2/2 for 2 mana, it can beat down reasonably well early in the game. Later in the game, however, it can do even more. For 3 mana, you can give a creature +1/+1 and intimidate, often making it completely unblockable depending on what deck you're playing against. You can also spend 4 mana to sacrifice a creature, converting into a mass of Saproling tokens. You can leave mana open in order to use this to foil a removal spell or simply to spread out your threats when facing an opponent with several small creatures to block with.

Dreg Mangler comes in at the 3-drop slot to lead into the midgame with an aggressive stance, attacking your opponent for 3 before he knows what's happening. It can also be scavenged later on if it's worth the cost of having one fewer creature in your graveyard. It's actually surprising how often just having the extra creature there is worth more than the counters.

Unlike Nighthowler, Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord only counts the creatures in your own graveyard. Fortunately, his base power and toughness often makes up for that. What definitely makes up for it are his other abilities. First of all, you can sacrifice any creature to make your opponent lose that much life—sort of like a built-in Fling. This is incredibly helpful for pushing damage past tougher blockers, and it can often be used to end the game a turn earlier, sacrificing a creature after it has already dealt combat damage. Jarad's final ability allows you to return him to your hand from the graveyard, although at a steep price. It's not something you're going to take advantage of all the time, but it does go a long way in keeping the threats coming during longer games, where you'll have the lands to spare anyway.

Finally, Nemesis of Mortals seems like a solid threat in this deck. It's no Ghoultree, but it does come down faster, potentially as soon as turn three with a Grisly Salvage and an Elvish Mystic. It can also reach the same power and toughness as Ghoultree, although it requires more mana to get there. This gives you a huge amount of reach when combined with Jarad, allowing you to take away half your opponent's starting life total without even attacking.

Playtesting

Rakdos Aggro – Game 1

My opponent played a Swamp, cast Spike Jester, and attacked me for 3. He ended his turn. I drew Commune with the Gods, played a Forest, and ended my turn.

My opponent cast another Spike Jester and dropped me to 11. He then played a Swamp and passed. I cast Grisly Salvage at the end of his turn, grabbing Lotleth Troll and putting one creature in the graveyard. I drew Drown in Filth, played a Swamp, and cast the Troll before ending my turn.

My opponent cast Rakdos Shred-Freak and attacked with everything. I blocked a Spike Jester with my troll and regenerated it, dropping to 6 life. He ended his turn. I drew Commune with the Gods and cast Drown in Filth on Spike Jester, milling three creatures and killing it. I played a Forest and cast Nemesis of Mortals before passing the turn.

My opponent cast Doom Blade on Nemesis of Mortals and attacked with the Shred-Freak. I blocked with Lotleth Troll, killing off both. He cast Tormented Hero and ended his turn. I drew Elvish Mystic and cast it, along with my second Nemesis of Mortals. I passed the turn.

On his turn, my opponent cast Madcap Skills on Tormented Hero, draining me for 1. He passed the turn, and I drew a Swamp. I played it and cast Commune with the Gods. I put Nemesis of Mortals in my hand and two creatures in the graveyard. I attacked for 13 with Nighthowler, and my opponent took the damage. I then cast the second one and ended my turn.

My opponent cast another Madcap Skills on Tormented Hero to bring me to 1, but his attack was easily thwarted by my three blockers, and I won on my turn.

Game 2

He played a Mountain and cast Spike Jester, attacking me for 3 before ending his turn. I drew Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord, played my Swamp, and cast Korozda Guildmage. I passed the turn.

My opponent cast Madcap Skills and knocked me down to 11 before ending his turn. I drew a Swamp and cast Drown in Filth, finding two creatures along with the one land I needed to kill the Jester. I played the Swamp and ended my turn.

My opponent cast another Spike Jester and attacked for 3. I traded my Guildmage for it, and he passed the turn. I drew a Forest, played it, and cast Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord. I then ended my turn.

My opponent killed the Nemesis with Doom Blade and passed. I drew another Grisly Salvage and cast it, grabbing Lotleth Troll and putting no creatures in the graveyard. I cast the Troll and ended my turn.

My opponent passed the turn with no play, and I drew a Swamp. I played it and then attacked with Jarad. My opponent took 9, and I cast Dreg Mangler and Nighthowler before ending my turn. My opponent dropped me to 8 with a Lightning Strike during my end step.

On his turn, he played a Mountain, cast Rakdos Shred-Freak, and passed the turn. I untapped and used Jarad to sacrifice Dreg Mangler and Nighthowler for the win.

Wrap-Up

This deck really seems solid. It can put bigger creatures on the board than anything else in the format, and it does so quickly and consistently. It also uses the power or Grisly Salvage and Commune with the Gods to smooth out bad draws and ensure you always have access to your best cards. If you're looking for an inexpensive, yet competitive deck for Standard, I'd encourage you to test this one out.