IntroductionToday, we'll explore a deck centered around a card that is nothing more and nothing less than Necropotence. The only difference is that this version is a bit more balanced, so it won't break Modern in two.In this article, we'll discuss a pretty cool Golgari Necrodominance list that showed up in Canada. It's a great Midrange option that really resembles a The Rock list. It is also a great call for those who enjoy playing these colors or this archetype.NecrodominanceNecrodominance is the card that names this deck. The comparison with Necropotence is inevitable, but if this card were available in Modern, this format would become unplayable. If you have just started playing MTG, spending life points to draw lots of cards might not seem that big of a deal, but creating an advantage this way is one of the most dangerous strategies in MTG. It often enables entire combos, as it lets you dig through your entire deck after a win condition.In this list, you won't exactly use Necrodominance to get the pieces for your combo and win straight away. Instead, you will use this enchantment like a "refill" engine. You'll draw a lot of cards at the end of the turn and find new removals, discards, Soul Spike copies, and threats like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. These, in turn, will draw even more cards for you. All of this creates a pretty interesting dynamic. Golgari Necrodominance plays like a pretty interactive black Midrange list, but it gets a lot of value from its most expensive cards.Golgari Necrodominance - The ListThis list is mostly black. It only plays a few incredibly important green cards, including Witherbloom Charm, Assassin's Trophy, Culling Ritual, Overgrown Tomb, and Underground Mortuary. Like so, it plays tools that Monoblack lists usually can't.This structure resembles old Modern "The Rock" lists. It plays discards, removals, and resilient threats, but also Necrodominance, which changes a lot how you get your resources. Instead of relying solely on 1-for-1 trades and praying you get great cards from the top of your deck, this list can rebuild your hand a lot more often as long as you have enough time and life points.The list we'll see today showed up in the hands of a player called Joengunyenn, who got 1st place at an RCQ in Canada. The same archetype was in this event's top 8. For this article, though, we'll focus on the winning list.Here it is:Cheap InteractionsThoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek are classic turn-1 cards. When you play Midrange lists, discarding a core piece in the opponent's deck is important, but seeing what they have in hand and what they're playing is also great. As for Fatal Push, it is the golden standard for removals in this format, particularly considering this deck plays enough fetchlands to enable Revolt somewhat regularly. Marsh Flats and Polluted Delta will do more than just fix mana in this case.Witherbloom Charm is one of the cards that make playing green worth it. It does a bit of everything that this deck wants. It removes small permanents, deals with a few specific threats, and can also interact with the graveyard. This type of flexibility matters a lot considering this list doesn't only play answers in the main deck but still needs to be ready to deal with different opponents.Interacting With Your Life PointsSoul Spike is one of the cards that best interacts with Necrodominance. As this engine forces you to pay life points to draw cards, being able to cast a spell by exiling two black cards from your hand is important. This card will remove a creature or deal damage to the opponent, but, most importantly, it gives you 4 life points back, which will allow you to keep using Necrodominance.This detail changes a lot how you should play this deck. Many Midrange lists force you to choose between saving your cards to trade resources later or spending all of them quickly to not get left behind. With Soul Spike, the extra cards you draw with Necrodominance will also become fuel so that you can stabilize the board. You won't always exile two black cards at random, but being able to do that without spending mana is an important part of what makes this deck strong.Sheoldred, the Apocalypse fits this idea in a really natural way. It punishes the opponent for drawing cards, stabilizes the game by giving you life points, and makes each card you draw even more relevant. When Necrodominance and Sheoldred are on the board at the same time, drawing cards and using life points will work together a lot more nicely. Like so, you'll be able to get resources without exposing yourself.CreaturesDauthi Voidwalker does a lot at once. It progresses the main game plan, disables graveyard strategies, and also lets you cast an exiled card in tight spots, which is quite threatening. Considering this deck plays lots of discards, this is even better. Removing an important card from the opponent's hand can turn into more resources later on.Graveyard Trespasser is similar, but it is a bit more stable. It lets you control graveyards, get life points, and put pressure on the other side of the board. It's also relatively annoying to remove because it forces the opponent to discard a card to do it. In long matches, its stats and the value it gives you bit by bit will make a difference, particularly because this deck is always trying to preserve and recover life points so that you can take advantage of Necrodominance.Orcish Bowmasters is perfect for Modern. It punishes the opponent for drawing too many cards, fills the board, and helps you deal with small creatures for very little investment back. Considering this deck already plays a few interactions at instant speed, Bowmasters is a great threat. It often forces the opponent to move at a different pace.Boggart Trawler and Fell the Profane are double-sided cards that do a lot in terms of deckbuilding. They make flooding less likely, enable Soul Spike because they're black, and also work as lands whenever necessary. This type of card is particularly important in decks with Necrodominance because you want a functional number of lands but still need enough spells to draw cards when your main engine starts going.How To Play ItEarly on, the main game plan is really similar to the game plans in traditional black Midrange lists. You want to use Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek to see and make the opponent's hand smaller, remove your first threats with Fatal Push, and develop the board with creatures that disrupt the opponent's plan. Dauthi Voidwalker is excellent in this stage because it makes the opponent's graveyard a lot worse. Meanwhile, Orcish Bowmasters often punishes strategies centered around card draw or small creatures.In the midgame, your priority is finding a safe time to resolve Necrodominance. This doesn't mean always playing it on turn 3. In some matches, you're better off clearing the board, removing an answer from the opponent's hand, or saving your life points before you start drawing lots of cards. This list plays lots of interaction, but Necrodominance demands a price that, though easy to pay, shouldn't be ignored. Planning each turn well is key to this list.After you put this engine in play, you can change your pace, as you'll be able to refill your hand a lot more easily. In that sense, Soul Spike will give you life points, Force of Despair can clear any boards that are getting too dangerous, and Sheoldred, the Apocalypse makes the match very unfavorable to the opponent.In the late game, Golgari Necrodominance often wins because it gives you too many resources and allows you to deal a lot of damage with your creatures. You'll create an advantage slowly, which is not unusual for Midrange strategies. You don't need to end the game all at once, but you can win if you put a Sheoldred in play and protect her, constantly attack with Dauthi Voidwalker and Graveyard Trespasser, or even play a Soul Spike for lethal. This list doesn't have to rush like Burn lists, but you also don't want to stretch out the match unnecessarily.SideboardAssassin's Trophy is better when you need to deal with permanents that your main deck doesn't answer all that well, particularly as it can remove any type of card, even lands. The drawback, which is giving a land to the opponent, is definitely noteworthy, but, considering Modern doesn't traditionally rely on basic lands, this instant is a great call.Culling Ritual punishes boards full of low-cost permanents, like Prowess's and Affinity's, and also gives some mana back to you. You don't need to use it as a combo card in long turns. You're better off using it to deal with problematic permanents instead.Damping Sphere and Disruptor Flute are classic ways to control the game in Modern. Sphere delays strategies that rely on playing many spells in the same turn, like Burn in the early game, or that create a lot of mana, like Tron lists. Meanwhile, Flute is a bit more situational. It can disable specific cards and buy you some time so that you can make this Midrange strategy work. Surgical Extraction is great against graveyards, particularly decks that play Goryo's Vengeance, and also interacts well with discards and removals.The extra copies of Force of Despair, Graveyard Trespasser, and Orcish Bowmasters prove that this sideboard will not turn this deck into anything too different than what it already is. It just gives you more copies of the right cards for certain matchups. More Forces is great against boards that grow too fast, more Trespassers improve matches in which graveyards and lifegain matter, and Bowmasters is better against decks that rely on drawing cards or small creatures.Final WordsI only realized now that the giant in Necrodominance is Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger. Though this card is great and a nice version of the original Necropotence, I would prefer if its artwork were more similar to the old print, with a more modern character, perhaps.What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.Thank you for reading, and see you next time!
Reactions
0
0 Comments
Be the first to comment