In the past year or so we have had multiple cards get printed that care about deathtouch. Today we'll be going through two decks, one will be a Rakdos deathtouch deck and the other will be a Golgari variant. The Rakdos deck is gimmicky in nature, but the Golgari version is doing its best to be competitive.
Rakdos Deathtouch
Pestilent Spirit is the sole reason we are splashing red. This deck is looking to dunk on creature decks by making a one-sided board wipe by giving Electrickery deathtouch. Due to this, the deck struggles with control decks so it depends on what kind of meta you are playing in. Shock becomes a Murder with Pestilent Spirit and works well with Bone Picker.
Win Conditions
Having a one-sided board wipe doesn't win the game by itself, so we need a quick clock to finish off the opponent before they get a chance to rebuild. Vraska, Swarm's Eminence is a solid pay off by compounding the power of our board turn after turn. Drana, Liberator of Malakir gets us counters right away because of her first strike damage, meaning that she deals damage before the rest of our creatures which puts a +1/+1 counter on them before they deal their damage. Although she doesn't have deathouch herself, curving her into Vraska puts out a lot of damage very quickly.
Golgari Deathtouch
Hooded Blightfang is our pay off for being a deathtouch deck. It encourages us to be low to the ground and swarm the battlefield. Our opponents are unlikely to block early on, allowing us to drain them out just by declaring attackers. Nighthawk Scavenger is a great addition from Zendikar Rising. We're only running two because it is a stand-alone threat that doesn't care about having other deathtouch creatures around. It does work well with Vraska, Swarm's Eminence by having flying and drains with Hooded Blightfang if the board stalls. It has the potential to get huge with the Tarmogoyf like power condition. In a format with Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, Growth Spiral, and Fabled Passage, that should be enough to make Scavenger decent.
Both decks are using the Drana, Liberator of Malakir and Vraska, Swarm's Eminence to pump the team. However, the Rakdos deck is built around Pestilent Spirit and blowing out creatures decks rather than focusing on the strengths of deathtouch creatures. The Golgari deck is looking to punish opponents when they choose not to block our creatures. Driven puts the opponent in a tough spot, forcing them to either trade off some creatures or let us draw a million cards. Despair is backbreaking if we can Aftermath it from the graveyard and is likely to discard the opponent's entire hand by giving our creatures menace. Blossoming Defense and Larger than Life pressure the opponent by pumping our creatures and making it harder for them to block in an impactful way. Larger than Life granting a creature trample is scary as they will be taking tons of damage even if they block because if the way deathtouch and trample work together. It is a sorcery so you want to pick your spot carefully. Blossoming Defense is able to protect our win conditions if, for example, our Drana is running away with the game. Nature's Way is spicy in this deck. Giving a deathtouch creature vigilance and trample allows it to attack hard and play defense, plus the removal mode kills anything that isn't indestructible.
The Rest of the Curve
The one-drops are similar between both versions except for a couple of creatures. Knight of the Ebon Legion fits right into the Golgari version as it is naturally good at pressuring as an attacker by holding up its ability. Wasteland Viper is a saucy pick. It can be a pump spell when you need that extra damage as well as being a deathtouch on turn one. It can also give Drana deathtouch so she can get a counter from Vraska. Both decks run Gifted Aetherborn in the two-drop slot, but the Golgari deck can run Chevill, Bane of Monsters. It can gain life and draw cards by putting a bounty counter a creature we think they are most likely to block with or that we plan on removing. He works well with lots of removal spells so I could see adding Ram Through to the main deck.
Both decks were a lot of fun to build and test. I hope we get more pieces for this archetype in the near future. Especially something in the two-drop slot. Gifted Aetherborn is solid but something another pay off like a deathtouch lord or even a Hooded Blightfang effect would be awesome. I hope this made for a good read and if you're interested in Pauper then check back in for next week for an Exert Warriors deck tech. Check out our Youtube channel also, follow us on social media to make sure you don't miss out on any future articles, and join the fellowship.
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