Givin' The Cyclops Another Eye: The Borborygmos Enraged Deck Chronicles

Surprisingly, this Borborygmos build is getting some attention on TappedOut.

I'll refer you here if you don't know what I'm talking about yet. Or here, if you like the obvious links. Borborygmos Enraged Article.

Today, I was sleeving up Borborygmos Enraged and all those Forests and Mountains when a someone on TappedOut asked me how I'd make the deck "multiplayer viable."

I'll admit I chuckled a little. Mostly because I didn't know how to answer that question, which stemmed from the fact that I was very sure that short of being a casual mess, this wouldn't be a thing. As is, the deck doesn't stand a chance against a whole lot of serious metagame choices, like Doom Blades. Which I found out recently most people in my group don't play.
And I still don't know why.

However, I started thinking about this little challenge, and I've come up with a few ideas that might thicken the deck.

This is tricky. Cause we can't exactly put more land in the deck. Proportionally, this deck might be able to kill a couple of people on its own without your top shelf draws. Cause drawing both Keen Sense and Snake Umbra with even one or two lands in hand will allow you to cast all the land in your deck, which is around 180 damage before you play a Creeping Renaissance or whatever.

But when you don't draw that this deck will flounder.

So we've got to change the game.

The first card that came to me was Grafted Exoskeleton. Turning Four lands into instant death seems pretty great, and it won't break the bank.

Getting this card could prove difficult, but with the built-in tutelage and a simple swap from the Green Sun's to a Chord of Calling this deck can go get Godo, who can also shut down the game.

But if you don't like infect, there's another option here. Hostility with land to throw proves pretty formidable- but you've gotta have the land. Guy in my playgroup runs a Rosheen Meanderer burn deck with that combo. It seems pretty neat in here, and with all the land there's a good chance you'll be able play Creeping Renaissance to recur all the land you throw away. Also, my favorite- Mr. Heartless Hidetsugu. He likes to shorten games.

So having more copies of Creeping Renaissance, or ways to get land will definitely help. Unfortunately, there really isn't anything outside of Reforge the Soul or Wheel of Fortune.

The next best copies of these cards are Soul's Majesty and Garruk, Primal Hunter. Paying five to draw 7 cards off of Borborygmos seems really good, but super risky. But chances are you're only gonna play one of those if he's out.

Still they seem really good. Even good enough to go in the normal build, if I weren't so superstitious about changing cards in working decks.

Anyway, I'm gonna continue to tweak and tune this deck and see what comes of it, even if I think there's a dead end here.

Stay Tuned for Saturday. We've got a nice new article series coming out called the Stack, and you can look forward to Sundays once more cause Grandpa Growth has respun his interwebz and Super-Secret Sundays will return.

Pass.

-UL