There are certain components that almost every deck, good or bad, consists of. The following is a very generic list of these components. The first is threats, in the form of creatures, spells, or a combination. Another is support; tutors, draw, disruption, burn, etc. Last, but arguably the most important, is lands. Lands allow you to play the other components and are so important that they often take up more than 1/3 of a deck.

I love land, playing aggro-control decks, and destroying my opponents will to play the game. Many players have been extremely successful in destroying their opponent’s will by denying them resolution of spells. I prefer to be more proactive and therefore have a very special place in my heart for land destruction. This place is so large that, shortly before leaving for Afghanistan, I was playing a new deck that appeared to be mono green and around turn 5 my opponent asked, “What’s the land destruction Tim?” Next turn I dropped an Armageddon. Because of this 'addiction', some of my favorite cards include Life from the Loam and Crucible of Worlds. I would like to take this time to discuss the power of these cards and some decks that feature them.

Let’s analyze these beauties real quick. They both bring lands out of your graveyard, which can be most useful and is often devastating for an opponent. However, that is where their similarities end. Life from the Loam (LftL) is great if you want more cards in your graveyard, which, as I mentioned last time, is a very useful place for cards to be in Legacy, or you need the land in your hand for some reason. It is so powerful that it will almost ALWAYS be the target of an Extirpate, after which your opponent will probably say something clever like “I do not negotiate with terrorists,” or Meddling Mage. Crucible is better, and available to any deck, if you just need to bring land back into play because you keep finding it necessary to sac that Wasteland, use that Lake of the Dead or Dustbowl, or playing repeated mass destruction like Armageddon as part of your game plan. Either way, know that you're probably in for a rather long game when either card is used.

Let’s take a look at a couple decks that use my second favorite green spell ever printed (bonus points if you guess what my favorite is), Life from the Loam.

This first deck is one of my favorites to play. I took it to the Indianapolis Grand Prix side event and finished with a saddening 2-3 record before dropping. My first two matches, Landstill and what looked like Threshold (I didn’t see enough of it to tell for sure), were won 2-0 without sideboarding. Round 3 saw me take it from behind against Cephalid Breakfast (Dredge like combo deck). Mulliganing to five and drawing 2 Leylines for game two didn’t help. I misplayed against Aggro-Loam in game 3 during extra turns. The final nail in the coffin was a 1-2 match against Iggy Pop (Storm combo). As you will see by this list, there are some flaws, the biggest is the almost auto-loss to combo and Moon effects, but it’s still a lot of fun.

Unfortunately there aren’t a whole lot of ways to make this more casual and still work properly. Mulch is often used instead of Crop Rotation, but I like finding the appropriate land in times of need. The Wastelands can be replaced with Strip Mines, which I promise will get you punched. You could also substitute the Tabernacle for greatly inferior Magus of the Tabernacle. If you find the need to draw cards you could add Horn of Greed. The only other advice I can offer are a couple play tips. Like I said about Landstill last time, Wasteland EVERYTHING! If you find yourself in a standoff, recurring Barbarian Rings to the dome eventually solve your problems, just keep stalling with everything else. Lastly, if you’re not expecting Magus/Blood Moon, run a fourth Tranquil Thicket instead of a Forest, they are just that handy. Other than that, hope you don’t run into any combo decks.

The aforementioned Aggro-Loam is also a lot of fun, fits my style, and more importantly meets the criteria to be discussed in this article. The basic strategy is to blow up lands with Wasteland and Devastating Dreams, and sit back as Big Country and Terravore make a quick lunch out of your opponent. With Seismic Assault out, Life from the Loam reads, “1G: Deal 6 damage to target creature or player.” Another little gem when used with LftL is Raven’s Crime. The following list placed 32nd at the Chicago Legacy GP.

I play a somewhat different list in casual, especially since this is my main multiplayer deck. I have added white and use Aether Vial since all my creatures cost 3. The Devastating Dreams and Seismic Assault have both been upped since multiplayer games last longer. Crucible could be used if you must, and isn’t a horrible option, as it lets you put a land back into play for free, however LftL has some real advantages here. Besides the synergies with Seismic Assault and Ravens’ Crime mentioned earlier, it gives you an extra 3 cards to pitch to DD, therefore replacing the need for extra card draw. Again, you could replace the Wasteland with Strip Mine. I have chosen not to, since my physical condition often took a nasty turn for the worse when I did. Without further ado, here is my casual multiplayer list.

The Wishboard needs to be filled out and I am more than happy to hear suggestions.

The last deck that we’ll look at today is one that I love the concept of, but have to admit that I have not actually played yet. This is a defensive deck that uses enchantments to keep from being attacked and Armageddon to deny crucial resources. Trinisphere makes everything cost at least three, period. Many of the lands produce two mana and the Crucibles and Moxen are here to save you from your own reckless destruction of whichever plane is unfortunate enough to have you, a foul tempered Planeswalker with a penchant for torture, on it. Mishra’s Factory, another favorite, is willing to step in front of rampaging Tarmogoyfs all day or even swing when the opportunity presents itself. And lastly, not only does the Exalted Angel beat face with a passion, she also replenishes the life you give away using Ancient Tomb.

The first alteration to make this more casual would be to replace the Chalices with Enlightened Tutors. ET is amazing and great for getting you an early Trinisphere/Crucible/Prison or even Mox if needed. Since very few players have access to any Portal 3 Kingdoms, just play 4 Armageddon instead of 2 Ravages of War. Of course if you have the Ravages I would probably use the empty Moat slots, unless you have those too, for two more Geddons. But, if you’re like most of us you won’t have to worry about that dilemma. Smokestack and Tangle Wire are both solid choices to fill the void of Moat, and they can be fetched with ET. Oblivion Ring could be used instead of the uber expensive Tabernacles, although I might add a 4th Magus in one of those slots. Another option, only relevant if your meta is absolutely overflowing with non-basic goodness, is Dustbowl. A card that just occurred to me is Path to Exile. Spot removal is always useful, especially when Magus of the Moon joins the party, and you don’t have to worry about the land they get because you’re just going to destroy it before they can use it anyway.

I hope you get to enjoy these decks as much as I do.

Until next time, “WASTELAND EVERYTHING!”

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