Hello again, my MTG-loving friends!  I am back from a long hiatus, during which I was working 24/7 at a summer camp and had no time to write about all of the fantastic deck ideas that have been swimming around in my head since June.  Now that I’m back in school, that’s about to change.

If there’s one thing that the Johnny in me hates to see (for those of you unfamiliar with the semi-official Magic: the Gathering player profile designations, look up “Timmy, Johnny, Spike, and Vorthos” on www.magicthegathering.com), it’s a good card that sees little to no use.  Unfortunately, this happens quite often in the world of Magic, which results in a lot of poor little cards wandering about the streets, picking fish skeletons out of garbage bins.  I like to think of myself as that reclusive but ultimately kind and grandfatherly rich gentleman who graciously takes these foundling waifs in under his wing and gives them the care they could never have hoped to have found out in the big, big world.  Being rich is the important part, because I’d need a damn big house if I wanted to fit this guy under the eaves:

He’s a lot nicer than he looks, I’m sure.  I’d just have to keep him away from my Dachsund…

Anyway, this guy is a lot better than many people might think.  The fact that he costs only 4 to play is absolutely sick, but that’s not even the best part.  In the right sort of deck, his activated ability can facilitate all sorts of combos that, if they don’t automatically win the game, will at least result in massive amounts of damage.  That coupled with the fact that his triggered ability will, with the right cards in play, probably make him come out as a 5/5 on turn 4 (thus laying plenty of groundwork for his second ability) makes for one hell of a good card.

Starting the Deck

You’ll obviously want to be playing Ulasht in a red-green deck to maximize his potential.  Luckily, red-green is probably the most powerful color combination in the game in terms of speed and aggressiveness (rivaled only by red-white, in my opinion).  There are lots of cheap red, green, and red-green creatures out there that still give you the power you need to really kick this deck into high gear.  The Guildpact and Shadowmoor expansions provide us with the bulk of the good red-green multicolor cards, so those would be a good place to start looking when you decide to build this type of deck.  I will, of course, be featuring cards from all over the place in this article, so that should save you the trouble of some extra searching.

This deck can have a few variations, mostly based on what you plan to do late in the game.  If your aim is to throw down big bomb creatures (a few of which I will be discussing shortly), you might need to up your land count a bit.  If you plan to do something more along the lines of the deck that I’m actually building while writing this article, you won’t need to have a ton of lands.  Either way, though, you want to make sure that you avoid early mana screw, because you want to play as many creatures as you can, and have enough mana for a burn spell if you need it.  I wouldn’t recommend going any lower than 23 land, although if you choose to use Alara Reborn’s Firewild Borderpost, you could go lower than that.  However, I wouldn’t use the Borderposts in this case, as the room is needed for other spells.  Stick with dual lands if you can; some may be more difficult than others to get your hands on.  Gruul Turf, Stomping Ground, and Fire-Lit Thicket come to mind most readily, but just be aware that the latter two may be rather expensive if you don’t have them already.  If you need other methods of mana-fixing, I would first look to Wild Cantor, Sakura-Tribe Elder, or Llanowar Elves.

Although these fit the colors of the deck quite nicely, I would recommend these only if you had no other way of fixing your mana.  I have a better one in mind which I will discuss shortly.

Basically, the aim of the deck as I am building it is to combine Ulasht with various utility enchantments and spells to generate tons of Saproling tokens and then lay waste to the board with them.  There should be enough different ways to win in here that you won’t wind up being stuck with a big Ulasht that can’t really do anything spectacular.  A minor theme of the deck will revolve around seriously ramping up the power of Ulasht and / or other creatures and then using Mage Masher or Soul’s Fire for the one-hit kill.  We’ll start the deckbuilding with the creature element, which will be the easiest to figure out.

Creatures

Besides the obvious inclusion of four Ulasht, the Hate Seed (you can knock it down to three if you really want to, but I don’t see a good reason for that), there are a number of creatures that you could consider adding to this deck.  It’s going to need to be a little heavy on creatures for the early game, but mid- to late-game you should be able to generate enough tokens that having more expensive creatures won’t really be necessary (unless of course you want to add them anyway, in which case be my guest).

Tattermunge Maniac

The first guy I think I should talk about is one of whom you should definitely add three or four to your deck:

You’re going to need to jump on the combat wagon as soon as possible, and I see no reason why a 2/1 for one hybrid mana shouldn’t help you do that.  This is a guaranteed first-turn play, because unless you get a hand with no land, you’re going to have the right type whether it be Forest or Mountain.  The drawback isn’t much of one, because at this point in the game you’re going to want to be flinging creatures in your opponent’s direction anyways.  Toss in the fact that he’s got both colors that Ulasht looks for when he comes into play, and I’d call it an exceptional one-drop.

Boggart Ram-Gang

Again, you want to keep the deck’s aggressive element trucking through the early parts of the game, and this is another solid creature that will help you with that.  He can pop out on turn 3 (or faster, if you’re using acceleration) and bash your opponent or waste one of their creatures at the same time.  He’s a formidable attacker or blocker even after the other pieces of the deck start falling into place, and of course he provides two lovely +1/+1 counters for our buddy Ulasht.  I’m probably going to use three of these at least; four might take up space for other useful spells.  If you find that you’d like to use four of a creature besides the Maniac, though, this would be the one to pick.

Utopia Mycon

Another great one-drop, Utopia Mycon will provide some extra Saprolings over and above the ones that Ulasht can make, and can utilize all of your Saprolings to a rather destructive extent.  You can sacrifice your Saprolings to provide mana to feed Ulasht’s damage ability, or simply pour them all into a Fireball.  This card also works exceptionally well with some of the other spells that I’ll be mentioning in a bit.  Make room for at least three of these guys; if you can get one out early enough, you’ll have been able to kick the deck’s main engine into gear much sooner.

Goblin Razerunners

This is the last guy on my list of creatures that I feel the deck really needs.  As I mentioned earlier, the deck should run about 23 to 24 land to really be able to get going as quickly as it needs to, but once you get a Utopia Mycon into play (and are able to churn out enough Saprolings), extra land becomes rather redundant.  With the exception of Fireball, there’s not much else you’re going to be able to use it for (at least, not in the deck I’d suggest you build).  The Razerunners solve this problem by eating your excess lands and turning them into a bit of damage each round.  In my playtesting of this deck, I’ve actually won a game or two simply through my use of this card; I didn’t even have to play Ulasht!  However, this type of occurrence should be rare in this deck; after all, we’re trying to build around Ulasht.  Don’t put any more than two Razerunners in your deck, because although it’s a great utility card that you should definitely use, it’s not going to be your main win condition.

Other Creatures

I don’t have any other creatures in my deck besides the ones I just talked about.  However, you may want to add a few different ones to taste, depending on how you’ll want to actually win.  If you’re looking for big guns, try out Borborygmos, who can replace Ulasht’s counters (although only one at a time) and beef up your Saproling swarm.  If you really want people to hate you, add a copy of Furystoke Giant, who turns each of your creatures into a Shock when he comes into play (and he has Persist, so he does it twice!).  If you feel you need slightly thicker skin (and admittedly, the deck’s defensive presence isn’t all that imposing early in the game), try Essence Warden, who just goes nuts once Ulasht and your other Saproling generators start cranking.  And finally, there’s always Mycoloth if you want to ramp up your Saproling production to the next level.  Try out different combinations of creatures and see which one you like best.

Artifacts / Enchantments / Instants / Sorceries

The crux of this deck idea is utilizing a number of different non-creature spells to amplify and overload your side of the board with pure creature power.  Although it’s not a deck that’s heavy on creature cards, it can use other spells to generate a multitude of Saprolings (and other creatures) and use them to take over the game.

Fireball

This is the most basic kill spell in the deck.  It works best with a Utopia Mycon and a lot of Saprolings in play, but if you’re desperate you can use it early in the game to eliminate problem creatures should you (God forbid) have a slow start.  There are other creature removal cards in the deck, however, and so I would relegate Fireball to use as player removal most of the time.  Make sure you have three of these (four might be too many, but two is definitely too few).

Volcanic Fallout / Firespout

These two cards are going to be your best friends in all stages of the game.  Each one is useful in different situations, and oftentimes the game will swing in your favor if you time these well enough.  Be warned that these cards will hurt your creature presence as well as your opponent’s, so if you already seem to be going strong with lots of Saprolings in play, I wouldn’t play these.  Don’t be afraid to blow everything up if you really need to, though; there are cards in this deck that will make losing your tokens far less painful, and after all, if you have a big enough Ulasht out, you’ll still have him on the board when all’s said and done.  I’m using two of each.

Sprout Swarm

The great thing about this card is that it’s reusable, and if you have enough creatures out when you play it, you’ll get a sizeable mana discount to boot.  It’s never a dead draw, and later in the game you’ll hopefully be able to play it a few times a turn if you want.  I’m using two copies of this as well.

Goblin Bombardment

Once you get a sizeable amount of Saprolings in play, this card becomes invaluable.  It will often be a game-finisher, even in multiplayer.  Plus, having this card out allows you to drop a Firespout and still make use of all your soon-to-die creature tokens.  This card is a must; use at least two.

Rite of Passage

This card is amazing in the ways that it can work with the other cards in this deck.  It makes all of your creatures a bit harder to kill, true, but that’s not where it truly shines.  In conjunction with Goblin Bombardment, you can sacrifice Saprolings (or anything else) to put counters onto your bigger cretaures.  Recharge Ulasht, or turn Goblin Razerunners into a walking slaughterhouse.  It’s your call.  Plus, their abilities stack, so having two out at a time would be just unbelieveably awesome.  Again, use two (three might be pushing it).

Elemental Mastery

Attaching this to an Ulasht or a Razerunners seems like a great idea to me.  Swarm with your tons of new Elementals, or throw them around with Goblin Bombardment.  Use at least two of this one.

Saproling Symbiosis

This card is just sweet.  Who wouldn’t want to double the amount of creatures they have in play?  Use after a timely Elemental Mastery activation to get more bang for your buck.  These are a little harder to get your hands on than other cards in this deck, but if you can get two of them you should be fine.

Soul’s Fire

This one is pretty straightforward.  Target a big Ulasht or Razerunners with this one.  These are pretty much interchangeable with Fireball.

Mage Slayer

Also straightforward.  How do I damage thee?  Let me count the ways…

Other Spells

There are a wealth of options that you can use to your enjoyment besides the ones that I have discussed (and am currently using).  In the Web of War is a great card to use if you want to steer the deck in more of a hyper-aggressive beatdown direction.  Muraganda Petroglyphs can also help with that.  If you favor targeted removal over the global kind, you can use Branching Bolt or Lightning Boltin place of Firespout and / or Volcanic Fallout.  Cloudstone Curiomakes for interesting combos with Ulasht, as you can bounce and replay him every time you make a Saproling.  Doubling Season, of course, makes everything hit the fan, and I don’t even want to think about the havoc that Pandemonium could wreak in a deck like this.

Wrapping Up

I hope that this article has sparked some amazing deck ideas for you.  I know that Ulasht, the Hate Seed is not usually the card that comes to mind when one thinks of a power creature, but that’s hopefully soon to change.  Feel free to leave any comments on cards that you think I should have mentioned, and if you want, add your decklists to the comment section so we can all see what you’ve done with the idea.

Happy building!

NB:  I am writing this section a couple weeks after the publication of this article, so for those of you who haven’t seen this part, I apologize.  I’ve noticed in playtesting that my version of the deck doesn’t work as well as I had intended; it seems to be because the deck has too small of a creature base.  It needs more cheap creatures in the beginning than I thought it did; when the deck does win, it usually does so without Ulasht, which is of course totally the opposite of what I was trying to do.  Make sure that you have a good, strong creature base in this deck before you start adding any supplemental enchantments or other spells; two creatures I didn’t mention before that would work very well here are Naya Hushblade and Jund Hackblade from Alara Reborn.  Good luck!