Grudge Match

Mono-Black Abuse “Same Name” Effects

Demigod of Revenge by Jim Murray

What’s in a name? Quite a lot when you’re out for revenge! Grudge Match abuses card names to counter, force discard, exile, and otherwise punish your opponent for playing more than one copy of a spell, all the while rewarding yourself for doing exactly the same!

Crank out tons of Rat Colonies (ew), stacking up massive power bonuses. Use Pattern Matcher, Echoing Return, and Secret Salvage to keep your pantry of vengeance well-stocked with wiggling, squiggling Rats. Jester’s Scepter and Shimian Specter (say that ten times fast) prevent your opponent from bringing pesky artifacts and enchantments into play, while Eradicate and Witch’s Vengeance manage creatures. Reward yourself for having lots of Rats by casting Chrome Replicator and adding a Construct to your army. Locket and Twinning Glass accelerate your casting as you set up for your grand finale of revenge.

To finish, use Buried Alive to put three Demigods in the graveyard. Cast the fourth, returning the other three to the battlefield. Equip with a Swamp-powered Strata Scythe to give a massive combat bonus and swing for 20+ damage. Who knew name-calling could be so fun?

This deck is the companion to Echo Chamber. You could say this is the angry, bitter cousin and Echo Chamber is the annoying, whiny cousin. I originally imagined this deck as black and red but changed my mind and pulled out all the red cards. Maybe I’ll make a third cousin to irritate the other two.

Creatures (20)

  • 4 Demigod of Revenge
  • 4 Shimian Specter
  • 1 Chrome Replicator
  • 1 Pattern Matcher
  • 10 Rat Colony

Artifacts (4)

  • 1 Locket of Yesterdays
  • 1 Jester’s Scepter
  • 1 Twinning Glass
  • 1 Elixir of Immortality

Equipment (1)

  • 1 Strata Scythe

Sorceries (15)

  • 1 Secret Salvage
  • 1 Echoing Return
  • 1 Haunting Echoes
  • 4 Eradicate
  • 4 Witch’s Vengeance
  • 4 Buried Alive

Instants (4)

  • 4 Extirpate

Lands (24)

  • 2 Bojuka Bog
  • 2 Mortuary Mire
  • 20 Swamp

Tokens

  • 4/4 Construct

Maybeboard

  • Legion’s End
  • Sever the Bloodline
  • Echoing Decay
  • Bile Blight
  • Dragonlord Kolaghan
  • Invader Parasite
  • Crumble to Dust
  • Echoing Ruin
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