Welcome back to the Pauper Decks Column! Today, we're going to break down a deck that has recently entered the format: BG Gardens.
Deck History
BG Gardens emerged between 2022 and 2023 as an evolution of one of the archetypes that was very popular in the past, especially among Italian players: Mono Black Devotion. Initially, this deck was dismissed as its "ancestor" unsuitable for the meta, an attempt by the most nostalgic to revive a bygone archetype.
This was the prevailing belief until Paupergeddon Lecco 2023, where Jame Truffaz made it to the Top 8, proving that his deck was not to be underestimated. With the release of new expansions, it gained increasingly powerful pieces, steadily climbing the format's tier rankings and increasing its presence in tournaments, eventually reaching second place at Paupergeddon Rome 2023 thanks to Tommaso Loss, and in the same tournament, third place, again thanks to Truffaz.
With the release of Commander Masters, a second version of the deck, dubbed "La Melma" (The Slime), emerged. Played by some members of the Golden Pigs, including Heisen, this version further reduced the number of creatures, transforming it from an "Italian-style midrange" into a control deck.
The Deck
Here's an overview of the lists:
Bg Gardens
- 4 × Avenging Hunter
- 4 × Guildsworn Prowler
- 3 × Crypt Rats
- 1 × Vampire Sovereign
- 4 × Cast Down
- 4 × Deadly Dispute
- 4 × Reckoner's Bargain
- 2 × Snuff Out
- 2 × Spinning Darkness
- 1 × Unexpected Fangs
- 4 × Chainer's Edict
- 4 × Ichor Wellspring
- 2 × Blood Fountain
- 8 × Swamp
- 4 × Khalni Garden
- 3 × Vault of Whispers
- 2 × Bojuka Bog
- 2 × Golgari Rot Farm
- 1 × Barren Moor
- 1 × Forest
- 4 × Deglamer
- 4 × Weather the Storm
- 3 × Nihil Spellbomb
- 2 × Duress
- 2 × Shrivel
Top 8
Bg Gardens
- 3 × Avenging Hunter
- 3 × Crypt Rats
- 3 × Thorn of the Black Rose
- 3 × Troll of Khazad-dûm
- 4 × Cast Down
- 4 × Deadly Dispute
- 4 × Defile
- 3 × Fanatical Offering
- 2 × Reckoner's Bargain
- 2 × Spinning Darkness
- 1 × Duress
- 4 × Tithing Blade
- 3 × Lembas
- 2 × Ichor Wellspring
- 1 × Blood Fountain
- 12 × Swamp
- 4 × Khalni Garden
- 1 × Haunted Mire
- 1 × Witch's Cottage
- 4 × Deglamer
- 3 × Drown in Sorrow
- 3 × Relic of Progenitus
- 3 × Weather the Storm
- 2 × Duress
Finalist
La Melma
- 3 × Crypt Rats
- 2 × Fangren Marauder
- 4 × Cast Down
- 4 × Deadly Dispute
- 4 × Reckoner's Bargain
- 2 × Moment's Peace
- 2 × Snuff Out
- 2 × Spinning Darkness
- 4 × Chainer's Edict
- 2 × Drown in Sorrow
- 4 × Ichor Wellspring
- 3 × Lembas
- 1 × Blood Fountain
- 1 × Campfire
- 9 × Swamp
- 4 × Khalni Garden
- 3 × Bojuka Bog
- 3 × Golgari Rot Farm
- 2 × Witherbloom Campus
- 1 × Mortuary Mire
- 4 × Duress
- 4 × Weather the Storm
- 3 × Deglamer
- 2 × Distress
- 2 × Drown in Sorrow
Bg Gardens
- 3 × Avenging Hunter
- 3 × Crypt Rats
- 3 × Thorn of the Black Rose
- 3 × Troll of Khazad-dûm
- 4 × Cast Down
- 4 × Deadly Dispute
- 3 × Defile
- 3 × Fanatical Offering
- 2 × Reckoner's Bargain
- 2 × Spinning Darkness
- 1 × Snuff Out
- 1 × Duress
- 4 × Lembas
- 4 × Tithing Blade
- 1 × Blood Fountain
- 1 × Ichor Wellspring
- 10 × Swamp
- 4 × Khalni Garden
- 2 × Bojuka Bog
- 1 × Haunted Mire
- 1 × Witch's Cottage
- 3 × Deglamer
- 3 × Drown in Sorrow
- 3 × Duress
- 2 × Nihil Spellbomb
- 2 × Rotten Reunion
- 2 × Weather the Storm
Winner
Manabase
Over various versions, the manabase has evolved from 22 lands to 18 lands, structured as follows:
- Khalni Garden: The land that gives the deck its name enters tapped but creates a 0/1 Plant that can defend or be sacrificed.
- Bojuka Bog: Graveyard hate in land form.
- Witch's Cottage: A "special" Swamp that allows us to retrieve a creature when it enters UNTAPped, played in 1-2 copies, and can be fetched with Troll.
- Haunted Mire: A dual land fetchable with Troll, preferable to the snow version to avoid giving a life point to those playing Thermokarst.
- Basic Swamps
Versions with more lands often also play Witherbloom Campus and Golgari Rot Farm, but these are now seen less frequently as they slow down the deck.
Creatures
The creature suite is standardized with 3 copies of:
- Crypt Rats: "Plague with legs," often the deck's finisher. This card allows for a peculiar effect (though honestly, I've never seen it happen): according to the rules, matches are not just best of three, but first to two wins; therefore, with them, it's possible to play an eventual Game 4 if activated in a tied life situation. MTGO players often use the ability with X=0 to find and nullify any Prismatic Strands, so always pay attention to the value assigned during activation.
- Troll of Khazad-dûm: The card that helps fix the manabase, also fetching a green source or Witch's Cottage to retrieve itself or another creature from the graveyard.
- Blackbloom Rogue and Vengeful Reaper: The two creatures that introduce "emblems," causing a snowball effect if adequately defended.
Removals
Cast Down, Defile, Tribute Blade, Spinning Darkness, Sweep Away: All high-potential, low-cost spells to keep the opponent's board clear. Duress: Useful for playing our winning cards in safe spots.
Card Advantage
Deadly Dispute, Reckoner's Bargain, and Fanatical Offering: three variants of the same card that will fill our hand.
Artifacts
- Lembas: Allows us to scry before drawing, replenishes our life points, and most importantly, returns to the deck.
- Ichor Wellspring: Given that a large part of the deck's draw engine is shared with Grixis Affinity, it's not unusual to see a few copies of this artifact.
- Blood Fountain: With few creatures, some of which we'll typically cycle to stabilize the manabase, having a way to retrieve them in the late game is extremely useful.
- Tribute Blade: We've already seen that it's a removal that stays on the battlefield and becomes a potential win condition once transformed in the late game.
Sideboard
The sideboard usually includes:
- Additional copies of Duress, Weather the Storm against decks like Burn.
- Deglamer: To shut down artifact and/or enchantment-based decks.
- Suffocating Fumes: Against decks that flood the board (Kuldotha, White Weenie, Caw-Gates) where our single-target removals lose effectiveness.
- Cinder Pyromancer: Serves to further extend games, both by providing life points and by shuffling the graveyard.
- Nihil Spellbomb / Relic of Progenitus / Putrid Reunion: Cards that slow down or nullify decks heavily reliant on the graveyard.
- Disenchant: To counter Guardian of the Guildpact.
- Fangren Marauder: The nemesis of Grixis Affinity, useful for making an even matchup favorable.
Bad Matchups: Azorius Glitter, Caw-Gates, Dimir Faeries
Even Matchups: Grixis Affinity, Jeskai Glitter, Kuldotha, Mono-U Terror, Gruul Ponza
Good Matchups: Dimir Terror, Walls Combo
Archetype Players
- Jame Truffaz, LP Savoie Player, considered the deck's inventor.
- Tommaso Loss, LP Pisa Player, one of the highest-ranked players in the recently created LPI ranking.
- Mirco Ciavatta, PFP Member, who has a series of videos using this deck on his YouTube channel.
- Emanuele Imperato (ExLo05), Lega Pauper Novi Ligure (LPNL) Representative.
Until the next deck analysis, your ExLo05.
