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BMoor's Magic The Gathering Deck Garage
Nightmare/Swampwalk
February 5, 2007

Here's a decklist that actually isn't the E-mail sender's deck-- it's his girlfriend's deck.  As such, he apparently wasn't able to tell me anything about it, thus making my job harder.  All he said in the E-mail subject was "My girlfriend's deck-- nightmare/swampwalk".  So, that's what I'll work with.
Lands
 
Swamp x 19
Urborg x 1
 
 
Creatures
 
Nightmare x 1
Bog Raiders x 2
Sengir Vampire x 3
Bog Wraith x 3
Filth x 1
 
 
Spells/Enchantments/etc.
 
Soul Exchange x 3
Terror x 4
Demonic Tutor x 4
Drain Life x 2
Animate Dead x 2
Buried Alive x 2
Evil Presence x 2
Bad Moon x 1
Dark Ritual x 4
Breeding Pit x 1
Deathgrip x 2
Haunting Wind x 2
Gloom x 1
Gate of Phyrexia x 1
 
Okay, we'll start with the lands, since that's the first thing on your list, and because I have a question about them.  Urborg x1 you say?  Is that Urborg or is it Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth?  Yes, believe it or not, they made TWO legendary lands meant to represent Urborg.  It's not the first time two legendary cards represented the same thing, but it might be the first time they were lands.  Either way, they each have their uses.  The original Urborg can make a creature lose swampwalk, which may be of use to you since you're playing with Swamps.  The Tomb of Yawgmoth says plainly "Each land is a Swamp in addition to its other types."  This includes your opponents' lands.  And you've got a significant deal of Swampwalkers, so a land that turns all lands (including itself) into Swamps would obviously be of use to you.  The Tomg of Yawgmoth is probably more useful than the original Urborg, but whichever one you've got is good.  Try to get the other one too.
 
Now, for your creatures.  If I to infer from the E-mail's suject that this deck is based on Nightmare and creatures with Swampwalk, then you've done your job well.  Only one Nightmare is a bit distressing, but I noticed you have Buried Alive to tutor it and Filth into your graveyard, then reanimate it with Animate Dead or Soul Exchange.  I'd prefer a few more Nightmares if you can manage it, but they might be expensive.  Your Bog creatures are fine, but I'm not sold on Sengir Vampire.  The "vampire" ability has long been criticized for how difficult it is to trigger reliably without a lot of combat tricks, and since your strategy seems to make your creatures unblockale, you may want something a little more tailor-made for not getting blocked.  The first thing that comes to mind is Avatar of Discord.  Not only is its power-to-mana-cost ratio enviable, it gives you a way to discard that Filth if need be.  It deals more damage per swing than Sengir, and costs less.  Seems pretty simple.
One more thing-- those Soul Exchanges make me think it would help if you had some more Thrulls.  Exhumer Thrull and Mourning Thrull are the best ones that come to mind.  You might also try Cyclopean Giant, which can permanently Swampify a land when it gets destroyed.  It's no Thrull, but you might Soul Exchange it anyway. 
 
And now for the spells.  The first thing I'm going to do is cut Gloom and Deathgrip. They're sideboard material.  Unless you're boyfriend's deck is green/white, and he's the only one you ever play, these will only hurt you in the long run.  Against the wrong opponent, they're blank cards.  The same goes for Haunting Wind and Gate to Phyrexia-- do you deal with that many artifacts?  Haunting Wind is properly useless-- it doesn't even stop the artifacts.  If the opponent can afford to lose a few life, this card is a blank even if your opponent IS playing the thing it hoses.  Gate to Phyrexia is a bit more useful, but still sideboard.
 
With those gone, I'd like to see more Breeding Pits.  Soul Exchange loves lots of Thrulls, after all, and so does Bad Moon, which you also ought to have some more of.  With 4 Demonic Tutors, I'm honestly not worried about you having one-ofs.  But with Breeding Pit and Bad Moon, I'm telling you to run more copies not to ensure you draw one, but to give you the option of having multiples in play at the same time.
 
Other than that, everything looks fine.  I doubt you'll have any troubles after implementing my suggestions, but then I didn't know what your troubles were to begin with.  Ladies and gentlemen, when you E-mail, you really need to tell me about your deck.  Don't just post a list of cards-- talk to me about them!  What does this deck try to do?  What does it fail at?  Is it for a specific format?  The more you tell me, the better a job I can do.  Keep that in mind for next time!
 
~BMoor
 


 

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