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4 Llanowar Elves
4 Mistral Charger
4 Mystic Enforcer
4 Ravenous Baloth
4 Watchwolf
2 Aura Mutation
2 Seed Spark
4 Swords To Plowshares
4 Saproling Symbiosis
4 Supply / Demand

12 Forest
10 Plains
2 Vitu-ghazi, The City-tree

GW Swarm.

Description of deck by its author (quoted):
The key part about a Swarm deck is that this is an NHBAggro deck that tries to outnumber the opposing defense. This deck plays more and more creatures before trying to punch through opposing defenses. If you imagine an American football field, the way the Swarm deck scores a touchdown is by having more players on the field than the other team.

Because this deck has to play a lot of creatures, there is a tendency for this deck to be a weenie horde, but that is not always the case. Note that I named this Subtype the Swarm deck, not the weenie deck. Small creatures are merely a means to an end, and you can find small creatures dominating a lot of decks in different NHBAggro Subtypes.

One way to build a Swarm deck is to include a large number of cheap creatures, moving up the mana curve like a Sligh deck. You'll have twelve one-drops, maybe eight two-drops, six or so three-drops, around four or so four-drops, giving you thirty creatures. Then you add a few extra cards to adjunct your strategy, and you have a deck.

Obviously, not every Swarm deck will follow this strategy. Another way to build a Swarm deck was alluded to earlier. You could play, for example, a Green/White deck with Watchwolf, Fleetfoot Panther, Mystic Enforcer and/or Loxodon Hierarch, and tons more cheap beef. This deck would also be a Swarm deck, with a lot of creatures, but the creatures would be bigger than the previously mentioned mana-curve weenie deck.

A third and quite interesting way to build a Swarm deck is to use a permanent or spell to give you a lot of creatures and then outnumber your opponent's defenses that way. You could have Mobilization that pumps out a bunch of solider tokens before overwhelming your opponent. You could also make those soldiers with a Decree of Justice. Perhaps you'd prefer making Saproling tokens with Aether Mutation, Artifact Mutation, or the Supply side of Supply/Demand. These Swarm decks are just as viable.

These methods can be combined as well. Let's take a look at a Swarm deck I just created.

As you can see, this deck packs a lot of creatures. Every spell and creature can make or is a creature except for the four Swords to Plowshares. Let's just look at the creature side of the deck for a moment. Llanowar Elves helps accelerate into faster creatures, but it can also swing for damage when needed. Mana elves like these are great in Swarm decks, as opposed to stuffy old mana artifacts.

I included two different creatures at the two spot. The first is the big, beefy Watchwolf. I'm sure you don't need me to list all of the reasons Watchwolf is worth playing, just remember he's a 3/3 for two mana with no disadvantage. The other two-drop is the recently printed Mistral Charger. This is a splashable creature that can defend or attack through the air. I wanted at least one flyer to have some presence on that front.

Ravenous Baloth and Mystic Enforcer reward the player by giving two nice high-end creatures. The Mystic Enforces will eventually fly as well as become great 6/6 creatures for just four mana. Until then, the Baloths are your biggest creatures, and they can also keep you alive if you suffer an attack from a similar style deck.

After the creatures, the deck has some spells that generate Saproling tokens. Aura Mutation and Seed Spark are removal that also doubles as a creature maker. These are needed for defensive cards like Engineered Plague and Teferi's Moat.

Supply can make you a bunch of Saprolings to add to your force. It's too bad this card is a sorcery, because it'd make a great instant. Saproling Symbiosis makes a Saproling token for each creature you control. In this deck, you could easily have eight or ten creatures out, and doubling that total with Symbiosis can win you the game. Remember, the Symbiosis can be played as an instant, so cast it at the end of your opponent's turn, then attack with your horde of creatures.

I also tossed in four Swords to Plowshares. These are the ubiquitous removal spell in White, and are included only to take out serious threats that may get in your way, such as Akroma. Lastly, two of the lands are Vitu-Ghazis so the deck will have a way to grow more creatures. These work well to re-establish your horde after a mass removal spell hits.

This deck is a Swarm deck in every sense, and I hope you can feel it. Remember, the key to a Swarm deck is outnumbering your opponent.

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by Abe Sargent @ www.starcitygames.com

BEATDOWN: Watchwolf / Ravenous Baloth - Saproling Symbiosis / Seed Spark [GROUP]

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