Poppet Fly (apologies to Boba Fett)

One of the tasks often undertaken by the more casually minded players is the building of the ignominious and infamous "net deck". For those not in the know a net deck is deck built from a listing you download from the internet. While this is usually something I personally frown upon, as deck building is for me one of things I most enjoy about Magic, in the case of the following deck I made an exception.

On the mothership (a.k.a. Wizards of the Coast) I stumbled across an article which had me intrigued ... or a rather a deck which had me intrigued. There was nothing wrong with the article at all, but the deck looked so interesting I just had to build it. Build it being an undertaking in wishfull thinking as I did not have many of the cards.

Blowfly, Don't Bother Me by The Mimic (Scott Johns - www.magicthegathering.com editor in chief)

The only down side to the article, for me any way, was the mention that Dusk Urchins were easy to acquire. Well using MODO maybe ... but for cardboard versions, not at all! That and the fact that they are very expensive. So that is the one major casualty in my build. Dusk Urchins is very cool, but not cool (cheap) enough to end up in my deck.

Shadowmoor gave us the whole "-1/-1 matters" theme ... and this deck has so many ways to use use and abuse these counters. From locking creatures down, to turning an acid wielding artifact into a veritable machine gun and even making bucketloads of elf tokens. Just as the author and creator mentions often during his article, this deck is just plain good old fun to play. The deck would be much better if I was lucky enough to have a few Dusk Urchins to add, but even without them, even being on a hiding to nothing, this deck is fun!

This deck always sat in my subconscious and every so often I would read the print out of the article and smile. Then two lots of people came to my aid.

Firstly, one of our local suppliers of Magic singles, and our local tournament organizers, brought a box of freebies to a weekly standard event. This was mana from heaven for me. While scratching through this box I found two Grim Poppets and two Witherscale Wurms (which had been defaced somewhat by their previous owner who had stencilled a large "X" on the card face) and a number of the other required commons.

Secondly, the producers of the Monday Night Magic podcast, who after hearing of my Magic plight, put together a card drive on my behalf and then mailled me a box of 700+ uncommons. These filled out the rest of the requirements quite nicely. Especially with the Flourishing Defense's and the Kulrath Knights. The Monday Night Magic crew are the most amazing bunch of guys.

Now I had a baseline from which to build my incarnation of the deck. While not the most "winningest" of decks I have ever built, it is most certainly one of the most fun to play when it gets rolling. Throwing counters around and then bashing in with the huge Witherscale Wurm is buckets of fun.

And now, without further ado, is the deck in question:

#	Card name	Comments
4	Devoted Druid	This druid of elvish persuasion is a 0/2 for 1G.Like a lot of his elvish brethren he taps to add G to your mana pool. By putting a -1/-1 on him you get to untap this most devoted elvish servant.
2	Wickerbough Elder	This 4/4 treefolk shaman comes into play pre-loaded with a -1/-1 counter for only 3G. As an added bonus for just G and removing said counter you get to destroy an artifact or an enchantment.
2	Witherscale Wurm	This monstrous 9/9 wurm for only 4GG gives all creatures it encounters in combat whither. Oh yes, if it ever damages an opponent you get to remove all of the counters on the wurm. There are other uses for these counters in this deck ...
3	Wall of Roots	For 1G you get a 0/5 defensive plant wall. Once a turn you get to put a -0/-1 counter on the wall to add G to your mana pool.
4	Essence Warden	A very hand little elf who gives you a hearty 1 life whenever a creature enters the battlefield. With Flourishing Defenses in the mix, this could be quite a bit.
1	Herd Gnarr	A 2/2 beast for 3G which gets +2/+2 whenever a creature enters the battlefield. The influx of elf warriors turns the gnarr into quite a gnarly beatstick. A one-of surprise ... nice!
2	Kulrath Knight	A 3/3 flyer with whither for 3 B/R B/R that locks down all creatures with counters on them. As this deck distributes -1/-1 counters that would mean just about any and all creatures not on your side of the battlefield.
2	Chainbreaker	This little 3/3 artifact creature for only 2 mana enters the battlefield already equipped with two -1/-1 counters. You also get to remove a counter from a creature for 3 and a tap. His entering the battlefield aldo fires off the flourishing defenses.
3	Grim Poppet	The acid wielding MVP in this deck. He has a 4/4 body and enters the battlefield with the three -1/-1 counters. At instant speed, and no tap, you get to move a -1/-1 counter from him onto any other creature. Under the right circumstances he turns into a veritable machine gun.
3	Serrated Arrows	These serrated projectiles come onto the battlefield loaded up with three carriers of -1/-1 counters. Fits the deck theme rather well.
4	Fate Transfer	This nifty little common instant from Shadowmoor allows you to move all counters from one target creature onto another target creature. Can anyone say Witherscale Wurm?
3	Flourishing Defenses	One of the pillars of this deck, this enchantment for 4G puts a 1/1 elf warrior onto the battlefield whenever a -1/-1 counter is placed on a creature. This also fires whenever a creature comes into play with counters on 'em ... like the Chainbreaker or the Grim Poppet.
4	Blowfly Infestation	Whenever a creature burdened with a -1/-1 counter is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you get to put another of the offending counters onto target creature. Reloading the Poppet is always a good option.
4	Terramorphic Expanse	Mana fetch and deck thinner extraordinaire.
9	Swamp
10	Forest