Trash or Treasure by OctalPlains

Format: Commander

Commander: Old Rutstein

Bracket: 3

DeckCheck Threat Index: 28

Deck overview

This Golgari deck is led by Old Rutstein and focuses on self-mill, land recursion, and aristocrats-style life drain. In the early game, Old Rutstein generates steady value by milling cards on each upkeep and producing Treasure, Insect, or Blood tokens. The deck uses these resources to ramp into resilient midgame engines such as The Gitrog Monster, Scavenger's Talent, and Cauldron of Essence. As the graveyard fills with lands and creatures, threats like Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar, Cultivator Colossus, and Centaur Vinecrasher grow to lethal proportions. The deck converts this board presence into victory around Turn 8 through Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord fling activations, Triumph of the Hordes poison overruns, or mass token swarms. While the deck boasts strong resource grinding and engine recovery through deep recursion, it relies heavily on graveyard access and possesses minimal instant-speed stack protection, making it vulnerable to well-timed exile effects.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Aftermath Analyst
  • 1 Alpharael, Stonechosen
  • 1 Anticausal Vestige
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Avatar Destiny
  • 1 Beledros Witherbloom
  • 1 Black Sun's Twilight
  • 1 Bone Miser
  • 1 Braids's Frightful Return
  • 1 Buried Ruin
  • 1 Call Damage Control
  • 1 Cauldron of Essence
  • 1 Centaur Vinecrasher
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Cryptolith Rite
  • 1 Cultivator Colossus
  • 1 Damage Control Crew
  • 1 Darkbore Pathway // Slitherbore Pathway
  • 1 Deathcap Glade
  • 1 Dina, Soul Steeper
  • 1 Doubling Season
  • 1 Dread Return
  • 1 Drownyard Temple
  • 1 Emeritus of Abundance // Regrowth
  • 1 Enduring Tenacity
  • 1 Essenceknit Scholar
  • 1 Exploration Broodship
  • 1 Festering Thicket
  • 13 Forest
  • 1 Golgari Charm
  • 1 Gravecrawler
  • 1 Groundskeeper
  • 1 Host of the Hereafter
  • 1 Infuse with Vitality
  • 1 Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
  • 1 Kogla, the Titan Ape
  • 1 Lifeblood Hydra
  • 1 Llanowar Wastes
  • 1 Morbid Opportunist
  • 1 Mortality Spear
  • 1 Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar
  • 1 Nature's Rhythm
  • 1 Old Rutstein
  • 1 Overgrown Tomb
  • 1 Oversold Cemetery
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Phyrexian Altar
  • 1 Pitiless Plunderer
  • 1 Postmortem Professor
  • 1 Putrefy
  • 1 Putrid Imp
  • 1 Rancor
  • 1 Reviving Melody
  • 1 Root Manipulation
  • 1 Scavenger's Talent
  • 1 Shelob, Dread Weaver
  • 1 Sheoldred // The True Scriptures
  • 1 Shriekmaw
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Springleaf Parade
  • 10 Swamp
  • 1 Temple of Malady
  • 1 The Gitrog Monster
  • 1 The Meathook Massacre
  • 1 The Sackville-Bagginses
  • 1 The Speed Demon
  • 1 Trading Post
  • 1 Triumph of the Hordes
  • 1 Twilight Mire
  • 1 Undergrowth Recon
  • 1 Undergrowth Stadium
  • 1 Urborg Repossession
  • 1 Vernal Fen
  • 1 Victimize
  • 1 Vigor Mortis
  • 1 Viridescent Bog
  • 1 Vorinclex // The Grand Evolution
  • 1 Wastewood Verge
  • 1 World Breaker