Welcome back to Daily Arena, and a look at another of the precons given to us on March 22!

Today I’m taking a look at Golgari Exploration, the B/G “Explore” deck. This deck has a bunch of creatures that explore when they enter the battlefield, a couple of cards that help them explore even more, some “explore matters” payoff cards, and some other black and green creatures that I would put in the category “just good value”.

Here’s a video featuring me playing this deck and getting stomped by cattokens game 1, followed by a second game showing off how gross Tendershoot Dryad is.

Here’s the preconstructed deck list:

Golgari Exploration

First, let’s take a look at some of those high-value creatures that you probably want more of in the deck.

Ravenous Chupacabra is a real all-star of an uncommon, a real creature with a built-in 2-for-1. You’re likely to want 2 or 3 of these in any black deck you’re playing, and this one is no exception.

Vizier of the Menagerie is an amazing card in any green deck with a lot of creatures. It had good stats, and if it isn’t dealt with quickly is going to be drawing you multiple extra cards.

Tendershoot Dryad gets out hand quickly, making two 1/1s per round that almost immediately become 3/3s. Its stats are low enough that almost any removal hits it, but if it isn’t taken care of quickly it becomes difficult to lose the game.

As far as the creatures in the precon go, Mausoleum Harpy is the only one I really don’t think fits in the deck at all…the work you need to do to make it better than a (passable) 3/3 flier for 5 is not worth it. You’d be better off with more value and/or explore creatures.

Walk the Plank is premium removal. I ran 3 or more of these in many black decks before the March 22 wipe, and they’re even better in the current environment (which has a lower density of dedicated Merfolk decks).

Enter the Unknown is often lackluster in this deck, despite how good it looks in theory. I’d rather have something I know I’ll want, like another good piece of removal.

My overall suggestion for this deck is to increase both numbers of both the high-value non-explore creatures and the most efficient creatures with explore, removing some of the slower creatures and a couple of the explore payoffs to make room. The explore will help you get to the cards that care about it more quickly, and the other high-value cards will help you close out games regardless.

Here are my suggested upgrades to the list; the “budget” list with no added rares/mythics first, followed by what you might do if you have some rare/mythic wildcards to burn.

Golgari Exploration (Budget Upgrade)

Golgari Exploration (Upgrade)

As always, I’m open to input, so fee free to engage me here, on Reddit, on Twitter at @DailyArena, or via the @DailyArenaMTG page on Facebook. Or track me down in my mobile studio 🙂

Peace.

Joseph Eddy is a Father, Husband, Son, Brother, Software Developer, and Gamer. Magic is his favorite hobby, and he’s looking forward to seeing you all on Arena. He streams Magic Arena on a weekly basis (or more), but currently is unable to keep to a set schedule.