Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen Duskmourn cards expand their reach, influencing formats beyond just Standard and Pioneer. Abhorrent Oculus has become a multi-format staple, popping up in Modern as an excellent win condition. Floodpits Drowner, believe it or not, has made an appearance in Merfolk decks in Vintage.
Today, we’re going to focus on another underrated card that has seen a recent surge in play: Omnivorous Flytrap. Omnivorous Flytrap has a very powerful effect but requires some work to get going. If you don’t have Delirium, you’re basically stuck with a vanilla 2/4 for three mana.
As such, Omnivorous Flytrap has recently given rise to a cool Jund Delirium deck in Modern that does an excellent job putting different card types in the graveyard. This deck is surprisingly capable of getting to six card types in the graveyard, too. This only makes Omnivorous Flytrap more threatening.
This deck has made top four of two Magic Online Modern Challenges in the last two days, putting its power on full display. Let’s start by looking at the Delirium payoffs this deck looks to maximize.
The Rewards
- Mana Value: 2G
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 2/4
- MTG Sets: Duskmourn
- Card Text: Delirium– Whenever Omnivorous Flytrap enters or attacks, if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, distribute two +1/+1 counters among one of two target creatures. Then if there are six or more card types among cards in your graveyard, double the number of +1/+1 counters on those creatures.
Obviously, Omnivorous Flytrap is one of your biggest incentives for enabling Delirium. It’s a very aggressive card. Against removal-heavy decks, you’ll often want to put the +1/+1 counters on your other creatures. That way, if Omnivorous Flytrap dies, you still generated value. However, as a four-toughness creature, it dodges Lightning Bolt and Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury nicely.
One of the most powerful lines of play this deck has access to is to give Omnivorous Flytrap Haste with either Arena of Glory or Detective’s Phoenix. That way, you get to distribute +1/+1 counters when Omnivorous Flytrap enters, then attack right away and get another trigger. If you manage to get six card types in your graveyard, this presents an absurd amount of damage. Even with no other creatures in play, you can end up with a total of 12 +1/+1 counters on Omnivorous Flytrap after your first attack!
This deck has plenty of other ways to reward you for putting various card types in your graveyard. Fear of Missing Out is another new Duskmourn card that puts a ton of pressure on the opponent. Getting to untap one of your big threats and get an additional attack in is quite strong. Alongside Omnivorous Flytrap, you’ll be able to enable multiple attacks with the Plant, netting your squad even more +1/+1 counters.
In the early game, both Dragon’s Rage Channeler and Nethergoyf are strong plays that quickly grow into monstrous threats. All of these Delirium-style payoffs present a ton of pressure, so long as you can keep your graveyard chock full of unique card types.
Filling Your Graveyard
- Mana Value: R
- Rarity: Common
- MTG Sets: Lorwyn
- Card Text: Tarfire deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Thankfully, this deck has plenty of cheap cards of different types that naturally go to the graveyard. For instance, Street Wraith and Mishra’s Bauble provide you with easy access to creatures and artifacts to put in your graveyard, respectively.
A full playset of Tarfire serves a similar purpose, this time checking both the instant and tribal boxes. Tarfire isn’t quite as reliable as Lightning Bolt as a removal spell, but it’s well worth the swap in this deck.
To allow you to get a bunch of card types into your graveyard at once, Malevolent Rumble plays a pivotal part here as well. Malevolent Rumble helps dig for your best creatures, fills your graveyard for Detective’s Phoenix, and gives you an Eldrazi Spawn to boot. With all these tools and Fetchlands and Surveil lands in the mix, getting Delirium online is trivial.
Tons of Pressure
- Mana Value: B
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Stats: */1+*
- MTG Set: Modern Horizons 3
- Card Text: Nethergoyf’s power is equal to the number of card types among cards in your graveyard and its toughness is equal to that number plus 1. Escape- 2B, Exile any number of other cards from your graveyard with four or more card types among them. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.)
Ultimately, where this deck gets most of its edge is from its assertiveness. This is perhaps the strongest shell for Nethergoyf, as you can often get its power to four or greater in the first couple turns.
Meanwhile, Fear of Missing Out and Omnivorous Flytrap threaten to deal a bunch of damage. Detective’s Phoenix grants your big threats evasion and lets them attack immediately when you Bestow it, which is a big deal.
Detective’s Phoenix and Arena of Glory allow you to attack for boatloads of damage even when the opponent least expects it. Chances are, Nethergoyf and Omnivorous Flytrap will outsize your opponent’s threats in short order.
This is a big advantage versus Boros Energy. Static Prison is certainly an annoying card to face, but assuming your creatures stick, they will dominate the battlefield. After sideboarding, because your creatures grow so large, you’re able to maximize the power of Pyroclasm. Not only will Pyroclasm wipe away a large portion of the Energy player’s board a lot of the time, but it opens the door for some massive attacks, breaking a board stall wide open.
All that being said, this deck definitely has its vulnerabilities. Outside of Damping Sphere, this deck doesn’t have a ton in the way of strong interaction versus Storm. Tarfire not being able to kill Ral, Monsoon Mage on the spot is certainly awkward.
Beyond that, this strategy relies a ton on its graveyard. As such, cards like Rest in Peace or even Ghost Vacuum make your creatures much less scary to play against.
Assuming you can dodge specific hate cards, though, this deck does seem relatively well-positioned. It has some similarities to the Hollow One decks that have been popping up, but with a more streamlined gameplan. You maintain a high level of explosiveness without having to rely on high variance spells like Burning Inquiry. This deck could definitely be poised for more long-term success, so make sure to keep it on your radar.
