Greetings, fellow Planeswalkers! I’m The MTG Hero, and every so often, Wizards prints a card that screams Commander. But then someone shuffles it into a 60-card deck and suddenly it’s crushing the meta, leaving everyone scratching their heads wondering how it slipped through design. Well, today that someone is me! I’ve discovered that Luis Pompous Pillager // Morlun Devourer of Spiders isn’t just a cool comic book character, he is a powerful combo piece that can slot perfectly into the Golgari Midrange shell.
Before we dive in, I want to clarify something. Due to licensing restrictions, the Universes Beyond: Spider-Man set wasn’t released on Arena or MTGO. To work around this, Wizards created an online exclusive set called Through the Omenpaths, which features the same cards but with different names. Since this site focuses on Arena gameplay, I’ll be referring to the set as Through the Omenpaths and using the Omenpath card names throughout.
The Deck
Golgari has been one of my favorite Standard decks for a long time. I’ve played some version of it in nearly every Standard RCQ season and even took it to the Dallas and Hartford Regional Championships. Needless to say, this deck holds a special place in my heart, and with every new set, I’m always on the lookout for upgrades. Honestly, I didn’t expect Golgari to survive rotation. I thought for sure it had lost too many key pieces and that the mana wouldn’t be nearly as consistent. But Through the Omenpaths made me feel a lot better about the future of the deck by bringing in a few new cards that breathe fresh life into the archetype and open up exciting new lines of play.
More experienced players might look at this list and assume it’s just another Golgari Graveyard or self-mill deck. But the key difference is that this build plays much more like a traditional Golgari Midrange deck, focused on removal and disruption but with a combo built into the regular play pattern of the deck that can lead to “oops I win” scenarios. The self-mill element is there, but it’s more of a supporting piece than the core game plan.
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The new angle this deck has is the addition of a combo centered around Pompous Pillager”] and Virtue of Strength, which can burn opponents out.Virtue of Strength triples the mana from our basic lands, turning what was once a weak mana base into one of our greatest strengths. Even if the opponent survives Luis’s ETB trigger, we’re still left with a massive lifelinking threat that can stabilize the board or swing the game. On top of that, we can dig for and even loop the combo using Overlord of Balemurk or the adventure half of .
Icetill Explorer is a key piece of the combo aspect of the deck but also serves as a powerful ramp effect. It enables lines where we can replay Fabled Passage from the graveyard multiple times in a turn, milling cards and fetching all our basics in the process for Virtue of Strength. It also helps us use Overlord of Balemurk to retrieve any creature we need from the grave as a pseudo-search effect.
Mosswood Dreadknight is an amazing and versatile utility creature. It draws us a card, ensures we always have a blocker or attacker. I have definitely pressured opponents into endlessly removing it while I use it to draw two cards a turn. I have also used it to stall the game out long enough to draw what I needed to win the game.
The Terminus Return is just a good mana rock that can reanimate creatures. Not much to say here.
wasn’t a card I was initially sold on. I just thought it seemed “okay” in a few niche decks. But after playing with it, I was blown away. Being able to stack the top of our deck before it flips effectively turns it into a +1 card advantage engine. Especially when we mill it over and cast it from the grave to get a solid body and useful effects. Not playing four is crazy to me.
The Scouring Stormsoul serves as an alternative payoff for both ramping and milling, and it’s something we can easily recur from the graveyard. It also contributes to our ramp strategy, making it a valuable asset to the deck.
Cavern of Souls has been my secret tech for this deck since it lets us get Pompous Pillager”] onto the battlefield without worrying about counterspells.
Undergrowth Leopard might seem like an unusual pick. Normally, I’d lean toward Heritage Reclamation for its versatility, but with so many ways to return permanents from the graveyard to our hand and Esper Origins letting us add a permanent from the top of our deck to our hand when it flips makes me think a reusable creature like Leopard becomes a better choice.
Villainous Wrath is another great addition from Through the Omenpaths that really strengthens black-based midrange decks. It’s a reliable, no-nonsense board sweeper that handles almost any threat.
Vivien Reid really helps us stay in the game versus control and midrange mirrors.
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Elusive Hunter”] is another way to stay in the game versus control and midrange decks letting us trade favorably against removal. It combines well with our ability to loot back our creatures for added value.
Qarsi Revenant is a solid body with lifelink to aid us versus aggro decks and midrange decks. It can be exiled from grave to give a creature like The Scouring Stormsoul lifelink and flying which is almost impossible for some decks to beat, let alone comeback from an attack.
is the game ender for the self-mill deck. However, we opt to play more removal so we can have a better matchup against aggro decks which is a notoriously bad matchup for self-mill.
Maelstrom Pulse is a card I absolutely love. If I played a 61st card, that would be it. But the list is just a bit too tight to add in another non-permanent spell.
Always prioritize playing Fabled Passage with Icetill, This thins the deck down, getting all of our basics so our Virtue can produce as much mana as possible and mills a lot of cards.
The auto-tapper on Arena wants to tap your basics before dual lands. This is bad if you are trying to play Virtue of Strength and have your basics open to tap for three mana. Manually tap your lands when this comes up.
If you aren’t pressured to get it into play as a body quick, I always try to play Esper Origins first or ensure I have a creature in the grave to pick up with Overlord.
Sometimes it is right to just slam Luis for value and some chip damage or lifegain. Don’t feel like you MUST hold it to combo.
If you don’t cast Mosswood Dreadknight for its adventure the turn after it dies, you can always return it to hand with Virtue or Overlord to continue looping it.
I absolutely love this deck, and I was thrilled to share it with all of you. It’s easily one of my favorite brews to come out of Through the Omenpaths. Back when I played Golgari at the highest levels, I always felt like I had the tools to win and no matchup felt unwinnable, and no deck across the table scared me. I get that same feeling with this build. Even when facing heavy graveyard hate, I can still play threats straight from my hand and keep the pressure on. It’s resilient, flexible, and just a blast to pilot
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My name is The MTG Hero. I have played Magic for over 15 years. I am a consistent high Mythic ranked player. Follow me on Twitch and subscribe on YouTube!
