Casual GBu Thallids

I began playing around when Fallen Empires was released. Since that time, I've always had my Thallid deck in some shape or form. It has always been my favorite deck to play and always will be. I stopped playing around the time of the Urza block, and only got back into Magic for Vintage play a few years ago. The deck hasn't had any changes since then, and with Wizards printing a couple new (and quite good) Thallids in Time Spiral, I thought it was time to renovate my deck.

The old one was almost unbearably slow, but it explosive late game plays like Parallel Evolution and Saproling Symbiosis. This time I have tried to focus more on the early game, since the early game is awful for Thallids. They start slow and get big, which is a tempo issue that I just have to accept in liking the deck.

In my construction, I'm trying to stay away from serious power cards. No Moxen, no Lotus, basically no extreme brokenness as I don't think it has a fit in a casual environment. Beyond that, I'm trying to focus on the Saprolings, things that have synergy with armies of Saprolings, and things that assist in making armies of Saprolings.

Lemme show the list as it stands now:

Lands:
4x Bayou
2x Tropical Island
4x Gaea's Cradle
4x Wooded Foothills
4x Windswept Heath

Creatures:
4x Thallid
4x Deathspore Thallid
4x Elvish Farmer
4x Thallid Shell-Dweller
4x Sporesower Thallid
4x Dark Confidant

Sorceries:
4x Duress

Instants:
4x Sprout

Enchantments:
4x Fists of Ironwood
3x Paradox Haze
3x Mind Slash

The land count is rather low because deck has a very low mana curve. With Gaea's Cradle especially, it's very easy to top things out and keep on putting down fungus. In goldfishing I have had very few problems with mana screw, though I don't think I would bump it down any more. The only thing I think might be missing is Crop Rotation for Gaea's Cradle. It makes the deck get into gear at double speed.

Let me talk about my card choices first:

Thallid - He's simply got to be there. Thallid is the one drop that I want to have in opening hand. Thallid starts early on making the salad that fuels the rest of the deck.

Deathspore Thallid - Deathspore is my favorite new Thallid that they printed. He's simply awesome. I wish he was 2/1, but beggers can't be choosers. Deathspore is spot removal for any opposing creatures that can be hanging around, and he even gets around regeneration effects to boot. He can't ping players, but it's a small loss. Honestly, I compare this guy to Fallen Empires' Thorn Thallid and Deathspore is everything that that guy should have been. Thorn Thallid blew. Deathspore rocks.

Elvish Farmer - Elvish Farmer turns all Saprolings into walking uh... Reaping the Rewards was the only card I could find that makes a player gain 2 life. But yes, they're all little life gain machines. That means that mass kill effects like Pyroclasm, while still sucking, merely force me to gain absurb amounts of life instead. He also keeps me alive through Dark Confidant's beatings, which is important. Elvish Farmer loses the benefit of Sporesower Thallid because he's an Elf, but I consider it a necessary lack.

Thallid Shell-Dweller - The weakest of the Thallids in the deck, in my opinion. He fills a 2 drop, which is nice, but the deck has lots of 2 drops so I may change him into Thallid Germinators, or at least go 2 and 2. All of the other Saproling producers add extra functionality to the Saprolings (besides vanilla Thallid) except Thallid-Shell Dweller. Germinators could be hot, but it would increase the mana curve a bit. 0/5 might come in handy early on when defense is important for Thallids. I'm interested in criticism on this one.

Sporesower Thallid - Sporesower is pretty amazing. He makes things move at double speed, which is a great tempo boost. I used to be excited about Fungal Bloom, but this guy is worlds better than Fungal Bloom. He's a 4/4 beatstick for 4 and he doubles Saproling creation time. He deserves his spot as the highest CC card in the deck and justifies that cost.

Dark Confidant - Ah lonely Confidant. He is very out of his element, here, but he's an excellent card drawing engine that I simply couldn't pass up. Add to the fact that his effect takes place in the upkeep and is therefore doubled by Paradox Haze and it's a card drawing fiesta. His beats haven't been too much an issue in goldfishing, and both Deathspore Thallid and Mind Slash can assassinate if I can't handle him.

Duress - It's important early game disruption. It's taking the deck a bit in two directions early on, since obviously it's the key time to start laying down fungus producers, but I can't ignore the defensive properties Duress brings to the table. I thought about Cabal Therapy for the position, since I will have creatures to flash it back with, but casual is such a diverse environment that a single early Cabal Therapy is likely to do nothing, and that's when I need it to do the most.

Sprout - It's alright. I think there are better things that could go in this slot, but at the same time it's a pretty nice drop on turn one or on turn 2 before activating a Gaea's Cradle. It also means that Deathspore can ping early.

Fists of Ironwood - Fists of Ironwood is actually a Sorcery that reads "Put two Saprolings into play. Play this card only if you control a creature." There is only one creature in this deck that Trample would have any effect on, and once Sporesower is out I'd probably keep Fists in hand just in case of a board wipe. It's in the deck to plop down Saprolings, not make Trampling beats.

Paradox Haze - It's a strong enchantment. Really strong. If I get it down, the deck simply goes crazy. With all of the fetchlands, it's not tough to pick up the Tropical Islands to play it, either. Basically, everything in the deck is twice as effective with Paradox Haze, and when combined with Sporesower Thallid armies are created in the space of a single turn. Multiples are overkill, which is why the number is only 3. The extra draw from Confidant only cements Haze's power in my eyes.

Mind Slash - It's reusable mini Funeral Charm. The Sorcery speed is kind of a bummer, but if it hits the table the opposing player can no longer set up his hand in any way. Multiples do nothing, which is why it's only a 3 of. The card ends up being a little bit mediocre in the end, but I think in certain games it could be a house, which is why it remains. It could be reduced to a 2 of, probably paving the way for Crop Rotation.

And cards that I thought about but didn't include...

Thallid Germinator - I talked about him a bit above. I like the guy, and he pumps anything to allow it to dodge removal, but he's a bit high on cost. Really, though, I should probably run him and if I do I won't look back. ... I should do that.

Savage Thallid - I think his body is something I hate. Huge power and low toughness irritates me, even if he regenrates anything on the board. Germinator could supplant him in places where saving is needed.

Feral Thallid - The old skool Savage Thallid. More expensive and a body I still hate, not to mention he only regenerates himself and doesn't make Saprolings. He's too selfish for this deck.

Thallid Devourer - Thallid Germinator is really just better. Devourer makes dudes, but he only pumps himself. He pumps himself for more than Germinator, but I really think being able to pump anything would be rockin'. Devourer is from an age where creatures just sucked more.

Verdant Force - While he is the Big Man of Thallids, he's way too expensive. Flip Verdant with a Confidant and you feel it in the morning. Verdy is slow and overkill.

Verdeloth the Ancient and Nemata, Grove Guardian - The two fungal legends. I ran them in my old version, but that was a slower version. Verdeloth comes with a whole horde of dudes if a Gaea's Cradle is in play, and he also pumps them up, but I think if I wanted to pump them than Thelonite Hermit would probably be a better card to play. Nemata can pump out fungus when it's out, but the other ability is usually not too spectacular. Regardless, I think they're a bit too over the top.

Thelonite Hermit - He makes Saprolings bigger, but he himself is weak. On the other hand, it's four 2/2 creatures and one 1/1 for a CC of 4. Might be a solid choice.

Saproling Symbiosis - It doubles the army, but it does nothing but kill more. The better the game position, the better Symbiosis is, but also the less it is needed.

Bramble Elemental - I tried to figure out how to break his ability, but I didn't come up with anything decent. He's expensive and needs other cards to essentially even do anything at all.

That's about it. I really do like the deck, and I'm interested to hear about the ideas which might come out of this forum for it. I'm going to make an italicized version of the list here at the bottom of the post which I will update with the current list.

Current list:

Lands:
4x Bayou
2x Tropical Island
4x Gaea's Cradle
4x Wooded Foothills
4x Windswept Heath

Creatures:
4x Thallid
4x Deathspore Thallid
4x Elvish Farmer
4x Thallid Germinator
4x Sporesower Thallid
4x Dark Confidant

Sorceries:
4x Duress

Instants:
4x Sprout

Enchantments:
4x Fists of Ironwood
3x Paradox Haze
3x Mind Slash