{"ops":[{"insert":"BLECH, LOAFING PEST — DECK PRIMER"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nWHY PLAY THIS DECK?"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nBlech, Loafing Pest is a value engine disguised as a swarm deck. On the surface, it looks like a harmless pile of Pests and life gain — the kind of deck that flies under the radar while stronger-looking commanders draw the table's attention. Then something clicks. A trigger feeds a trigger, which feeds another trigger, and suddenly every creature on your board has +5/+5 and menace, your opponents are losing life in chunks, and you're drawing half your deck.\n\nThis deck is for players who love going to value town — the kind of game where every card in play is working together, every activation matters, and the board state compounds exponentially until the table simply can't keep up. It's not about one flashy spell. It's about the moment the machine turns on and doesn't stop.\n\n\nGAME PLAN"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Plan A — The Snowball"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nBuild a wide board of Pests, Insects, Spiders, and Snakes. Gain life repeatedly. Each life gain event triggers Blech, placing +1/+1 counters across your tribal creatures. With counter doublers online, one life gain becomes two counters becomes four — and the board grows out of control fast.\n\nAttack with built-in evasion (menace, trample, deathtouch) to push through lethal combat damage. The goal is not to chip in — it's to go from \"harmless\" to \"lethal\" in a single combat step.\n\nPlan B — The Drain Engine"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nWhile Plan A wins through combat, the deck simultaneously builds a sacrifice-and-drain engine. Creatures like Fumulus, Hooded Blightfang, and South Wind Avatar convert your board presence into direct life loss for opponents — and each point of life you gain along the way feeds back into Blech for more counters. Blight Mound turns nontoken deaths into Pest tokens, which gain you life when they die, which triggers Blech again. The drain plan doesn't need to deal 40 — it just needs to soften the table enough for a single combat step to close the game.\n\nWhen the drain engine is humming, dropping a Persist creature into a free sac outlet goes infinite. With Blech, you need a lifegain source like Essence Warden to trigger counters on the Persist creature. Gorma is more self-contained — she places counters on creatures entering the battlefield directly, so the combo only needs Gorma + Persistent Constrictor + a free sac outlet. Either path produces infinite sacrifice and ETB triggers, and every card in the combo is independently good in the deck.\n\n\nKEY COMBOS & INTERACTIONS"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nOnce the game plan is online, these are the interactions that push it over the top.\n\nFumulus & Blight Mound — Going Wide"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nBoth Fumulus and Blight Mound create tokens whenever a nontoken creature dies — Fumulus produces Insects, Blight Mound produces Pests. This means board wipes, trades, and sacrifice loops don't leave you empty-handed. Instead, each death repopulates the board with tribal creatures that Blech can grow. A single board wipe that kills five nontoken creatures gives you five new tokens, each of which starts receiving +1/+1 counters from the next lifegain event. The board rebuilds itself faster than opponents can clear it.\n\nCircuit Mender + Veinwitch Coven"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nCast Circuit Mender (ETB: gain 2 life goes on the stack). Before the ETB resolves, sacrifice Mender to a sac outlet. The leaves-the-battlefield trigger goes on top — draw a card. Then the ETB resolves — gain 2 life, triggering both Blech and Veinwitch Coven. Mender is already in the graveyard, so pay B to return it to hand. Recast and repeat. A fully self-contained value loop that draws cards, gains life, and grows your board every cycle.\n\nRoot Manipulation Kill"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n10 creatures + Root Manipulation gives +2/+2, menace, and each attacking creature gains \"whenever this creature attacks, you gain 1 life.\" That's 10 separate Blech triggers on attack declaration — counters land before combat damage is even dealt. With doublers: 20-30 counters placed during a single combat. Menace makes blocking extremely difficult.\n\nDefiling Daemogoth Engine"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nDefiling Daemogoth gives your creatures \"whenever this creature deals combat damage, you gain 1 life.\" 10 creatures connecting means 10 separate lifegain triggers. The counters from Blech arrive after damage is dealt, so they don't boost the current swing — but they set up a massive board for next turn and, more importantly, feed the end-step drain. At end step, Defiling Daemogoth hits each opponent for life equal to the total life you gained this turn. Between combat triggers, drain effects, and incidental lifegain, that number easily reaches 30+.\n\nDeathtouch + The Serpent Society + Sac Outlet"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nBushmaster, Ohran Frostfang, or Feral Appetite grant deathtouch to your creatures. The Serpent Society forces each opponent to sacrifice a nontoken creature whenever a creature with deathtouch you control dies. With a free sac outlet on board, this becomes a repeatable forced-sacrifice engine: sacrifice a creature with deathtouch, each opponent sacrifices a nontoken creature, and keep going as long as you have bodies to feed. Token generators keep the supply coming. Note: Ohran Frostfang only grants deathtouch to attacking creatures, so if using Frostfang as the enabler, sacrifice during the combat phase.\n\nInfinite Persist Loop — Blech Line"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nBlech + Persistent Constrictor + Essence Warden + any free sac outlet (Viscera Seer, Ashnod's Altar, Warren Soultrader). Sacrifice Constrictor, Persist returns it with -1/-1, Essence Warden triggers, gain 1 life, Blech places +1/+1 on Constrictor (Snake type), counters cancel, repeat infinitely. Requires a lifegain source to function, but produces infinite life, infinite counters on your entire board, and infinite death/ETB triggers.\n\nInfinite Persist Loop — Gorma Line"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nGorma + Persistent Constrictor + any free sac outlet. Gorma places +1/+1 counters on creatures entering the battlefield directly, so no lifegain source is needed — just three cards. Sacrifice Constrictor, Persist returns it with -1/-1, Gorma places +1/+1, counters cancel, repeat. Fewer cards, easier to assemble. With any drain effect on board, this is lethal.\n\n\nSTRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Strengths"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n- The engine snowballs fast — each trigger feeds the next, and once it's rolling, it's very difficult to stop piecemeal.\n- Even without Blech on the board, the deck keeps generating tokens, drawing cards, and draining opponents. The components hold their own.\n- Opponents face a three-axis problem: stop the combat lethality, stop the drain, or stop the combo. Answering one still leaves two live threats.\n- Low threat perception in the early game. A bunch of 1/1 Pests don't look scary — until turn 5 when everything has +5/+5 and menace.\n\nWeaknesses"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n- Anti-lifegain effects shut down the primary engine entirely. This is the deck's biggest vulnerability — if you can't gain life, Blech does nothing.\n- A board wipe after committing to go wide can be backbreaking. Speed is the defense here — kill before they sweep.\n- Graveyard hate disables the Persist combo line and recursion loops.\n- Limited reach against flyers — the ground army can get raced by aerial strategies.\n\n"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"GAMEPLAN BY TURN"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nHere's how a typical game develops.\n\nTurns 1-3: Deploy and Establish"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n- Ramp spell on turn 2, Blech on turn 3 (or Sol Ring enables Blech on turn 2).\n- Play cheap lifegain or a sac outlet early to start the engine as soon as Blech lands.\n- Twitching Doll provides mana now and Spider tokens later.\n\nTurns 3-5: Build the Engine"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n- Land a counter doubler (Hardened Scales, Branching Evolution) to accelerate the snowball.\n- Deploy token generators — Feral Appetite, Hornet Nest, Iridescent Hornbeetle.\n- Every life gain event is now placing multiple counters across multiple creatures. The board starts compounding.\n\nTurns 5-7: Explode"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n- Sacrifice Pests for life, Blech triggers, Hornbeetle creates Insects, more creatures for the next combat.\n- Root Manipulation turns a medium board into a lethal swing with menace + 10 Blech triggers on attack.\n- Or assemble the Persistent Constrictor combo for a deterministic infinite.\n- Drain effects deal 15-30 incidental damage alongside combat.\n\nTurn 7+: Beledros Endgame"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n- Beledros Witherbloom enables \"untap all lands\" for double-casting on opponents' turns or deploying protection alongside your threats.\n\n\nMULLIGAN GUIDE"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Keep"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n- 3+ lands with at least one green source\n- A ramp spell or early creature (CMC 1-2)\n- A realistic path to casting Blech by turn 3\n- Bonus: a lifegain source or counter doubler in hand means the engine starts immediately once Blech lands\n\nShip Back"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\n- Hands that are all top-end (CMC 4+) with no ramp to get there\n- No green mana — you need green early for ramp and many key creatures\n- No path to Blech before turn 4 — the deck needs its commander to function\n- All lands, no action — three lands and a ramp spell is fine, but five lands and a Greater Good is not a hand\n\nWhat You're Looking For"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nThe ideal opener is: land, land, ramp, Blech enabler, early value piece. Something like Forest, Llanowar Wastes, Nature's Lore, Blech on turn 3, Essence Warden or Hardened Scales on the same turn. You want the engine online by turn 4 at the latest.\n\n"}]}