Swarm & Slam is a theme deck from Darksteel.
Darksteel: Swarm and slam deck
The Swarm & Slam Deck wins by bringing out lots of creatures, then making them too tough to handle. Once you get started, you'll never stop producing creatures - except to improve on them. If you get a little time to build up, you'll have an overwhelming force.
The key card in the Swarm & Slam deck is Echoing Courage, since many of your cards create multiple creatures with the same name. A single Echoing Courage turns six 1/1 Insects into 18 damage headed straight at your opponent.
For a really nasty surprise, play Raise the Alarm and then Echoing Courage. You suddenly go from no blockers to a pair of 3/3 Soldiers, ready and waiting to chew up your opponent's attackers. A late-game Stir the Pride can be devastating, as giving your multitude +2/+2 and the ability to gain life for you makes for a huge swing.
This deck has several creatures with protection from artifacts, so if possible, save your artifact-removal spells for noncreature artifacts. Because you have many cards - including Stir the Pride, Infested Roothold, Wirefly Hive, Spawning Pit, and Myr Matrix - that will help you pull ahead in long games.
Don't trade damage early in the game. Instead sit back on defense and be willing to trade creatures. In the long run, you'll have many more resources than your opponent. You just need to have the time to play out all your cards.
If you're upgrading this deck, try to select creatures that have the abilities you want. For example, instead of adding in a Deconstruct, add more Viridian Shamans to make Echoing Courage, Spawning Pit, Thunderstaff, and Stir the Pride even more effective. The Swarm & Slam deck can be weak against flying creatures, so adding more Tel-Jilad Archers or even a Silklash Spider or two from the Onslaught set might be beneficial.
Decklist:
| # | Name | Rarity |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Viridian Shaman* | U |
| 2 | Tel-Jilad Outrider | C |
| 2 | Infested Roothold | U |
| 1 | Tel-Jilad Archers* | C |
| 2 | Tangle Spider | C |
| 2 | Pteron Ghost | C |
| 4 | Gold Myr* | C |
| 3 | Tangle Golem | C |
| 4 | Echoing Courage | C |
| 1 | Pulse of the Tangle | R |
| 2 | One Dozen Eyes* | U |
| 1 | Purge | U |
| 2 | Raise the Alarm* | C |
| 1 | Test of Faith* | U |
| 1 | Arrest* | C |
| 1 | Stir the Pride | U |
| 2 | Spawning Pit | U |
| 1 | Thunderstaff | U |
| 1 | Wirefly Hive | U |
| 1 | Myr Matrix | R |
| 16 | Forest* | C |
| 8 | Plains* | C |