Classic block/standard UG Madness for the most part. Really enjoyed the deck back when it was new, and was my first really competitive deck ever.
As for pauper, it's not great, with a weird manabase and fighting cards like Delver, but it can hold it's own with a decent hand, play tempo and shift between aggro-control very well depending on the matchup.
Some cards that are/aren't in:
-Gush: I've tried it off and on. I've settled for not running it, but running a land less and not playing as many. Most of the time, 5 mana is the MOST you ever need, so sandbagging lands for outlets like Mongrel work better.
-Piracy Charm: I can't imagine NOT running this here. It's able to deny draws to the opponent, it can stop an unflipped Delver t1 or make a Spellstutter Sprite stutter, it sneaks in two points of damage, and as a last resort can be used to discard a Madness card! So much flexibility!
-Silent Departure vs Vapor Snag: Still not sure which is right here, Flashback really does offer a lot for CA here while the 1-life can matter with so little evasion to finish a game. Not enough slots for many, so testing takes forever to get an adequate number of instances where I get to use them.
-Brainstorm: Considering there's 6 shuffle effects, this has been on my 'list to test' for a while but haven't had a chance yet. Not a madness enabler like Careful Study, but has some potential.
-Rancor: Originally tried this as a 2-of, but I found myself running out of targets. Added bears, reduced my Forest count and haven't tried them since.
-Merfolk Looter: It does help with Madness, but it's just too slow for most of the format's tiered lists, particularly Delver, Hexproof and red Kitty decks.
-Looter il-Kor: these are great with Rancor, but terrible with Circular Logic. I've chosen the Logical path, and these just didn't pull their weight anymore.
-Counterspell: I've considered a 1-2 of for it, but room is tight, and it doesn't cover my main two weaknesses (little board presence turns 1-2, and having enough pressure/reach to end games quickly enough). I like my counters to be free or a single U.
-Waterfront Bouncer: It's potential late-game stallbreaker potential is nice, but it's fragile and slow. Not exactly what a tempo deck wants to see in their opener.
-Simic Growth Chamber: This is just a nice late-game mana source that keeps food for Mongrels available, but you really don't want it early. Ever.
-Why Expanses over Guildgates/KTK Refuges? They all come in tapped, so they're the same speed. The difference is the card in the graveyard that Terramorphic and Wilds offer, as well as some thinning and the potential Daze hiding that's so much fun to use :) Suprise! These also mean I can cheat the number of Forests I play, since we really want the Islands for Daze.
Sideboard:
Still playtesting it to see what I need sideboard slots for. Hexproof is definitely one, as a single cloak on a hexproof guy ends me, ESPECIALLY Silhana Ledgewalker.
