I wanted to build around Cryptolith Fragment
in Standard. I haven't really seen it done and think I've finally come up with an interesting way to get it all lined up.
The hard part is getting both players below 10 health. The best pairing is the only other group-slug effect in Standard right now in the form of
Skirsdag Supplicant
. Using the mana from the Fragment means everyone loses 3 health with each activation. That should do.
The next "discovery" was how well Madness and Cycling could go together, especially in these colors. Drake Haven doesn't care if you cycled or discarded for any reason, so it seemed the perfect fit. The 2/2 tokens Fly, so they can simply become your win condition if that's how it needs to be. Wharf Infiltrator has a similar effect, but it has to be a creature. Having Skulk and then when connecting with a player getting to draw and discard fits in with everything incredibly well. The two together means every time you discard a creature you are gaining a 2/2 Flyer and 3/2 on the ground. Things can actually get out of hand quickly (between turns 5-7 you can have quite a few creatures).
Asylum Visitor
became the best option as a creature with Madness because of it's low cost and ability to draw cards while draining a little life from yourself. Six mana can get you three creatures at once if you discard this guy and pay to create tokens. That's 8 power across three bodies well above curve because one even has evasion.
Vizier of Tumbling Sands is an interesting creature. You can cycle him, and if paid for with the Fragment you can untap the fragment to get two activations, and then since you are discarding a creature you can activate the Wharf Infiltrator and/or the Drake Haven. He's a solid choice to just play as well since he can untap the Fragment every turn, but Cycling him is where most of the value comes from.
Another theme is control. I like the idea of doing this through hand disruption since it fits so well with the Visitor. The goal is to keep your opponent's hand empty to draw cards, and the options I went with are some of my favorites. Harsh Scrutiny basically kills creatures before they get played while giving you a double dose of information. You get to see everything else in your opponents hand and you get to Scry 1. How awesome is that? Whispers of Emrakul discards at random, which is the craziest mechanic from long ago. There's a reason they don't reprint
Hymn to Tourach
, but this is pretty close. Unburden can be huge to drop the last two cards in your opponent's hand, but the option to Cycle it away for something else is awesome here. It also triggers the Drake Haven which is a nice bonus.
Miasmic Mummy
is a great way to enable everything as well while also disrupting your opponents hand and its all packaged with a nice little 2/2 bear.
Catalog
rounds out the main board as a great means of drawing through your deck while also giving you an opportunity to discard and activate either the Infiltrator or Drake Haven (or both).
The sideboard takes a more aggressive and straightforward approach.
Shadowstorm Vizier
is like a weird Prowess Creature that fits right into this deck. You can Cycle and discard at least once or twice every turn, so it's going to be able to attack for 3, 6, 9, 12 damage a turn depending on how many you have on the field. The other creatures that can be added for either value or control are Archfiend of Ifnir to help wipe out droves of Zombies or other Tokens, and Curator of Mysteries helps you Scry into whatever you need.
Biting Rain
is an overlooked token sweeper as well, and if you are up against single giant threats you can look towards
Just the Wind
for tempo or Murderous Compulsion for control. Faith of the Devoted can be a huge advantage if the group hug strategy isn't working, you might need the extra life.
Maybe this list is a bit too janky, but I haven't seen anything quite like it before and thought it came together as a neat little budget brew. There's certainly some fun little interactions that can be a huge surprise to your opponent. I like how the main strategy also works in a full table setting or two headed giant since the main payoff cards effect everyone.
