Have you considered Liliana of the Veil or Ajani Vengeant? I run a similar Midrange Dega build and run them 3-1. I'm also interested in your thoughts on Crackling Doom.

kmcree :

I've run both (not exactly at the same time) in other renditions of the build and here's what i've found over countless play tests vs chiefbell and other members. Liliana screws you just as hard as your opponent if not more. We like to keep our spells in hand more often than not. Her sac ability is really unnecessary since we own all the removal anyways. Ajani doesn't play well for midrange. It's not as good tapping down stuff without counterspells it seems. His other ability is eh. 4 mana for more helix doesn't seem like our jam considering vault and sorin is in our reach. Overall I feel Sorin, Solemn Visitor and Chandra, Pyromaster play better with our deck.

Crackling Doom I had as a 3-of mainboard for a LONG time and it saved me on numerous occasions from twin. They just don't expect it especially if you can follow up with a path or something but at 3 mana, it plays less handedly with bob and I don't feel the need to keep it in without lot's of boggle in the field. You can side it in VS tron too to nail Emrucool but your best bet is to just go for stony plus fulminator

I see you using Hangarback Walker. I too thought of him, but my mardu build wouldn't be able to utilize him as effectively as yours does.

And, you might want Crackling Doom again. Boggles is returning to the scene. Same with infect.

that's an easy switch in the sideboard. switch biterblossom with it and wham done

Might want another one in the side though. More than 1, so that way you can actually get it more consistently.

Is there a reason you're running Rending Volley over Combust? Both will kill a Celestial Colonnade however Combust will also take down a Siege Rhino which seems good.

I'm holding off for now since it's a generalized list. I'll keep it in mind when i go to events.

From what I've seen my local meta is mostly twin burn and control (grixis and uwx) with one tron thrown in

enpc: mostly because i already run 5 spells that kill Rhino and ect. I like having to only hold up one mana vs twin

That's fair. Especially with the comment about meta.

I wouldn't really board in more removal vs jund/abzan anyways. We NEED to be the aggressive deck against them. They simply out grind us. I'd probably just add fulminators vs them

Other than the Fulminator Mages though your sideboard seems more tilted towards control than aggro. And even then I would count them as control.

That's due to the deck style. Like jund, you can play the deck defensively or offensively depending on the matchup. It's up to the pilot to employ which strategy they feel they need. My sideboard tends to be more aggressive because i am an aggressive player though you could make arguments for any number of cards to sideboard in for more defensive play.

How has Stormbreath Dragon been working for you? I personally suggest replacing it with Wurmcoil Engine. Because that card does literally shut down Jund/Junk when played.

The best thing is, if they spend 2-3 removal spells to get rid of it (unless PtE), you can just Kolaghan's Command it back to your hand and rejoice!

EDIT: Merfolk is staying tier 1 and becoming more and more common. Maybe some Anger of the Gods/Pyroclasms in the side? Also, how is your Grixis control match-up?

EDIT 2: Wurmcoil Engine would work wonders against Grixis control when the game goes long enough for you to cast it.

I'll never play a 6 drop in a deck with bob in it :P other than that, stormy has flying (evasion) and pro path and souls tokens. The only card i might want instead right now is Thundermaw Hellkite which I have yet to properly test.

Stormbreath Dragon does have 2 turns on Wurmcoil Engine though. But it is an interesting concept. You could probably cut the Timely Reinforcements for two in the sideboard.

Timely Reinforcements is mostly for burn. Kinda almost want Kor Firewalker lately though

Is there a reason you're not running a full set of Lightning Helixes between MB and SB?

Kor Firewalker is for fast paced decks, as all it does is slow burn by 1-3 turns. They will still finish you off if you don't have enough damage to back it up really early in the game.

lack of need for them. They're good but I don't ever see needing them over Terminate but they are nice to have around when you go up vs smaller dude decks like zoo or elves

For the burn matchup as well, they can take down a Goblin Guide / Monastery Swiftspear / Eidolon of the Great Revel and negate a Lightning Bolt all in one.

This deck is awesome! I'm definitely going to have to playtest it some more when I have the time, but I love the idea here. Easy +1!

Is Lili out of budget range?

OH! Sorry I see that has been addressed

+1

I have to say I do not like the blue. Straight Mardu was pretty awesome I must say. I've done a handful of games playtesting this deck, and I've been very impressed by it. I've been taking mental notes on what was good and bad, and I was going to tell you about them eventually, but I feel as if I need to tell you now since you're attempting 4c.

I have not playtested the blue version yet, but no more Butcher of the Horde and less Lingering Souls worries me. They were awesome in here. Literally every time you beat my deck was through those cards. Hangarback Walker was unconventional, but totally awesome in here. Take that to heart because I really hate hangarback in modern, but it worked in here. I was very impressed with its power and synergies. The deck had problems, Thundermaw Hellkite being the biggest of them in my experience, but the deck played mostly very smoothly with great synergies. If you want to attempt 4c midrange, have at it, but I'd at least keep the mardu decklist because it was awesome. I'd love to spend more time trying to help you improve it.

On a side note, was there a period of time when this had Bitterblossom? If so, what were the flaws with that? Without having played it, it looks super strong in here to me. Good luck!

Sorry about that, the mardu will be back tonight. I'll be making a separate deck for 4 color testing. Thanks for the notes and yea bitterblossom was where hangarback is