I've been tinkering with my 8 rack list recently. Initially I was super opposed to
Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage
because I didn't see how he'd fit into the deck. A 3 mana rack that hits for 2, when I have 2 rack effects for 1 Mana each that hit for 3? That seems like math. So he didn't seem like he was worth a rack effect to me. He did seem alot like
Liliana of the Veil
, but rather than being an upgrade to her he seemed like a budget alternative for her... so he didn't go in there. So, while I didn't think he was terrible, I just didn't think he was good enough for the deck. And thus I moved on in life.
Then I saw tom ross' new article on starcity. And it dawned on me that there is, in fact, a viable card to replace with him.
Wrench Mind
is a 2 drop spell that usually gets 2 cards, sometimes only one. Davriel is a 3 drop discard spell that usually gets 2 cards, sometimes only 1 (if he gets removed). If you look at the 1 Mana difference between him and wrench mind as a 1 Mana rack that hits for 2... still not as good as the other racks, granted, but I'll take that as racks beyond 8. So, with Davriel in mind, this is the list I'm looking at now.
I had been thinking about taking
Mutavault
out because it doesn't pair well with
Ensnaring Bridge
(this, and not WAR is what caused me to look for ways to tweak my list) but I found that without it the deck just isn't consistent enough in playtesting. So, much to my dismay, the little guy stays even if only to get a swing or 2 in before I drop a bridge.
I've had to make some serious changes to this deck recently. I kinda thought mycosynth lattice would get banned with the recent ban list updates, and it didnt. Since the karn combo is a major issue I had to work up answers. So I moved 2 bitterblossoms into the mb to give me an option for attacking karn after the lock comes down, added 2 pithing needles to the side to stop karn from building the lock post board, and made a few other changes as well. Im cutting down on the number of fatal pushes because I find they don't hit many relevant threats in the current meta, and instead using lilianas triumph as my principle removal. Thinking of it as a discard spell is disappointing, but if you think of it as a removal spell that sometimes gets you a discard it becomes astounding. To make room for the pieces I've worked in to answer karn I cut a Bontu's from the side, which kinda makes me nervous but hopefully the remaining 1 and the 3 bridges in the main will be enough to deal with go wide strategies. I also cut an Affliction from the mb, but I figure with Davriel I still have 9 rack effects and bitterblossom gives me 2 more win cons, so I'm less worried about that switch
