This deck is my first standard deck so I would like some help with deciding how to better interact with the current metagame in standard. I've never played standard before so this is the deck I plan to use for my first games at my LGS and at a board gaming convention. I've only ever played commander so sideboarding is also new to me. Budget is not a huge issue, I just wanted a deck that was different from the main decks so the cards ended up being cheaper.
The purpose of the deck is to get out Archfiend of Ifnir and then start cycling to wipe the opponents board and get a lot of value.
Cycling Theme
There are 15 cycling cards. For one drops: 2 Horror of the Broken Lands. For two drops: 4 Archfiend of Ifnir, 2 Desert of the Glorified, 2 Desert of the Indomitable, 2 Without Weakness. For 3 drops: 3 Haze of Pollen. 3 Key to the City also turn any of my cards into pseudo-cycling cards.
2 Abandoned Sarcophagus let me reuse all of the cycling cards that I tossed early game for very good card advantage.
-1/-1 Counter Theme
Because the Archfiend of Ifnir makes so many -1/-1 counters, part of the deck is to generate a lot of value off of them.
Most notably the Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons will generate deathtouch snakes and the Nest of Scarabs will generate insects. The Obelisk Spider will drain the opponent of life and regenerate my own, as well as be able to make its own -1/-1 counters and block early game. The Channeler Initiate will help ramp as well as generate a snake or 3 scarabs.
How the deck should work
Turn 1: Land and cycle one of the 1 drops
Turn 2: Land and Channeler Initiate, Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons or cycle a 2 drop
Turns 3 and 4: Land and Beneath the Sands, Obelisk Spider, Key to the City, Nest of Scarabs, Driven / Despair, or cycling
With 5 mana: Archfiend of Ifnir and use Key to the City to discard a card, putting -1/-1 counters on their creatures and generating value
Then: Protect with Heroic Intervention, lock them out with Driven / Despair, and swing for the win
Sideboarding thoughts
I figured if I was facing a deck without a lot of creatures then the Archfiend of Ifnir would not generate very much value so I would take them out and put in 4 Ammit Eternal to generate the -1/-1 counters. The cycling would still be useful as I can use the 2 Horror of the Broken Lands as finishers with Key to the City.
Against an aggro deck I would take out the 2 Abandoned Sarcophagus, 2 Horror of the Broken Lands and 1 Razaketh's Rite and put in 1 Obelisk Spider and 4 Vile Manifestation to better protect myself in the early game.
Then I have some graveyard-hate in 2 Scarab Feast.
Some interesting interactions are the Key to the City can allow Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons to get damage in on the opponent and therefore place a -1/-1 counter and a snake.
The 3 Driven / Despair give a lot of card advantage with all of the tokens being made as well as disrupt the opponent by making them discard their hands. They also give value even after being tossed with Key to the City.
