This deck is capable of a turn three kill. Turn one, cast Llanowar Elf/Arboreal Grazer. Turn two, cast a second Llanowar Elf/Arboreal Grazer and cast Tormenting Voice, discarding the pig. Turn three, cast Bond of Revival to bring back the pig with haste, attack and put Impervious Greatwurm into play, and hit for 22. When this deck is not combo killing from the graveyard, it is ramping into a turn three/four pig, and attacking for lethal over the next two or three turns if the pig stays in play and there is a second payoff card in hand. Once Core 2020 is released, the 4x copies of Tormenting Voice will be replaced by 4x
Rotting Regisaur
. While this will lower the consistency of being able to turn three/four kill, the addition of a 7/6 beater that isn't a dead topdeck when I'm hellbent will be a welcome addition to the deck's overall gameplan of ramping into creatures that are likely larger than my opponents. It also has the benefit of being a viable Bond of Revival target after it inevitably has to be removed since a turn two 7/6 can end games very quickly on its own.
Mulligan Guide:
(Still under construction)
Due to the high land count, high number of early ramp spells, and cards like Tormenting Voice and Rix Maadi Reveler, this deck has a lot of opening hands that are considered good enough to keep. Hands that I'm putting back are usually two land hands that do not have any card filtering or mana dorks. The goal in game one is to be as linear as possible. Basically any hand that has two lands, pig, Tormenting Voice, and Bond of Revival is a great hand and a snap keep.
Side Board Guide:
Mono-red:
Take out 2x Carnage Tyrant, 4x Llanowar Elves, and 4x Tormenting Voice for 4x Lava Coil, 3x Thrashing Brontodon, and 3x Lightning Strike. Carnage Tyrant is the worst of the eight payoff cards in the matchup, since Ravager Wurm acts as removal as well as making a large wall, the Pelakka Wurms gain life, and the Impervious Greatwurms allow for surprise otk's to steal games that are otherwise unwinnable. Llanowar Elves come out since they die to a plethora of removal, and a well timed Goblin Chainwhirler can spell lights out. Finally Tormenting Voice comes out since it does not play at all to the board. The 4x Rix Maadi Reveler should be enough discard outlets to sometimes still get there. As far as the cards coming in, Lightning Strikes and Lava Coils need no explanation, since all the cheap spot removal against mono-red is necessary. The 3x Thrashing Brontodon come in since they are four toughness blockers that can blow up Experimental Frenzy.
Esper Hero:
Take out 4x Arboreal Grazer and 4x Tormenting Voice for 3x Duress, 3x Lightning Strike, and 2x Immortal Sun. The Arboreal Grazers don't attack or block profitably in this matchup, and this deck needs to be the aggressor. Tormenting Voice comes out due to being a very poor top deck since they are likely picking apart my hand with discard spells, as well as being shut off by Narset. 3x Duress comes in as a way to take answers out of the opponents hand before we drop a threat while being incredibly efficient at one mana. The 3x Lightning Strike come in as a way to kill planeswalkers that have downticked, as well as killing early Heros. Finally, the 2x of The Immortal Sun come in since this deck does not utilize planeswalkers, and can win games by itself if it resolves.
Bant Mass Manipulation:
Take out the 2x Pelakka Wurm, and the 4x Rix Maadi Revelers for 3x Duress and 3x Lava Coil. Outside of fast Nissa's, the opponent wont be pressuring my life total for the lifegain from Pelakka Wurm to be relevant, and Mass Manipulation and Entrancing Melody bypass the on death trigger. Rix Madi Revelers are the slower of the two discard outlets, and lose the ability to attack and block profitably too quickly in the matchup to be relevant. The 3x Duress help to protect the pig, as well as getting through any non-creature counter spells. Finally, the 3x Lava Coil are to deal with early mana creatures as well as a way to kill a Shalai before I drop a Ravager Wurm.
Izzet Phoenix:
Take out 4x Rix Maadi Reveler and 2x Llanowar Elves, and 1x Bond of Revival for 4x Lava Coil and 3x Duress. Rix Madi Reveler is again the slower of the two discard outlets, while also not being able to attack through Augur of Bolas or Crackling Drakes. Llanowar elves are the worst ramp spell in this matchup, and make room for Duress. Going down on discard outlets makes Bond of Revival worse, so that is the final cut. One thing that Izzet Phoenix needs is a critical density of cards in order to go off, and Duress can hit high impact cards such as the red Finale. Lava Coil comes in as a 4x since it exiles drakes and phoenixes.
White Weenie:
Take out 4x Tormenting Voice, 2x Paradise Druid, and 1x Carnage Tyrant for 4x Lava Coil and 3x Lightning Strike. Tormenting Voice comes out since like in other aggro matchups, it is the discard outlet that does not play to the board. The Paradise Druids come out since the deck's linear game plan usually isn't good enough on it own. Carnage Tyrant does the least to affect the board of all the payoff cards, neither gaining life to get out of range of lethal attacks, nor acting as a removal spell.
Gruul Midrange:
Take out 4x Arboreal Grazer for 4x Lava Coil. This matchup is fairly straight forward. This deck ultimately goes bigger than the typical gruul deck, and has felt like a good matchup. The scariest card in the opponent's deck is Rekindling Phoenix, which is why the Lava Coils are brought in. Unless you are going to die from not using a lava coil on a Gruul Spellbreaker for example, they should be saved for the Phoenixes or clearing the way for lethal attacks.
Sultai Dreadhorde:
Take out 4x Arboreal Grazer and 4x Rix Maadi Reveler for 4x Lava Coil, 2x Lightning Strike, and 2x Immortal Sun. The Grazers do not block well in this matchup and are the worst of the ramp spells individually. Rix Maadi Revelers fall into the same issue of not attacking or blocking profitably, while being the slower of the two discard outlets. 4x Lava coils come in as a way to permanently deal with Wildgrowth Walkers so late game Command the Dreadhorde is usually less painful. The Lightning strikes come in for the same reason as the coils, as a way to kill Wildgrowth Walkers, while also doubling as a way to finish off planeswalkers behind a wall of blockers. Finally the 2x Immortal Sun come in as a way to shut down the pressure that Nissa provides, while also removing the value engines of Tamiyo and Vraska. Although losing to creatures is still a very real possibility, usually the way that happens is the opponent casting an early 7/7 or larger Hydroid Krasis while a Nissa is in play.
Grixis Control/Bolas:
Take out 4x Arboreal Grazer, 4x Tormenting Voice, and 1x Pelakka Wurm for 3x Duress, 4x Lava coil, and 2x The Immortal Sun. Like with other control matchups, Grazer is the worst of the ramp spells and comes out to make room for disruption. Tormenting Voice comes out since it gets hit by more of the counterspells that Grixis is running than Rix Maadi Reveler does. Having a Tormenting Voice be Negated can often be game losing without having enough other resources available. Pelakka Wurm is the worst of the payoff cards, since the lifegain is generally irrelevant, and I would rather have a Ravager Wurm to kill Nicol-Bolas the Ravager, as well as being a haste threat. Duress comes in as a way to protect key cards in the hand before they are played. Generally it is held until the turn before, or the same turn I want to cast a bomb. Lava Coils come in an an answer to Nicol Bolas, the Ravager. Finally, The Immortal Sun comes in as a way to potentially lock out the opponent from a win after they have exhausted their Bedevils on creatures that would otherwise kill them.
Simic Nexus:
Take out 2x Pelakka Wurm and 4x Arboreal Grazer for 3x Duress and 3x Thrashing Brontodon. Pelakka Wurm is the worst of the payoff cards in this matchup. Carnage Tyrant cannot be bounced, Ravager Wurm has the upside of blowing up Memorial to Genius and Blast zone, and the Impervious Greatwurm helps to force the opponent into situations where they need to combo or cast root snare every turn. Arboreal Grazer comes out since it does nothing to pressure the opponent. 3x Duress come in, but are generally played out proactively as a way to remove threats from the opponent's hand. The sooner they can be cast, the better since Tamiyo shuts the card off once she is in play. The Thrashing Brontodon come into answer Wilderness Reclamation.
Mono-Blue Tempo:
Take out 4x Tormenting Voice, 2x Bond of Revival, 1x Pelakka Wurm, 1x Impervious Greatwurm and 2x Paradise Druid for 3x Duress, 4x Lava Coil, and 3x Lightning Strike. Tormenting Voice being countered by spell pierce is a common occurance. Bond of Revival falls into the same pitfall. Pelakka wurm's life gain is usually not relevant, and the Impervious Greatwurm is being cut since it will almost never be cast able against mono-blue. Duress comes in to punch through counterspells, and removal comes in to deal with the early creatures and draw out counterspells.
