Updates at bottom!
Inspired by Michele Greco's version that landed the #10 spot at Paupergeddon Milan. Lots of interactions in this R/G version of madness. U/G is also in a good place. I'm tired of seeing the same decks in this format and wanted to make this work. Generally plays more like a mid-range deck, able to decide a game by turn 5-6 pretty consistently.
Wild Mongrel enables so many fun, efficient plays. As a bonus, if you can afford to cast it, you can afford to pump Basking Rootwalla, which can enter the battlefield for free.
I decided to go with Werebear to help with Basking Rootwalla pumps, kickers, and flashback costs. He's a 4/4 for 2 late game and gives you easy mana early to help get our big guys out. For more late game insurance, a pair of Gathan Raiders are each good for a 5/5 for 3 of any mana thanks to morph. It also gives us insurance against our self-imposed hand destruction and thrives off it. We are fine discarding either of these cards early if we need to, but the payoff later is also great. Arrogant Wurm is a great beater and finisher that works well. Even without madness, Blastoderm does great work and has built-in protection to make him a big problem. Borderland Explorer rounds us out as a fantastic basic fetcher and madness enabler. Once he's out, his 3 power demands our opponent's attention, and we don't need him after his ETB lands. Later in the game when we have a good mana base, those lands double as discard ammo.
I decided against Burning-Tree Emissary because it empties our hand too fast and can run us out of gas. Besides essentially being a free 2/2, it has no interaction except helping the deck go wide, which isn't our plan. I also decided against Bloodmad Vampire because she's way too soft, even with the madness discount. She's pretty much a removal sponge that gets chumped too easily.
Lightning Bolt is an obvious inclusion to remove problem creatures. 4 Faithless Lootings help us dig 8 times with flashback and cover all our draw needs. We can also safely discard it because of flashback. Pairs of Lightning Axe and Fiery Temper round out our removal suite. They also synergize beautifully and do 8 damage for 2 red. Finally, Vines of Vastwood gives us some protection and a pump, and Rancor slows down blockers on our big creatures and helps eat through smaller guys.
Initially, I went with 20 lands to ensure we get what we need early, and once we have 4-5 in play, they turn into precious discard ammo. Borderland Explorer and Werebear give us a lot of access to mana and it's very necessary for our pumps and flashbacks. Throwing in some other non-basics may work well. I really like including at least a couple cycle lands in Forgotten Cave and Tranquil Thicket to give us an option to speed the deck up later in the game or as an early tapped land to set up a turn 2 creature drop.
This should be enough for a dominant board by turn 5 or 6, as long as our discard outlets and draws aren't too slow to get on the field.
Sideboard is pretty general and I tried to pick efficient cards: Ancient Grudge for flashback, Pulse of Murasa for life against faster decks and graveyard recursion, Night Soil for graveyard hate and tokens to help against Chainer's Edicts, Flame Jab for more discard, etc.
Protection is a big weakness, especially for flyers if they dodge our removal; I have some testing to do and I'll update as necessary. This deck might also struggle specifically against Guardian of the Guildpact. Scab-Clan Mauler, Ground Assault, or Spidersilk Armor are potentially good answers.
Update: Planning to drop 2 Werebear for 2 Horned Kavu. It can bounce lizards to give our mongrels an extra pump, bounce Blastoderm for longevity, drop hostile enchantments from our creatures, beat mono-color protection, and is tough alone as a 3/4.
Update again: Mother Bear looks dope and could definitely slot in as a 2-of, likely for Gathan Raiders as we are fairly discard-heavy already. Also super interested in swapping Talons of Wildwood for Rancor since it is safer to discard and offers defense and a repeatable 3 mana pump for Wild Mongrel. It also refills our hand whenever we need a late-game discard target. 1 Blastoderm and 1 Arrogant Wurm move in for bigger threats to keep our foot on the gas. Also took out 1 Faithless Looting for a Mountain - most of our red spells only require 1 red mana but in playtesting, this felt less mana-hungry and helps with consistent land drops.
If you read this far, thanks for putting up with the wall of text. Some final thoughts are that I love Werebear and Gathan Raiders and there are good reasons to play them, they just don't feel perfect. Mother Bear and Horned Kavu help with discard and madness considerations. I like Talons of Wildwood over Rancor because it offers more value being rebuyable and gets some creatures out of bolt range. I hope I've shed plenty of light on the tools we have already.
Thanks for checking this out! If you're looking to modify this list, don't forget to check out keywords like flashback, retrace, unearth, scavenge, or any other ways to recycle cards. I'm always looking for ways to improve this deck and there are tons of ways to do it.
