zAzen7977 Deckling

• Edit User
• Edit Profile
• Enable styles
• Disable styles
• Unblock user
• Block user
• Disable chat
• Enable chat
• Remove friend
• Add as friend
• Gift Tokens
• Settings

Thanks Balaam__!! You’re right about Relentless Dead being a good fit for this build. It would be really sweet to use it to sneak a Skaab Ruinator onto the battlefield (without worrying about blue mana and its additional casting cost). I’m not sure what to cut for it though!

Hey AT23, I like your deck! I have a few suggestions -

Since you are losing a lot of life from the fetchlands, Thoughtseize, Dark Confidant, Bitterblossom (4 copies may be too many), etc., you could run Death's Shadow as an additional finisher. If you dip more into burn with Bump in the Night, maybe even Scourge of the Skyclaves would work. Shadows would add more late-game power other than Kroxa.

I would also drop the Magus of the Moon and run a full set of Blood Moon. I know you’re trying to run multiple versions of this effect, but you may end up with a lot of dead cards, and the Magus is more subject to removal (Anger of the Gods, etc).

A way to help with dead cards is Seasoned Pyromancer to help cycle through your deck. Street Wraith also helps draw cards if you embrace the life-loss.

Hey mtgplayer100, thanks for the suggestion. I’ve used Lurrus before as a companion, and the only reason I’m hesitant to include it is because of its companion cost - (3) to put it in hand, then (3) more to cast it. Since I average 3 mana per game, it would take 2 turns of no activity to actually cast it, and then an additional turn to cast a creature from my graveyard. That’s 3 lost turns of no damage-dealing. That delay could potentially be fatal for this deck.

Goblin_Guide, me too! Playing it requires perfect decision-making. It’s like walking a tightrope. One wrong move and you fall off! But that’s what makes it fun to play.

Thanks for the suggestion and +1 cyeRunner! I’ll consider Lightning Skelemental, but I think the focus should remain on burn and self life-loss to build up the Scourges and Shadows. I feel like Skelemental is better for Rakdos 8-Rack decks which focus on hand discard. I can imagine that deck running Scourges, 8-Rack, Bolts, and cards like Thoughtseize, Bitterblossom, Kolaghan's Command, Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger, etc.

Although it’s very tough to narrow it down, my favorite art includes Phyrexian Obliterator, Death's Shadow, Damnation, Tinybones, Trinket Thief, and the newest full art version of Kaalia of the Vast.

Thank you for the upvotes!!! :D

Since my last posts were not helpful, I tried doing some research to see if I could actually come up with something useful, and I did, albeit janky.

Firstly, Blazing Volley only targets the opponent and kills un-buffed spirits. So you may want to run several copies in the maindeck or sideboard.

Secondly, the most accessible spell in Pioneer for neutralizing flyers is Gruul Charm, so if you really think spirits are that problematic, you could run 3-4 of them on the sideboard, and maindeck some green mana, like Mana Confluence, Stomping Ground, Overgrown Tomb, etc. Maybe even some cycling lands like Sheltered Thicket. Janky, I know. But there aren’t many options for Rakdos in Pioneer to deal with fliers.

Oops, wrong format hehe! Nevermind.

Besides Pyroclasm which will kill your own creatures, Corrosive Gale seems like a good solution. You can pay 2 life to cast it, then spend the exact amount of mana you need to kill all the flying spirits at once.

Hey Profet93! Thanks for the comment. Praetor's Grasp is great. I have had the opportunity to use it a few times, and it has practically won me the game each time. Taking out your opponent’s most important combo piece can be devastating.

It’s a tough choice between Snuff Out and Dismember. I went with the former because it almost always costs 0 mana to cast, and my meta has very few other Black decks. This deck is very mana-tight and every single mana counts. But ultimately it’s a judgment call, and Dismember would work too.

Hey LordKunai, thank you! I am happy to offer my opinion.

1. Dismember is an excellent card in general, but I think I’m running enough removal for now.

2. Darkness was in an earlier version of this build, but I found that I would rather have a discard spell then a stall spell that only lasts 1 turn. Plus I prefer using enchantments to lockdown creatures, or board wipes to remove multiple creatures at once.

3. Liliana's Caress and Megrim are good options, but I chose to exclude them because I would rather run discard spells to reduce the opponent to 0 cards in hand. This seems counter-intuitive at first, but the goal of this build is to take advantage of Tinybones’ abilities, and Caress/Megrim do not promote that objective.

4. Sudden Spoiling is interesting, I am not familiar with this card. However I would rather run Dismember or Bontu's Last Reckoning instead. I’d rather remove creatures than neutralize them.

5. Torment of Hailfire is great when you have enough mana to win in a single turn. In other situations it ends up being a dead card. It was in an earlier version of this build that also ran Crypt Ghast and had a focus on ramping.

6. In this latest version I avoid creatures (other than Dark Confidant) to focus on my primary objectives. Plus I’m running lots of board wipes and cards like Noetic Scales, and I don’t think the Ghast is cost effective if I play it for 4 mana, then only get a few turns of use out of it before it dies.

Thanks for the suggestions defamagraphy1! I had forgotten about Apostle's Blessing. The Blessing seems more versatile than bestowing double strike/trample with Battle Rage, since the former can be used to both neutralize blockers or protect a Scourge from removal. Plus the Blessing costs only 1 mana and enables Scourge. Definitely going to test them out.

Hey Daveslab2022, thanks for the suggestions. I’ve been playing around with different possibilities like the ones you mentioned. The issue is how far I want to deviate from the focus on burn. The more creatures and non-burn spells I add, the less focused it becomes, and the odds of drawing a burn spell when I need it decrease.

I had the opportunity to test this deck last night, and it had around a 60% success rate against my friend’s extremely fast Green stompy deck, which usually wins by turns 4-6. That’s the metric I use to judge my decks. I found that I could have won several games had I drawn a burn spell instead of a creature. Plus Scourges and Shadows don’t have trample, and against creature-heavy decks they only serve as blockers. So I’m considering how to make this build even more effective. Perhaps Temur Battle Rage and/or Anger of the Gods would be useful as well.