MTG Salvation

The idea of this deck is simple:
Exile all but 7 or 8 cards from your deck, one of those needs to be the Mirror.
The rest consist of mana ramp, a way to force yourself to lose the game (usually a card draw works) and a kill spell.

The loop usually works as follows: Play mana ramp, usually Lotus Petal, Mana crypt, Mana Vault, Dark Ritual and/or Seething Song then Lich's Mirror.
Follow up with something that makes you lose such as Faithless Looting or cycling Street Wraith to trigger the Mirror. Shuffle your 7 (or more) cards and draw your 7.
Rinse and repeat as needed. You win by either infinite mana and a big X kill spell, A big storm spell, or make your opponents draw out with Wheel of Fortune

That part is simple enough, the hard part is getting there.
So lets take a look at what I've been testing.
Disclaimer: The deck needs work and any advice is appreciated.


At first glance I'm sure it looks like a random jumble of cantrips, tutors and mana ramp.
Well, ya gotta start somewhere right? I wont explain every card in the deck but I will try to shed enough light to make sense.

Starting off, my choice in general. It was an easy choice for three reasons:
First reason for Mogis, God of Slaughter is that it puts pressure on opponents to sac creatures or take damage.
I will never have enough devotion to get him to become a creature, but his CMC is only a 4 so that's a plus.
Second, Kaervek the Merciless is a hate magnet. The rest of the deck could be all land and he'll still get you killed first and he offers no synergy with the deck.
Third, I thought I had a Tor Wauki but I was mistaken. I suppose I soled or traded it so I'll have to wait till I can pick another up.

Next up, Land choice.
I'm sure at first glance it makes little sense to only have 6 basic land (and 2 snow-covered at that) but I assure you, there is madness to my methods.
Part of it is card access, but the reason for only 2 mountains and 2 swamps is this: Tainted Pact

This card virtually becomes "Exile the top card of your library until you reach the card you want". Basically another Demonnic Consultation with no risk and you can change your mind as you see cards fly past.
In reality I can exile every card in my deck besides the Mirror of Fate (and the mana to play it) and more or less I'll be in good shape.
Hence the Orcish Librarian. He exiles for me, stacks my next draw or two, and can block non-trampling creatures to boot!

On the topic of creatures, I'm trying to stick with ones that self sacrifice (preferably for mana) or have some other use that makes them worth using.
Simian Spirit Guide, Street Wraith and Blood Pet have obvious uses.
Greater Gargadon is often suspended on or just before the combo turn. It, Claws of Gix and Rain of Filth are my best ways of removing permanents from play.
Everything else is either mana ramp, card advantage/exile, a kill spell or cantripping removal.

Some of you may be wondering "Why not run Worldgorger Dragon?" and that's a fair question. My answer is because when I started this project I didn't realize it was commander legal. I had tested the deck with it, but I feel it warps the entire deck to something else entirely. It works, but it didn't feel as fun so I'm not using it.

After several games, I've found three main flaws with the deck that I'm trying to weed out.
First is consistency: In theory, at any point in the game this deck could potentially combo out. I've had one card in hand with four land in play and pulled the combo off. Other times it just flops face first, slowly clawing at itself hoping to do something useful.

Second is vulnerability to hate and/or aggro. When the deck runs quick sometimes it's a non-factor but more often than not I'm flailing to survive as key pieces are stripped out of reach when I need them.

Third is after a while this deck gives you a headache trying to keep track of what is where (exiled, hand, graveyard, deck, in play) mana needed vs. what you have, and risk vs reward of most cards played.

While I know this deck will always wrack the brain, I am hoping to make it more playable, especially if someone at the table has seen it before.

I love your deck, it vindicates the flavor of Rakdos perfectly. I'd suggest alternative wincon like Worldgorger Dragon (which you mentioned) and Hellkite Tyrant if you aim for more artifacts.

What do you think of Crumbling Sanctuary?