MTG Salvation

So I'm looking at cards like Reaper of Sheoldred and Phyrexian Obliterator to wear Pariah's Shield, False Cure, and more cards along the lines. I'm initially thinking W/B, but I know red has some decent options. So first and foremost, what are some good cards to look at, and secondly, what colors/generals should I look at? Rachmiel's primer has me thinking about W/B/R, although I don't know if I want to go three colors. Or I could just cop out and go with Reaper King.

I've forgotten what her name is, but there's a black legend that, while not exactly fitting your "you did this to yourself" idea mechanically, does kind of fit the theme. She has something like, "tap: target creature deals damage to itself equal to its power." So she basically taps while taunting, "stop hitting yourself."

Kiku, Night's Flower IIRC.

I had thought of doing soemthing similar a while back, WBRU are the colors you wanna look at, and remove a few. Or add green and go 5 color, (Child of Alara has a very "retaliate" theme.)

Desertion and Bribery are great cards that fit this theme if you wanted to go blue.

Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts seems like it would be the best general if you wanted to keep it two color. I'd also use her instead of Tariel if she had Red. As for cards I haven't already seen mentioned, Souls of the Faultless may be another option. Stuffy Doll too. Mogg Maniac if you do end up going Red? I took it out of my Tariel deck because it didn't have a chance of killing everyone at once which is what I'd really prefer doing, but Ragged Veins is a super fun underrated card. It works well with things like Wall of Blood if you can spare the life. Hilarious if they attack into Hold the Line and you play Ragged Veins. Turn the Tables works well too with it.

Two of my favorite yet little-known cards that do that are Eye for an Eye and Reverberation (cast it after a mass-damage spell like Hurricane or Blasphemous Act, it's an instant kill). White is particularly good at it with cards like Divine Deflection and Vengeful Archon.

Kaervek the merciless seems like he fits the theme, although not having white prevents him from using pariah-type effects. Of course if you put a pariah on a phyrexian obliterator you just won't get attacked, so I don't expect you'd actually get to see it "go off".

Does white offer a lot of effects? I'm thinking about going with Jeleva for blue's theft abilities.

WIth Blue you pick up Gather Specimens, Reins of Power, Essence Backlash, Cerebral Vortex, and a few others. White has most if not all of the Mirror Strike and damage redirection effects, so if you want more combat tricks, I'd go White. If you want more stealy/ethereal tricks, I'd go Blue. Also, I assume you've seen it (and maybe even referenced it in the title), but Sheldon's Ruhan deck is also a place to look for ideas.

Quote from DirkGently »

Kaervek the merciless seems like he fits the theme, although not having white prevents him from using pariah-type effects. Of course if you put a pariah on a phyrexian obliterator you just won't get attacked, so I don't expect you'd actually get to see it "go off".

If he chooses to include Red, there's the option to include some cards that force opponents to attack. Not sure how easy it is to force them to attack you, but it's something.

Quote from cryogen »

Does white offer a lot of effects? I'm thinking about going with Jeleva for blue's theft abilities.

serene master, reverse damage, Cho-Arrim Alchemist, Eye for an Eye, Honorable Passage, Intervention Pact, shadowbane, Glarecaster, harm's way, Karona's Zealot, Kor Chant, Lapse of Certainty, Mirror Strike, Shield Dancer, Shining Shoal, Turn the Tables,

shaman en-kor, Martyrdom, pariah, pariah's shield, with things like stuffy doll...

i think white has some things to help out with the you did it to yourself theme.

Great. So now four of the five colors have cards I want to use. Jund maybe? Esper? Child of Alara (although my mana base will utter garbage)?

Nemesis Mask is good on Obliterator and it's in theme.

I feel like the Tariel, Reckoner of Souls primer may be a good place for you to start. That deck plays cards like Backlash, Dong Zhou, the Tyrant, and Rakdos Charm and stresses that your own success will be your eventual downfall.

Even though I love my blue decks to death, I definitely think W/B/R is the way to go for this.

One more semi-limited, but equally unexpected white/red source for this is Boros Fury-Shield.

My favorite of these types of cards is Mogg Maniac. I used to use this in conjunction with Skirk Fire Marshal in a goblin combo deck.

MTG.info search terms

"whenever a non basic land enters"
"whenever more than one land enters"
"whenever a creature attacks..."
"whenever a player _____"

I think that should about do it.

Nobody is going to attack into PO though, so you'll have to add fight mechanics or siren stuff to the list, right?

Citadel of Pain has always been a budget favorite of mine to those who love instants.
Price of Glory can also fit this theme.
High Priest of Penance when given indestructibility is always just a good time for you and no one else.