You're gonna need the Inquisitions and Thoughtseizes against any of the combo decks but I still haven't done great against ad naseum. I just feel like I cant kill them fast enough lol. You could toss a couple more Duress in the SB? Maybe even Wrench Mind since they need quantity and specifics combo pieces.
How'd the small poxes go? I feel like there's always a few people who really like them.
Great job avrid. I don't personally like Smallpox, but how did they do for you? Ad Nauseum is a pain, pretty much hand disruption can stall them hopefully. If I know I'm playing against ad nauseum, I try to hold a land in hand, in case they go all in on Lightning Storm.
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Yeah, the lack of discard really hurts. Smallpox is easily my first cut (for discard in the future, and the first to be cut to sb generally). I dont know, I think Im with you on that ftfkamui. If you're on the play, it can be fantastic, but when you're not.. Its usable in 30% of turn 2 Id say. I see I forgot to mention that I finished in 3rd place overall, so it went really well in my opinion
@arvid82:
Congratulations on your result at the GPT! Always glad to see people representing Death Cloud. If you could hopefully explain some of the details and thought processes in playing against Nahiri I would definitely appreciate it, as I haven't been able to test against that matchup.
As far as the Ad Nauseam matchup goes, discard definitely helps as searching for their 4-of wincon tends to be a bit difficult. I also recommend using abrupt decays and maelstrom pulse to hit their Phyrexian Unlife and their Pentad Prism and/or Lotus Bloom to keep them off of 5 mana. They have 2 means of winning after resolving an Ad Nauseam: Lightning Storm and Laboratory Maniac, which are each 1-ofs. Lightning Storm can be dealt with by discarding it if they draw it prematurely or using the Pithing Needle as adding the charge counters is an activated ability. Lab Maniac shouldn't be an issue as you have the removal spells to keep him from living (Abrupt Decay and Maelstrom Pulse do double duty here). Maintain pressure, stick a Liliana of the Veil, and try to resolve an early death cloud. Being BG, you have a lot of answers for this deck. Post board, they board in Leyline of Sanctity to try and counter your discard spells, so sideboard accordingly. It is a weird matchup that I do recommend you practice as it tends to show up in the field from time to time. Hope that helps!
@ftfkamui:
Congratulations on your finish as well, and thanks for the write up! As far as the 5 sb slots, Leyline of the Void is so important right now due to the appearance of Dredge. Barring that corner case in Tom Ross' matchup at SCG Syracuse, you shouldn't be losing to dredge with a turn 0 leyline. The last slot definitely is up in the air. Maybe another discard spell or a couple Fulminator Mage/Rain of Tears?
@StranglerootsyCollins:
Thanks for the report! As the current changes to the metagame goes, so far I've seen an increase in Bant Eldrazi, Dredge, and Death's Shadow. Our matchup against Bant Eldrazi and Death's Shadow is very favorable pre board and only gets better post board. Dredge is a monster and we need to pack serious hate in the form of Leyline of the Void. Game 1 is tough while the post board games should be over in minutes; just mull to leyline.
Glad to see some life in this thread. Keep up the great work!
Chalice would be a great improvement to the deck. I run 4 main myself. However, arvid82 said that he's on a budget, and unfortunately chalices are like $30 a piece. I would sooner fill out the land base and then grab chalices.
You think leyline is the best SB slot vs Dredge? I haven't seen that deck yet much. Spell bomb also good maybe? Or the Cage? I hadn't seen any GY stuff yet so my Sb was really light on it especially since I added Scavenging oozes to my MD but I suspect those won't be enough.. lol
I wholeheartedly stand by Leyline. I do like Nihil Spellbomb, Relic of Progenitus, and Grafdigger's Cage, but they each have their issues:
1) Spellbomb isn't a permanent solution to the problem and any competent dredge player can recover from a single graveyard nuke.
2) Relic is nice in that it keeps pestering their yard every turn and threatens the nuke. However, it requires you to keep 1 mana up every turn to do so, and with this deck being slow it definitely isn't a great idea to do so. Plus, the first ability doesn't let you choose which card to exile from their grave.
3) Cage is great in that it has applications against Nahiri and Abzan Company, but the problem is that it doesn't mess with the graveyard. The cards there stay intact until the cage is removed from the board. Believe me, Dredge will be running a bunch of artifact and enchantment removal.
4) Scavenging Ooze unfortunately is extremely slow as it won't be affecting their graveyard until turn 3 at the earliest. It does target specific cards so it does help later in the game.
If you're splashing white I would run Rest In Peace as it isn't dead like Leyline when you draw it later in the game. However, dredge is so hard pressed to find an answer to a turn 0 Leyline of the Void that it absolutely messes with their game plan until they do so. Their only answers are Nature's Claim and possibly Ray of Revelation if they even run it.
Yeah that makes sense. Fair enough, I'll probably grab a couple of those before my next event. I couldn't go to the last one but there was a ton of U/x control and at least one dredge deck :/ There's been a ton of aggro though the previous times I've gone so who knows.
Oh also, has anyone run any Profane command recently? I am playing a few more creatures and more of a Rock mid range then the all in DC but its been sweet. Pop a creature scoop goyf or ooze or finks out of the yard or if you have a little board presence you can give them all fear and zoom past blockers, especially angry with Garruk overrun on!
I honestly wasn't too much of a fan of Jacob Van Lunen's take on Death Cloud. It seemed that he just shoved the package in a jund shell rather than building around death cloud. Profane Command seems more appropriate here than Death Cloud itself, as it augments the proactive strategy in the midrange styled builds. I ran Profane Command back in the day in Doran Rock, which was pretty awesome when paired with Eternal Witness. However, the slower, reactive death cloud deck takes better advantage of Primal Command. Hopefully you can get a couple games in and tell us about your experience.
That's fair. I think its pretty strong though. I think a fair argument to it is why now just play Jund and I don't have a great answer to that, other then I dont have all the cards for it and that I like B/G better and I think the DC cards fit a little better in to just the two colors. I think the all in style could build with the Utopia sprawls can also be strong but isn't something I am as interested in playing. I like the more mid range traditional rock style with Death cloud as an option but not my only path to a win and in that or the more Jund style build I think Profane command has been a really solid late game top deck to stabilize or just put your foot and go for the win if you already have pressure.
For discussions sake this is what I am running with now. I don't quite have all of these cards yet but this is what I am going for.
I am testing out the new Liliana, she seems reallllly good. Quagmire too I haven't really gotten to use it though so I dunno. My SB is still a little shakey, more stuff I am testing as I don't have particular events coming up.
I agree that the ramp heavy build of Death Cloud is powerful, but it isn't really my style of The Rock. I also prefer a more traditional build.
The list looks great on paper. There are a few things I would hope for you to clarify in your build:
1) What is the purpose of Primal Command in here? I understand that it can be a hedge against burn and fetch up Obstinate Baloth or Thrun from the side when necessary, but I feel that it is underutilized, especially without an Eternal Witness or a big payoff creature that you can tutor up. If anything, I would just cut it to reduce your curve and add something else like a Witness or another Dark Confidant.
2) I'm also not sure if Damnation in the main is right for this deck. Aside from Kitchen Finks, your creatures don't recur after a board wipe to take advantage of Damnation's symmetrical effect. They definitely should come in from the side against creature-heavy matchups like Bant Eldrazi or something to augment your already stellar removal package.
It is also possible that Grim Flayer could be better in your build than traditional Death Cloud.
I'm excited to hear your results from testing, especially the new Liliana.
The Primal command and Damnation may be relics from my older lists but there's been a pretty creature heavy meta I play against and the one MD Damnation I've been thinking of as basically pre boarded in and since I haven't gone the full 4 goyf or bobs I haven't been too upset to draw it. It isn't great in starting hand unless you also don't have any creatures. I just feel like its a powerful card that can get you out of a jam.
Same is sorta of true with Primal Command. Its a great rip off the top later if things have slowed down to hit a goyf, bolster your life, whatever but I actually think the shuffle GY and put a card on top of your opponents deck is really strong. You can stop a planeswalker from going off and fate seal them or you can put it on top and shuffle. After a cloud you can put a land back on top and keep them off of resources for practically forever. Again, it may go but it just feels strong.
I have actually tested the Flayer a little and he's definitely strong but somehow feels a little underwhelming. Early I'd much rather he was a Bob and late he's good and keep your deck order to always draw some steam which is awesome but since I already don't have 4 goyfs or bobs i don't think he quite makes the cut.
I am excited about the new Liliana too. Shes soo good against anything with x/1 Infect, junk, CoCo but i except sometimes youll need her to kill something bigger and wish she was had the edict. So we'll see.
Yeah thanks for clearing that up. The 1 of Damnation definitely makes sense due to how powerful it is in this meta. The Primal Command still has applications in its worst cases, so I can't really blame you for keeping it in. Plus, it's so much fun to use. I would say try to squeeze in an Eternal Witness somewhere, even though you're really pressed for space, in order to maximize the potential of your Commands.
On the surface, this meta seems very favorable to the Death Cloud strategy. I'll try to do some more testing and squeeze in a few games here and there. Keep up the great work!
Just got a couple practices games in against Death's shadow and Dredge and Liliana the last hope was pretty sweet. I got her ultimate of against Death's shadow by killing off stepe lynxs and powering down the shadow till could stabilize. Not quite as good against Dredge. It was cool to pick off a bloodghast or Naco a turn and threaten her ultimate but you just lose to dredge unless you hit their yard hard and quickly :/
Glad to hear you're liking Liliana the Last Hope. She definitely shines in the creature matchups like Brad Nelson's version of Suicide Zoo, Affinity, Infect etc. My list unfortunately cannot use her very well due to my low creature count, but the threat of her ultimate is pretty great though.
I had a chance to play a few games against Dredge and Suicide Zoo recently.
Dredge is brutal. Against dredge, game 1 is terribly in their favor, much like Affinity. Post board I bring in the full 4 Leyline of the Void and hope to mull into them. All but one game was an instant win when I dropped a turn 0 leyline. My opponent kept an opening hand with Nature's Claim, and I drew terribly for the rest of the game. I'm still confident that this is the way to go. They run maybe 3 Nature's Claim in the sideboard and have to hope to draw it. I like my chances.
Suicide Zoo was much easier because my deck is meant to eat up creature decks. Plus, I run Chalice of the Void in the main, which means that over half of their deck becomes useless.
The best part about Dredge, Infect, and Suicide Zoo being popular is that Tron and Scapeshift are at their all time low. I'm looking forward to a few more modern events when I can find the time.
Try Tireless Tracker. Clues don't die to DC 😆 And Steve can get you clues on demand. Don't forget to hold priority after Tracker clears the stack so you et your trigger from your land drop.
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In case I didn't tell you, I don't care about your opinion I just want your facts. And not the facts that make you seem smart. I want the ones that are actual facts.
Tireless Tracker seems pretty cool in a heavy ramp midrange version. I could see using the full Sakura Tribe Elder and possibly Search For Tomorrow numbers to make a beefy Tracker while also drawing some cards. Have you been playing recently? Anything new to your lists so far?
Uhg played a couple games and went 1-2 vs infect, affinity, and Ad naus. 2-0 Deaths shadow, Jeskai. I think the ad naus isnt that bad but I had to mull to 5 and didnt get any discard in game three so meh.
My list definitely feels a little inconsistent, too many three ofs, two ofs. I think I am probably gonna cut primal command and maybe one profane? To go another Confidant and maybe a dismember or another disfigure? I kept getting poisoned out by flying inkmoths before I could play any removal Maybe a darkblast in the SB would be good I dunn. Now that I've got some goyfs though I am honestly considering just going Junk or Jund. Maybe with the one of Death cloud maybe not. Its definitely good and I think it can really take people by surprise but isn't worth building around unless you go all in which isn't as a deck I am as interested. The paths or Lightning bolts from either Jund or Junk seems as well as the SB stuff seem like they would shore up some of the terrible MUs too like Tron or Scapeshift. Junk especially seems cool since Lingering souls are so good with Liliana and with Death cloud.
Yeah that's rough. You are definitely favored against infect and ad nauseam. Such is the 50/50 nature of this deck where you still can lose to your favorable matchups be it simple variance or just drawing the wrong half of your deck. I definitely would start by cutting the Primal Command.
I would say try to make room in your current list for Lingering Souls if you want to play Death Cloud. Otherwise, it would be preferential to run 2 Profane Command instead as the fun X spell. I would also consider running Kalitas in there somewhere since you don't run Path to Exile.
I am a huge advocate of dismember. It isn't the best when burn is everywhere, but the option to play it for 1 without any restricting clause is too valuable. I highly recommend adding them in favor of removal like disfigure and possibly putrefy as dismember hardly is ever dead throughout the game where removal shines.
I'm honestly not a huge proponent of taking two differing ideas and mashing them together to make one super deck, as cool as it sounds, since it dilutes the strategies and strengths of each individual deck. Despite their similarities, Jund/Junk/Cloud are very different decks and should be treated as such. The draw to Death Cloud is the sheer number of sweepers it runs to crush aggro and midrange. To aid in that gameplan and break the symmetrical effect of these cards, the creatures you run need to stand alone and be minimally affected by these sweepers. Definitely give Jund and Junk a shot to understand their differing playstyles. Jund is the most proactive of the three, Death Cloud is the most reactive, and Junk tends to skirt somewhere in the middle. I actually run Lingering Souls in my Death Cloud deck because they shore up on my bad matchups like Affinity and synergize well with Lilliana and the sweeper package all for a light white splash. I'm also considering cutting the white splash for the red to get some sweet Primal Command and Kolaghan's Command loops with Eternal Witness while having the oops I win Death Cloud option. I'm still currently attached to the Lingering Souls at the moment, but I'll keep testing to see what I can come up with.
Thats pretty niffty. I saw a couple builds like that. Those are definitely the most successful DC centric style lists! Pretty cool.
I also found and was reading through this list, which is more the traditional Rock style build. A couple years old but still pretty interesting. I tested a little of an updated version and it ran pretty smoothly.
In both these lists they run night of souls betrayal, which I think deserves some thought. I like Curse of Death's hold as well so maybe thats something to be really building around.
What are people's thoughts on the new fast lands? Both B/G for all versions of DC and the BW for the Abzan builds. Feels like an easy 4 of for the G/B in all versions of the deck now.
What are people's thoughts on the new fast lands? Both B/G for all versions of DC and the BW for the Abzan builds. Feels like an easy 4 of for the G/B in all versions of the deck now.
Thoughts?
IMO it doesn't seem like a good fit for Death Cloud. The new B/G fast land seems like an asset more so for abzan midrange. Death Cloud is often ramping up and often playing 4 CMC and over cards such as Garruk, Death Cloud, Damnation, and Thragtusk. Plus many lists play Search for Tomorrow and when suspended on turn one it wouldn't be playable as your land for the turn on turn 3 if you wanted to ramp into a four drop. I just couldn't imagine wanting to include it. I think the mana base of Death Cloud is fine between the ramp spells, Verdant Catacombs, Overgrown Tomb, Urborg, and Woodland Cemetary. I like that you pose the question because it's always good to evaluate new options, I just think in this case it's not fitting.
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How'd the small poxes go? I feel like there's always a few people who really like them.
Congratulations on your result at the GPT! Always glad to see people representing Death Cloud. If you could hopefully explain some of the details and thought processes in playing against Nahiri I would definitely appreciate it, as I haven't been able to test against that matchup.
As far as the Ad Nauseam matchup goes, discard definitely helps as searching for their 4-of wincon tends to be a bit difficult. I also recommend using abrupt decays and maelstrom pulse to hit their Phyrexian Unlife and their Pentad Prism and/or Lotus Bloom to keep them off of 5 mana. They have 2 means of winning after resolving an Ad Nauseam: Lightning Storm and Laboratory Maniac, which are each 1-ofs. Lightning Storm can be dealt with by discarding it if they draw it prematurely or using the Pithing Needle as adding the charge counters is an activated ability. Lab Maniac shouldn't be an issue as you have the removal spells to keep him from living (Abrupt Decay and Maelstrom Pulse do double duty here). Maintain pressure, stick a Liliana of the Veil, and try to resolve an early death cloud. Being BG, you have a lot of answers for this deck. Post board, they board in Leyline of Sanctity to try and counter your discard spells, so sideboard accordingly. It is a weird matchup that I do recommend you practice as it tends to show up in the field from time to time. Hope that helps!
@ftfkamui:
Congratulations on your finish as well, and thanks for the write up! As far as the 5 sb slots, Leyline of the Void is so important right now due to the appearance of Dredge. Barring that corner case in Tom Ross' matchup at SCG Syracuse, you shouldn't be losing to dredge with a turn 0 leyline. The last slot definitely is up in the air. Maybe another discard spell or a couple Fulminator Mage/Rain of Tears?
@StranglerootsyCollins:
Thanks for the report! As the current changes to the metagame goes, so far I've seen an increase in Bant Eldrazi, Dredge, and Death's Shadow. Our matchup against Bant Eldrazi and Death's Shadow is very favorable pre board and only gets better post board. Dredge is a monster and we need to pack serious hate in the form of Leyline of the Void. Game 1 is tough while the post board games should be over in minutes; just mull to leyline.
Glad to see some life in this thread. Keep up the great work!
1) Spellbomb isn't a permanent solution to the problem and any competent dredge player can recover from a single graveyard nuke.
2) Relic is nice in that it keeps pestering their yard every turn and threatens the nuke. However, it requires you to keep 1 mana up every turn to do so, and with this deck being slow it definitely isn't a great idea to do so. Plus, the first ability doesn't let you choose which card to exile from their grave.
3) Cage is great in that it has applications against Nahiri and Abzan Company, but the problem is that it doesn't mess with the graveyard. The cards there stay intact until the cage is removed from the board. Believe me, Dredge will be running a bunch of artifact and enchantment removal.
4) Scavenging Ooze unfortunately is extremely slow as it won't be affecting their graveyard until turn 3 at the earliest. It does target specific cards so it does help later in the game.
If you're splashing white I would run Rest In Peace as it isn't dead like Leyline when you draw it later in the game. However, dredge is so hard pressed to find an answer to a turn 0 Leyline of the Void that it absolutely messes with their game plan until they do so. Their only answers are Nature's Claim and possibly Ray of Revelation if they even run it.
Oh also, has anyone run any Profane command recently? I am playing a few more creatures and more of a Rock mid range then the all in DC but its been sweet. Pop a creature scoop goyf or ooze or finks out of the yard or if you have a little board presence you can give them all fear and zoom past blockers, especially angry with Garruk overrun on!
For discussions sake this is what I am running with now. I don't quite have all of these cards yet but this is what I am going for.
2x Bloodstained Mire
3x Forest
1x Hissing Quagmire
1x Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
2x Overgrown Tomb
3x Swamp
2x Tectonic Edge
2x Treetop Village
2x Twilight Mire
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3x Verdant Catacombs
2x Windswept Heath
2x Garruk Wildspeaker
2x Liliana of the Veil
1x Liliana, the last hope
1x Death Cloud
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Maelstrom Pulse
1x Primal Command
2x Profane Command
3x Thoughtseize
2x Dark Confidant
3x Kitchen Finks
2x Scavenging Ooze
3x Tarmogoyf
1x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
3x Abrupt Decay
1x Disfigure
1x Putrefy
1x Slaughter Pact
1x Damnation
1x Fracturing Gust
2x Fulminator Mage
2x Golgari Charm
2x Nihil spellbomb
2x Obstinate Baloth
1x Rolling Spoil
2x Thrun, the Last Troll
I am testing out the new Liliana, she seems reallllly good. Quagmire too I haven't really gotten to use it though so I dunno. My SB is still a little shakey, more stuff I am testing as I don't have particular events coming up.
The list looks great on paper. There are a few things I would hope for you to clarify in your build:
1) What is the purpose of Primal Command in here? I understand that it can be a hedge against burn and fetch up Obstinate Baloth or Thrun from the side when necessary, but I feel that it is underutilized, especially without an Eternal Witness or a big payoff creature that you can tutor up. If anything, I would just cut it to reduce your curve and add something else like a Witness or another Dark Confidant.
2) I'm also not sure if Damnation in the main is right for this deck. Aside from Kitchen Finks, your creatures don't recur after a board wipe to take advantage of Damnation's symmetrical effect. They definitely should come in from the side against creature-heavy matchups like Bant Eldrazi or something to augment your already stellar removal package.
It is also possible that Grim Flayer could be better in your build than traditional Death Cloud.
I'm excited to hear your results from testing, especially the new Liliana.
The Primal command and Damnation may be relics from my older lists but there's been a pretty creature heavy meta I play against and the one MD Damnation I've been thinking of as basically pre boarded in and since I haven't gone the full 4 goyf or bobs I haven't been too upset to draw it. It isn't great in starting hand unless you also don't have any creatures. I just feel like its a powerful card that can get you out of a jam.
Same is sorta of true with Primal Command. Its a great rip off the top later if things have slowed down to hit a goyf, bolster your life, whatever but I actually think the shuffle GY and put a card on top of your opponents deck is really strong. You can stop a planeswalker from going off and fate seal them or you can put it on top and shuffle. After a cloud you can put a land back on top and keep them off of resources for practically forever. Again, it may go but it just feels strong.
I have actually tested the Flayer a little and he's definitely strong but somehow feels a little underwhelming. Early I'd much rather he was a Bob and late he's good and keep your deck order to always draw some steam which is awesome but since I already don't have 4 goyfs or bobs i don't think he quite makes the cut.
I am excited about the new Liliana too. Shes soo good against anything with x/1 Infect, junk, CoCo but i except sometimes youll need her to kill something bigger and wish she was had the edict. So we'll see.
On the surface, this meta seems very favorable to the Death Cloud strategy. I'll try to do some more testing and squeeze in a few games here and there. Keep up the great work!
I had a chance to play a few games against Dredge and Suicide Zoo recently.
Dredge is brutal. Against dredge, game 1 is terribly in their favor, much like Affinity. Post board I bring in the full 4 Leyline of the Void and hope to mull into them. All but one game was an instant win when I dropped a turn 0 leyline. My opponent kept an opening hand with Nature's Claim, and I drew terribly for the rest of the game. I'm still confident that this is the way to go. They run maybe 3 Nature's Claim in the sideboard and have to hope to draw it. I like my chances.
Suicide Zoo was much easier because my deck is meant to eat up creature decks. Plus, I run Chalice of the Void in the main, which means that over half of their deck becomes useless.
The best part about Dredge, Infect, and Suicide Zoo being popular is that Tron and Scapeshift are at their all time low. I'm looking forward to a few more modern events when I can find the time.
Cockatrice username: Blackcat77
My list definitely feels a little inconsistent, too many three ofs, two ofs. I think I am probably gonna cut primal command and maybe one profane? To go another Confidant and maybe a dismember or another disfigure? I kept getting poisoned out by flying inkmoths before I could play any removal Maybe a darkblast in the SB would be good I dunn. Now that I've got some goyfs though I am honestly considering just going Junk or Jund. Maybe with the one of Death cloud maybe not. Its definitely good and I think it can really take people by surprise but isn't worth building around unless you go all in which isn't as a deck I am as interested. The paths or Lightning bolts from either Jund or Junk seems as well as the SB stuff seem like they would shore up some of the terrible MUs too like Tron or Scapeshift. Junk especially seems cool since Lingering souls are so good with Liliana and with Death cloud.
I would say try to make room in your current list for Lingering Souls if you want to play Death Cloud. Otherwise, it would be preferential to run 2 Profane Command instead as the fun X spell. I would also consider running Kalitas in there somewhere since you don't run Path to Exile.
I am a huge advocate of dismember. It isn't the best when burn is everywhere, but the option to play it for 1 without any restricting clause is too valuable. I highly recommend adding them in favor of removal like disfigure and possibly putrefy as dismember hardly is ever dead throughout the game where removal shines.
I'm honestly not a huge proponent of taking two differing ideas and mashing them together to make one super deck, as cool as it sounds, since it dilutes the strategies and strengths of each individual deck. Despite their similarities, Jund/Junk/Cloud are very different decks and should be treated as such. The draw to Death Cloud is the sheer number of sweepers it runs to crush aggro and midrange. To aid in that gameplan and break the symmetrical effect of these cards, the creatures you run need to stand alone and be minimally affected by these sweepers. Definitely give Jund and Junk a shot to understand their differing playstyles. Jund is the most proactive of the three, Death Cloud is the most reactive, and Junk tends to skirt somewhere in the middle. I actually run Lingering Souls in my Death Cloud deck because they shore up on my bad matchups like Affinity and synergize well with Lilliana and the sweeper package all for a light white splash. I'm also considering cutting the white splash for the red to get some sweet Primal Command and Kolaghan's Command loops with Eternal Witness while having the oops I win Death Cloud option. I'm still currently attached to the Lingering Souls at the moment, but I'll keep testing to see what I can come up with.
Channel Fireball put up a playlist of an interesting take on Death Cloud. I've never seen anything like it before, but the pilot did quite well.
I also found and was reading through this list, which is more the traditional Rock style build. A couple years old but still pretty interesting. I tested a little of an updated version and it ran pretty smoothly.
http://legitmtg.com/competitive/throwback-thursday/
In both these lists they run night of souls betrayal, which I think deserves some thought. I like Curse of Death's hold as well so maybe thats something to be really building around.
Thoughts?
IMO it doesn't seem like a good fit for Death Cloud. The new B/G fast land seems like an asset more so for abzan midrange. Death Cloud is often ramping up and often playing 4 CMC and over cards such as Garruk, Death Cloud, Damnation, and Thragtusk. Plus many lists play Search for Tomorrow and when suspended on turn one it wouldn't be playable as your land for the turn on turn 3 if you wanted to ramp into a four drop. I just couldn't imagine wanting to include it. I think the mana base of Death Cloud is fine between the ramp spells, Verdant Catacombs, Overgrown Tomb, Urborg, and Woodland Cemetary. I like that you pose the question because it's always good to evaluate new options, I just think in this case it's not fitting.