History
Mardu Myth comes from Kanaoka Yoshihiko, whose various takes on the Pox deck tore up the HappyMTG.com Modern circuit for the better part of the year. His first decks were also just as nutty. His first decks used Waste Not, a card poised to bring back Pox into Modern, as well as some spice and odd choices.
Here we being to see the use of Myth Realized, a card that was pegged into being a win-condition for grindy decks like Pox, and possibly even Standstill Legacy decks. Here, Myth Realized is a way to actually win once all of the Pox effects take hold.
Spells
4 Smallpox-The engine of the deck. Smallpox causes the game to start grinding down, and symmetrically attack both player's resources and life. The key to a good Pox deck is to abuse the symmetry of the card by making sure you gain advantage from it, or that your loses are not as great as your opponents. The deck has lands, cards, cheap token creatures that all are abusive with Smallpox--Lingering Souls, Flagstones, etc.
4 Stone Rain-Legacy Pox decks tend to play Sinkhole, and Stone Rain fills that niche quite nicely. More or less a one-for-one trade off for land and card, Stone Rain can easily attack mana and deny lands for opponents trying to escape and recover after great losses of resources.
4 Lingering Souls-Token maker, Liliana and Smallpox fodder. The tokens are great sac targets for Smallpox and Crack the Earth, with them chump blocking and evading when necessary. A staple in Pox decks for Modern.
4 Inquisition of Kozilek- While I have my doubts that this card should probably be Thoughtseize, Inquisition has proven it's worth nicely. Able to stop early turns and deal with most of the formats major spells, it's one of the best turn 1 plays this deck has.
4 Lightning Bolt-Burn and removal.
4 Crack the Earth-So this card...A symmetrical effect that can be abused greatly. Once we start getting our opponent down to a 1-2 lands, it's another Stone Rain effect. We can sac our Flagstones to negate its effect and fix mana, sac Chromatic Star and Spellbomb to draw cards, sac our tokens only to get them back...a very nice find and certainly a staple.
The Pay off
3 Myth Realized-The deck's namesake and win condition. It just so happens that all of the spells trigger it, and all of them happen to be cheap. We can get this thing to a nice size quickly, and is a nice way to wrap the game up once we have locked out opponent out of resources and cards. Plus, once they start passing the turn back and start the "draw-go" phase of the game, we can charge it up manually.
Walkers
2 Liliana of the Veil-Ms. Vess's most played form, an easily inclusion in this deck. Discards, deals with big threats... Other walkers-Sorin, Ajani, and Chandra all have their major roles here, and playing them as one ofs makes some sense. Chandra's big pay off is that she can Fork spells. Getting more tokens with Souls, Smallpoxing twice, Double Stone Rain, Double bolt--all seem appealing. Ajani can Armageddon them, and Sorin's ultimate and token fodder play nicely. I feel like maybe Sorin should be Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, but Solemn Visitor has been sweet.
Artifacts
Mostly fodder for Crack the Earth, each of them can draw a card EVEN IF their abilities have not been activated. Nihil Spellbomb can randomly hose Gifts Ungiven and Dredge decks.
Lands
Most of the lands make sense here. Urborg lets Smallpox and Liliana be castable and Flagstones, combined with Smallpox and Crack the Earth, gets us lands to fix mana and negate their effects.
Research has shown that turn 1 Urborg, discard spell-turn 2 Flagstones, Smallpox is the grossest thing you can do in Modern.
I'm looking forward to the discussion about this exciting deck. Cheers.
If I could afford another Modern deck, I'd be ordering all the cards for this one right now. This deck looks amazingly fun. Instant subscription; I hope the thread develops.
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Well, I can saw a woman in two, but you won't wanna look in the box when I'm through.
I feel like the lack of Bloodghast in a deck like this is a real mistake. Bloodghast is an awesome recursive creature played in a number of legacy pox decks. Here it would be great discard fodder and it's a very aggressive creature. It would also allow for a postcombat main phase smallpox after you've animated myth realized. (Not that I'm sure one would ever do that.)
EDIT: The landbase is incredibly soft to blood moon as well. I also feel as though the lack of Pyroclasm / Anger of the Gods is a mistake.
Love it. I've been playing Loam Pox for a while now and love it. Casting Smallpox is the best feeling in Magic.
This combines my love of Smallpox with my desire to play Myth Realized as a win con somewhere. I had tried it in a RW land death deck but this is straight better than that. Nice work.
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I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Since Kanaoka Top 8'd twice with that deck, I've been trying it out on Cockatrice. It's fairly fun for me, although being aggressive with symmetric Edicts is key in a lot of match-ups.
Since Kanaoka went with Stone Rain instead of Rain of Tears, I turned my 4 Rain of Tears into a 2 RoT/1 Stone Rain/1 Fulminator Mage split, especially since I got frustrated with how often I couldn't cast Rain of Tears. After playtesting, I'll keep the split--I've been colour-screwed out of casting both RoT in some games AND Stone Rain in other games in testing, and while Fulminator Mage is the easiest to cast of the 3 and can actually crucially block and swing, not being able to hit basics with it is a significant downside in this deck. (I hit basics with my spot LD spells about half the time, I think.)
My flex spots (I run 4 Myth Realized--it's one of the best win cons this deck can have, as I have severe trouble hitting 4 mana by Turn 8 with this deck) are 1 Boom // Bust (Kanaoka liked this) and 1 Murderous Cut (the best spot removal spell for this deck, IMO--Dismember costs 4 life too often, stuff like Go for the Throat and Slaughter Pact can't hit everything, Path to Exile is an obvious nonbo with this deck's LD modus operandi, and Terminate, despite being the second best option, can be hard to cast--Murderous Cut kills things for 1 mana and no life and can even be cast on Turn 2 for 1 mana). Cut has been so good to me that I'm seriously considering a 3 Bolt-2 Cut split, although I actually have burned out opponents with Bolt before.
The deck is surprisingly able to mana-screw aggro decks--if they keep a 1-land hand, they're often dead and gone. It's surprisingly good against Affinity because of its sheer LD speed and high enough removal density, although eliminating Darksteel Citadel is pretty hard.
IMO, this is the best LD deck in Modern. As I've mentioned above, it's actually able to mana-screw aggro decks fast enough to matter, and aggro decks are typically huge Achilles's heels for LD decks.
Something key to remember against Twin--you can tap out for LD as long as they have 3 or fewer lands (or have no red mana) and no "Exarch"s. They either counter your LD or play an "Exarch" in response, and no matter which option they pick, they can't cast Splinter Twin next turn.
I feel like the lack of Bloodghast in a deck like this is a real mistake. Bloodghast is an awesome recursive creature played in a number of legacy pox decks. Here it would be great discard fodder and it's a very aggressive creature. It would also allow for a postcombat main phase smallpox after you've animated myth realized. (Not that I'm sure one would ever do that.)
EDIT: The landbase is incredibly soft to blood moon as well. I also feel as though the lack of Pyroclasm / Anger of the Gods is a mistake.
This deck has a hard enough time keeping control of the game that I don't think I can find room for Bloodghast in this deck. I probably have 1 flex slot left and that's 1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor, who's been underperforming for me but at least he sort of does his job. This feels more like a control deck than a tempo or even midrange deck, so Bloodghast being pretty all-in on aggro worries me.
Yeah, I do not get why Kanaoka does not play Marsh Flats. 1 fetchable basic Plains looks vital for this deck against aggressive decks and Moon. I'd replace at least 3 Bloodstained Mires with Marsh Flats, then cram that basic Plains in somewhere.
I also think that no 'Clasm/Firespout in the board is a mistake, as fast aggro can be a pain if it keeps a 2+-land hand. I don't think this deck can support RR (especially 1RR on only 3 lands), though.
If Myth Realized is primary wincon why is the last decklist running only 3? What are best and worst MU? I can see the logic in having Inquisition of Kozilek over Thoughseize with mana denial you only care for opponent's early game threats where inquisition really shines and the added bonus of not having to pay 2 life is significant. This deck look really fun to play shame I can't afford Lili's to give it a try.
I think Kanaoka is a bigger fan of planeswalkers than I am, which is why s/he's dropped to 3 Myth Realizeds while I've kept all 4. I guess s/he has an easier time getting to 4 lands than I do.
I'm not sure what the best match-ups are (although UR Twin is actually likely in BWR Myth Pox's favour as long as Twin is afraid of instant-speed spot removal), but Elves is pretty abysmal for BWR Myth Pox, so is Junk Midrange (dang Goyf/Ooze/Tasigur, their discarded Souls...), Scapeshift is surprisingly horrid, Ad Nauseam is pretty good at ignoring this deck's LD, and RG Tron probably has the match-up edge over BWR Myth Pox. Melira Collected Company has a rather even match-up against BWR Myth Pox, though, and I think BWR Myth Pox has the edge over UWR and Infect. I think I need to test against Grixis Delver more (it might have been inconclusive last time--rip out their counterspells), and I definitely need to test against Abzan Liege (it sounds good for BWR because of its high curve, but it also sounds bad because of Souls/Voice/Smiter/Liege).
Boom // Bust seems fantastic, like one of the best LD spells in the deck, because of it's strength with fetches. If you target your own fetch with Boom & sac it to grab a land, it's just a 2-mana Stone Rain. Surprised there aren't more copies of it.
Some thoughts of my own after playing Kanaoka's first place build for a week or so
-I too am really sick of Solemn Sorin being fairly crappy. I may replace with another walker or the 4th Myth Realized. Chandra has been fine, Ajani has been fine.
-Kinda really wanna play a sweeper or some sort. He plays Damnation and Wrath post board, as well as earlier builds playing the criminally underrated Curse of Death's Hold. Infest comes to mind, as well as Pyroclasm and other red sweepers.
-Boom//Bust seems great and is awesome and we can abuse it further by blowing Flagstones as well. Certainly worth the inclusion.
With that in mind, and Lectry's developments as well--My list
Looking at the list more closely, I wonder if the planeswalker suite couldn't be cut down to add a 4th Myth Realized and another land or two. For a deck that deals in symmetrical effects sometimes, and for one that has two 4 drops, it seems like 21 lands is low. Having a basic plains seems important, and perhaps having more red sources would allow another Molten Rain, which I imagine pulls double duty, land death and burn, quite often.
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I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Deck seems fun, going to put it together and test it out. I don't have an Ajani or Chandra Firebrand so I was thinking of trying Outpost Siege which seems like it might have a similar function.
The first version of this was heavily based on the second list in the OP, except with -1 Boom // Bust, +1 Murderous Cut. Murderous Cut fixes that Goyf problem so well whenever it shows up that I'm on the fence about going -1 Bolt, +1 Cut.
Ajani Vengeant is the newest addition. He doesn't show up that often, but since I lose to Goyf-sized creatures and often other aggro beats, I look forward to the life buffer he should reliably provide. Icing lands is dandy, too, and since I've actually cast the Bust side of Boom // Bust twice so far, Ajani V's got to ult sometime for me. Ajani V's replacing Sorin, Solemn Visitor, and as busted as Sorin SV was with Myth Realized, he makes a 2/2 Vampire and flops too often for me.
The sideboard is untested, although the Burn match-up is dicey as long as they keep a 2+-land hand (so I know I need the life gain), BGx Midrange definitely sucks to face (thus, at least one Wrath is needed in the board), and artifacts and enchantments can be very annoying to face (so all the Disenchants are keepers). This deck's RG Tron and Ad Nauseam match-ups are bad enough (and it can still lose to Affinity) that I'm trying 1 Stony Silence despite all the nonbos it makes with the maindeck. Combo is shaky enough that 1 Slaughter Games stays.
I might be way off the mark here, but could Gurmag Angler or Tombstalker be good here? Not needing mana to attack seems good, one has evasion, both are fat, and not much is being done with the yard as far as I know (besides Murderous Cut). If Boom // Bust is being used along with fetches, chromatic stars and crack the earth, there should be plenty to delve, assuming one isn't running more than 2 copies of each. Proper sequencing with smallpox and lingering souls or some other less valuable creatures would be necessary, or just wait for the opponent's inevitable removal (dies to removal, right?)
Another creature I was curious about testing was Young Pyromancer, as casting crack the earth will net you a token, which you can sac for a mostly one-sided effect. Same goes for smallpox. Monastery Mentor has a similar but better effect for an increased mana cost.
Just a thought. I'm loving Myth Realized as I don't have to worry about playing around my own smallpox, but when I play it feels a little threat-light. I don't like the idea of letting the opponent stabilize while I want for a win condition. Does anyone else have this problem? Is card draw a better choice than increased threat density? We're in B after all.
EDIT: A Misspelling was preventing proper card tagging
I played an okay kitchen table RW list with Myth Realized and Young Pyromancer when I first got the card, just to get to playing it right away. It's fun. I also had Guttersnipe and then a bunch of tap/draw and land death cards. Pyromancer is a removal magnet is the problem, so it seems kind of bad unless you have a spell or two to cast on the same turn to net some tokens.
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I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
I might be way off the mark here, but could Gurmag Angler or Tombstalker be good here? Not needing mana to attack seems good, one has evasion, both are fat, and not much is being done with the yard as far as I know (besides Murderous Cut). If Boom // Bust is being used along with fetches, chromatic stars and crack the earth, there should be plenty to delve, assuming one isn't running more than 2 copies of each. Proper sequencing with smallpox and lingering souls or some other less valuable creatures would be necessary, or just wait for the opponent's inevitable removal (dies to removal, right?)
Another creature I was curious about testing was Young Pyromancer, as casting crack the earth will net you a token, which you can sac for a mostly one-sided effect. Same goes for smallpox. Monastery Mentor has a similar but better effect for an increased mana cost.
Just a thought. I'm loving Myth Realized as I don't have to worry about playing around my own smallpox, but when I play it feels a little threat-light. I don't like the idea of letting the opponent stabilize while I want for a win condition. Does anyone else have this problem? Is card draw a better choice than increased threat density? We're in B after all.
EDIT: A Misspelling was preventing proper card tagging
Young Pyromancer might not be a bad idea--it resists every single Crack the Earth and Smallpox we play, it makes stuff that blocks Goyfs, and it costs a cheap 2 mana. I do need to cast it with an instant up or with a sorcery right after I resolve it, though, or Pyro is his typical Bolt magnet self.
Mono-body fatties like Gurmag Angler and Tasigur are significantly worse. I'm sometimes afraid to cast Smallpox whenever I discarded my only Lingering Souls to a previous Smallpox, then flashed it back (so resolving another Smallpox would leave me with only one sorry Spirit token instead of two). I wouldn't be able to stand casting Smallpox whenever I have only Angler/Tasigur/animated Myth Realized out.
I normally find that my opponents "stabilize" by playing stuff before the LD train comes or by finding enough lands to get back on curve. I find that the former happens more often than the latter for me. I flood out pretty nastily with this deck, but 21 lands is already a pretty low number. I've normally found that stabilizing in the first place is the bigger problem.
If we went more creature based, Young Pyro is clearly the winner here. Blanks all symmetrical effects with tokens, and suplimemts Myth Realized for a clock. I will be drafting a Pyro list and updating the OP soon.
Random Though: Had an idea about Junk Myth, GWB using Life From the Loam and Raven's Crime and a Smallpox package as a way to power Myth Realized. This seems rather interesting....
If we went more creature based, Young Pyro is clearly the winner here. Blanks all symmetrical effects with tokens, and suplimemts Myth Realized for a clock. I will be drafting a Pyro list and updating the OP soon.
Random Though: Had an idea about Junk Myth, GWB using Life From the Loam and Raven's Crime and a Smallpox package as a way to power Myth Realized. This seems rather interesting....
That looks like you're going more in the direction of loam pox (link is to a mtgsalvation thread about it). If you're running G + urborg, tomb of yawgmoth in a LD deck Spreading Algae could be a thing. Also, I always suggest at least 1 of each basic land per color you're running - losing to blood moon isn't nearly as fun as winning with it
After playing around a bit with the deck, I noticed that Myth Realized is fairly excellent (as I've stated before), but gets chump blocked all day every day by swarm-style decks. Pyroclasm, Anger of the Gods, Volcanic Fallout, or any sweeper works really well with him (as he dodges it), but I've bee toying around with the idea of Funeral Charm. Killing x/1's can be good, making a player discard a drawn land before their first main would be magical christmas, and giving Myth Realized swampwalk with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth could be game-winning. Again, this is assuming it's relevant/not just a worse Raven's Crime. Also could be used as a bad shock for that extra 1-2 damage on an unblocked swing. Just a thought.
Shadow of Doubt. I know, this card wants to be good, it really does, and it might not be the best thing since sliced bread, but I think it could find it's way into the 75. Worst case scenario: instant card draw. No harder to cast than Smallpox. What we generally hope for: "kills" a fetch (for added hilarity - fetch in response to their fetch, then cast). Randomly have better game against Scapeshift, Amulet of Vigor, Gifts Ungiven, Tron, anything reliant on searching their library, really. Also especially mean against any deck in 3 or more colors (they tend to run more fetches, I find).
I've struggled against abzan/jund if I don't mana screw them or disrupt them enough right away. Against seemingly "mono removal/goodstuff" decks, Faith's Shield seems attractive. "Counters" Abrupt Decay, prevents planeswalkers from taking attack damage of the chosen color, or redirected damage of the chosen color (should you target the walker with faith's shield, I believe you need to cast it before the opponent chooses whether to redirect or not, so you'd probably tank the damage, but hey, planeswalker's still around). You could even give the land you control targeted with Boom // Bust pro red to prevent it getting destroyed. All for W - what a steal! Again, magical christmas scenarios, it could also possibly be useless. Reactive, not proactive. Perhaps an extra turn with fateful hour online. Oh, also can't be spellskite'd as a plus, but can't be used to randomly mess with splinter twin either, which is a minus. Probably not maindeckable, but maybe sideboardable, depending on expected meta.
Things I hate seeing when I play this deck: Æther Vial, Control Decks, never-ending removal/maelstrom pulse/"goodstuff" decks. I dislike mulliganing, but I usually want to see at least either a turn 1 disruption card or turn 2 pox effect. What about you guys, what to you need/want at minimum to keep a starting hand?
So I've been testing a semi-aggro mardu wedge version of this deck, and so far it's performed reasonably well against affinity (thoughtseize into smallpox is my new favorite thing in magic), splinter twin, elves, and some other rogue brews. I need some more practice, but I think it could be a solid tier 3ish deck, maybe 2 if the list was improved and the pilot wasn't terrible like me
EDIT: Oops, forgot to include my thoughts/explanations
Shadow of Doubt I feel is probably the weakest card in the 75. When it's relevant it's amazing, sometimes it surprise pumps Myth Realized, or makes elemental tokens EOT, but it at least always draws me a card. I like it, and I have 2 in the side for the matchups where it's better.
Faith's Shield has been surprisingly relevant - protect Myth Realized or make it unblockable (or both if the try to remove it pre-blocks), protect Lili, or your land from Boom // Bust, possibly get an extra turn - all sorts of fun stuff. However, it does kind of sit in your hand for a while against more durdly decks (reactive v. Poractive and all that).
Tombstalker has been working well for me as a singleton. I can usually cast him by T3 or 4 without too much trouble (this deck sends a good bit of stuff to the yard). He's fat (survives Anger of the Gods), he flies, he's cheap - not much else to really say about him. I'd say try him out in a few practice matches and see how you like him. I have a good bit of (H/L)and disruption protecting him, but yes - he does die to removal
Young Pyromancer is "kind of good enough" - though I'm having the same problem with it that 8rack had with Liliana's Caress/Waste Not - should I delay my disruption for value? Generally, no, I don't do that. It feels a little "win-more" to be able to get away with something like that, and I noticed games that were in my favor being lost due to being slow. 1R might not seem like a lot, but we need 1RB or 1RR plus an instant/sorcery in hand to really make use of it (all to get a 1/1 - I feel like Ravenous Rats or Rotting Rats would get me similar (though much worse late game/against faster decks) value for fewer cards and mana spent), which means delays. The slot might be better filled with non-creature threats, or maybe something like Sin Collector, thought I'm really looking for an actual threat to put in those slots, and I don't want to add a ton more delve cards. Bloodghast just doesn't feel big enough in modern, but maybe I need to give it another shot, or maybe I'm still just shell shocked over the efficiency of Abzan/Jund's creatures.
Anyway, would love to hear your guys' thoughts regarding the pox/LD archetype - I'm sticking with Mardu colors for now since they've worked out, and that was the thread's original post, but the potential of Life from the Loam seems good, I don't know how I'd handle losing the red cards, or even going 4C (bleh).
Do you think the deck should lean more aggressively? Is Bloodghast good enough, assuming everything DOESN'T go according to plan and their board isn't empty? Are there better, cheap fatties than Tombstalker? Is something like Bitterblossom worth considering in place of Young Pyromancer? I mean, you get a token every turn for 0 additional effort, Bitterblossom itself procs Myth Realized, and you could always sac it to Crack the Earth if the life loss gets out of hand. On the jankier side of the tracks Curse of the Pierced Heart is a card - it's slow, but cheap ($$ and mana-wise), and requires no mana investment, and the damge can't be electrolyze'd or blocked.
Certainly not as aggressive as the Mardu version, but a really cool take on the deck. I will probably stick to the Mardu builds, but this one has been wild.
I feel like maybe 22 lands could be the magic number. I want to try Lavaclaw Reaches here too; its a threat that we can pump later and can dodge lots of our effects. Could be worth it.
P.S. I don't know why people want Thoughtseize over Inquisition of Kozilek? You want to take their cheap cards and leave stuff stranded in their hand with the mana denial... The life loss can be relevant too, especially in matchups like burn.
Myth Realized can be a bit of a mana choke, and YP/MM are pretty good at closing out games, so I've put it in the side for control matchups.
I would like to try to find room to fit Gurmag Angler back in- that guy was a beast, but right now the deck is doing pretty well as is.
Note: For those running Young Pyromancer, I think Kolaghan's Command is a must. The ability to recur him is essential, since as others have pointed out, if you are waiting to jam him or holding back your disruption, it hurts your gameplan.
Cocaktrice Game Room Quotes
[14:58]  Paramount_Elite: Anyways don't confuse Casual EDH with EDH or the highly compettive format called French Duel Commander.
I am in the process of building it.
I like this list a lot but going to add some sign in bloods and 3 walkers in the form of Elspeth Knight, Sorin Lord of Inst and Ajani Veng.
Creatures (4)
4 Fulminator Mage
History
Mardu Myth comes from Kanaoka Yoshihiko, whose various takes on the Pox deck tore up the HappyMTG.com Modern circuit for the better part of the year. His first decks were also just as nutty. His first decks used Waste Not, a card poised to bring back Pox into Modern, as well as some spice and odd choices.
2 Fulminator Mage
3 Gurmag Angler
Instants [4]
4 Funeral Charm
Sorceries [20]
4 Blackmail
4 Crack the Earth
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
4 Smallpox
4 Waste Not
Planeswalkers [2]
2 Liliana of the Veil
Artifacts [5]
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
4 Chromatic Star
Lands [20]
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Blood Crypt
2 Sacred Foundry
3 Godless Shrine
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Swamp
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Curse of Death's Hold
2 Zealous Persecution
2 Wear // Tear
Here, the white splash was solely used for Lingering Souls and various sideboard utility. This was his first reported deck list, placing 2nd.
His next take, more innovation.
4 Lightning Bolt
Sorceries [22]
2 Boom // Bust
4 Crack the Earth
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
4 Rain of Tears
4 Smallpox
Enchantments [4]
4 Myth Realized
Planeswalkers [3]
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Nihil Spellbomb
4 Chromatic Star
Lands [21]
1 Mountain
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Blood Crypt
2 Sacred Foundry
3 Swamp
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Godless Shrine
2 Kor Firewalker
1 Leyline of the Void
1 Curse of Death's Hold
3 Wear // Tear
2 Guttural Response
1 Damnation
3 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wrath of God
Here we being to see the use of Myth Realized, a card that was pegged into being a win-condition for grindy decks like Pox, and possibly even Standstill Legacy decks. Here, Myth Realized is a way to actually win once all of the Pox effects take hold.
1 Extirpate
4 Lightning Bolt
Sorceries [20]
4 Crack the Earth
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
4 Rain of Tears
4 Smallpox
Enchantments [4]
4 Myth Realized
Planeswalkers [4]
1 Ajani Vengeant
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Nihil Spellbomb
4 Chromatic Star
Lands [21]
1 Mountain
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Blood Crypt
2 Sacred Foundry
3 Swamp
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Godless Shrine
2 Kor Firewalker
1 Leyline of the Void
3 Wear // Tear
1 Guttural Response
2 Zealous Persecution
3 Timely Reinforcements
1 Damnation
1 Wrath of God
Nothing too new here.
Finally, after a few different weeks, a first place finish, and the subject of the primer and discussion.
4 Lightning Bolt
Sorceries [21]
1 Molten Rain
4 Crack the Earth
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
4 Smallpox
4 Stone Rain
Enchantments [3]
3 Myth Realized
Planeswalkers [5]
1 Ajani Vengeant
1 Chandra, the Firebrand
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Nihil Spellbomb
4 Chromatic Star
Lands [21]
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Blood Crypt
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
3 Godless Shrine
3 Sacred Foundry
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Kor Firewalker
1 Leyline of the Void
1 Boil
2 Zealous Persecution
3 Wear // Tear
1 Damnation
1 Wrath of God
3 Timely Reinforcements
Breakdown
Spells
4 Smallpox-The engine of the deck. Smallpox causes the game to start grinding down, and symmetrically attack both player's resources and life. The key to a good Pox deck is to abuse the symmetry of the card by making sure you gain advantage from it, or that your loses are not as great as your opponents. The deck has lands, cards, cheap token creatures that all are abusive with Smallpox--Lingering Souls, Flagstones, etc.
4 Stone Rain-Legacy Pox decks tend to play Sinkhole, and Stone Rain fills that niche quite nicely. More or less a one-for-one trade off for land and card, Stone Rain can easily attack mana and deny lands for opponents trying to escape and recover after great losses of resources.
4 Lingering Souls-Token maker, Liliana and Smallpox fodder. The tokens are great sac targets for Smallpox and Crack the Earth, with them chump blocking and evading when necessary. A staple in Pox decks for Modern.
4 Inquisition of Kozilek- While I have my doubts that this card should probably be Thoughtseize, Inquisition has proven it's worth nicely. Able to stop early turns and deal with most of the formats major spells, it's one of the best turn 1 plays this deck has.
4 Lightning Bolt-Burn and removal.
4 Crack the Earth-So this card...A symmetrical effect that can be abused greatly. Once we start getting our opponent down to a 1-2 lands, it's another Stone Rain effect. We can sac our Flagstones to negate its effect and fix mana, sac Chromatic Star and Spellbomb to draw cards, sac our tokens only to get them back...a very nice find and certainly a staple.
The Pay off
3 Myth Realized-The deck's namesake and win condition. It just so happens that all of the spells trigger it, and all of them happen to be cheap. We can get this thing to a nice size quickly, and is a nice way to wrap the game up once we have locked out opponent out of resources and cards. Plus, once they start passing the turn back and start the "draw-go" phase of the game, we can charge it up manually.
Walkers
2 Liliana of the Veil-Ms. Vess's most played form, an easily inclusion in this deck. Discards, deals with big threats...
Other walkers-Sorin, Ajani, and Chandra all have their major roles here, and playing them as one ofs makes some sense. Chandra's big pay off is that she can Fork spells. Getting more tokens with Souls, Smallpoxing twice, Double Stone Rain, Double bolt--all seem appealing. Ajani can Armageddon them, and Sorin's ultimate and token fodder play nicely. I feel like maybe Sorin should be Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, but Solemn Visitor has been sweet.
Artifacts
Mostly fodder for Crack the Earth, each of them can draw a card EVEN IF their abilities have not been activated. Nihil Spellbomb can randomly hose Gifts Ungiven and Dredge decks.
Lands
Most of the lands make sense here. Urborg lets Smallpox and Liliana be castable and Flagstones, combined with Smallpox and Crack the Earth, gets us lands to fix mana and negate their effects.
Research has shown that turn 1 Urborg, discard spell-turn 2 Flagstones, Smallpox is the grossest thing you can do in Modern.
I'm looking forward to the discussion about this exciting deck. Cheers.
"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job'." -Terrance Fletcher, Whiplash (2014)
EDIT: The landbase is incredibly soft to blood moon as well. I also feel as though the lack of Pyroclasm / Anger of the Gods is a mistake.
This combines my love of Smallpox with my desire to play Myth Realized as a win con somewhere. I had tried it in a RW land death deck but this is straight better than that. Nice work.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Since Kanaoka went with Stone Rain instead of Rain of Tears, I turned my 4 Rain of Tears into a 2 RoT/1 Stone Rain/1 Fulminator Mage split, especially since I got frustrated with how often I couldn't cast Rain of Tears. After playtesting, I'll keep the split--I've been colour-screwed out of casting both RoT in some games AND Stone Rain in other games in testing, and while Fulminator Mage is the easiest to cast of the 3 and can actually crucially block and swing, not being able to hit basics with it is a significant downside in this deck. (I hit basics with my spot LD spells about half the time, I think.)
My flex spots (I run 4 Myth Realized--it's one of the best win cons this deck can have, as I have severe trouble hitting 4 mana by Turn 8 with this deck) are 1 Boom // Bust (Kanaoka liked this) and 1 Murderous Cut (the best spot removal spell for this deck, IMO--Dismember costs 4 life too often, stuff like Go for the Throat and Slaughter Pact can't hit everything, Path to Exile is an obvious nonbo with this deck's LD modus operandi, and Terminate, despite being the second best option, can be hard to cast--Murderous Cut kills things for 1 mana and no life and can even be cast on Turn 2 for 1 mana). Cut has been so good to me that I'm seriously considering a 3 Bolt-2 Cut split, although I actually have burned out opponents with Bolt before.
The deck is surprisingly able to mana-screw aggro decks--if they keep a 1-land hand, they're often dead and gone. It's surprisingly good against Affinity because of its sheer LD speed and high enough removal density, although eliminating Darksteel Citadel is pretty hard.
IMO, this is the best LD deck in Modern. As I've mentioned above, it's actually able to mana-screw aggro decks fast enough to matter, and aggro decks are typically huge Achilles's heels for LD decks.
Something key to remember against Twin--you can tap out for LD as long as they have 3 or fewer lands (or have no red mana) and no "Exarch"s. They either counter your LD or play an "Exarch" in response, and no matter which option they pick, they can't cast Splinter Twin next turn.
This deck has a hard enough time keeping control of the game that I don't think I can find room for Bloodghast in this deck. I probably have 1 flex slot left and that's 1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor, who's been underperforming for me but at least he sort of does his job. This feels more like a control deck than a tempo or even midrange deck, so Bloodghast being pretty all-in on aggro worries me.
Yeah, I do not get why Kanaoka does not play Marsh Flats. 1 fetchable basic Plains looks vital for this deck against aggressive decks and Moon. I'd replace at least 3 Bloodstained Mires with Marsh Flats, then cram that basic Plains in somewhere.
I also think that no 'Clasm/Firespout in the board is a mistake, as fast aggro can be a pain if it keeps a 2+-land hand. I don't think this deck can support RR (especially 1RR on only 3 lands), though.
I think Kanaoka is a bigger fan of planeswalkers than I am, which is why s/he's dropped to 3 Myth Realizeds while I've kept all 4. I guess s/he has an easier time getting to 4 lands than I do.
I'm not sure what the best match-ups are (although UR Twin is actually likely in BWR Myth Pox's favour as long as Twin is afraid of instant-speed spot removal), but Elves is pretty abysmal for BWR Myth Pox, so is Junk Midrange (dang Goyf/Ooze/Tasigur, their discarded Souls...), Scapeshift is surprisingly horrid, Ad Nauseam is pretty good at ignoring this deck's LD, and RG Tron probably has the match-up edge over BWR Myth Pox. Melira Collected Company has a rather even match-up against BWR Myth Pox, though, and I think BWR Myth Pox has the edge over UWR and Infect. I think I need to test against Grixis Delver more (it might have been inconclusive last time--rip out their counterspells), and I definitely need to test against Abzan Liege (it sounds good for BWR because of its high curve, but it also sounds bad because of Souls/Voice/Smiter/Liege).
Lectrys--do you mind sharing list for the OP?
Some thoughts of my own after playing Kanaoka's first place build for a week or so
-I too am really sick of Solemn Sorin being fairly crappy. I may replace with another walker or the 4th Myth Realized. Chandra has been fine, Ajani has been fine.
-Kinda really wanna play a sweeper or some sort. He plays Damnation and Wrath post board, as well as earlier builds playing the criminally underrated Curse of Death's Hold. Infest comes to mind, as well as Pyroclasm and other red sweepers.
-Boom//Bust seems great and is awesome and we can abuse it further by blowing Flagstones as well. Certainly worth the inclusion.
With that in mind, and Lectry's developments as well--My list
4 Crack the Earth
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
4 Smallpox
2 Rain of Tears
2 Stone Rain
2 Firespout
1 Boom // Bust
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Chandra, the Firebrand
1 Ajani Vengeant
2 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Chromatic Star
3 Flagstones of Trokair
3 Sacred Foundry
3 Godless Shrine
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Marsh Flats
2 Blood Crypt
2 Swamp
2 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job'." -Terrance Fletcher, Whiplash (2014)
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Sure, I don't mind:
4 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Fetid Heath
3 Marsh Flats
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Blood Crypt
2 Sacred Foundry
3 Godless Shrine
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Plains
Creatures
1 Fulminator Mage
Spells
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Smallpox
4 Crack the Earth
2 Rain of Tears
1 Stone Rain
1 Boom // Bust
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Murderous Cut
4 Myth Realized
4 Lingering Souls
4 Chromatic Star
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Ajani Vengeant
1 Kolaghan's Command
3 Timely Reinforcements
2 Wear // Tear
1 Hide // Seek
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Kor Firewalker
1 Wrath of God
1 Pyroclasm
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Stony Silence
1 Slaughter Games
The first version of this was heavily based on the second list in the OP, except with -1 Boom // Bust, +1 Murderous Cut. Murderous Cut fixes that Goyf problem so well whenever it shows up that I'm on the fence about going -1 Bolt, +1 Cut.
Ajani Vengeant is the newest addition. He doesn't show up that often, but since I lose to Goyf-sized creatures and often other aggro beats, I look forward to the life buffer he should reliably provide. Icing lands is dandy, too, and since I've actually cast the Bust side of Boom // Bust twice so far, Ajani V's got to ult sometime for me. Ajani V's replacing Sorin, Solemn Visitor, and as busted as Sorin SV was with Myth Realized, he makes a 2/2 Vampire and flops too often for me.
The sideboard is untested, although the Burn match-up is dicey as long as they keep a 2+-land hand (so I know I need the life gain), BGx Midrange definitely sucks to face (thus, at least one Wrath is needed in the board), and artifacts and enchantments can be very annoying to face (so all the Disenchants are keepers). This deck's RG Tron and Ad Nauseam match-ups are bad enough (and it can still lose to Affinity) that I'm trying 1 Stony Silence despite all the nonbos it makes with the maindeck. Combo is shaky enough that 1 Slaughter Games stays.
Another creature I was curious about testing was Young Pyromancer, as casting crack the earth will net you a token, which you can sac for a mostly one-sided effect. Same goes for smallpox. Monastery Mentor has a similar but better effect for an increased mana cost.
Just a thought. I'm loving Myth Realized as I don't have to worry about playing around my own smallpox, but when I play it feels a little threat-light. I don't like the idea of letting the opponent stabilize while I want for a win condition. Does anyone else have this problem? Is card draw a better choice than increased threat density? We're in B after all.
EDIT: A Misspelling was preventing proper card tagging
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Young Pyromancer might not be a bad idea--it resists every single Crack the Earth and Smallpox we play, it makes stuff that blocks Goyfs, and it costs a cheap 2 mana. I do need to cast it with an instant up or with a sorcery right after I resolve it, though, or Pyro is his typical Bolt magnet self.
Mono-body fatties like Gurmag Angler and Tasigur are significantly worse. I'm sometimes afraid to cast Smallpox whenever I discarded my only Lingering Souls to a previous Smallpox, then flashed it back (so resolving another Smallpox would leave me with only one sorry Spirit token instead of two). I wouldn't be able to stand casting Smallpox whenever I have only Angler/Tasigur/animated Myth Realized out.
I normally find that my opponents "stabilize" by playing stuff before the LD train comes or by finding enough lands to get back on curve. I find that the former happens more often than the latter for me. I flood out pretty nastily with this deck, but 21 lands is already a pretty low number. I've normally found that stabilizing in the first place is the bigger problem.
Random Though: Had an idea about Junk Myth, GWB using Life From the Loam and Raven's Crime and a Smallpox package as a way to power Myth Realized. This seems rather interesting....
EDIT-A quick sketch
1 Vengeful Pharaoh
1 Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
1 Tasigur, The Golden Fang
4 Smallpox
4 Life from the Loam
4 Faithless Looting
4 Lingering Souls
1 Raven's Crime
1 Flame Jab
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Darkblast
1 Murderous Cut
4 Myth realized
1 Zombie Infestation
1 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
1 Stomping Ground
1 Swamp
2 Blood Crypt
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Marsh Flats
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Polluted Delta
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Wooded Foothills
"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job'." -Terrance Fletcher, Whiplash (2014)
That looks like you're going more in the direction of loam pox (link is to a mtgsalvation thread about it). If you're running G + urborg, tomb of yawgmoth in a LD deck Spreading Algae could be a thing. Also, I always suggest at least 1 of each basic land per color you're running - losing to blood moon isn't nearly as fun as winning with it
After playing around a bit with the deck, I noticed that Myth Realized is fairly excellent (as I've stated before), but gets chump blocked all day every day by swarm-style decks. Pyroclasm, Anger of the Gods, Volcanic Fallout, or any sweeper works really well with him (as he dodges it), but I've bee toying around with the idea of Funeral Charm. Killing x/1's can be good, making a player discard a drawn land before their first main would be magical christmas, and giving Myth Realized swampwalk with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth could be game-winning. Again, this is assuming it's relevant/not just a worse Raven's Crime. Also could be used as a bad shock for that extra 1-2 damage on an unblocked swing. Just a thought.
Shadow of Doubt. I know, this card wants to be good, it really does, and it might not be the best thing since sliced bread, but I think it could find it's way into the 75. Worst case scenario: instant card draw. No harder to cast than Smallpox. What we generally hope for: "kills" a fetch (for added hilarity - fetch in response to their fetch, then cast). Randomly have better game against Scapeshift, Amulet of Vigor, Gifts Ungiven, Tron, anything reliant on searching their library, really. Also especially mean against any deck in 3 or more colors (they tend to run more fetches, I find).
I've struggled against abzan/jund if I don't mana screw them or disrupt them enough right away. Against seemingly "mono removal/goodstuff" decks, Faith's Shield seems attractive. "Counters" Abrupt Decay, prevents planeswalkers from taking attack damage of the chosen color, or redirected damage of the chosen color (should you target the walker with faith's shield, I believe you need to cast it before the opponent chooses whether to redirect or not, so you'd probably tank the damage, but hey, planeswalker's still around). You could even give the land you control targeted with Boom // Bust pro red to prevent it getting destroyed. All for W - what a steal! Again, magical christmas scenarios, it could also possibly be useless. Reactive, not proactive. Perhaps an extra turn with fateful hour online. Oh, also can't be spellskite'd as a plus, but can't be used to randomly mess with splinter twin either, which is a minus. Probably not maindeckable, but maybe sideboardable, depending on expected meta.
Things I hate seeing when I play this deck: Æther Vial, Control Decks, never-ending removal/maelstrom pulse/"goodstuff" decks. I dislike mulliganing, but I usually want to see at least either a turn 1 disruption card or turn 2 pox effect. What about you guys, what to you need/want at minimum to keep a starting hand?
EDIT: Æther Vial, I accidentally a leter
"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job'." -Terrance Fletcher, Whiplash (2014)
Here's my (very) rough decklist
2x Liliana of the Veil
Creature (5)
1x Tombstalker
4x Young Pyromancer
Enchantment (4)
4x Myth Realized
Instant (8)
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Murderous Cut
1x Shadow of Doubt
Sorcery (20)
3x Boom // Bust
4x Crack the Earth
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Lingering Souls
4x Smallpox
1x Stone Rain
3x Thoughtseize
1x Raven's Crime
3x Blood Crypt
4x Bloodstained Mire
4x Flagstones of Trokair
2x Godless Shrine
1x Marsh Flats
1x Mountain
1x Plains
2x Sacred Foundry
2x Swamp
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3x Wear // Tear
1x Faith's Shield
2x Shadow of Doubt
2x Terminate
3x Anger of the Gods
4x Leyline of Sanctity
EDIT: Oops, forgot to include my thoughts/explanations
Shadow of Doubt I feel is probably the weakest card in the 75. When it's relevant it's amazing, sometimes it surprise pumps Myth Realized, or makes elemental tokens EOT, but it at least always draws me a card. I like it, and I have 2 in the side for the matchups where it's better.
Faith's Shield has been surprisingly relevant - protect Myth Realized or make it unblockable (or both if the try to remove it pre-blocks), protect Lili, or your land from Boom // Bust, possibly get an extra turn - all sorts of fun stuff. However, it does kind of sit in your hand for a while against more durdly decks (reactive v. Poractive and all that).
Tombstalker has been working well for me as a singleton. I can usually cast him by T3 or 4 without too much trouble (this deck sends a good bit of stuff to the yard). He's fat (survives Anger of the Gods), he flies, he's cheap - not much else to really say about him. I'd say try him out in a few practice matches and see how you like him. I have a good bit of (H/L)and disruption protecting him, but yes - he does die to removal
Young Pyromancer is "kind of good enough" - though I'm having the same problem with it that 8rack had with Liliana's Caress/Waste Not - should I delay my disruption for value? Generally, no, I don't do that. It feels a little "win-more" to be able to get away with something like that, and I noticed games that were in my favor being lost due to being slow. 1R might not seem like a lot, but we need 1RB or 1RR plus an instant/sorcery in hand to really make use of it (all to get a 1/1 - I feel like Ravenous Rats or Rotting Rats would get me similar (though much worse late game/against faster decks) value for fewer cards and mana spent), which means delays. The slot might be better filled with non-creature threats, or maybe something like Sin Collector, thought I'm really looking for an actual threat to put in those slots, and I don't want to add a ton more delve cards. Bloodghast just doesn't feel big enough in modern, but maybe I need to give it another shot, or maybe I'm still just shell shocked over the efficiency of Abzan/Jund's creatures.
Anyway, would love to hear your guys' thoughts regarding the pox/LD archetype - I'm sticking with Mardu colors for now since they've worked out, and that was the thread's original post, but the potential of Life from the Loam seems good, I don't know how I'd handle losing the red cards, or even going 4C (bleh).
Do you think the deck should lean more aggressively? Is Bloodghast good enough, assuming everything DOESN'T go according to plan and their board isn't empty? Are there better, cheap fatties than Tombstalker? Is something like Bitterblossom worth considering in place of Young Pyromancer? I mean, you get a token every turn for 0 additional effort, Bitterblossom itself procs Myth Realized, and you could always sac it to Crack the Earth if the life loss gets out of hand. On the jankier side of the tracks Curse of the Pierced Heart is a card - it's slow, but cheap ($$ and mana-wise), and requires no mana investment, and the damge can't be electrolyze'd or blocked.
Bonus: Loam Myth
1x Forest
2x Ghost Quarter
1x Godless Shrine
3x Marsh Flats
1x Mountain
1x Murmuring Bosk
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Plains
1x Swamp
2x Tectonic Edge
3x Verdant Catacombs
1x Flame Jab
4x Life from the Loam
4x Lingering Souls
1x Raven's Crime
4x Smallpox
4x Myth Realized
3x Zombie Infestation
1x Murderous Cut
3x Nameless Inversion
4x Bloodghast
1x Golgari Brownscale
2x Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
Certainly not as aggressive as the Mardu version, but a really cool take on the deck. I will probably stick to the Mardu builds, but this one has been wild.
"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job'." -Terrance Fletcher, Whiplash (2014)
4 Crack the Earth
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Smallpox
4 Lingering Souls
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Murderous Cut
2 Drown in Sorrow
1 Stone Rain
1 Rain of Tears
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Chromatic Star
4 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Fetid Heath
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
3 Marsh Flats
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Blood Crypt
2 Sacred Foundry
3 Godless Shrine
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Plains
I feel like maybe 22 lands could be the magic number. I want to try Lavaclaw Reaches here too; its a threat that we can pump later and can dodge lots of our effects. Could be worth it.
"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job'." -Terrance Fletcher, Whiplash (2014)
3 Marsh Flats
3 Godless Shrine
3 Sacred Foundry
2 Blood Crypt
2 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Flagstones of Trokair
22 land
1 Tymaret, the Murder King
2 Fulminator Mage
3 Gurmag Angler
10 creature
1 Raven's Crime
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Crack the Earth
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Smallpox
4 Lingering Souls
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Kolaghan’s Command
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Ajani Vengeant
29 spell
It leans heavily on the nasty trio of Bloodghast, Lingering Souls, and Tymaret, the Murder King to close out the game- their inevitability is for real and they do a great job of pressuring PWs. Fulminator Mage is the best targeted LD out there, especially alongside Kolaghan's Command. Gurmag Angler is just good beefcake beater. Thank Wizards this is a common. I can't help but feel it wants some Cabal Therapy though :/
P.S. I don't know why people want Thoughtseize over Inquisition of Kozilek? You want to take their cheap cards and leave stuff stranded in their hand with the mana denial... The life loss can be relevant too, especially in matchups like burn.
2 Marsh Flats
1 Arid Mesa
3 Blood Crypt
3 Godless Shrine
2 Sacred Foundry
2 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Monastery Mentor
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Faithless Looting
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Crack the Earth
4 Smallpox
4 Lingering Souls
3 Kolaghan's Command
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Murderous Cut
2 Rending Volley
2 Myth Realized
2 Pyroclasm
2 Stony Silence
3 Fulminator Mage
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Ajani Vengeant
First of all, Young Pyromancer is insane in this deck - he turns Crack the Earth into a broken card, and protects itself from Smallpox. Monastery Mentor is obviously a super-powered version that serves nicely as copies 5-7. Raven's Crime is a nice engine with these.
Faithless Looting does a good job of keeping this deck consistent and is a nice pitch to Smallpox or Liliana of the Veil. It really helps you hit the right combination of cards, and keeps parity by pitching other copies of itself, Lingering Souls, or Raven's Crime.
Crack the Earth and Smallpox do a decent enough job of keeping the opponent off their mana in most matchups, so I've relegated Fulminator Mage to the sideboard for more land-relevant matchups. The maindeck is now more focused on hand lockout with Raven's Crime, Liliana of the Veil, and Kolaghan's Command.
Myth Realized can be a bit of a mana choke, and YP/MM are pretty good at closing out games, so I've put it in the side for control matchups.
I would like to try to find room to fit Gurmag Angler back in- that guy was a beast, but right now the deck is doing pretty well as is.
Note: For those running Young Pyromancer, I think Kolaghan's Command is a must. The ability to recur him is essential, since as others have pointed out, if you are waiting to jam him or holding back your disruption, it hurts your gameplan.
Cockatrice username- Chrismp19.
Formats played: Modern
Avatar and Sig created by http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=182339
Cocaktrice Game Room Quotes
[14:58]  Paramount_Elite: Anyways don't confuse Casual EDH with EDH or the highly compettive format called French Duel Commander.
I like this list a lot but going to add some sign in bloods and 3 walkers in the form of Elspeth Knight, Sorin Lord of Inst and Ajani Veng.
Creatures (4)
4 Fulminator Mage
Sorceries (12)
4 Smallpox
2 Boom
4 Lingering Souls
1 Damnation
1 Haunting Echoes
Instants (9)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
1 Kolaghan’s Command
Other (8)
3 Bitterblossom
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Lands (27)
1 Plains
2 Swamp
3 Arid Mesa
2 Blood Crypt
1 Bloodstained Mire
3 Godless Shrine
3 Lavaclaw Reaches
4 Marsh Flats
2 Sacred Foundry
4 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Sideboard (15)
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Stony Silence
2 Rakdos Charm
1 Wear
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Shatterstorm
1 Slaughter Games
2 Thoughtseize
1 Wrath of God
What do you guys think? I see a lot of people playing Cracked earth which i see why it would be good but kind of random.
Thank you DNC for the Sig
3 Fulminator Mage
Sorceries (12)
4 Smallpox
2 Boom
4 Lingering Souls
1 Damnation
4 Sign in Blood
2 Inquisition of Koz
2 Thoupghtseize
Instants (9)
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
1 Kolaghan’s Command
Other (8)
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Ajani Veng
1 Sorin Lord of Inst
Lands (26)
1 Plains
1 Swamp
3 Arid Mesa
2 Blood Crypt
1 Bloodstained Mire
3 Godless Shrine
3 Lavaclaw Reaches
4 Marsh Flats
2 Sacred Foundry
4 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Thank you DNC for the Sig