Haven't played it extensively enough to give a good answer, but it has done relatively well so far.
Glad to hear it's been working good so far. I definitely suggest to keep testing it and start studying how it plays out in depth. Are you playing this in tournaments or just casually? If you are looking to use this competitively then I think a sideboard will really help smooth out the deck.
"Is there something you don't like that's causing you to seek changes?"
Yes. I usually play sign in blood - like you suggested - after I have run out of the "aggro" cards, and most of the times it leaves me with the feeling that while getting a single card advantage, I missed a round of throwing more things on the table. It gives the opponent a breather that I would not like to give to him/her.
Early game hymn to tourach already slows things down for me, yet it is almost everytime worth it, as it can severly cripple the opponent. In away I see that sign in blood and hymn to tourach have a lot of in common, both leaving me with a single card advantage for 2 mana, and are likely to cost me a round in terms of casting other things in that round. And yet there is meaninful difference, as the first limits the opponent's options (in the early game, ideally) and second increases mine (in the "later" game).
You are correct in comparing Sign in Blood and Hymn. They are both sources of card advantage and your assessment on their differences is very accurate. If you are playing Sign in Blood to gain more fuel then I don't see a problem (in theory). Theoretically if you play it on turns 4 and up you should have enough mana to drop at least one creature that you drew into. The problems then would be a) not drawing a creature or b) not having enough mana.
If a) is the problem then you might want to drop a few spells to add in more creatures. I suggest either -1 Sign, -1 Hymn and -1 bonesplitter or replacing one of those with -1 Unearth depending on what you fell is more important. Then you can add +1 Carnophage, +1 Lacerator and +1 Vault Skirge.
If b) is the problem then perhaps you need to increase your land count to 18 and drop a couple of the non-creature spells to make room for the land.
I was thinking to increase land count for this reason, but playing an extra land earlier to be able to play what you draw with sign in blood (later) would mean that I actually don't get a card advantage, assuming I don't need the extra mana for anything else. (Had to play an extra land when I could have played something else (= card disadvantage, and sign in blood would just recover me from it for 2 mana and -2 life, instead of giving me real card advantage).)
Card advantage is card advantage. Just because you play a swamp early on doesn't negate the advantage granted by Sign in Blood at the time you play it. That extra land wouldn't be wasted either as it allows you to drop more creatures in a turn. I know you don't want to be flooded with land, but 2 more lands will hardly cause that and you do use Crypt Rats, so the land drops won't be wasted. I understand your logic, but I don't agree with it. Try testing it with the increased land count and if you feel it doesn't improve then you can easily change it back.
What about running with Lotus Petal? Can't really deny the speed advantage of the card in an aggro deck, I run it in my Turbo Soldiers and it allows me to close out games in just a few turns. If you don't want to increase your mana count that could be a solution.
A guy at our local tournaments runs a MBA and places top ten usually. I will have to get his deck list but he does run with four Dark Rituals, four Sign in Bloods and four Lotus Petals for sure. I know he also uses Vault Skirge and Carnophage too. I haven't actually played against the guy but he does manage to race Burn and win maybe about 80% of the time. I know he gets completely destroyed by White Weenie and Affinity though.
Just because you play a swamp early on doesn't negate the advantage granted by Sign in Blood at the time you play it.
Most of the swamps would not, but if I would play a swamp that is put into the deck to replace a non-land card (let's call it an extra land), it can. (Still assuming I have no other use for the extra mana than the sign in blood spells.) This would count for 1 out of every 9 land in the deck, if I would add 2 swamps.
So, assume I play an extra land to the table (instead of a creature). Then at some point later I play sign of blood (most likely when I am out of cards), draw a creature and some other card, and I play the creature. w/o sign of blood, I could have played w/e card I would have instead of it, suppose a creature, and I could have played a creature instead of the extra land. Now, instead of having 2 creatures, I have one or two (one is more likely). If I have no other use for the extra land than sign in blood, do I really have a card advantage here, even though I have 1 more card in my hand or in a lucky case, equal number of creatures on the table? I would say no, as I had to play otherwise useless card earlier. (There is no other real use for the 4th land (that is minimum for to play sign in blood and 2 creatures) at this point of game. Also, I could have played max 3 drop creature instead the one drop creature that evens things out.)
Of course it is not this simple, as the usefulness of the extra land is in relation to the current situation*, e.g., there can be games where I actually manage to accelerate things so that I could be in a situation where I would be one round of castings ahead, and I would benefit, assuming I would draw 2 creatures. ("First" creature would be cast later and the "second" earlier than in the situation w/o sign in blood.) Obviously, it could go other way around as well; extra land would slow things down.
* let's count the pursuit of the optimal land distribution out of the scenario for now, not to mess up how an extra land is defined in this surrounding.
What about running with Lotus Petal?
Need to think about that later today. Maybe. Have any suggestions of how to alter the deck to put the petals in?
I said I understood your logic, so I already knew all of that. You're just over-analyzing it, especially for a casual deck. You stated your problem with Sign in Blood and I gave the only solution to the problem, take it or leave it and if you leave it then obviously it wasn't that much of a problem to begin with. That's all I'll say on that subject.
As far as including Lotus Petal, that's a tough choice. Your deck is already packed with the essentials. You could lower your land count to fit in the Petals, but that's getting really risky. You also wouldn't want to drop creatures as that's counterintuitive to adding in Lotus Petals, so the logical choice is to remove some spells. Just find out what you feel deserves to be cut and throw in the Petals.
Marshmist Seems like a good creature, but I'm not sure if Aggro is the right place. It seems like you might get stuck with him in hand more often then you'll get to play him. He would fit better in the Devotion themed MBC lists. Have you tried testing it at all?
How come no one has mentioned Wretched Anurid? He seems like a great addition to the primer. Obviously he's bad against other aggro lists, but he can easily be boarded out. If you run him alaong with Vault Skirge you can negate the loss of life.
If you're people use Sangrophage or Blind Creeper, then I don't see why you wouldn't use Anurid. He'd be a good replacement for either. Blind Creeper can be taken care of easily against some decks and Sangrophage can end up doing more damage to you than Anurid. His p/t is pretty strong compared to the other 2 drops in our card pool. The only one that's really any better is Barrow Ghoul and he's really hard to keep in play. I'd say Wretched Anurid is worth testing out.
I don't think Sangrophage or Blind Creeper make the cut, honestly. The life loss is just not enough to justify a 3/3 for 2, and Blind Creeper dies so easily (even a shock will take care of him). They would need an extra point of power or toughness to be usable, I think.
In my experience, being driven by Dark Ritual means that your ratio of power-to-mana-cost has to be maximized. 2:1 is markedly better than 3:2.
That said, if you wanted to take a more midranged approach, i.e. cutting Dark Ritual, then you could start usefully looking into two-drops.
Has anybody actually tried the Marshmist Titan in this kind of deck? I never got around to it...
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Oh, you think the losers' bracket is your ally, but you merely adopted the scrub tier. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t 4-0 an FNM until I was already a man; by then, it was nothing to me but an extra pack to sell for store credit!
Do you think the Titan would fit better into a ritual-less list, like you mentioned? One where 2-drops could be included. I'm still a big fan of Wicked Akuba.
I've tested with Wicked Akuba and he's just evil. He can close the game fast for us. He loves Dark Ritual too! And if you plan on running the Titan, he really helps with Devotion.
Do you think the Titan would fit better into a ritual-less list, like you mentioned? One where 2-drops could be included. I'm still a big fan of Wicked Akuba.
I've tested with Wicked Akuba and he's just evil. He can close the game fast for us. He loves Dark Ritual too! And if you plan on running the Titan, he really helps with Devotion.
Wicked Akuba certainly has some rules text on him, and the extra damage is cheaper than Order of the Ebon Hand - but he has to actually get through, which gives me pause. I'd want to be running some kind of evasion enablers if I wanted to count on him ending the game for me.
Marshmist Titan obviously likes nonpermanent spells less, but at the same time, a ritual can sneak him out so he can start attacking. He's a solid tank against Affinity and RU, but he doesn't resist any of MBC's removal, so maybe he's not really worth the investment of mana. I'd want to test him in a ritual-heavy build and in a ritual-light build and see how he balances.
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Oh, you think the losers' bracket is your ally, but you merely adopted the scrub tier. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t 4-0 an FNM until I was already a man; by then, it was nothing to me but an extra pack to sell for store credit!
What's interesting about the Akuba is that he is a must-block creature for the opponent, which I feel is just a testament to how powerful he is. This gives makes the opponent use his removal, and let through other creatures pumped up with Sinister Strength and stuff. He's just powerful and makes the opponent have to work around him, basically.
Marshmist Titan obviously likes nonpermanent spells less, but at the same time, a ritual can sneak him out so he can start attacking. He's a solid tank against Affinity and RU, but he doesn't resist any of MBC's removal, so maybe he's not really worth the investment of mana. I'd want to test him in a ritual-heavy build and in a ritual-light build and see how he balances.
Definitely post your findings/thoughts on how the Titan works out! He's one of the cards I've been looking at since he was spoiled. I'd love for him to be a big player in decks so I'm interested to know what you find out through testing.
16 swamp
4 dark ritual
4 funeral charm
4 duress
4 hymn to tourach
4 sinkhole
4 carnophage
4 vampire lacerator
4 dauthi horror
4 dauthi slayer
4 erg raiders
4 unholy strength
Side
3 tormod's crypt
4 darkness
4 cuombajj witches
4 snuff out
It's an old style sui black because in paper i can play the old powerfull sinkhole and hymn, it's lethal against any control decks!
Fast aggro like goblins are a serious problem!
any thoughts?
I have moved away from the pauper format, if anyone wants to gain ownership of the primer and this thread, I'd be happy to give it to them, however the moderators can make that happen.
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My lame attempt at humor...
Why does everyone in Bant hate the Lord of Riots? 'Cause they're all, Rakdos-intolerant! Awwww, yeah...
This is an older Legacy Pauper deck that I'm trying to modernize. The cards I'm most willing to part with are Carnophage, Order, Funeral Charm, Snuff Out, and Unholy Strength. I'd like to keep the theme of evasive creatures, and I'd really like to try to abuse Basilica Screecher, as I imagine its ability could soak up late-game mana and provide an alternate wincon. That is, unless it's been tried and definitely doesn't work. Also considering dropping all the discard, though I like it because black doesn't deal well with resolved artifacts and enchantments.
-1 Skittering Skirge
-2 Order
+3 Vault Skirge
-4 Carnophage
+4 Vampire Lacerator
-2 Dauthi Horror
+2 Basilica Screecher
-2 Unholy Strength
-2 Funeral Charm
-1 Duress
-1 Hymn
-4 Snuff Out
+2 Predator's Gambit
+3 Victim of Night
+3 Sign in Blood
+2 Unearth
EDIT: On second thought, maybe not. Considering early-game scenarios making land drops each turn, that's first turn Denizen, second turn Akuba and third turn 1-drop with four damage via unblockable Akuba. Our existing strategies that use mana for equipment/enchantments instead do as well or better. The remaining possible benefit would be late-game effectiveness, assuming we can keep Denizen+Akuba on board and topdeck a creature/Unearth.
EDIT cont.: We could also consider how effective the pieces are by themselves. Denizen is definitely less aggressive than our other 1-drop options given that we already play evasive threats, and Akuba can be chumped by the time you have enough mana for its ability to really matter. Could use testing, but I'm not seeing it.
2) I've been thinking about adding some combat tricks, because I like combat tricks. Vampire's Bite was interesting, but requires first strike to truly be a "full combat trick" (which I define as turning a block in which my creature dies and his lives, to one where mine lives and his dies).
Disfigure allows our 2/2s to "full trick" his 3/3s which is pretty great, and can be used as removal on weenies to boot.
Mutagenic Growth also allows our 2/2s to "full trick" his 3/3s, and can be used as late-game reach for the kill. It's also especially tricky since it can be played for free. The damage must be considered when also considering cards like Sign in Blood, Snuff Out, Carnophage, Vampire Lacerator, etc. Since I play the first, third, and fourth on that list, I think I'll go with some Disfigures but may test a bit with Growth.
3) Just how useful is discard in the aggro archetype? Hymn to Tourach is powerful enough to get banned, yet the list is getting tight and I'd rather pick out specific disruption with Duress than attempt to play a control-style card advantage game. Heck, we play Dark Rit. In short, shouldn't a set of Duress take priority if space is getting limited? Black has tools to take care of creatures that (a) slip through and (b) matter.
After some play I found that I was drawing too many lands so I dropped down to 16, this may have been a mistake but time will tell.
Cards I have been testing:
Wicked Akuba - Haven't been able to make much use of him as yet. The biggest problem is getting him to connect so you can use his ability, your opponent knows this and will play to stop it from happening. Ruthless Cullblade - Tried this in favour of Guul Draz Vampire but it was definitely a downgrade. By the time you get them below 10 life the larger mana cost doesn't matter. Altar's Reap I have it in the sideboard to bring in against heavy removal so I can get value out of my creatures instead of always losing 2 life to Sign in Blood but I haven't played a game where I felt the need to bring it in yet so I can't comment on the effectiveness. Sangrophage - I have found Wretched Anurid to be a better card as you usually lose less life in the long run. I even attempted using Raving Oni-Slave but that was absolutely horrible, too often it would get removed immediately and I'd be down 3 life for no gain. Skittering Skirge - I dropped in favour of Barrow Ghoul as I found that Skirge was a dead card for me more often than not. Barrow Ghoul is still a dead card sometimes but I feel when he is playable he has a much greater effect on the board than the Skirge does.
As for the sideboard: Sylvok Lifestaff - Will definitely be finding a place soon. Dash Hopes - Is amazing and I'm almost tempted to put it in the main but I don't have anything to remove for it. Contaminated Ground - Had this for control matchups but it was pretty terrible Bojuka Bog - Always a decent sideboard card, not much to say there
Most other sideboard cards I'm not very attached to, they're just there for fillers
I've been running 18 Lands and 4 Rituals, but am also considering reducing my count. Compare to Blue Delver, which only runs 16 lands. I get that they have Brainstorm/Ponder to dig into their second, but maybe 17 is the sweet spot here. Alternately, is there a good way to soak up late-game mana?
Anyway, I've fallen in love with Sign in Blood, and have gone from 2 to 3 to 4, while reducing my curve. In turn, this means I'm casting more spells, so I'm gradually replacing Dauthi Horrors with Gurmag Anglers. I imagine I'll end up using 1-2 Anglers. Here's my current testing list:
1) I'll have to see how much damage I'm taking. If my life total can support it, I'm interested in adding Gitaxian Probe (-2 Horror, -1 Disfigure, -1 Victim) to help Gurmag and increase my chances of finding Bonesplitters. I've soured on Predator's Gambit et. al. but I might go back.
2) Could really use something to soak up late-game mana. I feel silly in later turns with 4+ lands between play and in-hand.
3) Thoughts on Gurmag Angler?
Aside: We've been talking about how to abuse Wicked Akuba. A deck with 4 Akuba, 4 Hand of Silumgar, and 2-3 Viridian Longbow in a slightly slower, more control-oriented aggro shell could work well. The main problem is the Longbow's rather high equip cost of 3.
You and I are running similar lists as far as the number of each slot, so I thought I would go over the differences.
I don't like the angler in this deck because, while it is big, it is a late game card and lends itself to highly inconsistent numbers. I prefer the legion because I get it every time, I can run four, and it combos with equipment. I had the same issue with the marshmist titan, which is basically a creature orientated version of the angler.
I like hymn to tourach over sign in blood for card advantage. I would much prefer gaining card advantage by stripping the opponent's hand than in incrementally filling my own, because ruining their hand also acts as protection for my creatures and equipments.
Snuff out is free, and I would suggest looking into at least 2 as they add a lot of acceleration to our kill. Especially when compared to disfigure, which is cheap but only hits a fraction of the board.
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Pauper: UB Wight Phantasm RB Burn UR Faerie Rites of Initiation
Legacy: R Burn CG-Post
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Glad to hear it's been working good so far. I definitely suggest to keep testing it and start studying how it plays out in depth. Are you playing this in tournaments or just casually? If you are looking to use this competitively then I think a sideboard will really help smooth out the deck.
You are correct in comparing Sign in Blood and Hymn. They are both sources of card advantage and your assessment on their differences is very accurate. If you are playing Sign in Blood to gain more fuel then I don't see a problem (in theory). Theoretically if you play it on turns 4 and up you should have enough mana to drop at least one creature that you drew into. The problems then would be a) not drawing a creature or b) not having enough mana.
If a) is the problem then you might want to drop a few spells to add in more creatures. I suggest either -1 Sign, -1 Hymn and -1 bonesplitter or replacing one of those with -1 Unearth depending on what you fell is more important. Then you can add +1 Carnophage, +1 Lacerator and +1 Vault Skirge.
If b) is the problem then perhaps you need to increase your land count to 18 and drop a couple of the non-creature spells to make room for the land.
Card advantage is card advantage. Just because you play a swamp early on doesn't negate the advantage granted by Sign in Blood at the time you play it. That extra land wouldn't be wasted either as it allows you to drop more creatures in a turn. I know you don't want to be flooded with land, but 2 more lands will hardly cause that and you do use Crypt Rats, so the land drops won't be wasted. I understand your logic, but I don't agree with it. Try testing it with the increased land count and if you feel it doesn't improve then you can easily change it back.
A guy at our local tournaments runs a MBA and places top ten usually. I will have to get his deck list but he does run with four Dark Rituals, four Sign in Bloods and four Lotus Petals for sure. I know he also uses Vault Skirge and Carnophage too. I haven't actually played against the guy but he does manage to race Burn and win maybe about 80% of the time. I know he gets completely destroyed by White Weenie and Affinity though.
W White Weenie
I said I understood your logic, so I already knew all of that. You're just over-analyzing it, especially for a casual deck. You stated your problem with Sign in Blood and I gave the only solution to the problem, take it or leave it and if you leave it then obviously it wasn't that much of a problem to begin with. That's all I'll say on that subject.
As far as including Lotus Petal, that's a tough choice. Your deck is already packed with the essentials. You could lower your land count to fit in the Petals, but that's getting really risky. You also wouldn't want to drop creatures as that's counterintuitive to adding in Lotus Petals, so the logical choice is to remove some spells. Just find out what you feel deserves to be cut and throw in the Petals.
Also, with the transfer to the new site, a few things seem to have changed in your primer, notably the phyrexian symbols are now text.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
UB Wight Phantasm
RB Burn
UR Faerie Rites of Initiation
Legacy:
R Burn
CG-Post
How come no one has mentioned Wretched Anurid? He seems like a great addition to the primer. Obviously he's bad against other aggro lists, but he can easily be boarded out. If you run him alaong with Vault Skirge you can negate the loss of life.
Is his p/t meaningful enough as a 2-drop to want to include him? He has no special abilities or anything else to go on, so it's really about the body.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
That said, if you wanted to take a more midranged approach, i.e. cutting Dark Ritual, then you could start usefully looking into two-drops.
Has anybody actually tried the Marshmist Titan in this kind of deck? I never got around to it...
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Wicked Akuba certainly has some rules text on him, and the extra damage is cheaper than Order of the Ebon Hand - but he has to actually get through, which gives me pause. I'd want to be running some kind of evasion enablers if I wanted to count on him ending the game for me.
Marshmist Titan obviously likes nonpermanent spells less, but at the same time, a ritual can sneak him out so he can start attacking. He's a solid tank against Affinity and RU, but he doesn't resist any of MBC's removal, so maybe he's not really worth the investment of mana. I'd want to test him in a ritual-heavy build and in a ritual-light build and see how he balances.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Definitely post your findings/thoughts on how the Titan works out! He's one of the cards I've been looking at since he was spoiled. I'd love for him to be a big player in decks so I'm interested to know what you find out through testing.
Fixed to provide links.
4 dark ritual
4 funeral charm
4 duress
4 hymn to tourach
4 sinkhole
4 carnophage
4 vampore lacerator
4 dauthi horror
4 dauthi slayer
4 erg raiders
4 unholy strength
4 darkness
4 cuombajj witches
4 snuff out
W White Weenie
My lame attempt at humor...
Why does everyone in Bant hate the Lord of Riots? 'Cause they're all, Rakdos-intolerant! Awwww, yeah...
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Carnophage
4 Bonesplitter
4 Snuff Out
4 Dark Ritual
4 Porcelain Legionnaire
4 Predator's Gambit
4 Dauthi Slayer
4 Hymn to Tourach
20 Swamp
UB Wight Phantasm
RB Burn
UR Faerie Rites of Initiation
Legacy:
R Burn
CG-Post
4 Carnophage
4 Skittering Skirge
4 Dauthi Horror
4 Dauthi Slayer
2 Order of the Ebon Hand
// Pump
4 Bonesplitter
2 Unholy Strength
// Disruption
4 Duress
2 Funeral Charm
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Snuff Out
4 Dark Ritual
// Considerations
1 Basilica Screecher
1 Disfigure
1 Fledgling Djinn
1 Predator's Gambit
1 Foul Imp
1 Hand of Silumgar
1 Read the Bones
1 Sign in Blood
1 Unearth
1 Vampire Lacerator
1 Vault Skirge
1 Victim of Night
1 Vile Rebirth
This is an older Legacy Pauper deck that I'm trying to modernize. The cards I'm most willing to part with are Carnophage, Order, Funeral Charm, Snuff Out, and Unholy Strength. I'd like to keep the theme of evasive creatures, and I'd really like to try to abuse Basilica Screecher, as I imagine its ability could soak up late-game mana and provide an alternate wincon. That is, unless it's been tried and definitely doesn't work. Also considering dropping all the discard, though I like it because black doesn't deal well with resolved artifacts and enchantments.
-1 Skittering Skirge
-2 Order
+3 Vault Skirge
-4 Carnophage
+4 Vampire Lacerator
-2 Dauthi Horror
+2 Basilica Screecher
-2 Unholy Strength
-2 Funeral Charm
-1 Duress
-1 Hymn
-4 Snuff Out
+2 Predator's Gambit
+3 Victim of Night
+3 Sign in Blood
+2 Unearth
Any thoughts?
2) Use the right number of each card.
3) Know your probabilities.
4) Print your deck lists; make yourself and your judges happier.
1) Shadow Alley Denizen + Wicked Akuba?
EDIT: On second thought, maybe not. Considering early-game scenarios making land drops each turn, that's first turn Denizen, second turn Akuba and third turn 1-drop with four damage via unblockable Akuba. Our existing strategies that use mana for equipment/enchantments instead do as well or better. The remaining possible benefit would be late-game effectiveness, assuming we can keep Denizen+Akuba on board and topdeck a creature/Unearth.
EDIT cont.: We could also consider how effective the pieces are by themselves. Denizen is definitely less aggressive than our other 1-drop options given that we already play evasive threats, and Akuba can be chumped by the time you have enough mana for its ability to really matter. Could use testing, but I'm not seeing it.
2) I've been thinking about adding some combat tricks, because I like combat tricks. Vampire's Bite was interesting, but requires first strike to truly be a "full combat trick" (which I define as turning a block in which my creature dies and his lives, to one where mine lives and his dies).
Disfigure allows our 2/2s to "full trick" his 3/3s which is pretty great, and can be used as removal on weenies to boot.
Mutagenic Growth also allows our 2/2s to "full trick" his 3/3s, and can be used as late-game reach for the kill. It's also especially tricky since it can be played for free. The damage must be considered when also considering cards like Sign in Blood, Snuff Out, Carnophage, Vampire Lacerator, etc. Since I play the first, third, and fourth on that list, I think I'll go with some Disfigures but may test a bit with Growth.
3) Just how useful is discard in the aggro archetype? Hymn to Tourach is powerful enough to get banned, yet the list is getting tight and I'd rather pick out specific disruption with Duress than attempt to play a control-style card advantage game. Heck, we play Dark Rit. In short, shouldn't a set of Duress take priority if space is getting limited? Black has tools to take care of creatures that (a) slip through and (b) matter.
2) Use the right number of each card.
3) Know your probabilities.
4) Print your deck lists; make yourself and your judges happier.
4 Dauthi Slayer
4 Vault Skirge
3 Sign in Blood
4 Dark Ritual
4 Carnophage
4 Dauthi Horror
4 Vampire Lacerator
3 Bonesplitter
2 Barrow Ghoul
4 Lose Hope
4 Wretched Anurid
2 Ruthless Cullblade
2 Wicked Akuba
2 Bojuka Bog
2 Duress
3 Geth's Verdict
3 Echoing Decay
2 Dash Hopes
3 Altar's Reap
After some play I found that I was drawing too many lands so I dropped down to 16, this may have been a mistake but time will tell.
Cards I have been testing:
Wicked Akuba - Haven't been able to make much use of him as yet. The biggest problem is getting him to connect so you can use his ability, your opponent knows this and will play to stop it from happening.
Ruthless Cullblade - Tried this in favour of Guul Draz Vampire but it was definitely a downgrade. By the time you get them below 10 life the larger mana cost doesn't matter.
Altar's Reap I have it in the sideboard to bring in against heavy removal so I can get value out of my creatures instead of always losing 2 life to Sign in Blood but I haven't played a game where I felt the need to bring it in yet so I can't comment on the effectiveness.
Sangrophage - I have found Wretched Anurid to be a better card as you usually lose less life in the long run. I even attempted using Raving Oni-Slave but that was absolutely horrible, too often it would get removed immediately and I'd be down 3 life for no gain.
Skittering Skirge - I dropped in favour of Barrow Ghoul as I found that Skirge was a dead card for me more often than not. Barrow Ghoul is still a dead card sometimes but I feel when he is playable he has a much greater effect on the board than the Skirge does.
As for the sideboard:
Sylvok Lifestaff - Will definitely be finding a place soon.
Dash Hopes - Is amazing and I'm almost tempted to put it in the main but I don't have anything to remove for it.
Contaminated Ground - Had this for control matchups but it was pretty terrible
Bojuka Bog - Always a decent sideboard card, not much to say there
Most other sideboard cards I'm not very attached to, they're just there for fillers
Cards worth consideration/testing in my opinion. I would welcome any discussion on them:
Porcelain Legionnaire - prone to removal
Dauthi Marauder - prone to removal
Fledgling Djinn
Festering Goblin
Dregscape Zombie
Fume Spitter
Undying Evil - Such an awesome combat trick or removal counter, with come into play effects its ridiculous
Carrion Feeder - One of my favourite black 1 drops
Shepherd of Rot - Good for closing out games if you manage to get their health below yours
Blood Pet - Swing for a turn or two and then sacrifice to drop better stuff or for combat tricks
Anyway, I've fallen in love with Sign in Blood, and have gone from 2 to 3 to 4, while reducing my curve. In turn, this means I'm casting more spells, so I'm gradually replacing Dauthi Horrors with Gurmag Anglers. I imagine I'll end up using 1-2 Anglers. Here's my current testing list:
18 Swamp
4 Dark Ritual
// Force Multipliers
4 Bonesplitter
4 Sign in Blood
// Disruption
4 Duress
3 Disfigure
3 Victim of Night
4 Carnophage
4 Vampire Lacerator
4 Vault Skirge
// Twos
4 Dauthi Slayer
3 Dauthi Horror
1 Gurmag Angler
1 Basilica Screecher
1 Hand of Silumgar
1 Predator's Gambit
1 Tragic Slip
1 Undying Evil
1 Unearth
1 Vile Rebirth
1 Viridian Longbow
1 Wicked Akuba
Stuff:
1) I'll have to see how much damage I'm taking. If my life total can support it, I'm interested in adding Gitaxian Probe (-2 Horror, -1 Disfigure, -1 Victim) to help Gurmag and increase my chances of finding Bonesplitters. I've soured on Predator's Gambit et. al. but I might go back.
2) Could really use something to soak up late-game mana. I feel silly in later turns with 4+ lands between play and in-hand.
3) Thoughts on Gurmag Angler?
Aside: We've been talking about how to abuse Wicked Akuba. A deck with 4 Akuba, 4 Hand of Silumgar, and 2-3 Viridian Longbow in a slightly slower, more control-oriented aggro shell could work well. The main problem is the Longbow's rather high equip cost of 3.
2) Use the right number of each card.
3) Know your probabilities.
4) Print your deck lists; make yourself and your judges happier.
I don't like the angler in this deck because, while it is big, it is a late game card and lends itself to highly inconsistent numbers. I prefer the legion because I get it every time, I can run four, and it combos with equipment. I had the same issue with the marshmist titan, which is basically a creature orientated version of the angler.
I like hymn to tourach over sign in blood for card advantage. I would much prefer gaining card advantage by stripping the opponent's hand than in incrementally filling my own, because ruining their hand also acts as protection for my creatures and equipments.
Snuff out is free, and I would suggest looking into at least 2 as they add a lot of acceleration to our kill. Especially when compared to disfigure, which is cheap but only hits a fraction of the board.
UB Wight Phantasm
RB Burn
UR Faerie Rites of Initiation
Legacy:
R Burn
CG-Post