This deck will be enjoyable to play if you enjoy synergistic aggro decks that have hard to deal with threats. With all the pushed cards WotC have designed in Oath I feel the deck has a real chance at being a tier one deck.
The deck curves early into aggressive and evasive threats using either counter magic or removal to make way and protect it's threats. The deck can also go for an all out swarm tactic with scion producers, forcing your opponent to have the sweeper.
Not sure if Spatial Contortion should just be Grasp of Darkness. It is difficult to get the Black sources high enough (18-19) for a T2 BB.
I like Sea Gate Wreckage to stay in the game when we gas out. Not as keen on Ruins, as it wants us to wait a turn to cast our stuff. I think Tomb might not be worthwhile, but I figured a way to gain life vs aggro without using up a slot could be worthwhile.
Initially had Hangarback main before they spoiled a heap of stuff. In brief testing, it felt slow and not really on the same strategy. I think it might still be worthwhile as a sideboard option in certain matchups. Just doesn't play well with Reshaper.
Sideboard is pretty crap though, so that will need some work.
The manabase is tricky. I think it wants Evolving Wilds to search out Wastes, but the ETB tapped is a big cost. Perhaps it should be some combination of Battlefield Forge and Fetches.
Deck currently wants, inclusive of sideboard, below. I've noted devoid spells as Xd, and noted relevant source counts.
T1: Bd
T2: B, C
T3: Rd
T4: R
Essentially that translates to minimum source counts.
T1 Bd absolutely must be untapped. Turn 2 plays are high priority untapped as well. It gets easier to sequence in a tapped land after that. I didn't list B as high priority because it is a sideboard card.
Crossroads and fetches makes source counts a bit complicated, but being generous with fetches, I currently have:
Black: 16x Normal (9x Untapped), 20/13 Devoid
Red: 12x Normal (5x Untapped), 16/9 Devoid
Colorless: 15x Total (11x Untapped)
Seems alright. Though ETB might end up being too much of a hiccup. This might be OK, since we only have 4 T1 plays, and Wilds essentially gives us 8x T1 plays. I'd have to do some Goldfishing.
Another potential build without using Evolving Wilds is:
Wail and Obligator both feel like sideboard cards.
Obligator, being a treason effect, is more obvious. Classic sideboard card against big green stompy decks. The kicker is what you play it for, as the creature portion is overpriced. So you might as well think of it as a 5-drop that's good against big creatures. Over Reshaper? I wouldn't. Reshaper is there as an aggressive 3-drop threat that draws you a card. It's in a different class. Dominator might still be better in that role (but not Obligator), but draw a card is pretty big in magic.
Wail seems like it was printed to kill Jace (for good) and counter Cruises or Sweepers. Seems good to bring in vs Jeskai or Esper. I don't think I'd want it in a bunch of other matchups though. The removal portion is just too narrow and an aggro deck doesn't want to sit on conditional counterspells either.
As far as Thought-Knot. It's interesting. Hard to evaluate. They don't get the exiled card back, which is good... but they still draw a card, so removing him doesn't cost them a card. Could be a good way to poke a hole in their plan. At 4-mana it's a lot though. How relevant is the discard at that point? 4/4 is nice, but is outclassed by most other ground pounders at that point. It also competes with the more obvious 4-drop, Dust Stalker, which is much better at the aggro role. I'm not super hyped on Thought-Knot right now.
Mana curve is pretty high for aggro decks and creature toughness is a real problem. Mono-red decks will rip this apart. There's no evasion here other than the trample on one creature at 5CMC, you can be chumped by tokens all game long.
Though-knot is great and you may catch a rhino if you are on the play, but there's a lot of lower CMC black cards that can deal with that quite easily and don't give your opponent cards back should it die. Still it's a great value card, but T3 Anafenza is still going to kick butt. I don't see how this deck will deal with most of the other popular standard archetypes.
Feels like all these decks miss out on the devoid synergy creatures (with the exception of the BR decks). Herald of Kozilek - it's a 2/4 that helps your mana curve. Ruination Guide - for a bit of pump, fewer turns to kill your opponent. Stoneforge Masterwork - since you are running a full tribe of Eldrazi, if you can keep your creatures on the table, you could hit for massive dmg.
Decks are very straight, no real finishers or outright win cons from cards. No card draw. Very little opponent discard, basically even with the BR decks, you let the opponent play their strategy. It's a wet dream for control decks.
@Trivmvirate: On the play. Doesn't exactly cut the mustard as an answer to Seige Rhino. Getting rid of Roc is a pretty big thing though, so I can see the potential, but it just seems too slow. I think I'd rather play Transgress than attach my discard to a vanilla 4/4 for 4 that draws my opponent a card.
Concerning sweepers. There is the aforementioned discard as well as Warping Wail as a sideboard option. Besides, sweepers is an age old issue for any aggro deck. Point to me the winning RDW that packs a heap of x/4 threats to avoid damage based sweepers. Pacing of threat deployment and certain sideboard answers is key there. Given we have a 3-drop that potentially deploys a threat when it dies along with access to up to 8x hasty 5 power guys, I don't see the big worry on the sweeper front. Let them tap out.
@oddmyth: I agree with you on some points. However, I don't think we can afford to splash essentially a fourth color though. BR isn't 2 colors, it's actually 3, since C might as well be a color, and it isn't an easy one to incorporate into the manabase (which makes the 4th splash that much harder).
In BCr, we have evasive threats in Reaper (flying) and Smasher (trample). I think Reaper could be the sole justification to going to 2-3 Ghostfire Blades. Smasher seems like a pretty damn good finisher too, so I am unsure on your point about a lack of finishers. As far as card draw, we have access to stuff like Reshaper and Sea Gate Wreckage. I think there is room for Outpost Seige in the 75x. Perhaps Ob Nix could also serve as a similar stand in.
I mean, when you consider that some of the creatures in this deck are quite large but will sometimes not beat Abzan's in a tussle, you also have to consider cards like Ghostfire Blade. I haven't found removal to be particularly good in this deck (outside of 1-2 Murderous Cuts), but I have found cards like Ghostfire Blade to be quite good. While Blade opens you up to 2-for-1s like K-Command, it helps you outclass all other creatures.
Cards like Fiery Impulse and Wild Slash have been relegated to the SB for me -- mainly because, as Nevelo has pointed out, BR devoid is a 3 color aggro deck.
Stoneforge Masterwork - since you are running a full tribe of Eldrazi, if you can keep your creatures on the table, you could hit for massive dmg.
That's what I thought at first, but you need to have at least 3 creatures in play before this becomes better than Ghostfire Blade. Maybe once that rotates, or if you end up needing additional equipment.
@Nevelo, I think the BR deck you have is pretty solid, I see more synergy there then in most of the other decks, which is why I added the "(with the exception of the BR decks) ". With regard to Reality Smasher, I'm excited by the card, trample/haste cards are always amazing, but having it as a 4-of? I'd probably knock it down and add more ghostfire blades, the card is so value for colorless, I can't imagine not playing a 4-of. Your deck is much more threatening when your creatures are hitting for closer to 5 and have toughness above 3.
Spatial Contortion - this card is limited in value when you can't use it to buff all but one your own creatures without killing it. This card is begging for a ghostfire blade equipped creature to smash through the lines.
I have to agree with the 4 Ghostfire Blade's main deck, simply put it's the best card in the deck. I am never sad to see 2-3 in a game, it just means any creature I drop is a huge threat after a 2-3 mana equip cost. I think what could push this deck into being a top contender is that it can be explosive with 6-8 maindeck haste creatures or it can be disruptive and hard to deal with when you play Thought-Knot Seer, Matter Reshaper, and Transgress the Mind/K Command.
I am going to test a bunch of versions of the deck but just from a first glance I could see the haste version catch a whole lot of people off guard the first week or two of rotation.
@Nevelo, I think the BR deck you have is pretty solid, I see more synergy there then in most of the other decks, which is why I added the "(with the exception of the BR decks) ". With regard to Reality Smasher, I'm excited by the card, trample/haste cards are always amazing, but having it as a 4-of? I'd probably knock it down and add more ghostfire blades, the card is so value for colorless, I can't imagine not playing a 4-of. Your deck is much more threatening when your creatures are hitting for closer to 5 and have toughness above 3.
Creatures have generally been better than equipments in standard, except when that equipment came with a creature aka Batterskull. You definitely want to see one a game, but you can over do it.
5 mana seems like a lot but not when it's got trample and haste. You have to play a bunch of lands to get there (24-25 lands to get there, maybe with mana dorks in there as well) but it's worth it. Reality Smasher is a house.
@Lugger - I do understand creatures > equipment, and I think ghostfire blade in colourless aggro decks is the exception to the rule. Otherwise I think it's just an average card in which 4CMC is much better spent.
Reality Smasher is a great card, there's a lot of great cards that don't get played at 5CMC, like Surrak Dragonclaw, there's also a lot of great cards greater than 5CMC, but they aren't in aggro decks. 5CMC is just hard without running something that ensures you outpace your opponents mana (as you mentioned), and running 24 lands in an aggro deck increases the probability of flooding out. Running a 4-of just increases the chance of getting stuck with 2 in your hand early. Running 5CMC in an aggro deck is summilarily counter productive.
As an example, if you look at top decks right now (or even just the top 8 from GPOAK), 4CMC is top of the curve, with two exceptions in Wingmate Roc and Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury, both of which are played in mid-range decks, both of which synergize creatures on the board in some way.
@Oddmyth: I'm not sure what your point is regarding 5cmc. Not all aggro decks are sligh decks. Surrak et al? Irrelevant. The card is either good or it's not. It either fits an aggressive game plan or it doesn't. It either has a deck that can support it, or it doesn't.
A 5/5 haste with evasion that your opponent must two-for-one themselves to kill it? That is the kind of threat that I want to see as many as possible during a game. As such, it makes no sense to run any less than 4 copies. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember people questioning including Thundermaw or Stormbreath as 4-ofs because they were 5 CMC. Smasher is quite obviously good. Whether or not the rest of the deck is there to support it doing well in the new meta is the real question to me.
A side note on Contortion which was brought up earlier. It's colorless Lightning Strike when you break it down. It's a bit harder to go to the dome, but just as with Lightning Strike, 95% of the time it was there to kill stuff early to clear the way for our threats. It being good really has little to do with your ability to pump your own creatures. It has everything to do with whether /-3 is relevant in the meta. Off hand, killing Jace, Soulfire, Mentor, Warden, and Red dudes (when they go to pump) seems important to me. Taking out the odd mana dork or Jaddi Offshoot vs ramp doesn't seem half bad. Worst case, we can pump up 5/5 trampler or Ghostfire'd up x/2.
@Nevelo - If we can agree that an aggro deck, is a deck that wants to kill your opponent before they can get stable board state, then my point is that running a 4-of of a 5CMC card without any other cards to support getting mana faster than our opponent is counter-intuitive to calling it an aggro deck, or trying to build a fast deck. My point with Surrak was that there are amazing cards at 5CMC, and their abilities may fit a given archetype of deck (trample/haste, 5/5, discard on counter), but the card can still make the deck weaker, than stronger.
The 2 main weaknesses of aggro decks are and flooding and running out of gas. This is one of the primary reasons that RDW and Atarka Red archetypes do as well as they do, because they run fewer lands to avoid flooding (still happens but the probability is less) and with a deck full of 1-2CMC cards, they are guaranteed to keep early pressure on the board. The game plan is fulfilled by the time they have 4 mana on the board. Abbot and Outpost Siege offer more card draw. Prowess offers free pump. Dash offers card protection while still pushing through damage. All these synergies make the decks ruthless. Most of the decks here are running in the 2-5CMC range with little to no synergy between creatures. I think that could allow your opponent to get stable board state, moreso than if you ran more pump. I'll reiterate though, of all the decks in the thread, I think the one you built is the most synergistic and would likely have the best chance of success with or without a 4-of of Reality Smasher.
In regards to Spatial Contortion, that's a good way to look at it. I think 'when' you can play the card as a shock is still harder, you are risking giving your opponent +3 if they can pump out of the shock range. Granted the card has more value than I gave it credit for initially.
@Nevelo - If we can agree that an aggro deck, is a deck that wants to kill your opponent before they can get stable board state, then my point is that running a 4-of of a 5CMC card without any other cards to support getting mana faster than our opponent is counter-intuitive to calling it an aggro deck, or trying to build a fast deck. My point with Surrak was that there are amazing cards at 5CMC, and their abilities may fit a given archetype of deck (trample/haste, 5/5, discard on counter), but the card can still make the deck weaker, than stronger.
This is possible, but sledgehammer differs greatly from the current *swarm, win through pump spells* that we see in the current standard.
Sledgehammer attempts to have such great card quality that it outclasses the creatures that the midrange deck is trying to block with. You want a few removal spells to deal with the problems you can't just run around but, for the most part, you're playing an evasive top-end that doesn't really care about whats going on around it.
RW Chained to the Rocks was somewhat like this deck last year (though lots of it's power came through CttR and not SBD), when it played Stormbreath Dragon, but it's been awhile since we've had a proper sledgehammer aggro deck in standard. Some of the old school MTGS guys were building sledgehammer back in innistrad/rtr days and they're valuable to look at for reference.
We currently have no idea if sledgehammer aggro is viable in the current format, but if we're not maxing out on the best cards in the deck, then I'd rather just play Atarka Red or RG Landfall. A lot of these 2 and 3 drops just aren't good enough for a low to the ground Eldrazi Aggro deck.
I realise this goes a little against what Lugger was just saying but what are the opinions on Swarm Surge I'm trying to figure out what i want to do instead of the eldrazi obligators
People are very high on Thought-Knot Seer. I can't help but feel it's a bit overrated. Though, it's gotten me to bite and get a few on preorder, so we will see.
I originally wanted some ramp, but realized curving out with creatures would be more important. Catacomb sifter seems kind of weak but he gets reality smasher out a turn early. It's hard to predict what will be strong and weak as these cards are quite new concepts. I would have done jund and used cards like vile aggregate, but then it'd basically be a 4 color deck. The land base for these decks seem far from concrete yet. Black red aggro may be the way to go, but I've always liked golgari. People that have tested are 4 ghostfire blades the way to go?
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This deck will be enjoyable to play if you enjoy synergistic aggro decks that have hard to deal with threats. With all the pushed cards WotC have designed in Oath I feel the deck has a real chance at being a tier one deck.
The deck curves early into aggressive and evasive threats using either counter magic or removal to make way and protect it's threats. The deck can also go for an all out swarm tactic with scion producers, forcing your opponent to have the sweeper.
Card Choices
Lands
Sample Decks
4x Corrupted Crossroads
4x Bloodstained Mire
2x Smoldering Marsh
2x Ruins of Oran-Rief
1x Sea Gate Wreckage
3x Crumbling Vestige
2x Blighted Gorge
2x Mountain
2x Swamp
4x Reaver Drone
3x Eldrazi Mimic
4x Forerunner of Slaughter
4x Matter Reshaper
3x Vile Aggregate
2x Wasteland Strangler
3x Thought-Knot Seer
2x Reality Smasher
2x Murderous Cut
3x Spatial Contortion
Sorcery (4)
2x Touch of the Void
2x Transgress the Mind
Artifacts (4)
4x Ghostfire Blade
4x Corrupted Crossroads
3x Bloodstained Mire
3x Llanowar Wastes
2x Wooded Foothills
1x Smoldering Marsh
1x Cinder Glade
2x Ruins of Oran-Rief
2x Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
1x Mountain
1x Forest
2x Swamp
4x Blisterpod
3x Eldrazi Mimic
2x Zulaport Cutthroat
3x Forerunner of Slaughter
4x Flayer Drone
4x Catacomb Sifter
4x Matter Reshaper
2x Vile Aggregate
2x Thought-Knot Seer
1x Murderous Cut
2x Spatial Contortion
4x Collected Company
Artifacts (3)
3x Ghostfire Blade
3 Flooded Strand
3 Corrupted Crossroads
4 Caves of Koilos
2 Shambling Vent
4 Sea Gate Wreckage
1 Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
4 Plains
3 Swamp
4 Bearer of Silence
3 Wasteland Strangler
4 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Thought-Knot Seer
1 Wingmate Roc
2 Blight Herder
Instants (6)
2 Spatial Contortion
2 Murderous Cut
1 Utter End
3 Transgress the Mind
Enchantments (7)
4 Silkwrap
3 Stasis Snare
Planeswalkers (2)
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4x Reaver Drone
4x Eldrazi Mimic
4x Forerunner of Slaughter
4x Bearer of Silence
4x Hedron Crawler
4x Dust Stalker
4x Reality Smasher
2x Murderous Cut
3x Spatial Contortion
Artifacts: (2)
2x Ghostfire Blade
Lands: (25)
4x Corrupted Crossroads
4x Bloodstained Mire
2x Wooded Foothills
2x Polluted Delta
2x Swamp
1x Mountain
2x Sea Gate Wreckage
3x Smoldering Marsh
3x Llanowar Wastes
2x Battlefield Forge
Here is the build I think I will run. Similar to Lugger and SamuGelb's.
4 Reaver Drone
4 Eldrazi Mimic
4 Forerunner of Slaughter
4 Bearer of Silence
4 Matter Reshaper
4 Dust Stalker
4 Reality Smasher
Spells (7)
1 Ghostfire Blade
4 Spatial Contortion
2 Murderous Cut
1 Mountain
1 Wastes
2 Sea Gate Wreckage
1 Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
3 Smoldering Marsh
2 Swamp
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Llanowar Wastes
4 Corrupted Crossroads
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Transgress the Mind
3 Self-Inflicted Wound
2 Eldrazi Obligator
2 Outpost Siege
Not sure if Spatial Contortion should just be Grasp of Darkness. It is difficult to get the Black sources high enough (18-19) for a T2 BB.
I like Sea Gate Wreckage to stay in the game when we gas out. Not as keen on Ruins, as it wants us to wait a turn to cast our stuff. I think Tomb might not be worthwhile, but I figured a way to gain life vs aggro without using up a slot could be worthwhile.
Initially had Hangarback main before they spoiled a heap of stuff. In brief testing, it felt slow and not really on the same strategy. I think it might still be worthwhile as a sideboard option in certain matchups. Just doesn't play well with Reshaper.
Sideboard is pretty crap though, so that will need some work.
The manabase is tricky. I think it wants Evolving Wilds to search out Wastes, but the ETB tapped is a big cost. Perhaps it should be some combination of Battlefield Forge and Fetches.
Deck currently wants, inclusive of sideboard, below. I've noted devoid spells as Xd, and noted relevant source counts.
T1: Bd
T2: B, C
T3: Rd
T4: R
Essentially that translates to minimum source counts.
Bd: 14 untapped
B: 13
C: 13 (high priority untapped)
Rd: 12
R: 11
T1 Bd absolutely must be untapped. Turn 2 plays are high priority untapped as well. It gets easier to sequence in a tapped land after that. I didn't list B as high priority because it is a sideboard card.
Crossroads and fetches makes source counts a bit complicated, but being generous with fetches, I currently have:
1 Mountain
1 Wastes
2 Sea Gate Wreckage
1 Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
3 Smoldering Marsh
2 Swamp
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Llanowar Wastes
4 Corrupted Crossroads
Black: 16x Normal (9x Untapped), 20/13 Devoid
Red: 12x Normal (5x Untapped), 16/9 Devoid
Colorless: 15x Total (11x Untapped)
Seems alright. Though ETB might end up being too much of a hiccup. This might be OK, since we only have 4 T1 plays, and Wilds essentially gives us 8x T1 plays. I'd have to do some Goldfishing.
Another potential build without using Evolving Wilds is:
1 Mountain
2 Sea Gate Wreckage
1 Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
3 Smoldering Marsh
1 Swamp
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Llanowar Wastes
2 Battlefield Forge
4 Corrupted Crossroads
Black: 15x Normal (12x Untapped), 19/16 Devoid
Red: 14x Normal (9x Untapped), 19/13 Devoid
Colorless: 12x Total (12x Untapped)
Better counts, but is gets pretty painful with 9x pain land and 8x fetches though. True suicide black.
Modern: R Skred -- WBG Melira Co -- URW Nahiri Control
Legacy: R Mono Red Burn -- UWB Stoneblade
Commander: R Krenko, Mob Boss -- WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon -- WUBRG Maze’s End
Other: R No Rares Red (Standard) -- URC Izzet Tron (Pauper)
4x Corrupted Crossroads
4x Bloodstained Mire
2x Smoldering Marsh
2x Ruins of Oran-Rief
1x Sea Gate Wreckage
4x Crumbling Vestige
2x Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
2x Mountain
3x Swamp
4x Reaver Drone
4x Eldrazi Mimic
4x Forerunner of Slaughter
4x Matter Reshaper
2x Eldrazi Obligator
4x Dust Stalker
4x Reality Smasher
2x Essence Depleter
1x Murderous Cut
2x Spatial Contortion
1x Kolaghan's Command
Artifacts (4)
4x Ghostfire Blade
Obligator, being a treason effect, is more obvious. Classic sideboard card against big green stompy decks. The kicker is what you play it for, as the creature portion is overpriced. So you might as well think of it as a 5-drop that's good against big creatures. Over Reshaper? I wouldn't. Reshaper is there as an aggressive 3-drop threat that draws you a card. It's in a different class. Dominator might still be better in that role (but not Obligator), but draw a card is pretty big in magic.
Wail seems like it was printed to kill Jace (for good) and counter Cruises or Sweepers. Seems good to bring in vs Jeskai or Esper. I don't think I'd want it in a bunch of other matchups though. The removal portion is just too narrow and an aggro deck doesn't want to sit on conditional counterspells either.
As far as Thought-Knot. It's interesting. Hard to evaluate. They don't get the exiled card back, which is good... but they still draw a card, so removing him doesn't cost them a card. Could be a good way to poke a hole in their plan. At 4-mana it's a lot though. How relevant is the discard at that point? 4/4 is nice, but is outclassed by most other ground pounders at that point. It also competes with the more obvious 4-drop, Dust Stalker, which is much better at the aggro role. I'm not super hyped on Thought-Knot right now.
Modern: R Skred -- WBG Melira Co -- URW Nahiri Control
Legacy: R Mono Red Burn -- UWB Stoneblade
Commander: R Krenko, Mob Boss -- WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon -- WUBRG Maze’s End
Other: R No Rares Red (Standard) -- URC Izzet Tron (Pauper)
Though-knot is great and you may catch a rhino if you are on the play, but there's a lot of lower CMC black cards that can deal with that quite easily and don't give your opponent cards back should it die. Still it's a great value card, but T3 Anafenza is still going to kick butt. I don't see how this deck will deal with most of the other popular standard archetypes.
Feels like all these decks miss out on the devoid synergy creatures (with the exception of the BR decks).
Herald of Kozilek - it's a 2/4 that helps your mana curve.
Ruination Guide - for a bit of pump, fewer turns to kill your opponent.
Stoneforge Masterwork - since you are running a full tribe of Eldrazi, if you can keep your creatures on the table, you could hit for massive dmg.
Still need something to push damage through. Slip Through Space, Gravity Negator, Blinding Drone, Benthic Infiltrator. Basically your BR deck is going Grixis to push damage through.
Decks are very straight, no real finishers or outright win cons from cards. No card draw. Very little opponent discard, basically even with the BR decks, you let the opponent play their strategy. It's a wet dream for control decks.
Concerning sweepers. There is the aforementioned discard as well as Warping Wail as a sideboard option. Besides, sweepers is an age old issue for any aggro deck. Point to me the winning RDW that packs a heap of x/4 threats to avoid damage based sweepers. Pacing of threat deployment and certain sideboard answers is key there. Given we have a 3-drop that potentially deploys a threat when it dies along with access to up to 8x hasty 5 power guys, I don't see the big worry on the sweeper front. Let them tap out.
@oddmyth: I agree with you on some points. However, I don't think we can afford to splash essentially a fourth color though. BR isn't 2 colors, it's actually 3, since C might as well be a color, and it isn't an easy one to incorporate into the manabase (which makes the 4th splash that much harder).
In BCr, we have evasive threats in Reaper (flying) and Smasher (trample). I think Reaper could be the sole justification to going to 2-3 Ghostfire Blades. Smasher seems like a pretty damn good finisher too, so I am unsure on your point about a lack of finishers. As far as card draw, we have access to stuff like Reshaper and Sea Gate Wreckage. I think there is room for Outpost Seige in the 75x. Perhaps Ob Nix could also serve as a similar stand in.
Modern: R Skred -- WBG Melira Co -- URW Nahiri Control
Legacy: R Mono Red Burn -- UWB Stoneblade
Commander: R Krenko, Mob Boss -- WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon -- WUBRG Maze’s End
Other: R No Rares Red (Standard) -- URC Izzet Tron (Pauper)
Cards like Fiery Impulse and Wild Slash have been relegated to the SB for me -- mainly because, as Nevelo has pointed out, BR devoid is a 3 color aggro deck.
2x Self-Inflicted Wound
2x Outpost Siege
1x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
1x Ob Nixilis Reignited
2x Kolaghan's Command
2x Duress
2x Eldrazi Obligator
Haven't really messed with the SB yet, but I think this is the starting point.
Luckily, this BR Dragons deck that has been making the round has had a similar curve, so some cues can be taken there.
That's what I thought at first, but you need to have at least 3 creatures in play before this becomes better than Ghostfire Blade. Maybe once that rotates, or if you end up needing additional equipment.
Spatial Contortion - this card is limited in value when you can't use it to buff all but one your own creatures without killing it. This card is begging for a ghostfire blade equipped creature to smash through the lines.
I am going to test a bunch of versions of the deck but just from a first glance I could see the haste version catch a whole lot of people off guard the first week or two of rotation.
Creatures have generally been better than equipments in standard, except when that equipment came with a creature aka Batterskull. You definitely want to see one a game, but you can over do it.
5 mana seems like a lot but not when it's got trample and haste. You have to play a bunch of lands to get there (24-25 lands to get there, maybe with mana dorks in there as well) but it's worth it. Reality Smasher is a house.
4x Endless One
4x Hangarback Walker
4x Dimensional Infiltrator
2x Eldrazi Mimic
4x Eldrazi Skyspawner
4x Ruination Guide
2x Whirler Rogue
Spells
4x Ghostfire Blade
3x Spatial Contortion
1x Dispel
3x Negate
1x Artificer's Epiphany
2x Become Immense
6x Island
3x Lumbering Falls
4x Yavimaya Coast
4x Foundry of the Consuls
3x Spawning Bed
2x Ruins of Oran-Rief
3x Disdainful Stroke
3x Dispel
3x Warping Wail
3x Encase in Ice
2x Ainok Survivalist
1x Treasure Cruise
Reality Smasher is a great card, there's a lot of great cards that don't get played at 5CMC, like Surrak Dragonclaw, there's also a lot of great cards greater than 5CMC, but they aren't in aggro decks. 5CMC is just hard without running something that ensures you outpace your opponents mana (as you mentioned), and running 24 lands in an aggro deck increases the probability of flooding out. Running a 4-of just increases the chance of getting stuck with 2 in your hand early. Running 5CMC in an aggro deck is summilarily counter productive.
As an example, if you look at top decks right now (or even just the top 8 from GPOAK), 4CMC is top of the curve, with two exceptions in Wingmate Roc and Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury, both of which are played in mid-range decks, both of which synergize creatures on the board in some way.
A 5/5 haste with evasion that your opponent must two-for-one themselves to kill it? That is the kind of threat that I want to see as many as possible during a game. As such, it makes no sense to run any less than 4 copies. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember people questioning including Thundermaw or Stormbreath as 4-ofs because they were 5 CMC. Smasher is quite obviously good. Whether or not the rest of the deck is there to support it doing well in the new meta is the real question to me.
A side note on Contortion which was brought up earlier. It's colorless Lightning Strike when you break it down. It's a bit harder to go to the dome, but just as with Lightning Strike, 95% of the time it was there to kill stuff early to clear the way for our threats. It being good really has little to do with your ability to pump your own creatures. It has everything to do with whether /-3 is relevant in the meta. Off hand, killing Jace, Soulfire, Mentor, Warden, and Red dudes (when they go to pump) seems important to me. Taking out the odd mana dork or Jaddi Offshoot vs ramp doesn't seem half bad. Worst case, we can pump up 5/5 trampler or Ghostfire'd up x/2.
Modern: R Skred -- WBG Melira Co -- URW Nahiri Control
Legacy: R Mono Red Burn -- UWB Stoneblade
Commander: R Krenko, Mob Boss -- WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon -- WUBRG Maze’s End
Other: R No Rares Red (Standard) -- URC Izzet Tron (Pauper)
The 2 main weaknesses of aggro decks are and flooding and running out of gas. This is one of the primary reasons that RDW and Atarka Red archetypes do as well as they do, because they run fewer lands to avoid flooding (still happens but the probability is less) and with a deck full of 1-2CMC cards, they are guaranteed to keep early pressure on the board. The game plan is fulfilled by the time they have 4 mana on the board. Abbot and Outpost Siege offer more card draw. Prowess offers free pump. Dash offers card protection while still pushing through damage. All these synergies make the decks ruthless. Most of the decks here are running in the 2-5CMC range with little to no synergy between creatures. I think that could allow your opponent to get stable board state, moreso than if you ran more pump. I'll reiterate though, of all the decks in the thread, I think the one you built is the most synergistic and would likely have the best chance of success with or without a 4-of of Reality Smasher.
In regards to Spatial Contortion, that's a good way to look at it. I think 'when' you can play the card as a shock is still harder, you are risking giving your opponent +3 if they can pump out of the shock range. Granted the card has more value than I gave it credit for initially.
This is possible, but sledgehammer differs greatly from the current *swarm, win through pump spells* that we see in the current standard.
Sledgehammer attempts to have such great card quality that it outclasses the creatures that the midrange deck is trying to block with. You want a few removal spells to deal with the problems you can't just run around but, for the most part, you're playing an evasive top-end that doesn't really care about whats going on around it.
RW Chained to the Rocks was somewhat like this deck last year (though lots of it's power came through CttR and not SBD), when it played Stormbreath Dragon, but it's been awhile since we've had a proper sledgehammer aggro deck in standard. Some of the old school MTGS guys were building sledgehammer back in innistrad/rtr days and they're valuable to look at for reference.
We currently have no idea if sledgehammer aggro is viable in the current format, but if we're not maxing out on the best cards in the deck, then I'd rather just play Atarka Red or RG Landfall. A lot of these 2 and 3 drops just aren't good enough for a low to the ground Eldrazi Aggro deck.
Sligh decks, sledgehammer, all of these things are old hat to you guys, but news to me!
Karsten goes into some nitty gritty details on all the options:
CFB - Karsten - Mono Brown Aggro
The decklist:
2 Reaver Drone
1 Sludge Crawler
4 Bearer of Silence
2 Eldrazi Mimic
4 Matter Reshaper
4 Wasteland Strangler
4 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Reality Smasher
Spells
4 Ghostfire Blade
3 Warping Wail
3 Transgress the Mind
2 Murderous Cut
3 Polluted Delta
4 Caves of Koilos
1 Llanowar Wastes
4 Sea Gate Wreckage
1 Mirrorpool
2 Ruins of Oran-Rief
1 Foundry of the Consuls
1 Blighted Fen
1 Rogue’s Passage
7 Swamp
4 Self-Inflicted Wound
3 Duress
3 Flaying Tendrils
2 Ultimate Price
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
1 Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
1 Crumbling Vestige
A little bit less comprehensive:
SCG - Majors - New Archetypes for OGW
The decklist:
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Bearer of Silence
4 Catacomb Sifter
4 Matter Reshaper
2 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Ghostfire Blade
2 Murderous Cut
4 Spatial Contortion
3 Warping Wail
Lands (25)
3 Swamp
4 Corrupted Crossroads
4 Crumbling Vestige
2 Hissing Quagmire
4 Llanowar Wastes
2 Polluted Delta
1 Ruins of Oran-Rief
3 Sea Gate Wreckage
2 Tomb of the Spirit Dragon
Modern: R Skred -- WBG Melira Co -- URW Nahiri Control
Legacy: R Mono Red Burn -- UWB Stoneblade
Commander: R Krenko, Mob Boss -- WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon -- WUBRG Maze’s End
Other: R No Rares Red (Standard) -- URC Izzet Tron (Pauper)
CFB - Demars - Standard BR Devoid
4 Eldrazi Mimic
4 Bearer of Silence
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Dominator Drone
4 Vile Aggregate
4 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Dust Stalker
2 Reality Smasher
4 Reaver Drone
4 Ghostfire Blade
Lands (23)
3 Swamp
1 Mountain
4 Corrupted Crossroads
3 Ruins of Oran Rief
4 Sea-Gate Wreckage
3 Crumbling Vestige
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Smoldering Marsh
3 Duress
3 Despise
3 Roast
4 Infinite Obliteration
2 Fiery Impulse
All-in with no interaction main. I suppose with all of these early brews, build looks hastily put together. Sideboard looks terrible.
Edit: Missed some cards.
Modern: R Skred -- WBG Melira Co -- URW Nahiri Control
Legacy: R Mono Red Burn -- UWB Stoneblade
Commander: R Krenko, Mob Boss -- WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon -- WUBRG Maze’s End
Other: R No Rares Red (Standard) -- URC Izzet Tron (Pauper)
Modern: R Skred -- WBG Melira Co -- URW Nahiri Control
Legacy: R Mono Red Burn -- UWB Stoneblade
Commander: R Krenko, Mob Boss -- WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon -- WUBRG Maze’s End
Other: R No Rares Red (Standard) -- URC Izzet Tron (Pauper)
4 reality smasher
4 catacomb sifter
3 thought-knot seer
4 bearer of silence
4 stalking drone
Artifact
2 ghostfire blade
Instant
2 murderous cut
2 grasp of darkness
4 spatial contortion
Sorcery
2 duress
2 ob nixilis reignited
Enchantment
3 oath of nissa
Land
4 llanowar wastes
4 hissing quagmire
4 corrupted crossroads
4 crumbling vestige
2 blighted woodland
2 ruins of Oran-rief
2 swamp
2 forest
3 flaying tendrils
2 ruinous path
3 warping wail
2 self-inflicted wound
3 titan's presence
2 vile redeemer
I originally wanted some ramp, but realized curving out with creatures would be more important. Catacomb sifter seems kind of weak but he gets reality smasher out a turn early. It's hard to predict what will be strong and weak as these cards are quite new concepts. I would have done jund and used cards like vile aggregate, but then it'd basically be a 4 color deck. The land base for these decks seem far from concrete yet. Black red aggro may be the way to go, but I've always liked golgari. People that have tested are 4 ghostfire blades the way to go?