I experimented with Heartless Summoning and emerge a few days ago and I ran into several problems:
a) A 4/5 or 4/4 is much worse than a 5/6 or 5/5 in a world of Tarmogoyfs and Reality Smashers.
b) The evoke creatures are okay with Elder Deep-Fiend, but the sorcery speed undercuts a huge amount of the Fiend's power. Fiend is best as a pseudo-time walk or cryptic command, but tapping their team on your turn is closer to falter.
c) I'm not convinced Distended Mindbender is that much better than Thought-Knot Seer for the hoops you have to jump through.
d) You want to play with the Eldrazi Temple, but ultimately you're just a less consistent version of Bant Eldrazi with Heartless Summoning making your creatures line up worse.
I wanted to make it work because the synergies are nice, but unfortunately you jump through hoops and take on major deck constraints for a turn early Mindbender or Deep-Fiend that is unlikely to win you the game.
And for my next trick I will turn this 2/2 morph into a 15/15 jellyfish.
What is Manifest Combo?
This is a midrange deck with that can combo off similarly to say Melira Pod. Our combo is Congregation at Dawn + Cloudform.
How does the combo work?
Face-down creatures including manifests, that are flickered (exiled and returned to the battlefield) return face-up. Other decks have tried to abuse this interaction with cards like Cloudshift, but it requires getting a big creature on top of your library first and getting a Cloudshift in hand. This is not particularly reliable.
To address that problem this deck uses the card Congregation of Dawn to stack the top of our library with three creatures. We can abuse this in such a way as to put a flicker effect, in this case Restoration Angel, on top for us to draw, followed by the creature we want to manifest. We then cast Cloudform, manifesting the top card of our library, so that we can later flip it with Restoration Angel. Presto!
Often the creature manifested will be Emrakul as it's difficult to interact with and presents a quick clock. This doesn't mean that Emrakul is the only option however. Both Iona and Elesh Norn are great targets in different match-ups. Technically you can cheat any creature into play with this combo, though I don't recommend Phage, the Untouchable.
How do most games go?
Usually we win by leveraging the power of Congregation at Dawn by itself. Either we set up the combo or we use it for value, this deck leans heavily on Congregation to give us a card power advantage. Two Thragtusks into a Restoration Angel is hard for most decks to beat.
Post-Sideboard we decide whether to lean more heavily on the fair elements or the combo elements depending on the match-up. So against discard heavy decks we often remove the combo and against control decks we try to include more counterspells to win with the combo.
Creatures
- (4) Noble Hierarch
Taps for all of our colors, accelerates us so we can combo earlier, and can even attack for 1.
- (3-4) Birds of Paradise
Same as above, minus attacking.
- (4) Restoration Angel
My flicker creature at choice. Flash makes this much harder for the opponent to play around and its body is nothing to sneeze at if you topdeck it.
- (0-1) Flickerwisp
This card lets you Cloudform and flicker in the same turn more easily, though that's only really relevant against decks without disruption.
- (1) Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Big stupid jellyfish. Hard to kill, harder to race. This guy is half the reason to play this deck to be honest.
- (1) Whisperwood Elemental
The threat of this card is powerful by itself. It can steal a game against B/x decks by simply topdecking a Congregation. It's also eminently castable.
- (0-1) Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Beatdown decks can often kill you a turn earlier than Emrakul can kill them. In those cases Elesh Norn can come down and wrath their board, while presenting a quick clock. Unlike Emrakul it's possible to hardcast this one.
- (0-1) Iona, Shield of Emeria
Great against other combo decks and burn. Can often lock the game out by itself. Again great if Emrakul is too slow.
- (1-2) Thragtusk
Amazing synergy with Restoration Angel. Sometimes Congregation for Thragtusk, Resto, Resto can win a game by itself. I like Thragtusk against discard decks and burn.
Combo Pieces
- (4) Congregation at Dawn
This makes the deck tick. Irreplaceable.
- (4) Cloudform
The best manifest enabler. Hexproof saves us from traditional removal.
Card Draw/Dig
- (4) Serum Visions
Modern staple and it's no different here. It smooths out our draws and makes the deck more consistent.
- (4) Coiling Oracle
This snake can both draw and ramp. It also synergizes well with Restoration Angel.
Disruption
- (1-3) Mana Leak
Helps us interact early and keep ourselves alive. Not a great topdeck late.
- (2-4) Path to Exile
One of the best spells in modern for dealing with troublesome creatures.
- (0) [card}Remand[/card]
This counter is terrible at protecting the combo because it will draw the creature you want to manifest.
Lands
(2-3) Gavony Township
This card gives our mana dorks a purpose in the late game.
Sideboard
- (4) Leyline of Sanctity
Insane against Burn and Discard which are some of our weaker match-ups. Also hoses gifts and the hate against us like memoricide.
- (2) Negate
Can serve both as counterback-up and a cheap way to remove troublesome enchantments/planeswalkers
- (1) Celestial Purge
An answer to a resolved Blood Moon.
- (1-2) Fracturing Gust
Great against Affinity and Bogles. Also gives us an out to troublesome enchantments and artifacts.
- (1-2) Stony Silence
Hoses Affinity and Tron.
- (1) Sigarda, Host of Herons
Very good option against B/x decks with lots of removal and Liliana. Lines up well against Siege Rhino.
- (1) Voidmage Prodigy
This little guy can come down on the same turn as Cloudform and help your Restoration Angel resolve. Just stack it so you draw this first, then your manifest target, then resto.
Why play this deck?
1. This strategy can cheat out any creature, so you can adjust it to fit your metagame or your preferences.
2. Bant has access to some of the most powerful SB cards in modern. Cheap counters, white hate cards, and devastating sweepers.
3. You want to play a rogue deck that will catch people off guard. Few decks will be prepared for a turn 3 Congregation at Dawn into a turn four Emrakul if you lead off with Noble Hierarch.
4. You like working on new decks and trying to help improve/change them.
How about reasons not to?
1. We're not as fast as other combo decks and less disruptive than fair control decks like Abzan.
Why not play Cloudshift?
I think Cloudshift is a perfectly playable card, but I prefer Serum Visions as it gives us another cheap early turn play to dig to the combo.
The caligraphy of combat is written with strokes of sudden blood.
The joys of playing a red deck--burn spells, goblins, and... drawing cards? If Delver can use Treasure Cruise in Legacy why not try it in Standard?
The core of the deck is traditional burn, small hasty and damaging creatures accompanied with Burn spells. We also support explosive plays that can win out of nowhere and powerful synergies. If we reach mid-game without killing our opponent we use Treasure Cruise as a way to draw the burn necessary to finish the job.
Creatures Foundry Street Denizen: Synergy with both Rabblemaster and Hordeling Outburst. Goblin Rabblemaster: The most powerful 3-drop in the format if he's allowed to stick around. Monastery Swiftspear: Quick beater and can do a lot of damage when we combine her with burn spells in the late game.
Non-Creature Spells Hordeling Outburst: Floods the board with Goblins for Rabblemaster and Trumpet Blast and also has the side benefit of putting a card in our graveyard. Lightning Strike: Efficient burn for the cost. Magma Jet: Often used in combination with a creature to take out a larger threat. The scry helps recoup the card disadvantage. Steam Augury: A two-of. Most of our spells do similar things, so the disadvantage isn't that terrible. Also helps enable our Treasure Cruise. Stoke the Flames: Probably the best burn spell in our deck as it hits some of the biggest threats in the format. Treasure Cruise: By the point we want to cast this (when our hand is near empty) it is usually 1-3 mana which is very reasonable. Trumpet Blast: One of our finishers. It doesn't take that many attackers to make this worth it.
There's obviously issues with the above list. We're running 8 fetches that are basically mountains and islands that deal us damage. There's a definite downside to doing this (life loss), but the upside of getting to play early Treasure Cruises can often be a big boon. If we're drawing more burn quickly, what's 2-3 life a game? (Hint: still a lot).
The deck is also very weak to Circle of Flame, Anger of the Gods, and Drown in Sorrow. Negates will come out of the SB, but there needs to be more insurance against these cards and I'm not sure what that entails.
I've been experimenting on Cockatrice and as I suspected the Burn match-up was unbearable with my original decklist. I came to some of the same conclusions as Falafell and am now trying out the following list (also good call on Wear // Tear).
Plan B against removal or burn heavy decks is to just start the Ashiok plan and after sideboarding the Ashiok + Vraska + removal plan. I've been siding out the combo entirely against those decks.
Having the entire deck be able to transmute for everything else is cute, but having 3-4 1cc cards won't significantly reduce your ability to transmute for things and cuteness should never be prized over speed/consistency and the drum adds both of them, accelerating your mana, allowing the disciple to trigger a turn earlier and allowing you to use the disciple without having to constantly spend mana on removal spells to clear it's way (which lets you spend that mana on combo pieces instead).
With drum a 4th turn combo win is actually a semi realistic possibility -
T1: land, Drum
T2: land, Disciple, tap Disciple for mana
T3: transmute for a piece you need, land, Follower, tap Follower for mana, 2nd Follower, attack with Disciple
T4: transmute for a piece you need, land, tap Disciple for mana, Bracers, equip bracers, produce infinite mana, cast Mind Grind for the win.
Of course that's still a godhand scenario but it is possible and with 2 transmutes getting all the pieces together isn't unrealistic (as opposed to the magical christmasland version requiring you to naturally draw all the pieces to combo 4th turn - T1 land, T2 land follower, T3 land 2nd follower, bracers, T4 land equip infinite win).
That said to each there own, another thing you might want to consider even if you don't want to add Drum is running Hidden Strings as at least a singleton, it also has good interactions with Disciple and is at the important 2cc mana cost.
You are definitely correct that adding the Drum would speed the combo up significantly--turn 6 or 7 is what you can expect against a creature heavy deck with the version in the OP. It might be worth putting it in the sideboard against decks like Burn and Counter-heavy Control decks where I can't really interact reliably.
Also Hidden Strings is an interesting consideration. Would you use it as a ramp spell since the Followers can generally untap the Disciple on the same turn? I like the idea of having it as a one-of that I can fetch against creature-lite decks and speed up the combo.
The concept seems pretty cool, a couple of issues though -
1. The combo doesn't actually work unless you have 2 Kiora's Followers, it's ability even copied doesn't allow you to untap itself so you need a 2nd Follower which allows them to untap each other (this is the main reason the combo hasn't made many waves in standard - being a 3 card infinite mana combo with 2 of those cards being identical).
2. Disciple of Deceit is great but it's ability is inspired based and your deck has no way to tap Disciple apart from attacking (which won't always be an option), i'd recommend adding something like Springleaf Drum which would let you tap Disciple for mana (and start tapping Disciple on the 2nd turn).
I did mention the two Kiora's Followers in the OP. It's a terrible combo if you all you're trying to do is draw the pieces. Once in a blue moon will you get the X spell, the 2 Followers, and the Bracers. It's not perfect in this deck, but it's much much better than it has ever been before in that I can just grab all of the pieces with any other spell.
I chose to use more removal instead of including the drum. It's a conscious decision that I made. Instead of wasting a card that only taps my Disciple, I instead slow them down and keep my life total high by killing their creatures. If I had more inspired creatures, the drum might be worth it, but as it stands it's a tapper that doesn't even pitch to get anything.
Trade your wares to solve the puzzle. Removal spells turn into combo pieces and extra pieces turn back into counter spells. Once the combo is assembled (2 Kiora's Follower + Illusionist's Bracers + Mind Grind) generate infinite mana and grind your opponent's deck away.
If you're worried about counter magics, simply grab a Negate before firing off the Mind Grind. Supreme Verdict ruining your day? Grab a Golgari Charm. Phenax forbid that someone mill or counter a combo piece away-- Don't worry, a Treasured Find will return it good as new. The Disciple of Deceit takes what you don't want and gets you what you need.
Note: Every spell in this deck can be fetched by the Disciple. Far // Away can be grabbed or discarded by naming Far and despite Mind Grind having X in the cost, its CMC is still 2 in your library.
You like playing tons of removal spells including one of the most powerful removal spells printed (Abrupt Decay).
You like tutor and transmute abilities, especially when they let you get any spell in your library.
You enjoy infinite combos and killing your opponent in one turn.
You want to play a deck where you don't care about your opponent's life total.
You want to play a deck that likely no one else is playing.
Why shouldn't I play this deck?
You don't like decks that are fragile to bad draws. You might draw your removal spells for tens turns in a row and never see a Disciple to get the combo.
You want to draw a bunch of cards. This deck has minimal card draw and can run out of gas.
You hate infinite combos and would prefer to play a fairer deck.
Update 1: Changed the land base slightly to include more scry lands and less pain. The only important land drops to hit untapped are 2 and 3, so I would prefer not to burn myself quite as much.
Update 2: Improved the SB and added two more Treasured Finds to the main deck to combat removal and counter heavy decks.
The obvious issue with Polukranos is his nonbo with Polymorphous Rush. Deadbridge is probably slightly worse in other decks, but I feel he is better in this one where I do want to copy my fatties and put counters on other creatures. I think there's probably an aggro shell for these cards with Battlefield Thaumaturge, but I like this version for two reasons: it doesn't rely on one card (Thaumaturge) and it can beat down with efficient fatties if they start removing my creatures or after a board wipe.
Prognostic Sphinx is going to a 2-of and Curse to a 4-of. Prog is hard to remove and evasive, something my other cards are not.
I initially drafted out a Bant version and found the increase in power was not worth making the deck slower (tapped lands suck).
Added a sideboard. The toughest match-up is probably Hexproof. U/G has basically no ways to clear the board besides Cyclonic Rift which is too slow and gives them all their enchantments back. I'm up for any ideas to shore up that. Both Hour of Need and Polymorphous Rush have impressed me greatly. It's basically a reward for flooding out on mana or mana dorks.
Messing around on Cockatrice a bit has lead me to think that Hour of Need is an absolutely awesome card. If we break this down strictly thinking of it for our own use to be aggressive it gets so much better as soon as we even Strive once.
3 mana: 4/4 flyer
5 mana: 2 4/4 fliers
7 mana: 3 4/4 fliers
-It's an instant
-You're able to downgrade their creature if it's better than a vanilla 4/4 flyer (Stormbreath Dragon for example)
-The tokens don't die to Bile Blight
-They fly
-They aren't enchantments. I think this could become important as more JOU cards begin to be incorporated.
-The tokens you give the opponent can die to Cyclonic Rift or Simic Charm
I think this card is a big deal. We've all tried cards like Master Biomancer and other effects to try to make our dorks more useful late game. This has a lot of application with it being an instant.
Also, Dakra Mystic. I THINK this card performs better in a slower deck. It may not be obvious at first but this card demands a lot of skill. This card allows you to lose the game because of your decisions. You are forced to evaluate if your card is more valuable than your opponents. The only problem is, there's a lot of factors that will determine that. I don't want to harp too much about this but I really think this card is going to read "U: Tank for 2-4 minutes."
I agree totally. Hour of Need and Polymorphous Rush are absurdly powerful in a ramp deck. Often by turn 7 or 8 we have a lot of dead mana dork draws and both of these cards turn them into either-- the biggest threat on the board or a 4/4 flier. Not only that they are instant speed combat tricks, so your opponent might decide not to verdict your board of a courser, elf, and caryatid and then immediately regret it when on your endstep you turn 3 points of damage into 12. Attack, wait for them to block (or not block), and then turn all your creatures into 5/5 Goliaths or 6/6 Demons (depending on the board state) with Poly Rush. They can't even tap down your demons since you've already started attacks.
This deck is designed to deal with the main issue with creature heavy decks, which is too much information on the board. Instead of simply winning with big creatures, we instead convert our mana dorks into threats at instant speed and usually swing in for the win on the same turn (or after the end of the opponent's turn) using Hour of Need and Polymorphous Rush.
a) A 4/5 or 4/4 is much worse than a 5/6 or 5/5 in a world of Tarmogoyfs and Reality Smashers.
b) The evoke creatures are okay with Elder Deep-Fiend, but the sorcery speed undercuts a huge amount of the Fiend's power. Fiend is best as a pseudo-time walk or cryptic command, but tapping their team on your turn is closer to falter.
c) I'm not convinced Distended Mindbender is that much better than Thought-Knot Seer for the hoops you have to jump through.
d) You want to play with the Eldrazi Temple, but ultimately you're just a less consistent version of Bant Eldrazi with Heartless Summoning making your creatures line up worse.
I wanted to make it work because the synergies are nice, but unfortunately you jump through hoops and take on major deck constraints for a turn early Mindbender or Deep-Fiend that is unlikely to win you the game.
The deck list I tried: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/ub-heartless-eldrazi-2/
4x Breeding Pool
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Windswept Heath
2x Forest
2x Gavony Township
2x Island
1x Flooded Grove
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Plains
1x Temple Garden
Enchantment (4)
4x Cloudform
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Coiling Oracle
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Restoration Angel
2x Thragtusk
1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1x Whisperwood Elemental
Instant (10)
4x Congregation at Dawn
4x Path to Exile
2x Mana Leak
Sorcery (4)
4x Serum Visions
4x Leyline of Sanctity
2x Celestial Purge
2x Fracturing Gust
2x Stony Silence
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Negate
1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
1x Voidmage Prodigy
The deck is a ton of fun to play.
Cheers!
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Flickerwisp
1 Restoration Angel
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Card Draw/Filtering (8)
4 Peer Through Depths
4 Serum Visions
Combo Pieces (10)
4 Congregation at Dawn
4 Soul Summons
2 Wildcall
4 Remand
4 Swan Song
Lands (22)
1 Hallowed Fountain
4 Breeding Pool
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
2 Island
1 Plains
2 Forest
2 Razorverge Thicket
1 Resolute Archangel
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
3 Dispel
1 Stony Silence
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Fracturing Gust
3 Supreme Verdict
4 Path to Exile
Emrakul isn't fast enough in some match-ups, so I've included Elesh Norn in the main and two other silver bullets in the side.
Thanks!
What is Manifest Combo?
This is a midrange deck with that can combo off similarly to say Melira Pod. Our combo is Congregation at Dawn + Cloudform.
How does the combo work?
Face-down creatures including manifests, that are flickered (exiled and returned to the battlefield) return face-up. Other decks have tried to abuse this interaction with cards like Cloudshift, but it requires getting a big creature on top of your library first and getting a Cloudshift in hand. This is not particularly reliable.
To address that problem this deck uses the card Congregation of Dawn to stack the top of our library with three creatures. We can abuse this in such a way as to put a flicker effect, in this case Restoration Angel, on top for us to draw, followed by the creature we want to manifest. We then cast Cloudform, manifesting the top card of our library, so that we can later flip it with Restoration Angel. Presto!
Often the creature manifested will be Emrakul as it's difficult to interact with and presents a quick clock. This doesn't mean that Emrakul is the only option however. Both Iona and Elesh Norn are great targets in different match-ups. Technically you can cheat any creature into play with this combo, though I don't recommend Phage, the Untouchable.
How do most games go?
Usually we win by leveraging the power of Congregation at Dawn by itself. Either we set up the combo or we use it for value, this deck leans heavily on Congregation to give us a card power advantage. Two Thragtusks into a Restoration Angel is hard for most decks to beat.
Post-Sideboard we decide whether to lean more heavily on the fair elements or the combo elements depending on the match-up. So against discard heavy decks we often remove the combo and against control decks we try to include more counterspells to win with the combo.
4x Breeding Pool
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Windswept Heath
2x Forest
2x Gavony Township
2x Island
1x Flooded Grove
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Plains
1x Temple Garden
Enchantment (4)
4x Cloudform
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Coiling Oracle
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Restoration Angel
2x Thragtusk
1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1x Whisperwood Elemental
Instant (10)
4x Congregation at Dawn
4x Path to Exile
2x Mana Leak
Sorcery (4)
4x Serum Visions
4x Leyline of Sanctity
2x Negate
2x Fracturing Gust
2x Stony Silence
1x Celestial Purge
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
1x Voidmage Prodigy
Creatures
- (4) Noble Hierarch
Taps for all of our colors, accelerates us so we can combo earlier, and can even attack for 1.
- (3-4) Birds of Paradise
Same as above, minus attacking.
- (4) Restoration Angel
My flicker creature at choice. Flash makes this much harder for the opponent to play around and its body is nothing to sneeze at if you topdeck it.
- (0-1) Flickerwisp
This card lets you Cloudform and flicker in the same turn more easily, though that's only really relevant against decks without disruption.
- (1) Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Big stupid jellyfish. Hard to kill, harder to race. This guy is half the reason to play this deck to be honest.
- (1) Whisperwood Elemental
The threat of this card is powerful by itself. It can steal a game against B/x decks by simply topdecking a Congregation. It's also eminently castable.
- (0-1) Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Beatdown decks can often kill you a turn earlier than Emrakul can kill them. In those cases Elesh Norn can come down and wrath their board, while presenting a quick clock. Unlike Emrakul it's possible to hardcast this one.
- (0-1) Iona, Shield of Emeria
Great against other combo decks and burn. Can often lock the game out by itself. Again great if Emrakul is too slow.
- (1-2) Thragtusk
Amazing synergy with Restoration Angel. Sometimes Congregation for Thragtusk, Resto, Resto can win a game by itself. I like Thragtusk against discard decks and burn.
Combo Pieces
- (4) Congregation at Dawn
This makes the deck tick. Irreplaceable.
- (4) Cloudform
The best manifest enabler. Hexproof saves us from traditional removal.
Card Draw/Dig
- (4) Serum Visions
Modern staple and it's no different here. It smooths out our draws and makes the deck more consistent.
- (4) Coiling Oracle
This snake can both draw and ramp. It also synergizes well with Restoration Angel.
Disruption
- (1-3) Mana Leak
Helps us interact early and keep ourselves alive. Not a great topdeck late.
- (2-4) Path to Exile
One of the best spells in modern for dealing with troublesome creatures.
- (0) [card}Remand[/card]
This counter is terrible at protecting the combo because it will draw the creature you want to manifest.
Lands
(2-3) Gavony Township
This card gives our mana dorks a purpose in the late game.
Sideboard
- (4) Leyline of Sanctity
Insane against Burn and Discard which are some of our weaker match-ups. Also hoses gifts and the hate against us like memoricide.
- (2) Negate
Can serve both as counterback-up and a cheap way to remove troublesome enchantments/planeswalkers
- (1) Celestial Purge
An answer to a resolved Blood Moon.
- (1-2) Fracturing Gust
Great against Affinity and Bogles. Also gives us an out to troublesome enchantments and artifacts.
- (1-2) Stony Silence
Hoses Affinity and Tron.
- (1) Sigarda, Host of Herons
Very good option against B/x decks with lots of removal and Liliana. Lines up well against Siege Rhino.
- (1) Voidmage Prodigy
This little guy can come down on the same turn as Cloudform and help your Restoration Angel resolve. Just stack it so you draw this first, then your manifest target, then resto.
Why play this deck?
1. This strategy can cheat out any creature, so you can adjust it to fit your metagame or your preferences.
2. Bant has access to some of the most powerful SB cards in modern. Cheap counters, white hate cards, and devastating sweepers.
3. You want to play a rogue deck that will catch people off guard. Few decks will be prepared for a turn 3 Congregation at Dawn into a turn four Emrakul if you lead off with Noble Hierarch.
4. You like working on new decks and trying to help improve/change them.
How about reasons not to?
1. We're not as fast as other combo decks and less disruptive than fair control decks like Abzan.
Why not play Cloudshift?
I think Cloudshift is a perfectly playable card, but I prefer Serum Visions as it gives us another cheap early turn play to dig to the combo.
The joys of playing a red deck--burn spells, goblins, and... drawing cards? If Delver can use Treasure Cruise in Legacy why not try it in Standard?
The core of the deck is traditional burn, small hasty and damaging creatures accompanied with Burn spells. We also support explosive plays that can win out of nowhere and powerful synergies. If we reach mid-game without killing our opponent we use Treasure Cruise as a way to draw the burn necessary to finish the job.
Example:
4x Bloodstained Mire
4x Flooded Strand
3x Island
4x Mountain
4x Shivan Reef
4x Temple of Epiphany
4x Lightning Strike
4x Magma Jet
2x Steam Augury
4x Stoke the Flames
4x Trumpet Blast
4x Foundry Street Denizen
4x Goblin Rabblemaster
4x Monastery Swiftspear
Sorcery (7)
4x Hordeling Outburst
3x Treasure Cruise
There's obviously issues with the above list. We're running 8 fetches that are basically mountains and islands that deal us damage. There's a definite downside to doing this (life loss), but the upside of getting to play early Treasure Cruises can often be a big boon. If we're drawing more burn quickly, what's 2-3 life a game? (Hint: still a lot).
The deck is also very weak to Circle of Flame, Anger of the Gods, and Drown in Sorrow. Negates will come out of the SB, but there needs to be more insurance against these cards and I'm not sure what that entails.
Try it on TappedOut: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/ur-rabble-cruise/
4x Disciple of Deceit
Combo Pieces
1x Illusionist's Bracers
4x Kiora's Follower
1x Mind Grind
Removal
2x Ultimate Price
2x Golgari Charm
1x Hero's Downfall
1x Duress
4x Abrupt Decay
4x Devour Flesh
1x Ratchet Bomb
1x Wear / Tear
3x Far / Away
Card Draw
4x Pain Seer
One Drop Artifacts
1x Elixir of Immortality
3x Springleaf Drum
Lands
4x Temple of Deceit
3x Temple of Malady
3x Temple of Mystery
4x Watery Grave
3x Breeding Pool
3x Overgrown Tomb
2x Mana Confluence
2x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1x Cyclonic Rift
2x Devour Flesh
4x Gainsay
2x Negate
1x Ratchet Bomb
1x Treasured Find
2x Vraska the Unseen
Plan B against removal or burn heavy decks is to just start the Ashiok plan and after sideboarding the Ashiok + Vraska + removal plan. I've been siding out the combo entirely against those decks.
You are definitely correct that adding the Drum would speed the combo up significantly--turn 6 or 7 is what you can expect against a creature heavy deck with the version in the OP. It might be worth putting it in the sideboard against decks like Burn and Counter-heavy Control decks where I can't really interact reliably.
Also Hidden Strings is an interesting consideration. Would you use it as a ramp spell since the Followers can generally untap the Disciple on the same turn? I like the idea of having it as a one-of that I can fetch against creature-lite decks and speed up the combo.
I did mention the two Kiora's Followers in the OP. It's a terrible combo if you all you're trying to do is draw the pieces. Once in a blue moon will you get the X spell, the 2 Followers, and the Bracers. It's not perfect in this deck, but it's much much better than it has ever been before in that I can just grab all of the pieces with any other spell.
I chose to use more removal instead of including the drum. It's a conscious decision that I made. Instead of wasting a card that only taps my Disciple, I instead slow them down and keep my life total high by killing their creatures. If I had more inspired creatures, the drum might be worth it, but as it stands it's a tapper that doesn't even pitch to get anything.
What does this deck do?
Trade your wares to solve the puzzle. Removal spells turn into combo pieces and extra pieces turn back into counter spells. Once the combo is assembled (2 Kiora's Follower + Illusionist's Bracers + Mind Grind) generate infinite mana and grind your opponent's deck away.
If you're worried about counter magics, simply grab a Negate before firing off the Mind Grind. Supreme Verdict ruining your day? Grab a Golgari Charm. Phenax forbid that someone mill or counter a combo piece away-- Don't worry, a Treasured Find will return it good as new. The Disciple of Deceit takes what you don't want and gets you what you need.
Note: Every spell in this deck can be fetched by the Disciple. Far // Away can be grabbed or discarded by naming Far and despite Mind Grind having X in the cost, its CMC is still 2 in your library.
4x Disciple of Deceit
The Combo Pieces (6)
1x Illusionist's Bracers
4x Kiora's Follower
1x Mind Grind
The Spells (28)
3x Negate
3x Treasured Find
4x Ultimate Price
4x Far // Away
4x Font of Fortunes
4x Golgari Charm
4x Abrupt Decay
2x Devour Flesh
3x Breeding Pool
2x Mana Confluence
3x Overgrown Tomb
4x Temple of Deceit
3x Temple of Malady
3x Temple of Mystery
4x Watery Grave
2x Ratchet Bomb
1x Cyclonic Rift
2x Devour Flesh
2x Essence Scatter
4x Gainsay
1x Negate
2x Scavenging Ooze
1x Treasured Find
Why should I play this deck?
Why shouldn't I play this deck?
Also seen on TappedOut.
Update 1: Changed the land base slightly to include more scry lands and less pain. The only important land drops to hit untapped are 2 and 3, so I would prefer not to burn myself quite as much.
Update 2: Improved the SB and added two more Treasured Finds to the main deck to combat removal and counter heavy decks.
Prognostic Sphinx is going to a 2-of and Curse to a 4-of. Prog is hard to remove and evasive, something my other cards are not.
I initially drafted out a Bant version and found the increase in power was not worth making the deck slower (tapped lands suck).
I agree totally. Hour of Need and Polymorphous Rush are absurdly powerful in a ramp deck. Often by turn 7 or 8 we have a lot of dead mana dork draws and both of these cards turn them into either-- the biggest threat on the board or a 4/4 flier. Not only that they are instant speed combat tricks, so your opponent might decide not to verdict your board of a courser, elf, and caryatid and then immediately regret it when on your endstep you turn 3 points of damage into 12. Attack, wait for them to block (or not block), and then turn all your creatures into 5/5 Goliaths or 6/6 Demons (depending on the board state) with Poly Rush. They can't even tap down your demons since you've already started attacks.
Here's the list I'm going to try come next week.
4x Elvish Mystic
4x Sylvan Caryatid
4x Courser of Kruphix
4x Prophet of Kruphix
Threats
4x Deadbridge Goliath
4x Arbor Colossus
3x Hour of Need
2x Prognostic Sphinx
3x Polymorphous Rush
Removal
4x Curse of the Swine
Lands
4x Breeding Pool
7x Forest
5x Island
2x Mana Confluence
4x Temple of Mystery
2x Nykthos, Shrine of Nyx
4x Elvish Mystic
4x Sylvan Caryatid
4x Courser of Kruphix
4x Prophet of Kruphix
Threats
4x Deadbridge Goliath
4x Arbor Colossus
3x Hour of Need
2x Prognostic Sphinx
3x Polymorphous Rush
Removal
4x Curse of the Swine
Lands
4x Breeding Pool
7x Forest
5x Island
2x Mana Confluence
4x Temple of Mystery
2x Nykthos, Shrine of Nyx
3x Bow of Nylea
1x Cyclonic Rift
3x Mistcutter Hydra
4x Naturalize
4x Scavenging Ooze