The deck looks a lot like burn, but in fact it is quite different, as you usually aim the burn to the creatures. I'd say it's much closer to a Boss Sligh.
Mutagenic Growth is a very versatile card that pushes the curve down much more than you'd imagine. Turn 1 Akroan Crusader -> Turn 2 Mut is 4 damage turn 2 while leaving mana open for most of the deck. It also pushes Kiln Fiends through the roof for free. At worst is a zero mana shock. Searing Blaze (and Smash To Smithereens ) usually mean a lot more damage will go through by removing those turn 1-3 blockers. Most of the sideboard is built around this idea, actually.
All creatures are as efficient as possible and carry the pumps extremely well when needed. All of them are amazing targets for Reckless Charge
Lastly Gut shot in the SB was an experiment for delver and fairy combo, but haven't had much uses for it. So far it has been pretty underwhelming as electrickery seems pretty much always better. It would probably be better as Flaring Pain.
I don't think adding a second color would help when your aim is to deal the most possible damage the first turns.
Adding green involves playing taplands and fetchlands which will cost you a turn.
Since tomorrow, May 29th, Viashino Slaughtermaster will be MTGO pauper legal as part of the MM2 downshifts.
The activated ability is ok, but what really caught my attention is that it will be the cheapest double striker in the format. And in acolor with some excellent pumps (Reckless Charge, Titan's Strength, Brute Force). So I started thinking on an All out Aggro red deck with efficient creatures, good pumps and of course, burn.
Here's something interesting: You get the mana when it hits the graveyard, which is also the time "Recover" effct triggers (Sun's Bounty, Icefall and Grim Harvest).
So, as long as you have a sacrifice effect and BB you can recover AND cast Grim Harvest. Every turn if you target the Cathodion itself.
Really interesting stuff. The manifest mechanic seem pretty fun to get extra creatures or cheat ETB effects at uncounterable instant speed.
The black delve guy seems much better than the prior ones: it costs less and is a creature that overpowers most pauper threats.
But my fav card today is Jeskai Sage. People have already been trying to play white for Jeskai Student, so getting a cheap prowess in blue will be fantastic. The fact that it replaces itself once it dies is also pretty nice.
Dash and Creature modal spells also made me excited.
Not going to happen. MMA2 will have common reprints and maybe even some rarity shifts, but wizards would never make a set of commons only.
However,if what you want is to draft, you should look into building a Pauper Cube. There are plenty of lists online and they are pretty cheap to build and you can tailor it to your like.
So, what about getting rid of the "madness" and making it purely "delve"? I've been trying to jam together Werebears, Hooting Mandrills and TC in a self mill shell, and at least goldfishing, it isn't as impossible as it sounds, but it requires running Thought Scour and Mental Note.
The basic shell would be like this:
First, the creature core:
4 Delver
4 Mandrills
4 Werebear
Then lots of cantrips:
4 Mental Note
4 Thought Scour
4 Ponder (or Brainstorm if you run enough fetches)
I don't really like Careful study because it's card disadvantage and we are not running Madness cards. Dream Twist also looks interesting, but I'd rather draw a card.
Then disruption:
About 12-14 counters and bounce spells so your hitters can pass through.
I kinda like curfew here: it's cheap, it's an instant, can hit anything, and you can float G with a werebear before casting it so you replay it with it's own mana. It also extracts some value against targeted removal. Vines of Vastwood could also fit somewhere here.
Prey Upon could work as SB material against removal light decks.
And finally, Lands and TC. The deck runs so many cantrips that it can run low on lands. You want tons of islands for your protective shell, but playing too few Forest can make you mill them all and lock yourself out of G creatures, so even when the allure to play 1 or 2 forests and lots fetches can be great, it's actually dangerous.
It plays surprisingly smooth and somewhat similar to Legacy's RUG Delver (sans the R, of course), using the G only for the big beaters.
Playing the Werebears and the Mandrills together requires some thought, sometimes, but otherwise it's not a problem.
Have you thought about Scarscale Ritual? It interacts well with Cloudshift and Skyfisher (just use it on something you are blinking), or on a Riftwatcher that is going to fade soon or even to reset a Butcher Ghoul's undying.
Regarding the Augur of Skulls, I'd rather see some kind of ETB creature that could work as disruption faster than waiting til your upkeep. I'm thinking something like Blister Beetle or Ravenous Rats not only will do more than the Augur, but also interact better with Unearth, Cloudshift and Skyfisher. Wakedancer is a solid beater that could replace the Augur, but it would push the curve slightly upwards.
Since KTK was spoiled, all eyes fell straight upon the new delve mechanic. However, people have mostly focused on TC and Hooting Mandrills, and seem to forget that black also got 2 toys: Shambling Attendants and Sultai Scavenger.
Now, in order to play those, you must play U, since all the best self-mill cards are in that color. In fact, with delve, cards like Careful Study, Mental Note and Thought Scour become Dark Rituals with a kicker, which is pretty based.
On the other hand, playing with your graveyard also enable plenty of synergies and mechanics:
- Delve (duh)
- Retrace (Oona's Grace and Raven's Crime)
- Flashback
- Regrowth-like spells (Return x card from your gy to your hand). In particular, my new favorite card: Grim Discovery.
Grim Discovery is a card that is often overlooked, but really shines in a self milling type of deck. Not only it makes discarding to Careful Study or Retrace easier, but it also allows us to run fewer creatures and more instants and sorceries. And more spells makes Delver Happy.
NOTE: Sideboard is only a placeholder and doesn't reflect the decks performance or matchups.
Scavenger often comes as soon as T2 (t1 island -> mill spell, t2 -> mill spell, swamp, scavenger). There's, however, no possible play to dump it in t2 to follow up a t1 delver, even if you play Dream Twist (which is a pretty interesting card btw).
The land and creature count may seem too low, but in my tests, with half the deck being card draw, I've never had much problem finding them. I'm not running fetchlands, as I have found they make the deck much slower than it needs to be and I don't need those to feed delve, but I'm still not 100% sure on the current manabase.
I'm not sold on the killspells list either. Crippling Fatigue looks really tempting, but hitting BB might not be worth it. Ghastly Demise, OTOH is a real MVP here.
Finally, I wish there were efficient ways to get value from instants and sorceries in the graveyard. I wish snappy were here.
Seems like an interesting addition to this deck. The singleton island doesn't hurt Tendrils or Corrupt that much, IMO, and the taplands aren't as bad as they sound.
@curi0sity: If you want to ping creatures, why don't you just play a Sparksmith? It's a bit slower, but leaves mana open when you use it, and can eventually hit for more if you have multiples.
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Wild Nacatl
2 Aura Gnarlid
2 Matca Rioters
2 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tribal Flames
4 Brainstorm
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Abundant Growth
4 Nylea's Presence
2 Unearth
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Swamp
3 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Obsidian Acolyte
2 Pyroblast
2 Skyshroud Archer
2 Standard Bearer
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Armadillo Cloak
1 Electrickery
1 Ray of Revelation
No Rancor in exchange of extra brainstorms seems a fair concession to a removal heavy meta.
Oh my god!!
Now I'm tempted to build modern CoCo goblins with Atarka's Command and Rabblemaster.
I have cut the Titans Strength and instead added the full playset of mutagenics.
Also added Staggershocks (aka. pure value) and the 4 Searing Blaze.
4 Akroan Crusader
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Viashino Slaughtermaster
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
2 Fireblast
4 Chain Lightning
2 Staggershock
4 Reckless Charge
20 Mountain
4 Electrickery
4 Smash to Smithereens
2 Frostburn Weird (Pyroblasts when I get them)
2 Gut Shot
2 Stone Rain (Molten Rain when I get them)
The deck looks a lot like burn, but in fact it is quite different, as you usually aim the burn to the creatures. I'd say it's much closer to a Boss Sligh.
Mutagenic Growth is a very versatile card that pushes the curve down much more than you'd imagine. Turn 1 Akroan Crusader -> Turn 2 Mut is 4 damage turn 2 while leaving mana open for most of the deck. It also pushes Kiln Fiends through the roof for free. At worst is a zero mana shock.
Searing Blaze (and Smash To Smithereens ) usually mean a lot more damage will go through by removing those turn 1-3 blockers. Most of the sideboard is built around this idea, actually.
All creatures are as efficient as possible and carry the pumps extremely well when needed. All of them are amazing targets for Reckless Charge
Lastly Gut shot in the SB was an experiment for delver and fairy combo, but haven't had much uses for it. So far it has been pretty underwhelming as electrickery seems pretty much always better. It would probably be better as Flaring Pain.
I'm actually pretty excited about this deck.
Adding green involves playing taplands and fetchlands which will cost you a turn.
The activated ability is ok, but what really caught my attention is that it will be the cheapest double striker in the format. And in acolor with some excellent pumps (Reckless Charge, Titan's Strength, Brute Force). So I started thinking on an All out Aggro red deck with efficient creatures, good pumps and of course, burn.
Here's a quick sketch:
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Akroan Crusader
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Reckless Charge
4 Titan's Strength
2 Mutagenic Growth
2 Fireblast
4 Chain Lightning
20 Mountain
1 Searing Blaze
2 Flaring Pain
3 Electrickery
3 Smash to Smithereens
2 Martyr of Ashes
2 Molten Rain
2 Pyroblast
(Sideboard copied from a burn deck)
Opinions??
So, as long as you have a sacrifice effect and BB you can recover AND cast Grim Harvest. Every turn if you target the Cathodion itself.
The black delve guy seems much better than the prior ones: it costs less and is a creature that overpowers most pauper threats.
But my fav card today is Jeskai Sage. People have already been trying to play white for Jeskai Student, so getting a cheap prowess in blue will be fantastic. The fact that it replaces itself once it dies is also pretty nice.
Dash and Creature modal spells also made me excited.
However,if what you want is to draft, you should look into building a Pauper Cube. There are plenty of lists online and they are pretty cheap to build and you can tailor it to your like.
[[Anoint]] is much slower, but can fend off a lightning bolt earlier.
The basic shell would be like this:
First, the creature core:
4 Delver
4 Mandrills
4 Werebear
Then lots of cantrips:
4 Mental Note
4 Thought Scour
4 Ponder (or Brainstorm if you run enough fetches)
I don't really like Careful study because it's card disadvantage and we are not running Madness cards.
Dream Twist also looks interesting, but I'd rather draw a card.
Then disruption:
About 12-14 counters and bounce spells so your hitters can pass through.
I kinda like curfew here: it's cheap, it's an instant, can hit anything, and you can float G with a werebear before casting it so you replay it with it's own mana. It also extracts some value against targeted removal.
Vines of Vastwood could also fit somewhere here.
Prey Upon could work as SB material against removal light decks.
And finally, Lands and TC. The deck runs so many cantrips that it can run low on lands. You want tons of islands for your protective shell, but playing too few Forest can make you mill them all and lock yourself out of G creatures, so even when the allure to play 1 or 2 forests and lots fetches can be great, it's actually dangerous.
Sample deck:
4 Hooting Mandrills
4 Werebear
4 Treasure Cruise
2 Curfew
4 Mental Note
4 Thought Scour
3 Vapor Snag
4 Counterspell
2 Exclude
4 Ponder
2 Daze
4 Terramorphic Expanse
3 Forest
It plays surprisingly smooth and somewhat similar to Legacy's RUG Delver (sans the R, of course), using the G only for the big beaters.
Playing the Werebears and the Mandrills together requires some thought, sometimes, but otherwise it's not a problem.
Regarding the Augur of Skulls, I'd rather see some kind of ETB creature that could work as disruption faster than waiting til your upkeep. I'm thinking something like Blister Beetle or Ravenous Rats not only will do more than the Augur, but also interact better with Unearth, Cloudshift and Skyfisher. Wakedancer is a solid beater that could replace the Augur, but it would push the curve slightly upwards.
Now, in order to play those, you must play U, since all the best self-mill cards are in that color. In fact, with delve, cards like Careful Study, Mental Note and Thought Scour become Dark Rituals with a kicker, which is pretty based.
On the other hand, playing with your graveyard also enable plenty of synergies and mechanics:
- Delve (duh)
- Retrace (Oona's Grace and Raven's Crime)
- Flashback
- Regrowth-like spells (Return x card from your gy to your hand). In particular, my new favorite card: Grim Discovery.
Grim Discovery is a card that is often overlooked, but really shines in a self milling type of deck. Not only it makes discarding to Careful Study or Retrace easier, but it also allows us to run fewer creatures and more instants and sorceries. And more spells makes Delver Happy.
An early draft of the deck would look like this:
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Sultai Scavenger
Self Mill (11)
4 Careful Study
4 Thought Scour
3 Mental Note
Disruption (9)
2 Ghastly Demise
2 Prohibit
1 Raven's Crime
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Disfigure
4 Treasure Cruise
4 Ponder
4 Grim Discovery
Lands (20)
10 Island
6 Swamp
4 Dismal Backwater
2 Ghastly Demise
2 Dead Weight
2 Relic of Progenitus
3 Duress
2 Echoing Decay
2 Shrivel
2 Hydroblast
NOTE: Sideboard is only a placeholder and doesn't reflect the decks performance or matchups.
Scavenger often comes as soon as T2 (t1 island -> mill spell, t2 -> mill spell, swamp, scavenger). There's, however, no possible play to dump it in t2 to follow up a t1 delver, even if you play Dream Twist (which is a pretty interesting card btw).
The land and creature count may seem too low, but in my tests, with half the deck being card draw, I've never had much problem finding them. I'm not running fetchlands, as I have found they make the deck much slower than it needs to be and I don't need those to feed delve, but I'm still not 100% sure on the current manabase.
I'm not sold on the killspells list either. Crippling Fatigue looks really tempting, but hitting BB might not be worth it. Ghastly Demise, OTOH is a real MVP here.
Finally, I wish there were efficient ways to get value from instants and sorceries in the graveyard. I wish snappy were here.
This one went 3-1 on a private event (Pauper Classic Tuesdays) with 3 copies of TC instead of Sign In Blood:
4 Chittering Rats
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
3 Cuombajj Witches
3 Phyrexian Rager
1 Crypt Rats
1 Liliana's Specter
21 Spells
4 Chainer's Edict
3 Disfigure
3 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Treasure Cruise
2 Corrupt
2 Oubliette
2 Wrench Mind
1 Ghastly Demise
1 Pestilence
14 Swamp
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Island
2 Geth's Verdict
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Font of Return
2 Duress
2 Choking Sands
1 Shrivel
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Cuombajj Witches
1 Disfigure
1 Child of Night
Seems like an interesting addition to this deck. The singleton island doesn't hurt Tendrils or Corrupt that much, IMO, and the taplands aren't as bad as they sound.
I still wouldn't run it MB, though.