I was looking over the last few pages of discussion and I noticed the arguments against bolt and mana-rocks, both of which I agree with. I've been playing skred red for about 2 years now and the list runs great, so I thought I would pass along the list.
In my opinion, the problem I see with a lot of these lists is that there is too much burn/spot removal. I've played against skred plenty of times with other decks, and if you can deal with their larger threats with counters or hard removal skred starts to sputter and top-deck poorly for this reason, especially when it lacks valakut.
Anyway, with less removal, I am more combat focused. The main difference I see is the inclusion of FoD and Urabrask, the badass. Figure is great...puts on a little early pressure and is a late-game sync. Attacking with mana-up consistently makes it get through so you can play your other spells or force a bad trade for them. He is legit. Test it. Urabrask makes all your creatures hyper-aggresive (t5 urabrask t6 titan is gg) and also has some nice utility against twin, grieselbrand combo and stymies their blockers. He is solid.
Otherwise, I do like the demigod list due to its comeback and sort of explosive nature, even if his all red cc can be annoying at times with sheets. I was running faithless looting for awhile but I found the card disadvantage to be problematic, especially when usually you only want to ditch 1 demigod. The valakuts make your lands valuable and not ditch-able. Tormenting voice is turning out be quite nice to ditch demigods or duplicates will maintaining parity.
If I were to cut demigods I could see the 4 mana dragon as a viable alternative, although the lack of haste makes it seem like a weaker demigod in some ways. I haven't tested it though so I could see its ability being very relevant. Without demigods, relic could come main, as well as chandra.
I would like to up the siege-gang count to 2, but haven't found a way to really do that. I like his ability to clog the board for enough turns to put you over the top. There are a decent amount of 5 and 6 cc creatures, which is why solemn is necessary. He helps valakut and deals with pro-red creatures and etched champion. I am very happy with him.
I agree that delver is underwhelming and understand your concerns on his toughness and vulnerability. I was arguing that the creature package is MUC is very underwhelming in general, and delver at least could offer a remedy to that. I agree that Spire Golem is the best we have, but to close out a game, 4x 2/4 fliers is not even close to enough. I don't really like the Sentinels of Glen Elendra due to their 3 toughness and 4cc, even if flash is important in this deck. Again, the reasoning being an opponents removal mostly in the form of bolts and direct damage clogs their hand until we try to play our wincons. Flame slash seems to be one of the most popular cards in pauper, which kills all our win-cons. We can't be using all our counters on protection, like a tempo deck with delver would do. My suggestions would be to try a mill strategy, which could possibly be too slow in an aggro meta as mentioned, or to instead make use of aggressive shroud creature, which I think calcite snapper is perfect here.
As far as haunted Fengraf, seems like an interesting choice that could work if the small creature package is still the choice for win-cons. Maybe try testing.
As far as accumulated knowledge, you are correct in that think twice draws a similar number of cards, but it has a much higher liability that AK. Let's take a look here:
So 4 think twice for 8 cards total costs us 20 mana...! yes it is at instant speed, but it is not like they cannot respond to our tapping out to cast the flashback on think twice. I am not saying it is a bad card and if you prefer the consistency getting 2 cards, then that is a choice to make. I find this very underwhelming
To draw 10 cards, we sink 8 mana. Much better! Yes, this is if we see all 4, but I would even argue that seeing 2 for 3 cards total for 2uu mana is still much nicer than think twice.
Gush plays nicely with oona's grace. Treasure cruise eats up our grace, think twice's or AKs. Still, if your testing has proven this to not be a problem, then I think Cruise is a fine choice.
Sure, we want to draw as many cards as we can...but the cards we draw need to have impact on the game. Why don't we play 4x ponder, 4x preordain and 4x brainstorm? They are very powerful cards that filter and should get us to our answers? Well, we just durdle in that scenario. The same can happen with too much draw...you draw into more draw spells, or even get close to milling out. I think this deck has a huge amount of the best draw spells around, that isn't its problem. Card advantage is a real thing, but the deck I think lacks card quality if we jam too many draw spells in.
Whether the life from psychic barrier is worth the possibility of not being able to cast it due to our colorless lands if up to you to decide. I am not sure yet either way.
Psychic purge is definitely a specific card and perhaps a sb card. It however does offer us removal vs anything with 1 toughness, which seem to be rampant in pauper? The discard part is just gravy.
You may not know me but I was a big proponent of MUC in legacy for a long time...and did quite well with the deck for many years at SCGs and grandprixs - especially during MUCs heyday when mental misstep was a thing.
Anyway, the legacy deck no longer is viable for numerous reasons, including delver, deathrite, and abrupt decay. I've tooled around with a modern version, which was decent. I've also tooled around with Pauper, etc etc etc blah blah blah. I digress.
So, here is are the two variations I would build if I were to build a MUC deck in Pauper. The first would be a more classical version:
Urdjur makes a strong argument for the inclusion of delver over some sort of pestermite, spellstutter sprite package. Since we are playing delver then, ponder is correct to set him up over brainstorm (weak without fetches) and preordain.
Otherwise, a few cards that have not been discussed which should be are psychic barrier and psychic purge. The barrier is an obvious choice in this deck somewhere in the 75. Pauper is creature heavy so the card seems an great choice in addition to exclude and gets a little damage in on top to help delver. Psychic purge is a sweet little card in Pauper: it kills x/1s handily, can burn face for that last point of damage hilariously and has great utility against any discard around.
The deck has some insane amount of draw and filtering so, 1-of's aren't too bad. Hence the one of narcolepsy (equivalent to chains).
As far as draw package, I strongly prefer and suggest accumulated knowledge and gush over treasure cruise and think twice. Think twice is weak in comparison to AK...you should be able to cast 3 to 4 easy a game which is way stronger and lighter on mana. Cruise does not play nice with AK, or Oona's grace. It is okay in small numbers, but I feel gush is better all around as a hard cast or for it's alternative. The deck doesn't really need more draw really.
The problem with this deck is the win-cons. It is a very good control deck, the counters are strong...the bounce package is adequate to deal with resolved problems. Winning with delver and spire golem alone is troublesome however. It requires a large amount of counters to protect them, which is the last thing the deck should be doing. Flame slash, bolt, and electolize are everywhere. The deck really needs man-lands in addition such as 4x factory, but that isn't a possibility.
There are two options...we can play 4x of the convertible turtle (calcite snapper), which is reasonable. The shroud is a huge boon and the flippable ability can end games pretty quickly. He is a turn 5 and later play. This will be what I do if this second option fails.
Instead, I am experimenting with a different win-con package in Jace's Erasure + Curse of the bloody tome. This offers a non-creature win-con, which blanks all their removal. This is huge. We already draw so much that 2+ Jace's erasure on the board is an inevitable win. The deck would look something like this:
Those are what I am working with right now. Some food for thought. Both thee versions are slightly lighter counters, since there is some much draw and bounce. If that is a concern, I suggest 4x Rune Snag.
The deck is very balanced...every card is for maximum value based on its cc in red. Best 1 red drop is figure, early game is usually pumping him depending on opponents plays. He is slightly awkward with mindstone, which is why it got cut to 2. Mana up to 23. I am happy with the compromise so far. Best 3 drop creature is boros reckoner for sure. He has some great synergy with sweepers and skred...couldn't believe I wasn't playing him before. The deck doesn't have room for bolts, so staggershock 2-1s against small dudes or acts as a flame javelin. Solemn is best 4cc for value to insure you get your bombs out...koth is for damage. Demigod I prefer since the deck can be weak against counters at times...he is house against any control shell and steal games out of nowhere. Titan is the top of the list...doesn't get more damaging than him. Chandra ablaze I have found is the best draw planeswalker with her minus ability, while her plus ability gives some nice reach. Good synergy with Demigod again. 1-of faithless to smooth out clumpy draws and combos with demigod. Skred is necessary and shouldn't be cut...you need to be able to hit those restoration angels or any opposing creatures you can't sweep away. Molten rain still fantastic to slow opponent, kill gavony townships, celestial colonnades, other manlands and to color-screw greedy decks....all while continuing to add to the damage plan. 1-of obsidian fireheart combos with Koth...add a bunch of mana to light up their lands and watch them burn.
A big difference is the inclusion of valakut. Works with solemn and adds a late game plan to a deck that can run out of cards if the opponent gets too many removal spells or counters. Adds inevitability and doens't hurt the base at all. Should be an obvious inclusion if you aren't on the main deck bloodmoon plan.
SB is pretty nice but is meta-call. Pretty self-explanatory I think. Reverberate is to copy enemy counters mostly. Earth wins against slow decks. Pyro against creature decks and pod...again great synergy with recockner.
Anyway, I like the deck quite a bit...it sort of straddles the aggro-control archetypes and can go either way depending on play style. The deck has lots of internal synergy between cards but does not require a linear strategy to get ahead.
Faithless looting is just okay in my experience. The deck wants to get your lands out for skred and in my case valakut, the win-con (which should be an auto-include IMO). Looting goes against this by being actually card disadvantage hard-casted and card neutral when flash-backed. Still, it is great with Demigod of revenge and other than that, lets you discard your high cc early and late lets you get to your high cc. It seems like a sort of necessary evil. Honestly, the deck really wants 2x of late game draw spell, but I can't think of any. Browbeat doesn't do what you want....maybe, Chandra Pyromaster? I can't think of a single decent red draw spell really. Sort of makes me want to splash blue for stream augury but that changes the deck entirely. Without demigod, I think faithless looting is way wrong. I have a singleton Chandra Ablaze for late game draw and a late game win-con...but honestly, I don't think I have ever drawn it in a game so I can't comment on it.
Boros reckoner is interesting. I feel like the triple red early is a bit dicey with scrying sheets (which I am starting to get pretty unimpressed with. I continue to draw 2 or have 2 in my opening hand constantly which screws up my demigod plays :/). Still, the creature is house in terms of dealing with creatures on the board and does have some nice synergy with skred and sweepers. I could see testing it for sure.
In my 2 slots recently I have been testing staggershock. Great card: Better than flame javelin by far. Is easy on the mana-base with 2 colorless and can get into 2-1 territory easily with all these 2 toughness creatures running around. Sexy thing you.
Chandra pyromaster or chandra the firebrand...both seem like interesting additions for different reasons. Doubling up an LD or Banefire seems great..but the deck doesn't run a huge amount of spells really. The draw off pyromaster is good, but I can see the ultimate being a huge whiff. Maybe just use her as a red bob? Seems reasonable. I could see testing either really. The 4 drop spot is a tad bit crowded with Koth already however. I've had great luck with the OG Chandra in different decks as a great anti-aggro card. She nukes creatures and her ultimate always wins. Still, it doesn't seem right here though: she is a control planeswalker in an aggro-ish deck.
The LD isn't really to crush the opposing manabase nor really the main focus of the deck. Really, the LD follows the Ponza philosophy: slow the opponent while you set up for a huge bomb (demigod, titan, koth, etc). Considering how many man-lands and opposing valakuts from scapeshift and tri-colored decks there are in Modern, I've found LD to be very strong currently as opposed to my experience with blood moon in modern, which is mediocre. I've considered avalanche riders, but it seems like a worse roiling terrain. I also tried to increase the LD, but the deck started feeding too many LD spells with not threat to capitalize on them. Honestly, I feel like Skred red's philosophy should be this: screw with the opponent while also damaging them. Molten rain is perfect for this. That way when you land a bomb, they are within easy reach.
Anyway, just a few thoughts on the deck. It is a blast to play and refreshing after the infinite counters that all my other decks have in them.
So I decided to try a tier 2 deck at Modern FNM tonight since I am getting tired of always bringing control. I still couldn't make myself bring a straight aggro deck, so I thought I would give Skred.dec a try.
Anyway, I hadn't tested the deck much but I was actually pretty damn impressed with it. The one thing I have seen that all these other lists are lacking is Figure of Destiny. Seriously...what the hell people. Early pressure, mid-game mana-sink and late game win-con. He was the MVP all night. Taking down goyfs and dodging bolts all night long.
Other than that, there is a sweet interaction between Koth -2 and Obsidian Fireheart. The deck also plays haymakers so counters can be tricky. I have combated this by choosing demigod of revenge over these other 5/5 flyers. Great if countered....and it was great for me all night with Koth's -2 and faithless looting. Also, ever reverberated a cryptic command? Feels good
As it sounds like people are recognizing,blood moon has become much weaker as the meta has adjusted by running more basics. Instead, the approach I have taken is a Ponzi-type early game with Molten Rain. The LD is honestly what won many of my match-ups, since a t1 figure, t2 pump tap land or burst/skred into t3 molten rain, t4 bomb was back breaking for many decks.
A few changes I would make:
-1 Akroma (Cheeky but not good)
-1 Slagstorm (no longer playable)
+1 Rolling Terrain (Keep the damage + tempo plan strong)
+1 Draw-spell of some sort. Maybe browbeat? Maybe another faithless looting?
Other than that, the SB was a mess. My pod game was closer than it should have because I lacked anger of the gods. I also didn't have any gravehate for living end, but won off the back of my faithless looting away an akroma and inferno titan. The only cards that were relevant were pyrohemia, kazul and artifact destruction for pod.
Well it looks like this thread mostly died, but I've loved teachings ever since I played it in Extended years ago. I thought I would share my recent list.
I top 8'd a starcity IQ today with my home brew. Pretty happy with it.
Anyway, the biggest difference is the inclusion of Gifts Ungiven and the small gifts package of creatures. Surprisingly, I didn't do a eleshnorn/titan, unburial pile once all day. I was instead usually doing snap + answer + answer + bomb piles. I have found gifts to be incredibly powerful in modern...much stronger than sphinx's revelation.
If I were to make some changes, it would probably be +1 gifts for 3 gifts, 2 teachings. I would also probably +1 Wrath of God, -1 Supreme verdict for the gifts piles. Teferi got moved to the board the last second for the hallowed burial, which I thing was generally a good call considering how many finks were running around.
The man base was stable and generally the right speed of tap vs non-tap lands. I might include one more basic. A resolved blood moon isn't that bad anymore since I run 6 basics and the chromatic lantern...but generally I felt like I didn't need so many dual lands. I was able to cast everything always...never got mana-screwed. Lost in the top 8 to flood however.
Great opening hands for me included t1 inquisition, t2 mana leak, t3 snap inquisition or t1 tapped land, t2 leak, t3 charm, t4 gifts/teaching or t1 snare, t2 leak, t3 snap + snare, t4 tapped land + charm, t5 chromatic + charm, t6 eleshnorn hardcast
The only real problems I had all day were against Zoo, and Lili + scavenging ooze. I took out a rest for the weary from the board and regretted it against zoo. The match is winnable but definitely not favorable by any means. Against lili, the hero's downfall is okay but I never found it. I am considering whether Lingering Souls might be worth 2 slots as it seems like a great card against these problems. Green for abrupt decay is probably too drastic.
The sideboard was reasonable all day. Damping matrix probably being the MVP...shuts down pod, twin, affinity, among other things. A few slots could use some work though.
I hope this gives this thread some new life. Also, nice to see you active still I-Never-Smile.
I bring in blightning against any slower control deck or combo deck. It is fantastic against Twin, Scapeshift, any control variant with raven's crime early. It is also good against burn. Against aggro it is lackluster.
Rolling templor has been okay. I originally ran 2x volcanic fallout main...but I found anger the gods in the board to be a better choice. I can see cutting it. I was not running lingering souls until my recent build, so the need for a sweeper is now much less. It does play nice though with my flying tokens which is pretty sweet. It won me a match g1 against elves. That said, I have since moved it to the board switched it with a maelstrom pulse.
I mean lightning bolt is well.....lightning bolt. One of the best cards in modern...so it is hard to not play it in red. It is also used to turn on ascension. That said, I agree with the smallpox assessment; I am going to make that switch. With ascension it is insane...with lili it is good.
I have found the main problem with cards like terminate or spot removal in general is that unless I play 3-4x of them, I loam them into the graveyard with no way to access them. I have thought about running 2-3x Eternal witness for this reason but I am unsure about it. Honestly, playing 2x terminate probably feels right except for this problem. I lost to a resolved Phyrexian Obliterater recently which showed the need for some spot removal. Flame slash seems very weak. Honestly, once we get seismic online, any sort of burn removal like bolt is a waste. Sever the bloodline is actually pretty nice at the 4 drop spot if you draw it and if you loam it away, it is still a reasonable answer. That I think you guys should test.
Trace of abundance is in the deck to smooth the mana for 4 colors and fix my blood moon problem. Yes, blood moon is pretty relevant in my meta, which can be obnoxious. I added it yesterday for this reason. I was also considering Chromatic lantern instead as a 2-of. Otherwise, I don't see any 2 additional lands that would help. I considered changing the mana-base to reflecting pool + vivid lands, but that also seems iffy. More fetchlands makes the problem worse as they are useless post moon. Pre-moon getting a mountain is pointless...getting a single plains for my 3x souls also seems terrible. I could try to squeeze in more basics...which also puts some stress on the mana. I am already running 2 forests which is more than any list I have seen on here so far. I am running the 61st card to get that extra land in...which would be a ghost quarter. It sounds like people have experience with ghost quarter on here so I won't go into its versatility. That said, if the list can be streamlined a bit, 60 is fine. I feel like 61 with extra colorless land is completely reasonable personally for a deck like this that dredges most of its library anyway.
One possibility I have considered is more filter lands and basics. Run more swamps and graven cairns. That could be reasonable. The main problem I find is once you are bloodmooned, it is the green you really want for loam. 2x forests and 4x catacombs sometimes aren't enough and filter lands can't save you then.
So something like -2x Trace, -1x Rolling/pulse, -3x Bolt, +4x Smallpox, +1x Land, +1x Seismic assault?
Thanks for the feedback. I have several decks I like and play in modern over this one, so I haven't put enough time into it yet to find a truly optimized list. I love the rack + bloodchief but need to figure out the right numbers of the other cards for sure.
So I've been tinkering with loam for a few months now. I've taken it to 3 FNMs, going 3-1 with my various builds. I originally ran garruk and deathcloud, which was pretty sweet but it didn't synergize with seismic well. I then tried a stock jund list, but found it a bit underwhelming. I've noticed the problem with finishers as well, which is why tonight I ran this list. Pretty sexy. It played well. I lost to a few timely bloodmoons where I wasn't able to find my a decays or ray of revelation before greater gargodon beat me down (restore balance.dec)
The list is a bit unconventional, but I have found that the rack + bloodchief offers great win-cons at the 1-drop spot. Pretty easy to turn on via damage or R Crime. The list is trying to maximize the flashback ability from dredging. It's been great.
The only changes I am considering making at this point are 3x smallpox for the bolts. Bolts are okay, but I've found I occasionally have trouble with larger creatures that are out of burn range or getting stuck with lingering souls in my hand.
Vengeful pharoah is some sick tech against aggro which I highly suggest. You loam it away when it gets put back on top which destroys their creatures for free without spending a card. With that and anger of the gods, aggro is pretty much a cakewalk.
So I've been tooling around a bit with the above list. It is actually pretty solid. It definitely has some good game against a lot of mid-rangey aggro decks and fae. Post board pod is fine.
The major change is no Liliana of the veil. Yes the card is powerful and yes there is a reason it is pricey. However, for this deck she is a liability. We don't want to be discarding anything with no real recursion or graveyard effects and her sac ability by itself is not great with so many token decks running around. We have enough sweepers/spot removal anyway.
Damnation can go over mutilate also...I do like having my lashwrithe equipped creature living after a mutilate though.
Anyway, I am somewhat confused why people are not running rav duals and splashing a color. With fetches and swamp dual lands, I can see little reason not to. MBC cannot effectively deal with artifacts and enchantments, and with Bitterblossom everyone's fetish, this is a liability.
So, I propose green. It makes the most sense in terms of non-creature removal and in terms of some nice mana accel which MBC needs.
This list might seem a bit unconventional at first so let me explain a few choices:
Lashwrithe is the main reason to play MBC in my opinion. Aggressively costed as a creature, it then makes all your other creatures game winners.
Mire's Toll: This can reasonably be a Thoughtsieze. However, they have different roles. IOK is a t1 discard spell, Mire's toll is a T3-t5 discard spell you play before you want to resolve something. At this point, mire's toll takes ANY CARD in their hand with no loss of life...even lands.
Tendrils gains you much needed life from the sign in blood/night's whisper and arena
Mimic vat is for any grindy matchup. It will win against any graveyard creature deck or control deck. It should be moved to the SB against aggro. Ever had a G titan on a vat? It feels good..let me tell you.
Otherwise the choices seem fairly standard. The SB has an LD package against greedy mana-bases, tron, scapeshift. Other cards are for aggro or control respectively.
Well, I haven't signed onto this site for over a year now. Anyway, I've since moved on from MUC to RU control, which is showing a lot of promise. While A decay is bad, deathrite has but the nail in the coffin I fear.
Anyway, here is my final list for anyone that is interested. I feel it is pretty honed...***** I tweaked and the played the deck at a competitive level for 5 years.
Hey all...it's been quite awhile since I've posted on here but I thought I would share some idle thoughts since I brushed off my version of MUC for a major legacy tournament a few weeks ago.
Sadly, I am going to have to agree with razerfire and other people who are posting on here...while Abrupt Decay is pretty harsh for the deck, this with deathrite shaman pretty much means that MUC won't be viable as a tier deck anytime soon. The problem is that the 1-drop comes to early to be countered, and then sits and eats all your spells in your yard while dealing you significant damage. He neutralizes snappy and with A Decay backup, can't be shackled. Misdirection does help against A Decay, but I haven't found an answer in blue for deathrite because honestly I don't think one exists. Furthermore, while B2B is one of the strongest weapons MUC has, A decay again neutralizes it since they only need to draw a land or float the mana to knock it out.
Another problem card is Cavern of Souls for any deck that runs it. I had never lost a competitive match to goblins ever before that deck started running them as a 4-of. Suddenly, the match-up became pretty damn difficult. I also had an issue with lingering souls, although powder keg was an all-star there.
As such, I've moved on from MUC after years of tweaking and playtime. I've cashed in tournaments numerous times with MUC and I love the deck to death, but it can't keep up right now. Sad days.
I think splashing red and changing the decks basic gameplan is the way to go. I'll keep people updated as it pans out more.
I can also post my final MUC list if people are interested.
In my opinion, the problem I see with a lot of these lists is that there is too much burn/spot removal. I've played against skred plenty of times with other decks, and if you can deal with their larger threats with counters or hard removal skred starts to sputter and top-deck poorly for this reason, especially when it lacks valakut.
Anyway, with less removal, I am more combat focused. The main difference I see is the inclusion of FoD and Urabrask, the badass. Figure is great...puts on a little early pressure and is a late-game sync. Attacking with mana-up consistently makes it get through so you can play your other spells or force a bad trade for them. He is legit. Test it. Urabrask makes all your creatures hyper-aggresive (t5 urabrask t6 titan is gg) and also has some nice utility against twin, grieselbrand combo and stymies their blockers. He is solid.
Otherwise, I do like the demigod list due to its comeback and sort of explosive nature, even if his all red cc can be annoying at times with sheets. I was running faithless looting for awhile but I found the card disadvantage to be problematic, especially when usually you only want to ditch 1 demigod. The valakuts make your lands valuable and not ditch-able. Tormenting voice is turning out be quite nice to ditch demigods or duplicates will maintaining parity.
If I were to cut demigods I could see the 4 mana dragon as a viable alternative, although the lack of haste makes it seem like a weaker demigod in some ways. I haven't tested it though so I could see its ability being very relevant. Without demigods, relic could come main, as well as chandra.
I would like to up the siege-gang count to 2, but haven't found a way to really do that. I like his ability to clog the board for enough turns to put you over the top. There are a decent amount of 5 and 6 cc creatures, which is why solemn is necessary. He helps valakut and deals with pro-red creatures and etched champion. I am very happy with him.
19 Snow-Covered Mountain
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
2 Scrying Sheets
// Creatures
4 Figure of Destiny
3 Boros Reckoner
3 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Urabrask the Hidden
4 Demigod of Revenge
2 Inferno Titan
4 Skred
2 Tormenting Voice
2 Magma Jet
3 Volcanic Fallout
4 Blood Moon
3 Koth of the Hammer
2 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Vandalblast
2 Reverberate
1 Everlasting Torment
1 Mimic Vat
2 Boil
2 Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
1 Blasphemous Act
3 [AN] Desert
2 [VI] Quicksand
15 [ST] Island (1)
2 [ON] Lonely Sandbar
Spells
4 [DKA] Thought Scour
1 [5E] Flood
4 [M11] Preordain
2 [GP] Repeal
1 [SHM] Curse of Chains
1 [M10] Essence Scatter
1 [M14] Negate
1 [DS] Echoing Truth
4 [M12] Jace's Erasure
1 [10E] Remove Soul
4 [NE] Accumulated Knowledge
1 [RAV] Muddle the Mixture
4 [5E] Counterspell
1 [TE] Capsize
2 [PLC] Wistful Thinking
2 [IN] Exclude
1 [EVE] Oona's Grace
2 [M13] Rewind
2 [MM] Gush
3 [THS] Annul
3 [A] Blue Elemental Blast
3 [LG] Psychic Purge
3 [WWK] Dispel
3 [AT] Serrated Arrows
I agree that delver is underwhelming and understand your concerns on his toughness and vulnerability. I was arguing that the creature package is MUC is very underwhelming in general, and delver at least could offer a remedy to that. I agree that Spire Golem is the best we have, but to close out a game, 4x 2/4 fliers is not even close to enough. I don't really like the Sentinels of Glen Elendra due to their 3 toughness and 4cc, even if flash is important in this deck. Again, the reasoning being an opponents removal mostly in the form of bolts and direct damage clogs their hand until we try to play our wincons. Flame slash seems to be one of the most popular cards in pauper, which kills all our win-cons. We can't be using all our counters on protection, like a tempo deck with delver would do. My suggestions would be to try a mill strategy, which could possibly be too slow in an aggro meta as mentioned, or to instead make use of aggressive shroud creature, which I think calcite snapper is perfect here.
As far as haunted Fengraf, seems like an interesting choice that could work if the small creature package is still the choice for win-cons. Maybe try testing.
As far as accumulated knowledge, you are correct in that think twice draws a similar number of cards, but it has a much higher liability that AK. Let's take a look here:
Think twice:
1u - 1 card
3uu - 2 cards
4uuu - 3 cards
6uuuu - 4 cards
7uuuuu - 5 cards
9uuuuuu - 6 cards
10uuuuuu - 7 cards
12uuuuuuu - 8 cards
So 4 think twice for 8 cards total costs us 20 mana...! yes it is at instant speed, but it is not like they cannot respond to our tapping out to cast the flashback on think twice. I am not saying it is a bad card and if you prefer the consistency getting 2 cards, then that is a choice to make. I find this very underwhelming
Accumulated knowledge:
1u - 1 card
2uu - 3 cards
3uuu - 6 cards
4uuuu - 10 cards
To draw 10 cards, we sink 8 mana. Much better! Yes, this is if we see all 4, but I would even argue that seeing 2 for 3 cards total for 2uu mana is still much nicer than think twice.
Gush plays nicely with oona's grace. Treasure cruise eats up our grace, think twice's or AKs. Still, if your testing has proven this to not be a problem, then I think Cruise is a fine choice.
Sure, we want to draw as many cards as we can...but the cards we draw need to have impact on the game. Why don't we play 4x ponder, 4x preordain and 4x brainstorm? They are very powerful cards that filter and should get us to our answers? Well, we just durdle in that scenario. The same can happen with too much draw...you draw into more draw spells, or even get close to milling out. I think this deck has a huge amount of the best draw spells around, that isn't its problem. Card advantage is a real thing, but the deck I think lacks card quality if we jam too many draw spells in.
Whether the life from psychic barrier is worth the possibility of not being able to cast it due to our colorless lands if up to you to decide. I am not sure yet either way.
Psychic purge is definitely a specific card and perhaps a sb card. It however does offer us removal vs anything with 1 toughness, which seem to be rampant in pauper? The discard part is just gravy.
Excellent reason to use curse of chains. I forgot about Guardian of the Guildpact
I am not familiar with how effective prohibit is. I will need to test it out it sounds like. Fair enough.
You may not know me but I was a big proponent of MUC in legacy for a long time...and did quite well with the deck for many years at SCGs and grandprixs - especially during MUCs heyday when mental misstep was a thing.
Anyway, the legacy deck no longer is viable for numerous reasons, including delver, deathrite, and abrupt decay. I've tooled around with a modern version, which was decent. I've also tooled around with Pauper, etc etc etc blah blah blah. I digress.
So, here is are the two variations I would build if I were to build a MUC deck in Pauper. The first would be a more classical version:
2 Lonely Sandbar
16 Island
3 Desert
2 Quicksand
Spells by CC
1 Psychic Purge
4 Ponder
2 Repeal
1 Narcolepsy
4 Accumulated Knowledge
3 Psychic Barrier
2 Echoing Truth
4 Counterspell
2 Capsize
1 Oona's Grace
3 Exclude
2 Gush
4 Spire Golem
3 [LG] Psychic Purge
3 [A] Blue Elemental Blast
3 [WWK] Dispel
3 [AT] Serrated Arrows
Urdjur makes a strong argument for the inclusion of delver over some sort of pestermite, spellstutter sprite package. Since we are playing delver then, ponder is correct to set him up over brainstorm (weak without fetches) and preordain.
Otherwise, a few cards that have not been discussed which should be are psychic barrier and psychic purge. The barrier is an obvious choice in this deck somewhere in the 75. Pauper is creature heavy so the card seems an great choice in addition to exclude and gets a little damage in on top to help delver. Psychic purge is a sweet little card in Pauper: it kills x/1s handily, can burn face for that last point of damage hilariously and has great utility against any discard around.
The deck has some insane amount of draw and filtering so, 1-of's aren't too bad. Hence the one of narcolepsy (equivalent to chains).
As far as draw package, I strongly prefer and suggest accumulated knowledge and gush over treasure cruise and think twice. Think twice is weak in comparison to AK...you should be able to cast 3 to 4 easy a game which is way stronger and lighter on mana. Cruise does not play nice with AK, or Oona's grace. It is okay in small numbers, but I feel gush is better all around as a hard cast or for it's alternative. The deck doesn't really need more draw really.
The problem with this deck is the win-cons. It is a very good control deck, the counters are strong...the bounce package is adequate to deal with resolved problems. Winning with delver and spire golem alone is troublesome however. It requires a large amount of counters to protect them, which is the last thing the deck should be doing. Flame slash, bolt, and electolize are everywhere. The deck really needs man-lands in addition such as 4x factory, but that isn't a possibility.
There are two options...we can play 4x of the convertible turtle (calcite snapper), which is reasonable. The shroud is a huge boon and the flippable ability can end games pretty quickly. He is a turn 5 and later play. This will be what I do if this second option fails.
Instead, I am experimenting with a different win-con package in Jace's Erasure + Curse of the bloody tome. This offers a non-creature win-con, which blanks all their removal. This is huge. We already draw so much that 2+ Jace's erasure on the board is an inevitable win. The deck would look something like this:
3 Desert
16 Island
2 Lonely Sandbar
2 Quicksand
Spells
4 Brainstorm
2 Preordain
2 Repeal
1 Negate
1 Remove Soul
4 Accumulated Knowledge
1 Narcolepsy
4 Jace's Erasure
2 Echoing Truth
4 Counterspell
2 Capsize
4 Exclude
3 Curse of the Bloody Tome
1 Oona's Grace
2 Gush
3 Annul
3 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Psychic Purge
3 Dispel
3 Serrated Arrows
Those are what I am working with right now. Some food for thought. Both thee versions are slightly lighter counters, since there is some much draw and bounce. If that is a concern, I suggest 4x Rune Snag.
A counter package like:
4x Counterspell
4x Rune Snag
3x Exclude
2x Psychic Barrier
1x Negate
is strong and reasonable
2 [CS] Scrying Sheets
3 [ZEN] Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
18 [CS] Snow-Covered Mountain
// Creatures
4 [EVE] Figure of Destiny
3 [GTC] Boros Reckoner
1 [ZEN] Obsidian Fireheart
3 [M12] Solemn Simulacrum
4 [SHM] Demigod of Revenge
2 [M12] Inferno Titan
1 [DKA] Faithless Looting
4 [CS] Skred
2 [10E] Mind Stone
1 [WWK] Comet Storm
2 [CFX] Volcanic Fallout
4 [MR] Molten Rain
2 [ROE] Staggershock
3 [SOM] Koth of the Hammer
1 [ZEN] Chandra Ablaze
2 [ALA] Relic of Progenitus
1 [CFX] Banefire
2 [SHM] Smash to Smithereens
2 [M12] Combust
2 [M12] Dragon's Claw
2 [M11] Reverberate
1 [SHM] Everlasting Torment
1 [PLC] Pyrohemia
2 [M14] Burning Earth
The deck is very balanced...every card is for maximum value based on its cc in red. Best 1 red drop is figure, early game is usually pumping him depending on opponents plays. He is slightly awkward with mindstone, which is why it got cut to 2. Mana up to 23. I am happy with the compromise so far. Best 3 drop creature is boros reckoner for sure. He has some great synergy with sweepers and skred...couldn't believe I wasn't playing him before. The deck doesn't have room for bolts, so staggershock 2-1s against small dudes or acts as a flame javelin. Solemn is best 4cc for value to insure you get your bombs out...koth is for damage. Demigod I prefer since the deck can be weak against counters at times...he is house against any control shell and steal games out of nowhere. Titan is the top of the list...doesn't get more damaging than him. Chandra ablaze I have found is the best draw planeswalker with her minus ability, while her plus ability gives some nice reach. Good synergy with Demigod again. 1-of faithless to smooth out clumpy draws and combos with demigod. Skred is necessary and shouldn't be cut...you need to be able to hit those restoration angels or any opposing creatures you can't sweep away. Molten rain still fantastic to slow opponent, kill gavony townships, celestial colonnades, other manlands and to color-screw greedy decks....all while continuing to add to the damage plan. 1-of obsidian fireheart combos with Koth...add a bunch of mana to light up their lands and watch them burn.
A big difference is the inclusion of valakut. Works with solemn and adds a late game plan to a deck that can run out of cards if the opponent gets too many removal spells or counters. Adds inevitability and doens't hurt the base at all. Should be an obvious inclusion if you aren't on the main deck bloodmoon plan.
SB is pretty nice but is meta-call. Pretty self-explanatory I think. Reverberate is to copy enemy counters mostly. Earth wins against slow decks. Pyro against creature decks and pod...again great synergy with recockner.
Anyway, I like the deck quite a bit...it sort of straddles the aggro-control archetypes and can go either way depending on play style. The deck has lots of internal synergy between cards but does not require a linear strategy to get ahead.
Boros reckoner is interesting. I feel like the triple red early is a bit dicey with scrying sheets (which I am starting to get pretty unimpressed with. I continue to draw 2 or have 2 in my opening hand constantly which screws up my demigod plays :/). Still, the creature is house in terms of dealing with creatures on the board and does have some nice synergy with skred and sweepers. I could see testing it for sure.
In my 2 slots recently I have been testing staggershock. Great card: Better than flame javelin by far. Is easy on the mana-base with 2 colorless and can get into 2-1 territory easily with all these 2 toughness creatures running around. Sexy thing you.
Chandra pyromaster or chandra the firebrand...both seem like interesting additions for different reasons. Doubling up an LD or Banefire seems great..but the deck doesn't run a huge amount of spells really. The draw off pyromaster is good, but I can see the ultimate being a huge whiff. Maybe just use her as a red bob? Seems reasonable. I could see testing either really. The 4 drop spot is a tad bit crowded with Koth already however. I've had great luck with the OG Chandra in different decks as a great anti-aggro card. She nukes creatures and her ultimate always wins. Still, it doesn't seem right here though: she is a control planeswalker in an aggro-ish deck.
The LD isn't really to crush the opposing manabase nor really the main focus of the deck. Really, the LD follows the Ponza philosophy: slow the opponent while you set up for a huge bomb (demigod, titan, koth, etc). Considering how many man-lands and opposing valakuts from scapeshift and tri-colored decks there are in Modern, I've found LD to be very strong currently as opposed to my experience with blood moon in modern, which is mediocre. I've considered avalanche riders, but it seems like a worse roiling terrain. I also tried to increase the LD, but the deck started feeding too many LD spells with not threat to capitalize on them. Honestly, I feel like Skred red's philosophy should be this: screw with the opponent while also damaging them. Molten rain is perfect for this. That way when you land a bomb, they are within easy reach.
Anyway, just a few thoughts on the deck. It is a blast to play and refreshing after the infinite counters that all my other decks have in them.
I went undefeated and won the FNM. Sweet.
18 [CS] Snow-Covered Mountain
3 [ZEN] Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
2 [CS] Scrying Sheets
// Creatures
4 [EVE] Figure of Destiny
2 [ZEN] Obsidian Fireheart
4 [SHM] Demigod of Revenge
2 [M12] Inferno Titan
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
// Spells
2 [ZEN] Burst Lightning
1 [DKA] Faithless Looting
4 [CS] Skred
1 [CFX] Banefire
2 [10E] Mind Stone
1 [WWK] Comet Storm
2 [CFX] Volcanic Fallout
1 Slagstorm
4 [MR] Molten Rain
2 [WWK] Roiling Terrain
3 [SOM] Koth of the Hammer
1 [ZEN] Chandra Ablaze
2 [RTR] Vandalblast
2 [M11] Reverberate
1 [PLC] Pyrohemia
3 [M14] Burning Earth
2 [WWK] Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
2 Searing Blaze
2 Vexing Shusher
1 Mimic Vat
Anyway, I hadn't tested the deck much but I was actually pretty damn impressed with it. The one thing I have seen that all these other lists are lacking is Figure of Destiny. Seriously...what the hell people. Early pressure, mid-game mana-sink and late game win-con. He was the MVP all night. Taking down goyfs and dodging bolts all night long.
Other than that, there is a sweet interaction between Koth -2 and Obsidian Fireheart. The deck also plays haymakers so counters can be tricky. I have combated this by choosing demigod of revenge over these other 5/5 flyers. Great if countered....and it was great for me all night with Koth's -2 and faithless looting. Also, ever reverberated a cryptic command? Feels good
As it sounds like people are recognizing,blood moon has become much weaker as the meta has adjusted by running more basics. Instead, the approach I have taken is a Ponzi-type early game with Molten Rain. The LD is honestly what won many of my match-ups, since a t1 figure, t2 pump tap land or burst/skred into t3 molten rain, t4 bomb was back breaking for many decks.
A few changes I would make:
-1 Akroma (Cheeky but not good)
-1 Slagstorm (no longer playable)
+1 Rolling Terrain (Keep the damage + tempo plan strong)
+1 Draw-spell of some sort. Maybe browbeat? Maybe another faithless looting?
Other than that, the SB was a mess. My pod game was closer than it should have because I lacked anger of the gods. I also didn't have any gravehate for living end, but won off the back of my faithless looting away an akroma and inferno titan. The only cards that were relevant were pyrohemia, kazul and artifact destruction for pod.
This would be my updated deck:
18 [CS] Snow-Covered Mountain
3 [ZEN] Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
2 [CS] Scrying Sheets
// Creatures
4 [EVE] Figure of Destiny
2 [ZEN] Obsidian Fireheart
4 [SHM] Demigod of Revenge
2 [M12] Inferno Titan
// Spells
2 [ZEN] Burst Lightning
1 [DKA] Faithless Looting
4 [CS] Skred
1 [CFX] Banefire
2 [10E] Mind Stone
1 [WWK] Comet Storm
2 [CFX] Volcanic Fallout
4 [MR] Molten Rain
1 [TSB] Browbeat
3 [WWK] Roiling Terrain
3 [SOM] Koth of the Hammer
1 [ZEN] Chandra Ablaze
2 [ALA] Relic of Progenitus
2 [RTR] Vandalblast
2 [M11] Reverberate
2 [THS] Anger of the Gods
2 [FD] Sowing Salt
1 [PLC] Pyrohemia
2 [M14] Burning Earth
2 [WWK] Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
I top 8'd a starcity IQ today with my home brew. Pretty happy with it.
1 [M10] Glacial Fortress
1 [WWK] Tectonic Edge
1 [RAV] Watery Grave
1 [ZEN] Swamp (2)
1 [ZEN] Plains (1)
1 [WWK] Celestial Colonnade
3 [SHM] Mystic Gate
3 [WWK] Creeping Tar Pit
4 [ZEN] Island (2)
2 [ALA] Arcane Sanctum
1 [DIS] Hallowed Fountain
3 [SOM] Darkslick Shores
3 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
7x Creatures
4 [ISD] Snapcaster Mage
1 [M11] Baneslayer Angel
1 [M12] Grave Titan
1 [NPH] Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
29x Spells
3 [ROE] Inquisition of Kozilek
1 [DIS] Spell Snare
2 [CFX] Path to Exile
3 [M11] Mana Leak
1 [MOR] Negate
1 [M10] Essence Scatter
1 [MI] Dissipate
1 [RTR] Detention Sphere
1 [RTR] Chromatic Lantern
3 [ALA] Esper Charm
1 [MBS] White Sun's Zenith
2 [LRW] Cryptic Command
3 [RTR] Supreme Verdict
2 [CHK] Gifts Ungiven
2 [TSP] Mystical Teachings
1 [EVE] Hallowed Burial
1 [ISD] Unburial Rites
1 [PLC] Extirpate
1 [ROE] Suffer the Past
3 [RAV] Shadow of Doubt
1 [TSB] Disenchant
1 [BNG] Bile Blight
1 [DS] Pulse of the Fields
3 [MR] Damping Matrix
1 [RTR] Sphinx's Revelation
1 [ZEN] Mindbreak Trap
1 [TSP] Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Hero's Downfall
Anyway, the biggest difference is the inclusion of Gifts Ungiven and the small gifts package of creatures. Surprisingly, I didn't do a eleshnorn/titan, unburial pile once all day. I was instead usually doing snap + answer + answer + bomb piles. I have found gifts to be incredibly powerful in modern...much stronger than sphinx's revelation.
If I were to make some changes, it would probably be +1 gifts for 3 gifts, 2 teachings. I would also probably +1 Wrath of God, -1 Supreme verdict for the gifts piles. Teferi got moved to the board the last second for the hallowed burial, which I thing was generally a good call considering how many finks were running around.
The man base was stable and generally the right speed of tap vs non-tap lands. I might include one more basic. A resolved blood moon isn't that bad anymore since I run 6 basics and the chromatic lantern...but generally I felt like I didn't need so many dual lands. I was able to cast everything always...never got mana-screwed. Lost in the top 8 to flood however.
Great opening hands for me included t1 inquisition, t2 mana leak, t3 snap inquisition or t1 tapped land, t2 leak, t3 charm, t4 gifts/teaching or t1 snare, t2 leak, t3 snap + snare, t4 tapped land + charm, t5 chromatic + charm, t6 eleshnorn hardcast
The only real problems I had all day were against Zoo, and Lili + scavenging ooze. I took out a rest for the weary from the board and regretted it against zoo. The match is winnable but definitely not favorable by any means. Against lili, the hero's downfall is okay but I never found it. I am considering whether Lingering Souls might be worth 2 slots as it seems like a great card against these problems. Green for abrupt decay is probably too drastic.
The sideboard was reasonable all day. Damping matrix probably being the MVP...shuts down pod, twin, affinity, among other things. A few slots could use some work though.
I hope this gives this thread some new life. Also, nice to see you active still I-Never-Smile.
Rolling templor has been okay. I originally ran 2x volcanic fallout main...but I found anger the gods in the board to be a better choice. I can see cutting it. I was not running lingering souls until my recent build, so the need for a sweeper is now much less. It does play nice though with my flying tokens which is pretty sweet. It won me a match g1 against elves. That said, I have since moved it to the board switched it with a maelstrom pulse.
I mean lightning bolt is well.....lightning bolt. One of the best cards in modern...so it is hard to not play it in red. It is also used to turn on ascension. That said, I agree with the smallpox assessment; I am going to make that switch. With ascension it is insane...with lili it is good.
I have found the main problem with cards like terminate or spot removal in general is that unless I play 3-4x of them, I loam them into the graveyard with no way to access them. I have thought about running 2-3x Eternal witness for this reason but I am unsure about it. Honestly, playing 2x terminate probably feels right except for this problem. I lost to a resolved Phyrexian Obliterater recently which showed the need for some spot removal. Flame slash seems very weak. Honestly, once we get seismic online, any sort of burn removal like bolt is a waste. Sever the bloodline is actually pretty nice at the 4 drop spot if you draw it and if you loam it away, it is still a reasonable answer. That I think you guys should test.
Trace of abundance is in the deck to smooth the mana for 4 colors and fix my blood moon problem. Yes, blood moon is pretty relevant in my meta, which can be obnoxious. I added it yesterday for this reason. I was also considering Chromatic lantern instead as a 2-of. Otherwise, I don't see any 2 additional lands that would help. I considered changing the mana-base to reflecting pool + vivid lands, but that also seems iffy. More fetchlands makes the problem worse as they are useless post moon. Pre-moon getting a mountain is pointless...getting a single plains for my 3x souls also seems terrible. I could try to squeeze in more basics...which also puts some stress on the mana. I am already running 2 forests which is more than any list I have seen on here so far. I am running the 61st card to get that extra land in...which would be a ghost quarter. It sounds like people have experience with ghost quarter on here so I won't go into its versatility. That said, if the list can be streamlined a bit, 60 is fine. I feel like 61 with extra colorless land is completely reasonable personally for a deck like this that dredges most of its library anyway.
One possibility I have considered is more filter lands and basics. Run more swamps and graven cairns. That could be reasonable. The main problem I find is once you are bloodmooned, it is the green you really want for loam. 2x forests and 4x catacombs sometimes aren't enough and filter lands can't save you then.
What cards do you think need to be 4-ofs? Seismic assault?
So something like -2x Trace, -1x Rolling/pulse, -3x Bolt, +4x Smallpox, +1x Land, +1x Seismic assault?
Thanks for the feedback. I have several decks I like and play in modern over this one, so I haven't put enough time into it yet to find a truly optimized list. I love the rack + bloodchief but need to figure out the right numbers of the other cards for sure.
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Savage Lands
1 Raging Ravine
2 Swamp
1 Stomping Ground
1 Blood Crypt
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Kher Keep
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Graven Cairns
1 Horizon Canopy
2 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
Spells
3 The Rack
3 Raven's Crime
3 Bloodchief Ascension
4 Faithless Looting
2 Trace of Abundance
4 Life from the Loam
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Rolling Temblor
3 Lingering Souls
3 Seismic Assault
1 Sever the Bloodline
2 Ray of Revelation
2 Syphon Life
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Blightning
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Vengeful Pharaoh
The list is a bit unconventional, but I have found that the rack + bloodchief offers great win-cons at the 1-drop spot. Pretty easy to turn on via damage or R Crime. The list is trying to maximize the flashback ability from dredging. It's been great.
The only changes I am considering making at this point are 3x smallpox for the bolts. Bolts are okay, but I've found I occasionally have trouble with larger creatures that are out of burn range or getting stuck with lingering souls in my hand.
Vengeful pharoah is some sick tech against aggro which I highly suggest. You loam it away when it gets put back on top which destroys their creatures for free without spending a card. With that and anger of the gods, aggro is pretty much a cakewalk.
Here is my updated list:
The major change is no Liliana of the veil. Yes the card is powerful and yes there is a reason it is pricey. However, for this deck she is a liability. We don't want to be discarding anything with no real recursion or graveyard effects and her sac ability by itself is not great with so many token decks running around. We have enough sweepers/spot removal anyway.
Damnation can go over mutilate also...I do like having my lashwrithe equipped creature living after a mutilate though.
http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/standard/22084_Deck_Tech_MonoBlack_Control_With_Dustin_Gault.html
Anyway, I am somewhat confused why people are not running rav duals and splashing a color. With fetches and swamp dual lands, I can see little reason not to. MBC cannot effectively deal with artifacts and enchantments, and with Bitterblossom everyone's fetish, this is a liability.
So, I propose green. It makes the most sense in terms of non-creature removal and in terms of some nice mana accel which MBC needs.
Here is a rough draft:
This list might seem a bit unconventional at first so let me explain a few choices:
Lashwrithe is the main reason to play MBC in my opinion. Aggressively costed as a creature, it then makes all your other creatures game winners.
Mire's Toll: This can reasonably be a Thoughtsieze. However, they have different roles. IOK is a t1 discard spell, Mire's toll is a T3-t5 discard spell you play before you want to resolve something. At this point, mire's toll takes ANY CARD in their hand with no loss of life...even lands.
Tendrils gains you much needed life from the sign in blood/night's whisper and arena
Mimic vat is for any grindy matchup. It will win against any graveyard creature deck or control deck. It should be moved to the SB against aggro. Ever had a G titan on a vat? It feels good..let me tell you.
Otherwise the choices seem fairly standard. The SB has an LD package against greedy mana-bases, tron, scapeshift. Other cards are for aggro or control respectively.
Anyway, here is my final list for anyone that is interested. I feel it is pretty honed...***** I tweaked and the played the deck at a competitive level for 5 years.
Synergy's MUC:
Sadly, I am going to have to agree with razerfire and other people who are posting on here...while Abrupt Decay is pretty harsh for the deck, this with deathrite shaman pretty much means that MUC won't be viable as a tier deck anytime soon. The problem is that the 1-drop comes to early to be countered, and then sits and eats all your spells in your yard while dealing you significant damage. He neutralizes snappy and with A Decay backup, can't be shackled. Misdirection does help against A Decay, but I haven't found an answer in blue for deathrite because honestly I don't think one exists. Furthermore, while B2B is one of the strongest weapons MUC has, A decay again neutralizes it since they only need to draw a land or float the mana to knock it out.
Another problem card is Cavern of Souls for any deck that runs it. I had never lost a competitive match to goblins ever before that deck started running them as a 4-of. Suddenly, the match-up became pretty damn difficult. I also had an issue with lingering souls, although powder keg was an all-star there.
As such, I've moved on from MUC after years of tweaking and playtime. I've cashed in tournaments numerous times with MUC and I love the deck to death, but it can't keep up right now. Sad days.
I think splashing red and changing the decks basic gameplan is the way to go. I'll keep people updated as it pans out more.
I can also post my final MUC list if people are interested.