I think Sire of Insanity was only played in the Jund lists for the control match(some also brought it in vs. the mirror, I didn't like it personally).. alongside Cavern of Souls, to make it a pseudo Rakdos's Return that can't be countered. As far as the discarding your hand, I'm pretty sure the idea was that Jund was a more powerful deck card for card so you didn't mind being in topdeck situation if it meant that you stripped their hand as well. I played with the card for a decent amount of time and had a lot of "easy" free wins from it. That being said, I cut it after about 25 matches and would not play it in this deck whatsoever.
I've been testing various versions of the deck, including GerryT's and I really don't see this deck being competitive unlesss the mana issues are resolved. It takes way too much damage from shocks.. I actually still want to build this deck for the new standard but I can't see it paying off.. I will say however, that this deck should beat the control decks of the new format. It has great tools to do so.
I'm sure this has been asked before but I have a question regarding the ETB ability of Angel of Serenity .
Scenario 1:
Opponent casts Angel of Serenity from hand, it resolves. The angel's ETB ability goes on the stack. I then respond with a Putrefy.
Is this a legal response? Or do I have to wait until he declares up to 3 targets first.
Scenario 2:
Opponent casts Angel of Serenity from hand, it resolves. The angel's ETB ability goes on the stack. My opponent chooses to exile a Thragtusk from his graveyard, a Beast token on my side of the battlefield, and a Huntmaster of the Fells from my side of the battlefield. I then respond with a Putrefy.
I've been doing well with this deck at fnms. The few losses that I do have are from mana screw/flood. I haven't lost to reanimator once, aggro decks are a favorable matchup, bant, however, is a nightmare. even with all the sb cards dedicated to that matchup its still pretty bad. I'm beginning to think that you wanna name sphinx's revelation against them with the first slaughter games instead of entreat or tusk. Let me know what you guys think.
I went with the full 8 2 power 1 drops because at the end of the day this is an aggro deck and it wants to play one every single time on the first turn. I have not included slitherhead in the deck because there was simply no room for him, however I look at him more as of a support card rather than a 1 drop beater. If I were to play him, my ideal opener would probably be:
t1 diregraf ghoul (20)
t2 lotleth troll (18)
t3 discard gravecrawler to troll, discard slitherhead to troll, scavenge on ghoul, and either keep regen mana up and replay the crawler or play a hasty dreg mangler or a messenger. ( 8-11)
Blood artist is a great card because it makes combat a nightmare for your opponent and is some extra value against non terminus sweepers and removal. However, I would feel more inclined to replace him with Rakdos Shred-Freak if either wraths arent played as much or if UW miracles is running rampant and terminus is the more prevalent wrath as opposed to the new uncounterable one. Not sure on this one.
4x messenger because there is absolutely no reason not to play him.
3x aristocrats because they are one of the main reasons to play red (imo) and it is synergistic with blood artist and messenger etc.
4x lotleth troll because he is the best 2 drop available to us.
2x Abrupt Decay / 3x Tragic Slip I choose to go with this split simply because I prefer the 1 cc more.
2x Bonfire of the Damned - I actually did not want to include this card at first simply because I'm not even positive if the mana can support it. However, at second thought it is just too damn good of a card and it might even be worth going up to a 3rd one.
Sideboard is just kinda made on the fly just so I have a board to use instead of nothing at all when testing online. All the card choices here are just based on what I think I need slots against.
As for the mana base, I'm not sure if it's perfect or not but it has been working good so far. It could probably use some more tuning though. I refuse to play the gates because it is already annoying having the possiblity of having a summit or a cemetery in your hand t1 without any other lands, therefore stunting your curve or forcing a mulligan.
I wish it was a 2/1 :/ . Not sure what to think of this card though, can't tell how good it will be.
edit:
Do you guys think this would be playable in a RDW shell? and what about Izzet Delver as another 1 drop either to compliment or take the place of delver of secrets
I've patched mws a million times and honestly I never know what I'm doing right or wrong and this time it's not working at all and it keeps telling me that i have to have a grid like master base. How do I make my grid like master base?
Maybe this doesn't belong here but I really don't see the problem with wizards printing counterspells. Even a 2 cc one. I would be extremely happy to see a remand, counterspell, or some new counterspell. I've only been playing magic for almost 4 years now, but counterspells, IMO, are a necessary part of the game. I don't quite understand how players say that they are not fun. To me, players being able to play whatever they want freely is not fun, and nowadays most permanents have an impact as soon as the ETB, so removal is not exactly a 1 for 1 trade. Counterspells are necessary for a healthy format.
That being said, I don't even play blue, ever. (well mostly because I can never bring myself to spend the $) Therefore, I don't really have a bias in the matter, if you will.
It seems like a fair trade. Sorcery speed and no more no regen clause in exchange for the ability to destroy a planeswalker. I'm not sure why it's a rare though...
Scenario 1:
Opponent casts Angel of Serenity from hand, it resolves. The angel's ETB ability goes on the stack. I then respond with a Putrefy.
Is this a legal response? Or do I have to wait until he declares up to 3 targets first.
Scenario 2:
Opponent casts Angel of Serenity from hand, it resolves. The angel's ETB ability goes on the stack. My opponent chooses to exile a Thragtusk from his graveyard, a Beast token on my side of the battlefield, and a Huntmaster of the Fells from my side of the battlefield. I then respond with a Putrefy.
What happens in this scenario?
4 Deathrite Shaman
3 Noble Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Mountain
1 Plains
4 Arid Mesa
1 Blood Crypt
1 Breeding Pool
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
4 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
4 Lightning Helix
2 Path to Exile
4 Lingering Souls
4 Tribal Flames
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Meddling Mage
2 Rule of Law
2 Stony Silence
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Shatterstorm
2 Slaughter Games
That is the list Owen, Reid Duke, and huey jensen played at GP Toronto.
4x Deathrite Shaman
3x Lotleth Troll
4x Geralf's Messenger
4x Huntmaster of the Fells
4x Thragtusk
3x Olivia Voldaren
Spells: 14
4x Farseek
4x Pillar of Flame
3x Dreadbore
1x Ultimate Price
2x Rakdos's Return
4x Blood Crypt
4x Overgrown Tomb
4x Woodland Cemetery
4x Dragonskull Summit
2x Kessig Wolf Run
2x Evolving Wilds
2x Swamp
1x Forest
1x Mountain
4x Vampire Nighthawk
1x Rakdos Charm
1x Golgari Charm
1x Dreadbore
1x Bonfire of the Damned
2x Sever the Bloodline
2x Underworld Connections
3x Slaughter Games
I've been doing well with this deck at fnms. The few losses that I do have are from mana screw/flood. I haven't lost to reanimator once, aggro decks are a favorable matchup, bant, however, is a nightmare. even with all the sb cards dedicated to that matchup its still pretty bad. I'm beginning to think that you wanna name sphinx's revelation against them with the first slaughter games instead of entreat or tusk. Let me know what you guys think.
4x Gravecrawler
4x Diregraf Ghoul
4x Lotleth Troll
4x Blood Artist
4x Dreg Mangler
4x Geralf's Messenger
3x Falkenrath Aristocrat
Non-Creature Spells: 10
3x Pillar of Flame
3x Tragic Slip
2x Abrupt Decay
2x Bonfire of the Damned
4x Overgrown Tomb
4x Blood Crypt
4x Dragonskull Summit
4x Woodland Cemetery
3x Cavern of Souls
4x Swamp
4x Duress
3x Flames of the Firebrand
1x Pillar of Flame
2x Dreadbore
1x Abrupt Decay
2x Ultimate Price
2x Thragtusk
Some explanation on card choices:
I went with the full 8 2 power 1 drops because at the end of the day this is an aggro deck and it wants to play one every single time on the first turn. I have not included slitherhead in the deck because there was simply no room for him, however I look at him more as of a support card rather than a 1 drop beater. If I were to play him, my ideal opener would probably be:
t1 diregraf ghoul (20)
t2 lotleth troll (18)
t3 discard gravecrawler to troll, discard slitherhead to troll, scavenge on ghoul, and either keep regen mana up and replay the crawler or play a hasty dreg mangler or a messenger. ( 8-11)
Blood artist is a great card because it makes combat a nightmare for your opponent and is some extra value against non terminus sweepers and removal. However, I would feel more inclined to replace him with Rakdos Shred-Freak if either wraths arent played as much or if UW miracles is running rampant and terminus is the more prevalent wrath as opposed to the new uncounterable one. Not sure on this one.
4x messenger because there is absolutely no reason not to play him.
3x aristocrats because they are one of the main reasons to play red (imo) and it is synergistic with blood artist and messenger etc.
4x lotleth troll because he is the best 2 drop available to us.
3x Pillar of Flame over dreadbore or ultimate price to combat the mirror and Knight of Glory , which is a problem card.
2x Abrupt Decay / 3x Tragic Slip I choose to go with this split simply because I prefer the 1 cc more.
2x Bonfire of the Damned - I actually did not want to include this card at first simply because I'm not even positive if the mana can support it. However, at second thought it is just too damn good of a card and it might even be worth going up to a 3rd one.
Sideboard is just kinda made on the fly just so I have a board to use instead of nothing at all when testing online. All the card choices here are just based on what I think I need slots against.
As for the mana base, I'm not sure if it's perfect or not but it has been working good so far. It could probably use some more tuning though. I refuse to play the gates because it is already annoying having the possiblity of having a summit or a cemetery in your hand t1 without any other lands, therefore stunting your curve or forcing a mulligan.
edit:
Do you guys think this would be playable in a RDW shell? and what about Izzet Delver as another 1 drop either to compliment or take the place of delver of secrets
Not sure if that works how you want it to.
That being said, I don't even play blue, ever. (well mostly because I can never bring myself to spend the $) Therefore, I don't really have a bias in the matter, if you will.