I've tested a few matches, so far this seems to crush Black Green and Black Red Zombie variants thoroughly, I went 1-1 in matches against a Green White pile that's probably going to be like half the meta and beat Grixis Control 2-0 also. That's all I've played thus far and I guess what I have to say is Lightning Mauler seems horrible but I'm not sure Rakdos Shred-Freak is even a playable card. I'm not sure if Aristocrat may be better than Hellrider or if Thundermaw Hellkite and a third land is better than either. I'm not sure if Flames of the Firebrand is better than Volley or if it even belongs in the board because it and Bonfire do the same thing. Stonewright has been pretty mediocre too. Rakdos Hellhole Flailer has been really solid, if there was a real option 3drop over him I doubt I'd be splashing black but he seems the best by far. Sideboard is really undetermined I've been trying all sorts of cards, land base hasn't given me any trouble except 1 time I kept 2 Summit hand. Not sure if Dreadbore is much better than Mizzium Mortis if at all better. I haven't focused on standard in a while so any input would be nice. Oh and not a fan of Vexing Devil, I never liked the red decks that counted to twenty fueled by burn spells I always preferred more creature based decks like the Skred Red with Demigod for those who remember it. Again thanks for whoever read my wall of text and input would be great.
Oh and if you're referring to Brad Nelson, we used to run MTGO before any of you guys knew who we were, back when OsypDrivesMeToSchool was the best clan in the business.
Alright my good "sir". Test my theory though, running Lili's and Sign's no Rancor and ditching Red and losing all of your reach ( Volley, Mortarpod, Aristocrat, Blood Artist ) is a terrible idea no matter who suggests it though even if you don't want to test, it seems like common sense to anyone who's played the game to a high enough extent. The cards in aggro decks that generate card advantage have always stayed aggressive throughout all competitive decks. Cards like...Lightning Helix, Blightning, Elspeth, Jitte and so on but Sign and Lili deviate from the aggro path, slowing this deck down makes it do poorly versus a lot of the midrangey decks like previously stated many times. Aggro magic logic
The deck has been screaming for a 2drop Zombie that's any good though for a while now and Lothlith gives us a lot of synergy, Mangler isn't bad at all Abrupt Decay and Rancor make me think the splash for red or blue is too greedy but the shift from Red is warranted. That said, Rancor is the huge reach this deck needs when losing Red, ontop of that the deck wants to be very creature heavy for Lotlith more so than just 22-23 creatures more like 25-26 and Rancor goes hand in hand with that idea very well.
This is just what I've gotten from testing so far, but it seems sensible enough to share. I know the core very well, I've been playing Blue Black and Red Black zombies since Diregraf, Gravecrawler and Messenger were printed AND IT'S OBVIOUSLY A AGGRO DECK. Deviating from that no matter how good Sign, Lili and not running Rancor is is bad. We're already making our 3drops high and our 2drops low, with high 1drops Rancor makes for best plays so you can consistently maximize your turn 2 and stay ahead whether turn 1 1drop, turn 2 1drop 1drop or 1drop rancor or Lotleth troll. This deck needs to curve in order to keep it's momentum and it needs to not fall behind. Lothleth adds to the core though, he's really that good I think regenerate is huge, more Zombies that're here for the long haul and generate their own card advantage.
Lets cut Abrupt Decay with that logic...Sometimes you have to play the odds that are very in your favor. Also I run 1 forest and haven't had much trouble with casting Messenger because of it and Mangler makes for a great alternative on the misses anyways. Rancor has felt like a MUST PLAY 3-4of. So yeah...I'll have fun homie.
Running Disciple and no Rancor? I just laughed so hard. Disciple is a solid choicee, but Sign and Lili is incredibly dumb for a deck running 8-10 1drop creatures and is supposed to be extremely aggressive. C'mon son. Rancor is very needed, ditching red that really maximized every creature with Mortarpod's, Aristocrats and Blood Artists....You need the 4 Rancor to compromise. Lotleth and Decay are sexy but not nearly as straight forward and aggressive as the old BR suite was. Rancor is one of the biggest additions and card advantage this deck can ever give and is brilliant with the Disciples.
I feel like often enough your 2-drop is just going to be two 1-drops.
Rancor + another zombie or another zombie + tragic slip, or whatever.
Highborn Ghoul gets a lot better with Rancor's and Dreg Mangler's where he wasn't very considered in most successful Zombie builds I think he deserves reconsideration as a 2-3of in the list, it fits nicely has more synergy and potential and I think is a better fit than the 2 card draw options for the deck.
This is the list I've been testing with my group, really hoping we get a hard removal spell for 2 mana, I wish we still had Go For The Throat or even Grasp of Darkness, Murder has been horrible the 3rd Mana makes it feel almost unplayable a lot of the time and Tragic Slip has been a lot worse for me without Mortarpod's and Aristocrat's. Abrupt Decay is good, this deck will require a playset somewhere in the 75 for sure. Dreadbore seems so tempting, I mean Lothleth Troll is a lot better but we're lacking on kill spells and we're a black deck at it's core which feels funny. This is a rough draft, I'm sure it'll widdle itself into a more fine tuned list over the next few weeks, really hope we get that 2drop instant removal.
So one thing I'd like to say is that Lotleth Troll is amazing but seems better as a 3 of than a 4 of, obviously we'd run 4 for the simple fact Zombies has a very weak 2drop slot.
Sign in Blood and Grisly Salvage are good cards, but bad for this deck, though Sign in Blood is better I'm pretty sure. This deck wants to be ridiculously aggressive and abuse it's resiliency with Messenger's and Crawler's to outclass other aggro decks and be too hard to stop for slower decks. So fitting in a 2drop of Highborn or Blood Artist may simply be better.
Tragic Slip Everyone is running this with absolutely no sacrifice outlets? Sounds really mediocre to me. Abrupt Decay seems great but the numbers to be ran man or board depend on the meta that isn't exactly shaped yet, there's still a lot of 4 drops we can't miss killing, with our removal slots being caught up with conditional slips and decays, it's a really bad mixture.
Rancor in testing kind of poorly, here and there you can't cast it, a lot of the times you wished it was another efficient creature for 1-2 mana rather than Rancor, Not sure what number is best 4-3-2 or None.
Jared is decent as a 1-2 of but he isn't really relevant to the deck awfully much.
Dreg Mangler hasn't been bad, but I'm not sure how great having 8 3drop creatures in the deck is, running 4x Rancor with 0 evasion, having condition Decay's and Slips as the center of your removal suit and having nothing to make maximum use out of your creatures with ( for instance RB used Aristocrat, Mortarpod, Brimstone Volley and Blood Artist. Blue Black ran 4-6 Lords and Phantasmal Image )
Anyone competent enough to respond intelligent, please do. I've been praying for nothing more than a great 2drop Zombie since I started running this list and that's ever since Messenger and Crawler were released, I've went far and placed in a lot of tournaments with zombies, not just FNM's. Green seems like the right way to go, but it also feels clunky and less obvious.
I recently started playing again and I figured I'd play werewolves since it looks fun and isn't extremely expensive. I then found this article which I'm using as the basis for my deck.
So, here's the deck:
Kessig Wolf Run isn't that good when you don't have Primvals and Inkmoth Nexus comboing with it. I would run 4 Full Moon Rises it protects from all the board sweepers mostly and sometimes kill spells specifically, also Trample is a huge perk as is the +1+0 this and Mayor are your primary 2drops.
I like Immerwolf a lot, the fact you have 12 spells that make your guys bigger that are all very strong cards is gret, Immerwolf becomes a 3/3-4/4-5/5 fast and the intimidate can win games when there's a stalled out board.
I don't like Moonmist, it's kind of clunky to me I would only run 2, no more than 3. Shock is bad, run Pillar over it all day other aggro decks have Geist and Messenger don't let that tempo you out removing from the game is too relevant right now. I don't like the Scorned Villager but in testing the other 2drop werewolfs have sucked too, you curve out at 3 easily with 3 Huntmasters in your deck, the extra mana just isn't that big of a deal for such a lackluster body. But there's no great alternative.
A sideboard suggestion is Wolfir Silverheart, against red Based decks he becomes a 8/8 and something else becomes huge and they can't kill it usually is a deal sealer. Running 3 Slime, 3 Grudge and 3 Naturalize is way too much artifact/enchantment removal. If you do want to only run 3 Full Moon, I'd say keep a 4th in the board, EVERYONE is putting Bonfire into their decks and Day of Judgement, Slagstorm, Whipflare...it's all still around. If you cut it down to 3, add a 26th creature this is a very aggressive deck, running not enough creatures can make cards like Fullmoon and Moonmist very bad at times.
here is a quick summery of Zoo for all of you who don't know.
Zoo Is a Hyper-Aggressive build that traditionally is Naya colored (G//) & focuses on 3 things:
1) Low costing CMC efficient creatures: (werewolves are a good example right now Reckless Waif a 1/1 for R that flips into a 3/2 (delver also comes to mind:tongue:)
2) Burn for reach: to get those last few points of damage in to win. Or clear the way for your creatures to finish them off.
3) Consistency: using the traditional Zoo guidelines (20/20/20) you can have amazing consistency, now in this current standard meta I don't believe you should go exactly 20/20/20 although you should not wander too far off either (I wouldn't go anywhere below 14 spells (Burn, Utility, Buff ect.)
Cards that should be considered
1 Drops
Champion of the Parish really efficient creature that can get big fast if you are going humans!
Reckless Waif shes human & really powerful 3/2 for R if you can get it to flip.
Wolfbitten CaptiveI love this guy first of hes human so he'll buff champion and second even without flipping just leave 2 mana open for your combat phase and you will more than likely get damage in and later game he steals removal when hes flipped 4 mana to make him a 6/6 yes please. (better than Waif)
Vexing Devil not human so doesn't buff champion but really good for a great body 4/3 for R? thats crazy and making the opponent pay 4 life to get rid of him is fine by me, the main issue with this guy is you can't expect to get what you want out of him if you want your opponent to take 4 dmg he will mostly resolve and when you want him to resolve he won't make it but if you're running Thalia, Guardian of Thraben hes a better Lightening Bolt situationally...
Pillar of Flame 2 dmg for R at sorcery speed is not the best but pretty much what we are gonna get in this current meta + its great against undying & makes delver loose a moorland haunt use.
Galvanic Blast now we won't be using metal craft but 2 dmg instant speed can be pretty nice creature removal or to finish you'r opponent off.
Abundant Growth not really part of a traditional Zoo build but we don't have the best land base so the little bit of mana fixing + cantrip use can be pretty nice at times.
2 Drops
Stormblood Berserker is an awesomely efficient creature 3/3 for 2 if damage was dealt that turn (trust me you'll almost always) get that damage in He's human so he'll buff Champion.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben one of the best white creatures in our current meta (& one of the favorites :D) 2/1 first strike is good for 1W and her ability pushes her over the top, she is actually the heart of some modern Zoo decks and on top of her being epic shes human to help Champion.
Mayor of Avabruck 1+/1+ to all humans is really good for this and when he flips you get a 3/3 and wolves, not bad at all.
3 Drops
Silverblade Paladin he is just that good, giving you'r guys Double Strike and buffing Champion of the Parish.
Mirran Crusader now I think he is a really good card and I had to mention him but I don't think he fits Zoo unlike Silverblade Paladin he only helps himself, the pro black & green is nice and all but he just doesn't contribute.
Bonfire of the Damned is just so Good you kinda have to consider it field wipe + direct damage, YES!
Divine Deflection now this is my #1 Favorite Card. its a game winner changing any combat phase into you'r favor (so long as you have mana) I've won countless games with this simply because they didn't see it coming at all I mean basically you are making them hitting themselves & they just are like uh, and you'r like GG
Lands
I don't know if you've noticed or not but this is a pretty much a human deck.
therefore Cavern of Souls is one of the cores to this deck making your dudes uncounterable and adding what ever you need for humans.
sadly the Scars lands were friendly colors only so we'll have to consider running Clifftop Retreat now the Core lands aren't bad at all its just that you have a bigger chance of missing a land drop (by missing I also mean playing a land that ETB tapped if you don't have your Plains of Mountain).
Now we could look into the Special lands but I feel running 20 mana in a 3 color deck running add 1 to your mana pool is asking for trouble.
Divine Reflection seems much more like a Sideboard card geared towards Heavy Aggro and Heavy Red decks, but I haven't tested the card enough to be sure.
The one Vexing Devil is terribly random and doesn't fit the deck, I'd suggest cutting it for possible a Third Hell Rider, , Mayor,4th Pillar. ( Pillar is important when other aggro decks run Geist and you don't. Mayor is important to be able to force damage with Captive before you are able to comfortably pump him and Hellrider is more powerful and suiting for this deck than Huntmaster.)
I'm not sure Wolf Bitten Captive is THAT Good, I know he's a human and that's the primary reason he's there, but he's really a Werewolf at heart in better in Werewolf based decks, not so much Human decks but he's reasonable, but I'd also suggest running 4x Mayor if you run him.
Thalia is amazing, especially in a deck like this but you shouldn't run 4 as you will consistently be giving up card advantage by drying multiples and already having one in play, 3 is the magic number for her, 4th in the board if you really want it.
I'm not sure about Abundant Growth, I think between 4 Thicket, 4 Carvern and 4 Copperline along with Basics and maybe a few M13 lands you should be fine without running that card. Your land count is a tad low, I'd say 21-22 personally.
With 4 Stormblood I'd suggest maindeck 2-3 Gutshots to help with consistency of having him turn 2 when your 1drops die or can't fight through. Huntmaster and Champion are weird together.
Just 2 Mountains and 2 Plains cliffs will always come into play tapped. I'd say you'd be better off cutting the cliffs and evening out your basic land base.
Lastly, why no Pilgrims? Consider running the Gather Townsfolk he goes really well with Hellrider and Champion?
This deck has a lot of options and needs a lot of testing if all the options and variations.
Exalted has always been more of a perk than something to build around. When all of your creatures have exalted, it either ends up being unused, or you're only getting in with one creature anyway. She's just not very good.
This is absolutely true. Considering how few cards with exalted have seen much play and when you realize which cards those are you nailed it entirely. Noble Hierarch was basically a Birds of Paradise with the exalted being more significant than the flying. Qasali Pridemage was a versatile card to win Tarmogoyf battles when attacking and to always have the access to artifact and equipment destruction.
Using exalted in aggro decks really isn't a great idea but with a card like this if it isn't in an aggro deck it won't make nearly as much of an impact in the sense it won't have as many exalted triggers because the deck will be more so creature light. I don't see this card making much of an impact, but it does have a lot of potential but I just don't see a home for the card.
I always loved the thought of running Frost Titan in a Land Disruption deck, the card couldn't fit the synergy any better and couldn't be any better of a game finisher. The fact you run ramp and can get him out early can almost end games by himself. The problem is you really, REALLY need a board sweeper but you also really need Green, so Blue just never fits unless somehow you could sleep Bonfire or Whipflare. I'll go ahead and brew up an idea but don't expect the landbase to be any kind of a gem.
Sadly with fling it would usually do only like 2-3 damage so its not that great
Do you really not realize that Blood Artist is not a card you can make a deck around? Black Red sligh is one of the best decks in the format and it was built around 12 cards. Diregraf GhoulGravecrawler and Gerralf's Messenger. Blood Artist dies very easily, is not always a game changing card, relies on many other spells, and you have no way of finding it. You are basically taking a very good deck and making a very bad version of it.
You want to test? Hop on Cockatrice, don't know what that is private message me you'll be very happy to find out and we can test and I can show you what's what.
Decklist sent.
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Stromkirk Noble
2 Stonewright
4 Ash Zealot
2 Lightning Mauler
3 Hellhole Flailer
3 Hellrider
4 Brimstone Volley
4 Searing Spear
Sorceries
4 Pillar of Flames
4 Dreadbore
Lands
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Hellion Crucible
10 Mountain
2 Swamp
I've tested a few matches, so far this seems to crush Black Green and Black Red Zombie variants thoroughly, I went 1-1 in matches against a Green White pile that's probably going to be like half the meta and beat Grixis Control 2-0 also. That's all I've played thus far and I guess what I have to say is Lightning Mauler seems horrible but I'm not sure Rakdos Shred-Freak is even a playable card. I'm not sure if Aristocrat may be better than Hellrider or if Thundermaw Hellkite and a third land is better than either. I'm not sure if Flames of the Firebrand is better than Volley or if it even belongs in the board because it and Bonfire do the same thing. Stonewright has been pretty mediocre too. Rakdos Hellhole Flailer has been really solid, if there was a real option 3drop over him I doubt I'd be splashing black but he seems the best by far. Sideboard is really undetermined I've been trying all sorts of cards, land base hasn't given me any trouble except 1 time I kept 2 Summit hand. Not sure if Dreadbore is much better than Mizzium Mortis if at all better. I haven't focused on standard in a while so any input would be nice. Oh and not a fan of Vexing Devil, I never liked the red decks that counted to twenty fueled by burn spells I always preferred more creature based decks like the Skred Red with Demigod for those who remember it. Again thanks for whoever read my wall of text and input would be great.
Oh and if you're referring to Brad Nelson, we used to run MTGO before any of you guys knew who we were, back when OsypDrivesMeToSchool was the best clan in the business.
Alright my good "sir". Test my theory though, running Lili's and Sign's no Rancor and ditching Red and losing all of your reach ( Volley, Mortarpod, Aristocrat, Blood Artist ) is a terrible idea no matter who suggests it though even if you don't want to test, it seems like common sense to anyone who's played the game to a high enough extent. The cards in aggro decks that generate card advantage have always stayed aggressive throughout all competitive decks. Cards like...Lightning Helix, Blightning, Elspeth, Jitte and so on but Sign and Lili deviate from the aggro path, slowing this deck down makes it do poorly versus a lot of the midrangey decks like previously stated many times. Aggro magic logic
The deck has been screaming for a 2drop Zombie that's any good though for a while now and Lothlith gives us a lot of synergy, Mangler isn't bad at all Abrupt Decay and Rancor make me think the splash for red or blue is too greedy but the shift from Red is warranted. That said, Rancor is the huge reach this deck needs when losing Red, ontop of that the deck wants to be very creature heavy for Lotlith more so than just 22-23 creatures more like 25-26 and Rancor goes hand in hand with that idea very well.
This is just what I've gotten from testing so far, but it seems sensible enough to share. I know the core very well, I've been playing Blue Black and Red Black zombies since Diregraf, Gravecrawler and Messenger were printed AND IT'S OBVIOUSLY A AGGRO DECK. Deviating from that no matter how good Sign, Lili and not running Rancor is is bad. We're already making our 3drops high and our 2drops low, with high 1drops Rancor makes for best plays so you can consistently maximize your turn 2 and stay ahead whether turn 1 1drop, turn 2 1drop 1drop or 1drop rancor or Lotleth troll. This deck needs to curve in order to keep it's momentum and it needs to not fall behind. Lothleth adds to the core though, he's really that good I think regenerate is huge, more Zombies that're here for the long haul and generate their own card advantage.
Lets cut Abrupt Decay with that logic...Sometimes you have to play the odds that are very in your favor. Also I run 1 forest and haven't had much trouble with casting Messenger because of it and Mangler makes for a great alternative on the misses anyways. Rancor has felt like a MUST PLAY 3-4of. So yeah...I'll have fun homie.
Running Disciple and no Rancor? I just laughed so hard. Disciple is a solid choicee, but Sign and Lili is incredibly dumb for a deck running 8-10 1drop creatures and is supposed to be extremely aggressive. C'mon son. Rancor is very needed, ditching red that really maximized every creature with Mortarpod's, Aristocrats and Blood Artists....You need the 4 Rancor to compromise. Lotleth and Decay are sexy but not nearly as straight forward and aggressive as the old BR suite was. Rancor is one of the biggest additions and card advantage this deck can ever give and is brilliant with the Disciples.
Highborn Ghoul gets a lot better with Rancor's and Dreg Mangler's where he wasn't very considered in most successful Zombie builds I think he deserves reconsideration as a 2-3of in the list, it fits nicely has more synergy and potential and I think is a better fit than the 2 card draw options for the deck.
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Gravwcrawler
2 Slitherhead
4 Highborn Ghoul
4 Lotleth Troll
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Dreg Mangler
3 Tragic Slip
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Murder
Enchantments
4 Rancor
Lands
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
3 Cavern of Souls
1 Forest
10 Swamp
This is the list I've been testing with my group, really hoping we get a hard removal spell for 2 mana, I wish we still had Go For The Throat or even Grasp of Darkness, Murder has been horrible the 3rd Mana makes it feel almost unplayable a lot of the time and Tragic Slip has been a lot worse for me without Mortarpod's and Aristocrat's. Abrupt Decay is good, this deck will require a playset somewhere in the 75 for sure. Dreadbore seems so tempting, I mean Lothleth Troll is a lot better but we're lacking on kill spells and we're a black deck at it's core which feels funny. This is a rough draft, I'm sure it'll widdle itself into a more fine tuned list over the next few weeks, really hope we get that 2drop instant removal.
Sign in Blood and Grisly Salvage are good cards, but bad for this deck, though Sign in Blood is better I'm pretty sure. This deck wants to be ridiculously aggressive and abuse it's resiliency with Messenger's and Crawler's to outclass other aggro decks and be too hard to stop for slower decks. So fitting in a 2drop of Highborn or Blood Artist may simply be better.
Tragic Slip Everyone is running this with absolutely no sacrifice outlets? Sounds really mediocre to me. Abrupt Decay seems great but the numbers to be ran man or board depend on the meta that isn't exactly shaped yet, there's still a lot of 4 drops we can't miss killing, with our removal slots being caught up with conditional slips and decays, it's a really bad mixture.
Rancor in testing kind of poorly, here and there you can't cast it, a lot of the times you wished it was another efficient creature for 1-2 mana rather than Rancor, Not sure what number is best 4-3-2 or None.
Jared is decent as a 1-2 of but he isn't really relevant to the deck awfully much.
Dreg Mangler hasn't been bad, but I'm not sure how great having 8 3drop creatures in the deck is, running 4x Rancor with 0 evasion, having condition Decay's and Slips as the center of your removal suit and having nothing to make maximum use out of your creatures with ( for instance RB used Aristocrat, Mortarpod, Brimstone Volley and Blood Artist. Blue Black ran 4-6 Lords and Phantasmal Image )
Anyone competent enough to respond intelligent, please do. I've been praying for nothing more than a great 2drop Zombie since I started running this list and that's ever since Messenger and Crawler were released, I've went far and placed in a lot of tournaments with zombies, not just FNM's. Green seems like the right way to go, but it also feels clunky and less obvious.
Kessig Wolf Run isn't that good when you don't have Primvals and Inkmoth Nexus comboing with it. I would run 4 Full Moon Rises it protects from all the board sweepers mostly and sometimes kill spells specifically, also Trample is a huge perk as is the +1+0 this and Mayor are your primary 2drops.
I like Immerwolf a lot, the fact you have 12 spells that make your guys bigger that are all very strong cards is gret, Immerwolf becomes a 3/3-4/4-5/5 fast and the intimidate can win games when there's a stalled out board.
I don't like Moonmist, it's kind of clunky to me I would only run 2, no more than 3. Shock is bad, run Pillar over it all day other aggro decks have Geist and Messenger don't let that tempo you out removing from the game is too relevant right now. I don't like the Scorned Villager but in testing the other 2drop werewolfs have sucked too, you curve out at 3 easily with 3 Huntmasters in your deck, the extra mana just isn't that big of a deal for such a lackluster body. But there's no great alternative.
-3Shock + 3Pillar of Flame
-1 Moonmist +1 Fullmoon
-1 Scorned Villager +1 Immerwolf
-1 Wolfrun, -1 Kruin Outlaw + 2 Daybreak RANGER
A sideboard suggestion is Wolfir Silverheart, against red Based decks he becomes a 8/8 and something else becomes huge and they can't kill it usually is a deal sealer. Running 3 Slime, 3 Grudge and 3 Naturalize is way too much artifact/enchantment removal. If you do want to only run 3 Full Moon, I'd say keep a 4th in the board, EVERYONE is putting Bonfire into their decks and Day of Judgement, Slagstorm, Whipflare...it's all still around. If you cut it down to 3, add a 26th creature this is a very aggressive deck, running not enough creatures can make cards like Fullmoon and Moonmist very bad at times.
Divine Reflection seems much more like a Sideboard card geared towards Heavy Aggro and Heavy Red decks, but I haven't tested the card enough to be sure.
The one Vexing Devil is terribly random and doesn't fit the deck, I'd suggest cutting it for possible a Third Hell Rider, , Mayor,4th Pillar. ( Pillar is important when other aggro decks run Geist and you don't. Mayor is important to be able to force damage with Captive before you are able to comfortably pump him and Hellrider is more powerful and suiting for this deck than Huntmaster.)
I'm not sure Wolf Bitten Captive is THAT Good, I know he's a human and that's the primary reason he's there, but he's really a Werewolf at heart in better in Werewolf based decks, not so much Human decks but he's reasonable, but I'd also suggest running 4x Mayor if you run him.
Thalia is amazing, especially in a deck like this but you shouldn't run 4 as you will consistently be giving up card advantage by drying multiples and already having one in play, 3 is the magic number for her, 4th in the board if you really want it.
I'm not sure about Abundant Growth, I think between 4 Thicket, 4 Carvern and 4 Copperline along with Basics and maybe a few M13 lands you should be fine without running that card. Your land count is a tad low, I'd say 21-22 personally.
With 4 Stormblood I'd suggest maindeck 2-3 Gutshots to help with consistency of having him turn 2 when your 1drops die or can't fight through. Huntmaster and Champion are weird together.
Just 2 Mountains and 2 Plains cliffs will always come into play tapped. I'd say you'd be better off cutting the cliffs and evening out your basic land base.
Lastly, why no Pilgrims? Consider running the Gather Townsfolk he goes really well with Hellrider and Champion?
This deck has a lot of options and needs a lot of testing if all the options and variations.
This is absolutely true. Considering how few cards with exalted have seen much play and when you realize which cards those are you nailed it entirely. Noble Hierarch was basically a Birds of Paradise with the exalted being more significant than the flying. Qasali Pridemage was a versatile card to win Tarmogoyf battles when attacking and to always have the access to artifact and equipment destruction.
Using exalted in aggro decks really isn't a great idea but with a card like this if it isn't in an aggro deck it won't make nearly as much of an impact in the sense it won't have as many exalted triggers because the deck will be more so creature light. I don't see this card making much of an impact, but it does have a lot of potential but I just don't see a home for the card.
Creatures
4. Frost Titan
4. Acidic Slim
4. Birds of Paradise
Planeswalkers
2-3 Tamiyo
Sorceries
4. Ponder
4. Bonfire of the Damned
2. Slagstorm / Whipflare
4. Farseek
4. Bramblecrush
Instants
4 Beast Within
CRAZY LAND BASE
Do you really not realize that Blood Artist is not a card you can make a deck around? Black Red sligh is one of the best decks in the format and it was built around 12 cards. Diregraf Ghoul Gravecrawler and Gerralf's Messenger. Blood Artist dies very easily, is not always a game changing card, relies on many other spells, and you have no way of finding it. You are basically taking a very good deck and making a very bad version of it.
You want to test? Hop on Cockatrice, don't know what that is private message me you'll be very happy to find out and we can test and I can show you what's what.