Innocent Blood: The best removal spell that you can possible field in creature-light/less discard decks in my opinion. Killing a dude for a single mana is just amazing value and usually creates a decent amount of tempo. I will happily play 3-4 of these in the vast majority of my lists.
Geth's Verdict, Go for the Throat, Victim of Night, Doom Blade: One of these will be a Terminate in your meta so if your list is mono-Black then feel free to just pick the one that will have the most negligible downside in practice.
Gatekeeper of Malakir: This guy is house. He kills a dude and provides you with a body to beat down with, trade, chump block, etc. Yes, sometimes he's just a Grizzly Bears, but hey, sometimes 2/2s for 2 end games. I really like fielding this guy in generic value decks that aren't 100% focused on discard. He goes a long way to grinding your opponent straight out of the game.
Ensnaring Bridge: This is the most underrated discard support spell in the game in my opinion. Casual players are notoriously bad at fielding non-creature based removal in their decks and a huge % of them are straight up drawing dead to this card. It will outright win you a ton of games and for the life of I don't understand why people are so afraid to maindeck this monster. I guarantee you that it will almost always over-perform since basically every deck is a creature-based deck in this day and age. Think about it; even degenerate combo decks tend to win with creatures more often than not. If this card isn't in your maindeck or sideboard I strongly believe that you're missing out on one of your most powerful tools. Do not dismiss this card.
Noetic Scales: At 4 mana this card isn't going to make every deck but it's still a card that everyone should be made aware of. It pairs exceptionally well with persistent discard effects such as Necrogen Mists and Liliana of the Veil after all. In case it isn't clear, you control how the triggers are put on the stack. As such, you can put the discard trigger on first and the bounce trigger on second. The bounce will resolve first and throw everything back just in time to have something discarded. It's pretty easy to win games from there with just about anything. Chimeric Idol, The Rack, Cursed Scroll, you get the idea.
Damnation, Mutilate, Barter in Blood: Sometimes you just need a Wrath. Your opponent can and will topdeck threats and he/she can also play them on curve. Clearing the field is relevant in a large % of your matchups and so you would do well to have access to some number of mass removal spells. Most decks will only need like 2 tops (4 is a lot of mana after all) but I've basically never regret having access to a pair of them between my maindeck and sideboard. A little goes a long way.
Other Colors
Now that we've discussed the core Black discard spells and effects we can start to branch out in to the other colors. Still, I will caution you that things become incredibly complicated from this point on. Splashing colors is typically quite expensive because the best cards to splash are usually in high demand and you'll also be forced to play with a real mana base that isn't just a bunch of basics. I want to stress that discard decks, moreso than most others, require consistent mana bases that produce colored mana on curve. You do not want to cast Hymn to Tourach on turn 4 because you drew a bunch of Plains. You have to be able to cast it on turn 2. This also means that you can't realistically play a ton of lands that enter the battlefield tapped (ETBT). Again, your opponent can easily use that time to play the spells that they would have otherwise discarded. As I've explained numerous times by now, discard decks are not usually favored to win the long, grindy games. Your opponent is usually topdecking into threats and you're often ripping into lands and worthless discard effects that have no impact on the board. What I'm alluding to is that you should have a very good reason for splashing colors. If you're splashing for marginal spells and a terrible mana base then you're not going to improve your lists at all. If you don't already own some solid lands I highly recommend sticking to mono-Black lists as much as possible. With that in mind, let's discuss out various options
If you're splashing Green it's probably for Life of the Loam and little else. Maybe you'll jam some Pernicious Deeds, Maelstrom Pulses or Abrupt Decays in there too but Green splashes tend to be minimal at best. Now, some of you might be asking "but why would we splash for a single card?" The answer, of course, is that Life from the Loam is awesome :D! It recurs Strip Mine, Mishra's Factory, Barren Moor and any number of powerful utility lands. It also fills your hand for Raven's Crime which is a fantastic way to lock your opponent at 0 cards. Finally, since you're probably Dredging it every turn, you can use it to support a resilient win condition such as Worm Harvest. That's not an easy card to beat; it's very good at grinding people out. The basic way to play and build a Green-based discard deck is to spend your initial turns forcing discards and using removal as per normal but ultimately leaning on Life from the Loam to seal the game once you reach the mid-to-late game. As long as you're both in topdeck mode it should be very easy to grind your opponent out. This splash might not seem like much but it's actually exceptionally strong in practice as long as you have enough Llanowar Wastes and Tainted Woods to make the mana work.
Since Deed, Pulse and Decay aren't within everyone's budget it's worth mentioning cards such as Putrefy and Nature's Claim that will give you outs to random permanents that Black decks have trouble interacting with otherwise. It's probably not worth doing unless you're also getting Loam in there but it's certainly something to consider if you're drawing dead to some non-creature permanent that's seeing heavy play.
For what it's worth I personally think that Green is probably the best color to splash in your Black discard decks. The reason for this is because you don't need to curve out with any Green cards early on. Loam and Pulse and such are fine but they do not require Green sources until turns 4 or 5 (if not later). Ok, sometimes you want to Pulse on 3, but that's somewhat reasonable even if your list only has 8 Green sources or whatever. It's not ideal but it's not horrible. The key here is that you can still cast your discard spells on curve without having to worry about running a sketchy mana base. I like that aspect of the Green splash a lot. What I'm basically alluding to is that splashes (in the context of discard decks) are at their best when you don't need to cast your spicy additions early on. Let Hymn to Tourach do its thing on turn 2 and worry about the rest after that.
P.S. Deathrite Shaman obviously doesn't count since you can cast him using Black mana and the lifegain ability isn't usually necessary early on.
Red gives you access to actual discard spells in the form of Rise // Fall, Blightning, Rakdos Augermage and Rakdos's Return. Rise // Fall is powerful in the sense that it can act as Hymns 5-8 but you lose out on the ability to randomly hit 2 lands and win the game on the spot. It's difficult to say whether or not it's better than Wrench Mind on average so I'll leave the final decision up to you. Blightning is interesting in the sense that in enables you to take steps to actively end the game. I think that it's moderately powerful in lists that are consistently applying pressure with creatures straight from the get-go. Where I don't like seeing it is in slow Control decks that are looking to grind people out. The 3 life isn't relevant in those decks and so you're just playing a glorified Mind Rot at that point. My basic advice would be to play it in shells that curve say Oona's Prowler into Blightning and maybe follow it up with Rakdos Augermage or Nyxathid before going back to Hymn them or something. Ensure that the 3 life is relevant by applying constant, creature-based pressure. Rakdos's Return is quite a bit better than Mind Shatter since it can kill Planeswalkers and the Fireball effect is certainly relevant with respect to winning the game. I would rather take that over the random discard that M.Shatter provides. I don't think that it's an amazing card but I do think that it's much more playable than Mind Shatter is. It's fairly powerful in slower metagames and it's another card that's great to pair with fast mana such as Sol Ring.
In terms of Red staples, Lightning Bolt, Terminate and Dreadbore are all worth considering. Black doesn't have the easiest time killing Planeswalkers and it doesn't have much in the way of cheap, unconditional removal. These 3 cards can be jammed into pretty much anything due to their inherent power.
Otherwise, Red grants you access to artifact and land destruction effects moreso than anything else. Smelt and its ilk can certainly be valuable at times after all and Boom // Bust pairs amazingly well with fetchlands to act as a makeshift Sinkhole. You just target your Marsh Flats or whatever and sacrifice it in response to avoid losing a land yourself. It's probably worth highlighting Crack the Earth as well since it pairs well in Smallpox-style Control shells.
What I will say is that I'm not a big fan of Red splashes in general. Black can already kill creatures with ease and it doesn't need any help on the discard front. The aggressive nature of Blightning is "fine" but it's not exactly needed. If you have enough Dragonskull Summits and Tainted Peaks it might be worth considering but ultimately it's just not my favorite way to build and play the deck.
White grants you access to a few new, powerful hand disruption tools in the form of Tidehollow Sculler and Gerrard's Verdict. They have enough generic strength to be played in just about anything and so if you're in the market to splash for White then these kinds of cards are worthwhile considerations to make. I'll play them in pretty much anything since there's no real downside to do doing so.
Otherwise, one of the best reasons to splash White in any deck is to gain access to Stoneforge Mystic. It can tutor up a Batterskull which you can usually ride to victory while you spend your turns locking your opponent at 0 cards in hand. These kinds of decks often field Mox Diamond or Chrome Mox to enable sick turn 1 plays such as the Mystic, Dark Confidant or Hymn to Tourach. Each of those cards almost instantly neutralizes the card disadvantage after all and many decks just plain can't handle those kinds of starts. This obviously exceeds most budgets but it's still worth highlighting in my mind.
White also grants you access to Flagstones of Trokair which, when paired with Smallpox or Balance, can lead to some devastating game states for your opponent. Balance is another one of those overpowered spells that you can probably on play 1 of but it's certainly worth mentioning since it can do some absolutely mental things. Still, this combo obviously works better if you're able to fetch up Godless Shrine or whatever instead of an actual Plains.
Beyond that, White can grant you access to answer-alls such as Vindicate and Oblivion Ring (and even say Disenchant to a lesser extent) which can give you outs to cards that you couldn't otherwise beat. There's also good old Swords to Plowshares which is a fine 4-of in any White deck. It's good against basically everything after all. The final card worth discussion is Lingering Souls. It's easy to pitch to your self-discard effects and casting it normally is never bad either. Grinding through 4 spirits is tough and I mean a 4 power flier is nothing to scoff at. A couple of these can and will end games. It's another card that just brings a lot of raw power to your lists but I mean it does have a fair amount of synergy as well. It really is the perfect compliment to most discard shells.
I'm sorry that this section couldn't be more budget friendly. This type of thing is out of my control. I find it to be most unfortunate since Black/White discard decks are insanely fun and powerful to play with. I hope that Gerrard's Verdict is on your radar if nothing else since that card is absolutely amazing. I'm pretty sure that most people are aware of Oblivion Ring so if you were already looking to splash for it then it just might be worth taking the time test the Verdict out.
The biggest challenge with building Blue-based discard decks is creating a workable mana base. You usually want something that can cast a Delver of Secrets on turn 1 but that can also Hymn on turn 2. That's not an easy feat on a budget. Anyways, Blue typically doesn't bring any actual discard to these kinds of decks. Piracy Charm is... something... but we already have Funeral Charm heh. What it does bring is various cantrip spells such as Ponder and Preordain which can fuel your Tombstalkers and Delver of Secrets. Again, the basic idea will be to play a threat and to ride it to victory by pro-actively stripping removal and other interactive cards from your opponent. From there it's a simple matter of riding a big flier to victory.
If you're looking to spice these kinds of lists up then you can always turn to golden oldies such as Recoil and Probe. They're not best-in-slot cards or anything but if you grew up loving them then it shouldn't take much convincing to give them another go. Again, the basic idea here is to simply build a solid UB Control deck with an emphasis on discard instead of counterspells.
If you're still looking for more ways to jam Blue in to your lists then it might be worth building a Standstill-based deck or possibly one that incorporates Ancestral Vision. Manlands pair well with the former and the latter is just a solid way to refill your hand after you're expended it taking your opponent to 0 cards. Again, both cards probably want you to play cantrips and Delver of Secrets to smooth your draws and get your aggro on.
Just is probably the best example of an evolution in discard-based decks. By filling your deck with a bunch of 2-for-1s you can effectively grind fair decks into oblivion. An example of discard-centric Jund deck would include Inquisition of Kozilek/Despise, Terminate, Hymn to Tourach, Putrid Leech, Blightning, Sprouting Thrinax, Bloodbraid Elf and then another 6-8 spells of your choosing. Deathrite Shaman, Lightning Bolt, Liliana of the Veil, Jund Charm, Huntmaster of the Fells, Olivia Voldaren, Bituminous Blast, Thundermaw Hellkite and Broodmate Dragon are all fine ways to round the deck out. Once you factor in manlands such as Treetop Village and Raging Ravine you can see how a solid Jund deck is just packed to the teeth with powerful 2-for-1s and value-added cards. It's fighting a fair fight in the most unfair way while using discard to pro-actively strip its adversaries of their vital resources. I realize that this deck isn't very similar to the other lists but what I can tell you is that it's likely the most powerful discard-based deck that you can play in a casual setting. I realize that it's not 100% focused on discard but it does have enough of it to keep your opponent on the back-foot for most of the game.
The biggest problem with Jund is obviously building an affordable mana base. Again, I don't have any magical solutions on that front. Lands cost money so if you're to play a 3 color deck it's either going to be expensive or somewhat inconsistent. That's Magic.
Decklists
In this section I'll post some sample decklists for you to use as templates. They're not perfect builds by any means and you'll likely have to tune them to fit your metagame and budgetary requirements. That is, think of them as raw materials that can be shaped and molded; not finished goods. I'll do my best give you a solid start point but inevitably you'll have to pick yourself up by the bootstraps and finish the lists yourself.
| The GateMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | |
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Lands (23) 21x Swamp 2x Tectonic Edge Creatures (16) 4x Oona's Prowler 4x Gatekeeper of Malakir 4x Vampire Nighthawk 4x Desecration Demon | Spells (21) 3x Innocent Blood 4x Despise 2x Duress 2x Wrench Mind 4x Hymn to Tourach 4x Victim of Night 2x Grafted Wargear |
Now, keep in mind that this is a very basic and budget-minded Gate shell and so it's by no means optimal. Despise is worse than Inquisition of Kozilek but it much more affordable. Grafted Wargear is chosen over Umezawa's Jitte for the same reason. Desecration Demon could easily be Phyrexian Obliterator or Abyssal Persecutor but, once again, the Demon makes things easier on the old wallet. In a perfect world Oona's Prowler would be Dark Confidant but I'm being realistic here. It's not a perfect build but it should be "good enough" to get the job done in most casual metas.
So yeah, I'm not trying to show you a perfect Gate build or anything. What I am trying to show you is how you can build it on a reasonable budget. The deck is fairly powerful against most archetypes because it contains a large amount of 2-for-1s in addition to a strategic mix of pro-active and re-active disruption and removal. If you just want a nice security blanket then this is the deck for you.
| PoxMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards |
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Lands (24) 24x Swamp Spells (35) 3x Dark Ritual 4x The Rack 2x Shrieking Affliction 4x Innocent Blood 4x Despise 1x Raven's Crime 4x Smallpox 4x Hymn to Tourach 3x Rancid Earth 1x Pox 3x Necrogen Mists 3x Ensnaring Bridge |
With respect to choosing a win condition, feel free to run with whatever you want. I'm a huge Ensnaring Bridge fan myself so in this list I opted to showcase a Prison-style build that seeks to lock your opponent at 0 cards in hand and win from there. If you want to use 2x Nether Spirits, 4x Mishra's Factorys and 2-3x Cursed Scrolls, that's fine too. 2x Tombstalker and 2x Phyrexian Totem usually work fine as well. You can't go wrong with jamming 4x Bloodghasts in there either. What I like about Ensnaring Bridge is that I personally find that a ton of casual decks are drawing dead to it. People often fail to have maindecked outs to artifacts and most modern decks win using creature beats. Still, I can't know what your metagame is like. Just pick something relevant and roll with it.
Once again, I want to stress that I'm showcasing budget-minded builds. In an ideal world this list would have Mishra's Factory and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in the mana base. Necrogen Mists would be Liliana of the Veil, Despise would be Inquisition of Kozilek and Rancid Earth would be Sinkhole. It's not an ideal decklist but it should still give most brews and run for their money.
| Knights of the RoundMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | |
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Lands (24) 22x Swamp 2x Dakmor Salvage Creatures (15) 4x Oona's Prowler 4x Bloodghast 3x Haakon, Stromgald Scourge 4x Gatekeeper of Malakir | Spells (21) 4x Despise 2x Raven's Crime 1x Victim of Night 3x Nameless Inversion 4x Hymn to Tourach 4x Smallpox 1x Stupor 2x Necrogen Mists |
Despise, as always, could be either Duress if your metagame is Combo/Control-centric or Inquisition of Kozilek if you own them. The 3 CMC discard spells would ideally be Liliana of the Veil.
| Unearthing SkullsMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | |
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Lands (22) 20x Swamp 2x Tectonic Edge Creatures (16) 3x Oona's Prowler 2x Mesmeric Fiend 2x Ravenous Rats 4x Augur of Skulls 2x Nyxathid 2x Crypt Rats 2x Liliana's Specter 2x Desecration Demon | Spells (20) 3x Despise 3x Unearth 4x Hymn to Tourach 2x Geth's Verdict 3x Victim of Night 2x Stupor 2x Grafted Wargear |
Mesmeric Fiend vs Ravenous Rats is a tossup. On the one hand Fiend lets you see their hand and take their best card but I mean removal can throw a wrench into that plan. The Rats always gets at least 1 card but it's always going to be their worst one. I don't mind splitting them 2:2 but you could always run 4:0 or 0:4. There's no right or wrong answer.
As always the list isn't perfect but it's built with a budget in mind. I mostly wanted to showcase the Unearth + Augur of Skulls interaction which can be quite potent in casual play.
| Loam PoxMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | |
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Lands (27) 12x Swamp 3x Golgari Guildgate 3x Tainted Wood 2x Tranquil Thicket 4x Barren Moor 1x Cabal Pit 2x Tectonic Edge | Creatures (5) 4x Bloodghast 1x Gigapede Spells (28) 4x Despise 2x Raven's Crime 1x Darkblast 4x Innocent Blood 4x Smallpox 4x Hymn to Tourach 4x Ratchet Bomb 4x Life from the Loam 1x Worm Harvest |
Ratchet Bomb is used a generic answer-all but this could easily be Pernicious Deed, Maelstrom Pulse, Abrupt Decay, Nature's Claim, Putrefy or any number of other Green goodies. Run the card that will best suit your needs.
| BR ContraggroMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | |
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Lands (24) 12x Swamp 2x Mountain 4x Tainted Peak 4x Rakdos Guildgate 2x Dragonskull Summit | Creatures (13) 2x Grim Lavamancer 4x Oona's Prowler 4x Rakdos Augermage 3x Nyxathid Spells (23) 4x The Rack 4x Lightning Bolt 3x Terminate 2x Rise // Fall 4x Hymn to Tourach 4x Blightning 2x Rakdos's Return |
| BW ControlMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | |
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Lands (24) 12x Swamp 2x Plains 4x Tainted Field 4x Caves of Koilos 2x Flagstones of Trokair Creatures (12) 4x Tidehollow Sculler 3x Stoneforge Mystic 3x Gatekeeper of Malakir 2x Mirran Crusader | Spells (24) 4x Despise 4x Swords to Plowshares 4x Hymn to Tourach 2x Gerrard's Verdict 3x Smallpox 1x Oblivion Ring 4x Lingering Souls 1x Batterskull 1x Sword of Body and Mind |
Oblivion Ring's numbers could easily be bumped if you like having a lot of removal in your builds. It's a great catch-all and you really can't go wrong with it. I think that playing 1-2 in the dark is fine but if you prefer to run 3 or 4 that works too.
As always, you can add Inquisition of Kozilek, Umezawa's Jitte, better Swords, Vindicate and other non-budget stuff to the list if you want. I'm just trying to provide people with a budget-minded shell that they can expand upon.
Sideboard Options
You obviously don't need an actual 15 card sideboard in non-sanctioned play but I would like to take the time to highlight cards that you should consider swapping in and out after your games. Discard decks don't have access to the best sideboard options in the world but I mean you have enough options that you can still give most archetypes a run for their money. I'll try to cover what I side in and out for these kinds of cards but what I will say is that it's very hard to give a proper sideboard guide given the dynamic nature of casual deckbuilding. There's 100 reasons to bring a card in and out and I can't possibly cover them all. I'll try to explain my thought process as to why I would bring a card in and what I would look to side out but please take everything said here with a grain of salt. It's not a "finished good" that will solve every question and concern that you might have
Bojuka Bog: This card is maindeckable but I try and avoid ETBT lands whenever possible. Still, I will almost always bring these in against relevant archetypes. The sideboard guide for this one is pretty simple; -4x Swamp +4x Bog.
Pithing Needle: This is a fine 1-2 of (tops!) to bring along with you. You can name Planeswalkers, mana rocks, important critters, etc. There's no hard or fast rule for what to side out but it's usually going to be removal or pinpoint discard since you usually need this type of effect to handle a non-creature spell.
Extirpate: Kills various combo and reanimator decks dead. Side out some excess removal and side these in if you know that you can straight up stop your opponent from winning if you nail one of his or her key combo pieces. This card is also fine good against Blue decks running Ponder (you can shuffle their library if they keep the cards) and Snapcaster Mage effects. It's obviously not amazing since it's card disadvantage but I mean if your list has a bunch of marginal removal that it won't need against a Blue Control deck then it's better than having a dead Victim of Night in hand.
Duress: Great against Combo and Control decks that aren't fielding much in the way of warm bodies. You will usually side out spot removal such as Innocent Blood for this type of effect.
Ratchet Bomb: This is one of the few cheap (CMC wise) answer-alls in Black. This card is good against just about everything but isn't exceptional in any matchup. I like that it removes Planeswalkers which is relevant more often than people probably think. There's no easy sideboarding guide for this card because there's a million reasons why you could be bringing it in.
Engineered Plague: Destroys Elves, Goblins, etc. It doesn't get any simpler than that. Cut your weakest discard spells and effects for these since they're probably abysmal in these kinds of matchups. Hymns are still worth keeping since they create card advantage but you can axe just about anything else to make room for these.
Perish: Having access to a few of these is always nice if you're worried about Green decks that might be slamming Obstinate Baloths into play and such. I like assuming the role of the control deck in these matchups and so I typically shave my 1-for-1 discard spells and my win conditions to make room for these types of effects. I'll also remove a spot removal spell if I'm worried about getting swarmed out. It's basically a 3 mana Plague Wind after all.
Ensnaring Bridge: If these aren't maindecks already then they should be sideboarded at the very least. I like to see at least 3 spread amongst those zones. You will almost never be upset to see them and they're not even that bad in multiples. A bit of security isn't the worst thing to have in the world after all.
Leyline of the Void: Kills graveyard decks dead. This is the kind of card that will make Dredge and Reanimator decks outright scoop to you. It also stops any Reveillark shenanigans and makes anyone building about Mimic Vat cry. When this card is good it's going to be oppressively powerful and so you'll want to play 4 and strongly consider mulliganing for it. I usually shave a bit of everything to make room for them.
Massacre: White weenie got you down? Look no further! You'll want to shave win conditions and some of your worst pinpoint discard spells for a couple of these. You can also cut any expensive mass removal (such as Mutilate) that may be lurking in your maindeck.
Spinning Darkness: This is one if your best tools for beating ultra fast aggro and burn decks. It's free removal and lifegain all rolled in to one. I'll happily play 2-3 of these over my durdly expensive spells that won't be cast in time to save my ass.
Tombstalker: Some decks, namely Green and Red ones, might have no-outs to a 5/5 flier on say turn 4. It's very good if you know that your opponent has limited removal options at his or her disposal. Side out other win conditions or excess removal (against Red decks mainly) for this type of card.
Multiplayer Alternatives
One thing that I've come learn in my years of playing casual Magic is that many players sling their decks in both multiplayer and duel settings. While a traditional discard deck would work fine in a 2HG game you wouldn't want a bunch of Despises and The Racks in a multiplayer game. In this bonus section I'll discuss ways of building and playing my favorite kinds of multiplayer discard decks.
Removal
Let's face it; Doom Blade isn't going to cut it in a multiplayer setting. Discard decks tend to draw a lot of hate and spot removal is going to provide little-if-any respite from a mob of angry mages. You'll want to load your decks up on cards such as Innocent Blood, Abyssal Gatekeeper, Smallpox and Pox if you want to keep the angry hordes at bay. Massacre usually does a ton of work as well since it only takes one White mage to turn it on. That's not asking a lot in a multiplayer setting. The top of your curve can clearly be comprised of staples such as Mutilate and Barter in Blood but you will need a fair number of 1-3 CMC removal options as well. Asking people nicely not to kill you doesn't usually go very far in my experience :P.
Protection
Removal slows the bleeding but it won't stop it altogether. You'll probably need (and yes, I do mean need) something like Ensnaring Bridge or Noetic Scales to shut creatures out of the game completely if you want to survive long enough to win games. I'm not opposed to various Glacial Chasm shenanigans either, especially if Gibbering Descent and/or Eon Hub is also in the picture. They here is playing a resilient and persistent "Moat" effect that will enable you to ignore creatures altogether past a certain point. It's too easy to get grinded out by random beaters otherwise in my experience.
Win Conditions
This is where things get tricky. The Rack is useless and Tombstalker just dies. Cursed Scroll? Nether Spirit? You'll deck yourself before those kinds of cards kill everyone >.<. What you need to be looking out for are things like Quest for the Nihil Stone, Shrieking Affliction and Wheel of Torture. That is, you want resilient and persistent global effects that will truck the entire table down. I love the Affliction and the Wheel myself but Quest is reasonable in a multiplayer setting. I don't like it in duels but it's "fine" in a big group setting. Anyways, the key here is to avoid creatures since everyone and their mother probably has removal for them. Trust me; Rackling isn't going to do anything.
| Need a Hand?Magic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards |
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Lands (24) 24x Swamp Creatures (7) 4x Abyssal Gatekeeper 3x Rotting Rats Spells (29) 3x Quest for the Nihil Stone 3x Innocent Blood 4x Shrieking Affliction 4x Smallpox 4x Necrogen Mists 3x Bottomless Pit 4x Ensnaring Bridge 2x Mutilate 3x Noetic Scales |
Still, my favorite variation of this deck is one based off of traditional Legacy Pox lists. It's obviously modified to beat any number of opponents but it's a complete hoot to play and should incite quite a few groans from the rest of the table.
| Need a Hand?Magic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards |
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Lands (25) 25x Swamp Creatures (3) 3x Abyssal Gatekeeper Spells (31) 4x Dark Ritual 3x Innocent Blood 4x Shrieking Affliction 4x Smallpox 2x Pox 4x Necrogen Mists 2x Bottomless Pit 3x Wheel of Torture 4x Ensnaring Bridge 2x Noetic Scales |
Conclusion
I hope that you've enjoyed reading this Primer and it's my hope that your general knowledge of discard-based decks has improved as a result. Discard spells are a great way to add some pro-active disruption to your lists and it's well worth risking their weak mid-to-late game value over. As long as you stick to core staples like Hymn to Tourach you really can't go wrong with jamming them in just about anything. Still, it never hurts to go all-in and focus on using discard spells to enable you to seize your victories. With any luck discard-based decks will permanently exist to drive your friends and loved ones completely mental ^_^.
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Posted Apr 22, 2013Ah thanks. Truth be told I've actually decided not to bother submitting it.
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Posted Apr 22, 2013It's clear you put a ton of effort and time into this. Cheers on a job well done.
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Posted Mar 18, 2013I wouldn't consider them to be top tier finishers given their high mana cost and relatively weak bodies. The Rack is fine because it's cheap and resilient but I mean I don't really want a 3-4 mana version of it that gets whacked by any random removal spell. If these creatures were 3/3s for 3 or 4/4s for 4 then maybe but I just don't expect them to be game-changers in an average session.
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Posted Mar 17, 2013