I really don't like Ensnaring Bridge in this style of deck. We have so much good removal in our colors, and since we can't control our opponents topdecks like Lantern can, or use counterspells to protect the bridge, it seems really fragile.
Kolaghans Command in the main deck would help you against Tron and Lantern. Also it looks like you would have a really hard time winning through a Leyline since you can't attack and all your wincons target the opponent.
The struggle that I've been having is finding the right balance for the rest of the deck to handle the variety of decks in my meta, to get to the point that I'm "in the game" enough for the top-end package to close it out.
The sideboard is another matter, but having a main deck of the correct ~27 1 and 2 cmc spells is proving a challenge. Thoughts?
Ignoring the sideboard right now since that's secondary.
While Dejadal is correct in his assessment that I am back on Demigod of Revenge, this has not stopped me from playing quite a large number of Planeswalkers with them even still. The difference between my deck and your deck is that I've completely cut Lightning Bolt from the 75. I know it sounds insane, but I got really sick and tired of drawing it and having it feel subpar, only being good against aggressive decks like Affinity, Elves, and Goblins and sometimes pressuring Planeswalkers that the opponents control.
I've done fairly well with the deck since I cut Bolt, going 12-2 in rounds at FNMs and Monday Night events. Now, none of this is necessarily anything to write home about, because they're just FNMs. However, without Bolt, I was able to move some cards in the sideboard to the main deck, freeing up some sideboard slots to shore up more matchups while adding some supporting spells. Here's where I wound up:
From testing, I realized that all of the aggro matchups that Lightning Bolt was "helpful" in, Anger of the Gods would more often times win the game outright. Setting the opponent back by getting heavy removal on their little creatures on turn 3 is insanely powerful, especially in the aforementioned aggro decks. It also gives you a way to beat Dredge game 1 if you run into the deck.
With Jeskai decks on the rise, we already have game against them with Blood Moon and Demigod of Revenge. However, I threw a Boil into the sideboard because it can also help take a game over at instant speed. Trying to mess around with Fulminator Mage was just too slow against decks with a control plan, because the odds of us resolving a Kolaghan's Command to repeatedly recur the Fulminator Mage are very slim, and also very mana intensive. It also only wants to be a one-of in the sideboard, so there's not a lot of sideboard space expended.
Liliana of the Veil is more powerful now than it has been in awhile, because it is great against the Death's Shadow lists if their board is empty, and it is very strong against Scapeshift lists as well. Not to mention it's a great help in battles of attrition such as Skred Red and Jund. I stuck with three of her in the main deck, along with a pair of Liliana, the Last Hope. LTLH often times has a copy boarded out, unless the opponent has some kind of token generator or is a weak creature deck, like Bant Spirits.
Being back up to 4 Kolaghan's Command feels amazing, because Affinity never dies and having a lot of ways to answer that deck is critical. If you don't have them, you can lose in one turn. Also, not playing Bolt makes the Affinity matchup harder. I am currently considering going up to 3 copies of Fatal Push and trimming down a copy of LTLH, but for now, LTLH has done much more for me and is also backbreaking against decks like Affinity just like Fatal Push is. Sometimes though it's just nice to have the extra one-mana removal.
Since Bedlam Reveler has been shelved, as I don't think this is the deck he wants to see as much play in, Gurmag Angler as a one-of is back in. Bedlam Reveler's biggest problem was drawing too many top-heavy cards and being unable to cast him. With Gurmag Angler, and especially because I'm up to 9 fetch lands, it's easier to cast the beast on an early turn against aggressive decks, and even easier to cast him for cheap while leaving up removal as the game progresses. I'm glad the big ol' Zombie Fish is back in the deck. He has been far more consistent.
I would like to find room for a Hazoret the Fervent as well. I've been sold on this card for some time, I just don't own a copy. I also am not sure what would get trimmed. I'm really happy with how Gurmag Angler has performed, so maybe one of the LTLH copies gets shelved after all? Feels like it might be too many win conditions. I'm still working on that slot.
Having six discard spells in the main deck has been excellent. I board into Thoughtseize quite a bit, but I'm not sure if I would miss it if the sideboard copy wasn't there. It's on the chopping block, along with Boil, in case I need to move an LTLH to the sideboard for a Hazoret or another Fatal Push.
That's all I got for now. @Keiichi you're definitely on the right track. How good has Damnation been? Are there times you might have liked Anger of the Gods over it?
How has playing without faithless gone for you? I just started to consider removing it from my deck entirely (not that I'm unhappy with it tbh) but going in a different route from yours. Are the Demigods still a strong win condition. The card I've been looking to replace it with is collective brutality and maybe an ob nixilis or night's whisper. Do you feel like it's more difficult to win the games that need to be grinded out without the looting.
I need some help with my build. I have some cards that I really want to switch out but I am not sure what to replace them with. I want to get rid of desecration demon and gifted aetherborn. I am considering moving to packrats in place of the aether born and maybe hazoret in the demons slot. The deck still needs a lot of work but I do not want to sink a lot of money into it until I settle on a build. Deck is linked below.
So jtms and bloodbraid just got released from the ban prison. Would you guys think pithing needle or sorcerous spyglass is worth a slot or two in the side board?
God I look away for a few weeks and the OG Modern boogeyman is unleashed...
Much as I'm loathe to see those cards on the other side of the table, we're not exactly lacking in tools. Jace is his own brand of problem no question, but that'll come down to balancing the ratios of burn and Dreadbores. Business as usual for us, kill spells ahoy. There's likely to be a surge in Blue decks trying to fit him in, or especially multicolor decks including him, so planning for the field ahead is what it Boils down to.
I'm more concerned by Bloodbraid Elf, because it's far less predictable and puts midrange decks in much more stubborn and explosive turf. BBE itself can be dealt with, but nobody wants to be on the receiving end of whatever Cascade horks up at the same time.
I'm currently using the Rabblemaster as main creature, but I played a lot with Demigod of Revenge. Demigod is so brutal as a finisher!
For this reason, I asked for a commission to alter my Demigods as someone once suggested here. So far, the artist sent me a proof for approval for the first card of the playset.
I'll share it below with you, and as soon as I receive the playset, I'll post it again here.
Hi everyone, it sure has been a while. Just wanna ask you guys of what you think of using bedlam reveler in the main 60? I've seen how good it is in the mardu pyromancer decks and I think we can use it the same way in ours. I was currently thinking of reducing copies of night's whisper to fit him in so that the creature base would look something like this
4 demigod of revenge
1 pia and kiran nalaar
1 kalitas, traitor to ghet
3-4 bedlam reveler
Hi everyone, it sure has been a while. Just wanna ask you guys of what you think of using bedlam reveler in the main 60?
Hi bryanbogz, I use Bedlam reveler with the Demigod of Revenge build, but I think that 3 or 4 are a bit too much. Since we exile Faithless Looting to recast it, sometimes you will find yourself with a heavy hand without being able to cast Bedlam Reveler.
This way, I personally think that 1 or 2 is enough on the deck.
Hi everyone, it sure has been a while. Just wanna ask you guys of what you think of using bedlam reveler in the main 60?
Hi bryanbogz, I use Bedlam reveler with the Demigod of Revenge build, but I think that 3 or 4 are a bit too much. Since we exile Faithless Looting to recast it, sometimes you will find yourself with a heavy hand without being able to cast Bedlam Reveler.
This way, I personally think that 1 or 2 is enough on the deck.
Karn doesn't seem better than Chandra which can do more and also provides card advantage.
I can see this as a 3rd option though competing with (the more expensive) Ob Nixilis.
I didn't have a lot of time to throw a list together so I wasn't really sure about a few of my choices (lands, only 3 faithless looting, sideboard, etc)
Ended up working out pretty well, I went 4-0 with wins over Ponza (!), Jeskai, Jund, and Burn(!!)
Round 1 game 1 Ponza had to mull to 5 and kept a double blood moon hand. He didn't draw into any Rains and turn 5 double Demigod sealed the game.
I should've won game 2. I had him ground down and a Chandra ready to ult, but I didn't want to thoughtseize him because I was at 4 life. Turns out the card he was holding onto was an inferno titan and he cast it before Chandra could ult. I had lili in hand but only one Swamp in play under his Moon.
Game 3 multiple thoughtseizes into Demigod was an easy (lucky) win.
Jeskai opponent kept some sketchy hands. Game one both Lilis and a Blood Moon is pretty unbeatable.
Game 2 would've been a win, but my Reveler drew me 3 lands, and then I topdecked more lands for 6 (not kidding) more turns. Ugh.
Game 3 he kept 2 checklands and I had soooo many discard spells. Blood moon and Chandra sealed it.
The games against Jund were pretty unremarkable. His creatures all die, and he can't do much against my win cons. Quick 2-0
Round 4 my opponent and I are the only X-0's. He turns down my offer to split and I know he's on Burn. Damn it.
I honestly just got really lucky, having Inquisition and blood moon against his heavy W hand game 1. I won games 1 and 3, and both games I was dead to bolt and needed him to whiff on his top decks for at least a turn (two turns for game 3), and I lucked out
I suppose it's time for my usual per-set review of potentially relevant and notable cards.
Infernal Reckoning: You don't need me to tell you about this one. No 'potentially' relevant here, this is straight-up a blatantly obvious sideboard inclusion for anyone having the appropriate meta.
Alpine Moon: More for Legacy I think, but given how much of a hassle Tron decks are, this being a 1-drop is attractive. Essentially a Pithing Needle for lands, but the "add any color" drawback is too much of a problem for using it in most matchups of Modern. Mana fixing our opponent in a field abundant with 2/3 color decks... unwise, to say the least. Much like Infernal Reckoning however, this is a 1-mana sideboard offering, and I have no complaints about that.
Sarkhan, Fireblood: By contrast, I'd like to point out that Sarkhan sadly doesn't offer us anything despite toting a nice 1RR cost. We have Lili for our 3-drop 'Walker anyway.
Dark-Dweller Oracle: Not of immediate usage in and of itself, but gels nicely with some of the other cards I've similarly pointed out as "interesting if built around". We've had a lot of cheap creatures that can recur easily, and play well with our 4-drop vampire buddy while packing the graveyard for more recursion or delve fuel. I wouldn't say it's viable yet, but potential has continued to build.
Not much here, in true Core Set fashion. Honestly, I'm more looking forward to whatever our next trip to Ravnica brings, because Ravnica always seems to get preferential treatment when it comes to rolling out lots of cards viable outside of Standard.
I'm a skred player, but I wanted to splash a color within this archetype. However the splash become a bit more than that and I think my decklist is more relevant to this thread.
I basically wanted the improved removals that black gives while keeping red finishers.
I've also played walkers heavy lists in the past but they are harder and harder to protect. Although Kalitas is way too easy to remove compared to stormbreath and hazoret. Batterskull could be an option but I don't want too many 5cc creatures.
I also think that Electrodominance is a lowkey revolution for this deck : being able to play draw-go and drop your threat or a wipe in instant speed is a really needed flexibility in this archetype.
However, I haven't got much time to try this brew and I won't have until a few weeks passes by.
Here's a few honorable mentions I've tried or thought about but didn't make the list (they are a walker, or too hard/expensive to cast, or not really useful) :
Ob Nixilis Reignited, Liliana of the Veil, Koth of the Hammer, Kolaghan's COmmand, Dismember, Phyrexian Obliterator, Batterskull.
I'm also not sure if Bedevil is really worth it in the maindeck over Terminate (or Dreadbore) as 3-mana is rather clunky and should be a SB card at best.
Why have you chosen Kalitas as one of the finishers ?
It isn't particularly resilient and the ability to exile creatures is situational and is otherwise covered by Anger of the Gods.
The splash is rather minimal to keep it a "Skred Red" deck though but mostly shores up weaknesses like non-creature decks and big creatures that survive Bolt/Anger (without reaorting to bad cards like Roast painful ones like Dismember).
The hard truth to confront centers on discard. As you know, the premise of Blitzkrieg is 2-for-1 discard with some light removal and phat beaters to follow. When Modern got really fast, it was hard to keep up in the meta of late. Is Wrench Mind and Blightning totally underpowered. If so, can Collective Brutality pick up enough slack. If so, we certainly shift towards a graveyard strategy complement: Demigod of Revenge perhaps?
Question: Electrodominance. When you use the X effect, can you fire off multiple modalities off of Collective Brutality??
Any chance that some of the Modern Horizons stuff could bring this deck back to life, either directly or thorough a metagame shift?
Lightning Skelemental looks like it might just be enough value to make a blightning effect worth playing.
Hmm... Lightning Skelemental does feel like it could fit... In my current list, I'd replace two Kalitas with two of them for testing, reducing the mana curve slightly and setting up for a more aggressive early game. I'm not too worried about the mana cost, but double red early while supporting the rest of the deck might be a periodic issue for my current manabase. Given our discard focus, we can make sure we get maximum value from it by pulling responses from their hand ahead of playing it. Three might be the right number if their value is good. Interesting.
Force of Despair feels like a reasonable sideboard card in a meta with swarm decks.
Diabolic Edict is another reasonable option for us to augment our targeted removal.
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician is also a potential upgrade for the Kalitas slot, with the proliferate pumping our planeswalkers and the discard cost for that ability being a way to get Demigods in the bin.
Plague Engineer seems like another valuable tool depending on your meta.
Aria of Flame seems like a decent way to augment our discard spells, especially after they lose value when the opponent has an empty hand. Worth testing.
Planebound Accomplice is interesting, as a potential way to hedge against getting mana screwed.
Endling looks powerful. I've not been a fan of Morphling variants in the past, but this one has the ability to preserve itself along with its versatility.
Overall, the set looks promising for us in my opinion. Lots of testing to be done.
Blitzkrieg - 1,300 posts and nearly a 200,000 views. To be archived for future views, but no longer can we chirp in as new cards get printed -- hope beyond hope that B/R Discard || Heavy Tanks can one day become premier deck material.
It's a sad day for the whole community. I know so many of us have benefited from the collective game enrichment and fellowship here at MTGsalvation.
Wow. We lost a titan today. Perhaps our greatest achievement was SmashPacMan getting a Top 8 in a large tournament 4 years ago PAIRED with Demigod of Revenge build winning a 1K in Florida which got a deck spotlight by Frank LePore. I had a pile of FNM wins and 12th place in Massachusetts States. But, unfortunately 2-for-1 discard started losing ground to fast/linear/redundant decks years ago.
We'll continue on until July 8th. Special petition: if anyone sees or intuits a winning list for Rakdos Karn BLITZKRIEG, I'd love to see it. And, all thoughts about Blitzkrieg past and present are encouraged to be shared in these final weeks.
If you're ever feeling nostalgic or looking for a spark of inspiration in the coming years, flip through some of these old pages. Who knows - maybe one day B/R Discard can get some serious traction.
THE FINAL CHAPTER
Well, we haven't had much activity here in years, there were the good times & we still sport one of the most badass art banners you've ever seen. So, hearty backslaps to all. See you around the next battlefield.
Wow, that's a bit of a shock. Not entirely unexpected given how much discussion has shifted to Discord and such. Wouldn't be all that surprised if The Source goes the same way.
I've been a big fan of this archetype and thought I would throw in my thoughts since I may never get to again with the site ending. I've created an account specifically for this purpose.
I've played this deck for about 3 years and cashed a few GPs and dozens of FNM wins and won a local $1k tournament with it as well as a local 500 tournament. Blightning is my favourite card in all of magic, it is the only card I know that 3 for 1s every time you cast it.
The flex slots are the exact numbers of Terminates and Dreadbores or whether to be creature centric or rack effect centric. When Control decks are popular I will play 4 Dreadbores and be rack centric. When Aggro is I will play 4 Terminates and be creature centric.
It is a very strong deck that I think of as an aggro discard deck with favourable matchups against Aggro decks, Midrange decks and Control decks but bad matchups against Tron and Dredge specifically.
I've tested Obliterator, Planeswalkers, Hazoret and Demigod varients in the past and the mistakes that I think the archetype has made in the past is letting the curve get too high and not going wide enough. Two key ideas I had that led to having a lot of success with it are to go big AND go wide, simultaneously. To diversify the threat base with threats that at any point threaten to take over the game by creating large armies on their own like Goblin Rabblemaster, Pack Rat or to some degree Bitterblossom; or sidestep conventional removal entirely with rack effects in the vein of an 8Rack deck. Except that while 8Rack struggles with creature aggro, this is one of our best matchups. Which, depends on the meta you're in.
Playing with the higher curve also meant sacrificing a lot of speed that could come with the deck and gave up points against linear decks. For example the deck is able to aggressively race, 2 racks on the field and a Blightning hits the opponent for 9 on Turn 3 and consistently clocks turn 4 kills while also depleting their resources , something you just can't do when playing Demigod or Obliterater. Although I'll be honest it feels awesome swinging in with Demigods. Similarly an unanswered Pack Rat or Rabblemaster will finish the game off by themselves within a few turns.
Another innovation was using Bitterblossom to give the deck resiliency in a wave of blockers that allow Lilliana to ultimate more frequently, allowing the deck to play either proactively or reactively in a game. This is what I love the most about the deck. It can press as the aggressor or react in the control role. One of the weaknesses the deck had was to linear threats and Planeswalkers. Both are attacked on different angles by Bitterblossom.
One of the other unconventional but best ideas I had with the deck was cutting Inquisitions and Thoughtseizes entirely and playing a greater number of removal spells and trying to trade up on mana on every spell. When maxing out playing 2 for 1 discard spells like Wrench Mind and Blightning they almost never have a full hand and the 1 for 1 discard becomes quickly redundant and make for very bad late game top decks.
I think 1 for 1 discard works better in decks with 1 very large but relatively fragile threat like Death Shadow or Tarmogoyf, but when going wide, it regularly takes multiple spells to dispatch Bitterblossom tokens or Pack Rats. Couple that with 2 for 1 discard and you will aggressively run them out of resources because the 2 for 1 threats compound with each other.
I actually think we're a deck that doesn't want 1 for 1 discard at all and my win rate has increased since I cut them. I think a core philosophy of a Blitzkrieg deck is to pack your deck with natural 2 for 1s.
So yes, those were my experiences with Blitzkrieg. Go big and wide with creatures or dodge removal altogether with rack effects. Keep the curve low and play threats that are resilient and take over the game on their own while 2 for 1 attacking your opponents cards and depleting their resources
I hope you all have as much success with it as I have.
With the release of newer snow cards (Astrolabe and Dead of Winter) a RB Snow Control seems better than ever so I want to try and see how it can work.
This is basically "Skred Red" splashing black for hand disruption and hard removal.
I wonder if Prismatic Vista could be a better option here over 2x Blood Crypt and 2x Snow-Covered Swamp to have all snow lands and lower the chance of drawing multiple swamps and getting color-screwed.
Another creature which might be potentially playable in the deck is Rekindling Phoenix that can come back a turn after sweeping the board or just keep blocking a big flyer.
I am not sure if it is enough to justify playing it in the deck over P&K though.
Kolaghans Command in the main deck would help you against Tron and Lantern. Also it looks like you would have a really hard time winning through a Leyline since you can't attack and all your wincons target the opponent.
How has playing without faithless gone for you? I just started to consider removing it from my deck entirely (not that I'm unhappy with it tbh) but going in a different route from yours. Are the Demigods still a strong win condition. The card I've been looking to replace it with is collective brutality and maybe an ob nixilis or night's whisper. Do you feel like it's more difficult to win the games that need to be grinded out without the looting.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/02-02-18-iDf-rb-midrange/
Edit: I have an alternate version too. Looking for feedback.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/rb-midrangeversion-3/
Much as I'm loathe to see those cards on the other side of the table, we're not exactly lacking in tools. Jace is his own brand of problem no question, but that'll come down to balancing the ratios of burn and Dreadbores. Business as usual for us, kill spells ahoy. There's likely to be a surge in Blue decks trying to fit him in, or especially multicolor decks including him, so planning for the field ahead is what it Boils down to.
I'm more concerned by Bloodbraid Elf, because it's far less predictable and puts midrange decks in much more stubborn and explosive turf. BBE itself can be dealt with, but nobody wants to be on the receiving end of whatever Cascade horks up at the same time.
I'm currently using the Rabblemaster as main creature, but I played a lot with Demigod of Revenge. Demigod is so brutal as a finisher!
For this reason, I asked for a commission to alter my Demigods as someone once suggested here. So far, the artist sent me a proof for approval for the first card of the playset.
I'll share it below with you, and as soon as I receive the playset, I'll post it again here.
// black
// 60 Maindeck
// 2 Artifact
2 Lashwrithe
// 16 Creature
4 Asylum Visitor
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Gifted Aetherborn
3 Phyrexian Obliterator
1 Hazoret the Fervent
// 5 Instant
4 Fatal Push
1 Kolaghan's Command
// 23 Land
2 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Graven Cairns
2 Polluted Delta
13 Swamp
1 Verdant Catacombs
// 4 Planeswalker
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
// 10 Sorcery
2 Dreadbore
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Thoughtseize
1 Collective Brutality
// 15 Sideboard
// 2 Artifact
SB: 2 Ratchet Bomb
// 2 Creature
SB: 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
// 5 Enchantment
SB: 2 Bitterblossom
SB: 3 Blood Moon
// 3 Instant
SB: 2 Rakdos Charm
SB: 1 Kolaghan's Command
// 3 Sorcery
SB: 2 Damnation
SB: 1 Slaughter Games
Gifted aetherborn and gatekeeper have felt like the best 2 cards in the deck. They are so very good at grinding the midgame.
4 demigod of revenge
1 pia and kiran nalaar
1 kalitas, traitor to ghet
3-4 bedlam reveler
Hi bryanbogz, I use Bedlam reveler with the Demigod of Revenge build, but I think that 3 or 4 are a bit too much. Since we exile Faithless Looting to recast it, sometimes you will find yourself with a heavy hand without being able to cast Bedlam Reveler.
This way, I personally think that 1 or 2 is enough on the deck.
Thanks for that, i'll br sure to try it out too
UMerfolk
WDeath and Taxes
BRBliztkrieg
GStompy
- - -
"Rock is overpowered. Paper is fine."
-Scissors
I can see this as a 3rd option though competing with (the more expensive) Ob Nixilis.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/br-demigod-control-1/?cb=1527340964
I didn't have a lot of time to throw a list together so I wasn't really sure about a few of my choices (lands, only 3 faithless looting, sideboard, etc)
Ended up working out pretty well, I went 4-0 with wins over Ponza (!), Jeskai, Jund, and Burn(!!)
Round 1 game 1 Ponza had to mull to 5 and kept a double blood moon hand. He didn't draw into any Rains and turn 5 double Demigod sealed the game.
I should've won game 2. I had him ground down and a Chandra ready to ult, but I didn't want to thoughtseize him because I was at 4 life. Turns out the card he was holding onto was an inferno titan and he cast it before Chandra could ult. I had lili in hand but only one Swamp in play under his Moon.
Game 3 multiple thoughtseizes into Demigod was an easy (lucky) win.
Jeskai opponent kept some sketchy hands. Game one both Lilis and a Blood Moon is pretty unbeatable.
Game 2 would've been a win, but my Reveler drew me 3 lands, and then I topdecked more lands for 6 (not kidding) more turns. Ugh.
Game 3 he kept 2 checklands and I had soooo many discard spells. Blood moon and Chandra sealed it.
The games against Jund were pretty unremarkable. His creatures all die, and he can't do much against my win cons. Quick 2-0
Round 4 my opponent and I are the only X-0's. He turns down my offer to split and I know he's on Burn. Damn it.
I honestly just got really lucky, having Inquisition and blood moon against his heavy W hand game 1. I won games 1 and 3, and both games I was dead to bolt and needed him to whiff on his top decks for at least a turn (two turns for game 3), and I lucked out
Infernal Reckoning: You don't need me to tell you about this one. No 'potentially' relevant here, this is straight-up a blatantly obvious sideboard inclusion for anyone having the appropriate meta.
Alpine Moon: More for Legacy I think, but given how much of a hassle Tron decks are, this being a 1-drop is attractive. Essentially a Pithing Needle for lands, but the "add any color" drawback is too much of a problem for using it in most matchups of Modern. Mana fixing our opponent in a field abundant with 2/3 color decks... unwise, to say the least. Much like Infernal Reckoning however, this is a 1-mana sideboard offering, and I have no complaints about that.
Sarkhan, Fireblood: By contrast, I'd like to point out that Sarkhan sadly doesn't offer us anything despite toting a nice 1RR cost. We have Lili for our 3-drop 'Walker anyway.
Dark-Dweller Oracle: Not of immediate usage in and of itself, but gels nicely with some of the other cards I've similarly pointed out as "interesting if built around". We've had a lot of cheap creatures that can recur easily, and play well with our 4-drop vampire buddy while packing the graveyard for more recursion or delve fuel. I wouldn't say it's viable yet, but potential has continued to build.
Not much here, in true Core Set fashion. Honestly, I'm more looking forward to whatever our next trip to Ravnica brings, because Ravnica always seems to get preferential treatment when it comes to rolling out lots of cards viable outside of Standard.
Modern // Legacy // Pauper
WUBRG
"Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire."
I'm a skred player, but I wanted to splash a color within this archetype. However the splash become a bit more than that and I think my decklist is more relevant to this thread.
4 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Canyon Slough
4 Lavaclaw Reaches
8 Swamp
3 Blood Moon
3 Phyrexian Arena
3 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Collective Brutality
4 Bedevil
3 Anger of the Gods
3 Electrodominance
4 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
3 Leyline of the Void
3 Bontu's Last Reckoning
3 Slaughter Games
3 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Eidolon of the Great revel
I basically wanted the improved removals that black gives while keeping red finishers.
I've also played walkers heavy lists in the past but they are harder and harder to protect. Although Kalitas is way too easy to remove compared to stormbreath and hazoret. Batterskull could be an option but I don't want too many 5cc creatures.
I also think that Electrodominance is a lowkey revolution for this deck : being able to play draw-go and drop your threat or a wipe in instant speed is a really needed flexibility in this archetype.
However, I haven't got much time to try this brew and I won't have until a few weeks passes by.
Here's a few honorable mentions I've tried or thought about but didn't make the list (they are a walker, or too hard/expensive to cast, or not really useful) :
Ob Nixilis Reignited, Liliana of the Veil, Koth of the Hammer, Kolaghan's COmmand, Dismember, Phyrexian Obliterator, Batterskull.
It is your most efficient removal option especially without Fatal Push (or Skred) in your list.
I'd slot it over Electrodominance which isn't a good "fair" card imho and is only good fir enabling combo's like Living End/Restore Balance.
I'm also not sure if Bedevil is really worth it in the maindeck over Terminate (or Dreadbore) as 3-mana is rather clunky and should be a SB card at best.
Why have you chosen Kalitas as one of the finishers ?
It isn't particularly resilient and the ability to exile creatures is situational and is otherwise covered by Anger of the Gods.
Btw, I remember attempting to build a Rakdos Skred list before and this is what I've come up with:
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/642573
The splash is rather minimal to keep it a "Skred Red" deck though but mostly shores up weaknesses like non-creature decks and big creatures that survive Bolt/Anger (without reaorting to bad cards like Roast painful ones like Dismember).
I wanted to try bedevil over terminate. So far it's been pretty good and the 3cmc hasn't been a problem.
Kalitas is a new addition and it seems underwhelming but I haven't trully tested it already.
The hard truth to confront centers on discard. As you know, the premise of Blitzkrieg is 2-for-1 discard with some light removal and phat beaters to follow. When Modern got really fast, it was hard to keep up in the meta of late. Is Wrench Mind and Blightning totally underpowered. If so, can Collective Brutality pick up enough slack. If so, we certainly shift towards a graveyard strategy complement: Demigod of Revenge perhaps?
Question: Electrodominance. When you use the X effect, can you fire off multiple modalities off of Collective Brutality??
Sigh. I do miss my Blitzkrieg days.
Lightning Skelemental looks like it might just be enough value to make a blightning effect worth playing.
Hmm... Lightning Skelemental does feel like it could fit... In my current list, I'd replace two Kalitas with two of them for testing, reducing the mana curve slightly and setting up for a more aggressive early game. I'm not too worried about the mana cost, but double red early while supporting the rest of the deck might be a periodic issue for my current manabase. Given our discard focus, we can make sure we get maximum value from it by pulling responses from their hand ahead of playing it. Three might be the right number if their value is good. Interesting.
Force of Despair feels like a reasonable sideboard card in a meta with swarm decks.
Diabolic Edict is another reasonable option for us to augment our targeted removal.
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician is also a potential upgrade for the Kalitas slot, with the proliferate pumping our planeswalkers and the discard cost for that ability being a way to get Demigods in the bin.
Plague Engineer seems like another valuable tool depending on your meta.
Aria of Flame seems like a decent way to augment our discard spells, especially after they lose value when the opponent has an empty hand. Worth testing.
Planebound Accomplice is interesting, as a potential way to hedge against getting mana screwed.
Endling looks powerful. I've not been a fan of Morphling variants in the past, but this one has the ability to preserve itself along with its versatility.
Overall, the set looks promising for us in my opinion. Lots of testing to be done.
Legacy - WRG Lands, WR Shortcake, RR Burn, UBRG Delver
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/articles/49777-the-end-of-an-era
The end of MTGsalvation.
To Conclude on July 8th
Blitzkrieg - 1,300 posts and nearly a 200,000 views. To be archived for future views, but no longer can we chirp in as new cards get printed -- hope beyond hope that B/R Discard || Heavy Tanks can one day become premier deck material.
It's a sad day for the whole community. I know so many of us have benefited from the collective game enrichment and fellowship here at MTGsalvation.
Wow. We lost a titan today. Perhaps our greatest achievement was SmashPacMan getting a Top 8 in a large tournament 4 years ago PAIRED with Demigod of Revenge build winning a 1K in Florida which got a deck spotlight by Frank LePore. I had a pile of FNM wins and 12th place in Massachusetts States. But, unfortunately 2-for-1 discard started losing ground to fast/linear/redundant decks years ago.
We'll continue on until July 8th. Special petition: if anyone sees or intuits a winning list for Rakdos Karn BLITZKRIEG, I'd love to see it. And, all thoughts about Blitzkrieg past and present are encouraged to be shared in these final weeks.
If you're ever feeling nostalgic or looking for a spark of inspiration in the coming years, flip through some of these old pages. Who knows - maybe one day B/R Discard can get some serious traction.
THE FINAL CHAPTER
Well, we haven't had much activity here in years, there were the good times & we still sport one of the most badass art banners you've ever seen. So, hearty backslaps to all. See you around the next battlefield.
-Raystack
Ray Karkman
Any chance someone could link the B/R Discord?
Legacy - WRG Lands, WR Shortcake, RR Burn, UBRG Delver
I've played this deck for about 3 years and cashed a few GPs and dozens of FNM wins and won a local $1k tournament with it as well as a local 500 tournament. Blightning is my favourite card in all of magic, it is the only card I know that 3 for 1s every time you cast it.
Here are my thoughts and my list.
//Main
2 Grim Lavamancer
//Lands
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
3 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Marsh Flats
1 Mountain
4 Polluted Delta
4 Swamp
//Artifacts
4 The Rack or Goblin Rabblemaster
//Enchantments
4 Bitterblossom
4 Shrieking Affliction or Pack Rat
//Instants
4 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Terminate or Dreadbore
//Sorceries
4 Blightning
4 Wrench Mind
//Planeswalkers
4 Liliana of the Veil
//Sideboard
4 Blood Moon
4 Collective Brutality
3 Damping Sphere
4 Rakdos Charm
The flex slots are the exact numbers of Terminates and Dreadbores or whether to be creature centric or rack effect centric. When Control decks are popular I will play 4 Dreadbores and be rack centric. When Aggro is I will play 4 Terminates and be creature centric.
It is a very strong deck that I think of as an aggro discard deck with favourable matchups against Aggro decks, Midrange decks and Control decks but bad matchups against Tron and Dredge specifically.
I've tested Obliterator, Planeswalkers, Hazoret and Demigod varients in the past and the mistakes that I think the archetype has made in the past is letting the curve get too high and not going wide enough. Two key ideas I had that led to having a lot of success with it are to go big AND go wide, simultaneously. To diversify the threat base with threats that at any point threaten to take over the game by creating large armies on their own like Goblin Rabblemaster, Pack Rat or to some degree Bitterblossom; or sidestep conventional removal entirely with rack effects in the vein of an 8Rack deck. Except that while 8Rack struggles with creature aggro, this is one of our best matchups. Which, depends on the meta you're in.
Playing with the higher curve also meant sacrificing a lot of speed that could come with the deck and gave up points against linear decks. For example the deck is able to aggressively race, 2 racks on the field and a Blightning hits the opponent for 9 on Turn 3 and consistently clocks turn 4 kills while also depleting their resources , something you just can't do when playing Demigod or Obliterater. Although I'll be honest it feels awesome swinging in with Demigods. Similarly an unanswered Pack Rat or Rabblemaster will finish the game off by themselves within a few turns.
Another innovation was using Bitterblossom to give the deck resiliency in a wave of blockers that allow Lilliana to ultimate more frequently, allowing the deck to play either proactively or reactively in a game. This is what I love the most about the deck. It can press as the aggressor or react in the control role. One of the weaknesses the deck had was to linear threats and Planeswalkers. Both are attacked on different angles by Bitterblossom.
One of the other unconventional but best ideas I had with the deck was cutting Inquisitions and Thoughtseizes entirely and playing a greater number of removal spells and trying to trade up on mana on every spell. When maxing out playing 2 for 1 discard spells like Wrench Mind and Blightning they almost never have a full hand and the 1 for 1 discard becomes quickly redundant and make for very bad late game top decks.
I think 1 for 1 discard works better in decks with 1 very large but relatively fragile threat like Death Shadow or Tarmogoyf, but when going wide, it regularly takes multiple spells to dispatch Bitterblossom tokens or Pack Rats. Couple that with 2 for 1 discard and you will aggressively run them out of resources because the 2 for 1 threats compound with each other.
I actually think we're a deck that doesn't want 1 for 1 discard at all and my win rate has increased since I cut them. I think a core philosophy of a Blitzkrieg deck is to pack your deck with natural 2 for 1s.
So yes, those were my experiences with Blitzkrieg. Go big and wide with creatures or dodge removal altogether with rack effects. Keep the curve low and play threats that are resilient and take over the game on their own while 2 for 1 attacking your opponents cards and depleting their resources
I hope you all have as much success with it as I have.
Long live Blitzkrieg.
This is basically "Skred Red" splashing black for hand disruption and hard removal.
2x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Planeswalker (8)
2x Chandra, Acolyte of Flame
2x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2x Koth of the Hammer
2x Karn, Scion of Urza
Enchantment (3)
3x Blood Moon
Artifact (7)
4x Arcum's Astrolabe
2x Heart of Kiran
1x Batterskull
Instant (6)
2x Lightning Bolt
4x Skred
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Thoughtseize
2x Dreadbore
3x Dead of Winter
Land (23)
1x Scrying Sheets
4x Bloodstained Mire
2x Blood Crypt
12x Snow-Covered Mountain
4x Snow-Covered Swamp
3x Nihil Spellbomb
2x Ratchet Bomb
2x Damping Sphere
2x Collective Brutality
2x Terminate
1x Rakdos Charm
2x Pillage
1x Stormbreath Dragon
I wonder if Prismatic Vista could be a better option here over 2x Blood Crypt and 2x Snow-Covered Swamp to have all snow lands and lower the chance of drawing multiple swamps and getting color-screwed.
Another creature which might be potentially playable in the deck is Rekindling Phoenix that can come back a turn after sweeping the board or just keep blocking a big flyer.
I am not sure if it is enough to justify playing it in the deck over P&K though.
Some other SB I consider trying as well but not sure how to fit them in are:
Angrath's Rampage, Abrade, Goblin Rabblemaster and Pithing Needle/Sorcerous Spyglass.