MTG Salvation

Hello everyone. Before anyone says something about it, I know this is not a T1 deck and probably will never be as long as Wizards doesnt print a new key card or downgrades it, I think the closest attempt was Flameblade Adept but sadly it was printed as uncommon.

Besides that, I have to say I love this deck, theres is something in the madness/discard mechanic that I like so much I can quit it. I've been testing this deck for the last few month making lots of changes trying to make it a little bit more competitive and I came up with this list of pro/cons.

Here is the list I'm currently playing, below I'll talk about the deck mechanics, pros, cons, etc.

(I'm not posting the SB becouse the meta around me has shifted and I have to update it)

PROS:

1. Way to awesome to play and watch.
2. Not commonly played which makes hard to play and SB against.
3. Able to handle big pauper mobs like Gurmag's Angler with single card Lightning Axe
4. R/G has huge SB options against common meta.
5. Again, awesome to play.
6. Huge burst potential.

CONS:

1. Awkward draws/hands make the deck not work at all.
2. Not really consistant.
3. Hard time against graveyard hate/heavy removal.
4. Always feels like you lack 1 mana to do the trick.
5. Still missing the key card besides Wild Mongrel

THINGS I'VE TRIED:

• Threshold/Delirium: Since the realease of EMA, 2 cards came out to me like "oh, I have to run a playset right now". I mean Nimble Mongoose and Werebear and also Moldgraf Scavenger. But one thing I hate from pauper is that there is so much graveyard hate around and easy to play in any deck that doesnt play around its own graveyard with cards like Bojuka Bog or Relic of Progenitus. This cards just ruin this mechanic so easly. When you start off your game with a [[Faithless Looting]] in your hand and some fetching lands you'll probably hit threshold in like 3/4 turns which is not bad for a deck that is not threshold focused, but when you get to midgame and you start running out of fuel if your opponent hits a Relic it means goodbye for threshold.
• Dredge: I just dont like dredge in this deck. Yes, it fuels the graveyard really fast but since this deck relies on some key cards, throwing them into the graveyard doesnt sound to good, besides, it has the same problem threshold had above. Anyway I tried and discard Golgari Brownscale.
• Delve: God I wish there was anything else with delve in R/G. Delve has proven to be the best graveyard mechanic for this deck, it makes all the discard/looting thing worth it. Yes, like dredge or threshold its affected again for graveyard hate but the difference is that your opponent cannot keep waiting to ruin your plan like with Nimble Mongoose, you force them to exile your graveyard as soon as they can becouse they cannot instant answer to delve. This is why I run a full playset of Hooting Mandrils.
• Flashback: This is the OK mechanic. Discard+Flashback sounds really good, specially if the fb cost is lower than the normal cost. Works in lategame with Faithless Looting when you need to dig for an answer but sadly, there are not enough good flashblack cards in R/G for this decks. In the first version of this deck I tried 1 Firebolt but it didnt work couse the fb cost is way to high for this deck. One card I've not tested yet is Acorn Harvest which sounds as a good SB option against monoB. Again I find myself struggling with graveyard hate if I focus too much on flasback.

OBSERVATIONS/COMMENTS:

• From everything I said above, this deck finds itself struggling against graveyard hate since every mechanic that could be related to madness/discard is affected from it, there are way too many options for any deck in the format to run graveyard hate. This considerably reduces our options.
• Madness itself is not a win mechanic, it makes looting/drawing a better option for an aggro oriented deck.
• Madness is really fun to play. When you start of your hand with 1 Faithless Looting and 2 Basking Rootwalla there is no way you wont smile becouse you get to draw 2 cards, drop 2 mobs that pump themselves and all for the cost of 1 mana. But, the downside is that, unless you proc madness with Mongrel, every trigger requires "extra" mana for the discard engine causing you to slow down your game just to get enough mana for the combo. This is way I run a single copy of Cathartic Reunion and I run it usually as a "dig further" for an answer in lategame, otherwise I discard it.
• There is almost no way to stop this deck if you start off the game with 2 of this opening hands: 1 Wild Mongrel + 2 Basking Rootwalla or 1 Faithless Looting + 2 Basking Rootwalla. This shows how strong but also luck dependant is this deck. Getting 1 or 2 rootwallas in your opening with a discard engine makes this deck grow faster than almost any other deck in the format except for Affinity.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Nimble Mongoose: I love this critter, thats why I hate so much the infinite graveyard hate options in pauper
• Shard Volley: Initially I played 2 of them becouse although it costs 1 land, its almost a bolt that adds another card to fuel delve.
• Firebolt: If the fb cost wasnt so high it could quite a good option.

OPTIONS:

• Acorn Harvest: Not sure if I'd run in mainboard but looks like a cool option against sacrifice decks.
• Sonic Seizure: If the discarded card wasnt random I'd run at least 2 of them or even replace the Axes but maybe 2 of them for the mid/late game could be a possibilty.
• Flame Jab: Gives another option when you keep drawing lands and also fuels the graveyard for delving. Might work really good against token (Kuldotha, monoW) or even monoU.
• Ash Barrens: Actually if I had 4 of them, they would replace the Wilds becouse this deck suffers tapped mana.
• Rancor: I think I'm gonna try 2 of them since Mongrel can get big but making through those 1/1 blokers without trample is quite hard.
• Kris Mage: I've seen some lists running it, could work against monoU or tokens but red,tap,discard seems too much for 1 dmg.
• Tormenting Voice: I've chosen Cathartic over Tormenting becouse the main use for it, is performing a deeper dig for solutions although sometimes discardin 2 seems to be too much, could swap it.
• Temur Battle Rage: It could be an awesome finisher specially with Mongrel but 2 mana plus more mana for the madness costs ends up being too much.

Finally I open up this post for any suggestion you have to make this incredible fun to play deck stronger.

Hi,

big thx for the guide.

is there an 2019 updated version for this list?

i saw some Bloodmad Vampire in other lists, is he worth the slot?

how about the downshifted Reckless Wurm, is he worth the slot?

is 18(14) lands enough, i think with with arrgant wurm and reckless wurm, it could be too less lands?

what do you think would improve to make the deck more stable?

regards

Jumpy2k6

This video might be a good place to start with this list.



I personally like the full 4 Lightning Axe because Gurmag Angler is so popular right now.

This list does not play Hooting Mandrills, but it probably could.

21 lands feels right for this deck.

as this deck seems to be gathering a little interest
this is my list (still refining)


lessons i've learned when playing this
Arrogant Wurm > Reckless Wurm due to hydroblast

without probe threshold is pretty inconsistent

Borderland Explorer is the weakest card by far but being able to fetch a land while also being a discard outlet on a solid body mean its stays untill i can find a replacement

the deck currently need another Wild Mongrel effect to help the deck

matchups
black gy midrange decks are a slog and if you don't get a very explosive hand almost unwinnable

u/x tempo decks are around 50/50 and is a very skill/stack intensive matchup but winnable

burn is a fair matchup if you can stop there threats sticking and after sb pulse can win the game. sometimes they just win but but thats burn for you.

tron, g1 you have t be fast and aggressive, g2 take a slower approach and build up the board until you can swing in backed with a flaring pain in 1 or 2 attacks

heroic, never let a threat stay, make removal your priority and you'll be on, sometimes they will get a double blessing or have all the emerges and then there's nothing to do but overall it requires a controlling style to win.

elves, the same, kill all the combo elves and love your tramplers

against most other deck we just go full aggro

i only play in paper so i have not played any matchers against affinity or boros yet so i can update when i do for anyone wanting an update