Goblin Arsonist deals with pesky Faeries very well and can trade up with X/2s or 2-for-1 the opponent. At worst, it deals a damage to the opponents' face.
Carrion Feeder can end games extremely quickly if left unchecked. pumping him early into a 4/4 or more can make him very difficult to block. He unfortunately can't block, but opponents seem to often forget about that.
Mogg War Marshal is the card that creates the most bodies for its mana cost, making good chump blockers, tons of +1/+1 counters, soaking up removal or just going on the offensive.
Perilous Myr is a very efficient way of dealing with creatures, making him an excellent blocker (takes out x/3s) or a worthy sac to kill a creature.
Nantuko Husk/ Phyrexian Ghoul is a great card that ends games not unlike Atog in Affinity. It forces opponents to make very awkward blocks and skews combat math. Even without a good number of fodder, the 2/2 body is still decent and can often still go on the attack, especially equipped with Flayer Husks.
Firebolt hits almost everything it needs to, and provides extra value for drawing surplus lands later in the game, potentially closing out the game by removing blockers or just dealing the last points of damage.
Warren Weirding is a good Edict effect against everything except Goblins and happens to play very well with our own strategy. Using the Weirding on ourselves to sacrifice Mogg War Marshal or Goblin Arsonist can give us the offense edge we need. Most of the time, it's just a removal spell.
Unearth gets back everything in the deck. Especially effective with Mogg War Marshal or Nantuko Husk. When faced with Graveyard hate, it also cycles.
Apostle's Blessing can make a fatty impossible to block, or protect him from a removal spell or a bounce spell at an opportune time.
Delver struggles with the combined early pressure and removal.
Tron keels over and dies.
Stompy is somewhat even.
Burn decks are a race, but Sylvok Lifestaff is especially effective in our deck, putting Burn players totally out of commission.
The games are fun and interactive. Instant-speed interactions abound and make for very complicated combat situations (for the opponent, that is).
This seems like a great deck! Recursion in decks like this can be very hard to deal with, so Unearth is very nice!
Altar's Reap could be a great addition if you find yourself needing some card draw.
Tragic Slip could also be very cheap removal, but I'm pretty sure Terminate can remove all the same things (except Slip can't touch Guardian of the Guildpact.)
If you can find space for it, Undying Evil can be a big support card here. Playing it on War Marshal if you don't pay it's Echo cost can be sick. It is also pretty nasty to double sac a Myr or Newt in one turn.
I like that Altar's Reap is splashable, too! But what could I possibly remove? The list feels so tight at the moment. But I feel the deck could use some more draw.
I really like my removal suite because it's so flexible. It works in almost any situation, without me needing to set it up. I could maybe take out an Innocent Blood for one, but I'm not sure that's the right call.
I find Undying Evil and Unearth basically fill the same roles, except Unearth can be done any time. They're kinda fighting for space here!
The list is very tight. I hate it when a deck gets to that point, but you still want to make room for something. I'd probably drop an Innocent Blood and maybe one Flayer Husk. While Flayer Husk is good, I feel it's the one "creature" you can probably do without.
And I agree about you thoughts on Undying Evil. I used to run it in my Unearth deck, but found it was too redundant. The only difference is the instant speed which can help if your only blocker is removed before your opponent swings, but that's not enough to make it better than Unearth.
Have you considered running Persist and Undying creatures? LikeRendclaw Trow?
I don't think Persist and Undying would create enough of an advantage for me. The only on-colour, on-curve that are remotely playable are Butcher Ghoul and Rendclaw Trow, and they just don't do enough.
Since you're running so many sacrifice outlets, running two or three cards such as Traitorous Instinct might be worth it. It's a sort of removal card.
That's a very interesting idea! I can't think of many creatures worth stealing other than an Ulamog's Crusher, but it could be an interesting sideboard card. I'd go for the simpler Act of Treason, as the mana-cost is more appropriate.
Maybe -1 Forgotten Cave and an Innocent Blood. That way you'll at least have a cycle land of each color.
EDIT: Also, why isn't Fling anywhere in your 75? This card would be great to help push through that last bit of damage you might need. You can bypass blockers or functionally give Double Strike to a big Nantuko Husk or Feeder against a player for the win.
I usually want to keep all my black sources and have only one red source, so this balance is just about right. I don't want too few red sources, and I'm pushing my luck as is!
I hadn't considered Fling. I thought about it hard, but I think that the fact that it's only really useful as a game-ender is too narrow. I very rarely sacrifice my sacrifice outlets, and it's even more rare to sacrifice the ones that I invested other sacrifices into. I not sold on the idea, but I may be wrong on this.
I'm astounded by how similar our decks are! I was drooling at the thought of including Rakdos Guildmage into the deck; it must be so good here.
Grim Harvest looks very interesting in your deck. I can't imagine myself using it all that often, considering how expensive the Recover cost is. I'll have to try it out!
I find my number of sac outlets to be decent. Don't forget I'm running 4 Kjeldoran Deads and 4 Innocent Bloods; they're not permanent sources of sacrifice, but I don't have infinite things to sacrifice either. What's good about the creatures I sacrifice is that they're not bad on their own either.
I really like that you included the Nightmare ability on the stack gimmick. I used to love doing that. I felt it maybe wasn't powerful enough here, as I don't like to sacrifice right away, and I don't run enough of the sac outlets to do it properly.
You know, you might be right about Festering Newt. I do remember instances where he wasn't so useful because everything on the board had 2 toughness. He is very good at hitting a Delver of Secrets, though. Believe it or not, Blood + a pinger is actually not a bad play. I agree it can be awkward, however. I'm thinking of cutting some Bloods in exchange for Altar's Reap. Maybe they're not good enough for the deck and I should just go for other removal.
I chose to use Manic Vandal over Ingot Chewer because it can be brought back with Unearth, while also having a more realistic casting cost for the body.
On the Rakdos Kitty idea: trust me, you do not want to go there. I've tried it abundantly before, and it just doesn't work. There's been a resurgence in the idea recently, the thread is still on the first page if you want to check it out.
Thanks so much for your great insight! Your comments and decklist were very helpful! Hope to see you around!
Furnace Celebration seems really good! I'm actually not such a fan Quest for the Gravelord, actually. Furnace seems like a more powerful endgame plan. I suppose a 5/5 for 1 mana is hard to beat though. I wouldn't know where to start to find good uncommons, seems like there would be quite a big selection.
Yeah, I'd have to rethink the mana-base in order to just include it. Shouldn't be too hard.
Kjeldoran Dead is a mean machine. a 3/1 regenerator is really hard to deal with. Give him 4 power and he's practically unstoppable. I can't say that having multiples has been a problem, and I've played the deck quite a bit now. As long as you have 2 Swamps ready, there's very little chance the opponent will be able to deal with both. The cards I've been having some problems against are Quicksand and Serrated Arrows, which don't allow regeneration.
I'm almost certain I'll be cutting 2 Bloods now. One for Altar's Reap and another for either another Flame Slash or Terminate.
Festering Newt trades with x/2s, which is not negligible for a 1-drop. On top of being able to throw it at x/1 creatures, he can really force your opponent to play around him. That being said, maybe he's not ideal as a 4-of. I'll have to see if something else could take his place. I wish there were more 2-mana creatures like Perilous Myr around.
I would try the Flayer Husks before the Kjeldoran Dead. They're a really good 1-drop that adds a lot to the deck.
I also get destroyed by Hexproof. Aside from that Burn is bad, and I also can't do much versus Storm decks. I have a reasonable fighting chance versus every other deck out there. I'm guessing that if someone other than myself played Turbo Fog, I'd be pretty screwed against that, too. My way of fighting Hexproof are the 4 Innocent Bloods and 4 Diabolic Edicts in the sideboard. The matchup is still not good, but if I can draw 2-3 edicts in a game, it gives me a good fighting chance. Against Blue decks, the 4 Pyroblast and Unearth are all I need. Of course, a bit of artifact removal is necessary to get an edge versus Affinity. Against Burn, it's about playing as fast as possible and gaining life with Sylvok Lifestaff. In general, the sideboard mostly helps improve the more even matchups, while also trying to shore up the big weaknesses of the deck.
I hope this helps!
I was developing a Rakdos Kitty build with someone else on the forums almost two years ago, and it was a dead-end.
mmm Mesmeric Fiend definitely has the upper hand in that department, I think. Being able to remove any card you choose permanently by having an instant sac outlet is more powerful. The cat would probably fit a bit better in my deck than in YavimayaWurm's, though.
I find I'm getting a bit low on removal, but we'll see. I'm thinking of also switching out 1 Kjeldoran Dead for another Nantuko Husk. How does that sound?
Names: Darwin Awards, Spoiler Alert: They All Die, Groundskeeper's Bane, 1000 Ways To Die...
I think you have a lot of removal! Including your Newt and Myr there's 18 Removal cards... That's a lot for any deck!
And I guess the switch for more Husks depends on if you have trouble closing out games. The Husk will give you a much better late game, but the skeletons give you a big early game.
Names: Darwin Awards, Spoiler Alert: They All Die, Groundskeeper's Bane, 1000 Ways To Die...
I think you have a lot of removal! Including your Newt and Myr there's 18 Removal cards... That's a lot for any deck!
And I guess the switch for more Husks depends on if you have trouble closing out games. The Husk will give you a much better late game, but the skeletons give you a big early game.
I like 1000 Ways to Die the most I think!
I suppose you're both right. I'm just so trigger-happy with my removal, you know? I suppose I do still have quite a bit!
I think I will end up switching them. I have plenty of early game with my fast creatures and removal. The deck can tend to durdle a bit to win.
The Newts are staying for now! Thanks for the great tips! You've really helped me out!
For the thread, it was pretty far down the pages, so here it is: Speedy-ld
The thread was originally about building a land destruction deck with Raze and other fast LD, but it slowly turned into something more like your deck.
As for your deck, this looks like a blend of Affinity and the sacrifice deck. I think you'll find that taxing more than one resource (creatures AND artifacts) is going to complicate the deck quite a bit. I think the biggest advantage is that your outlets don't differentiate when it comes to artifact creatures. I think there will be instances where you have creatures when you want artifacts and vice versa. Trying to fit Ichor Wellspring into the deck is just such a tease; it looks good on paper but rarely pans out to anything worthwhile in practice.
The problem with this "Kitty" nomenclature is that it doesn't describe what the deck actually does. "Boros Kitty" bounces artifacts to make its undercosted flying beaters cantrip, and runs a sort of tempo game with flying aggro and spot removal and a potential burn finish. "Azorius Kitty" tries to stall the game until Reality Acid + bounce outlets can wear the opponent down to nothing; it's playing a stall-intensive late-game strategy and hinges on one specific card to actually control the board in a sustainable way. "Rakdos Kitty" - what would that even be? How would it relate to those other decks?
Assuming you want a deck that sacrifices artifacts for value, (like Ichor Wellkitty, as it is apparently called) then the teeth you get caught between are that 1) there are very few actually good artifact sac outlets in Pauper and 2) there are very few artifact creatures worth saccing. You wind up with noncreature artifacts you'd like to sac and sac outlets that can only eat creatures and everything feels bad.
I was brewing a Grixis twist on my old artifact-saccing deck from that thread, which uses the really good artifact outlets (Atog and Perilous Research) to drive the old Atog-Fling-Disciple of the Vault combo from Affinity, but it basically winds up like a really warped Affinity variant and probably isn't better than regular old Affinity.
So, basically, Rakdos Kitty is Perilous Affinity. QED.
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Oh, you think the losers' bracket is your ally, but you merely adopted the scrub tier. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t 4-0 an FNM until I was already a man; by then, it was nothing to me but an extra pack to sell for store credit!
If you like the Spellbomb, you might also like Chromatic Star. Perhaps Fling is not a bad idea here. I'd be interested in seeing LordSaturn's list; I'm certain he's played around with it quite a bit, seeing as how much work was put into the idea in the first place. Perilous Research sounds like a great idea.
I'd gladly help you out even more! I feel, however, that this thread is getting a bit off topic. Why don't you post a new thread and we can start fresh there?
You run a lot of creatures, so I know you probably never run out of fodder, but are there times when you feel you need more than just Unearths for recursion on specific utility sacs? I see you run a full set in your 75, but have you considered using Font of Return, Death Denied or even Morbid Plunder as a 1-of? Obviously Unearth is better since it cost one mana to get the creature on the field, but the other options can really boost your hand extension.
You know, I've been eyeing that Font of Return since it was spoiled. Getting 3 creatures back can be a back-breaking play. Maybe it could be useful as a 1-of! I hadn't thought of adding it in this deck. I'll keep that in mind, thanks a lot!
No problem! I've been eyeing it too, but haven't found a proper place for it. In my heavy recursion decks I use Ghoulcaller's Chant as extra Unearths and it works better for those lists. I thought this could be a good list to try it in.
This has been the deck I've been playing the most in Pauper in the past two months. I really think it has a lot of potential, and I've been doing quite well with it.
I've tested versus all the most common matchups, and come out fairly even across the board (even against MBC and Delver). The two matchups that have been really bad are Hexproof (still) and Esper Familiars. The latter is actually an awesome deck; very resilient to removal and capable of going off very quickly. I've only had about a 30% win rate against it.
I've made some changes to the list since the last time I posted:
I'm really liking this configuration. The extra land made a good difference. cutting back on the Kjeldoran Deads really helped the deck, as drawing too many was really bad. 2 feels like a much better number. I switched Festering Newt for Goblin Arsonist, because I was tired of the ability going to waste when the opponent had no creatures on the battlefield. Now, it at least pings them for 1. Having a red creature made me adjust the number of mountains, which was good. The only downside to this is that I can't go Newt --> Kjeldoran Dead with regeneration backup on turn two.
Of course, the Rakdos Guildgates will be replaced with the new lands when I get my hands on them. I'll have to figure out if I want to keep some guildgates anyways, like having a 4:1 or 4:2 split. Any ideas on that?
I'm becoming less and less impressed with Innocent Blood, as it can cause some awkward situations when I only have a sacrifice outlet left on the battlefield. I really need an Edict effect in the mainboard, and I like the fact that it only costs 1 mana. I was thinking of testing with Warren Weirding, as it can double as removal, or I can use it on myself to get the token and have a sacrifice outlet. Any thoughts on that?
EDIT: I figured out when reading Warren Weirding more carefully that one only gets the tokens when a Goblin is sacrificed. That makes it so much better than I originally thought, and I included it immediately in my deck. It's been perfect for a aggro-control deck, as it fits both strategies perfectly. It provides me with removal or hasty critters when I need them.
I've also replaced Unearth in the SB with two Electrickery and have not gone back. They are so good against Delver and Hexproof.
With these new cards, my post-board situation versus Hexproof has gotten incredibly better. As much as game 1 is an uphill battle that I almost always lose, games 2 and 3 are now heavily in my favour. In three matches I've played against Hexproof, I've won 4-1 of the postboard games (final score being 2-1 matches). That's a drastic improvement, though it was by the skin of my teeth at times.
I haven't thought about this deck much lately, but with the spoiling of Mortician Beetle, I was wondering how useful it would be and if it was worth including in some number. What do you think?
I've also been contemplating adding Mesmeric Fiend. Triggering their leaves the battlefield ability before it's enters the battlefield resolves makes it so the card chosen remains permanently exiled. Against some decks, this is really brutal.
I also finally found a name I like for this deck.
I own the deck online and played a fun match today. Check it out!
The thing that bothers me with Mortician Beetle is that it's great with a Carrion Feeder and Nantuko Husk, but pretty average with everything else in the deck. Without a sac outlet or without enough fodder, the beetle is basically just a vanilla 1/1. I'm not convinced it's actually better than any other fodder, even if it has the potential of blowing people out. I can't believe the bug was a rare.
When it comes to Mesmeric Fiend, while there are some matchups where it's amazing, there are others where it can definitely be underwhelming. That being said, there isn't a single matchup out there where Fiend won't be useful, but it definitely varies in effectiveness. I think it's worth some mainboard slots, but I'm really not sure what to cut.
Warren Weirding is great in this deck. While it usually ends up being removal, it definitely has the potential to add even more pressure on the opponent. It's a perfect aggro-control card.
I've also been considering Keldon Vandals in place of Manic Vandal. Keldon's 4 power makes it trade with a lot of Affinity's creatures, but the 1 toughness makes it weak to a common affinity sideboard card, Electrickery. The echo cost is not such a huge deal, since I can sac in response to the upkeep trigger and take advantage of the pump, or if I have nothing else going on, I can just pay it.
4 Carrion Feeder
3 Goblin Arsonist
4 Flayer Husk
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Perilous Myr
4 Nantuko Husk
1 Phyrexian Ghoul
Removal (11)
2 Firebolt
3 Flame Slash
4 Terminate
2 Warren Weirding
2 Unearth
2 Apostle's Blessing
Lands (21)
6 Mountain
8 Swamp
4 Bloodfell Caves
1 Barren Moor
2 Forgotten Cave
3 Pyroblast
4 Diabolic Edict
1 Flaring Pain
1 Faerie Macabre
2 Keldon Vandals
2 Electrickery
2 Sylvok Lifestaff
Contrary to a typical (and unsuccessful) deck with a sacrificing theme, this deck uses only creatures that stop you from suffering card disadvantage.
Flayer Husk sticks around after being sacrificed, making a very powerful 4/2 Regenerating Kjeldoran Dead or effectively giving Carrion Feeder +2/+2.
Goblin Arsonist deals with pesky Faeries very well and can trade up with X/2s or 2-for-1 the opponent. At worst, it deals a damage to the opponents' face.
Carrion Feeder can end games extremely quickly if left unchecked. pumping him early into a 4/4 or more can make him very difficult to block. He unfortunately can't block, but opponents seem to often forget about that.
Mogg War Marshal is the card that creates the most bodies for its mana cost, making good chump blockers, tons of +1/+1 counters, soaking up removal or just going on the offensive.
Perilous Myr is a very efficient way of dealing with creatures, making him an excellent blocker (takes out x/3s) or a worthy sac to kill a creature.
Nantuko Husk/ Phyrexian Ghoul is a great card that ends games not unlike Atog in Affinity. It forces opponents to make very awkward blocks and skews combat math. Even without a good number of fodder, the 2/2 body is still decent and can often still go on the attack, especially equipped with Flayer Husks.
Terminate gets everything.
Firebolt hits almost everything it needs to, and provides extra value for drawing surplus lands later in the game, potentially closing out the game by removing blockers or just dealing the last points of damage.
Warren Weirding is a good Edict effect against everything except Goblins and happens to play very well with our own strategy. Using the Weirding on ourselves to sacrifice Mogg War Marshal or Goblin Arsonist can give us the offense edge we need. Most of the time, it's just a removal spell.
Unearth gets back everything in the deck. Especially effective with Mogg War Marshal or Nantuko Husk. When faced with Graveyard hate, it also cycles.
Apostle's Blessing can make a fatty impossible to block, or protect him from a removal spell or a bounce spell at an opportune time.
Delver struggles with the combined early pressure and removal.
Tron keels over and dies.
Stompy is somewhat even.
Burn decks are a race, but Sylvok Lifestaff is especially effective in our deck, putting Burn players totally out of commission.
The games are fun and interactive. Instant-speed interactions abound and make for very complicated combat situations (for the opponent, that is).
Cards to consider playing: Mesmeric Fiend, Wrangle, Mortician Beetle
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Altar's Reap could be a great addition if you find yourself needing some card draw.
Tragic Slip could also be very cheap removal, but I'm pretty sure Terminate can remove all the same things (except Slip can't touch Guardian of the Guildpact.)
If you can find space for it, Undying Evil can be a big support card here. Playing it on War Marshal if you don't pay it's Echo cost can be sick. It is also pretty nasty to double sac a Myr or Newt in one turn.
I really like my removal suite because it's so flexible. It works in almost any situation, without me needing to set it up. I could maybe take out an Innocent Blood for one, but I'm not sure that's the right call.
I find Undying Evil and Unearth basically fill the same roles, except Unearth can be done any time. They're kinda fighting for space here!
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
And I agree about you thoughts on Undying Evil. I used to run it in my Unearth deck, but found it was too redundant. The only difference is the instant speed which can help if your only blocker is removed before your opponent swings, but that's not enough to make it better than Unearth.
Since you're running so many sacrifice outlets, running two or three cards such as Traitorous Instinct might be worth it. It's a sort of removal card.
I don't think Persist and Undying would create enough of an advantage for me. The only on-colour, on-curve that are remotely playable are Butcher Ghoul and Rendclaw Trow, and they just don't do enough.
That's a very interesting idea! I can't think of many creatures worth stealing other than an Ulamog's Crusher, but it could be an interesting sideboard card. I'd go for the simpler Act of Treason, as the mana-cost is more appropriate.
Darkninja,
I'm wondering if I could take out 1 Barren Moor and 1 Innocent Blood for 2 Altar's Reap. What do you think of that?
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
EDIT: Also, why isn't Fling anywhere in your 75? This card would be great to help push through that last bit of damage you might need. You can bypass blockers or functionally give Double Strike to a big Nantuko Husk or Feeder against a player for the win.
I hadn't considered Fling. I thought about it hard, but I think that the fact that it's only really useful as a game-ender is too narrow. I very rarely sacrifice my sacrifice outlets, and it's even more rare to sacrifice the ones that I invested other sacrifices into. I not sold on the idea, but I may be wrong on this.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
I'm astounded by how similar our decks are! I was drooling at the thought of including Rakdos Guildmage into the deck; it must be so good here.
Grim Harvest looks very interesting in your deck. I can't imagine myself using it all that often, considering how expensive the Recover cost is. I'll have to try it out!
I find my number of sac outlets to be decent. Don't forget I'm running 4 Kjeldoran Deads and 4 Innocent Bloods; they're not permanent sources of sacrifice, but I don't have infinite things to sacrifice either. What's good about the creatures I sacrifice is that they're not bad on their own either.
I really like that you included the Nightmare ability on the stack gimmick. I used to love doing that. I felt it maybe wasn't powerful enough here, as I don't like to sacrifice right away, and I don't run enough of the sac outlets to do it properly.
You know, you might be right about Festering Newt. I do remember instances where he wasn't so useful because everything on the board had 2 toughness. He is very good at hitting a Delver of Secrets, though. Believe it or not, Blood + a pinger is actually not a bad play. I agree it can be awkward, however. I'm thinking of cutting some Bloods in exchange for Altar's Reap. Maybe they're not good enough for the deck and I should just go for other removal.
I chose to use Manic Vandal over Ingot Chewer because it can be brought back with Unearth, while also having a more realistic casting cost for the body.
On the Rakdos Kitty idea: trust me, you do not want to go there. I've tried it abundantly before, and it just doesn't work. There's been a resurgence in the idea recently, the thread is still on the first page if you want to check it out.
Thanks so much for your great insight! Your comments and decklist were very helpful! Hope to see you around!
Rakdos forever!
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Yeah, I'd have to rethink the mana-base in order to just include it. Shouldn't be too hard.
Kjeldoran Dead is a mean machine. a 3/1 regenerator is really hard to deal with. Give him 4 power and he's practically unstoppable. I can't say that having multiples has been a problem, and I've played the deck quite a bit now. As long as you have 2 Swamps ready, there's very little chance the opponent will be able to deal with both. The cards I've been having some problems against are Quicksand and Serrated Arrows, which don't allow regeneration.
I'm almost certain I'll be cutting 2 Bloods now. One for Altar's Reap and another for either another Flame Slash or Terminate.
Festering Newt trades with x/2s, which is not negligible for a 1-drop. On top of being able to throw it at x/1 creatures, he can really force your opponent to play around him. That being said, maybe he's not ideal as a 4-of. I'll have to see if something else could take his place. I wish there were more 2-mana creatures like Perilous Myr around.
I would try the Flayer Husks before the Kjeldoran Dead. They're a really good 1-drop that adds a lot to the deck.
I also get destroyed by Hexproof. Aside from that Burn is bad, and I also can't do much versus Storm decks. I have a reasonable fighting chance versus every other deck out there. I'm guessing that if someone other than myself played Turbo Fog, I'd be pretty screwed against that, too. My way of fighting Hexproof are the 4 Innocent Bloods and 4 Diabolic Edicts in the sideboard. The matchup is still not good, but if I can draw 2-3 edicts in a game, it gives me a good fighting chance. Against Blue decks, the 4 Pyroblast and Unearth are all I need. Of course, a bit of artifact removal is necessary to get an edge versus Affinity. Against Burn, it's about playing as fast as possible and gaining life with Sylvok Lifestaff. In general, the sideboard mostly helps improve the more even matchups, while also trying to shore up the big weaknesses of the deck.
I hope this helps!
I was developing a Rakdos Kitty build with someone else on the forums almost two years ago, and it was a dead-end.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
4 Kjeldoran Dead
4 Carrion Feeder
3 Festering Newt
4 Flayer Husk
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Perilous Myr
2 Nantuko Husk
Removal (11)
2 Innocent Blood
2 Firebolt
3 Flame Slash
4 Terminate
2 Unearth
2 Altar's Reap
Lands (20)
4 Mountain
9 Swamp
4 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Barren Moor
2 Forgotten Cave
4 Pyroblast
4 Diabolic Edict
1 Flame Slash
2 Manic Vandal
2 Unearth
2 Sylvok Lifestaff
I find I'm getting a bit low on removal, but we'll see. I'm thinking of also switching out 1 Kjeldoran Dead for another Nantuko Husk. How does that sound?
I also need a cooler name.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
I think you have a lot of removal! Including your Newt and Myr there's 18 Removal cards... That's a lot for any deck!
And I guess the switch for more Husks depends on if you have trouble closing out games. The Husk will give you a much better late game, but the skeletons give you a big early game.
I like 1000 Ways to Die the most I think!
I suppose you're both right. I'm just so trigger-happy with my removal, you know? I suppose I do still have quite a bit!
I think I will end up switching them. I have plenty of early game with my fast creatures and removal. The deck can tend to durdle a bit to win.
The Newts are staying for now! Thanks for the great tips! You've really helped me out!
For the thread, it was pretty far down the pages, so here it is: Speedy-ld
The thread was originally about building a land destruction deck with Raze and other fast LD, but it slowly turned into something more like your deck.
As for your deck, this looks like a blend of Affinity and the sacrifice deck. I think you'll find that taxing more than one resource (creatures AND artifacts) is going to complicate the deck quite a bit. I think the biggest advantage is that your outlets don't differentiate when it comes to artifact creatures. I think there will be instances where you have creatures when you want artifacts and vice versa. Trying to fit Ichor Wellspring into the deck is just such a tease; it looks good on paper but rarely pans out to anything worthwhile in practice.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Assuming you want a deck that sacrifices artifacts for value, (like Ichor Wellkitty, as it is apparently called) then the teeth you get caught between are that 1) there are very few actually good artifact sac outlets in Pauper and 2) there are very few artifact creatures worth saccing. You wind up with noncreature artifacts you'd like to sac and sac outlets that can only eat creatures and everything feels bad.
I was brewing a Grixis twist on my old artifact-saccing deck from that thread, which uses the really good artifact outlets (Atog and Perilous Research) to drive the old Atog-Fling-Disciple of the Vault combo from Affinity, but it basically winds up like a really warped Affinity variant and probably isn't better than regular old Affinity.
So, basically, Rakdos Kitty is Perilous Affinity. QED.
If you like the Spellbomb, you might also like Chromatic Star. Perhaps Fling is not a bad idea here. I'd be interested in seeing LordSaturn's list; I'm certain he's played around with it quite a bit, seeing as how much work was put into the idea in the first place. Perilous Research sounds like a great idea.
I'd gladly help you out even more! I feel, however, that this thread is getting a bit off topic. Why don't you post a new thread and we can start fresh there?
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
You run a lot of creatures, so I know you probably never run out of fodder, but are there times when you feel you need more than just Unearths for recursion on specific utility sacs? I see you run a full set in your 75, but have you considered using Font of Return, Death Denied or even Morbid Plunder as a 1-of? Obviously Unearth is better since it cost one mana to get the creature on the field, but the other options can really boost your hand extension.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
I've tested versus all the most common matchups, and come out fairly even across the board (even against MBC and Delver). The two matchups that have been really bad are Hexproof (still) and Esper Familiars. The latter is actually an awesome deck; very resilient to removal and capable of going off very quickly. I've only had about a 30% win rate against it.
I've made some changes to the list since the last time I posted:
4 Flayer Husk
3 Goblin Arsonist
4 Carrion Feeder
2 Kjeldoran Dead
4 Perilous Myr
4 Mogg War Marshal
3 Nantuko Husk
Removal (11)
2 Innocent Blood
2 Firebolt
3 Flame Slash
4 Terminate
2 Unearth
2 Altar's Reap
Lands (21)
6 Mountain
8 Swamp
4 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Barren Moor
2 Forgotten Cave
2 Manic Vandal
4 Pyroblast
4 Diabolic Edict
1 Flame Slash
2 Unearth
2 Sylvok Lifestaff
I'm really liking this configuration. The extra land made a good difference. cutting back on the Kjeldoran Deads really helped the deck, as drawing too many was really bad. 2 feels like a much better number. I switched Festering Newt for Goblin Arsonist, because I was tired of the ability going to waste when the opponent had no creatures on the battlefield. Now, it at least pings them for 1. Having a red creature made me adjust the number of mountains, which was good. The only downside to this is that I can't go Newt --> Kjeldoran Dead with regeneration backup on turn two.
Of course, the Rakdos Guildgates will be replaced with the new lands when I get my hands on them. I'll have to figure out if I want to keep some guildgates anyways, like having a 4:1 or 4:2 split. Any ideas on that?
I'm becoming less and less impressed with Innocent Blood, as it can cause some awkward situations when I only have a sacrifice outlet left on the battlefield. I really need an Edict effect in the mainboard, and I like the fact that it only costs 1 mana. I was thinking of testing with Warren Weirding, as it can double as removal, or I can use it on myself to get the token and have a sacrifice outlet. Any thoughts on that?
EDIT: I figured out when reading Warren Weirding more carefully that one only gets the tokens when a Goblin is sacrificed. That makes it so much better than I originally thought, and I included it immediately in my deck. It's been perfect for a aggro-control deck, as it fits both strategies perfectly. It provides me with removal or hasty critters when I need them.
I've also replaced Unearth in the SB with two Electrickery and have not gone back. They are so good against Delver and Hexproof.
With these new cards, my post-board situation versus Hexproof has gotten incredibly better. As much as game 1 is an uphill battle that I almost always lose, games 2 and 3 are now heavily in my favour. In three matches I've played against Hexproof, I've won 4-1 of the postboard games (final score being 2-1 matches). That's a drastic improvement, though it was by the skin of my teeth at times.
Here's the current iteration:
4 Flayer Husk
3 Goblin Arsonist
4 Carrion Feeder
2 Kjeldoran Dead
4 Perilous Myr
4 Mogg War Marshal
3 Nantuko Husk
Removal (11)
2 Warren Weirding
2 Firebolt
3 Flame Slash
4 Terminate
2 Unearth
2 Altar's Reap
Lands (21)
6 Mountain
8 Swamp
4 Bloodfell Caves
1 Barren Moor
2 Forgotten Cave
2 Manic Vandal
4 Pyroblast
4 Diabolic Edict
1 Flame Slash
2 Electrickery
2 Sylvok Lifestaff
Now I'm wondering if I can cut another card in my sideboard for another Electrickery...
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
I haven't thought about this deck much lately, but with the spoiling of Mortician Beetle, I was wondering how useful it would be and if it was worth including in some number. What do you think?
I've also been contemplating adding Mesmeric Fiend. Triggering their leaves the battlefield ability before it's enters the battlefield resolves makes it so the card chosen remains permanently exiled. Against some decks, this is really brutal.
I also finally found a name I like for this deck.
I own the deck online and played a fun match today. Check it out!
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Mesmeric Fiend is also a great inclusion. It's a Castigate that pumps your Feeders!
Also, Warren Weirding is really great for this deck!
This is my current list:
4 Carrion Feeder
3 Goblin Arsonist
4 Flayer Husk
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Perilous Myr
4 Nantuko Husk
1 Phyrexian Ghoul
Removal (11)
2 Firebolt
3 Flame Slash
4 Terminate
2 Warren Weirding
2 Unearth
2 Apostle's Blessing
Lands (21)
6 Mountain
8 Swamp
4 Bloodfell Caves
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Forgotten Cave
3 Pyroblast
4 Diabolic Edict
1 Flaring Pain
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Manic Vandal
2 Electrickery
2 Sylvok Lifestaff
The thing that bothers me with Mortician Beetle is that it's great with a Carrion Feeder and Nantuko Husk, but pretty average with everything else in the deck. Without a sac outlet or without enough fodder, the beetle is basically just a vanilla 1/1. I'm not convinced it's actually better than any other fodder, even if it has the potential of blowing people out. I can't believe the bug was a rare.
When it comes to Mesmeric Fiend, while there are some matchups where it's amazing, there are others where it can definitely be underwhelming. That being said, there isn't a single matchup out there where Fiend won't be useful, but it definitely varies in effectiveness. I think it's worth some mainboard slots, but I'm really not sure what to cut.
Warren Weirding is great in this deck. While it usually ends up being removal, it definitely has the potential to add even more pressure on the opponent. It's a perfect aggro-control card.
I've also been considering Keldon Vandals in place of Manic Vandal. Keldon's 4 power makes it trade with a lot of Affinity's creatures, but the 1 toughness makes it weak to a common affinity sideboard card, Electrickery. The echo cost is not such a huge deal, since I can sac in response to the upkeep trigger and take advantage of the pump, or if I have nothing else going on, I can just pay it.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio