"I've been thinking of making this deck" (meaning you haven't made it yet), "and I've been testing Quickling..." (so have you made the deck or not? Somehow I doubt you've been "testing" Quickling, maybe running around the idea in your head). Funny how every card always "tests great" for everyone hahaha
When I say making I mean on paper, bc I usually just use some online deckbuilder and test with friends. I've tested ~10 matches with Quickling as a 1-of, and it's worked pretty well so far (I haven't actually collected data because my list is super rough and I want to make the easy cuts first, but I feel like it's been good about 80% of the time it's come up, although I'm probably being generous). I haven't tested enough to decide, but it's been working out well so far.
So, most competitive infect decks are BUG, because Simic Infect is really fast and splashing for Plague Stinger and some hand disruption is worth it if you're willing to spend the extra money.
However, I saw the card Assault Strobe one day, and I said to myself, "Dude, that would totally make infect even cheaper!". And thus, RUG Infect was born.
Basically, instead of splashing black for a bit more control, we splash red for a bit more speed. I think this will work, but I will need help developing the deck, because I'm not really a great deck builder.
Obviously, this deck is a bit budgeted. This is for a few reasons:
1) I have to maintain a monthly budget, so this is the list I was able to easily afford without taking up the whole thing
2) I'm really bad at deciding how many fetchlands/shocklands to run because I don't have much experience with them, so the manabase is really rough (I'm hoping for something like 3 color shocks in Khans of Tarkir, but don't count on it)
I'm hoping to add better cards in the future, but I don't want to drop $250 on 4 Misty Rainforests and then find I'm better off with 3.
So, with your guys' help, I think this could develop into a pretty awesome deck. It's already capable of fairly consistent turn 4 wins, but I think that that could easily be improved upon. Thanks for your help!
Looks very interesting. I think you might be able to do some weird synergies with this and something like Ornithopter to give flying to things like Phage the Untouchable, or put this in a Simic deck with something like Plummet. I might cost it at 2U, because I don't think it would be very effective in mono-blue, so it's most fun when you don't have to be able to generate that double cost.
Blazing Griffin R
Creature - Griffin Warrior (R)
Flying, haste
Whenever Blazing Griffin becomes tapped, it deals 4 damage to you
2/1
Probably undercosted by 2-3, but would be very lolz to cast. Also, it's great in a huge amount of decks (at worst, you get to pseudo-scry 10 every time you shuffle). Probably would be banned on release, but who knows. It certainly looks fun.
Tibalt, HellchildBR
+1: Destroy target creature. It deals damage equal to its toughness to you
-3: Target player discards two cards at random
-7: Target player gets an emblem with "At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose life equal to the number of creature cards in your graveyard"
[2]
I have a question about the Heroic ability. Say I were to have played 2 Tormented Heros and had them on the battlefield at the same time. I cast a spell that targets one of them. Do both abilities activate, or just the one? The exact text is "whenever you cast a spell that targets Tormented Hero", which is not inherently self-referential, so I don't know what the ruling would be.
EDIT: Nevermind, I found a really obscure ruling somewhere. My bad. (The ruling is that by "Rule 201.4", which basically states that rules text on a card referes to that particular card)
Based on your response, I have another question (sorry). If, in the same situation, I chose to block, and he played Apostle's Blessing, giving it protection from white, what happens?
I've searched for this, but I haven't found a definitive answer that I actually understand, so I'm asking here.
Say I'm playing my friend, who is using an Infect deck. During his turn, he swings for 1 infect with Glistener Elf. I have a creature that I can block with, say Yoked Ox, but I choose to take. He plays two Groundswells and a Mutagenic Growth, making his creature a 11/11 with infect. I have no instants to prevent damage. Does this damage go through? If it does, why are instants so rare at high levels?
When I say making I mean on paper, bc I usually just use some online deckbuilder and test with friends. I've tested ~10 matches with Quickling as a 1-of, and it's worked pretty well so far (I haven't actually collected data because my list is super rough and I want to make the easy cuts first, but I feel like it's been good about 80% of the time it's come up, although I'm probably being generous). I haven't tested enough to decide, but it's been working out well so far.
However, I saw the card Assault Strobe one day, and I said to myself, "Dude, that would totally make infect even cheaper!". And thus, RUG Infect was born.
Basically, instead of splashing black for a bit more control, we splash red for a bit more speed. I think this will work, but I will need help developing the deck, because I'm not really a great deck builder.
Here is my current deck:
4 Glistener Elf
4 Blighted Agent
4 Ichorclaw Myr
Spells:
4 Assault Strobe
2 Distortion Strike
2 Apostle's Blessing
3 Groundswell
2 Might of Old Krosa
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Rancor
2 Unstable Mutation
4 City of Brass
6 Forest
3 Island
3 Karplusan Forest
2 Mountain
3 Yavimaya Coast
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Gut Shot
2 Nature's Claim
2 Prey Upon
2 Torpor Orb
3 Viridian Corrupter
2 Wild Defiance
Obviously, this deck is a bit budgeted. This is for a few reasons:
1) I have to maintain a monthly budget, so this is the list I was able to easily afford without taking up the whole thing
2) I'm really bad at deciding how many fetchlands/shocklands to run because I don't have much experience with them, so the manabase is really rough (I'm hoping for something like 3 color shocks in Khans of Tarkir, but don't count on it)
I'm hoping to add better cards in the future, but I don't want to drop $250 on 4 Misty Rainforests and then find I'm better off with 3.
So, with your guys' help, I think this could develop into a pretty awesome deck. It's already capable of fairly consistent turn 4 wins, but I think that that could easily be improved upon. Thanks for your help!
Blazing Griffin R
Creature - Griffin Warrior (R)
Flying, haste
Whenever Blazing Griffin becomes tapped, it deals 4 damage to you
2/1
Tibalt, Hellchild BR
+1: Destroy target creature. It deals damage equal to its toughness to you
-3: Target player discards two cards at random
-7: Target player gets an emblem with "At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose life equal to the number of creature cards in your graveyard"
[2]
I have a question about the Heroic ability. Say I were to have played 2 Tormented Heros and had them on the battlefield at the same time. I cast a spell that targets one of them. Do both abilities activate, or just the one? The exact text is "whenever you cast a spell that targets Tormented Hero", which is not inherently self-referential, so I don't know what the ruling would be.
EDIT: Nevermind, I found a really obscure ruling somewhere. My bad. (The ruling is that by "Rule 201.4", which basically states that rules text on a card referes to that particular card)
Based on your response, I have another question (sorry). If, in the same situation, I chose to block, and he played Apostle's Blessing, giving it protection from white, what happens?
I've searched for this, but I haven't found a definitive answer that I actually understand, so I'm asking here.
Say I'm playing my friend, who is using an Infect deck. During his turn, he swings for 1 infect with Glistener Elf. I have a creature that I can block with, say Yoked Ox, but I choose to take. He plays two Groundswells and a Mutagenic Growth, making his creature a 11/11 with infect. I have no instants to prevent damage. Does this damage go through? If it does, why are instants so rare at high levels?
Thanks!