Theft effects used to bother me a lot. Then I realized they bothered me because I had this hard stance on not using them, thinking them unfun for others.
So whenever someone stole my thing, I would be upset in a sense of "I wouldn't do this to you so why are you doing this to me?"
The solution? I started using theft effects in my decks. And I realized I didn't get as upset when they were used against me.
Curious to hear how Doubling Cube goes. Feel like it might be an easy cut. In a worse case scenario, you're waiting until hitting 7 mana to get a net gain.
Hey, I dig your list. You seem to run more creatures and token generation than mine, so one thing you might consider is Attrition. Plays alright with your Ophiomancer, Mindslicer, Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs and Angrath, the Flame-Chained. Serves well as a rattlesnake card, allowing you to announce you won't destroy an opponent's creature as long as they point it elsewhere.
Other than that, can you explain your rational with including Doubling Cube? Also, definite style points for Hellfire. If if kills you too frequently, you could always sub in Kindred Dominance, which, though more expensive to cast, has a similar'ish effect(in that Xantcha will likely survive it).
I have been playing Mogis, God of Slaughter for years at the helm of my rakdos punisher commander. I really did like how Mogis stuck around for a long time and it rarley got removed but when I saw Xantcha, I switched to her because she was literally the answer to my rakdos not having a lot of good card draw problem.
Your list does look pretty good. A Key to the City may be worth considering as another way to get Xantcha past big blockers. Perhaps you can try Sire of Insanity as a way to make people loose their hand and now they have no choice but to use Xantcha's activated ability if they top deck into land and want to make a play, and if they draw something they can't use the sire will get rid of it.
I like both of your suggestions. I had Key to the City in an earlier list, but got hung up on the discard downside. I even went down a slippery slope of justifying fitting some Madness cards in the list to benefit. This was also when I was running Oppression and Bottomless Pit, both of which I eventually cut.
I definitely want to find space for Sire of Insanity.
Quick summary of some games I played today:
1. 1v1 matches are, as expected, not a great fit for this deck.
2. Putting Curse of Opulence on yourself is a valid play in 1v1.
3. Repercussion is so, so delightful. In fact, it was how I won the first game. With Pestilence also in play, seven black mana available, and opponent controlling 4 creatures. That adds up.
4. Nothing stood out as objectively bad, but both Master of Cruelties and Virtus, the Veiled felt not great when I drew them. Will keep them in for now to see.
5. Realized how useful Endbringer's abilities are, especially being able to outright stop a creature from attacking. Consider how many creatures get on-attack triggers. Maze of Ith is less impressive against stuff like Etali, Primal Storm or Zur the Enchanter. This makes me reconsider including cards like Icy Manipulator and Ring of Gix. The flexibility is nice.
6. Word of Seizing someone's Estrid, the Masked and then firing off the ultimate -- to whiff -- is the epitome of feels-bad. They feel bad I took their ultimate. I feel bad I got nothing out of it outside of uncounterable removal.
This Xantcha, Sleeper Agent list is my current pet project. I found inspiration in Aikido-style decks, punisher decks and general Rakdos goodstuff.
Ultimately, I want to encourage the game to progress at a quick pace, preferably with players targeting each other before me. I know, harder to do subtly with a commander who inherently singles out one player. And harder still, if I'm piling up the group slug effects.
That's where the second goal comes in: I want to encourage decisions to be made under duress.
How successful I am at these goals remains to be seen. I've played several games with the deck -- and found it highly enjoyable -- but it will take more to understand if these goals make sense.
Some cards, like Cannibalize, are objectively bad, at worst; questionable at best. Others -- Bedlam, Phyrexian Scriptures - are also questionable, though I am running them to see how well they perform in less-than-optimal conditions.
I didn't want to go 100 percent in any direction I've seen a number of Xantcha lists pursue: reverse-voltron, with lots of auras; full-on punisher; or combo. Maybe Xantcha needs that sort of focus. I've pulled aspects I enjoy from each. I'm particularly fond of effects that let me copy or use other players' resources against them.
Speaking of combo, you might notice I'm excluding key pieces like Basalt Monolith and Rings of Brighthearth (truth be told, not including at least Rings is an oversight -- is plays well with many, many cards in this list).
I'm also aware that Mindcrank works well with an active Bloodchief Ascension. I'm not against using these cards, but I wanted to get a feel for how a standard turn-three Xantcha affected most games.
So, please let me know what you think! I'm definitely interested to hear what other Xantcha players have observed. Happy to explain some of the card choices.
I like your list! Have you read the thread here, which talks about utilizing Mardu colors for political purposes in multiplayer games? The thesis is that politics actually means setting up a situation where you benefit from the most logical action another player could take. In most instances, it means attacking another player.
Speaking of this style of deck, another player took that idea a step further and helped popularize the term Aikido as a deck type. Their Queen Marchesa deck is well documented and interesting. You could find some good inspiration in both places for your Mathas deck.
If you cast Disrupt Decorum and then skip your next 99 turns, eventually (barring Laboratory Maniac-type effects) it'll be just you and one other opponent, who will then, because there are no other opponents he's able to attack, begin attacking you.
My main issue with Goblin Spymaster is it gives each opponent an untapped blocker during each end step. I like the concept though. Especially with War's Toll.
Corrupting Licid is a card I've been considering to give Xantcha evasion. The fact that you can turn it off for one black helps to prevent a two-for-one.
So whenever someone stole my thing, I would be upset in a sense of "I wouldn't do this to you so why are you doing this to me?"
The solution? I started using theft effects in my decks. And I realized I didn't get as upset when they were used against me.
Marath, Will of the Wild, right?
Minor point, sure, but those life loss triggers can add up quick (it seems like this happens each game someone resolves the Wurm in my group).
Also the demon is not awful with Aetherworks Marvel in the right deck.
Other than that, can you explain your rational with including Doubling Cube? Also, definite style points for Hellfire. If if kills you too frequently, you could always sub in Kindred Dominance, which, though more expensive to cast, has a similar'ish effect(in that Xantcha will likely survive it).
Looking forward to hearing how your games go.
I like both of your suggestions. I had Key to the City in an earlier list, but got hung up on the discard downside. I even went down a slippery slope of justifying fitting some Madness cards in the list to benefit. This was also when I was running Oppression and Bottomless Pit, both of which I eventually cut.
I definitely want to find space for Sire of Insanity.
Quick summary of some games I played today:
1. 1v1 matches are, as expected, not a great fit for this deck.
2. Putting Curse of Opulence on yourself is a valid play in 1v1.
3. Repercussion is so, so delightful. In fact, it was how I won the first game. With Pestilence also in play, seven black mana available, and opponent controlling 4 creatures. That adds up.
4. Nothing stood out as objectively bad, but both Master of Cruelties and Virtus, the Veiled felt not great when I drew them. Will keep them in for now to see.
5. Realized how useful Endbringer's abilities are, especially being able to outright stop a creature from attacking. Consider how many creatures get on-attack triggers. Maze of Ith is less impressive against stuff like Etali, Primal Storm or Zur the Enchanter. This makes me reconsider including cards like Icy Manipulator and Ring of Gix. The flexibility is nice.
6. Word of Seizing someone's Estrid, the Masked and then firing off the ultimate -- to whiff -- is the epitome of feels-bad. They feel bad I took their ultimate. I feel bad I got nothing out of it outside of uncounterable removal.
1 Xantcha, Sleeper Agent
Lands
1 Badlands
1 Blood Crypt
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Command Tower
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Graven Cairns
1 High Market
1 Luxury Suite
1 Marsh Flats
1 Maze of Ith
1 Molten Slagheap
4 Mountain
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Rocky Tar Pit
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Smoldering Marsh
1 Strip Mine
1 Sulfurous Springs
5 Swamp
1 Tainted Peak
1 Temple of Malice
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Vesuva
1 Wasteland
1 Burnished Hart
1 Coffin Queen
1 Custodi Lich
1 Endbringer
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
1 Master of Cruelties
1 Neheb, the Eternal
1 Royal Assassin
1 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Viashino Heretic
1 Virtus the Veiled
Artifacts
1 Crown of Doom
1 Expedition Map
1 Heartstone
1 Mirage Mirror
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Sol Ring
1 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Thaumatic Compass
1 Thought Vessel
1 Vedalken Orrery
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
Enchantments
1 Bedlam
1 Bloodchief Ascension
1 Curse of Opulence
1 Dauthi Embrace
1 Infernal Tribute
1 Necromancy
1 No Mercy
1 Painful Quandary
1 Pestilence
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Phyrexian Scriptures
1 Polluted Bonds
1 Repercussion
1 Revel in Riches
1 Stolen Strategy
1 War's Toll
1 Wound Reflection
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Cannibalize
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Disrupt Decorum
1 Fiery Confluence
1 Night's Whisper
1 Reanimate
1 Syphon Mind
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Vandalblast
1 Void
Instants
1 Arcbond
1 Chaos Warp
1 Curtains' Call
1 Fork
1 Price of Progress
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Sudden Spoiling
1 Terminate
1 Thrilling Encore
1 Warping Wail
1 Wild Ricochet
1 Word of Seizing
This Xantcha, Sleeper Agent list is my current pet project. I found inspiration in Aikido-style decks, punisher decks and general Rakdos goodstuff.
Ultimately, I want to encourage the game to progress at a quick pace, preferably with players targeting each other before me. I know, harder to do subtly with a commander who inherently singles out one player. And harder still, if I'm piling up the group slug effects.
That's where the second goal comes in: I want to encourage decisions to be made under duress.
How successful I am at these goals remains to be seen. I've played several games with the deck -- and found it highly enjoyable -- but it will take more to understand if these goals make sense.
Some cards, like Cannibalize, are objectively bad, at worst; questionable at best. Others -- Bedlam, Phyrexian Scriptures - are also questionable, though I am running them to see how well they perform in less-than-optimal conditions.
I didn't want to go 100 percent in any direction I've seen a number of Xantcha lists pursue: reverse-voltron, with lots of auras; full-on punisher; or combo. Maybe Xantcha needs that sort of focus. I've pulled aspects I enjoy from each. I'm particularly fond of effects that let me copy or use other players' resources against them.
Speaking of combo, you might notice I'm excluding key pieces like Basalt Monolith and Rings of Brighthearth (truth be told, not including at least Rings is an oversight -- is plays well with many, many cards in this list).
I'm also aware that Mindcrank works well with an active Bloodchief Ascension. I'm not against using these cards, but I wanted to get a feel for how a standard turn-three Xantcha affected most games.
So, please let me know what you think! I'm definitely interested to hear what other Xantcha players have observed. Happy to explain some of the card choices.
Cheers!
Speaking of this style of deck, another player took that idea a step further and helped popularize the term Aikido as a deck type. Their Queen Marchesa deck is well documented and interesting. You could find some good inspiration in both places for your Mathas deck.
Corrupting Licid is a card I've been considering to give Xantcha evasion. The fact that you can turn it off for one black helps to prevent a two-for-one.