JaceTheMindsculptor

You get two 2/1's, since Master of Waves is a 2/1 himself.

This deck seems like a ton of fun. However, I think you're trying to do too much. Here's my take of it: correct me if I'm wrong.

You're trying to use cheap token generators like Young Pyromancer, Akroan Crusader, and Master of Waves to create creatures to ultimately kill with Purphoros. Instant/sorcery heavy for guttersnipe and some heroic triggers for the crusader. Hopefully I'm interpreting this right.

However, the type of deck you're thinking is a swarm-esque type deck that wants to win through sheer overruns or Purphoros' trigger. Cards like Skullcrack don't seem to advance that goal much--while it does trigger pyromancer and guttersnipe, I think your best bet is to go with a control shell so that you have the time necessary to get your combo off. This is a combo deck, and combo decks need to be controlling enough to see it hit the field--realistically, you aren't going to win the game in just a few turns. I think Skullcrack should be replaced with Dissolve, just to keep them from killing your creatures or making threats of their own. Lightning Strike and Magma Jet are fine since they are productive in controlling board.

Oh, and I love Master of Waves as much as the next guy, but paying 4 to get two 2/1's just isn't very good. You don't have any other blue permanents in this deck, so I don't know that he's worth it. You also have to consider the possibilities of late games getting your combo out and then drawing no instants/sorceries to support it--only creatures. There will also be games where you will draw nothing but isntants/sorceries and won't ever get your token combo going. Deck manipulation is a must in a deck like this. As strange as it is in this deck, I almost say swapping out Master of Waves with Thassa might be the right choice. Of course, I'm only speaking from my limited knowledge of combo engine decks--as the saying goes, you run the risk of drawing the wrong half of your deck.

Good luck, and I'd love to see how well this deck does!

Lol not every card will be as easily taken care of as Master of Waves.

Obzedat is a just fine finisher, since he's so hard to interact with. He may not be as fast or bitterly untouchable, but he makes up for the life lost from Thoughtseize, which is why I suggested him. Personally, I would still run Thoughtseize maindeck, since control isn't the only matchup it hates out. Keepin them from holding any removal or curving into a great creature is an amazing thing to be able to do regardless. And I don't think Read the Bones is even comparable to Preordain or ponder lol while they are very similar, Preordain and ponder were one mana, and there is very little someone can do to take over a game on turn 1. Also, control decks generally lack one mana cards, so they curve nicely. Read the Bones needs to be cast on turn 3--which is a critical turn since most threats in Standard come down on turn 3 or 4--Domri, Ashiok, Polukranos, Polis Crusher, Desecration Demon, or Stormbreath Dragon, Archangel of Thune, or Kalonian Hydra (with acceleration). Stormbreath Dragon is resistant to a lot of removal. The best example I can paint (although it's not relevant to current standard) is tapping out to read the bones and missing the chance to counter a Geist of Saint Traft from resolving. That is almost always game over.

These are all just my opinions, of course, and are just generated from my knowledge of the format and understandings of the card. Playtesting will prove all, right?

I think Esper is going to be super solid this year. However, I think you don't have the reason why here: Thoughtseize. I seriously say run as many as possible, and go to two Obzedat's to gain life back. I would say cut Read the Bones to compensate. You don't want to have too many effects that shock you, and Read the Bones is just kinda bad in control. Since it's sorcery speed, you never want to tap out on turn 3 and miss being able to counter their threat, and if your plan is to play it later in the game, sphinx's revelation is just better (or opportunity, if it's the numbers you're worried about).

Oh, and Sin collector sideboard for the control mirror is a very good thing to have.

Good luck!

Yeah, it's basically draw 3 or 4 assuming you shipped a card or two to the bottom. If not, even better!

Way better than sign in blood. Double-black is just too hard to cast :P

I have to say, I was underwhelmed with it just looking at it, but played Esper at the prerelease and it was a total all-star. Scry 2 draw 2 is incredibly powerful and can almost always draw you an answer.

We're agreeing! :D

I will miss the $100 I dropped on my playset in June... :(

Doesn't matter. Played Geist.

Lol and since it's a new format I think it's quite ridiculous that we are comparing two different kill-spells trying to examine the nuances of each and make overarching statements saying that one is better than the other. It's possible that no deck will even play a planeswalker. It's also possible that no deck will play black. It's also possible that every single opponent you face will cast Slaughter Games naming Doom Blade. NO ONE HAS ANY IDEA WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.

Let's wait a couple weeks before returning to this heated debate when we actually have decks and matchups to compare it to.

Please someone make Aristocrats in Modern. Anything that's not Jund. PLEASE. SOMEONE. HALP.

Lol I think you're too worried about planeswalkers. There's only one planeswalker I'm worried about in upcoming standard. She wears a white robe and answers to "Sun's Champion." Can't wait to slap a Glare of Heresy on that hoe and be like "PIMP THAT SON".

I could go through your list and talk about how Whip just brings back Obzedat anyway and how one does not simply kill-spell a cartel aristocrat and how killing a xathrid necromancer isn't really an advantage and exava is seeing no play and varolz can regenerate and master of cruelties is easy to play around, and how lotleth troll gets regenerated and I have no idea why blood bairn is on this list, etc etc... Oh wait, I just did.

But you got me at Corpsejack Menace. I'll be sure to side it in against those pesky scavenge combo decks that are proliferating rampantly.

I think the prospect of killing anything is making you too excited when in reality there is, in fact, a very finite list of cards that are worth killing. We've basically discussed and determined that Desecration Demon is the only creature worth going with Heroes Downfall for (which isn't a lot), and while planeswalkers are powerful, they've existed and been dealt with for a long time before target planeswalker removal was a thing. Elspeth? You can overpower her chump 1/1's. Domri? Can't defend himself the turn he comes down. Ashiok? Can't defend herself period. Xenagos? Trample takes care of satyrs. This deck is so good at killing planeswalkers on its own that I don't think it needs target removal to take them out.

Now, you have to weigh that. You say that Desecration Demon is worth it, I say it's not. At the end of the day, neither of us are making the deck, and there's no right answer. So let's let the deckbuilder decide, shall we?

I agree. Heroes downfall is a great card, and it's going to see a lot of play. To sum it up, here's why I think it shouldn't be in this deck:

1. Two black mana is hard to get to
2. Turn three is already super heavy on this curve
3. It's almost always better to cast removal on turn 2 and curve into a Minotaur on turn 3 (IN THIS DECK, WITH THIS CURVE)
4. The creature removal range isn't vastly more advantageous than Doom Blade
5. The ability to kill planeswalkers isn't vastly advantageous either for a deck that already has multiple ways to deal with them.

These have been my reasons all along. I have never meant to diss the card--it's a great card and will see plenty of play. But there are always options, and sometimes the "best card" isn't what's best for the deck.

But nobody is running murder in "Mono-Red" (with 2 black creatures)

Not calling it worse, just not the right fit. Voice of Resurgence is a great card, but I wouldn't recommend he puts that in here either.

Also, since the whip's text says "anywhere else", it means anywhere other than exile. So the whip has no replacement effect if Obzedat exiles himself.

Wow lol I'm not going to take the time to read all this lol. I'm not trying to argue, and I admit that Desecration Demon is a great creature, but it's basically the only black creature that's a threat. I don't think it's worth going with a worse option (like Heroes Downfall or Dreadbore) to deal with one creature. That's like sacrificing all other matchups to kill a single creature. I could be predicting the metagame wrong, but I think there are bigger creatures to worry about.

And here's how I would sculpt the mana base, so there's no confusion:

4x Blood Crypt
2x Rakdos Guildgate
1x Swamp
17x Mountain

It's important to note that everytime you play a land that doesn't tap for Red, Boros Reckoner comes down a turn later. Arguments could be made for replacing the swamp with a godless shrine for that reason.

In the given scenario (which maximizes the casting effectiveness of the minotaurs, and can easily provide the one black mana needed for Kragma on turn 5), getting double black is fairly difficult, especially by Turn 3. Also, turn 3 is when the deck wants to curve into its threats like Rageblood Shaman, Boros Reckoner, and Minotaur Skullcleaver. Leaving 3 mana open to cast an instant speed removal (that might blank or be countered) on the first turn that the deck can cast its threats sounds like bad curve crafting. However, with very few early drop creatures, it seems like the best plan in the deck is to have 2 mana removal of some sort, either dreadbore or doom blade. The argument for Dreadbore is just in the planeswalker removal--and the only planeswalker I can see giving this deck a lot of trouble would be a turn 2 or 3 Domri, since decks like that can flood the board with threats ridiculously fast. All other planeswalkers can just be burned out or trampled to death.

I'm not claiming to be right (since there's arguably no "right" answer in any deck, and it's all metagame dependent, and this metagame doesn't even exist yet), but these are my opinions.

Oh, and in response to the no black upgrades, I was referring to creatures. Theros provided black with no bombshell creatures that demand removal, except maybe Erebos, who doesn't die to typical removal anyway. I admit whole heartedly that Thoughtseize is nuts and Whip of Erebos is going to be a lot of fun.

You're going to hit double black very rarely (assuming the mana base is fixed.) and for an Aggro deck that wants to tap out every turn, playing dreadbore on your turn isn't that bad. The worse thing you can do is not tap out to leave mana open and miss a creature drop.

And black is definitely not the best color in the new standard--black got no upgrades from Theros except abhorrent overlord (which is a problem for a whole different reason) and even desecration demon only saw fringe tournament play. The big problem creatures will continue to be loxodon smiter, boros reckoner, Stormbreath dragon, aetherling, etc.

And if it's such a problem, sideboard the black hate spell.

Also, Dragonskull Summit is rotating and will not be standard next week.

Mana base is way too simple. You have 48 red mana symbols and 12 black, so you're way too heavy on swamps. I'd go with some sort of dual lands as well. Also, every swamp you play means Boros Reckoner comes down a turn later, which is a very bad thing.

I might also recommend just playing Doom Blade over Heroes Downfall. Planeswalkers shouldn't be a problem because of all the haste/trample you have here. If you want to stick to planeswalker removal though, Dreadbore is just better, especially in these colors.

Good luck!

I don't see the hammer here... Not sure what you're talking about.

In a nutshell:

-4 Boros Charm
-4 Boros Elite
-4 Dauntless Onslaught
+2 Magma Jet
+2 Mizzium Mortars
+4 Soldier of the Pantheon
+4 Gods Willing

Since you're playing Heliod, Purphoros, and Tajic as bosses, I'd just cut Assemble the Legion. You already have a lot of ways to close out the game if it runs late. I'd probably run another Akroan Hoplite because it's a BAMF. Not sure what to do with that last slot...