BaronCappuccino

It's interesting to see how other people approach deckbuilding with the same general. Monoblack reanimation is such a powerful strategy. How competitive is your local scene? One big problem I had with my deck was dealing with answers - other people's answers to my threats. Black can't counter like blue can, but it's king of the hill in hand and deck removal. One for one gems like Thoughtseize aren't much use in Commander, but I've grown to love cards like Head Games and Sadistic Sacrament. Also, Myojin of Night's Reach... Here's how I approached building Sheoldred: http://www.mtgvault.com/baroncappuccino/decks/pain-without-love/ You'll see that great minds think alike, sharing a lot of key cards. Mine's been a work in progress since the Commander 14's came out. I'd just bought the black one and went to town with it. Maybe there are some ideas you can use.

Turn 1 Goblin Guide and swing; Turn 2 swing into a blocker and sac to Collateral Damage + Lightning Bolt... Sounds like a good deal.

Good job in hindsight on not jumping on the Cruise bandwagon.

Some things to look out for are a turn one Thoughtseize that strips the best nonland card from your hand, and Splinter Twin, that solitaires uneventfully and wins all at once on or around turn four -- often with a 0-CMC counterspell for protection. You'll want to be able to chump or remove a 3/4 or 4/5 on average Tarmogoyf. Those are pretty common Modern scenarios to keep in mind as you formulate your strategies.

Shouldn't be too depressing - Planeswalker Superfriends is an archetype that works. All you need to do is trim the fat. Ever watch Rocky III? You have a contender somewhere in there, but you've gotta go jogging with Apollo Creed to 80s rock if you want to beat Mr. T. Pick your favorite 2-3 colors, and run a suite of planeswalkers in the 3-4CMC range, grab yourself some answers, and there you go. There are good cards in here that can be win conditions in other decks. Just trim the fat. Imagine a deck with Goyf, Bolt, Thoughtseize, Confidant, Path, Delver, Goblin Guide, Snapcaster, Lingering Souls, Scavinging Ooze, Liliana and Eidolon - all champion cards - but not all in the same deck.

Here are some things to think about when building a Modern deck:

1) Modern is a "Turn 4" format. This means that Wizards kills any deck that consistently wins on turn 3 or sooner. This means that competitive decks have won on turn 4. Turn 4 is when Splinter Twin combos out. Turn 4 is when Burn resolves its 7th 3 damage spell for 21 and lethal. What will you be doing when you untap on your 4th turn? What will you be doing when your opponent untaps on hers?

2) Because of #1, spells in Modern rarely cost more than 3. This is why Abrupt Decay and Eidolon of the Great Revel are so awesome -- they're always relevant. If you're tapping out for a 4 drop, it's gotta be winning you the game. If you want to play a 5 drop, you'd best have a plan. On what turn do you plan to cast Chromanticore? Sorin? Without perfect land plays? You can certainly play expensive cards in Modern, but you've gotta have a plan. Most expensive cards get cheated out somehow.

3) Your deck looks fun, but I don't think you're going to get to cast anything -- not competitively. Look at how much money even two and three color decks have to spend on mana for consistency. You're running 5. That requires a plan.

4) If a card is important to your strategy, it merits a 4-of for the best odds of seeing it. Are any of your 2-ofs vital? Will you see answers when your opponent asks you the tough questions?

I like this deck for just having fun at kitchen table magic.

If you resolve a turn one Goblin Guide, you could potentially get 4-6 damage in instead of 3, so there's some merit in highly aggressive creatures in a burn deck - see also: Vexing Devil. You've just got to get in the mindset of going balls to the wall to obliterate your opponent with no subtlety in as little time as possible. You've got probably two turns of uncontested havoc. By turn three, your opponent will try to stabilize. There's no time to spend two lightning bolts of mana on a spell to let you cast three lightning bolts next turn.

There's nothing wrong with topdecking. Let's assume you'd like to win on turn 4 - a fair goal. That's 7 3-damage spells -- 7 lightning bolts.

Turn one: one mountain, one lightning bolt. You now have five cards in your hand. Enemy:17
Turn two: draw to six, one mountain, two lightning bolts. You now have three cards in your hand. Enemy:11
Turn three: draw to four, one mountain, three lightning bolts. You're hellbent. Enemy:2
Turn four: Draw a bolt to win. Enemy:0 (1 overkill)

Is it reasonable to hit all three land drops? Let's say you start with two mountains and never draw a third. All your spells are like lightning bolt.

Turn one: one mountain, one lightning bolt. You now have five cards in your hand. Enemy:17
Turn two: draw to six, one mountain, two lightning bolts. You now have three cards in your hand. Enemy:11
Turn three: draw to four, two lightning bolts. You now have two cards in your hand. Enemy:5
Turn four: draw to three, two lightning bolts. You've got a card left, and your enemy is dead. Enemy:0 (1 overkill)

There's a lot of leeway to resolve seven spells that act like lightning bolt, lava spike, shard volley, rift bolt, bump in the night, fireblast, etc. Topdecking should be minimal.

Ash Zealot is my favorite creature - ridiculous flavor. 1,000,000 points for using her. Fireblast is ridiculous. Goblin Guide speaks for itself. Pretty decent start to a casual RDW.

It's nice seeing casual, formatless decks now and then.

Burn Decks Unite

Ball Lightnings are ballsy, but if you can make them work, it's like three Shocks in one card. Main-boarding Blood Moon is probably a great decision, the way Modern is now.

Best chicken deck ever -- it's because of chicken tribal decks that un-sets aren't legal in competitive formats.

Perhaps Tivadar's Crusade would be helpful sideboard material for goblin decks running Goatnapper.

One can never have too many goats.

I like the synergy between Shadowborn Apostle and Demon of Death's Gate. Now, if I were versing you, and you proceeded to play multiple apostles, I'd see what's coming -- I'd be preparing for a big !@#$%^& monster. If I were smart, I'd hold a card in my hand to answer it. Blue counters, black destruction -- they're pricey, but a card like Thoughtseize to pluck said answers from their hand before playing your ace might be a wise idea - wouldn't require color splashing. Right now, your win condition is a bit vulnerable.

If you don't find yourself facing a great deal of regeneration, there are quite a few better options for three damage to a target creature or player than Incinerate. In fact, if you're open to top-decking, Thunderous Wrath is 5 for 1 when Miracled. Other 3 for 1s include Lava Spike (at a loss of instant speed) and Rift Bolt (suspend one turn). Shard Volley is 3 for 1 and a land-sac. Chain Lightning is a legacy staple.

Similarly, unless you're facing a lot of creature regen, there are superior options to Disintegrate. Fireball lets you damage multiple targets; bonfire of the damned is an awesome top-deck and great mass-removal in general.

I'm not a blue guy, I can't offer much help there.

With all the "damage to creature or player" you get by virtue of your deck's concept, maybe lose lightning bolt for Knucklebone? Then swap maybe 4-6 mountains for whichever dual lands are in your budget? I might suggest Auntie's Hovel - if you reveal a goblin from your hand, this red and black land comes into play untapped. It's Lorwyn. As far as Wort and Birth Rite, or even Warren Pilferers, a goblin that gets haste if you return a goblin card from your graveyard to your hand - those might require more than a simple fine tuning.

Mogg War Marshal is strictly better, I believe, than Krenko's Command or Dragon Fodder, providing three sacs instead of two for the same price, and in a deck like this, his echo cost is largely irrelevant - you'll probably sac him before your next upkeep. Were you able to splash black, Knucklebone Witch grows more and more powerful as goblins die, and die, they will. Black also allows a recursion engine fueled by Wort, Boggart Auntie and Boggart Birth Rite. Goblin Sharpshooter taps to deal one damage, and untaps when a creature dies, acting as a more versatile Boggart Shenanigans, but I don't recall whether it's Modern.