dknight27

I, of course, have no experience in pauper whatsoever, but is burn really prevalent enough to warrant 4 slots in the sideboard? Seems like [[Campfire]] would be a better fit.

Oh boy, the old Rampage mechanic. Ok, give me a little bit and I'll check it out.

I've got two different sets of advice on this one, depending on which way you want to go.

First and foremost, red is kind of a bad color for snow. All the heavy hitters in snow are green, black, and blue. White and red have a few solid cards, but most of what you want you don't have access to as is. Check out:

[[Abominable Treefolk]]
[[Dead of Winter]]
[[Frost Augur]]
[[Ice-Fang Coatl]]
[[Isu the Abominable]]
[[Jorn, God of Winter // Kaldring, the Rimestaff]]
Marit Lage's Slumber

I'd generally suggest going for a full green, black, blue build, or a green and blue build to take advantage of some of the absolute bomb synergy cards they allow. If you're worried about color fixing, check out Arcum's Astrolabe (it's only legal in vintage though, so if you're worried about legality you'll have to skip it).


If you want to keep it red/green, I'd suggest maxing out Icehide Golem and Spirit of the Aldergard, while adding in [[Jorn, God of Winter // Kaldring, the Rimestaff]], [[Glacial Revelation]], and Arcam's Astrolabe (if you're ok with the legality).

In general, I'd recommend cutting Sudden Spinnerets, Rimescale Dragon, and Dark Depths, as they are either too expensive or don't fit the theme/aren't justified when better versions exist.

Here's my thought process, for what it's worth. Mutavault counts as a wizard, so it trips Flame of Anor. What's more, it can turn itself into a wizard for that purpose, so you essentially don't lose any mana. It's a cheap 2/2 beater if you need it, which adds to the inevitability win with Tamiyo (which is actually a semi-problem in this build (lack of muscle)). It's also a chump blocker to help shut down fast critters if necessary. Plus, since it's just a 2 color deck, it probably won't mess with color fixing too much.

On the converse, running Otawara or another island obviously has benefits too. Otawara gets around so many nice things, and the island will help with the inevitable [[Harbinger of the Seas]] this will run in the sideboard. So many silly little decisions to consider.

Maybe I'll pull 2 Counterspells and a Spell Pierce for 3 copies.

Oh, how I detest Spell Snare as a card. The most conditional counter ever made viable. I know it shuts down [[Psychic Frog]], [[Ajani, Nacatl Pariah // Ajani, Nacatl Avenger]], [[Orcish Bowmasters]], etc, but god do I hate it. I don't know if it's my naivety or what, but my gut always wants to play Spell Pierce and/or [[Stern Scolding]] over Spell Snare so it doesn't sit in my hand mocking me or get topdecked into a dead field.

Obviously its limitation is somewhat subverted with Looting legal again, and [[Force of Negation]] always being hungry, so there's that.

Ultimately, I don't know what to think about it.

Drat, I must have missed that banning. Makes perfect sense though, making it an island was a bad idea. I assume they thought the 3 other island qualification would keep it in check, but either forgot about or didn't predict the interaction between all the fetch, dual, shock, surveil, and cycling lands which have reshaped magic.

In a rational world, I'd swap it out for [[Riptide Laboratory]], which allows for such delightful shenanigans. But I'm afraid it's far too slow to be viable in 'modern' modern. I'd also consider [[Mutavault]], or a third Sink into Stupor. Any other suggestions?

Light of Hope really isn't that good of a card in here, as you lose the material to only gain 4 life. You can achieve almost the same thing with [[Revitalize]] and retain the material.

I love a good self-mill deck. I've built several myself, they are quite fun to play. Here are just some general observations.

The top card to look at is [[Grist, the Hunger Tide]], which does whatever you need it to do in a deck like this, and has cheap reprints.

Devourer Memory is a good idea, but is simply too slow (doesn't trigger per milled card), and eats mana for his own mill ability (3 per turn is a lot for 1 mill), so he should be cut.

Rumblweed is a game ender, but works best with fetch lands on top of self-mill. So I'd advise cutting Archway Commons (which I would anyway) in favor of any of the cheap fetch lands like [[Evolving Wilds]] to help pump up the dead land count. I think running 1 copy of Rumbleweed probably fits in this build, as you will only topdeck it (if you see it at all), or necro it, in either case with a full grave (hoping that opponent doesn't pull any shenanigans).

Molderhulk is fun, but the dead land isn't worth running the better versions of it instead, namely [[Ghoultree]] or [[Huskburster Swarm]]. Both are cheaper, stronger, and easier to cast color wise.

Sage of Mysteries has 10 targets to get mills with. In an average match, the most you'll get on that is mill 4 with a 0/2 that doesn't otherwise help you. It is basically an imperative to run the best critter mill in the game, Stitcher's Supplier. You're guaranteed a mill 3 on the enter, and will probably catch the second mill 3 with a chump block. Supplier is the best turn 1 drop you can have in a deck like this, hands down.

Vilespawn Spider is a bit slow, but does help mill with a potential win con on the back end. I'd personally rather run Cruel Somnophage // Can't Wake Up, [[Urborg Lhurgoyf]], or [[Mire Triton]], all of which are either faster, stronger, easier to cast, or all of the above.

This one's a bit outside my wheelhouse, but a few things leapt out at me.

Day of Judgment is a bad choice, as you're running a semi-critter heavy build. Instead, run [[Pyroclasm]], [[Sweltering Suns]], and/or [[Deafening Clarion]], as each will do next to nothing to you but are effective boardwipes against most builds. If you're looking at a field that these cards can't take care of when combined with your angels, you've already lost the game anyway.

[[Exorcise]] is a better Disenchant, as are [[Forsake the Worldly]] and/or [[Rip Apart]].

[[Revitalize]] is a better version of Renewed Faith, as you basically never want to cast Faith for 6 life (you're losing material to do so), so you might as well gain an extra life for your 2-drop.

Looks good, keep me in the loop

Solid squirrel build. Only advice I'd give is relatively minimal.

You've got a pretty good mana curve, but you'd ideally like to have more 1 and 2-drop squirrels to get the field going. [[Ravenous Squirrel]], [[Osteomancer Adept]], and [[Vinereap Mentor]] are worth taking a look at, and you should definitely max out Squirrel Sovereign and Verdant Command if you can. Scurry of Squirrels is only really good in commander, and (assuming this is a 1 v 1 build), you'd do better with a 1 or 2-drop in his slot, as he's just a 3-drop 2/2 that can potentially put counters on himself in a 1 v 1 build. That will help you cut down the curve a bit too, which will help.

Aerial Volley is too conditional to be reliable removal, and there are some really good (and cheap) black removal options that could slide right into that spot. [[Cut Down]] is probably your best bet, but it's 5 bucks a pop, so I'd go with wither [[Fatal Push]] (1.50 a pop) or Bloodchief's Thirst (a quarter a pop).

Same thing with Barroom Brawl, there are just better versions of it. I'd either run the full 4 Bloodchief's Thirst over the 2 Aerial Volley and 3 Barroom Brawl (with a 5th removal option), or sub in [[Abrupt Decay]] or Assassin's Trophy, which gives a broader removal spectrum and still lets you kill critters.

Scavenger's Talent is worth looking into if you're going head to head against lots of removal, especially since this deck is more than ok with Food tokens.

Just general thoughts as usual.

I'm a bit confused on what your goal is here.

Clerics, one of the almost forgotten tribes, even though there are hundreds of them. A few thoughts jump out at me.

You want to get as close to 60 cards in a deck as you can in general, it helps the math too much to ignore. So try and cut 5 cards if you can. If you do cut it down to 60, 1 or 2 of the 5 cards can be lands, as you really only need to run 21 or 22 lands in a build like this (which should help).

You've also got a high concentration of 3-drops, which is going to slow things down (even with the cost reductor cleric). I'd recommend trimming Cabal Archon completely. You can use it to suicide off your clerics for a conditional win, but other than that, you're just throwing away material and tempo for a little draino (lifegain/lifeloss). I know you can combo it with Skirsdag High Priest and/or Oversold Cemetery, but if you want a sac outlet to combo, there are much better options, and you kind of have to build a deck around them.

Couple other things to trim for various reasons: Exterminatus (hurts you just as much, costs much more than most nuke options) and Book of Ras (costs too much, takes too much resource to operate, better versions exist).

I'd say the cards you need to check out are, first and foremost, [[Crippling Fear]], which does nothing to you but will devastate opponent (and is relatively cheap). Patriarch's Bidding, which fits perfectly with the Scion of Darkness theme as well as just tribal in general. [[Shadow-Rite Priest]] just fits in with everything. [[Doubtless One]] is a nice consideration, especially with the lifelink that can keep you alive long enough to pull off your combo. And a potential sub for Book or Ras, [[Slate of Ancestry]], which goes (potentially) well in heavy critter builds that combos with a lot of themes and can give you MASSIVE card advantage.

I'm sure there's more to consider, but this was what jumped out.

Couple ways to do it that come to mind. [[Ezuri, Renegade Leader]] will turn your Devoted Druid into an infinite/infinite with Trample (that can attack this turn), so it can attack for lethal damage. It's 7 bucks a pop. Same thing with [[Kamahl, Fist of Krosa]], which is less than a dollar but isn't legal in Modern (I assume this is going for Modern legal). Kamahl also kicks all your lands into death critters, so if opponent has a response it makes it less likely to hit. [[Shalai, Voice of Plenty]] puts infinite +1/+1 counters on your critters (who can attack), so you have 2 infinite/infinites ready to attack that turn with one more with flying set for the turn after. It's modern legal and costs about 3 bucks a pop.

None are as good as Ballista, but each would get the job done. If you don't care about legality, Kamahl is probably the way to go.

Solid combo setup. If you can afford it (10 bucks a copy minimum) it would be easier/safer to run [[Pact of Negation]] over Avoid Fate, as it covers essentially everything, and you'd (hopefully) have already won, so you don't have to worry about paying the upkeep price on the next turn. That will free up a mana and give you better coverage, specifically from sorceries, artifacts, and creature effects that could disrupt the combo if they land.

Not really necessary though, overall I think it looks pretty good. You could try to pull some shenanigans with Green Sun's Zenith now that it's modern legal, but it's quite expensive, and only grabs you 1/3 of your combo. There are still fun tricks you can do with it, such as using it turn 1 to fetch a [[Dryad Arbor]] to essentially give you a +1 in development (this deck wants mana), but I assume it's not really an option due to the price.

https://www.mtgvault.com/dknight27/decks/dramatic-reversal-combocasual/

I figured I'd just do it and simplify.

Fun combo indeed. Couple ways I see that can help. I'm actually going to propose a major change that should help quite a bit, followed by a bunch of small changes that play off that major change.

So, what you need for the combo to go off: 1- Isochron, 2- Dramatic Reversal,3- 3 mana per turn generated by artifacts/creatures tapping, and 4- your mana outlet (currently Blue Sun's Zenith).

The major change I see is dropping Blue Sun's Zenith as the win condition and using [[Razortip Whip]] and [[Twitching Doll]] instead. I say this for the following reasons:
1- both new wincons are searchable by the same thing as almost the entire other combo, whereas Zenith isn't (more on this below)
2- Twitching Doll is also a mana rock and ups the chances of your combo going off
3- both don't require specifically colored mana to activate, which frees up your mana rock options

The best part of this combo is that you can search a good chunk of its pieces with the same cards, which are both cheap and have a low mana cost. Your first and best search option is [[Muddle the Mixture]], which lets you search Isochron, Reversal, your mana rocks, and your new win conditions (see above). Meaning, you can literally search any piece of the combo you want for 3 mana.

If you switch out the win cons (see above), the only card you can't search with artifact search is Reversal, which makes the combo (again) even more likely to go off, as you can search out almost every piece with the same search cards. [[Fabricate]] is your best bet, but it's 5 bucks (might be out of the price range), in which case go with [[Tribute Mage]] which fetches everything but Sol Ring and Reversal. Combined with Muddle, that's 8 fetch cards that are 3-drops that get you what you need.

I'd also cut Jaspera Sentinel, as it's hella conditional, and just go with some 1-drop blue tactics cards like [[Ponder]], which thins the deck, gets you what you want, and can be played early to speed things up.

Your mana rocks can/need to be swapped around too, as you don't need blue anymore for the combo. I'd leave Simic Signet (you still have blue cards) and go with [[Talisman of Curiosity]] over the other two signets, as they get what you need done in a better fashion, and has an extra feature that helps the build.

As for Trinket Mage and Sol Ring, I say keep those, and add in 1 copy of [[Magma Mine]] that is fetchable by Trinket Mage, that way you can use it to fetch either your best mana rock or a win condition, again making the combo more likely to hit. (Magma Mine is a win condition that functions almost exactly the same as Razortip Whip in practicality, but is a 1-drop so it's not fetchable with Muddle, which is why I went with Razor as the primary win condition instead).

Since you need 3 mana from rocks, you can also run [[Everflowing Chalice]] and/or [[The Enigma Jewel // Locus of Enlightenment]] that are fetchable by a Trinket Mage that are double mana rocks (which makes the combo much easier to pull off, as you only need the 1 more mana), which also ups the chances of you drawing into one of them naturally.

I realize this is a LOT, but I used to make decks like this all the time, and it hit me with a little nostalgia. It literally might be easier for me to just make a deck showing what I'm talking about. If that's the case, I'd be happy to do so.

Not trying to say your build is bad, just suggesting some alternatives.

Couple good options to consider:

[[Brave the Elements]] gets all your white critters, which is most of your critters

[[Emerge Unscathed]] gives you 2 turns of protection with no drawback

[[Gods Willing]] gives you the Scry


Emerge Unscathed is probably your best bang for your buck, as it'll give you 2 turns of a probable unblockable critter and/or protected from spot removal, all for W at instant speed.

That being said, it's much easier to get around unfavorable match ups with removal, which handles the problem for good (going 1 for 1) rather than just dodging it (going -1 for tempo). [[Path to Exile]] is the classic example and fits the 1-drop white qualification. Bloodchief's Thirst is another option that's got some flexibility with a different set of downsides. Or just accept the 2-drop removal and do [[Vanishing Verse]] or [[Fell]].

I miss exalted, it was a fun mechanic idea. A few thoughts to help this build out.

Splashing blue for 3 Mana Leaks really isn't worth it. If you're worried about nukes, you can get around within white by just going with [[Make a Stand]], which costs 1 more but is the right color and opponent can't pay 3 to get around it. Plus it doubles as a conditional game winner buff, so that's nice. If you're running the counters as a generic 'no' to opponent's plan, that's sort of outside what this deck wants to do. You want to dump your mana each turn fielding a critter to pump the exalted, so running counters just slows that down. You want to outrace and outmuscle opponent rather than denying opponent resources. This also lets you pull out your Glacial Fortresses and keep things consistent. You could sub in [[Shineshadow Snarl]] on the cheap and your color consistency will be tip top.

A few card choices are just worse versions of better cards that are all cheap. Faith's Shield is an 'ok' counterspell to interference, but [[Surge of Salvation]] does almost the same thing except with all your critters and you on top, so you can use it to stop burn damage if necessary, as well as protecting your critters from spot removal.

Nighthawk is nice, and ideally a great attacker, but it's a 3-drop without exalted, and you'd rather run something faster that ups the exalted count. I'd consider running [[Akrasan Squire]] over it. Much less sexy, but it's THE turn 1 drop you want in this build, as it swings for a minimum of 2/2 on turn 2 with a hopeful 3/3, which is a hell of a fast damage clock to deal with. It also lowers the mana curve quite a bit, which will be helpful, as you ideally want to be playing spells turns 1-3 consistently so you can build your exalted count and be swinging for damage, putting opponent on the backburner.

Appetite for Brains is extremely hit or miss, and is a potentially useless topdeck. I'd personally rather run something like [[Vanishing Verse]] and just deal with the threat once it's fielded, running the risk of that being too late balanced against the overwhelming efficiency and removal power of exiling most relevant permanents for 2 at instant speed.

Silent Arbiter is a cool idea, but would probably work better in the sideboard, as you probably won't need him when you're swinging with your single pumped up weenie anyway. I'd personally rather run 2 more Aven Squire, which cuts the mana, ups the exalted cost, and gives you an exalted flyer to play around with.

Mentor of the Meek, on the other hand, I had never considered for a build like this. It's certainly not a bad idea, especially when it gets tripped by almost 1/3 of the deck. My gut says let it run and see how it works. The 3-drop + mana eating cost is a pain, especially since it doesn't up the exalted count (throwing off your turn 3 drop potentially), but it's a good topdeck and will probably pay dividends in the mid game, so I say see how it goes.

Just some thoughts.