Jessie

And you have a lot of solid decks, Adamantian. I will check a few out, when I get the chance. I will try to offer some sound advice, If i can.

Thanks for liking the deck!

Thank you. It is a very interesting themed deck. I am glad you liked it!

I can respect that.

I could make him indestructible, true. That is just an extra card and extra mana.
And I am not sure if it is considered combat damage or not...but I have seen on forums and Magic Gatherer where people say Fog Bank would die.

Friend,
Turn 1. Dark Ritual. Into Duress/Thoughtseize/Blackmail AND THEN Hymn to Tourach/Chain of Smog.
That is 3 cards discarded on first turn.

Turn 1. Dark Ritual. Into Mind Twist.
That is 2 cards discarded on first turn.

The extra one mana to cast Mind Twist could be used on another discard card like Duress.

Not knocking the deck!!
I gave it a like :)

And you aren't even running Dark Ritual, dork!! lol
But it would go good in this deck, as well.

Good luck.

I wanted to make a deck around Pariah.
First I thought of Fog Bank.
Enchant the Fog Bank with Pariah.
Sounds awesome.

Here is the question:
My opponent has 3 1/1 creatures.
I have Fog Bank enchanted with a Pariah.
I choose not to block the 3 1/1 creatures.
So the damage goes to the Fog Bank and he dies.
Why is that since Fog Bank doesn't take any combat damage?
Is redirected damage not considered combat damage?

Here is question:
1) Why does Pariah/Fog Bank not work?

Meaning, my opponent has 3 1/1 Creatures. I choose not to block them. The damage is redirected to the Fog Bank (enchanted with Pariah), and the Fog Bank dies, why?

l.ol
Yes, Mind Twist is very powerful...but very slow.

Mind Twist is banned in Legacy.

Another nice deck. Been going through and looking at a few of your decks.

*Snooze* Sorry, woke up from Mind Twist and Persecute. Please consider taking them out. Very slow, slow cards. Mind Twist is banned in Legacy anyways. I bought 4 of them to put in my first discard deck. Even before I did my friend was telling me how overrated Mind Twist was. That it was a God card when Magic was still young...but that it was way too slow for Magic nowadays. I didn't believe him. Spent 20 bucks on 4 Mind Twist. Put them in my deck. Played about 10 games with them...realized that BY THE TIME YOU PLAY MIND TWIST, the opponent's hand should already be emptied by stuff like Funeral Charm, Hymn to Tourach, Blackmail, Duress, etc.
My friend was right. Took them out of the deck, and never used them since.

And, Gnat Miser...maybe I am missing the point...what is he really doing? Just making it to where your opponent can only have 6 cards in his hand? If you are making him discard, almost every turn, he will never have close to 6 cards anyways, right?
Only way i see Gnat Miser being a threat is:
A) You play him the first turn (which will not happen every game)
B) You have 2 or 3 copies of Gnat Miser by Draw 3/Turn 3
If you don't get A) or B)
...then he isn't that great in this deck.

Taking out Gnat Miser, Mind Twist, and Persecute will reduce the deck by 8 dollars.

I would consider some sort of creature hate. For creatures that get through your discard.
Something small like Disfigure (20 cent) would work.
Something large like Mutilate (1.30 each) would work. It would nuke your creatures too though. Awesome in emergencies though.
Deadly Allure (17 cent) could also be used to kill creatures. Attach it to one of your rats!

If you want something like Mind Twist...switch it out with Hymn to Tourach (1.45 a piece). Paying 3 mana to make my opponent discard 2 or paying 2 mana to make my opponent discard 2 cards. No question which one is faster.

Good luck
I enjoyed the deck!

Not sure why this doesn't have more votes!
With Price of Progress...you must play against a bunch of people with non basic lands.

Good job.

Very, very interesting.
Definitely has my vote.

As much as I freaking love Evil Presence in a deck:

http://www.mtgvault.com/jessie/decks/douchebag-black-lockdown/

I don't think it is that hot of a card in a Group game. One on one, running 4 Evil Presence can be a huge disruption. But...if you are playing, let's say, 4 or 5 opponents...there won't be enough Evil Presence to disrupt everyone.

Maybe your draw spells should be replaced with it. I look at it like this, you drawing more cards will make your deck faster VERSUS Evil Presence slower your opponent's down.

Before I suggest cards, you do know that you can target yourself with Bloodgift Demon. I am pretty sure of that. So, there is one way to draw a card.

Phyrexian Arena (every turn you lose 1 life and draw 1 card)
Night's Whisper (draw two cards and lose 2 life)
Seizan , Perverter of Truth (interesting card for group play, everyone loses 2 life and draws 2 cards every upkeep)
Sign in Blood (draw two cards and lose 2 life)
Blood Scrivener (creature, let's you draw 2 cards if you would draw 1 card)
Cremate (could rock in multiplayer, not only is it 1 mana, but it exiles a card in someone's graveyard)

Good luck.

Those will probably be the ones I pick, then. lol :)
I love control.
And never built a devotion deck.

Do you have any pointers? I have never been strong with any sort of human/weenie/swarm deck.
Besides that, I think I could make a decent deck.

I am guessing in emergency?
Steely Resolve, never seen that one. That rocks!
Won't stop Damnation from hurting your own creatures.

I might try to build a Standard deck.
I know Magic Gatherer has a search engine that narrows the cards down to Standard.

Agreed with Maniac.

I know very little about Standard, but I will check it out.

Or it gets you a turn 2 Seething Song.

Simian Spirit Guide sure is tasty in a deck like this!
2 Mountains and a Spirit Guide gets you a Turn 2 Dragonspeaker Shaman.