maxtheape

I do enjoy Charmbreaker Devils. So far, my best luck with them has been in a Land Destruction deck. Knowing that I can kill a land every turn once they hit the board is fantastic. The other key to using them is being able to control the contents of your graveyard. Enter Grim Lavamancer. Use the Lavamancer to exile any instants or sorceries in your graveyard that will not be useful in your hand the next turn.

Here's a link to what I put together: http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=240601

I did think about doing a "counter" variation, like you have, but found that in order to get the soft lock in place with the Devils, I needed the mana acceleration that only green could adequately provide. In my original version (not linked to above), I actually created a "counter" sideboard. With this, I could run Land Destruction in game one of the match, then side out the bulk of that for counter in game two. Nothing like totally baffling your opponent by changing the entire purpose of your deck between games one and two. :)

I've got a similar deck, but opted for Mayor of Avabruck over Jade Mage, and upped it to 3 Parallel Lives. I also think that you can't go wrong in a deck like this with 4 Ambush Vipers.

You're absolutely right! I incorrectly remembered the card from years ago. That makes this one turn faster. Even not needing the Oblivion Ring, I think I might leave it in anyway. Alternatively, I might opt for a Balance and a bump up in my land.

I Praetor's Grasp you and grab a non-basic land. I play that land. I Ghost Quarter that land, fetching a Swamp from my deck. I use Surgical Extraction to remove the remaining copies of the destroyed land from your deck. Have a nice day!

Jin-Gitaxias is a beast to cast, but is a superb card drawer.

Good catch! That was supposed to be 6 Swamps and 6 Forests. Might think about making one of those Forests a mountain, just so I've got at least one basic land for each of my colors. I'm worried about having too many duals that require a basic to come into play untapped. I can ill afford to have my first three lands come into play tapped.

If I had Liliana, I'd use her, definitely. I pulled one in pre-release and promptly traded her for the two Karn's and the Garruk you see in this deck. I can bring myself to buy the occasional low-dollar cards for the sake of a deck, but with the cost of Liliana (and most of the Planeswalkers) I feel like I'd get more consistent victories by throwing the money at my opponent rather than buying the card(s). Nobody seems to want to trade Liliana away. The Memoricides (and the repeated casting of them) are pivotal for the deck as it stands.

Thanks for the feedback!

While not at all related to your deck (which looks fun), thank you for bringing Praetor's Grasp to my attention. It has some very serious potential for a Land Destruction deck I'm working on. (Already using Surgical Extraction to pull out non-basic lands.)

You might look for space for Invader Parasite (I'd swap out Dingus Egg.) It has the benefit of being a creature, exiling a land, AND making it painful to play more land (of the type exiled). If you're willing to either pay life, or tinge another color, Surgical Extraction is fantastic in Land Destruction (assuming you play in an environment where the use of non-basic lands is prevalent.) Destroy one non-basic land and use it to fetch all the other copies of it from the owners hand, library and graveyard. As a multipurpose card, it can also limit the usefulness of Mana Leak, etc. to the first time only. Yes, you Mana Leaked my Stone Rain, but you won't do it again!

I love Birds of Paradise, but with a mana curve as low as you've got in this deck, I don't think they're necessary. If you're concerned about access to G and R mana early, I'd follow the earlier suggestion of Copperline Gorge. With those dropped, you could bump the Instigator Gang and Kruin Outlaw totals up to four of each, or substitute in a different creature. I'd recommend Ambush Viper (Yes, it's out of theme, but so were the Birds). It's flash cast ability means that you could skip casting a creature on your turn, thus flipping your were's, but still net a creature for the turn by casting Ambush Viper on your opponents turn. Their deathtouch capability can be very useful, especially with the Prey Upon's you're already running.

2 cents given. Good luck!

I'm curious about your choice of Diabolic Tutor. Just about the only thing you can go get is either a) Land, or b) Land Destruction. If it's Land you need, then you most likely don't have enough to cast Diabolic Tutor. If it's Land Destruction, then just putting additional Land Destruction in instead of Diabolic Tutor would do the trick.

A couple of possibilities on the creature front could be Invader Parasite at 3RR, or Charmbreaker Devils at 5R. Or, for cheap creatures, you could do well with Grim Lavamancer (use your used up Land Destruction spells as fodder for direct damage.)

Personally, depending on the environment you play in, I'd consider dropping in Surgical Extraction. If you can kill one non-basic land, you can fish all additional copies out of your opponent's hand/deck. Very nasty.

Lastly, I'd look at Mycosynth Wellspring over Traveler's Amulet. Both ultimately cost you two, but the Wellspring also benefits you if for any reason it leaves play.

Good luck!

I know it is out of theme, but I'd seriously consider dropping the Village Ironsmith for Ambush Viper. Being able to cast a creature on your opponent's turn means both a handy, deathtouch-y surprise, and more importantly being able to skip casting on your turn (thus transforming your were's) and still net a creature for the turn. As you are running Prey Upon, the Ambush Viper also works nicely as a deadly duelist.

I've been working on Land Destruction lately, and would put forth for your consideration Noxious Revival (either to reclaim a Land Destruction spell, or to stack your opponent's library with a non-land card for their next draw). Also, depending on the kinds of decks you find yourself playing against, Surgical Extraction can be very powerful. It can seek out and remove copies of non-basic land cards once you've destroyed one (won't work with Invader Parasite). It can also nuke those pesky Mana Leak's, or even a creature you've killed off with your Acidic Slime (let's face it, nothing else in the deck is likely to kill anything.

Finally, I would consider substituting Solemn Simulacrum in place of the Phyrexian Metamorph.

As "mycmyc" mentions above, and I'm sure you've discovered, speed is the real problem with Land Destruction. I'm toying with Blasphemous Act to wipe the board once my land destruction gets rolling, but still have to survive long enough to get that fired off.

Good luck!

I'm thinking about Shock, Incinerate, or something similar as a possible alternative. What I like about Geistflame is that even if I can't get a Lavamancer out (or keep one alive), I still have the capacity to remove it from my graveyard. Also, against another control deck, they'll have to counter it twice. I've also considered something like Vapor Snag to occupy my opponent's mana. I've also considered a sideboard that swings the deck toward land destruction (Pull the Dissipate and Cancel's for Tectonic Rift and Melt Terrain.) Not sure.

I'm thinking about dropping the Cancel's, in favor of some kind of card draw. Perhaps Gitaxian Probe. As for the Geistflames, they are there as cheap instant damage with the Flashback as a bonus. The Grim Lavamancer's are actually extremely helpful in the deck, not for their damage capacity, but to be able to control the contents of my graveyard. I exile any instant or sorcery that I don't want bouncing back to my hand. If the Charmbreaker hits the board and I'm in desperate need of direct damage, I don't want to be randomly popping a Ponder/etc. back to my hand. I'll exile the Ponder/etc. and another card to ensure that the only possible bounce back is the specific card I want/need.

After all, it's much more powerful to say, "Return target Instant or Sorcery" than "Return a random Instant or Sorcery."

I like it, but I'm not sure about the Copperhorn Scouts. You might consider Ambush Viper. 2 mana for an instant deathtouch isn't bad. With an Essence of the Wild in play, you've got Instant Essence for 2 mana.

If Ratchet Bomb were a major concern for the deck, I think upping the Full Moon's Rise count to four would nicely protect the were's. Perhaps you might consider Green Sun's Zenith to fetch your Mayor's. While not in the theme of Werewolves, I also really like Ambush Viper in a were-deck. It lets you pass on your turn to trigger the transformation, but still nets you a creature for the turn by casting during your opponent's turn. Surprise deathtouch is nice, too. With your mana curve, I assume the Birds of Paradise are primarily to minimize the damage from Manabarbs. I wonder if it wouldn't be better just to take the damage, rather than casting a zero power creature.

How well does the combination of Manabarbs and Kessig Wolf Run work out?

It looks like a fun deck.

You might consider Acidic Slime (either main, or sideboard). Mimic Vat + Acidic Slime would really wreak havoc.

If you don't have the Karn's, I'd consider either main-boarding a fourth Beast Within, and a third Charmbreaker Devils. If you don't have re-usable land removal, having more reliable access to pull the ones you do have back would help. Alternatively, you could main-board two Ratchet Bombs. Hopefully, your opponent isn't getting anything higher than a two casting cost creature out. They're a little dangerous as the deck runs so many one casting cost creatures, but if once you hit six land, you don't need the mana producers anymore. The Watchkeep can handle most of the defensive work for you.

The reasoning behind the Shimmer Myr is so that I can toss out surprise blockers/next turn attackers. I might try it without, just to see. As for the Automaton, it's synergy is really with the Shimmer Myr. Being able to quick drop one (or more) and boost all of my defending creatures was the idea behind it. Originally, I was running Etched Champion as well. It hurt to cut it. All color protection is a handy trick. Jace's Archivist has definite potential. I might need to increase the focus on the Psychosis Crawler (and add one more).