surewhynot

You're correct, this isn't a standard deck. It's a format called EDH, or "Commander".

Here's more info: http://mtgcommander.net/rules.php

Also, thanks for all the likes! =]

Hrm, good call. While Shoal is arcane, it more often than not will be too big to cause anything to get blasted =/

My immediate worry is that the deck has a bit too much mana burden. Now EDH by its nature allows for the decks to cram a hell of a lot more mana burden in. However, it's still possible to go overboard...and while "Battle Cruiser" games are fun as hell, what isn't fun is being stuck with a hand of huge dudes, no lands to cast them, and no smaller dudes to put some kind of presence onto the battlefield =/

The other thing is that a lot of these big SOB's are nightmares. I see the appeal since your general is technically a lord for them, but here's the thing: Don't try to make this a nightmare tribal. Chainer's ability is actually very good for EDH, but probably not in the way you'd immediately think. Chainer has an ability that label's him as an "Assassin type" general, as my friends and I would say. This means his ability is ideal for screwing with your opponent's general, or any of their other big threats.

Ignore Chainer's +1/+1 to Nightmares for a moment and look at the rest of the ability. You can take you enemies' dead creatures and use them against them...and in fact make them a bit stronger! But the part of his ability that looks bad (and usually is bad for a raw Nightmare tribe) is also very lethal in EDH. If they kill your general, then all those creatures you stole from them are removed from the game!

I would remove a lot of the nightmares you have in this and replace them with some low-costing, quick creatures that will allow you to push the offensive and make the opponent have to start filling their graveyard with nice candidates. The other nice thing about this change is that it will make your deck a bit less suicidal...which right now it really is, and a bit too much =P

I highly recommend adding in Necropotence and Bitterblossum if you can...Necropotence especially. I'd also advise trying out Kiku, Night's Flower. I use her as a general, and can tell you she'll be useful for killing crap. Grave Pact is always a solid choice, and could set up a nice "conveyor belt" of creatures for Chainer's ability. You could also refit this whole thing to play more like a discard deck, which would better allow you to pick and choose what to snag, but that's really up to you.

Hope all that helped man =]

Yeap I recognize the name, I'll give it a look =]

Anything you'd suggest to improve it? =]

Haha thanks man, and it's good to hear! And yeah...this thing leads to very one-sided games =P

Knight is amazing too, and might be the better choice...I dunno. In Modern, without all the tech you mentioned, I think the "jagged" more forward style of Countryside is what you need to make up for the difference. KotR is always a solid stand-by though =/

Yeah, it really is amazing how much a deck can change with just one more card. Statistically, the difference between 60 and 61 is almost negligible, but...in practice you just never know. I would at least try a few test-runs with it, see how it flows. I've had decks where running 61 was a horrible idea, and others that flat-out surprised me.

Ha, well that's sort of the purpose of jargon isn't it? =P

Send it to me in a message on the forums and maybe I can give you a hand with squeezing in some explanations for the various terms, shorthand, and jargon =]

Have you considered running with a more aggressive 4/61 Mox layout? I feel like this thing could handle it, and it could add just enough extra "oomph" =]

Also, how goes the writing?

If I were you I'd go with a 3/3 split for Countryside and BVengeance. Adding a free Shock to your deck's main engine is beyond powerful. And Countryside is very good for these decks, but I don't think good enough to warrant a full playset. It's a constant beater that also lets you pick and choose your land tech through its ability and Loam...quite useful really =P

Commented =]

I like it, but I'd personally drop the Chains and replace them with Nacatl, it would smooth out the wrinkles in your manabase and add a more consistent source of damage. Not to mention, it's another thing to snag with GSZ =]

Other than that, the deck looks awesome, and it's no surprise you're having success with it =]

For whatever reason, Übermensch is the thing that keeps coming to mind =]

I've played a Darien EDH before, and he can be a real headache with that token ability...I would use Skullclamp to turn that ability into potent card draw for responses to that damage. I would also try to throw in the "Soul Sisters" for some insane lifegain when those tokens pour out (this will also make you essentially immortal =P). Finally, I can't comment on a mono-white EDH without also suggesting Shrine of Loyal Legions =]

Hope that helps =]

But yes, if a card is drawn at any time during/after the drawstep beyond the regular amount (usually, if not always 1) then the effect is active until the end of the turn, and then only re-activates if the same conditions are met in the next turn, so on and so forth =]

Hrm...Well it would be a strange hybrid for sure. Most likely it would end up like a classic Black Burn (as in, burn with an aspect of discard to both damage and even out the card [dis]advantage) with the 'playset rippers', as I call them, S.E. and Extirpate. P.I.F. is a costly card, and I kind of feel like it would be overkill, but I can try to see if there's a way to work it in.

Nah, it's not confusing, just written poorly.

It does have one of the most convoluted descriptions in the game, but here's what it does:

If, on a player's draw step, that player draws at least one more card than normal (I.e., a second card) he must discard a card from his hand or mill himself by one card. If he refuses to mill himself and instead discards, he is forced to draw another card, which repeats the process. It's a powerful failsafe for a discard deck, as it makes sure that a player can't simply counteract the discarding my excessive card drawing.

Exactly. At first I just liked the art, but then add the fact that in some rules shenanigans, snow swamps can be juuuuuust different enough from normal swamps that I get the advantage...and more notably the ability to abuse scrying sheets, and there ya have it =]

Yeah, it really stems from the fact that I've had 3 friends go to Duke over the years, and they all came back from there as complete asshats =/

Now I just need to fine-tune his deck to be how I want it...and then the shenanigans can begin (because if there's one word that describes Celestial Kirin, it's shenanigans)