The_MoC

Thank you kindly. I felt dovescape was an addition I didn't have a choice in. The deck practically begs for it.

Oh man I forgot about him. Thanks for the heads up.

Why Confront the Unknown? It's the only source for clues. It's only really useful if Zada is on the field.

While terminate is obviously the better card all around, I already use it in 3 other decks, so I really need to step away from my comfort zone. It's at the point where if I'm running R/B, Terminates are assumed to be in my hand at all times. Same with W/R and Lightning Helix.

I was gonna be all like, "wtf north?! Where's the Ondu Clerics?" But I saw you're keeping it standard.. which is a damn shame.

However, the real reason I'm here, as you may have surmised, is that Pusch and I are having a discussion about one of my decks, and I would love to have your two cents on the matter.

http://www.mtgvault.com/themoc/decks/norin-the-scary/

I warned you it was a hate machine.
Let me start off by thanking you for taking the time to go over the deck, she's about to start her first revision, and having an outsider come in to critique should help the process considerably. After a few months of play, I've found that not having defenses bites me in the ass more times than not, but admittedly I got tunnel vision when building the concept, even if I'm not playing blue six drops.

Firstly, I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of the hounds. Whenever an audible groan escapes you when you pull the card, it's definitely time to swap those out. The hanweir wolf wasn't in my previous considerations for a replacement, but I'll be taking those into account for sure.

On to burning inquiry. I suspected to catch a lot of flak for running them, as they're only really useful when ascension is maxed. What may not be apparent by looking at the deck list, I get a maxed ascension nearly every game, but it sits in my hand until the right time. While it may only cost one mana, I think it's in contention for the worst turn 1 drop in multiplayer. That being said, burning inquiry is really a 50/50 shot. Which is why it needs to be changed as well. Into something defensive, or at the very least, a deterrent.

Purphoros and Norin. The only reason I have 4 gods and 3 Norin is because I only had 4 and 3 of them. But as I'm ordering replacements, it's time to rectify that little issue. Good eye though.

Kaervek is an astonishingly great idea, but as a general rule, I don't run 1 copy of anything. I find that i'll never see it if I want it, or it shows up at the most inopportune time. So two kaervek are almost assuredly coming in.

The only thing I really disagree with you on is the hideous end. While syphon flesh would be superb with impact tremors and all the other Norin-esque strategies, hideous end is just too useful as a cheaper instant that gives me bloodchief counters and handles a problematic field threat. It has saved my bacon more times than I can count with my shoes off.

So it comes down to
-3 Hellfire Mongrel
-4 Burning Inquiry
-1 Purphoros
For
+1 Norin
+1 Mindcrank
+2 Kaervek
+4 hanweir/Scab-Clan Berserker

As always, thanks for the input.

Ya know pusch, you could always run 1 island and some mycosynth wellspring. Still have a nice sac target, and pull some lands out. I'm guessing you have mana issues every now and again with only 18 in there. Could address that.

On a completely unrelated note, i've built a fun group hate machine, and since I know you're a group player, i know you'll see the significance it has in the larger format. Thought I'd share it with ya.

http://www.mtgvault.com/themoc/decks/norin-the-scary/

Humans! I love humans. It was just something I slapped together in 15 minutes, but after a while I started to actually enjoy the deck. You can do all sorts of dumb stuff with humans. Though I'm still at a loss for decent flying humans, short of enchanting them.

Have you considered True Conviction over Celestial Mantle?


http://www.mtgvault.com/themoc/decks/humans/

Gaea's Blessing and more Defense of the Heart were definitely the right call. Love what you've done with this beast.

The idea that shards is a throwback completely caught me off guard. Shards registers new in my head.. I feel old.

Energy Chamber might be a fun time with this, as well as Steel Overseer.

hahaha... well played clerks.

Wow.

I'm away from the site for a few months, and yet there are still arguments going on between KT and Tourney. It's almost comforting to know this site never changes.. almost..

Thanks gran, it's nice that someone appreciates the deck. My group certainly doesn't. More like a begrudging respect if anything. After months of play, the weak point in the deck is certainly the hound, as that is the least consistent damage dealer. I'm just happy I got to use Norin in something where he's not completely useless.

Really. Obviously this deck is not meant to win, its just meant to drink and laugh at people.

Yea Gran, I think that may be part of the natural progression of decent deck builders. You get to the point where your inner rolodex is working off the clock, unconsciously looking for synergistic combos. Everyone's mind works differently, especially the imagery in your mind's eye. Personally, I see a news ticker running in the dark recesses of my brain, always searching for fun and exciting combos. Once you reach that stage of magic development, you can't help but feel smug when decks just pull together seemingly of their own volition.

Speaking of, I have a new challenger you should look at for group play. I've tested it 1v1 and 3 man, and its pulling a pretty decent win record so far.
http://www.mtgvault.com/themoc/decks/norin-the-scary/

You're not gonna cast silence in response to something, you're gonna cast it to make sure your next cast is guaranteed. At the very least it'll burn through one of their counters. If they decide to counter the silence, you've got a pretty strong indication you don't wanna be burning your Polymorph right then. No point in countering a silence if they don't have a follow-up planned.

Is this really what the vault has boiled down to? People begging prominent members to build decks for them? Sad day.

Anyways north, I hate to point out one of my secret weapon combos, but Zur's Wierding and Tomorrow makes for a great time to be had. Considering with tomorrow out you don't actually "draw" cards you're not affected by the Zur's while everyone else still is.

add Silence then?

I refuse to like this. Thorn in my side, you are.