Dankirk

I think you could play something like Chromatic Star / Sphere, to filter for black mana. This way you can play more basic Islands. Then perhaps a Trinket Mage to get one of those artifacts reliably.

Other options would be some discard/draw effects like Merfolk Looter or Chart a Course.

I also think the Diabolic Tutors are somewhat slowing you down. If you really like the effect, then perhaps more Sidisis. You can also get away with running just one Army of the Dead, since it's searchable.

Some 3-4 lands could help casting the bigger cards or keep some in reserve for Relentless Dead.

The zombies are currently a kind of good stuff collection, which is quite common when first creating a zombie deck since there are so many zombie options available. If you can find a narrower theme in them, it could help letting some creatures go. I see atleast two major routes this might diverge into: recurring or tokens.

Hey, tried my hand at making a Selesnya deck with big creatures and protection aspects. Might give you ideas.
https://www.mtgvault.com/dankirk/decks/natures-way/

Would Faerie Seer work instead of Sage of Epityr / Overwhelmed Apprentice ?
They have flying that could be useful with the equipment.

This looks creatively fun.

Maybe Blasphemous Act for backup ?

Seems Faithless Looting is banned in modern. Cathartic Reunion could work since you might need to dig deep for Midnight Guard.

I feel like you are using too many card slots for the combo searching if that's possible, I could be wrong. I also don't really see graveyard recursion too important here considering how much library searching you have. Lochmeres are kinda alternative to the plan, so maybe just 1-2? This would free more slots for early control, ramp or even chump blockers.

Thanks for input here, really appreciate it.

I did change the deck ever so slightly. I have to say they are very valid suggestions I had to think a lot about. Here's some reasons I didn't include some of the stuff.

Creeping Tar Pit
I figured I need to play some early game Kozilek's, so I needed some space for swamps. (Won't be getting the more expensive lands for this deck). Unblockability is somewhat unnecessary with the board wipe theme, but I also wanted to push away from non-interactive qualities unblockability might bring in to the game. I also decided to drop Dimir Keyrunes for this reason and went with Azorius ones instead. Azorius Keyrunes also help with activating Celestial Colonnade, which works as an alternative finisher instead of Creeping Tar Pit.

Darksteel Brute
I switched out Open the Vaults for two copies of Dance of the Manse, which means that I will be bringing key elements back into the game a bit more often. This makes indestructibility a bit less relevant, though it still works for blocking. I was worried about curve issues with him, since the activation cost is 3.

Armageddon + stuff
Darksteel Citadel is hard to fit in with the colors, I would need to drop blue/black for this. Flagstones seems good, but is a bit expensive and not Plains so it doesn't work for Glacial Fortress and Isolated Chapel. The color issue is also related to Esper Charm, which currently is used to fix card draw AND (partly) non-creature removal. With less colors I would need more card slots to fill these roles.


I'm still wondering which Gideon do you think works best for the deck and might use multiles of?

Blackblade pros:
- Porphyry Nodes stays around until Gideon leaves
- -6 removal might be relevant, since I only have Esper Charm and Kozilek's here for non-creatures

GIdeon of the Trials pros:
- +1 works as defence, that I might run short of early game without Porphyry Nodes, Wrath or Haunted Plate Mail.

Hmm. How about Lochmere Serpent? He has relevant abilities for end game and can be flashed in at end of opponents turn. Not too many people playing it either, so it's something different.

Atleast in the past black/blue control popular finishers were things like:
- Gurmag Angler, since you can delve your instants and sorceries for it leaving mana for further counterspells.
- Aetherling, since he has all the needed abilities himself

Then theres also some cheap creatures that end up doing most of the damage:
- Thing in the Ice
- Delver of Secrets

Guilty Conscience works too and that can be brought back with Open the Vaults if you already used some on opponents creatures or they exiled the Sutffy Doll it was on.

I think a simple Duress could go a long way to keep Yargle on board. Also reveals their hand, so Telepathy might not be necessary.

Splendid. I like Abyssal Persecutor here and the ways to get rid of him.

Stuffy Doll decks otherwise make me think of Pestilence. Could almost with it here if it weren't for Ornithopthers... And Urza lands, nvm...

How about Spellskite?

I think I'm going to give a try and let go of my long time favorite Undead Alchemist here. Already modified the deck a bit, but I'm still working on it.

Thought I could use Weathered Wayfarer here, since that could combo nicely with Ghost Quarter / Field of Ruin plus Winds of Abandon. I'm also wondering if I should use some deck manipulation to either look at cards on top and put some in graveyard (triggering Pedantic Learning) or putting land on top to mill it with Mesmeric Orb, like Brainstorm. I can already do some manipulation while Lantern is on board with Codex or shuffle with Wayfarer.

Trinisphere could work here, though not sure what could be swapped out.

These are all fine suggestions. Didn't put in self sacrifice outlets, becuase creatures would rather be used for Ashmouth or have Infernal Scarring to make them threats opponent would need to handle. However, that strategy makes Blood Artist weak as he is likely the first target, so Bastion is actually a very good replacement. Scorpion (and Blistergrub) are also very good upgrades. Village Rites is so and so, since we already have Infernal Scarring and Victimize can recur creatures. Still perhaps something like two-of...

Sure is :p Wouldn't dare to add it here for 3 Trygon Predator alone though, heh.

Sounds strong for the graft creatures. I'll look in to it, but the main concern with this is to keep the ratio between creatures vs support good, so the deck can still put pressure from the get go till the end. Branching Evolution seems like more of setup kind of card.

This kinda goes to the decks roots too. It was built on Hardened Scales, so I deliberately put in cards that would give a single counter and do something else for maximum benefit. I also deliberately skiped doubling effects for this reason, as doubling one has the same net gain as Hardened Scales. Plus doublers usually required much more set up, like Vorell of the Hullclade or Gilder Bairn, which I might not get benefits from in a single turn. As a passive effect Branching Evolution might just work for graft creatures and the hydra.

Contentinous Plan is something I've been wondering if it's better than Tezzeret's Gambit here. I do have Ordeal of Thassas to help with the draws too...

For the other cards I'm not sure what I could replace. The graft creatures are an important base for the deck, without which I might not always have counters to proliferate.

Hmm, this comes to me as a surprise in all honesty, thought I'd be making something new. Can't seem to find any pauper decks with the idea though.

And yeah, Mixture does seem like the better option.

I also made another version for some kithcen table games. https://www.mtgvault.com/dankirk/decks/psionic-supremacy/

Nice budget stuff. I would probably seek some cheaper control pieces too. Oblivion Ring could work fine for it's broader range of targets, but something simple like Burst of Strength for surprise block or Mutant's Prey would be very cost effective creature removal. Dromoka's Command would do well, but costs just a tad more.

Enduring Scalelord seems a bit too costly for 20 lands, so I'd probably improve overall consistency with a Conclave Mentor or go for one of the many hydras that come with +1/+1 counters. Managorger Hydra could work as a potential game ender, though it's something like $4 a piece.

This fit the theme nicely and could work by not having the 2-for-1 problem enchantments have. However, I'm afraid my land count is a bit too small for the equip costs as I would still need mana for Dive Down/Mana Leak. I recently dropped Ring of Xathird too, since I rarely could equip it to a just played creature and still have 2 mana for the regeneration.