dknight27

Is this budget vintage (based on the single Sol Ring), or casual budget? (my comments change based on the format/budget)

Let me know how it handles.

The two Harbingers in the side also seem a bit precarious on 18, especially since it's a UU 3-drop, so you've only got 13 lands that can cast it. Have they been working out as good sides against all the lovely 'I need lots of colors' decks games 2 and 3?

I absolutely love the pivot synergy going on here. Fantastic way to take advantage of the inherent life loss, and it draws out any removal from opponent while still giving you card advantage. Plus, opponent can't side out all the small removal options and just go after the big removal. Very cool.

Only potential problem I see is the 4 Wastelands in 18 land build, as it cuts down on your turn 1 Thoushtseize, turn 2 Entomb/Reanimate bread and butter combo.

This deck would very, very much like to play [[Champion of the Parish]], both because it's a turn 1 play and because it's a win condition in a build like this. I'd advise cutting Captain of the Watch entirely for 4 copies of Champion. Captain is just too expensive, even with the combo with Preeminent Captain (which is unreliable).

Destroy Evil can be swapped out for [[Exorcise]], which is more versatile and permanent.

[[Coppercoat Vanguard]] would also go a very long way in here. I'd personally run it over Preeminent Captain, as you're more likely to get value out of a 2-drop lord than a slow accelerant, but that's my opinion.

Just some thoughts.

The exalted cascade effect is a fun one with which to play around. There's a couple things you can tweak here that will help your plan, as you want to go as quickly as possible, playing a creature every turn from 1-3 so that your attacker is a real threat, after which you can drop creatures as needed while fixing threats.

Builder's Blessing is a good idea, as you'll have lots of blockers available, but you really don't care what opponent's doing attacker wise, as you'll (hopefully) be winning the damage race and always have emergency blockers available, so really it will just slow you down.

Swift Justice is good for a little lifegain, but this deck doesn't need it (you have no significant source of loss of life and will try to win the damage race), and you don't need the first strike because your critter will almost certainly be bigger than the available blockers, so it's not giving you the bang for your buck you need in that slot.

Nefarox is WAAAAAY too slow for a build like this, as if you've got 6 mana available, you've either probably already lost or are in a spot where a big baddie won't help you. Same argument for Battlegrace Angel.

Sign in Blood is a good idea for the refill, but it's a worse version of Night's Whisper due to the double black mana cost. Blood can technically hit an opponent for the last 2 damage to close out a game, but you'd much rather not have to worry about the mana, especially since this deck only runs 8 black sources.

Murder is nice/straightforward, but costs kind of a lot for what it does (especially with the double black), and only kills critters, so it can't deal with recursion/noncritters, etc. [[Legions to Ashes]] handles everything but lands, and exiles it to boot. It's not an instant, but the increased utility and playability (colors) more than makes up for that.

Angelic Benediction is another exalted to stack and helps with blocker problems, but it's a 4-drop and you can get its effect in better ways, so I'd consider replacing it. Ideally you'd run [[Authority of the Consuls]], as it's cheap as hell (another turn 1 drop that will win you the game) and slows opponent's blockers to a crawl, but it's 6 bucks a pop, so I'm not sure if that's in the budget. If it is, you very, very much would like to run it.

I wonder if you could/would want to squeeze in Stormchaser's Talent? Early tempo token that profits from almost every spell in your deck, and with enough stalled time becomes both a refill of material and a win condition. Just an idea

Keeping in mind that all my knowledge of pauper is from talking to you, but doesn't this seem a bit 2-drop heavy, especially with 6 tapped lands? Seeing only 1 Ponder was also a bit of a surprise, as I'd imagine you'd want to max that puppy out.

The Unexpected Fangs/big baddy combo also seems a bit neutered if there's only 2 Anglers, but I suppose you could stick it on a flyer and get chipshot life to keep you alive and up on the clock, so perhaps that's mitigated.

This build screams [[Six]] to me, especially since you really don't have much use for the lands you're going to pull back with Life From the Loam. Stitcher's Supplier also seems like a natural fit, especially as a sac target for Grist.

I'm a huge fan of the naming idea for Raisin Bran, and have tried to keep the same ethos going as it keeps it simple and on theme. I almost made a pun about garlic being a thing which kills vampires and how this deck messes around with pulling stuff back from the grave (a vampire characteristic) but restrained myself.

And I too miss the days when goblins was a blue/black control deck.

I'm right there with you, it makes no god damn sense why the card got made. Why on earth would you give the 'color' that pumps out mana better than any other color a utility card that maximizes that mana output better than any other card I've ever seen. Sometimes I think they don't look at their own game when they make cards. Why would they not have a program in place to run potential cards through that would identify obvious synergy so they can mitigate it/avoid OP obvious combos. Oh well.

My thoughts on only running 2 are that you need Ancient Tomb to do it (unlikely to get the other colorless lands stacked early), and that with all the card selection and cantripping, you're going to see one of the two copies relatively quickly anyway. I went back and forth for a while on the lands, as it would be lovely to not have to rely on Ancient Tomb to get the work done, but the life loss from some of the other options left me hesitant. One obvious fix would be to run [[Mystic Sanctuary]] so you can reuse one of the copies, which I could run over one of the Undercity Sewers (sorry Dismember). Putting in some [[Wasteland]] makes perfect sense, but I didn't know where to fit it (same problem as above) other than to cut a Saga and/or Sink into Stupor (which I don't really like in here anyway because of the bleeding and it's UU that doesn't take advantage of Ancient Tomb). I also thought about [[Academy Ruins]] so the Spellbomb loop of doom can happen, and maybe running [[Expedition Map]] to abuse with it, which combos perfectly with Saga and Ancient Tomb as well as fixing mana problems with Command.

Lots of work yet to do, without even looking at a sideboard (which I detest doing since I don't actively play in tournaments anymore), but I think the idea retains some merit, even if it has problems. There's so much synergy going on, something has to shake loose at some point.

It also just dawned on me that Ancient Tomb synergizes PERFECTLY with [[Intuition]], which could potentially be worked in here somehow, and would set up the Spellbomb grave loop, Command and Mystic Sanctuary recycling, or some other shenanigans. That might be worth working into a deck of its own (maybe simic Uro?). Food for thought I suppose.

Oldschool Myr goodness.

First thing's first, you are basically required to run [[Sol Ring]] (as many copies as you can given what format you want), as you can play it turn 1 then play a Myr turn 1. This speeds you up 2 whole turns and gives you access to 4 mana turn 2 which will shoot this deck into the stratosphere. I'd run that over Welding Jar (and as many copies as you can unless you are going for vintage).

You also want to use some artifact lands, which ups the artifact count for all your cards that count artifacts. [[Seat of the Synod]] over island, and [[Ancient Den]] over Welding Jar (if you don't go for Sol Ring).

[[Distant Melody]] would also go a really, really long way in this deck, as you up it's draw factor and cut its mana curve with each Myr you've got fielded. Excellent way to draw into whatever you need, and another way to cash in on your potential infinite mana loop of the double Galvinizer.

I feel like trying to squeeze in an [[Inspiring Vantage]] or [[Sunbillow Verge]] so you can pop the High Noons for your Lava Axe effect to end the game or turn the clock forward/use multiple copies of Noon. I'd think a single copy would work, as you want the games to drag, and it's not strictly necessary, but will help more than it hurts.

Just checking the parameters, as it changes my feedback based on the format and budget.

Off the bat, you want to cut it down to 60 if you can for consistency reasons. This also feeds into the other advice, so I'll let it ride below.

The main advice I can give is to cut down the curve to speed the deck up as much as you can. Right now, you've got literally nothing you can do turn 1, which means you're behind in almost every game, especially on the draw. That's sort of the opposite of what decks like this want. You ideally want to field a critter turn 1 and start the damage clock every game, then be playing a critter every turn after that and quickly overwhelm opponent with numbers, lord effects, and tempo. If you can drop a critter turns 1 and 2 then drop a lord turn 3, you've basically got the game in the bag assuming there's no nuke headed your way. That's the ideal setup, but even without the lord ready and waiting in hand, you'd rather have speed than power in a build like this.

For example, you'd rather play a 1-drop turn 1 than have to wait till turn 3 to drop an Uninvited Geist. Geist is stronger, 'harder' to block, and can buff itself, but dies just as easily to spot removal as a 1-drop and eats a much more important turn if it does, while the 1-drop gets some damage and tempo and goes 1 for 1 without costing you anything. Imagine it's your turn 3, you play your third land and tap out for the Geist, then opponent taps a land and Bolts it, then gets to untap into whatever he's planning to do. This speed-centric idea is extremely pleasant in spirit builds, as all your 1-drop options for critters come with great advantages, and combo with other parts of the deck perfectly.

And more good news, there are some killer spirits that are cheap, so you can get this done pretty easily and stick to a very reasonable budget. Check out [[Mausoleum Wanderer]], [[Rattlechains]], and [[Usher of the Fallen]], all of which should be considered for this deck, and each of which costs less than a quarter.

For similar reasons, I'm going to argue against Door of Destinies (as well as the fact that it's a next to worthless topdeck and slows everything to a crawl if you get it in the opening hand) in favor of [[Rally the Ranks]], as it's much faster, much more reliable, and basically can't miss. It also double buffs Katilda, which is nice.

Not Forgotten is an ok idea, as it either lets you recycle something good, get rid of something bad, or force opponent to topdeck something useless, all with the spirit kicker, but it's probably not worth 4 spots, as it's maximum effect would be as a topdeck rather than in the opening hand or early in the game when there's nothing you need it to do and you'd much rather have a critter to play. So I'd consider cutting it down to 2 spots.

Curiosity is in a bit of a weird spot in the build, as its material math is sort of all over the place. For example, you play it on a critter and attack, opponent Bolts the critter, and you're down 2 for 1 with even tempo. If you manage to land an attack with the critter (which this build is designed to do with all the flying), the card becomes a +0 (justifying itself), but nets you no benefit, as you could have achieved a better result with a [[Preordain]], for example. You actually need to land 2 hits with the critter for it to really be of any value, as Curiosity itself doesn't do anything else. This idea is somewhat mitigated by [[Curious Obsession]], which buffs the critter a bit, suddenly adding a better damage clock on top and being a little more justifiable as a card draw engine, but again, it's got the same material problems. You'd really only want to run it in a deck full of small/fast critters with flying that are essentially guaranteed to get around blocks quickly, which is what I'm advocating for tweak-wise, so you can take that or leave it.

Essence Flux is a good anti-removal card to hold up that you can also use for blocking tricks, but you've already got protection with Drogskol Captain and instant protection if you add [[Rattlechains]] (which you absolutely should), so you could consider cutting it entirely. It works on spot removal, but won't protect the critter from a nuke, which will be coming games 2 and 3 if any are available, and you'd do better with a mass protection card sideboarded anyway.

As for the sideboard, you can build a pretty solid one relatively cheaply. Check out [[Deafening Silence]] against control and storm, [[Damping Matrix]] against artifacts, combo, and creature based combo, [[Pithing Needle]] against specific threats like planeswalkers, lands, critters, etc (can usually be used to shut down a win condition), [[Rest in Peace]] against everything grave, and [[Make a Stand]] as an anti-nuke you can play games 2 and 3 that doubles as a little extra damage as well as a turn free of damage if you need it.

So, overall, I'd say cut 4 Hanged Executioner, 2 Uninvited Geist, 2 Not Forgotten, 2 Door of Destinies, 4 Dreamshackle Geist, 1 Temple of Enlightenment, and 4 Curiosity (leaving 15 spots) and add in 4 [[Mausoleum Wanderer]], 4 [[Usher of the Fallen]], 4 [[Rally the Ranks]], and 3 [[Rattlechains]].

For the sideboard, go with 2 [[Deafening Silence]], 2 [[Damping Matrix]], 2 [[Pithing Needle]], 2 [[Rest in Peace]], 3 [[Make a Stand]], and 4 [[Sheltered by Ghosts]].

You should be able to get all that for 10 bucks at any online retailer, so hopefully that fits in with the budget.

Just some thoughts, not trying to throw hate at the deck.

Are you going for modern budget here?

The sad part is, I've been experimenting with [[Ancient Tomb]] ideas lately myself, and pairing it with [[Bitterblossom]] means you're gunna be bleeding like a vampire's dinner, so you can't do what my gut immediately wanted (will) do, which is pair Bitterblossom with [[Root Maze]] to turn tempo into material as you smile and win the game through attrition.

The major synergy I see right off from Goyf/Bitterblossom is the enchantment (buffs Goyf when dead), and all the material advantage from recursion/tokens that would let you run nukes/sac outlets/etc, but I'm not sure how I'd capitalize on that yet beyond pairing them with Saga to fetch into a lifegain card or a sac outlet (to eat tokens) or self-sacker (which buffs the hell out of Goyf once it's in the grave). Which would enjoy running Ancient Tombs so you can turbo on Saga/make the second token and equip the same turn. Or maybe do it with [[Mox Diamond]] in a land-based build instead (with [[Life From the Loam]] and/or [[Intuition]] package?), which would cut on the bleeding and give you the turn 1 Bitterblossom for serious output (especially on the play game 1 when opponent's got very few mainboarded answers to an enchantment), or turn 1 discard/Goyf combo that makes your Goyf a 2/3 beater. That might let you do the Root Maze strategy as well, as you could do a turn 1 Goyf/Maze smile/pass. Your Goyf will only be a 1/2, but you're up 2 tempo minimum and probably an extra one if opponent has to play a fetch land.

I'm just thinking out loud here

I honestly have no idea what to do with this old boy anymore. I don't think it can keep up with the nonsense explosive combos and sheer amount of options that are mainboarded (much less sideboarded) that can derail the combo or get around it (without Maze in play). Saga alone pumping out 2 jerks and jumping into a [[Pithing Needle]] that shuts down every combo piece but Chronatog (which leads to a loss anyway most of the time) is realistically enough to get me to not play the build as is.

I was thinking of maybe fusing it with either a lands build or a traditional control build as a slow down/alt mechanic that isn't the primary goal and can be juked into and out of games 2 and 3 to make it a rock/paper/scissors guess. For example, turn 3 on the play, dropping a Stasis against a fielded [[The One Ring]] is like +5 turns of tempo and potentially 5 damage (if opponent got greedy), and lets you have a chance against a game that otherwise would most likely be lost. If nothing else, you turn it into a pseudo [[Time Walk]], cause opponent's next turn is basically turn 1 but without a hand full of juice, and you've (hopefully) got a turn banked on an untapped land that you can then get into shenanigans with (play [[Crop Rotation]] into [[Forsaken City]]), or something like that.

What I'd really like it to find a way to abuse Saga, cause it'll trigger regardless and give you an artifact that can potentially do SOMETHING, I just haven't found what that something should be/how to get it done. The best I've found so far is [[Obelisk of Undoing]], which is horrible, but would let you get the perfect lock for the low-low cost of 6 mana per turn with 2 on top to replay Stasis.

As for the 'as is' problems, I was hoping the Stifles and Crop Rotations would outnumber the Wastelands and the 9 manaless counters would handle the Force of Vigors, with Noxious Revival backing up both mechanics, but that might be overly optimistic, as they all have to also shut down whatever else opponent is doing (assuming the Maze lock isn't in place).

I don't know, I'm all turned around on this one.

I was born for such a challenge.

Are we talking legacy? Pox specific?

I was pondering that as well. Also [[Primal Command]] and [[Stunted Growth]] for similar reasons, but I'm unsure if they fit correctly. I'm very unfamiliar with accelerated mana builds (I almost always play fair control with engines), and it's hard to imagine ramping to a 5-drop with GG that I can't just cheat into play with a [[Dark Ritual]] and an [[Ancient Tomb]] + land that produces black.

I then had a swerve idea to go for that in some sort of maverick deck that uses mana dorks (fixing the ramp and green problem), so perhaps that's where those ideas could fit. You could theoretically get away from the full prison package but still run Maze in there too, as your dorks get around the tap problem.

I'll probably end up trying for both

I am experimenting with that very thing right now. I'm looking at incorporating [[Fallow Earth]] and lots of ways to play it (and other devastating 3 drops) turn 2, so you can potentially do turn 1- drop land into Root Maze, opponent plays tapped land (hopefully fetch) and pass. Turn 2, drop [[Ancient Tomb]] tapped and pass, opponent cracks fetch land or untaps single land, plays another tapped land, and either has 1 open land or 2 tapped lands. Turn 3- drop Fallow Earth, play a tapped land, you're at 3 lands (and 4 mana) vs opponent's 1 land and ahead sooooooooooooooo much tempo that the game's over if you draw into anything that does anything to advance a win condition. I am, however, having trouble figuring out what I want that to be, beyond Saga gaming and maybe a [[Black Vise]] it can fetch

Looks good. Only thing that worries me is the 18 lands. I'd personally shave a Counterspell for a basic Island, but that's me. I'm a hater of mulligans. Let me know how it plays