TheSwarmer

In highlander, I think a card like [[It That Betrays]] is worse than a card like [[Grave Titan]] or [[Wurmcoil Engine]] as the latter two can actually be hardcast and are thus useful in a greater proportion of situations. That said, I'd say keep It That Betrays here, I love the card to death.

Not seeing [[Beast Within]] is kinda weird. I also really like [[Shriekmaw]] in decks like this.

+1 from me!

As much as I love playing [[Smallpox]] in any deck that can support it (and many that can't xD) I do think this works better without it. In some metagames [[Fatal Push]] might be worse than pox though.

Anyway, the thing that I find interesting now is how good [[Wrench Mind]] is in a deck with [[Lightning Skelemental]] and Kroxas. What I mean is that, you want to get your opponent down to a low hand size ASAP, faster than regular Rack does, but you also want a payoff once there, hence maybe fewer Wrench Minds and more [[Shrieking Affliction]]s?

Man, 21 lands with 2 [[Smallpox]] and 3 Urza's Saga with intentions of hitting 3 drops on curve seems like a whole new level of living dangerously.

Trust me, with 4 Urborg you can afford to run 2 factories with a clear conscience and virtually no consistency sacrificed. I tend to turn 3 myself, but at that point there are a few hands that just don't work.

If you ever get some gameplay in with this, please post a comment here about it, I'd love to hear how it went!

+1 from me, it's nice to see something fresh.

However, there's no reason to not run white in modern seeing as how [[Flagstones of Trokair]] and [[Lingering Souls]] are.

As far as running [[Murderous Rider // Swift End]] alongside [[Nether Spirit]], I know it doesn't work in Loam Pox as you are likely to mill or discard the rider. Here discarding is the only danger but it is still a very real one.

Why no [[Castle Locthwain]] Or Mishra's Factory?

Other than that, a [[Torpor Orb]] and an [[ensnaring bridge]] seem like necessities in the sideboard. Oh yeah and [[Mycosynth Lattice]] is banned in modern.

Cheap, themed, kitchen table decks that nevertheless get titled budget decks. I used to be a massive part of this problem many years ago, perhaps that's why it frustrates me so much. There's a world of difference between slapping 2 dark rits in a dubiously Legacy legal, stupendously slow zombie deck meant as a fun, casual, themed deck, and cutting $200 from a T2 Modern deck in an attempt to make something semi-competitive for ~$50-$150.

Can't wait to complain about having to play against this xD +1 from me.

Seems to me like 4x [[Volatile Fjord]] is too slow for what the deck is trying to do, but then, the deck-thinning effect offered by [[Evolving Wilds]] doesn't give you a significant edge either. Could also be that 8 ninjutsu cards is 1 too many.

As the deck runs no mana sources [[Darkblast]] and [[Shambling Shell]] are essentially there just to Dredge 3, shell is objectively better as it is a creature for [[ichorid]]. I think that's the only reason it's run, though I've never played the format and I've seen the deck played only once for maybe 5 or 6 games.

I think this is the first list in which I like [[Shred Memory]] on account of running [[Dark Ritual]]s and a relatively high count of [[Duress]]s. Though 4x? I've only played the new Mardu versions with [[Late to Dinner]] but in general, I'd want more [[Duress]] or an angler or a [[Stinkweed Imp]] to find threats easier rather than 5 mana, 2-turn-slow [[Exhume]]s.

[[Nether Spirit]] is orders of magnitude more valuable than [[shambling shell]]. Though I frankly wish that Modern dredge lists ran the card, but that would require some serious bans or miracles to happen.

Oops, I only just now realized that [[Retrofitter Foundry]] did not in fact come out in Kaladesh block and is only legal in Legacy and Vintage xDD

I have no clue whether the land count is what it should be. How long / how many iterations does this usually take before you arrive at something resembling a satisfactory result?

That's actually true, as is the fact that the deck does have a good amount of cantrip-type effects (8 lands that draw/fetch a card). But don't you think that's assuming too much? You're assuming I will find a life from the loam (or darkblast), that I'll want to play / discard it, and that I will want to get it back, turn after turn *before I have found a crime to use alongside it*?

What do you think about cutting the racks for some other artifact and slotting a [[Witherbloom Command]] that way?

Yeah, but usually no Racks are run, fewer than 28 lands are run, and more [[Inquisition of Kozilek]] and more [[Thoughtseize]]s are run. I don't think that really works in this case.

Love the description xDD

Oh, I haven't tested this one unfortunately. Covid kinda killed most non-standard play in my city, and the social aspect of the game is important enough to me to where I am not keen on looking at my opponent through a thick pane of glass with a mask on for 2 hours.

My issue here is that you want fetches, really, but you can't really include them without sacrificing either the consistency with which you can sac [[Flagstones of Trokair]] to a [[Smallpox]] or getting rid of the cycle lands.

Honestly, with decks like this I would likely just be best off having a friend of mine with a masters in math turn this into an equation and solve for the ideal manabase given the deck's mana symbol distribution xDD

What other approaches have you used for iterating/testing things like this?

Uhm, 20 lands? And why not lean into [[Utopia Sprawl]] as well as, or instead of [[Abundant Growth]]?

[[Relic of Progenitus]] exiles my own yard as well, saving a single [[Life from the Loam]] doesn't seem worth it, especially when [[Elixir of Immortality]] is an option. [[scrabbling claws]] could work, in fact, I considered simply cutting both copies of [[The Rack]] for a [[retrofitter foundry]] and [[scrabbling claws]]. I'd have to do some serious testing to figure out what's better though.

I've had [[Witherbloom command]] in here as both a 1x and a 2x at various points during development but I always wound up cutting it. Having Raven's Crime every game seems more important to me, as does having 1x of [[Buried Ruin]], [[Darkmoss Bridge]] and both basic lands.

What would you guys cut for it?

Oh God this is fun xD Nothing to bind a community together like an enemy. Even brought me back from the dead. Then again, when someone spends a year sounding more and more like they have paranoid schizophrenia, that tends to make them quite entertaining to listen to.