[MTG] URB; it's not Grixis!

[DonRoyale]

[MTG] URB; it's not Grixis! - UPDATED 10/13/09

Screw Unearthing. I sifted through the Grixis deck and found virtually nothing I liked for it. I wanted to do burn with URB, so I took all my best burn cards, threw it together, and voila.

-14- Creatures

-1- Lightning Reaver
-1- Deathbringer Thoctar
-2- Dwarven Driller
-4- Vithian Stinger
-1- Rakdos Ickspitter
-2- Vulshok Sorcerer
-1- Prodigal Pyromancer
-2- Blood Seeker

-21- Spells

-1- Heat Ray
-2- Incinerate
-2- Fireball
-2- Soul Barrier
-3- Brainstorm
-1- Psychic Venom
-2- Eyeblight's Ending
-2- Talon of Pain
-2- Hideous End
-1- Disfigure
-2- Dark Banishing
-1- Terminate

-25- Lands

-1- Crumbling Necropolis
-1- Frost Marsh
-2- Terramorphic Expanse
-1- Jwar Isle Refuge
-1- Dragonskull Summit
-1- Akoum Refuge
-2- Piranha Marsh
-10- Mountain
-1- Island
-5- Swamp

I wish I had Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker; it'd fit so perfectly in this deck...:>

I have a list of cards I'm hoping to add to this deck. I'll post it once I've looked through all the cards I could possibly make use of...

 

[Kenny_C.002]

I don't really like Hurly burly, psychic venom, seizures, infectious host, splitting earth and the rack in this deck. Overall, I think hurly burly isn't really worth it as a card. It just doesn't really kill of soldiers and the like. :-/

Hurly-Burly: kills your pokers. Not good.

Psychic venom: I dunno man. It's good only in the early game, but you're using up space against aggressive decks when you need defense against them, or against control when they won't be tapping their lands anyway.

Seizures: Really a similar situation as psychic venom: aggressive decks outstrip your damage, and control won't have many creatures that would be attacking until they stabilize.

Infectious host: I've seen this card work before, though most of the time I find it clunky in damage output and what not. I find that it fits a role that you want only after you've stabilized against aggressive decks, but those seem to be a bit far and few in between when you're experiencing pressure.

Splitting earth: I'm not sure if 8 mountains is enough. That's really my only concern.

The Rack: Honestly, with no discard capabilities, the rack is significantly worse. I don't think it fits the deck well, and it rewards "good playing" by keeping cards in hand.

That's how I feel about those cards. Otherwise, I think this deck has potential for sure. I'd add some more removal (like 3-4) in case your 9 pokers can't do the job. The poking I prefer to be the control element, which means that I would pick cards that would help you stabilize in the early game, such as a number of blockers to stave off against the big early plays.

That's my 2 cents. :3

 

[DonRoyale]

The fact of the matter is, I lack cheap removal, and a lot of what's in there is filler.

The Psychic Venoms do really well with Propaganda and Soul Barrier, actually. They force opponents to hold back fatties lest they lose a whole lot of life.

I'm still compiling a list. I have stuff like Lightning Bolt on that list...do you know of a way to get cheap ones? lol.

EDIT: I have Eyeblight's Ending for removal, but not really anything else. Anything else that's good, anyway.

 

[Kenny_C.002]

Propaganda is only any good against aggro decks though, where psychic venom is slightly more useful. It's not that hard to play around both, and psychic venom dealing only 2 damage isn't going to be that much of a deal until you get to about 10 life.

Unending's good stuff, but getting bolts would be a bit difficult...2 dollar commons huh...

 

[DonRoyale]

OK, I've updated the current build, and here's the dream build:

-22- Creatures

-4- Vithian Stinger
-2- Blood Cultist
-2- Dwarven Driller
-2- Gelectrode
-1- Deathbringer Thoctar
-1- Kaervek The Merciless
-4- Rakdos Ickspitter
-2- Vulshok Sorcerer
-2- Lightning Reaver
-2- Blood Seeker

-16- Other Spells

-2- Disfigure
-1- Cruel Ultimatum
-4- Terminate
-1- Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
-2- Hideous End
-2- Dark Banishing
-3- Brainstorm
-1- Quietus Spike

-22- Lands

-3- Crumbling Necropolis
-1- Dragonskull Summit
-1- Akoum Refuge
-2- Terramorphic Expanse
-1- Jwar Isle Refuge
-1- Frost Marsh
-2- Piranha Marsh
-1- Island
-5- Swamp
-7- Mountain

Let me know what you think :)

 

[Kenny_C.002]

Your creature base is a bit slow. It might not be able to race something like Putrid leech. That's really the only major issue I see with the deck.

You can improve your early game with cheap removal instead of stuff like flame fulsillade and talon of pain (aka talon of win more). Disfigure might be easier to come by compared to lightning bolt, but they basically do the same thing. Like lightning bolt, you can untap your gelectrodes this way, which makes them slightly better.

I'm not entirely sure about Blightning in this deck. On one hand it's great card advantage and damage, but on the other hand it's a pretty dead card against aggro. It's good against control, where a good number of your pokers aren't that good.

Soul barrier doesn't seem all that good either. Control laughs at you wasting mana and cards on it, while aggro would take 2 and bash you for 4. Not quite the math I'd like to play.

 

[DonRoyale]

I'll replace the Soul Barriers with Disfigures.

Main build updated. :>

 

[Apple Juice]

Your creature base is a bit slow. It might not be able to race something like Putrid leech. That's really the only major issue I see with the deck.

You can improve your early game with cheap removal instead of stuff like flame fulsillade and talon of pain (aka talon of win more). Disfigure might be easier to come by compared to lightning bolt, but they basically do the same thing. Like lightning bolt, you can untap your gelectrodes this way, which makes them slightly better.

I'm not entirely sure about Blightning in this deck. On one hand it's great card advantage and damage, but on the other hand it's a pretty dead card against aggro. It's good against control, where a good number of your pokers aren't that good.

Soul barrier doesn't seem all that good either. Control laughs at you wasting mana and cards on it, while aggro would take 2 and bash you for 4. Not quite the math I'd like to play.

I agree with Kenny; Blightning seems misplaced in this deck. It's a good card, but it's, like he said, dead agianst aggro. :/

It is a good idea to add Disfigure instead of Soul Barrier. Mana wasting is no good D:

 

[kohei]

I'd keep Blightning in the main.
It's basically card advantage and life advantage rolled into one card.

While it's slow against fast aggro like Boros Landfall or Sligh, it's more than enough against midrange decks like Jund and control.

 

[Apple Juice]

^^ Bah, you right. Blightning would be nice against a Jund...

I like the new build though. :D Have you tested it out, or is it a dream build?

don't listen to what I say, I'ma newbie to MTG... /shot

 

[Kenny_C.002]

I'd keep Blightning in the main.
It's basically card advantage and life advantage rolled into one card.

While it's slow against fast aggro like Boros Landfall or Sligh, it's more than enough against midrange decks like Jund and control.

This deck auto-rolls against Jund. There's nothing here that can deal with T2 leech, T3 thrinax, let alone anything close to a bloodbraid elf. Blightnings will do little against Jund in that regard. I'd rather have disfigure to deal with leeches so I can attempt to stabilize against thrinax.

Keep it in the sb, as control is not as prevalent at the moment.

 

[DonRoyale]

Blightnings swapped with Disfigures.

Any other suggestions?