INTRO

Having just picked up my Magic cards again over the last few months (after a several year retirement from MtG), I've been fiddling with deck ideas, perusing voluminous amounts of threads here on TMD, and looking for reliable, consistent decks.  I used to play with several of the old archetypes, and many of those decks have resurfaced in my deck-building, albeit with a need for newer cards that have been printed since my self-mandated "retirement" sometime in 2002.  I've been attracted to several modes of decks, including aggro-beatdown, speedy black disruption, combo, and decks that featured broken blue cards.  I have always found the R/G beatdown deck to be reliable and trustworthy, although it lacked some of the firepower and punch of other high octane decks.

In rebuilding decks, I found myself attracted by the R/G beatdown mode, as it functioned consistently, and offered attractive creatures at minimal casting cost, coupled with efficient direct damage.  But in playing with the deck, I found that I would often play all my cards from hand and then be forced into "top-decking" mode, hoping to get that last bit of damage through before a stronger, more elaborate deck would disrupt my tempo and gain control of the board situation.  I've chewed on this for awhile.

Last night, I awake from a deep slumber beside my curvaceous, lovely wife, and am struck by an idea concerning Magic cards that I can't seem to get out of my head.  I think about the efficiency of the R/G beatdown deck, and then think that adding Moxen, a Lotus, Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Timetwister, and the quite wonderful Serendib Efreet would "up" the firepower a bit.  I think about Wheel of Fortune for additional card drawing (coupled with Recall and Timetwister), and a lovely red sorcery that I seem to value more than most, Browbeat.  I leave my lovely wife exploring her dreams, come downstairs, and devise the folllowing deck.

RUG Beats v. 1.0

Creatures

4 Kird Ape
4 River Boa
4 Serendib Efreet

Direct Damage / Creature Enhancement

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Incinerate
4 Rancor

Card Drawing and other Brokenness

1 Timetwister
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Fork (maybe suboptimal)
1 Time Walk
4 Browbeat

Mana Acceleration

1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Sol Ring

Land

4 Wooded Foothills
4 Taiga
4 Tropical Island
4 Volcanic Island
2 City of Brass

Some Thoughts About the Deck

In "goldfishing" with deck, I've found the deck to be reliable, and has much more explosive first turns now that the Moxen, Lotus, and "broken" cards have been added.  I do like the additional card drawing effects and acceleration that adding 7 of the Power 9 has added.  I do understand that the deck is minimal on disruption at this point and realize that may be its greatest weakness.  Of course, this deck would be torn apart by Wastelands and other spells that penalize reliance on "non-basic" lands, but I do like having the full assortment of dual lands at my disposal.  I have entertained ideas about replacing the Cities of Brass with my own Wastelands, as I rarely find myself needing those Cities of Brass, as the deck is balanced in mana color proportions.  I have considered adding Black for cards like Duress, as that may be one way to enable some protection, but fear compromising the stability of the mana ratios. 

One beauty of the deck is that it doesn't rely on any One card, as it runs so many "4 ofs," so I fear Duresses and hand disruption only slightly.  I do consider that Chalice of the Void set at 1 might be irksome to my plans for direct damage "to the Dome," so running some Mox Monkeys or other artifact disruption might be desirable, especially in my as-of-yet undeveloped sideboard.  However, I hate to lose any of the efficiency of the other creatures, so I'm reluctant to fiddle with any of the existing twelve creatures.  4 Rancors might be a bit much for a deck with only 12 creatures, but a "Rancor-ed Up" Kird Ape, River Boa, and Efreet all have their virtues.  Browbeat seems to be a card that I value more than others, but I do quite relish getting 3 cards for 3 mana, or the possibility of getting 5 damage for 3 mana in one card.  It's almost like Ball Lightning, or Ancestral Recall all in one card, with an elevated but not egregious casting cost.

So, those are my thoughts regarding RUG Beats.  I'm curious to see what observations, suggestions, or critiques come from posting this list.  Your time and replies are appreciated.

I'm not a regular poster on TMD.

But I do have tons of Magic cards.  Over the last few months, I've been working on rebuilding some decks, as I've been on MtG hiatus over the last few years.  My metagame is non-existent, as I don't have anyone to play with, so I'm definitely not making the competitive Tier 1 decks that seem to be the rage these days.  However, in an effort to get back into MtG I've made like 10 decks out of old cards, and keep looking at pieces to a Sneak Attack deck.  In researching the topic, I suggest using the "Search" feature located on the TMD, as there are some greatly informative threads on old Sneak decks that are a few years old... Reading those old threads has given me some good information and influenced the way that I plan to build this deck this afternoon.

Things to consider...

- The "inconsistency" of Sneak Attack decks means you need sufficient library manipulation.  Taking a Sneak Attack deck into competition with your friends and play partners necessitates that you pack enough disruption to give your deck the chance to set up.  Disruption sometimes seems secondary in my Sneak builds from years past, but the ability to survive is dependent on cards like Duress and Cabal Therapy, it seems.  Cards like Academy Rector, various tutors, and alternate win conditions will be useful and paramount in devising a Sneak Attack deck that might actually win on occasion.

- The Sneak Attack deck seems to need mana acceleration, especially in today's lightning-fast metagame... Waiting until turn 3 or 4 or 7 will make you DEAD against many of the decks that people seem to be fond of today.  I'm trying to think of the appropriate acceleration here myself.

I don't have any of the Dragons that you've listed except for Nicol Bolas, so I can't speak for their utility, but the Kilnmouth does look attractive with that many dragons.  Zirilan of the Claw seems really cute, but maybe a tad slow...

Best of luck with your build.

This thing is a laughable piece of junk...

The fact that I posted it is now an embarassment to me...

The fact that a deck with a bunch  of in it and blasted my rear off the table opened my eyes...

Time to scrap it...

However, thanks for the comments regarding Legacy.

After some research, I've found this format to be particularly inspiring.

Thanks for your comments, Aardshark.

Legacy is actually a format that I don't know the rules for, as this distinction has seemed to blossom in my time "away" from MTG.

Regarding Moxen, I actually do sport a full set of the Power 9, but use those cards in another deck.  I like the use of those cards in that deck more, but your points regarding Moxen and Armageddon are noted, are accurate, and would definitely improve the deck.  As I said, this deck is sub-optimal with current card usage, and is more a jalopy I threw together with existing cards in my current collection.

I will investigate some of your suggestions (especially those regarding Moxen, Black Lotus, and Duress), as they are well-written and pertinent, and see what I come up with.

Although I began playing Magic a little under 13 years ago, and have lurked on this forum at various points throughout my MTG playing history, this is my first official post on The Mana Drain.  I will seek to conform with forum rules in the hopes avoiding the posting requirements posts that one or two of our self-righteous Adepts always seem to remind people of. 

Background -

Ok, back to my post.  I began playing MTG during the days of Fallen Empires, right when the initial boom in popularity profited our dear masterminds from WotC.  I played Magic obsessively, often spurning my lovely girlfriend for all-night playing sessions.  I loved the interactions of cards, and smiled when someone showed us to put a Lure on Thicket Basilisk and how all our defending creatures died.  Those were some amazing days, but we weren't wielding the Power yet, and this was before Combo took hold, or decks even had names other than, "This is my Black and Green Deck."  There was no Pro Tour yet.  There were Geeks who liked cards, and I was one of the most fanatical I knew.

My Magic playing continued for several years, as did my understanding of the game, and my card collection blossomed considerably.  I got married, finished college, got a real job, but still loved the game enough to buy cards, or to buy complete sets of Cursed Scrolls off Ebay.  I eventually traded my way into a set of the Power 9, 36 dual lands, and countless rares.  I played every color but white it seemed, stayed in touch with current deckbuilding trends, and boasted a vast array of competitive decks.  I prided myself on being a "rogue" deckbuilder, as I loved the synergy of particular cards and discovered combinations that I found attractive, playable, and Fun.  I witnessed the rise of the Internet, and how that killed Creativity in the card shops, but improved the Competition.  I rarely busted out an Archetypal deck, until I fell in love with the Toolbox quality of the RecSur engine.  From there, I began playing with more formulaic, successful, if less creative decks.  I played Hatred, Sligh and other decks that were prominent at the time in the Extended format.  I won tournaments in my card shop, and played in a Pro Tour Qualifier, and won the majority of the games that I played.  I had learned A LOT about a Card Game that was purely bonus to the Free Time that I didn't have so much of anymore.  It was time to take a break.  In 2000, my wife had my first child, and my time in the card shops vanished.  I've only played occasionally since then, but have never gotten rid of my cards.  Now, in 2007, I find myself drawn to build decks again.

The Present -

I'm way out of touch.  I've been patrolling the forums here lately looking at current Vintage builds (All my cards are Vintage now, it seems) and trying to figure out what I've missed.  It surprised me to see that very few cards have been added to the Restricted List in the years since I've played, and I guess this stems from WotC's desire to make Less Broken Cards.  I applaud that on their part, and the sheer volume of expansions released means that there are lots of new cards to play with.  But I won't be playing with too many of them... From a cost perspective, I can't really justify the expense anymore.  I already have tons of cards that I don't play with.  But I am still fascinated by the myriad options deckbuilders have at their disposal today so I'm doing research to see what tools are out there that I might be interested in trading for...

I've built a few "typical decks" in the last couple of weeks, but find myself drawn back to the spirit of "Rogue" deckbuilding.  Last night, I sat down and devised the following deck.  I, in no way, believe this is an Optimal deck, or worthy of anything other than playing with your friends on Friday night.  But I have been struck by the deck's reliability, consistency, and the Clock that it establishes.  I'm not running any Power in this deck, as I've allocated all my Power cards to other decks, and don't own multiple copies of my Moxen.  This is a deck for fun, minimal on disruption, but very solid in its ability to do what it does.  So, now, without further adieu, here is the decklist, and I will follow that with particular commentary on the deck in general, and some particular card choices.  I'll be curious to see what, if any, observations or improvements will be tendered.  This deck is not fine-tuned, or overly powerful, but it is remarkably stable and effective in the few "in-house" games that it has been play-tested.

ShadowScrub WormGeddon

The Troops -

4 Dauthi Horror
4 Dauthi Slayer
4 Soltari Monk
4 Soltari Priest
4 Soltari Champion

The Spells -

1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mind Twist
1 Purify
2 Disenchant
2 Death Stroke / Terror (undecided)
3 Worms of the Earth
4 Diabolic Edict
4 Armageddon

The Land -

4 Scrubland
4 Caves of Koilos
2 Reflecting Pool
6 Plains
5 Swamp

General Commentary -

The theme of the deck is self-evident.  Put out an army of Shadow Creatures and Attack.  Pretty basic.  Not very flashy.  Cast Worms of the Earth if you can (I've loved this card for a long time, but have yet to use it in a deck until now).  Play Armageddon not long after.  If all that resolves, you've proceeded to ANNOY your opponent, but also in the meantime, you have been attacking with a fleet of unblockable creatures, establishing a pretty consistent clock that they must deal with.  The WormGeddon trick is actually pretty secondary to this Fleet of soldiers.  Now granted, having all shadow creatures means you can't Block either... This deck tries to "goldfish," and could really care less what the opponent is doing.  Hence my choice to run minimal disruption.  Duress is a mighty fine card, but having a soldier out doing his business seems even more pertinent with this deck's strategy.  So, I've run minimal disruption, and packed the deck with creatures.  Devising a sideboard would be contrary to the "point" of a purely fun deck like this one.

Particular (Maybe even BAD) Card Choices -

Worms of the Earth -  Is Rad.  Period

Death Stroke / Terror - Targeted removal.  Don't like Terror's limitation concerning black creatures.  Death Stroke is Scrubby, for sure, but pretty reliable.  I don't like the lifegain that Swords to Plowshare will give the opponent which begs the question as to what to use for targeted creature removal.

Mind Twist - Now UN-restricted... I don't even know if I want this one, but it fills the void.

NO Duress / No Moxen / No Sol Ring? -  Yes... I know... Crazy... But this deck doesn't like colorless mana as much as it likes Black and or White Mana.  I would much prefer having a Soltari/Dauthi dude out brandishing its weapons than a Mox Ruby in play that serves little purpose.  This deck also doesn't run very much disruption, due to its singularity of purpose.  ATTACK... What the opponent DOES is really inconsequential... They may Win, but if they don't do it fast, I'm likely to win the game myself.

Low Mana Count -  This deck wants 4 or 5 lands in play in order to gain advantage for the Armageddon, but I've kept casting costs low so that it would function well on less mana.  In the meantime, I summon 16 creatures that cost only 2 mana, and are largely unblockable.  Armageddon and Worms are not the win condition at all, but I love the synergy of those cards, so they've been included as the icing on the cake, and to offer something of a "control" element to a weenie rush deck.

Soltari Champion - Are you KIDDING me?  Well, no... Serves as basically a Crusade/Bad Moon for all my attacking shadow creatures (besides himself, of course).  From a purely mathematical standpoint, his 3 mana cost for a 2/2 that boosts everybody else pays off.  Definitely a Junk card by himself.  But he seems fabulous in association with the other attackers.

Well, that's my thoughts on this deck... I'll be curious to see if I get any replies...

This is Scrubalicious, I admit.  But it's awful consistent, and that sometimes means more than Brute Firepower.

Thanks for reading my thoughts on ShadowScrub Wormgeddon, my new rogue deck in development.