Null Rod Aggro MUD

[Bongo]

Null Rod is one of the most powerful mana-denial cards in the current meta, so why not use it in a mana-denial deck?
I present:


Null Rod Aggro MUD

Beats:
4 Juggernaut
4 Arcbound Crusher

Lock:
1 Trinisphere
4 Tangle Wire
4 Sphere of Resistance
4 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Null Rod

Cardadvantage:
4 Bottled Cloister
3 Crucible of Worlds

Lands:
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Wasteland
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
2 Crystal Vein


This is still a preliminary testing version, so any suggestions are welcome.

The basic game-plan is to drop Sphere/Thorn/Null Rod on the first turn and start locking the game up until you can drop the beats or your card-advantage engines.
Including Null Rod has a pretty big impact, as I chose to omit Moxen entirely. This is because they have bad synergy with Chalice/Rod and make your manabase susceptible to opposing Gorilla Shamans, Kataki's, Rods, Chalices and artifact removal.

Metal Worker was also left out, because you can't drop it reliably on turn 1, gets hosed by Null Rod and its value decreases the longer the game goes. MW just didn't do enough.

I'm not sure about Arcbound Crusher, I'm also considering Arcbound Slith. Ravager was omitted because of Null Rod. I'm open to new suggestions, but so far it has been surprisingly useful.

[Bill Copes]

I think this list is a good starting point.

I'd still run the moxes even with null rod.  Being able to drop multiple locks on turn one is Mud's key to success.  Removing moxes / lotus / sol-crypt-vault strips away this ability (think turn one shop + mox + null rod + sphere).  You'll also grow arcbound crusher faster if you have more metal to drop into play.

If you're running null rods and 9 sphere effects, then I think you can afford to cut the chalices for more beaters (synod centurion, duplicant, etc).  It's not a necessity, but I'd try a few matches without them to see if it's comfortable or not.

I don't know what your meta looks like presently, but I noticed that you have no maindeck answers to goblin welder and you are running bottled cloister.  This could be a serious problem for you if they weld it out of play during their turn.  I'd suggest running either some duplicants or pithing needles to address this.  I've played the MUD vs slaver match several times and have concluded that if they resolve welder, they pretty much win.  Chalice for 1 is a fine answer if you are on the play, however, you won't always be on the play.  Pithing needle is pretty versitile in that it randomly helps you answer potential threats in other matches (Naming Bazaar against ichorid, Necropotence / Bargain against long variants, Salvagers in bomberman, etc).

If you do ever decide to add moxen into the deck, you probably don't need the crucibles in the main, as they are only useful for recurring strip effects.  If you have a fast enough clock on the board, then one shot strips should be fine enough to get you there.