Some stuff beforehand....
Encroach. Okay. It looks like it is a horrible card. But first off, it's great on the play against Ichorid. (btw, we automatically sideboard this card out on the draw). Turn 1 dicard their Bazaar is great. Second off, it's the land version of Chalice of the Void. The relative negative is that it is a one-shot deal rather than a persistent denial. The relative upside is that there are going to be more lands in their deck then artifacts. Alone, I'd say it's crap, but as part of an 18 card mana denial package I'd say it's pretty good.
Smallpox. Again, it hits Ichorid. Similarly, it's part of the 18 mana denial package. As a bonus it gives you an out against Tinker. Inkwell, DSC, or otherwise. Using it as such, it's always worth it even if it kills your Dark Confidant.
Veldalken Heretic. It's like Dark Confidant when there are no creatures in play.
Energy Flux. This card needs to see more play. It's good for the same reason that Null Rod is good. And as a bonus it beats Shops for you.
Mana Sources: 22
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Underground Sea
2 Bayou
2 Swamp
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
Disruption: 22
4 Duress
4 Thoughtseize
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Encroach
3 Null Rod
3 Smallpox
Win: 8
4 Dark Ritual
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tendrils of Agony
Creatures 8
4 Dark Confidant
4 Veldalken Heretic
Sideboard
4 Daze
4 Gutteral Response
4 Bitterblossom
3 Energy Flux
If it looks like two decks, it's because it kind of is.
Sideboard you almost always make the following changes.
-4 Encroach + 4 Daze
-4 Chalice of the Void +4 Gutteral Response/Tarmogoyf
Why Daze? Daze + Dark Ritual = awesome. I would put them main, but there is just no room (look, I just want to play Encroach, okay?
) Anyways, Daze is great with Dark Ritual because it lets you protect your turn 1. Getting your Ritual countered can be a big slow down. Also, if you are turn 1 on the draw and you Daze to protect your Ritual and cast Smallpox off it, then you go up 1 land on them.
Why Gutteral Response? Because I can't play REB in these colors. I had thought about running Disrupt, but I'd figured I didn't want to rely too much on mana denial. I won't run Negate because it can be slow on the draw which is primarily when I want it.
Why Bitterblossom? Some decks Gutteral doesn't really do anything against. And it's good against Tarmogoyf. And it's better than Tarm against Tangle Wire, when you need blockers, Swords, Edict/Smallpox.
Energy Flux? I needed someway to address the shop match-up. As a bonus I needed to address the Shop match-up somehow.
The deck is designed to be strong against UB combo/control decks like Tezz and Storm due to the 8 Duress and heavy mana denial elements. Once you slow them down, 8 Confidants should rake in the win. This is especially true against Remora. Energy Flux is basically my response to Shop. Mana denial can be good against them as well though. Ichorid is always rough, but Encroach and Smallpox actually play well in this match-up. Unfortunately, Encroach is worthless on the draw so it's kind of a coinflip. Aggro match-up isn't really all that great, but Bitterblossom can help.
