4/4/2017: I'm declaring this project dead. Early concerns were never fully alleviated, and the deck as-is ends up being a mix between underwhelming and dull to play. It may be possible to fix these issues, but for now I have no interest in pursuing any solutions.
Original description:Working to head off complaints among the kitchen table group against the archetype, or specifically, the Dredge keyword. Also because I ended up with playsets for many of these cards by drafting the same colors too often.Sticking to Modern Legal cards.
The idea, as some early Dredge decks and similar already did, is to use these two-drop cards to send up to five cards from my library into my graveyard for every casting. Where my plan differs slightly, is to use mass revival cards like Rally the Ancestors to pull many cheap creatures out of my full graveyard that are able to deal damage directly to the opposing player, then avoid the exile trigger by changing location to the graveyard as per 603.7c.
Pen and paper math puts me at win no sooner than T6. The purpose of creating this tappedout entry is to check my statistics math to ensure I am not under or overloaded in critical areas. Some lingering land issues as Immortal Servitude can be difficult to power out, although Rally the Ancestors bypasses these concerns somewhat. Lands are still being tested to ascertain if Swamps are useful, otherwise only Plains and Islands will be used. Damage concerns also alleviated, see below. The primary concern at this point is speed, although I have accepted that I cannot cast Rally the Ancestors before T4 as attempting to mana ramp adds complexity that does not mesh with the overall scheme of the deck. Secondary concerns are running White over Black. Black offers the ability to cast creatures from hand, but lacks access to Fragmentize which is critical, as Grafdigger's Cage is a serious concern, even in kitchen table environments.
Damage output runs above expectations. Best case scenario: Maximum damage with all creatures in graveyard, before Zulaport Cutthroat is 20, with 12 life gained. Each Cutthroat adds 8 damage and 8 life, bringing the maximum total damage (with every single creature in the graveyard) to 52 damage dealt and 44 life gained. By T4 I can have up to 14 cards in the graveyard, of which 12 could be creatures. The 12 possible cards in the graveyard is 0.2 of the deck, 0.2 times 52 returns 10.4 damage. Waiting until T5, after two castings of Taigam's Scheming effectively doubles the cards in graveyard, and therefore maximum damage, raising the total to, under ideal circumstances, 20.8.
The potential damage from a T5 Rally the Ancestors was not anticipated. Even more reasonable estimates of cards in graveyard put the damage well above the expected T4 casting. Suffice to say, even at expected damage levels, two castings on or after T4 should deal lethal damage to a single opponent, and damage concerns are therefore alleviated.
Target areas to tweak:
Inquisitor Exarch is under-performing.
Bile Urchin
or Mogg Fanatic allow equivalent damage when Zulaport Cutthroat is available. Doomed Traveler is also tempting as an early blocker or sacrifice target.
Blockers in general are greatly required, as this deck will lose horribly to early aggro.Augur of Bolas very tempting, although does not fill graveyard. Screeching Skaab also fills this purpose.
Dispel
and Inquisitor Exarch can flex to allow for Impulse or Serum Visions or Fragmentize. Card draw is decidedly not an issue however, so long as I don't run out of dig spells. Impulse helps more in this matter than Serum Visions as the latter gives me no control over my next draw.
Rally the Ancestors can be cast before Immortal Servitude while also returning creatures of mana cost X or less rather than merely of X mana cost. Creatures returning to the graveyard after self-sacrificing escape the exile effect as per Rule 603.7c, however, Zulaport Cutthroat has no way direct way back. Current options include casting Zulaport Cutthroat from hand, due to the addition of Swamps, or targeting Zulaport Cutthroat with
Qarsi Sadist
. Neither is ideal, as the former is lost when Zulaport Cutthroat enters the graveyard, and the latter exiles the singe largest damage dealer in the deck. Testing is required to determine if this loss is manageable, along with the optimal choice to maximize damage.
Snapcaster Mage is tempting but expensive, and only
Pieces of the Puzzle
could force Immortal Servitude into the graveyard. Perhaps useful against targeted discard, but benefits are questionable for a kitchen table deck.
