wrongwaygoback: Greased Blightning
Magic the Gathering Blog
I'm off to Melbourne next week, and as I'm working with little else to do, will have a chance to play in a Standard tourney "FNM". I was thinking of sleeving up the following deck:

Greased Blightning

Maindeck:

24 Creatures:
4 Jund Hackblade
4 Sygg, River Cutthroat
4 Anathemancer
4 Shambling Remains
4 Hell's Thunder
4 Demigod of Revenge

8 Instants:
4 Incinerate
4 Volcanic Fallout

8 Sorceries:
4 Thoughtseize
4 Blightning

4 Artifacts:
4 Veinfire Borderpost

16 Lands:
4 Graven Cairns
5 Swamp
7 Mountain

Sideboard:
2 Banefire
2 Everlasting Torment
3 Bituminous Blast
4 Terror
4 Thought Hemorrhage

Features of the main deck:

* 2 Colour: Okay, it doesn't sound like much. But consistent draws and mana allows for some very aggressive keeps on the first hand. All maindeck cards but the Demigod are three mana or below, which helps the deck get away with the low land count.
* 16 recurring creatures. If you want cheap recursion, this is it.
* Maindeck Thoughtseize. Clearly the best way to prevent Cascade is to strip them from your opponent's hand. This is why you have Turn 1 Thoughtseize's and Turn 3 Blightnings.
* Maindeck Volcanic Fallout. All of the creatures but the Jund Hackblade either survive Fallout due to their fat rear ends, or are never around to see it due to Sac effects. Maindecking Volcanic Fallout can lead to some nice blowouts against Bant, Faeries, and even 5C Blood if played smartly. The uncounterable 2 damage can also be just the finishing move you need.
* Sygg, River Cutthroat. Clearly the main draw engine, every card is designed to respond to Sygg. All the cards will generally hit for 3 or more damage, generating efficient card advantage.
* Anathemancer: An underestimated threat. Fantastic against most decks in Standard.
* Demigod of Revenge: No-one is expecting him, so I guess now's the time to play him. My only concern is whether, in this format, he's fast enough.

Features of the sideboard:

* Banefire: When you just need a way around your opponents counterspells/walls, this is it.
* Everlasting Torment: There to kill off G/W Behemoth Sledge/Kitchen Finks shenanigans.
* Terror: Burreton Forge-Tender killer of choice.
* Thought Hemorrhage: On the play a great card against Cascade. Name Bloodbraid Elf and laugh and laugh and laugh.

Other Considerations:

* Hellspark Elemental: I'm not sure if I wanted him, or the Jund Hackblade. But I figured the Hackblade may lead to better starts with Sygg; thee Hellspark would be more awkward to play with.
* Hell's Thunder: I'm not convinced about this guy. Any 1/1 blocker stops a considerable amount of damage getting through.
* Bitterblossom: It's good. But is it good in this deck?
* Grixis Grimblade: I image this would get through blockers a lot more often than most other cards in the deck, and is a pretty aggressively costs 2 drop. Maybe instead of Hell's Thunder?
* Terminate: Sure, it's great. But is it going to do more than Incinerate or Terror?
* Demonic Dread: If it was instant, sure. Otherwise; no.
* Nyxathid: It works well with Blightning and Thoughtseize, and could be a very useful blocker.

Of course, I could just netdeck something, but when walking into a room where I don't understand the metagame and no-one would be expecting a rogue deck like this, I'm thinking the element of surprise may be worthwhile.

Feedback? Send your ideas to wrongwaygoback@yahoo.com, or buzz me on twitter.
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