UPDATE: THIS DECK HAS NOW BEEN BANNED :(
Uses the Initiative mechanic to win games!
Update: The Initiative mechanic is stupid broken.
So this deck is built to try to get through the Undercity as fast and as many times as possible. To do so, it runs a whopping 15 initiative creatures. All of them are good in their own right, but some are better than others.
Avenging Hunter is probably the best by having a huge body, 4 toughness to dodge bolts, and trample to not only let damage go through, but to take back the initiative when you lose it.
Stirring Bard is probably the worst, which is why it's only a 3 of. Even still, it's still pretty solid. The fact that it costs 4 instead of 5, like the majority of the initiative creatures, is huge. You can get it out as early as turn 2 with the Arbor Elf Utopia Sprawl combo, though it doesn't happen too often. It's also a solid defense creature, and it can give a creature haste and menace, which helps get back the initiative if you lose it, or just makes one of your big creatures a bigger threat.
Underdark Explorer is another solid beater, though it does die to Lightning Bolt, which is not good for a 5 cmc creature. Even still, if it sticks around, it can be a huge problem for the opponent as menace is pretty good.
Last for the initiative creatures is Vicious Battlerager. Just like Stirring Bard, this one only costs 4, making it easier to get out than the 5 cmc guys. It has very little power, but 5 toughness, which dodges just about all the red based removal in the format. It also has the benefit of either being unblockable, or having your opponent take a Lava Axe for each creature they block it with. This makes it ideal for getting back the initiative when it is taken from you.
For the non initiative cards, we have some ramp. Arbor Elf and Utopia Sprawl work great together as they can get you 4 mana on turn 2 if played correctly:
Turn 1: Forest, Arbor Elf
Turn 2: Forest, Utopia Sprawl on untapped Forest, tap it for 2, untap with elf, tap for 2 more, play a 4 drop initiative guy
Having initiative on turn 2 will almost always cause you to win that game, unless you're playing against a super aggressive or combo deck. Since Utopia Sprawl can only enchant a Forest, we play 8 of them to make sure that we can hit the correct land drops more frequently. Also, getting the initiative will let you search for a basic land right away, so you should have no problem getting a Forest.
Other ramp includes Cleansing Wildfire and the indestructible artifact lands. I run a total of 8 artifact lands, but since they come into play tapped, they can slow down your tempo. With Cleansing Wildfire targeting one of these indestructible lands, it acts as a Rampant Growth that lets you draw a card, as the downside of destroying your own land doesn't matter since they are indestructible. It is also good mainboard hate against Tron decks.
Jewel Thief is a solid with no downsides. It not only is a 3/3 beater with trample, which can get back the initiative, but it can attack and block thanks to vigilance, and it gives you a treasure which can both help ramp into the 5 drop initiative guys and color fix. He helps make turn 3 initiative become more consistent, which is what we are aiming for.
Rounding out the rest of the deck are removal cards. Lightning Bolt is all around solid removal, as well as a way to kill your opponent when they are low on life. Cast Down kills just about anything in the format for the low cost of 2 mana. Both are good at dealing with troublesome creatures as well as protecting your initiative from getting stolen.
Now let's talk about the Undercity itself. Most of the abilities are good, but if you can stick to the left side of the dungeon, you are winning the game. You always start off by getting a basic land, which is great for a 3 color deck as it helps you color fix.
Form there, putting 2 counters on any creature in the deck (aside from Stirring Bard) makes it that much more of a threat. It gets Underdark Explorer out of Lightning Bolt range as well as makes it a huge threat (same withm Avenging Hunter), and it makes Vicious Battlerager a 3/7, making it both optimal for defense with the huge toughness as well as offense guaranteeing at least 3 damage when it attacks. It can also make your non-initiative guys a bigger threat, which is always good.
Next, making your opponent lose 5 life helps win the game. Nothing better than a free Lava Axe with no commitment.
After that, you would draw a card, which is always good.
Finally, the end of the dungeon lets you get a creature from the top 10 of your deck and put it on the battlefield with 3 +1/+1 counters, as well as give it hexproof until your next turn. That is insane value in itself, but you will most likely get an initiative creature, which will immediately start the dungeon over again.
Going down the other side is only recommended if you are behind. Scrying 2 is good to help dig to an answer or threat you need, depending on the board state.
The treasure can be okay, but most of the time it will be kinda useless since you will be good on mana by that point. Still, free treasure is never bad.
Getting a 4/1 is pretty decent, as it supplies an additional blocker that trades with a lot of stuff. It can also just be a beater if need be.
Finally, goading a creature is probably the least useful, but it can sometimes force a utility creature to attack unfavorably into one of your big guys, so it's not completely useless.
For sideboard, we have Weather the Storm for burn and aggro, Fiery Cannonade against go wide creature decks, Diabolic Edict for boggles and infect (as well as any other deck that relies on a single or a few creatures), Penumbra Spider for faeries or decks heavy in removal, and finally Deglamer against artifacts and enchantments. I choose Deglamer specifically because it hits the indestructible artifact lands, which is important when going against Kenku Artificer, as dealing with 3/3 flying indestructible creatures can be a pain.
In playing, the deck seems unfair at times. I've managed to gain the initiative 4 times in a turn on a few occasions, pretty much solidifying a win. Where the deck seems to struggle is against faster decks like Elves and Goblins. Combo decks like Fist Day of Class combo are always tricky as they can just win out of nowhere, so it takes some patience playing against them and timing with your removal.
