"Either I kill you... or I kill myself!" - a spoiled brat, somewhere, probably
Hello and welcome back to JOHNNY'S BUDGET BREWS!
Up next we have a deck I have owned for 2 years. Cards don't get more Johnny than Death's Shadow, and when I saw it I knew I had to build a deck around it. Put simply, you want to get yourself as low as possible, as quickly as possible, to make Death's Shadow a threat. Ideally, you will drop a large DS on turn 2, following a turn 1 Spoils of the Vault.
THE CARDS
Death's Shadow - The crux of the deck, featuring one of the best flavor texts in the game IMO. Generally, you will be sacrificing him to the Rite to win, but if you can sneak him in with an attack, all the better (for which I have been considering [[Aphotic Wisps].
Sangrophage - beatstick that chomps its owner... that'll work.
Maralen of the Mornsong - generally (at least the first few matches) your opponent won't really know what you're up to. This fine lady ensures you get the pieces you need, while feeding your (inevitable) DS.
Vampire Lacerator - eats your life, and can put pressure on them first few turns in absence of DS; Plunge food.
Maggot Carrier - eats everyone; chump blocker; Plunge food in a bind.
Phyrexian Rager - chump; card advantage; Plunge food.
Plunge into Darkness - your second tutor of choice, following Spoils, but with the advantage that you can't (accidentally) kill yourself with it. Can also be used as emergency life-gain, if you need to buy yourself some time (not ideal).
Postmortem Lunge - for 1 mana and 2 life this recurs DS, even stronger than before. A no brainer.
Rite of Consumption - You're at 5 life, making your DS an 8/8. You Fling him via Rite; tha'ts a 16 point life swing!
Dismember - Cheap removal that kills me? Count me in!
Dash Hopes - Don't underestimate this card. Also, who the hell who would ever expect this?
Spoils of the Vault - your savior and damnation. hopefully your first turn play, generally naming Death's Shadow. You have to play the probability with this. That said, you will end up killing yourself sometimes. Trust me. I have had games where I've played first, Spoiled for DS, and against all odds, not hit a single one after 20+ cards. Game over. Generally, though, the odds work like they should, and you'll Spoil yourself for a good 12 or so. Don't get tunnel vision, though; you can Spoil for anything!
