Title: Take off on Panic at the Disco's lyrics in I Write Sins not Tragedies

As for the deck itself, your comment on running it as a form of control makes me a little timid when looking at the actual list of cards. You have 11 control cards and 6 discards, which doesn't seem like very much to me overall. If you want to run "Evil Control" my first suggestion would be to drop the Whip and the Underworld Connections. Without running Grey Merchant of Asphodel the card draw on Connections is still good but you just don't have the life gain elsewhere in the deck to make it work.

My second suggestion would be to drop 1 or 2 of your current Win-Cons and focus on 2, replacing the others with some more cheap red Burn spells, some more Black removal or even bringing a pair of those sideboard Slaughter Games into the main board.

I like the conceptual direction you're going with this deck, I just feel you need to let go of some of the 'mono-black devotion' core of it and dedicate yourself fully to control elements.

Hey HeftyUpTop, thanks for the feedback! Remember to +1 if you like the deck! The title is actually taken from White Zombie's "Ratfink's Suicide Tanks and Cannibal Girls" - it was what was playing in Beavis and Butthead Do America when they were tripping in the desert haha. Apologies for the length of this post, but you've given me a lot to think about and thus caused me to raise a lot of questions.

Anyway, at first, I was thinking you weren't really getting the idea of the deck, so I decided to do some extensive playtesting against an RG Monsters deck I've recently streamlined that's been performing well to make sure. Then I realized that maybe I was missing the idea of the deck. When RG Monsters got even halfway decent draws, which was at least 2/3, this deck couldn't keep up with the board flood of creatures and mutavault damage - a big problem here is the lack of instant-speed removal. A hand full of Dreadbore and Mizzium Mortars is bad when you need creatures dead before end of turn!

So, I'm thinking of giving your idea a try because I see your point - this deck is about half monoblack devo. Here's a new stab at the deck based on your feedback - Rakdos's Suicide Tanks and Cannibal Girls v2.0

Still having trouble with a few things - mind giving me your thoughts?

• What win-cons do you think should stay/go? Pack Rat seems like it'll be even better with more removal and 4x Mutavault , because they can multiply faster and worry less about getting blown away in combat if I'm drawing more removal. I'm leaning towards Desecration Demon and either removing or sideboarding Stormbreath Dragon altogether, but Mr. Dragon is great against Esper/UW control's Detention Sphere s. I think Mogis, God of Slaughter needed to go. His devo will never be high enough and I'm probably gonna find myself wanting to play/draw other things rather than put a slow-ticking clock into play. That frees up 5 card slots...

• What removal should come out and what should go in? I thought of Devour Flesh mainboard, but other than that, putting in 2x Doom Blade and 2x Dark Betrayal to cover all color combos takes up too much room in a SB that's already becoming flooded. Should Anger of the Gods stay in MB/SB or come out altogether and just rely on Drown in Sorrow ? What about Mizzium Mortars ? I'm hesitant to mainboard Slaughter Games because I might not know my opponent's deck well enough game 1.

• 3rd Rakdos's Return ? I liked the idea of more discard/hand hate, plus it's a great late-game mana dump.

• Sustain - if Whip of Erebos comes out, then how do I manage through Thoughtseize and shock land damage, not to mention aggro decks, etc?

• If I take out Underworld Connections , what's my card draw engine going to be? Read the Bones ? Magma Jet ? Have to have something, or I'll eventually run out of removal with no way to refill my hand. I added a 2nd Chandra, Pyromaster but I'm not sure that'll do it.

That's more than enough for now. Thanks to you (and anyone else that wants to get involved) in advance!

Hey Regulus,

Awww, I got it wrong :(. Oh well.

I should have explained from the beginning, but I run a R/W control deck with a very similar style as R/B, and lately I've been pulling 1st and 2nd out of some really tough competition with this method.

• My concern for pack rat is if you face Red or Black they can be removed early and never ramp. That being said, I haven't run Pack Rat and don't know the full scale of nuance to it. In my R/W deck I run 4x Flame-Wreathed Phoenix , 2x Aurelia and 1x Archangel of Thune (though the Thune might get replaced). The evasion of Flying can be a significant advantage, so your instinct to go Desc Demon is a good one to keep in for sure. It basically comes down to preference though, if you like Pack Rat then go for it, otherwise I'd say stick with the Stormbreath/D-Demon combo.

• You're up to 18 burn/removal spells on that other list, which is pretty good. The difference between my R/W deck and this is that you have the hand destruction cards which I have a hard time accounting for in the strat since I just don't have access to them. Instant pure removal is always fantastic, so Doom Blades are always good and are easy side-outs vs Black. Anger of the Gods is one of my favorite cards right now, particularly early game against aggro. I'd personally drop the Drown in Sorrows for it, but that's going to be preference again since I don't run black. Mizz Mortars is a great card for getting fatties out of the way, or when you get swamped in mana for the overload mid game. The only major removal I can suggest is Lightning Strike , but you have plenty of black removal that will do the same thing.

• I'm really thinking of playing around with a Slaughter Games deck right now, which is probably why I suggested main boarding it. I just feel like if you're confident in being able to read the opponent for win-cons it can be so devastating. Aetherling? Gone. Pack Rat? Gone. Nightveil? Gone. Any planeswalker? Gone. Even then, if you flub the call you can still look through 1) Their Hand, and 2) Their library.

• Like I said before, I just don't play with the hand removal stuff. What I can say is that sometimes I REALLY wish I still had the pay X for X damage, because I have a tendency to have a board state that looks like I'm running 28 land instead of 23. I'd say if you feel it, go for it, just don't sacrifice win-cons or removal for it.

• You almost never need to pay the Shock land damage since you're going to be sitting back and taking the control stance, so you only really need to worry about the Thought seize damage. The way I look at it is that as a 1-off the you weren't going to see the whip that often anyways BUT this is where RW and RB diverge, in that I can run Warleader's Helix . It might be a bit of a balancing act, but now that your creature numbers are reduced a whip is going to be less effective than before anyways.

• That's the beauty of removal-based control, you don't need card-draw, you just need the scry. There are going to be turns when you simply don't have anything to play while you wait for the opponent to put another creature on the field for you to kill. Scry does wonders in a deck like this.

Hope this helped! If you want to check out the deck that i've been referencing, it's Heavenly Fire (1st Place Tourny)

Rakdos Control this is my version of rakdos control if you want to take a look. its a bit different. but its really fun haha.

looks like a fun deck though. +1 for it.

I prefer Anger of the Gods over Mizzium Mortars . What do you think?

@xantos Well, I'm running 3 of each already so I obviously like them both! There are a fair number of creatures that Anger of the Gods can't kill that Mizzium Mortars can - Blood Baron of Vizkopa being at the top of that list. I'm not sure what you mean by suggesting running 3 Anger when I'm already running 3...am I missing something?

Sorry, I was running out of time on my last post and didn't get to fully explain myself.

I think that you should either run the fourth Anger of the Gods or have it in your sideboard. Being able to shut down the countless aggro decks is really useful, and Mizzium Mortars is just a little too slow. Also, I don't know what your meta is, so if a lot of people run Blood Baron decks, then you should probably be keeping the Mortars. Also, you're going to need some draw power - I would move the Read the Bones to the mainboard.

Finally, I'm a little confused as to why you have Erebos, God of the Dead in the sideboard. I think it's safe to say that you won't be able to activate him as a creature, so are you just really worried about your opponent's lifegain and being able to kill enchantments? Underworld Connections is the other choice here. And if you are worried about lifegain, then I'm not really sure why - by the time your creatures start doing damage, it doesn't matter much if they're at 30 or 15 health - they die pretty fast. Especially if you run Master of Cruelties over Stormbreath Dragon . But if there's a lot of white in the meta, then run the Dragon.

I really like this. I've been looking into mono black devotion or some form of black control, but this has inspired me to change that into a Rakdos control deck. I'll be steali... Borrowing, some ideas from here :P It'll definitely make a change from my usual white weenies. +1 from me

@xantos: Thanks for the additional explanation. I've made some changes based on your comments, which were helpful.

• I've playtested some more and have found myself wanting an Anger of the Gods nearly every game, so sideboarding the 4th copy is going to happen for now.
  

• Erebos, God of the Dead came out of the sideboard because in my monoblack (which is what I originally had as my sideboard since I didn't know how this deck was going to shake out), he's there to make sure control decks can't gain life and outpace you with Sphinx's Asshole and the like; however, your point of "by the time your creatures start doing damage, it doesn't matter much if they're at 30 or 15 health - they die pretty fast" is well-taken. It was next on my list to axe from the sideboard anyway.
  

• I've decided to mainboard 2x Read the Bones over Underworld Connections because when I need to play a draw spell with this deck, it's generally because I instantly need answers or a creature, and can't afford to pay 3 CMC just to tap down another land, draw only one card and wait until next turn where I might be dead - I'd rather dig up to 4 instantly and pay 1 more life.

• I'd like Master of Cruelties in the deck but I can't find a place for him (what to take out? - I don't mind an extra win-con as a one off, but I need to make room). Stormbreath Dragon has to stay because he's an immediate threat, resilient as pro-white, and demands an immediate answer.
  

@Darth_Versity: Glad you like the deck and thanks for the +1! Throw a comment up on this deck when you've built yours, and I'd be happy to give some feedback if you'd like.

Alright, now I have a lot of time to talk, so this should be a good sized comment.

FIrstly, I'm going to ask you about your manabase. You have 26 mana, which is certainly enough to support the Mutavault . This isn't necessarily a lot for a control deck, but in mine (Everyone Else's Nightmare Began., I only run 24 mana and rarely get hurt. How does it work for you?

Also, I have the same amount of mainboarded creatures as you - the difference being I've chosen Master of Cruelties over Stormbreath Dragon . Master is really useful against lifegain decks, since he doesn't care what life they are at, and it's not too difficult for us to finish our opponents off with cards like Chandra, Pyromaster , rakdos return, and even Magma Jet once Master has hit. Is Stormbreath Dragon better for you?

My final question for you is Bile Blight . How well has it been working for you? I've been thinking about it for a long time and I'm not sure if I should put in my deck or not.

Also, I don't think you have enough draw power in this deck. You only really have 3 draw spells - Chandra, Pyromaster , and 2 copies of Read the Bones . I've found that making this number larger helps the deck get the cards you need. Draw power is something that shouldn't be underestimated and the ability to fill up your hand - albeit at a price with Read the Bones , but a small one - will help you often. Of course, this means you have to take out a few cards - I would reccomend 1 copy of Mizzium Mortars and 1 copy of Hero's Downfall . I imagine you get a ton of removal in your hand, but don't win many games because you can't get your big creatures consistently quickly, especially if one or two of them are killed.

Your sideboard also definitely needs a little work. It seems that it is really geared towards a few decks, but you need to aim to beat more than these few. I would take out all 3 Magma Jet and either find a place for them in the mainboard or remove them entirely. I would also get rid of your Pack Rat - Azorius control can deal with it pretty easily.

These are a few cards that might help you out:

Illness in the Ranks - for those pesky token based decks like Monoblue and anything with Assemble the Legion and Elspeth, Sun's Champion .

Pithing Needle - Gotta have a backup plan for AEtherling , but then again, Slaughter Games might be enough.

Rakdos Charm - not a big fan, but if there's a large amount of Golgari graveyard power decks, then maybe...

Rakdos's Return - wondeful card, and wrecks control. Forcing an opponent to discard 4 or 5 cards often wins the game.

Shock - bit odd to be here, one might think, considering I suggested taking Magma Jet out, but I've found that shutting down simple cards like Elvish Mystic for only one mana is extremely useful.

You also have 61 cards - might want to fix that.

Sorry I droned on for a long time, I just really like Rakdos Control :D

@xantos - Sorry I haven't responded - I spent all my MTG time lately prepping my RG Monsters for Game Day events. As an aside, and if you wouldn't mind, check out The Restless Rabble - 6-1, 2x Game Day Champ! and give it a +1! Also, I appreciate your lengthy responses and didn't consider it "droning" whatsoever.

So, I've made a number of changes based on your feedback as well as some conversations I've had with some seasoned veterans over the weekend. In short, when someone asked me about my win-cons and I responded, they said, "so what do you do when you go up against heavy removal?" and I didn't have a great answer back. I've therefore decided to SB 2x Whip of Erebos for lifegain and recursion against wars of attrition (I'm looking at you, Azorius/Esper control and mono-black), as well as increase my creature count to 8. My main reason behind this last is to slightly increase my win-cons as well as substantially diversify them. I realized I just had a few too many removal spells, not enough card draw (I was already concerned about that before your previous comments) and not enough ways to win in a meta largely dominated by control, even though there are white/Orzhov aggro variants and the up-and-coming RG Monsters, which frankly will have a very tough time against this deck by design (I believe). To answer your question, yes, Stormbreath Dragon rapes and is a sick, vicious win-con: Detention Sphere and Chained to the Rocks can't hit it, and he's a perma-blocker if necessary against gigantic bestowed white creatures which have become popular in my meta. Talk about shutting down mono-white!

So, I've done my best to fix this deck up. Ditched some removal spells as per your suggestions: -3 Magma Jet ; -1 Hero's Downfall , -1 Mizzium Mortars , moved it to SB; -1 Devour Flesh ; -2 Bile Blight (I like the card and it's effectiveness is without question but with the addition of Master of Cruelties , I subbed in Lightning Strike to have a way to instantly end the game alongside Rakdos's Return )

Additionally, mainboarded 2x Underworld Connections for more consistent card draws to match my 2x Read the Bones , since I'd prefer to have both instant and long-term dig available to me. Also, -1 Rakdos Guildgate as per your previous comments re: land. I don't want just 24 land because a lot of our spells have double mana symbols in them which we need to stave off early game aggro. The last thing I want, and this has happened, is to have mismatched lands in my hands when I need RR for Anger of the Gods , RB for Dreadbore or BB for Hero's Downfall - that's 9 spells in this deck and missing land drops is nearly a death sentence with control decks by all accounts. Especially if you draw a Mutavault or 2 in your opening hand...you're automatically short a colored land.

As far as creatures, I've added Master of Cruelties and was already strongly considering him before I made this deck. He feels like a 1 of to me, for now, though. That might change if my decision to run Pack Rat is a bad one, although I've been on the receiving end of packratdeathfromhell and it's not fun. That card RUINS RG Monsters - every match I lost over the weekend to mono black was because of that card, and that card alone. I realize Azorius can deal with that card, but that's alright. In that case, I want him Dsphered or Verdict'ed so my other wincons, which I'm definitely holding back, will smash through.

Let me know what you think and thanks again!

this was my gameday deck. i ended up going 3 and 2. round 2 i faced a selesnya enchantment deck. and both games i didnt get a single removal spell. second loss was round 4. lost to a orzhov homebrew contraption. mana flooded one game. and third game i was just drawing mogis's, hammers, and lands.

3x Thoughtseize 3x Duress 2x Devour Flesh 3x Dreadbore 2x Ultimate Price 2x Mizzium Mortars 2x Hammer of Purphoros 3x Hero's Downfall 4x Slaughter Games 2x Mogis, God of Slaughter 4x Disciple of Phenax 4x Stormbreath Dragon 2x Rakdos's Return 4x Blood Crypt 4x Temple of Malice 6x Swamp 8x Mountain 2x Rakdos Guildgate

@martela789: thanks for the +1! I'm not 100% sure why you posted your gameday deck other than for feedback, or just to share because we have somewhat similar decks.

For what it's worth, I think your deck is headed in a good direction but your only win condition seems to be Stormbreath Dragon , unless you count saccing lands to hasted Hammer tokens or Mogis as wincons. Mogis, God of Slaughter is actually a fairly poor wincon for this deck - I know because I've tried him and he just sat in my hand whenever I drew him, as I always wanted to be casting something else or leaving mana open for removal. Disciple of Phenax is potentially a good control cards with the proper devotion, but you don't have the black permanents in your deck to make it worthwhile, and he's a weak creature by himself.

You're missing any form of draw control and I don't feel that there is ever a reason to have 4x Slaughter Games in any deck, much less mainboarded. It's just too expensive to play when you need the deck space for removal, and the mana to cast it. I mainboard 1 because it's nice to get a crack at your opponent's hand and library game 1 even if your chosen card is wrong, so that you know whether you even need them game 2/3.

I would suggest:

• -4x Disciple of Phenax , -2x Mogis, God of Slaughter . Fill these slots with other wincons, such as Master of Cruelties , Desecration Demon , Pack Rat or some other fatty/evil bastard that isn't a dead-draw late game that you happen to like. Underworld Cerberus is another option, but as a recent opponent of mine can attest to when I played my Gruul Monsters deck against him, he can also lose you the game.

• -3x Duress Mainboard, +3x in the SB. Thoughtseize is strictly better for game 1 and Duress can be brought in afterwards if relevant. Fill these 3 slots with more removal such as Lightning Strike , Magma Jet for draw control (especially with your current lack of draw) or Doom Blade . I personally find that Anger of the Gods wrecks face and wins games, so I would strongly urge you to fit in at least 2 copies mainboard - wiping out green ramp after an Elvish Mystic and/or a Sylvan Caryatid have been dropped is backbreaking for RG monsters. It also would've blown away that Selesnya deck that gave you trouble.

• Sideboard Hammer of Purphoros for control matchups. Not enough creatures to mainboard.

• Consider either Read the Bones or Underworld Connections for draw control. An alternate option is Chandra, Pyromaster . I happen to like a combination of all 3, personally.

I hope that this was helpful!

i posted this here since we have similar decks. thank you for the feedback once again. the funny thing is i just changed most of the cards. i dont have access to the Thoughtseize 's anymore or the Stormbreath Dragon s. but Mogis, God of Slaughter actually won me most of my games on game day. but i just purchased 4 Master of Cruelties and 4 Underworld Connections for my deck as well as 4 Rakdos Keyrune s. and i am going to be throwing in Read the Bones somewhere main deck. i have removed all Slaughter Games from mainboard. as well as Disciple of Phenax . and threw in 3 Devour Flesh . i dont care about lifegain if i have Master of Cruelties hitting you haha.

@martela789 - I see you've made those changes - all of them for the better, I think. I think that Rakdos Keyrune is an interesting choice...I hadn't thought to run that and you'll have to let me know how it does. It seems like a good choice for a control deck, as it's a mana rock when you need it but a creature attacking for damage when you don't. I will have to give that some serious thought, although with the amount of mana you'll need for early game removal, I don't imagine you'll be casting that until turn 4 but more realistically, turn 5. By that point I hope to be well on my way to getting out a Desecration Demon or Stormbreath Dragon . It's worth considering that the Keyrune can't be targeted for your typical removal when it's not activated, so it's a bit more resilient than your average creature and a 3 power with first strike isn't laughable either. Nice choice.

I still would like to see you change out Hammer of Purphoros for Anger of the Gods , though, as your deck lacks and early-to-mid-game multi-target removal. An overloaded Mizzium Mortars with no ramp will not come fast enough to save you against agro decks. Plus I don't feel that Hammer adds enough to your board to outweigh Anger's benefits, but this might be the line drawn by our playstyle preferences.

Keep it up! I like it.

Rogue's Passage might be fun

Thanks for the suggestion Kaenon - please toss the deck a +1! Rogue's Passage is a great card but I'm not entirely sure how it would fit in, as I only have the one copy of Master of Cruelties . Interesting thought, though.

@ Kaenon thank you for that land choice. i have been looking all over for something to make my Master of Cruelties unblockable. i was debating on throwing in blue or running Prowler's Helm . much appreciated on that card choice. and i have noticed i need Anger of the Gods . i enjoy the Hammer of Purphoros , i do see the point in it being a sideboard card. but it has done some massive favors for me in the past. thats why i mainboard it. i will try and trade for 2 Anger of the Gods and switch out Mizzium Mortars to sideboard for now. i will consider the option of throwing Hammer of Purphoros sideboard though.

I don't think the Chandra belongs in this build. I like her as a card, but I would consider Drown in Sorrow instead. At my FNM last night, where most players run R/G devotion and aggro decks, it was generally a field wipe against them as well as a scry trigger for me. I also would consider Bile Blight to get rid of the little mana dorks in Green, and the multiple copies of whatever little creatures they have on the other side.

I don't think you have enough creatures to make Hammer of Purphoros worth it in the deck. And getting creatures won't be worth sacking your lands.

Suggestions: Would side out 2x Pack Rat and side in 2x Duress for hand control.

+1! Love the deck.

@GeneralFluffy: I was questioning whether to keep Chandra in this build and I think I'm going to opt out shortly. She was originally there for extra card draw but I quickly realized that she's only good in this deck if I need removal, since that's aImost 50% of the deck, but if I don't need that at the time, it's a wasted spell that goes into exile that could've gone safely into my hand for later use. I need to figure out what I want in place and I'd prefer it be card draw of some sort. Really, the only options are another Read the Bones or Underworld Connections which are card draw at the expense of life, unfortunately. Since I have so much removal, the other option is another win-con and I'm leaning towards either a 3rd copy of Desecration Demon or Pack Rat . I know you said ditch the rats, but the havoc they can wreak in control matchups is devastating, and late-game, you only need 1 to make a difference while a 2nd copy sits in your hand in case of a board wipe. They also make any draw after they're played not a dead-draw, such as unneeded lands or extra removal after turn 7+, which this deck often forces games to go to. This will require some further consideration.

I think you were pointing your comments in regards to Hammer of Purphoros at martela789, as that was never in my deck, but up until very recently, both Drown in Sorrow and Bile Blight both were. Drown went out in favor of Anger of the Gods since it hits more creatures as well as exiles them (yes, it's a scry trigger, but killing Sylvan Caryatid and Nightveil Specter are more important), and Blight went out in favor of Lightning Strike as a finisher when in lethal range as well as to provide a combo off of Master of Cruelties in the event that comes out. I am considering putting Drown in Sorrow back in the sideboard in case I need more boardwiping power, but it's already so packed with as many situational answers as I think I need, I'm not sure what should be coming out - only thing that comes to mind is Mizzium Mortars , but Blood Baron of Vizkopa directly avoids every other card in this deck (not counting Devour Flesh , which won't always work), and the idea of one hitting the board without an immediate answer in Mortars is practically game-ending, unless I have a Stormbreath Dragon out. Suggestions?

Lastly, taking out a win-con like Pack Rat for more hand control in Duress is a situational move to make post-sideboard in games 2-3, as 3x Thoughtseize makes this move redundant. Drawing a Duress on turn 8 is often a dead draw, whereas Pack Rat is not. I do appreciate your well-thought out feedback, however! Please keep it coming.

The second I posted this, I realized that Chandra, Pyromaster comes out for 1x Crypt Incursion to offset life loss from Thoughtseize , Read the Bones and Underworld Connections , leaving room for that Drown in Sorrow in the sideboard. Problem solved!

ok Master of Cruelties is a hell of a card if you want t incorporate him in to a win condition you would benefit from more than one in your deck since its not a legendary creature you can have more than one on the field... from there drop them to one life and either Shock them or have a Mogis, God of Slaughter to deal two damage to them if they dont sac a creature... also rememember you can use Mizzium Mortars over load to wipe the board of pesky 2 and 3 drop creatures... just saying if they dont have a creature to sac to Mogis, God of Slaughter that 2 direct damage that cannot be prevented.... have fun man

It's xantos, here to defend my girl, Chandra, Pyromaster .

To begin, let's look at the success that she's had in Rakdos control decks recently. Stanislav Cifka took her to the top 64 and Lukas Jaklovsky took her to the top 16 at Pro Tour Theros. Not that the pros are always right, but it certainly means something.

She is an incredible planeswalker really. Her +1 is actually incredibly useful, simply if you don't want your Mizzium Mortars to get countered by a Judge's Familiar , you could instead use Chandra's +1 to kill it. It's also great against mana ramp, namely Elvish Mystic . Furthermore, her +1 means that a creature can't block, opening up room for Master of Cruelties to hit big for a game-winner.

Her +1, however, isn't what's incredible about her as a planeswalker. Her 0 is better than a card like Underworld Connections , since there is no life loss and also you don't have to tap down a land each time. It's really weird, but the ability to pseudo-draw 2 cards each turn has won me so many games, it's incredible.

She also shuts down any planeswalker, by not letting them get too big thanks to her +1. Chandra was actually made knowing that Elspeth, Sun's Champion was going to be a very high-use card.

Then we come to her -7. While you probably don't hit it often, it'll probably win games for you. Hitting a Downfall is just incredible, but the best combo happens when you get Slaughter Games . Say you're playing against Mono-Black, and you hit the -7. You get to take out Gray Merchant of Asphodel , Desecration Demon , and Nightveil Specter - leaving the only way for them to win is Pack Rat ! That typically isn't too big of a problem as you just continue to kill them.

I would go so far as to recommend running 2 Chandras.

Hi omenrai, thanks for the comments and the +1! At the moment, I don't own a second Master of Cruelties but I was thinking about putting a second one in there, honestly. I have some polishing and such that I'm still working out on this deck, but unfortunately, Mogis, God of Slaughter doesn't fit. I've tried him before and been less than impressed with his results, as he bumps heads with other cards on my curve that I want to be casting (removal, DDemon, Stormbreath the following turn), and he just sits in my hand until later. The problem with that is Mogis isn't effective if he's sitting in your hand, because he's not doing any damage! He's currently sitting patiently in my binder, looking for a good home.

To your other points, shock is too weak for this deck but I did put in Lightning Strike to combo off Master of Cruelties as an alternate win-con, and I LOVE a good 'ol overloaded Mizzium Mortars !