My old block deck. I realized that I only had a prototype posted for many years. So I've decided to post the final build. This deck matched up against uw control/valakut/vamps/mono red burn/green elves, ramp, and rush all very well. I had a month of near undefeated fnm runs at the end.
Sideboard went though a lot of changes, blessings were added in over the 2 duress and Inquisition which pushed some sb items out.
With 1xDespise/Duress and 2xInquisition it gives some freedom of options, obviously some matchups make one better than the other.
Tunnel Ignus - valakut/green ramp
Evil Presence - valakut mainly, had some benefit against uw control.
Pyroclasm - vs white weenie (soldiers, I think at the time) as well as vampire/elf decks.
Shatter - vs Myr decks.
Tumble magnet (tricky card to value) - 1 main 1 side because half the meta was uw control/valakut/burn and the other was weenie. A small portion ran beatdown decks or something like green ramp where a blocker is easier to tap than remove. It also added a sustain cc and visible threat option, which could act as bait for artifact removal instead of moltensteel or souleater.
Vulshock Refugee - seemed like the go-to board creature vs the mono-red burn deck that was heavy in spells for removal.I can't say I actually boarded this in after I added apostle's blessing though....
Duress/Inquisition - This package was my imediate go-to vs control/burn. These cards help setup for kills.
Playstyle:
Ideally you're looking to end games without revealing too much. If you can, without a "surprise" otk, it will help immensely in game 2.
Many times I liked to open feigning mono red burn or mono black vampires when permitting. Creatures are precious in this deck, so timing on your despise/duress/Inquisition are very important to assure it will stick. Apostle's blessing act as protection from removal and assurance of lethal.
There are many ways to calculate lethal and many ways to combo.Risk-reward all in.Souleater + Assault strobe -18hp = lethal. (This is very risky, but if you know their hand before and know they can't prevent it, it's game over.)Fastest and safer lethal combo would be (if you go first) mountain, lightning bolt at the end of their turn.Swamp, souleater (cross fingers...) Then next turn you have enough to duress/Inquisition + Assault strobe + apostle's blessing in response though be careful... Take it slow, pay +1s in small amounts before, nothing worse than paying your entire hp and having it removed especially in response to casting blessing.
Obviously there are other lines with Kiln Fiend/Moltensteel Dragon and even Lavaclaw (mana permitting) to buff a creature. Fling is more of an insurance, if you Kiln Fiend + (either duress/inquisition/despise/lightning bolt/Apostle's Blessing) and Assault strobe, you can hit for 14 + fling for 21. Which is about 5mana.
Most of the dynamic OTK combos require less than 6 lands which at 6 you can hardcast Moltensteel (the most expensive card in the deck)
Geth's Verdict is obviously strong, moreso than dismember, in single creature cases. Double Swamp cost does limit reliability, thus 2 only 2 of them. Where dismember can target remove blockers and can be played without swamps and for 1 mana (health permitting)
Obviously this deck has a lot of calculations and requires a lot of foresight. You'll be wanting to set up for lethal turns in advance. Really understanding the meta is important and the archetype of the deck you are playing against. The ability to see their hand, does wonders but some decks will still splash surprises.
Either way, I absolutely loved playing this deck. It requires intense focus and thought, deception and reads. It has a high risk / high reward type play, but can also be played very slow and cautiously.
Anyways... I just thought I'd post the final version, albeit years late, at best maybe it may provide inspiration for a deck in modern or current standard.
--safer line would be duress or Inquisition first, which if you use kiln fiend, you lose out on damage.--
