Puca's Mischief & Daring Thief are similar to the controlling auras from before; could lead to some interesting situations as you swap around permanents

Coward_Token Puca's Mischief could be good, but I could imagine that it'd annoy people a lot which could make me a bigger target. As for the thief, I'm trying to move towards creatures that have an effect fairly quickly on the board, so I feel like it is a little bit too slow for me. Swapping is a good idea though! I'll have to take a look at the cads that are available

Hey you

How's Keeper of Keys working for you? I think it's kind of expensive, and holding on to the monarch for a full rotation is usually hard IMO. I think Marchesa's Decree would be a better option of introducing the monarch to the game, although it's somewhat in conflict with Ever-Watching Threshold

Coward_Token You know what, I actually removed Keeper of Keys from my physical decklist, I should update this but I've been trying to solidify what I want to change. I think that Marchesa's Decree is a great idea. I personally am going to be getting a Queen Marchesa deck soon so I don't know if I'll get it for this deck to avoid overlap, but it does do its job pretty well. On the other hand, it does mean that players draw cards from Ludevic from attacking you so it could actually cause you to take more damage than average. I'll try to update the list soon! I do agree that Keeper of Keys is too slow though, and I've been trying to make the deck more spellslinger-y with Niv-Mizzet, Parun and Living Lore , and some X mass-damage spells.

Deliver Unto Evil could be used in a Taisigur-esque way I guess

idk if I've suggested Pain Magnification before but it does encourage aggression

Has there been any updates with the release of the new set? I really like Spark Double , Narset's Reversal , Bolas's Citadel , Narset, Parter of Veils and Saheeli, Sublime Artificer

Also X spells have great synergy with vial smasher Finale of Revelation , Finale of Eternity , Finale of Promise and Role Reversal

Coward_Token Deliver Unto Evil is really on theme, I like it! As for Pain Magnification , my only issue is that it encourages people to attack me because I'm causing people to lose cards, which could be bad depending on how long it happens. I like it though, and with this spellslinger rework I've been working on, it could work really well!

ThaneGarrus I really like all of your suggestions, especially Finale of Promise , Finale of Revelation and Bolas's Citadel ! I'll have to think of what to swap out if I want to use them, since I haven't looked at the deck much since Ravnica Allegiance so I'm sure there are a lot of cards to look through. Thanks!

On of my Favorite decks foe casual play! upvoted and Qued'!!

Love to see more tweaks and ideas!

Thanks THCue! That means a lot!

Inna CMDR19 analysis:

Wildfire Devils: On-theme since a randomly picked opponent has to choose which spell to cast. Kinda meta-dependent though since it requires everyone to have a spell card in their graveyard in order for it not to whiff; also, it might waste some good VIal Smasher damage I guess? (Bonus: Is a Devil.)

Bloodthirsty Blade : Continuous goading forces choices. It's even pretty good on its own merit vs utility creatures which would rather hang back (e.g. Meren).

Pendant of Prosperity : On-theme, synergizes with e.g. Fevered Visions

Formal suggestion submission since the card wasn't added before: Wildfire Devils

Awesome suggestions Coward_Token

Thanks Coward_Token! I'll see how they work out when the new set comes out! You've given some really great suggestions for a while now, so thanks for the continued support!

Aww shucks, you're welcome

Once upon a-nalysis:

Lots of group hug if you're into that: Wishclaw Talisman , Folio of Fancies , Rankle, Master of Pranks , Stormfist Crusader . The Folio has some group hug synergy too, which includes Ludevic.

Mad Ratter & Improbable Alliance : Chasm skulker-esque cards if you're still into that. Irencrag Pyromancer works along the same lines as a source of creature removal and extra burn.

Coward_Token I love the second-draw-per-turn cards, I'll definitely look for a place to use them! Stormfist Crusader really fits the deck and it lets me draw an extra card with Ludevic, and Wishclaw Talisman is a great political tool. Folio and Rankle probably won't make the cut since I feel that they are either too clunky or difficult to work with. I'll see what I can do with those suggestions though, they'd be perfect for this theme! Thanks for the suggestions!

I love this deck so much! Will it honestly ever get updated again?

Skullclamped Yep! I've been playtesting some different ideas, it's been taking a while because I haven't had the opportunity to play recently, but an update is definitely in the works!

Update time! BIG update time! I turned up the power knob of this deck quite a bit! Let me know how y'all feel about it!

Very interesting concept for the deck. I like the idea of keeping a balance between group-slug and politics/hug mechanics. I think one of my common mistakes is going too all-in with the slug aspect and then I become the archenemy. I think I’ll try this in the near future. About how often would you say you’re able to fly under the radar and not get targeted with this build?

Thanks ObserverWill! I agree, I've seen a lot of Nekusar, the Mindrazer decks and such that go way too all in and then get confused when people target them, I built this deck as a way to make it more "obvious" what you're doing so that people think of you as a lower threat and let your stuff stay around.

As for your question, I'd like to phrase it in a different way, because it's not necessarily preventing all of your stuff from being targeted, but keeping your plans under the radar. For example, Vial Smasher the Fierce can be scary, and so people think of that as your main plan, so they do everything they can to remove her. I just let them, because it makes them feel more comfortable and realize that Ludevic alone isn't too bad, in a sense you let them give and take.

In terms of keeping my plans under the radar, this deck always makes it to the end of the game and rarely is removed early. At the end of the game I do tend to have quite a few options open, since the extra card draw lets me gradually filter my hand into good removal and burn. Usually for me when the game ends it's not always a win, but the games tend to be very close, which is my favourite way to shut things out. For example I've had games where 3 players were under threat of losing to Triskaidekaphobia.

As for the midgame I usually do have at least one engine going that people let stay, for example Fevered Visions usually stays on the board for a very long time. You'll need to play a few games to gain your group's trust that you're not about to spring a huge trap, and you'll need to figure out how people assess threats before you go too hard on something like Xantcha, Sleeper Agent in the wrong situation for example. The good thing though is that this deck is designed for you to be able to play in a fairly genuine way without causing too many issues for people, so even if people do notice that you play a huge threat, they'll remove it and feel comfortable that your biggest threat is gone despite the fact that you still have a lot of good stuff on the board.

Anyways, yeah, I'd say that it's good at flying under the radar, it doesn't have too much "momentum" so people don't feel a huge sense of urgency when you play synergies. The key is to let them lose resources on their own terms, or in a way that is a good deal, and let their own greed get the best of them. I recommend letting people look through your deck before playing so that there's no surprises haha, that trust lets you get some big swingy turns even though people felt like you weren't a threat.

Hope that you have fun! Let me know how it goes if you do get it!