I suppose it depends largely on when you intend to be casting the creature. For the most part, Diabolic Intent is a Stage II or Stage III tutor, which means I can afford to sacrifice ramp dorks like Birds of Paradise or Azusa, Lost but Seeking.

True, the functional cost of the tutor is increased for these choices, but it's a matter of whether the creature has already generated the advantage I needed it to and whether I need it later. In most cases, I'll have already gotten use out of the creature, and I probably won't need it on my combo turn. The nice thing about the ramp in this deck is that it's exponential. If I play Birds of Paradise on turn one, then use it to cast Nature's Lore on turn two, then use it to cast Skyshroud Claim on turn three, then I can afford to lose Birds of Paradise (for any reason) because it's already given me a substantial return on investment. Now, it won't always play out like this, but the ramp normally compounds in a way that mitigates the deficit of losing a ramp creature later in the game.

I suppose the worthiest counterargument would be that there will be times when Diabolic Intent can't realistically be cast, but I think it will, on the whole, be more frequently viable than Grim Tutor, which is much more expensive to cast.

Master, why Forbidden Orchard without Defense of the Heart?

Defense of the Heart is too risky - without other enablers it often does absolutely nothing. Even when it does do something, it's too slow.

Basically that. Defense of the Heart is slow, and it lets my opponents know the combo is coming. Unless I use it to find Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, and I have a tutor in hand, I can't effectively win with it.

One of the reasons Tooth and Nail is such a central combo piece is that it can be recast and immediately find other components to the combo.

Yea, master, I understand, but why Forbidden Orchard? over, for example Exotic Orchard. That is my question

@DarkHamlet

1/1s don't matter, especially when everyone is using combos to kill the other players rather than combat. Exotic Orchard is quite good, but the drawback on Forbidden Orchard is so insignificant that it is just a better choice. The risk of inconsistency is not necessary.

Also, stop calling him Master. It's rather vomit-inducing.

I can always be sure that Forbidden Orchard will produce all three of my colors. I can't be sure that Exotic Orchard will do the same. And, as GlistenerAgent said, 1/1s don't matter. Even if I had to combo with Forbidden Orchard and therefore give an opponent infinite tokens, I'd kill everyone before they had a chance to do anything with them.

@Epochalyptik Wouldn't Exsanguinate be much better than Blue Sun's Zenith as a combo finisher to kill everyone in a multiplayer game? Considering Zenith only hits one player, it's less efficient, and mana-wise it seems like it would be harder to cast already. Thoughts?

I love this effing deck. Makes my spike hard. Lol.

Now to go in my corner and make Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund competitive...

@DMR Exsanguinate does nothing to help the deck's game plan outside of the combo. BuSZ is a good draw spell outside of the combo.

Forgot to mention when this deck wins he tutors his entire deck at instant-speed. finding zenith to cast again is no trouble.

Guys, this deck has a really in-depth and easy to follow description now. Remember, descriptions are really important to read as they often have answers to questions you might have.

@DMR:
Basically what Gspot said. Exsanguinate is a good finisher, but that's all it is. Part of what helps this deck last until Stage III is that it's built on win conditions and combo pieces that can be viable outside of the combo if necessary. Blue Sun's Zenith is a decent utility spell if I need it to be (for example, if I can't get Damia, Sage of Stone to stick).

Additionally, when I win with Blue Sun's Zenith, one of two things happens:

1. I cast Blue Sun's Zenith on myself to draw my deck, then combo my opponents out of the game by playing Rune-Scarred Demon to pick up Blue Sun's Zenith after each cast.
2. I use Rune-Scarred Demon to grab Blue Sun's Zenith and the rest of my deck, then combo from there in the same manner.

Recasting Blue Sun's Zenith isn't an issue for me. Plus, mana efficiency doesn't matter when I use an infinite mana combo to enable the win. Fussing about mana efficiency at that point is like choosing what flagstones I want on the house I'm building after I knock yours down.

Ah, very good points. Thank you for clearing that up for me!

Frontier Siege is interesting.

Very interesting.

Do you not like the blue one? Allows you to draw 2 and discard any 1 from hand every turn for 3 mana.

I did see that one, but I have two main problems with it.

First, CMC 3 is an awkward spot on the curve. A card with CMC 3 can't come down on turn one, and, if played on turn two, would probably be my only play. And I would need to deny myself a ramp spell like Nature's Lore unless I had a ramp rock from turn 1. (This isn't to say that CMC 4 is more realistic. But at least Frontier Siege pays for itself the same turn.)

Second, the ability doesn't interact well with Necropotence or Damia, Sage of Stone, which are my two primary draw engines.

It's probably worth testing just to be sure, but I have reservations about it.

I don't think having extra draw is a bad thing but I understand the nonbo with various other pieces.

I'm not sure frontier siege does pay for itself as soon as you play it. It adds GG at the start of each main phase. Play it main phase 1 youll get GG in main phase 2 of the same turn. Play it main phase 2 you won't see any mana till the next turn. Still a good card though. Also given that mana drains at the end of each phase: adding GG on the turn you play it isn't that useful. If you tap out when you have 4 lands, you'll momentarily have an extra 2 mana in main phase 2 but you still won't have any for a counterspell in the opponents turn. I think that makes it a little awkward. To play it safely you'd still probably need around 6 land. Although with access to 5 you can play frontier siege then when it adds GG in the main phase play a ramp spell to get you to 6?

With the ramp rocks and low-cost ramp creatures, Frontier Siege becomes viable as a turn two or turn three play. While it's true that the is only temporary, it would allow me to play other ramp cards during the second main phase and fund other spells in the coming turns.

Also, most of my turn occurs in main phase one. There's no reason to split the plays up, really. I almost never attack with this deck.

That's fair enough. I think I was just pointing out that it doesn't fully fund itself instantaneously.

Not fully, no, but getting back the same turn makes it much more forgiving than if it waited a turn (even though that is temporary).

Generating four free mana a turn is pretty big, though.

But what would you take out for it? Oracle of Mul Daya? Its a really nice effect to be sure, but the biggest issue is that the mana you get is not GGGG but GG and next phase GG. So even though it gives you 4 mana, it's not like you can Skyshroud Claim off it or anything.

I'd probably start with the cards in the sideboard (i.e. the cards I'm already considering dropping). I'm not an absolutist about adding and dropping within the same category (control, ramp, etc.).

And I'm completely aware that the mana is broken into two chunks, but the point still stands that you're getting four mana on each of your turns. Combo turn aside, most of my plays are in the CMC 2-4 range, so that extra is a huge boost, and it's still completely usable in two installments.

Blue Sun's Zenith is in Utility list AND in Wincon list, some kind of error?

Well, it does both.