Lightning Axe?

I was considering adding a bit of a madness mechanic to the deck, and I tested Lightning Axe along with Tormenting Voice for discard and Fiery Temper for madness, but the problem I kept running into was that although great together, they ended up causing card disadvantage when apart, which is definitely not what this deck is about.

I know it's not as much damage but for now Fiery Impulse will do I think. I'm going to FNM tonight with the deck as-is so perhaps I will get some insight when I see how the deck fairs in real life.

I do worry that perhaps I need more removal to help with any damage races I find myself in with other aggro decks.

What do you think about Uncaged Fury? maybe in place of a few Infectious Bloodlust .

@Fishmonger2000 - Hi, thanks for the comment and +1! Uncaged Fury doesn't seem like a terrible idea, although it pales in comparison to the late, great Temur Battlerage.

The issue I can see having with it is that extra cost. Say in one scenario, I have two mana available and one creature. In this situation, infectious bloodlust allows me to deal a total of 4 damage, as well as an additional 2 damage each turn after, but obviously I can't cast uncaged fury. In another scenario, I have 3 mana and one creature again, and I can cast uncaged fury which actually only deals 4 damage in total. For the same cost I could cast Infectious Bloodlust and any of my cantrips for a minimum of 5 damage.

So it's not until 4 mana that uncaged fury begins to beat Bloodlust, and then only with the aid of one of my buff cantrips. I think uncaged fury would be fine if my creatures had higher base power, but as it is Infectious Bloodlust deals more reliable damage,including on subsequent turns, and having 4 in the deck allows me to keep fetching them if the enchanted creature dies.

Still, thanks for the suggestion as it was something I had not considered.

hmm great points. I see how Infectious Bloodlust provides much more consistent early game damage (which is what this deck is all about0. I played this deck last season and was excited to get thing and fevered vision in there. I'll defiantly be putting a version of this together and playing it at FNM. I would love to hear how it runs and I'll keep you posted on how mine runs. I think I'm going down more of the madness route.

Skin Invasion  ^Flip?

I played this deck last season too and did pretty well with it. Am building it for this standard season and your list has some great ideas I had not thought of. Keep up the good work. I'll be sure to let you know how mine does as well.

I could see siding in something that helps against the control matchup with heavy removal. Maybe more burn. I would also sideboard dragon fodder. It let's you go a little wider if you need to.

@foxinsox: Skin Invasion  ^Flip is not a bad idea at all. Cheep, makes removing my creatures less beneficial, and is essentially an extra body if the opponent is heavy on removal. I could certainly see it at least hitting the sideboard.

@Cruz_the_creator: Dragon Fodder is a great idea, and actually functions not only as a "go wide" option, but also as a defensive option against extremely fast aggro decks, where having two chump blockers could give me an additional turn.

Still, the heavy removal control matchup does worry me due to my lack of creatures. Dragon Fodder and Skin Invasion  ^Flip could certainly help, so we shall see if these can make a difference in my testing and ultimately next week at FNM.

Thanks for your suggestions so far!

I'm thinking possibly Tears of Valakut and/or Roast for the sideboard if I need to go removal heavy? Maybe also an additional two Exquisite Firecraft in the SB in case I need more direct burn.

Wow great deck, +1! My input is I feel like some number of Abbot's should definitely be put in.

I would recommend Containment Membrane over those. 2 copies of that will hit either flyers or ground creatures and you are usually surging it out for one blue. I also run 2 Roast for dealing with big ground creatures, but I feel like the flexibility of Containment Membrane makes it a pretty good fit.

@MTG18 - My only issue with Containment Membrane is that one, they get at least one attack which with most of the big threats like Mindwrack Demon and Archangel Avacyn  ^Flip is going to be a hefty 4 damage, and also there are some threats, like the aforementioned angel, who are still incredibly valid while simply on the field.

I've opted to go for Clutch of Currents, as it at least delays their big creature play for one more turn as they need to recast it, which may well often be all I need. I've also included 2 Tears of Valakut for the nasty 5T flyers, and just 1 additional Exquisite Firecraft for extra burn/ removal.

@Thund3r_C0ugar - Yeah I've known that Abbot of Keral Keep needed to be in the deck since I brewed it, but I couldn't decide what needed to leave in his place. In the end, I decided that I could lose two of my less-useful cantrips, Rush of Adrenaline, to fit a couple in. They aren't a key card and they don't have evasion, but their other ability is likely enough to include at least two.

Thanks for the input both of you!

I usually like Rending Volley over Tears of Valakut since they both hit Avacyn and Ojutai, but Rending Volley can also hit things like Jace or Reflector Mage. You can't kill a Mindwrack Demon or a flipped Avacyn, but Mindrack doesn't seem like it is going to be super common and if Avacyn has flipped you've probably already lost. Also, I imagine you are running the Highland Lakes over 2 more Fumaroles due to budget?

Lastly I imagine Invasive Surgery could be a strong sideboard option against decks with any board wipe that isn't Chandra, Flamecaller.

@All_Regent - Rending Volley seems like just the card to replace Tears of Valakut, and your arguments for its use seem valid.

The highland lakes are due to budget but to be honest this deck is rarely ever going to get to the point where I'll even be able to use the man-land part of Wandering Fumarole, so it doesn't much matter ever way, they are in there more as a "just in case" card, I could see some outlier games that could theoretically be won by the land + buffs, but it probably doesn't warrant buying the lands if you are budget-conscious.

I'm not certain just how much I need to fear board wipes with this deck, as normally I'll only have 1-3 creatures out, and after that it's probably a better idea to keep any other creatures in-hand for the possibility of a board wipe. With the draw this deck has, it shouldn't be too hard to come back from a board wipe scenario, but that's just the theory, so I may come back to Invasive Surgery if it proves to be more of a problem than anticipated.

Like the deck idea overall and seeing Infectious Bloodlust being put to use. If possible you should try and turn Highland Lake into 2 more Wandering Fumarole because its the same thing just you can get a creature activate out of it.

Best of luck with your decks progress.

Nice deck. The U/R prowess combo is brutal and so fast! A friend of mine runs a similar deck and destroyed my entire play group the first time he brought it out. We have since been building decks just to beat it! How has Fevered Visions been working for you? It's a super cool card but I wasn't sure how it would play. Cheers!

@Cragon18 - Thanks! Fevered Visions works best against Control and Midrange, but can work against you versus Aggro, who are unlikely to be damaged by its effect, so it is a viable card to SB-out on game 2 if that's the case.

Still, I tend to use it as a last resort card. It's perfect if you have run out of cantrips, or you are facing a mana-flood, as it will proc Prowess on the turn it comes out and then you have two draws before your next turn to run into more usable cards. I would say it's not a card to play flippantly, but normally the extra gas is going to help you more than your opponent due to the way this deck spams cantrips.

So dumb question about the deck. If you were able throw in a Jace here would you? And if so what would you replace?

@cjnj193 - not a dumb question at all mate, and I have seen decks with a similar theme and higher budgets that do run Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip. Those decks also manage to fit a load of other "good stuff" into the deck, but I've noticed that such decks are less aggro and more hybrid in their approach, with midrange and control elements that are supported by cards just like Jace. This deck, while being moderately budgeted, is also very much an aggro/rush down deck, so I wouldn't want to change that.

However, one thing that Jace does support very well is Madness, and if I had a couple Jace, I'd certainly consider including him and some madness cards like Fiery Temper. Jace is also hilariously easy to flip in a deck like this.

For my deck as it is though, would I throw in a Jace? Probably not just 1, as I feel 1 Jace is a little too unreliable and this deck thrives on its reliability. If I had two, I would certainly consider including them, and I think I'd replace Fevered Visions, as it is a utility card just like Jace, but Jace likely has more of an impact on a game.

I will add though, that under no circumstances is Jace good enough in this deck to warrant tripling the decks total cost in order to include a couple. That's just my personal stance on it, not owning any Jaces myself.

I recommend cards like lightning axe and fiery temper in main deck because their good burn spells but also help delirium because you're going to want to sideboard or even main board invasive surgery to prevent all removal in a deck. Most good removal are sorceries with the few exceptions

Just got back from my LGS standard night and this deck performed pretty darn well. It went 3-1 over all, winning 2-0 against mono white humans, U/R Mill/Control, and Bant Company. Losing 0-2 Against B/W mid-range. My take away's from the night are that this deck can pack a serious punch. It is not uncommon to be swinging 11+ unblockable damage. This deck is fast, as it kept pace with mono white humans and outpaced mill and bant company. I got pretty lucky. B/W mid-range had enough removal to just shut me out. Lastly Dispel and Negate in the sideboard won me several games.

Considering adding one or two copies of Uncaged Fury The lifegain of the B/W mid-range kept me out of ranged for lethal and I think this may be an answer.

Super fun to play. Well done.

@Lilic777 - I did briefly mention in one of my earlier comments, but at this time I don't have much of an interest in including either a Madness nor Delirium mechanic to this deck. I found in testing that Madness was too enreliable, and Delium is either too slow to get going or too costly in terms of card advantage. I'm sure it works in midrange, but I don't feel that it's a good fit for this deck. Invasive Surgery is still a fine card, even without the Delirium effect.

@Fishmonger2000 - I'm glad you had such success with the deck!

As for your impressions, yes I agree that counter spells certainly need to be added to the sideboard. I'm thinking of removing two of each the Dragon Fodder & Clutch of Currents for two of each Dispel & Negate/Invasive Surgery (any suggestions on which?).

I also may remove the final 2 Dragon Fodder from the SB for 2 Uncaged Fury for when I need to overcome life gain decks in one massive turn.

Have you thought of adding in Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh? As long as you can flip her she can deal some nice damage.