Credit to all magic players for letting me steal their decks. This wouldn't be possible without you. Thanks!
I have made 2 other versions of this deck now. The Thief Lord is much more theoretically made but still budget, while come-to-papa has the same formula as The Thief Lord but with no budget. That means that as of now, The Thief Lord is the main version of this deck and the one to comment on with improvements. Thanks!
This is my first deck, so it needs a lot of work. It is focused on stealing my opponent's cards but still being resilient enough to win without them. Please comment with advice because I know it needs it. Keep price in mind.
I would like to cut for 4
Tidehollow Strix
as an extra defender, maybe in the side? It will die to my own Drown in Sorrows, but I still think it will help. I need a cheaper than 3 mana defender and this is the best I've seen, but I'm sure there's better. I also know I need more countermagic, maybe 4 Countersquall and moving my Psychic Strike to the main. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments.
My key cards are Life's Finale, Dimir Doppelganger, Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, and Psychic Intrusion. Life's Finale sets up Dimir Doppelganger with the best cards in their deck. Psychic Intrusion hits their hand for whatever they wanted to win with or can grant me a big score from the grave. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver is able to hit their deck hard giving me potential access to some good cards.
The rest of the deck is cards I like and cards meant to stall the opponent until I have the mana to combo off. Literally everything else is to get me to where I need so I can combo and win. It could probably use more focus and efficiency through more cantrips, cheaper creatures, some artifact ramp, and other stuff, but I run this version because it's cheap and effective.
I know already that my sideboard is trash. I know I want these 75 cards, but I have no idea what my game 1 sideboard should look like. PLEASE COMMENT WITH ADVICE!!!!!!!
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Card choices:
Lands: I dont want to get into the specifics on the lands, but Ive overall chosen them to be consistent enough where I will hit my first 6 drops. My third turn drop is the most important because I have built the entire deck around CMC=3 cards. That said, I really need to have 2 black mana and 2 blue mana available on turn 3 so I can cast any CMC=3 card. Oftentimes Ill use Drift of Phantasms on turn 3 for transmute and then Drown in Sorrow on turn 4, which requires me to have access to many colors.
Many people will argue with the
Dreadship Reef
and try to convince me to pull it, but it is the right card to run. I can use it for storage on turn 2 and then match my color requirements on turn 3 if its in my opening hand. In the case of a control match-up, then it really shines when I can store up a lot of mana waiting and saving spells, then spam a bunch of decoy instant spells during their end so they use a lot of mana. Then on my turn I cast as many spells as I can again and then once theyre tapped out, I cast AEtherling and then win because they didnt counter it and then its basically invincible. Also for
Dreadship Reef
, because I use mostly CMC=3 cards, there are many turns in which I have leftover mana with no better use than for storage. Also great when I wait to use Psychic Strike but they dont give me a chance so I just store land instead.
Creature:
AEtherling: Mainly a win condition for control match ups. I make them tap out, cast this when they cant counter, then win. Also good for when my opponent doesnt have any worthwhile spells or creatures, so I can win without them.
Arcanis the Omnipotent
: Draw power that can escape death by running to my hand. Even if I only can use his ability once or twice, it can turn around games very quickly.
Dimir Doppelganger: I absolutely love his ability, so I made him 1 of the main combo-pieces. In my opinion, he is a very underused card. I mainly combo him with Life's Finale and my other general mill cards, such as Psychic Strike and Pilfered Plans.
Drift of Phantasms: Should be called tutor of phantasms because its better than a tutor in my deck: its a tutor with legs! Great for blocking and also the main searcher in the deck, the other being
Jace, Architect of Thought
. Just look at my mana curve and youll see its potential.
Vampire Nighthawk: Does this need an explanation? Ill give it one anyway. I can fly over them to deal damage, block to gain life, and at worst tie in battle (except to first strike). This card can turn around games with ease.
Planeswalkers:
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver: My personal favorite card. I only need 2 Ashiok in here because unfortunately there are many match ups where I get nothing from Ashiok. I also only need 2 because when I want it I can usually search for (who knows what Ashioks gender is?) using Drift of Phantasms or
Jace, Architect of Thought
.
Jace, Architect of Thought
: An all around awesome card. It allows me to power down my opponents rush, draw cards, and (my personal favorite) steal their best card and search my library for another Jace to use.
Instants + Sorceries:
Hero's Downfall: Very good removal. CMC=3 so I can search for it and its able to take down walkers or creatures at instant speed. Very fun.
Drown in Sorrow: Basically, I drop this on turn 3 or 4 every time against aggro decks and hope that it kills most everything. What it doesnt kill I try to kill with Vampire Nighthawk or Hero's Downfall but it usually kills a lot of stuff, especially against tokens.
Pilfered Plans: Draw stuff, they mill stuff. I like this card because it does a lot for me. CMC=3 is convenient, although almost never searched out. It can help me have mana consistency early game when I need to hit my drops and give me more cards in hand to cause trouble with. Although 2 cards isnt many, it does add up and make a difference pretty quickly. I need a healthy supply of cards to combo off of in this deck, and this card gives me just that.
Psychic Intrusion: I love this card. I can take the last card in their hand that they were hoping to win with, and if theres nothing worthwhile in the hand I can always go to their graveyard and steal something Ive milled or killed. I would take this card over Thoughtseize any day because I can turn around and play it to cause even more hurt. It may not be the best card in existence, but it totally matches my stealing theme.
Boomerang: One of my favorite cards and the lowest CMC in my deck. Its main use is dodging threats. I can escape a board wipe (my own included) or removal to save a creature or I can return a planeswalker to save it from an attack or reset its loyalty if I open with a minus or want to use it twice. Overall a great card.
Far / Away
: One of the weirder choices but also one of my favorite cards. Boomerang for creatures only and also a way to handle decks that focus on a single very powerful creature.
Away
can handle even protection and indestructible as well as hexproof, which makes it one of the most powerful removal spells available. I may not get to choose my target, but I can often destroy all of the other options before casting with a Drown in Sorrow, Hero's Downfall, or Life's Finale. I can also use
Far
to force a target for
Away
.
Life's Finale: Great removal that fuels my other cards by filling their grave. 6 mana is a lot, but its worth it.
Psychic Strike: This card does almost everything. Countermagic is always good, even if its only a little. It also mills which helps for Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver, Psychic Intrusion, and Dimir Doppelganger.
Well, thats everything. If there is any card I need to elaborate more on, please leave a comment. If I have a major hole or weakness, also please comment. If you dont want to comment on the first two, then please comment on the sideboard (what to mainboard / sideboard for game 1). If you dont comment for the first three reasons, then please +1 so I get more attention and help.
Thanks for reading, commenting, and +1ing!
