I was doing some testing against your deck with my blue red madness deck and damn, yours is tough to beat! Good luck at the PPTQ.

@PhnxLdr

What was your record if you don't mind me asking?

Any particular reason you are running Avacyn's Judgment as opposed to say another copy of Grasp of Darkness? Just as an example. Are you playing it primarily for the Mandess side of it?

I was also wondering why Tormenting Voice over Read the Bones? It is 1 mana less and you don't lose 2 life, but it is a very nice way to filter the top 2 cards if it's something you don't need.

Has Pulse of Murasa been good for you? I had it originally in my Jund list but ended up cutting it for more removal.

It is worth noting I haven't had a chance to test my deck too :)

These might seem questions with obvious answers but your deck seems very solid when compared to mine, and while I don't like copying other decks, I do like learning from them, so I am trying to get my bearings with what I might be able to swap :)

Pulse of Murasa is really good because it provides attrition and life. I can see where you needed more removal in your list because it lacks consistent draw outlets for removal, but Tireless Tracker lets me move through the deck faster and Goblin Dark-Dwellers let me recast those spells. Pulse allows me to use creatures defensively in Aggro match-ups and use the lifegain as a buffer, and it gets me the best creature in the graveyard in the Control match-ups in the later game.

I'm testing Tormenting Voice as a Madness Outlet but I havent liked it and am probably switching it back to Read the Bones or Painful Truths.

I'm running the Avacyn's Judgment to make it easier on the Mana Base, and have something to do with the Lightning Axe discard, Im prolly cutting one for a From Under the Floorboards because I want to test the card.

Grasp seems really rough here. Its hard to cast, and you want it early. i feel like avacyn's judgement, or something like roast would be better suited.

OutspokenFerret, I've got a Jund list in the works - budget, but surprisingly totally different in basic ideas from this. I can link it here if you'd like - it seems like I could get some ideas from here (if you don't mind suggesting) and you might get some ideas from there. Best of luck with testing!

Mr_Flippers13 - I have been toying with dropping the count on Grasp of Darkness, but it seems like 4 toughness is just such a sweetspot in the format, encompassing everything including dealing with Avacyn the turn she is played, I'm still testing so I might be dropping the 3rd for a Roast, but I'll have to test it out.

NotSquishedYet - Feel free to post your list, Id love to take a look!

I haven't got it updated for SOI yet, but it's just about rotation-proof. Jund Reanimator Hatebears is a bit strange... but it seems to be working. Here goes:

The Single-Minded Mechanism

Standard* NotSquishedYet

18 VIEWS

You should try out Sin Prodder. Yes, I've been testing it, no, I don't think it's a trap-- especially with Goblin Dark-Dwellers, Pulse of Murasa, AND Kolaghan's Command in your list. He's just card advantage that demands to be dealt with and a painful threat besides, definitely value town.

I'm trying him out in my own Jund list (damn, they seem like popular colors): Arlinn's Midrange Menagerie :) which is more creature and red-based, but you can test him out there if you want. In my testing I've been assuming worst-case scenarios where my opponent has enough life to just throw everything into my graveyard (which is unlikely) and even then it's great. Only situation it doesn't seem optimal is t3 if you don't have enough lands in your hand to hit your 5-curve.

Also, I'm not sure if you tried this in testing too much, but I found that Read the Bones was better with Goblin Dark-Dwellers, since you can recast it and you probably want better selection anyway to get rid of removal spells that don't do much against whatever board you're facing.

Fiery Impulse is probably a good sideboard card. Kozilek's Return, too. You could run Fiery Temper with the Lightning Axes, it's been pretty fun in my testing. I'm surprised you're not running any of the Foreboding Ruins since you have a significant amount of black early on? But your manabase looks difficult anyway so I can't tell just by looking at it!

Anyway looks like a lot of fun, I'll have to keep an eye on Tireless Tracker if you think he's that good!

Thoughts on The Gitrog Monster and Mina and Denn, Wildborn? They seem supportive of each other, and great to play right after Tireless Tracker.

@abby315

I had tried Sin Prodder in the list before I made it public and I am a man obsessed with consistency, and giving my opponents a choice isn't in my blood, being a Blue player at heart.

I had had Read the Bones in for the longest and actually forgot why I wasn't running Painful Truths when I was looking at the deck last night and put it in, but you are totally right, it should be Read the Bones.

Fiery Temper looks like a really good option, something I'd have to test, but definitely promising.

You are very right, it has taken a lot of tuning and tweaking to finalize a mana base that works, but I don't think I realized that Foreboding Ruins was in this sets land cycle for whatever reason, now I gotta figure out how to slot them in, because it is definitely worth having around.

As for the sideboard options, thank you so much for the suggestions, as I tend to struggle when designing a sideboard :D.

@NotSquishedYet

Although that combo seems insanely strong, I am not a fan of sacrificing other powerful attrition-based creatures like Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, Pia and Kiran Nalaar, and Goblin Dark-Dwellers to add them in. I am definitely looking into The Gitrog Monster but I'm not quite sold yet on it deserving the 5 slot in the deck.

I don't really have any suggestions, but good luck!

Having taken a couple test draws, this deck looks GORGEOUS. It's gotta be a blast to actually play. I mean, those Sylvan Advocates alone are horrible to play around once they're online.

RAcast_Blaster

Thanks! I've been testing extensively, and it has indeed been a ton of fun :D

I'm loving the look of this deck, but those grasps are really bothering me. Have you considered Sinister Concoction over it? Its another discard outlet alongside unconditional removal.

Qal Sisma Behemoth, Tormented Thoughts...

Bit of a jank combo, but each piece is alright - and if you pull it off, it puts you miles ahead in card advantage as early as turn 4. Think it might be worth including?

@Jawaswag - I have a different list that I was testing running Sinister Concoction and I have to say it was unimpressive, it costs too much in attrition to really justify especially since to run it I'd have to lower the amount of cards for Goblin Dark-Dwellers to work with.

@NotSquishedYet - Although it does put them significantly behind when it does go off, each individual piece of the combo isnt powerful enough that I want to devote slots in an already very compact list to warrant running it. In a Midrange list such as this it is very important that you stick more towards synergy than combos since you want each card to have individual usefullness that is enhanced by other cards in the list. Like Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet paired with Chandra, Flamecaller, both cards are powerful individually, but Kalitas paired with Chandra's -X, allows you to deal 1-4 damage to all creatures and make Zombies based on how many of your opponents creatures died. This is a key point that seperates the jank from the dank and although I love me some good jank, I am currently trying to maintain consistency.

@JawaswagI also forgot to mention that Grasp hits Archangel Avacyn and can be cast instantaneously, the Grasps may look like they are hard to cast, but I normally have no trouble.

Not sure why you are playing Fiery Temper with only 2 discard outlets. I would play more Roasts over it, or Avacayn's Judgement if you want a madness removal spell. Also, no Chandra, Flamecaller?

Oops, commented without seeing the Chandra's...

I am just testing Fiery Tempers but will prolly switch back to Roast soon

What do you think about Avatar of the Resolute.

@n4pesto

While I think Avatar of the Resolute has potential, in this list Sylvan Advocate is easier to cast and it's conditions to grow are easier to meet, but I think in a list utilizing a full set of Hangarback Walkers and Olivia, Mobilized for War as well as some other cards that give +1/+1 counters it could be a powerhouse.

Aye. What's there not to like in a 2cmc 3/2 Reach,Trample creature that might come on the table as an even bigger creature. But I do see the point, in the current list it wouldn't be on its full potential.

Would you please take a look in my BU control brew. I really would like to have anykind of feedback. n4pesto's Standard control.

Grasp makes more sense once Avacyn enters the conversation. In regards to dark dwellers, as you've only got 2 in the list right now, the concoction let's you hold removal fairly easily in addition to possibly letting you release some zombies From Under the Floorboards