He is neccesary. You have a plan to get to the land count you need and he is an immediate answer to any planeswalker, especially Ugin. He also moonlights as a kill spell (and life Gain), and creates board presence without cost of cards. Probably 8 or 9.

Hey CapitonMurfish - I read your commentary on Rakshasa Deathdealer. Something you said that really resonated there was "I've been testing since for some more aggro types cards to pull into this deck..." I think that if you're looking for that versatility, I say go for it and try it out. I'm not too interested in putting Deathdealer in this deck. He really is an aggro creature that wants to pound some damage through, but that's not what this deck does or has been doing. I do think, perhaps, this is your reaction to having a harder time with the aggro in your local meta than I had this past FNM, where I was able to hold off the aggro long enough to wipe and stabilize. Give it a shot, though, and let me know how it goes.

What you had thought to take out was a Liliana, a Courser/or/Caryatid, and a Silence the Believers. I think you might make something work, but for this particular deck, those are some key pieces that I'd be taking out. Lilly finds me what I need or, if things are stabilized, gets rid of some cards that my opponent hasn't cast yet. Courser/Caryatid smooths the mana but, more importantly, starts getting my lands from the top of my deck so I can uncover the good things of this deck faster. And Silence...Silence will help you more times than you might think...because you have the mana build-up, Silence will often times take care of 2-3 creatures for me. And those mono-green decks that love shoving Nylea in my face? She's almost always activated and, when she is, I can get rid of her. No other way in this deck to do it other than Ugin.

You can certainly run variations on this deck, and I encourage it. For me, though, Rakshasa is just outside of what I want to do for this deck. I'd be TEMPTED to toss one of him in here for late game, sure...but really, I just don't know what I could afford to take out for him at this time.

Jdvanliew, worst comes to worst? I just don't use him at all...come up against an Abzan aggro...and then I Wealth them to take their Deathdealer...lol...THEN I'll see how he does in this deck.

Hi there, acarmelo1 - thanks for commenting on the deck and checking it out.

There was a time, not too long ago, that I decided to take out Garruk, Apex Predator from the deck. Then someone came along, oh, I think his name was Aezuriel, and reminded me how dumb I was. LOL ;)

I'll say this, Garruk is very necessary in this deck. As Aezuriel mentioned above, Garruk has so much versatility for a control build such as this. First off, he's one of those planeswalkers that has two +1 types, not just one. So he's not as narrow. Kill a planeswalker or make a 3/3 deathtouch beast that can kill anything else. I think that's beautiful. Your opponent have a huge Polukranos, Stormbreath, or a super-huge Genesis Hydra over there? Garruk eats him, gives me life. And his ultimate, of which I'm never racing to get too, really, can be a total overrunning game-over. He's good. Dare I saw, I often am more excited to draw him mid-game than I am an Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, and everyone seems to be salivating over him right now.

To your point about potentially putting Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver in your mainboard, either as a replacement for Garruk or something else, I really think, in this build, Ashiok is best in the sideboard and brought in against the control match-ups, the heavy creature match-ups, etc...

If you don't own a Garruk or cannot find a trade for him somewhere...I would then suggest possibly another Kiora, the Crashing Wave (because I can't tell you how many games I've documented thus far where I've won simply from her ultimate. Not a whole lot of decks in the meta right now that I know of that can withstand a new 9/9 every single turn for the rest of the game, especially EARLY. If not her, I've played with Jace, the Living Guildpact in this deck in the earlier days and he did some good work for me. Also, perhaps toss in one Silumgar, the Drifting Death into the mainboard. He's so very hard for many decks out there to deal with, and can offer you some good protections.

Hope some of that helps ya!

Oh, and by the way.....one of my friends came across a Villainous Wealth during a SPANISH Khans of Tarkir draft and he traded it to me. I put it into my deck. Let me tell you, I almost bust a gut every time I've cast it because I put on a devilish smile, use my best Dos Equis' Most Interesting Man Alive voice, and utter "riqueza vil" in a villain voice. It's been pretty priceless, lol.

Hey loco.

I guess i was in a bit of a rage more to counter the aggro meta I'm playing at. However have been searching for good aggro options since tHE original versions of the deck and I do still think that the deathdealer is a winner. She may not be in mainboard but I will try her out through my sideboard a let you know how it goes. Im more or less the kind of person that doesn't like good decks like this one to get its butt handed to it within 4 or 5 turns. I will give the deck another try but, I will have to squeeze in biles. Even the players and guys that know me and see me play the deck say that the deck needs biles for handling the current ranking meta out there since most decks nowadays are net decks or copy brew decks. I understand the reasoning behind silence the believers and have used it much like you say. So that means something else may have to come out.

I also understand the usefulness of liliana but she's just too slow for the meta im at. Everytime she came up early or late game, she either never lived pass a turn or she came out last.when everything I could do to stop my death was already made.

AND TO THE UNSURE COMMENTER, I AGREE WITH THE OTHERS, GET THAT GARRUKK IN THERE!!!!

Hey CapitonMurfish - I hear what yer sayin'. Here's the thing about Bile Blight. You may remember that I once mainboarded 3 copies of Bile in this deck. Around that time I still ran Downfall, Charm, Aetherspouts...that was pretty much it for removal. Oh wait, and one single copy of In Garruk's Wake. I needed Bile at that time, totally. However, back then, I didn't have access to Crux of Fate.

Nowadays, at least from my meta, I don't have opponents throwing down 2-3 copies of the same card. They may throw out a Hordeling Outburst or a Raise the Alarm, but it's just weird...I'm not too worried about it and haven't needed to be. I'll have a Caryatid out there to block...a Courser to do the same...and whenever needed, some quick spot removal with a Charm, Downfall or Silence. And considering I have a lot of tap lands coming out and maybe a turn 2 play Caryatid to smooth out the mana, There's very few times I was ever casting Blight on turn 2. So take me to turn 3, I have removal at my disposal. Two turns later, I CRUX. If you read my last update from FNM...that aggro mono red was certainly menacing. Totally. I took 5 damage before I dropped my 2nd land. However, I removed threats a turn later and stabilize.

If there's enough reason to be token-scared, from Hordeling, Raise the Alarm, Elspeth or Hornet Queen....I have Game 2 and I can side in the Drown in Sorrow. (You may see I added two Bile to the side now). I just haven't -personally- been missing the Bile in the main, contrary to what others may think you need to do. Also, when I had Bile in the side, I didn't bring them in G2.

But, that's for me and my opponents. Perhaps you've just been seeing WAY more aggro than me and in that case, Bile may make more sense to you.

I just wanted to give my take on why Bile lost its place in my mainboard.

I hear yeah loco...

judging from how you talk about the deck it seems that we play very similar to the Ideas what to do with the deck. I believe in my case, I just get the wrong draws at the wrong time with this deck. For me sometimes my spot removal never seems to come in when I need it in some games(1 or 2). I really dislike that inconsistency. Biles I figure would make it alot harder to be inconsistent when atleast 3 out of every 5 cards down is a kill spell. So again I love what you do to the deck, and I like piloting it for FNMs. Now that its changed to a more planeswalker control type and have good board wipes to add, I want to critic it further by figuring more ways to add synergy to it without taking out the original idea which was villainous wealth. The only other road not taken with this deck is the aggro side which so happens to fall in line with my local meta. The deck still works I believe minus liliana for my meta. I tried Worst Fears before and even though it was used against me, once I got it, it always set my opponents back putting their boards future in my hand. So that maybe a option along with the deathdealer for this fnm.

Idk I've been thinking of rakshasa for a sideboard on red decks with rabblemaster their 1/1 goes and if they attack with rabble block with regen is always nice... I will put this into more consideration he can be an answer to a lot of my issues at my local field I'll do a rebuild n try him this weekend n let you guys know how it goes.... Set haven't been on in a few weeks got a back injury and been on pain meds all week

I see, I will try to find one. Thanks!!!

just updated my deck list and put last FNM's results out if you guys wanna check it out its Charming villains

Oh and btw if you guys have as much problems with burn decks that I'm having this Rakshasa Deathdealer + Feed the Clan combo is really nice. for 4 mana you get 10 life and a 4/4 its been play testing very nicely.

I'm making one small change to the deck prior to FNM tomorrow night.

I'm taking heed to some advice on here. Though I find some value in Liliana Vess in the main, either early or late game, I also see some light in the points made here that she can be "slow."

So with that, I'm taking her out of the main. I'll be replacing her with one Silumgar, the Drifting Death. In testing these last two days, I'm finding having one copy in the main has been helpful when he comes up. He has a big butt for protection, he can sweep some 1-butt dorks on the other side if needed, and he's a body that can survive the Crux of Fate that I toss out there every once in a while.

As I'm putting one dragon in the main from the side, I've decided to add a Palace Siege into the sideboard. Also, in testing, this came in handy for two scenarios. One, the more oft than not "grindy" game that can go on for some time, whether it's a control match or a mid-range match. Two, in those cases against a burn deck. It was valuable each time it came out in testing, so it's worth a spot in the sideboard.

We'll see if I'm lucky enough to have another wildly successful FNM for the second week in a row.

Great deck design around VW....I'm sleeving it up and giving it a ride tonight at my local FNM. The meta at my local store is very aggro heavy, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh, hey, awesome, Intlfamily! Thanks for giving it the consideration. Would LOVE to hear how your matches go with it here in the comments when you get back. Take as much space as you like, if you do.

As you can read through some of the comments, aggro heavy can be tricky, but unlike many other control builds like U/W and U/B, this doesn't just fold to aggro in game 1. There's ways to play around it. Game 2, throw in those Drown in Sorrows and that additional Silumgar, the Drifting Death, and I never really sweat in game 2.

Check out my latest update at the top to see how my FNM went last weekend when this deck went 4-0, as there are aggro matches up there that I documented.

Good luck, and thanks for the +1!

Just play tested against my son's Temur Aggro deck......Wow! A few removal/counter spells, then steal his creatures/spells with Villainous Wealth and we are off to the races.....Can't wait to try it in a few hours at my local FNM!

Good luck! Lemme know how it goes! I'm hoping for similar results tonight as I had last weekend!

Here we go in 20 minutes

Going back into testing mode this week in anticipation for next Friday's FNM.I will test this nightly and see how it goes.

TAKING OUT

-1 Silence the Believers - My control buddy was right. The only reason this was in the deck deck previously was to take care of multiple targets. With Crux of Fate, Silence becomes less important.

-1 AEtherspouts - Much for the same reason as above. However, it does have it's uses and is a good surprise. I previously ran two copies in the main. I'm keeping one main and one in the side. I will bring in the second one against creature-heavy decks as well as an additional accompaniment to Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver.

-1 Dissolve - Simply just trading one counterspell for aonther. Disdainful Stroke will slide into its place as a less-mana intensive option. So two Dissolves, one Stroke.

-1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death - Now that I'm bringing in Bile Blight back into the mix, I don't need to run the dragon in the main, reducing the number of high-cost cards in the deck. I will still have one dragon sitting in the sideboard.

-1 Drown in Sorrow and -1 Thoughtseize, both from the sideboard - With Bile Blight back in the mix, I can reduce the number of Drowns from three to two. Four Thoughtseize is too many and I don't need to be THAT scared of control matches. In their place, I have one additional Bile and an Aetherspouts.

PUTTING IN THE MAINBOARD

+1 Disdainful Stroke - Lighter, quicker counterspell, taking the place of one Dissolve.

+1 Hero's Downfall - To run the full playset, taking the place of one Silence the Believers.

+2 Bile Blight - Because everyone here was right and I was regretfully wrong, lol.Last weekend, going 4-0, I didn't feel like I needed them when I didn't run them, and I didn't. Last night, I paid the price with a majority of aggro players and Drowns not coming up when I needed them. I need the extra insurance. Community...I am so sorry, lol!

Will be testing this new configuration all this week in anticipation for next Friday.

Well I'm not sure how much you want to hear this, but if your trying to get rid of some high drops the weakest card here is Villainous Wealth unfortunately. I have been playing a Sultai control deck that has gone undefeated for the last 2 weeks, which is to say since I took wealth out. Don't get me wrong, it's hilarious, but it's just so not very good in both control and combo based match ups, which appear to be taking standard by storm right now. I would recommend replacing them with a third Dig Through Time and a pair of Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver.

If you're Interested in what I'm talking about this is it. "BUG Buddies" (undefeated in competitive play)

Haha, can't do it. Wealth is the reason I'm playing Sultai at all. It's the reason I play the deck and I don't want to go the devotion route. Last week I went 4-0, this week, 2-2, ups and downs. Wealth let's me have FUN in the match, win or lose, which is more than I can say for any other deck in my playing history. It's weird. But thanks for the input! Wealth is here to stay!

:)

Thats what I figured, I know how long you've been working on this build and I've followed its construction for a couple months now. It's the reason I built the deck myself, but if your not going to take wealth out you should consider putting dictate back in, even just as a 1 of. with out the super ramp wealth becomes a far more ordinary card. Keep on playing what you love and loving what you play.

A one-of Dictate... why not!! :)

I do agree with Andrew but I still also feel that even though it more of a ordinary card now it still beats I went 3-2 in last nite. It wasn't hard at all to cast the last useful card in my hand with 6 mana I.e. villainous wealth as a last ditch effort. And especially against the aggro decks smashed their team with their own cards. Most times I found it also easy to aether a team and villain them back into play knowing the mana I would need. And also many situations with courser on their side wealth their top deck card away or on my side depending. This was huge against mardu with two crackles and a lightning strike clearing his side of the board. Only reason he beat me is cause I didn't see downfalls and sided incorrectly game 2 pushing it to the very last turn.

CapitonMurfish, awesome to go 3-2... Were there cards that you thought under-performed for you last night?