I finally have this deck tweaked out and it works pretty well. It can deal with most types of decks and I haven't run into one yet that I don't at least have a fighting chance against. It works particularly well against control and midrange and is passable against aggro.
The general strategy is to control early and mid game with hand destruction and creature hate, then toss out a couple big creatures mid game and seal the deal in end game with direct damage or pingy damage from various sources. The deck is very well rounded so far and works like a sleeper hold.
Early game
Thoughtseize is optimal. If I have some creature hate in my hand, and they haven't pulled a win condition or control card that I can't deal with, I usually pull their earliest play out of their hand, just to slow them down.
Shrieking Affliction also goes out around this time.
Guttersnipe is a bit of a monster in this deck. It's a 2/2 for 3 and I have some seriously terminal threats in this deck, so removal is likely to pass this guy over, which is great. I'm rocking 17 instants and sorcerys, and if they don't have an early creature he can even attack a couple of times sometimes. He's also a chump blocker. Getting multiples of him in play is unbelievable.
Turn 3 Mind Rot is also a winner, or a turn 4 Mind Rot with a Guttersnipe out, even better.
Early/Mid
Now is the time to Anger of the Gods if neccessary, but if they don't have an overwhelming number of creatures on the board, targeted removal may be a better optinon.
Crypt Ghast goes in to play which speeds up the deck nicely and means that the following turn I can drop any card in the deck. It also makes my first direct win condition viable in that
Rakdos's Return
now hits like a truck. Also fitting with my sneaky "ping them to death with damage they can't block" win condition, extort.
Generally a removal target.
Stab Wound
is an interesting card and I'm liking it a lot. This deck can blow an opponent out, but Stab Wound and Shrieking Affliction just make death a slow inevitability for some decks. I'm only running one at the moment, but when I get it I'm usually pretty happy about it. It can save me up to two life a turn and it turns the screws every turn, which I like. It can also just kill some smaller threats outright, which is nice.
Liliana of the Dark Realms thins the deck out, allows me to either smack them for a lot of damage with a creature or kill a creature and ultimately lets me
Rakdos's Return
my opponent for a jillion. Honestly, the land and card advantage and deck thinning is probably the best part of the deal.
Desecration Demon seems to pretty nicely stop a lot of aggro decks in their tracks so long as they aren't generating crazy amounts of tokens. If they rely on 4 or 5 fast, 2/2 haste creatures and fliers, DD is going to slow them down a bit. This should also be around the time when they've run out of cards, so putting new creatures out every turn to sac to him is generally a problem.
Against other decks, now is when you start punching them in the face with a demon if they don't have removal or a bounce that will work on him.
That's great when it works, but generally the threat of him and his ilk, plus the card advantage generated by hand destruction that keep cards like Shrieking Affliction and
Stab Wound
in play.
Rakdos, Lord of Riots is a sexy card for this deck. I took out a Desecration Demon to put him in. A little harder to get into play, but the following turn the deck can be dropping any creature in it for 1 or 2 mana. That's just icing, though. Mostly he's a 6/6 flying trampler on turn 4.
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can also be played to great effect in the mid game. Sometimes two or three cards and a couple damage empties them out and turns the tide of the game. Don't forget Guttersnipe, now this card is one mana for one damage or better.
Mid/Late
Master of Cruelties, while a win condition unto himself, is really more green hate than anything else. He's a wall that can kill almost anything and live to tell about it. 9/9 trampler? No problem. He helps me stabilize against green ramp, though his lack of flying is unfortunate for other colors that can ramp into big baddies. He's also great against decks that don't have a lot of creatures. Control, by now, should have an empty hand, so he can often sail on through and clinch the game.
Late game and win
Sire Of Insanity
is a game ender. Against some decks, Blood Scrivener can be boarded in to good effect with this guy. Otherwise, Shrieking Affliction just works its gentle magic.
If Liliana has been out a while or a couple of Crypt Ghasts have managed to stay in play, now might be the time for a
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for a million to the face.
By now a lightening Bolt with a couple of Guttersnipe in play will do 7 damage for a surprising, low cost, direct damage win.
