Thanks for the recommendations Drakender. I will be sure to pick up a playset of Avacyn's Judgment, since I can now see how that can be a better card than Dual Shot for example.
I like that Alms of the Vein can be a 6 point life swing for just one black mana. I will however apply some of your recommendations and see how it fares.
April 18, 2016 5:07 p.m.
I think the deck would play better putting more emphasis on aggression. You can drop the Alms of the Vein altogether in favor of more copies of Fiery Temper. You should never have to gain life in such an aggressive deck, and Fiery Temper offers more versatility as it can take a threat off the board in addition to being able to deal 3 damage to your opponent. And both are equally priced, with and without madness.
I don't think Indulgent Aristocrat fits in the deck particularly well either. A 1/1 for 1cmc is rarely a good idea. The ability is nice, but it means giving up a creature you could be attacking with. The fact that it also costs a hefty 2 mana to use means you'll be getting your army out slower than you otherwise would, giving your opponent more time to stabilize.
April 20, 2016 3:27 p.m.
Second person to tell me that I must drop the Alms of the Vein, so I guess I will be doing that. Adding Fiery Temper in their place.
Will be replacing the Indulgent Aristocrat with some Bloodmad Vampire for now.
Thanks for the advice Daalot.
April 20, 2016 6:03 p.m.
Ravenous Bloodseeker is much better than Bloodmad Vampire if you want to stick more creatures in.
April 20, 2016 6:27 p.m.
Ok. I originally had Ravenous Bloodseeker in the deck. Swopped it out for Indulgent Aristocrat if I remember correctly.
April 20, 2016 6:36 p.m.
noblevegas says... #7
Lose the Ravenous Bloodseekers, and go to a full playset of Asylum Visitor. I run BR Vampires myself and these guys do work. They are either targets for spot removal or late-game draw engines; Great flexibility and a solid T2 play. You do lose the Madness enabler, but it reduces the likelihood of your opponent blocking in hopes of trading up on a two-for-one in their favor.
Personally I am not sold on Incorrigible Youths, since at its best it clogs the 3-drop spot, and at worst gives you little help. I would take them out, go up on one Olivia, Mobilized for War (If your deck is focused on her ability you want to be sure you have her early enough), and add in another Lightning Axe. This smooths out your curve, increases odds of enabling Madness to a greater benefit, and adds one more removal spell - you will need it.
Stensia Masquerade is simply a "win bigger" card. If you have it out and are already winning it just helps you do that more. If you are losing, it's a dud. You only get advantage during your attack phase. Everywhere else, it does nothing. As well, Ob Nixilis Reignited only really helps when you are ahead. If you are behind, his +1 may draw you an answer but it likely just gets you closer to lethal from your opponent. His -3 only answers one threat and it's likely your opponent already has a way to respond - especially in white. Take both out for Ruinous Path. You're gonna see a lot of planeswalkers in GR and xB decks, best to be on the offensive and take them out. If they don't have PWs, it has flexibility for creatures, too.
Call the Bloodline + Indulgent Aristocrat makes for a great alternative answer against Aggro decks to buy you time for your bigger threats. I've won games with this when my Olivias and Drana, Liberator of Malakirs didn't draw up fast enough.
Finally, use Rending Volley in the SB. Bant-based and xW decks are going to be popular early because of the SCG tournaments, and the ability to kill a big threat without being countered is a boon. Any xW deck should see it and Self-Inflicted Wound come in immediately. Causes serious problems for them if you draw them early. Also, you have no idea how good it feels to hit a flashed-in Archangel Avacyn Flip with a Rending Volley before her ETB trigger resolves.
April 21, 2016 1:50 p.m.
Thanks for the advice noblevegas. I had a look at your deck as well. Posted two questions on your deck.
I will try a full playset of Asylum Visitor for a while, to see how it goes. I am also going to buy another Olivia, Mobilized for War to push my numbers up to 3. Will also try to acquire at least two Rending Volleys.
April 21, 2016 3:01 p.m.
noblevegas covered pretty much everything. As I see it now I would take out the Stensia Masquerade and your single Incorrigible Youths for two copies of Olivia's Bloodsworn if you have them lying around. giving kalitas or Drana haste for only one red after, say, not having any cards left to trigger Olivia can be huge.
April 22, 2016 9:42 a.m.
farrowking37 says... #10
Insolent Neonate Is a great card in this deck. It's a solid turn one play, enables madness, and let's you draw a card. Very strong overall.
April 25, 2016 1:29 p.m.
I did initially have some Insolent Neonates in the deck farrowking37. I took them out for Olivia's Bloodsworn and Indulgent Aristocrat. What setup of creatures would you recommend?
April 27, 2016 5:04 p.m.
farrowking37 says... #12
I'd say try playing them instead of Olivia's Bloodsworn. I think that having another cheap madness enabler will be a little bit more useful, but It's worth testing.
April 28, 2016 8:07 a.m.
noblevegas says... #13
I do not think Insolent Neonate is as good as many make it out to be. Yes, it enables madness - but at the cost of itself. You do get a card out of it but it is likely you would only be using this to draw into answers when the board has stalled or you are behind. This is not the ideal time to be sacrificing creatures and reducing your board state. It's not overly helpful when you are ahead as you already have what you need working.
At this point I assume the deck is mostly working well for you overall. I haven't seen any updates regarding your time at FNMs or other events, but I assume you are mostly getting what you want.
I understand the idea with Inverter of Truth but I think that may be asking too much of your deck. You are running a bit creature heavy with limited removal or other answers. While you may be able to put much of that back if you draw him late-game, he's a dead card in hand for most of the time - and for longer if you aren't hitting your draws to fuel his usage. I'd take him out for a 2nd Grasp of Darkness. This card is solid removal for Bx decks as it hits nearly everything that is standard playable.
I have found Burn from Within to be a better Sideboard option than Avacyn's Judgment. It doesn't require madness to cast for X, and, while it does not hit multiple targets, it does remove indestructible from creatures like a +1'd Gideon, Ally of Zendikar - an extremely popular item in Wx decks right now. Your Languishes take care of decks going wide already, so use Burn from Within for decks that go tall instead.
Lose the Stensia Masquerades from the SB and replace with To the Slaughter. Esper Dragons showed some promise at the PT and will likely garner more interest from Control-Hungry players - it's an archetype that has been underplayed of late. To the Slaughter likely gets you around Dragonlord Ojutai's conditional Hexproof since he's typically the only one on the battlefield for your opponent - just be mindeful of counterspells. This also pairs well with Rending Volleys in your sideboard. It increases your odds of pulling an answer for Ojutai when your opponent is less able to do something. Just be mindful of play since To The Slaughter is preferred early game where the counterspell odds are lower and Rending Volley late game since it can't be countered.
April 28, 2016 12:01 p.m.
You really have given me a lot to consider here, thank you noblevegas.
I am also not entirely sold on Insolent Neonate in this deck. I mean, he has a role that he can fulfill, but he does not fit that well here. I think I have enough discard / madness enablers.
The sad truth and reality is that I can not attend many FNM games, since my girlfriend rules my MTG life with an iron fist. I can play pre-releases and Game Days from time to time, and I play with one of my co-workers almost daily during our lunch hour. I will be attending the coming SOI Game Day though, and I will be taking this deck along. I will be sure to update after the games.
I have a playset of Grasp of Darkness, so I can easily exchange it with Inverter of Truth. I want to play with the Inverter for just a little more, to see if he is worth it or not.
I just ordered my playset of Burn from Within now, so I can try it out. Use Judgement for wide and Burn for tall.
I can see how Stensia Masquerade can be problematic while behind or on the defence. It is a shame though. I would love for the best case scenario to just always be true, but alas. I currently do not have To the Slaughter, but I will see if I can get some. I am supposed to have three Ruinous Path lying around here somewhere, but I can only find two. I think planeswalkers are going to be a pain in the butt.
Thanks for taking your time and commenting on my deck.
April 28, 2016 5:01 p.m.
I am considering swapping out the Languish for another copy of Ruinous Path in the sideboard, because Planeswalkers man!
May 5, 2016 4:41 p.m.
I took languish out of my sideboard as well (for ruinous path). Languish is too slow and too counterproductive. Plus, if you find a situation where languish is beneficial for an aggro deck you've probably already lost.
I would say board your 2 main Ruinous Path in place of Languish and run 2 main Sinister Concoction. I recently went up to 4 of those. The card is just beautiful.
May 6, 2016 9:09 a.m.
danishofmiguel says... #17
So I don't think Call the Bloodline is a 1 of. If you have it in your deck, you want to build your deck around it. Run a playset of it. Call the Bloodline is a very good anti-control card because it almost gives you an endless supply of creatures. If you want to run Call the Bloodline, I would run playsets of Indulgent Aristocrat and Gorgers. Asylum Visitor is better because of his madness cost and Drana is likely better as a 3 drop than Olivia because she can buff your tokens and Olivia's discard outlet only gets in the way of the cards you need to discard to Call the Bloodline. (But I wouldn't fault you for running 2 Olivia's alongside 2 Dranas) I don't know that Lightning Axe is as good because you want to be able to hold cards to discard for tokens. Kalitas is also a strong creature here because you can sacrifice tokens to buff him. I think 2 of him is correct. I would also run some Goblin Dark-Dwellers because of it's difficulty to block and it's late game card advantage. Stensia's Masquerade is also good in this build because it buffs your tokens but I wouldn't run more than 2. I would play heavy removal to guarantee the dominance of your board presence. Also, in this build you can effectively run To the Slaughter and get the benefit of Delerium because you're running enchantments. (I would also run Evolving Wilds to get some lands in your graveyard.) Ruinous Path, Grasp of Darkness and Fiery Temper all belong here. Also, I would cut the inverter of truth. It won't help you with Delerium and you can get better value for your mana with Dark-dwellers and Kalitas as your curve toppers.
May 6, 2016 2:32 p.m.
NestorCoelho says... #18
Any reason to not running 4 Indulgent Aristocrat?
And 1 more copy of Call the Bloodline seems good too.
May 9, 2016 3:20 p.m.
RainbowGuts says... #19
No Foreboding Ruins?? It's a great card if you can play it round one. Lightning Axe is another wonderful card for a cheap cost that enables the madness and can clear out a decent amount of big swingers to keep those Ruinous Paths and Ultimate Price for the ones it can't get to. I find Call of the Bloodline and Indulgent Aristocrat too slow for a deck that rewards being well, mad and reckless. Incorrigible Youths is great to run as well since if you can get it out turn 3 for 4/3 haste. This is what I run Vampire Madness. I'm still tinkering with it since I run into the same problem as you, those pesky Planeswalkers! If I had the $$$ I'd drop it on a Chandra for the extra burn.
May 19, 2016 6 p.m.
Hey RainbowGuts, there is four Foreboding Ruins and four Smoldering Marsh in the deck. Up until today I had three Lightning Axe in the deck, but I swopped them out for Sinister Concoction just now, for testing purposes. I will consider bringing Incorrigible Youths back at some point. Thanks for your inputs.
May 19, 2016 6:12 p.m.
paulbmoore1980 says... #21
I would recommend removing 2 Foreboding Ruins. If you top deck those late game they will more than likely ETB tapped because as an aggro deck you NEED to have untapped land in play early on, otherwise it will slow you down a turn or 2. Also, in addition to removing the Ruins, you could drop 1 swamp and add 3 Drownyard Temple. You can use it as discard fodder, and still get it back late game if you really need to.
I personally run 4 copies of Insolent Neonate over the Indulgent Aristocrat. Neonate has menace and can get in early damage. Plus, you can leave mana open, block an attacking creature, discard and sac in response before damage is dealt to cast a madness card and draw another card. Or use it on your opponent's end step to madness cast an Asylum Visitor. Plus, if you manage to flip Liliana you can use her -X to bring the Neonate back for more madness/card draw shenanigans, and if she ultimates, well, you get the idea. See, now that I think about it, you might benefit from having more creatures that have madness costs like Incorrigible Youths or Twins of Maurer Estate, the latter of which will survive Languish or Grasp of Darkness.
May 27, 2016 2:23 p.m.
Thanks for the advice paulbmoore1980. I will run some tests with the Neonates instead of the Aristocrats.
Drakender says... #1
Seems good in general.
Not sure of Ravenous Bloodseeker, you seem to have enought way to discard your cards and you can't discard more than your hand. Not sure of Alms of the Vein. You should play someting more usefull like more Call the Bloodline (easy to sacrifice vampires with LIFELINK), Stensia Masquerade or Indulgent Aristocrat.
For the place it would make in your sideboard, I would say Avacyn's Judgment is good
April 16, 2016 9:51 a.m.