Celestial Flare is hard to really optimize. Maybe consider Doom Blade or Searing Spear instead (in the sideboard). I was trying to play with it in a draft deck and it just was a stinker. Opponent would attack with 3 creatures and I have that in hand: with doom blade or searing spear I get to pick what dies (usually), but with Celestial Flare, they get to pick and they always pick the thing that helps them most. Also useless against not-combatant creatures which are still a problem. Yuck. Targeted, instant-speed removal is better.

I like Ratchet Bomb , but you might want to run that in the sideboard. Also, Illness in the Ranks seems redundant and not as good as Ratchet Bomb . If you're running against a token deck, might as well use these two sideboard slots for more Ratchet Bomb , right? And of course Ratchet Bomb is also useful against a variety of deck types, especially considering you have no 1, 2, 4, or 6 drops.

Is Chalice of Life  ^Flip interesting as an alt win con / way to activate Archangel of Thune pre-combat? Might be too slow / gimmicky.

Blind Obedience is an all-around good card, as you say. It really shines against haste, and it is an okay-not-great way to get past a creature (the turn it comes in you might get one more guy past them). The extort trigger is handy... maybe it's just what you need. However, it might be worth considering Weapon Surge . If the Archangel of Thune is out your guys get buffed before the "normal" combat damage, and you might just wipe their guys off the board altogether with first strike. Or Zealous Strike if you prefer. Having a combat trick or two might not be a bad idea. Blind Obedience is never going to kill their creature, you know what I mean? It's a good card, but you kind of 0-for-1 yourself when you play it (a bit).

I'm looking at the Madcap Skills wondering if you're opening yourself up to getting 2-for-1'ed. What would Lightning Mauler look like in this slot?

Pithing Needle - great against planeswalkers, but you're running 4x Dreadbore already. Also good against utility lands like Nephalia Drownyard , but if you're at the drownyard stage against some kind of Esper Control / Sphinx's Revelation deck and Pithing Needle is your answer, haven't you already lost? I mean, it's okay, but I'd rather see the pressure stay on.

I also think this deck wants Boros Charm . Sometimes keeps your permanents alive with indestructability, sometimes double-strike for massive extra damage or extra life gain (and possibly an extra Archangel of Thune activation), sometimes just burn 4. Seems pretty solid.

Sideboard:
-2x Illness in the Ranks , +2x Ratchet Bomb
-4x Celestial Flare , +2x Doom Blade , +2x Searing Spear
Maybe sub the Pithing Needle for something more aggressive

Mainboard:
-2x Madcap Skills , +2x Weapon Surge
-2x Ratchet Bomb , +2x Boros Charm

I +1 the deck before I even read it just for the name alone.

After reading the deck I like it even more lol. Now the only issue I see is it doesnt look like you are going to have anything to do until at least turn 2. I was there was ramp somewhere in these colours but the only one I can think of doesnt really help you here Crypt Ghast . Have you thought of Imposing Sovereign instead of Blind Obedience ?

+1 for the name Iol

I'm really sorry to write this. I love the name of the deck. I really do. But this deck is just.. I don't know. I built it today and played it at least 10 games against different types of decks. And I've won 2 games, and only because my opponent was mana-screwed. There is just not enough synergy, the deck is too slow, I don't know. It really hurts me to write this and I do not want to bash you in any way. I just want to warn you, before you invest hundreds of dollars: This deck is not working :(

Just looking at it I can agree with Mytling. I see potential, which is a great thing! But Creature was your cmc is way to high. I think you should sideboard Blood Baron of Vizkopa . In terms of strength and overall use, Obzedat, Ghost Council is better. I think sideboarding Devour Flesh and Ratchet Bomb . That would give you room for more creatures such as Imposing Sovereign and/or Champion of the Perish. Path of Bravery will work really well with those cards and if you swing with 4 it will trigger Angelic Accord .

I like the direction of this deck! LOVE THE NAME! Just keep working on it!

+1 for Creativity and the Name!

eheitzman would you really consider taking the Pithing Needle out of the sideboard. Currently they are one card that is in just about every sideboard I build. Not only can they shut down a planswalker but they can also stop an AEtherling or any other creature with an activated ability. And being able to shut down a turn 4 drownyard is a big deal.

This is not the deck you are looking for...

I agree this is too slow and needs work, the deck has performed well for me in testing unless it was against any deck with blue in it. Me and a friend tested it against Jund and I split matches, performed really well against gruul aggro with a ratchet bomb and a jedi, I would get two counters on the bomb, spot remove until they would commit more or they would just get run over after turn 7ish, against BUG control I felt useless...

Mytling what did you test against?

overall I thought it was a fun idea and a cool name :) hopefully Theros brings something to make this more competitive, but the name and flavor are fun enough to keep me working on it.

thanks for the feedback so far.

I think Theros is going to bring some Green Hero Humans. You are going to want to go white/green or black/green humans after rotation. That is just my feeling

NeoHazard I agree the Pithing Needle is important in sideboard, AEtherling is a real problem, not many in my meta play drownyard but a lot have been playing the AEtherling as the finisher to all control decks.

+1 just for invention of the deck name.

I think +2 Bubbling Cauldron and +2 Assembly Legion supporting gain life mechanic with angel of thrune and angelic accord.

I playtested against g/w midrange, g/u ramp/counters, boros aggro, naya midrange and esper control.

Hey, I run a similar RWB midrange strategy and I can tell you you need some sort of earlier removal to get past aggro strategies. Check out my list My Dark Twisted Nightmare. However as many people are suggesting Imposing Sovereign has been really good in play-testing. Also I found that due to the fact that our decks dont produce a large board state, I had a hard time flickering Obzedat, Ghost Council without leaving my board open. Try also Boros Reckoner as it usually slows down opponents and Slayers' Stronghold to get value of your top decks late game.

cool start though, can't wait until I get my Archangel of Thune

This is totally rad, +1 would play this if I wasn't dumping all my energy into Modern

Hi! I liked your deck (+1 from me), so I did a playtest against one that I'm woking on (AEtherling is Alright). Details on the game are listed there and my thoughts on how it went. Hope you find this helpful. Best, -Apop

Consider Spark over Pillar of Flame to speed things up a bit.

I would also consider Assemble the Legion and Vault of the Archangel at 2x each.

I would not use Spark over Pillar of Flame , the latter kills undying and Voice of Resurgence .

Why do you call it Spark ? Is it an insider? It's called Shock ._.

Mytling... lol, I totally missed that. Good catch. I wouldn't use either Spark or Shock over Pillar of Flame .

;-)

Your deck seems really midrangy, Madcap Skills is sweet with the Jedi but ultimately seems ineffectual in the deck given the overall strategy. I obviously haven't playtested as much as you but it seems like something along the lines of Sorin, Lord of Innistrad or Path of Bravery would be good in this slot They seem to resonate with your theme a bit more.

Agreed Madcap Skills is too cute. I need to just add more threats, i feel like i run out of gas. Maybe keyrunes in their place to ramp to turn 4 five drops since most of my threats are in that slot?

Take out 2 Imposing Sovereign and put in two Blind Obedience in your side board.

I made a copy of the deck with your sided in cards for control and will try a play test for you with my deck to see how it plays out. So you dont have to keep it configured this way if you dont want to. Not sure if I'll get to it today or not, but will let you know.

Thanks Apoptosis, you are a very thorough deck brewer :)

This deck pretty much obliterated mine. I want it sooo bad now. +1