Gintaxian probe

I would use Gitaxian Probe and Manamorphose as filler cards, but I'm trying to keep the price down to as low as I can, and those are each a few dollars. I don't want to spend $12 on 4 cards for a deck I made as a joke.

wow i thought probe was like dollar tops Faithless Looting is pretty cheap

I guess, but the only turn I have open to play cards is my first turn, because Devoted Druid comes turn 2, and the combo comes turn 3. I could use Faithless Looting turn 1 to throw away any excess lands/combo pieces without having to mulligan. Thank you for the suggestion, I think I'll put in a few.

I had this as an alternate win con in a Selesnya shadowmoor/eventide based persist deck I once made. The other win con was just Oversoul of Dusk. Also, in that deck I was okay to go longer due to persist and Heartmender (infinite, or darn near, chump blocks with Kitchen Finks), which meant I was okay to play Tower Above as my trample damage wincon via Quillspike. I've always loved this combo. It'll never be modern proper viable, but it's so much fun to see it go off. Well done. +1.

You could fit another combo or two in there in place of all those lands.

The idea of having 44 lands is that I can always have the lands I need. (look at the card odds) I don't necessarily need another combo, and that would drive the price up. You can get (good) basic lands from Origins for 4 cents each. Thank you for the suggestion though.

You need to protect your wincon, Apostle's Blessing and Savage Summoning are both budget friendly options.

Another option would be to play blue instead of red and maybe run some counter magic and use Thirst for Knowledge and Forbidden Alchemy to search for your wincon

The problem with all of those cards is they cost mana. On my 2nd turn, I need to play Devoted Druid, and on my 3rd turn I need all 4 of my available mana. I have to use red for Messenger's Speed and it also allows me to use Faithless Looting. Forbidden Alchemy does the same thing for me as Faithless Looting, but it would require me to branch into another color.

But any good modern deck has answers and if you get a perfect hand, which you pretty much have to get to win, and someone Abrupt Decay's your Quillspike then you lose. You need to have a back up plan to be competative.

Your not going to always combo off perfectly turn three every time your running red you can add Searing Spear and Gruul Guildgate both are cheap and will help

@Squirrel_of_War: I do see your point, this deck is very weak to removal. However, this deck is not designed to be competitive. (though I'm curious to see how well it would do at a tournament) Most turn 1-3 wins aren't always successful in competitive, due to the unlikeliness of getting a combo hand. This is why I have Faithless Looting. I play that turn 1, and if I don't combo turn 3 I use the flashback to try and get my combo pieces.

@shadow63: You are completely right that I can't combo off perfectly. On paper, I have between a 25% and 33% chance of starting with my combo hand. (not including my draws) However, I don't think adding Searing Spear would help prevent others prevent me from combing off, it would just slow down other people. I think all these suggestions would be good in a competitive deck, but this is just a gimmicky casual build meant for fooling around and having some funny games for $8. Thank you for the suggestions though.

Rather than attack, you could put Fling in there. you may also want to include Shock for control, maybe some other kill spells. Take out 22 lands, 44 is a ridiculous amount. Maybe add some Sakura-Tribe Elder for blocking, and deck thinning. Those, maybe 4 Abundant Growth and Utopia Sprawl could allow you to run blue as well, itll be a tad more expensive, but if youre willing to spend $30, add some painlands or scry lands, Electrolyze and some counter spells like Mana Leak, you would not only be more consistant in your draw power, but the control ability of this deck could become very good. If you like, i could make a list for this R/U/G, under $30 (hyper budgtet is my specialty). Itll be 1000x better if you add burn and the draw power that is blue, and maybe Elvish Visionary.

The idea of having 44 lands is a) inexpensive filler cards, and b) I already have enough to worry about not getting my combo pieces, I don't want to be missing lands as well. I like the idea of using Fling, and I wouldn't even need a Messenger's Speed if I could get 1 more mana turn 3.

The idea of 44 lands means that you have 22 spaces that could be cards that help you get your win con, being filled by things that you already have 7 of in your hand. I built this list http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/quillspike-infinite-1/Its $26, infinitely better, gets you your win con faster, kills the opponents creatures, counters his spells, only 6$ more, and you can take $3 out of that if you really dont like the pain lands. Get insane draw power to this deck and it might be fmn viable. I think id build something like this but set a budget to $100, as i enjoy cool combos, but im already building this http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/the-book-of-genesis-1/ , which is where i got most of my ideas for my build of your deck. Add draw, and easier kill, this deck becomes good (for casual).

I'm debating about creating an alternate version of this deck in which the budget is much higher, and just has ways to get cards out faster, or improve the chances of getting Quillspike and Devoted Druid out. Faithless Looting is my draw. I'm already sometimes missing out on my combo pieces and not combing off turn 3, and I don't want to be short on lands. I understand 44 is a bit excess, but I should never need to be missing lands.

I don't think Fling would work in this deck due to it costing 2 mana to kill them, messenger's speed costs 1. In a non-budget version you could use Simian Spirit Guide, but the price is a concern. Also, in a multiplayer game, you just threw away your win con to finish one person off. With Messenger's Speed, it just takes another turn to finish another person off. I understand how weak this deck is to removal, and how much it needs it, but anything else slow down the combo unless it's on the first turn.

With 44 lands you are always mana fucked, 22 is good, and with things like Utopia Sprawl and Abundant Growth, not only do you draw 1, you get more color consistency, and mana ramp, you can literally get Quillspike on turn 2. You can afford to use fling, due to all that ramp, and fling doesnt die to so much more removal, indestructible blockers, and other things. With tings like Utopia Sprawl and Coiling Oracle you get draw, and ramp. not having enough land is an issue, not with the amount of ramp you get from my above list, you get more draw, better mana consistency, better control and counter burn, and you get blockers. 44 lands is awful, honestly, adding ramp like i did in my list is enough, you only need 3 lands in this deck to make it go off, 22 lands is already apt for that. Plus, i cant stress this enough, the 44 lands is taking up space that could be used for draw power, which this deck desperately needs. 44 lands will make you mulligan down to 4 every game, it is just unplayable.

The only cards I can imagine that would speed up the combo to turn 2 are Lotus Petal and Simian Spirit Guide, one on turn 1 to play Devoted Druid and another on turn 2 to complete the combo. Those would likely go in the non-budget version along with filler cards like Manamorphose and Gitaxian Probe.

The 44 lands. I see what you're saying, but turn 2 I have to tap out, turn 3 I have to tap out. If I miss a land drop or play something else on either of those turns, I can't combo turn 3. Turn 1 is my draw turn, so I use Faithless Looting. (another alternative would be welcome) The lands aren't to flood myself, it's just that anything else would interrupt the combo so I just use them to fill space by being inexpensive and it's a bonus that I don't ever have to worry about missing a land drop. I'm sorry that I'm being so stubborn, I'll give you link to the non-budget version when I make it.

At the very least, Seek the Wilds can dig for both your combo pieces or a third land.

Nah, this deck has a 1/30 chance of getting your win con in opening hand, that isnt including the manabase. By adding ards like Utopia Sprawl, you get 3 mana on turn 2, letting you cast your thing and shock them. turn 3 not only can you afford to cast fling and Quillspike, but it is more consistent. playtest both decks against each other, and use the mulligan rule (if you dont like a hand, shuffle it into your deck, and draw 1 less card). This deck is ass without the perfect hand, and it is slower. In your playtesting, you will find this my list wins 9/10 times.

@lord_blackfang: The problem with Seek the Wilds is that it would take up a combo turn and slow down the win. I guess if I don't have the cards to combo off anyway it could help, so I'll consider it. One of the reasons I have 44 lands is that a) they're cheap, effective filler cards, and b) I'll almost never miss a land drop. I don't want to be struggling to get lands along with my other combo pieces.

@terastadon: 1/30 can't be right. You may be adding the odds of getting a Faithless Looting, which just improves chances of getting the win con. Also, the chances of getting it in your hand (your 1/30) and then adding 3 draws and mulligans, resulting in a (9/10) shouldn't be measured against each other because they are quite different. I used the card odds to calculate an opening hand and it was little less than 1/5. With 3 draws coming, maybe a Faithless Looting, and of course a potential mulligan, those chances increase drastically. I still don't understand why Fling is necessary. It flops in multiplayer and is easier to counter than an enchantment. The only situation I imagine it would make a difference in is with a First Strike/Deathtouch blocker, which is exceedingly unlikely to be on the field turn 3. Is there something I'm missing?

You aren't going to draw your combo and if you do. Abrupt Decay, Lightning Bolt, Path to Exile, even Doom Blade or Mana Leak will end your game.

There's one thing I think people are missing, so I should probably put this in the description: This is a casual deck. It's not meant for tournament play, just for fooling around and having lots of fun games for $8.

@Squirrel_of_War: What do you mean by "you aren't going to draw you're combo?" The odds getting the cards by turn 3 is about 40%-60%, which is not great, but it's better than most. On the right part of this window, under the "Similar Decks," pheonix_222 has a turn 1 win deck. He lists the hand necessary for that. He has about a 1/600 chance of getting that hand, not including mulligans. Mine is about 1/2 games.

You have 3 pieces to the combo the odds of getting all 3 is low and the odds of me killing your Devoted Druid during your end step on turn 2 is pretty much 100%. I like the idea but i think there is some good advice in these comments, more draw or a way to tutor your combo is needed. Even casual decks have answers.