Deck Mechanics
The basic strategy of the deck is banking off many enter-the-battlefield triggers, turning them into lifegain for you and life loss for your opponent.
Ghostly Prison can seriously slow down your opponent, buying you time to get some evil combos into play. Since one of the deck's win conditions involves feeding creature tokens to your opponent with Forbidden Orchard, Hunted Phantasm, and Mercy Killing while Suture Priest or Blood Seeker are down, only to wipe them out later with Illness in the Ranks while Blood Artist is in play, Ghostly Prison prevents them from using those tokens to attack you. Of course, Ghostly Prison also brings Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Splinter Twin decks to a screeching halt.
Low-cost creatures and token production work with Suture Priest and Soul's Attendant to provide rapid life gain to offset what you're paying for your mana fixing.
Detention Sphere is crucial to this deck if your opponent is going to play Torpor Orb or Rain of Gore. Otherwise, it's a versatile control and removal card that can effectively respond to many popular Modern staples, and wipe out those pesky tokens you are giving your opponent if you don't have Illness in the Ranks out yet.
Mercy Killing can be used for removal and to trigger Soul's Attendant, Suture Priest, or Blood Seeker. With Suture Priest or Blood Seeker down, Mercy Killing can be deadly against decks with large creatures like Tarmogoyf, and the combo gets even nastier if Illness in the Ranks and Blood Artist are on the board. Another great thing about Mercy Killing is that it doesn't destroy the creature, but forces its controller to sacrifice it, letting you remove indestructible creatures.
Illness in the Ranks on its own can render Deceiver Exarch and Pestermite tokens created by Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Splinter Twin useless.
If Suture Priest or Blood Seeker are down, don't forget to tap your Forbidden Orchard whether or not you intend to cast a spell with the mana, unless of course your opponent would benefit from the tokens. This tactic is especially handy if Blood Artist and Illness in the Ranks are in play.
Hunted Phantasm works great with Illness in the Ranks and Blood Artist, as well as the ETB effects from Suture Priest and Blood Seeker. The goblin tokens come in, they die, and you're left with an unblockable who can swing for 4.
Cloudshift can give you extra Hunted Phantasm ETB triggers. Cast it on a Hunted Phantasm while Suture Priest, Blood Seeker, or Blood Artist + Illness in the Ranks are down and it can easily win you the game, causing an additional five creatures to enter under your opponent's control. Since it is pretty common to have two Suture Priest, Blood Artist, or Blood Seeker down, or some combination thereof, this nets an extra ten life loss for your opponent. Cloudshift also protects a creature against spells that are targeting it, causing that spell to fizzle. It can save you from losing by casting it on a Hunted Phantasm to give you at least an extra 6 life while Soul's Attendant or Blood Artist + Illness in the Ranks are in play.
Ideal Play Order:
T1: Illness in the Ranks
T2: Blood Artist, Suture Priest, or Blood Seeker
T3: Hunted Phantasm. At this point, your Forbidden Orchard begins hurting your opponent when you tap it. If you cast Hunted Phantasm with one, you have just had your opponent lose 6 life. If you've got more than one Forbidden Orchard to tap, even better!
T4: Swing with Hunted Phantasm, which is unblockable. Cloudshift the Hunted Phantasm, leaving him open to block. You can Mercy Killing the Hunted Phantasm on your opponent's next turn if you have Blood Artist out and don't need him to block another turn. You've just had your opponent lose an additional 10 to 14 life before the beginning of your fifth turn, not accounting for life loss caused by tapping Forbidden Orchard. Between your opponent playing creatures, fetch lands, and shock lands, this can often be game.
Key Synergies and Combos
Forbidden Orchard + Soul's Attendant / Forbidden Orchard + Suture Priest / Blood Seeker + Forbidden Orchard / Mercy Killing + Suture Priest / Blood Seeker + Mercy Killing / Forbidden Orchard + Illness in the Ranks / Illness in the Ranks + Mercy Killing / Blood Artist + Illness in the Ranks / Hunted Phantasm + Suture Priest / Blood Seeker + Hunted Phantasm / Hunted Phantasm + Illness in the Ranks
