Anyone seen a hellbent deck in modern?

Modern forum

Posted on Sept. 3, 2015, 11:21 p.m. by electromancer

Hellbent, as in this guy Demon's Jester or this thing Taste for Mayhem along with Delirium Skeins was by far my favorite mechanic back in my kitchen table days.

Since then, the only clearly playable hellbent card I've found is Imaginary Pet and I really want to play a deck with it. I'm sure there are others who feel the same.

buildingadeck says... #2

Avaricious Dragon could be good in that type of deck.

September 3, 2015 11:24 p.m.

electromancer says... #3

@buildingadeck Yes it could! A bit high on the curve, but I'm sure you could trade card advantage for ramp in red. Lets see Simian Spirit Guide immediately comes to mind.

September 3, 2015 11:29 p.m.

One with Nothing!

I can't see this being overly competitive, but fun at the least.

EDIT: spells like Commandeer could also work

September 3, 2015 11:50 p.m. Edited.

electromancer says... #5

@ducttapedeckbox Lol you have any combos in mind?

September 3, 2015 11:54 p.m.

xlaleclx says... #6

The issue is that the hellbent cards just aren't very good.

September 4, 2015 12:28 a.m.

APPLE01DOJ says... #7

Might be good with Empty the Pits

September 4, 2015 12:30 a.m.

Ohthenoises says... #8

Hellbent combined with the madness mechanic might be neat to see. That way when you discard your stuff to get hellbent you can profit on it with madness.

September 4, 2015 2:16 a.m.

GoofyFoot says... #9

I run a singleton Infernal Tutor in my 8rack deck, and It's sooooo good.

September 4, 2015 2:21 a.m.

electromancer says... #10

@xlaleclx I'd argue Imaginary Pet and Taste for Mayhem are fairly decent. I'm not totally tied to the actual mechanic "hellbent," more the game play, because topdecking is super fun when your deck is built for it and your opponents deck isn't.

@APPLE01DOJ Maybe, but I don't think I'd get more than 3 zombies and it's still super color heavy.

@Ohthenoises Did you have any cards in mind?

September 4, 2015 2:55 a.m.

electromancer says... #11

GoofyFoot I like it!

September 4, 2015 2:56 a.m.

xlaleclx says... #12

If you want to play a deck that is built for playing with both players hellbent you should be playing jund.

September 4, 2015 3:19 a.m.

smackjack says... #13

Ensnaring Bridge if you have ways to kill without creatures :)

September 4, 2015 3:21 a.m.

smackjack says... #14

Pixy Stix is not really a hellbent deck, but probably the closest thing to it you could see in a competitive setting.

September 4, 2015 3:24 a.m.

electromancer says... #15

Just found a deck that uses Temur Ascendancy, Imaginary Pet and Vexing Devil. A little off topic, but very interesting.

September 4, 2015 4:03 a.m.

NoSoyYucateco says... #16

Pit Keeper and Blood Scrivener might actually be of some use after all!

September 4, 2015 4:40 a.m.

xlaleclx says... #17

Blood scrivener just makes it much harder to be hellbent.

September 4, 2015 4:42 a.m.

electromancer says... #18

@NoSoyYucateco holy smokes! it's hellbent bob. Pit keeper could be interesting too.

September 4, 2015 4:44 a.m.

NoSoyYucateco says... #19

xlaleclx: "Much" harder would depend very much on the build. Obviously you'd want to drop him when you have enough mana open to handle drawing an extra card on your turns. It would be a very good card in a hellbent deck.

September 4, 2015 4:46 a.m.

electromancer says... #20

@xlaleclx There's not many ways you wouldn't be able to play two cards. Two lands maybe, but I'd run Raven's Crime to take care of that.

September 4, 2015 4:47 a.m.

NoSoyYucateco says... #21

September 4, 2015 4:55 a.m.

electromancer says... #22

Yup, current thought is Simian Spirit Guide into Avaricious Dragon and Blood Scrivener for more card advantage than a person who holds their cards. Not sure if that should be tied into 8rack with Delirium Skeins or something else entirely. Just tossing around ideas.

September 4, 2015 5:14 a.m.

NoSoyYucateco says... #23

Here's a shell.

Modern Grixis Hellbent

September 4, 2015 5:17 a.m.

NoSoyYucateco says... #24

I tossed in Ornithopter, because Ornithopter.

September 4, 2015 5:20 a.m.

electromancer says... #25

lol ornithopter. I goldfished a couple times. A real decklist would need staples like Lightning Bolt to get out faster. But I think there's merit to some aspects. Not really feeling the Imaginary Pet, it'd need to be really fine tuned to get that out at a reasonable time.

September 4, 2015 5:29 a.m.

smackjack says... #26

Looks fun. Ensnaring Bridge might not be that good in this deck tho, as many of your creatures have high power. If you want to use bridge you should limit yourself to creatures with <2 power (since you often draw 2 cards). And in addition to Raven's Crime to deal with land draws you could use Molten Vortex. Vortex might actually be better than Crime because you nave no removal.

September 4, 2015 5:31 a.m.

NoSoyYucateco says... #27

T1: Ornithopter, exile Simian Spirit Guide, Taste for Mayhem on Ornithopter, then One with Nothing. It would be so, so fun.

September 4, 2015 5:32 a.m.

smackjack says... #28

another way to go with the bridge is exalted + Ornithopter. Whenever you have bridge out with 0 cards in your hand, one Ornithopter and one exalted guy might be everything you need. Sure, it will take 20 turns, but if your opponent has no way to win besides combat damage you will eventually win ;).

September 4, 2015 5:34 a.m.

NoSoyYucateco says... #29

Ah, true. Duh. Out with Ensnaring Bridge, unless we Fling that Imaginary Pet.

September 4, 2015 5:35 a.m.

electromancer says... #30

I think it was intended to test an amalgamation of all the suggestions posted. An actual decklist would need to pick a direction of play. Molten Vortex could definitely be good for a burn oriented list. Nothing worse than top decking a land and having nothing to do with it.

September 4, 2015 5:37 a.m.

NoSoyYucateco says... #31

Traitor's Clutch is actually not half bad.

September 4, 2015 6:08 a.m.

electromancer says... #32

In my experience you expecially can't afford to have cards that get stuck in hand. And maybe it's not right to compare to Madcap Skills, but meh. Here's the deck idea I'm messing with at the moment: Hellbent Rack. The idea is to cast Delirium Skeins turn 3 and then "trust in the heart of the cards." (Haven't done lands yet) off to bed, g'night.

September 4, 2015 6:24 a.m.

NoSoyYucateco says... #33

Not bad at all. Though it's really not what I would call a hellbent deck anymore. It's kind of a slight twist on 8-Rack.

September 4, 2015 6:30 a.m.

NoSoyYucateco says... #34

Well, not slight. It's a major twist. And one that, unlike 8-Rack, can get around Leyline of Sanctity quite easily.

September 4, 2015 6:34 a.m.

electromancer says... #35

It probably still needs room for liliana though. And yeah, I'm still more interested in a real aggro hellbent list. By the way, hellbent probably loves Liliana of the Veil

September 4, 2015 4:10 p.m.

electromancer says... #36

Actually by modern standards, I'm guessing any creature heavy hellbent deck would be more appropriately be called midrange.

September 4, 2015 4:13 p.m.

This discussion has been closed