I think Aetherling is good against control, but master is a better wall against aggro. They also have to keep a creature back to block it unless they want to die. I think Turn // Burn is probably better than Far // Away against more decks.
Better card draw than Domri if that's waht you're looking for. Fits more logically in your curve. Think about it:
If you're playing Domri as card advantage againts midrange or control, you're giving up aggressive tempo by casting a non-thrat early game. Againt slow decks, id rather just play a Reckoner or a Smiter on turn 3 than Domri who could maybe draw me a card. If you +1 Domri from turn 3 to 6, you will get to look at 4 cards. Garruk will let you look at 5 on turn 6 (or earlier with ramp), already more than Domri, WHEN YOU NEED IT! You will refill your hand during a crucial part of the game when you are about to run out of steam. If you manage to use +1 more than once, then what's better isnt even up for debate.
-3 is interesting and you dont need to play huge fatties to get value out of it. Putting a thragtusk, acidic smile, or huntmaster into play and then having restoration angel mana up seems nice. It's like a huge Burning Tree Emissary; you put 2 threats into play: a pw and a creature.
I like the idea of taking out the +1/+1 counters off Geralf's Messenger by Thrull Parasite. It can also shoot planeswalkers albeit very slowly. It can trade with a 2/2 Champion of the Parish/Experiment One/Rakdos Cackler by blocking and then removing the counter. I really just wanted another one drop for the Spell Rupture. However, when I play Spell Rupture aggro decks, I oftentimes don't counter anything on turn 2. It's usually the 4 or 5 drop the opponent plays that matter. It's good to have a lot of 1 drops though so you could drop 1 then leave 2 mana up with 3 lands to counter their 4 drop if they kept killing your board. I think the Rapid Hybridization is good, but is better in Simic or BUG.
Of course, another option is to drop the Thrull Parasites altogether and just add 4 drops. I'd add 1 more land if that were the case, remove 1 spell to have 3 Duskmantle Seer + 1 Evil Twin. Though Notion Thief main might be good if the meta is appropriate.
Another fun thing is maybe doing the Notion Twin + Whispering Madness aggro-combo.
I'm not sure about the Blood Artist, but it's either that or Butcher Ghoul. Could also potentially run this in esper colors and just run Lingering Souls instead of the counterspells.
It has a no-nonsense approach and utilizes the very powerful interaction with Undying creatures and Rapid Hybridization. A lot of people try to be cute in these kinds of decks, running cards like Shambleshark and Renegade Krasis, but sometimes pure consistency is just what you need. The only thing i'm not sure about Ryan Hare's list is the 4 Abundant Growths. I'd probably replace it with 2 Zameck Guildmage, 1 Simic Charm and 1 Snapcaster Mage.
I'm not really surprised. Seems to play similarly to the BUG aggro list that runs Dreg Manglers and Duskmantle Seers. Some people don't take Spell Rupture in an aggro deck very seriously until their Thragtusk gets countered and then they die the next turn.
Any deck running 12 one drops , 4 Strangleroot Geist, 4 Rapid Hybridization, 4 Spell Rupture is awesome in my book. Still skeptical about the Abundant Growths...
If you play just a regular jund aggro deck with 3 Varolz 4 Vexing Devil and then whatever else you want, then it could definitely make it.
Varolz' ability is really good, but you don't really need to go out of your way and play stuff like Slumbering Dragon or even Spike Jester; the former being terrible and the latter being too unreliable. Vexing Devil works because the cost-benefit ratio is high enough that it's not awful without Varolz.
Aristocrat is definitely a right fit here. Rancor is meh. Strangleroot Geist seems better than Spike Jester to me.
Geist seems a lot better because you can even use it to evolve your creatures twice via saccing it twice with Varolz/Aristocrat. I like playing 1 Savagery in a Gyre Sage deck because it's essentially a "free" spell if it resolves.
Possible options : Dreg Mangler, Domri Rade, spot removal.
Conley's Esper Delver build seems much better and more resilient. Runs Lingering Souls, Far//Away, Cyclonic Rift, Duress in the main deck. Has Lyev Skyknight in the sideboard which makes it very aggressive against creature decks.
Only thing i'd change about his list is maybe
-1 Notion Thief (4 to 3) -1 Whispering Madness (4 to 3)
+1 Council of the Absolute +1 Sphinx' Revelation
With the Duress' maindeck and 2 Sin Collector, along with bouncing permanents, the Nevermore effect of the Council could really be taken advantage of. Against control, it would likely be naming Supreme Verdict most of the time, because Notion Thief can take care of Sphinx' Revelation. But it could still name Revelation after taking Verdict away with Sin Collector... and then playing your own Revelation.
I think i'd take out the Cloudfin Raptor to make the mana more consistent (more turn 1 untapped green sources) and add an aggressive 3 drop or more burn (searing spear?) instead.
I'd play pillar main instead of turn//burn; max the rapid hybridization.
I think a lot of budget players try too hard to be fancy by playing bad/mediocre cards in replacement of good ones. Well, the latter also applies to this deck but it's not as bad as the others I have seen. This is a traditional control deck with only three things in it and not much else: card advantage (draw, filter), counterspells, removal, and a couple of finishers. It really works like a control deck before cards like Snapcaster Mage and Sphinx's Revelation were printed and completely changed how the archetyped worked.
There is a lot of removal in the main deck, so it's probably a good idea to put cards that will improve the control match up in the sideboard. Pack Rat is to side in against decks when they side out their removal postboard. They might still keep a few edits/sweepers if they see your Lone Revenant the game before, but most if not all of the spot removal will probably be gone so your rats will thrive.
How this deck can be modified and improved to fight against the popular cards/decks that show up in your meta
Against the green scum:
You'll likely be okay against green creature decks, but if you want extra protection from cards like Loxodon Smiter, Voice of Resurgence, Thragtusk, Call of the Conclave, Advent of the Wurm, Experiment One, Burning-Tree Emissary, Flinthoof Boar and others, then look no further than Woodlot Crawler. It will block all of these creatures all day, and it will be very hard to remove for GW decks that rely on larger green creatures to pummel through combat. Dread Slaver is a nice one to think about too.
Against the red pain:
Aggressive red or Rakdos decks a problem? Well, if you just need blockers for small red creatures like Rakdos Cackler, Ash Zealot, Gravecrawler, then a card like Gloom Surgeon will protect you in combat over and over again. Unlike Fog Bank, it will actually kill their creature if they run into it.
Against things coming from the grave:
Massive amounts of countermagic not enough? Unburial Rites and Obzedat's Aid ruining your fun? Cremate that fool.
The Sphinx and Jace Problem:
How in the world do we fight against immense card draw that surpasses our own? Invest in Notion Thief.
BUT I WANT TO PLAY THE EXPENSIVE STUFF! (I'm not willing to pay for them, though)
You're in luck. Ever seen this card? Nightveil Specter. Bam. Now you can play their tryhard cards as if they were your own! All you need to do is hit them and have the right mana to be able to cast them. How do you achieve that? Here are some options.
A. Realmwright and Chromatic Lantern will fix your mana.
B. Evolving Wilds + basic lands. You could have the basic lands in your sideboard and put them in against relevant decks. Cards like Thragtusk and Sphinx's Revelation and Ral Zarek only costs 1 additional color from you, so it won't be a huge deal to put one basic land in after board.
C. Liliana of the Dark Realms + swamp duals. If you're going to do this, you might as well go heavy black and run Mutilate instead of Barter in Blood.
An example of a deck from someone who has slightly moved up in the world of magic:
Cards to consider: When playing a large amount of spells, I think Uncovered Clues might be better than Divination or Amass the Components because it allows you to filter and get a superior spell for cheaper. Demonic Taskmaster and Fettergeist are nice aggressive cards to play against slower decks and can take them off guard when they take out their removal spells.
I'd probably play Porcelain Legionnaire instead of Sangrophage, also Vendetta. Spoils of the Vault seems better than Plunge into Darkness because you can play it turn 1. Deathmarks in the sideboard could help against Goyfs, Smiters, etc.
Is Smiter really that better than Doran? I know it's great against Lilianas and Raven's Crime, also uncounterable, but I really want to play Ensnaring Bridge. I have not so fond memories of just getting blown out by that card. Plus, Dory turns Spellskites into beaters. I do think that if the meta is Jund/mirrors and counterspell decks, then Smiter is obviously the choice. But it seems like Doran is always better if you don't think you're gonna be running into Mana Leaks.
If you're playing Domri as card advantage againts midrange or control, you're giving up aggressive tempo by casting a non-thrat early game. Againt slow decks, id rather just play a Reckoner or a Smiter on turn 3 than Domri who could maybe draw me a card. If you +1 Domri from turn 3 to 6, you will get to look at 4 cards. Garruk will let you look at 5 on turn 6 (or earlier with ramp), already more than Domri, WHEN YOU NEED IT! You will refill your hand during a crucial part of the game when you are about to run out of steam. If you manage to use +1 more than once, then what's better isnt even up for debate.
-3 is interesting and you dont need to play huge fatties to get value out of it. Putting a thragtusk, acidic smile, or huntmaster into play and then having restoration angel mana up seems nice. It's like a huge Burning Tree Emissary; you put 2 threats into play: a pw and a creature.
4 Gravecrawler
4 Thrull Parasite
4 Blood Artist
4 Butcher Ghoul
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Diregraf Captain
2 Tragic Slip
4 Rapid Hybridization
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Watery Grave
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Dimir Guildgate
10 Swamp
I like the idea of taking out the +1/+1 counters off Geralf's Messenger by Thrull Parasite. It can also shoot planeswalkers albeit very slowly. It can trade with a 2/2 Champion of the Parish/Experiment One/Rakdos Cackler by blocking and then removing the counter. I really just wanted another one drop for the Spell Rupture. However, when I play Spell Rupture aggro decks, I oftentimes don't counter anything on turn 2. It's usually the 4 or 5 drop the opponent plays that matter. It's good to have a lot of 1 drops though so you could drop 1 then leave 2 mana up with 3 lands to counter their 4 drop if they kept killing your board. I think the Rapid Hybridization is good, but is better in Simic or BUG.
Of course, another option is to drop the Thrull Parasites altogether and just add 4 drops. I'd add 1 more land if that were the case, remove 1 spell to have 3 Duskmantle Seer + 1 Evil Twin. Though Notion Thief main might be good if the meta is appropriate.
Another fun thing is maybe doing the Notion Twin + Whispering Madness aggro-combo.
4 Gravecrawler
4 Blood Artist
4 Deranged Assistant
4 Geralf's Messenger
4 Notion Thief
4 Whispering Madness
4 Victim of Night
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Watery Grave
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Dimir Guildgate
10 Swamp
I'm not sure about the Blood Artist, but it's either that or Butcher Ghoul. Could also potentially run this in esper colors and just run Lingering Souls instead of the counterspells.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=507648
It has a no-nonsense approach and utilizes the very powerful interaction with Undying creatures and Rapid Hybridization. A lot of people try to be cute in these kinds of decks, running cards like Shambleshark and Renegade Krasis, but sometimes pure consistency is just what you need. The only thing i'm not sure about Ryan Hare's list is the 4 Abundant Growths. I'd probably replace it with 2 Zameck Guildmage, 1 Simic Charm and 1 Snapcaster Mage.
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Spike Jester
4 Firefist Striker / Rakdos Shred-Freak
4 Hellhole Flailer / Pyreheart Wolf
4 Mugging / 2 Tragic Slip, 2 Dreadbore
4 Bump in the Night
4 Searing Spear
4 Brimstone Volley
4 Rakdos Guildgate
6 Swamp
2 Electrickery
2 Thunderbolt
3 Act of Treason
2 Dreadbore
2 Volcanic Strength
Any deck running 12 one drops , 4 Strangleroot Geist, 4 Rapid Hybridization, 4 Spell Rupture is awesome in my book. Still skeptical about the Abundant Growths...
Varolz' ability is really good, but you don't really need to go out of your way and play stuff like Slumbering Dragon or even Spike Jester; the former being terrible and the latter being too unreliable. Vexing Devil works because the cost-benefit ratio is high enough that it's not awful without Varolz.
Aristocrat is definitely a right fit here. Rancor is meh. Strangleroot Geist seems better than Spike Jester to me.
4 Experiment One
4 Gyre Sage
4 Strangleroot Geist
3 Varolz, the Scar Striped
4 Ghor Clan Rampager
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
2 Bonfire of the Damned
1 Increasing Savagery
etc
Geist seems a lot better because you can even use it to evolve your creatures twice via saccing it twice with Varolz/Aristocrat. I like playing 1 Savagery in a Gyre Sage deck because it's essentially a "free" spell if it resolves.
Possible options : Dreg Mangler, Domri Rade, spot removal.
Only thing i'd change about his list is maybe
-1 Notion Thief (4 to 3) -1 Whispering Madness (4 to 3)
+1 Council of the Absolute +1 Sphinx' Revelation
With the Duress' maindeck and 2 Sin Collector, along with bouncing permanents, the Nevermore effect of the Council could really be taken advantage of. Against control, it would likely be naming Supreme Verdict most of the time, because Notion Thief can take care of Sphinx' Revelation. But it could still name Revelation after taking Verdict away with Sin Collector... and then playing your own Revelation.
I'd play pillar main instead of turn//burn; max the rapid hybridization.
4 Augur of Bolas
2 Lone Revenant
Instant
1 Dispel
4 Think Twice
4 Devour Flesh
3 Syncopate
3 Dissipate
1 Dimir Charm
4 Far // Away
3 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Murder
3 Barter in Blood
1 Amass the Components
Land
4 Dimir Guildgate
4 Evolving Wilds
6 Swamp
12 Island
There is a lot of removal in the main deck, so it's probably a good idea to put cards that will improve the control match up in the sideboard. Pack Rat is to side in against decks when they side out their removal postboard. They might still keep a few edits/sweepers if they see your Lone Revenant the game before, but most if not all of the spot removal will probably be gone so your rats will thrive.
How this deck can be modified and improved to fight against the popular cards/decks that show up in your meta
Against the green scum:
You'll likely be okay against green creature decks, but if you want extra protection from cards like Loxodon Smiter, Voice of Resurgence, Thragtusk, Call of the Conclave, Advent of the Wurm, Experiment One, Burning-Tree Emissary, Flinthoof Boar and others, then look no further than Woodlot Crawler. It will block all of these creatures all day, and it will be very hard to remove for GW decks that rely on larger green creatures to pummel through combat. Dread Slaver is a nice one to think about too.
Against the red pain:
Aggressive red or Rakdos decks a problem? Well, if you just need blockers for small red creatures like Rakdos Cackler, Ash Zealot, Gravecrawler, then a card like Gloom Surgeon will protect you in combat over and over again. Unlike Fog Bank, it will actually kill their creature if they run into it.
Against things coming from the grave:
Massive amounts of countermagic not enough? Unburial Rites and Obzedat's Aid ruining your fun? Cremate that fool.
The Sphinx and Jace Problem:
How in the world do we fight against immense card draw that surpasses our own? Invest in Notion Thief.
BUT I WANT TO PLAY THE EXPENSIVE STUFF! (I'm not willing to pay for them, though)
You're in luck. Ever seen this card? Nightveil Specter. Bam. Now you can play their tryhard cards as if they were your own! All you need to do is hit them and have the right mana to be able to cast them. How do you achieve that? Here are some options.
A. Realmwright and Chromatic Lantern will fix your mana.
B. Evolving Wilds + basic lands. You could have the basic lands in your sideboard and put them in against relevant decks. Cards like Thragtusk and Sphinx's Revelation and Ral Zarek only costs 1 additional color from you, so it won't be a huge deal to put one basic land in after board.
C. Liliana of the Dark Realms + swamp duals. If you're going to do this, you might as well go heavy black and run Mutilate instead of Barter in Blood.
An example of a deck from someone who has slightly moved up in the world of magic:
4 Augur of Bolas
1 Snapcaster Mage
2 Aetherling
Instant
4 Think Twice
4 Devour Flesh
3 Dissipate
1 Dispel
1 Dimir Charm
2 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Far // Away
1 Murder
3 Mutilate
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Amass the Components
Artifact
2 Chromatic Lantern
Planeswalker
2 Liliana of the Dark Realms
Land
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Island
4 Watery Grave
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
1 Overgrown Tomb
12 Swamp
Cards to consider: When playing a large amount of spells, I think Uncovered Clues might be better than Divination or Amass the Components because it allows you to filter and get a superior spell for cheaper. Demonic Taskmaster and Fettergeist are nice aggressive cards to play against slower decks and can take them off guard when they take out their removal spells.