So, this thread has been dead for a while, but has anyone seen Bloodrage Brawler? When you want to discard a card, the stats on that seem nuts. It also makes me want to revisit a card I thought should be quite strong and then fell off the face of the earth, I think due to Ishkanah at the time. Heir of Falkenrath I love that you control when you discard similarly to Insolent Neonate and Key to the City which makes Voldaren Pariah much easier to cast. I know I'll have to find some room to bring Lightning Axe back in.
Yeah, Gryff's Boon is a flex spot. I'm undecided between that, Incendiary Flow, or Declaration in Stone. I'd posted the list on Craig Wescoe's FB page and was given the advice from someone else to swap some Needle Spires for Aether Hub so I was going to try that out, but it feels wrong to me too. I'm also considering a 1 of Glorious End which seems like it could steal some games.
To throw fuel on the fire, here's the RW build I've been toying with. I know everyone won't be a fan of Bushwhacker here, but I am. I also think Crop-Captain is fantastic and much better than Mimic, especially if paired with Bushwhacker. Even following a board wipe, those 2 together are 7 haste damage.
Updated my list. It's been doing very well against everything except Temur Tower. Additional Kalitas and Ishkana have shorn up the Mardu matchup to the point of being very favorable and I'm 6-0 in matches vs 4C Saheeli.
I tried cutting 2 Vessel and a Disallow for 3 Walking Ballistas tonight and they were fantastic. Very good early at getting delirium while picking off early drops, great in the mid and late game. The deck was manhandling 4C Saheeli and GB. My results vs Mardu were mixed, but in both of the games I lost, it was due to not having the right color of mana or needing a 6th land for many turns and just not getting it where I otherwise would have won.
Voldaren Pariah wrecks GB and is also good against Mardu. I've been playing that instead of Bloodhall Priest. BBB can be awkward, but it is certainly doable and is worth the cost in my experience.
My testing partner has been doing very well with Esper Aggro that's essentially Mardu, but with Blue instead of Red for Spell Queller and Metallic Rebuke.
Jun Ishihara went 8-2 (the same or better than 5 of the people in the top 8) in the standard portion of Pro Tour Aether Revolt, but placed 34th because of a poor limited performance. Because of this, his very sweet control deck has been overlooked by nearly everyone.
Inspired by this, I threw the deck together and have been playing and tweaking it since the PT. It plays all of the very powerful black removal spells which give it an edge against aggressive decks while turning the corner quickly all while generating a ton of card advantage. I have been tuning it to be better at beating Mardu and GB, but it has great tools against Saheeli, other combo decks, and control as well. Luis Gobern just took a similar version to a top 32 at GP Utrecht as well. The drawbacks are that the mana can sometimes be awkward and sometimes you can get stuck with clunky draws with too many enablers and not enough removal and gas. That said, it has the tools to beat anything and has draws that can beat other deck's nut draws. It has the best mana of any 3 color deck in the format and the best late game of any deck out there right now and has all of the best tools to survive until then.
Card Choices
Traverse the Ulvenwald This powerful 1 mana card has even started seeing top level play in Modern. It allows you to play fewer lands essentially playing as 4 extra lands of any color while doubling as the best creature for the situation in your deck late. This is the main reason to play this deck over any other and gives you better topdecks late game than any other deck.
Vessel of Nascency This is mainly here to get delirium, but does help fix mana, find threats, and gives your gearhulks better options as well.
Grapple with the Past Yet another card that helps to fix your mana early, this also helps with delirium and serves to get back your threats later and can help loop your Torrential Gearhulks in the late game to power through a ton of removal.
Glimmer of Genius This is a lot better than just an Inspiration. While we don't have any ways other than Aether Hub to use the Energy, having scry 2 tacked on to your draw spell is very powerful and while it's been seeing play, I think many underestimate just how good this card is.
Fatal PushThis is by far the best removal spell printed in a long time and while Revolt is harder to trigger in standard than older formats, this deck has many ways to do it.
Grasp of Darkness Another very strong piece of spot removal, BB makes harder to cast at times.
Negate An efficient counterspell, if somewhat narrow.
Disallow Slightly less efficient, but this thing hits everything and the kitchen sink. The best counterspell printed in a long time.
Murder Not as powerful or efficient as the other removal spells, but the initial list of the deck didn't have many ways of dealing with larger creatures which showed up when playing against GB and other gearhulk decks. This helps fill that hole.
To the Slaughter One of the benefits of the delirium package, this answers Gideon very cleanly as long as you have delirium and cast it when he isn't a creature. This also is a solid answer for Bristling Hydra and large creatures as long as you can use your other removal to take the rest of their stuff out.
Overwhelming Denial While this is good at winning counter battles vs other control and combo decks, it is much weaker in the current aggro metagame.
Liliana, the Last Hope She is very powerful in this list. There are a surprising number of 1 toughness creatures seeing play right now and she is yet another way to get back our creatures late, but one of her best modes is soaking up a bunch of damage while helping to contribute to delirium.
Walking Ballista Great at dealing with many early threats and also enabling delirium, it scales upwards into a huge threat in the late game. This protects against the Saheeli combo and can also pair with Grasp, Lili, Flaying Tendrils, and Yahenni's Expertise to take down bigger creatures. It offers so much versatility.
Tireless Tracker He is nearly always a 2 for 1 and will generate a huge card advantage and threat if left unchecked.
Ishkanah, Grafwidow Another payoff of delirium, nothing does a better job of gumming up the board and outside of countering it, she's very hard to answer cleanly while also being very mana efficient.
Noxious Gearhulk A nice 1 of tutor target, this is a great way of killing a big threat or taking something out and then presenting an evasive clock.
One beautiful part of Displacement Wave is it bounces Stony Silence when you're going off if you cast it for X=2. The same goes for pithing needle and any other permanent or creature based hate.
4 Heir of Falkenrath
4 Bloodrage Brawler
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Haunted Dead
4 Voldaren Pariah
4 Fiery Temper
3 Unlicensed Disintegration
2 Key to the City
4 Smouldering Marsh
10 Swamp
5 Mountain
4 Expedition Envoy
4 Town Gossipmonger
4 Soul-Scar Mage
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Honored Crop-Captain
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
3 Gryff's Boon
3 Always Watching
4 Inspiring Vantage
1 Aether Hub
3 Needle Spires
4 Mountain
10 Plains
Jun Ishihara went 8-2 (the same or better than 5 of the people in the top 8) in the standard portion of Pro Tour Aether Revolt, but placed 34th because of a poor limited performance. Because of this, his very sweet control deck has been overlooked by nearly everyone.
Inspired by this, I threw the deck together and have been playing and tweaking it since the PT. It plays all of the very powerful black removal spells which give it an edge against aggressive decks while turning the corner quickly all while generating a ton of card advantage. I have been tuning it to be better at beating Mardu and GB, but it has great tools against Saheeli, other combo decks, and control as well. Luis Gobern just took a similar version to a top 32 at GP Utrecht as well. The drawbacks are that the mana can sometimes be awkward and sometimes you can get stuck with clunky draws with too many enablers and not enough removal and gas. That said, it has the tools to beat anything and has draws that can beat other deck's nut draws. It has the best mana of any 3 color deck in the format and the best late game of any deck out there right now and has all of the best tools to survive until then.
Card Choices
Vessel of Nascency This is mainly here to get delirium, but does help fix mana, find threats, and gives your gearhulks better options as well.
Grapple with the Past Yet another card that helps to fix your mana early, this also helps with delirium and serves to get back your threats later and can help loop your Torrential Gearhulks in the late game to power through a ton of removal.
Glimmer of Genius This is a lot better than just an Inspiration. While we don't have any ways other than Aether Hub to use the Energy, having scry 2 tacked on to your draw spell is very powerful and while it's been seeing play, I think many underestimate just how good this card is.
Grasp of Darkness Another very strong piece of spot removal, BB makes harder to cast at times.
Negate An efficient counterspell, if somewhat narrow.
Disallow Slightly less efficient, but this thing hits everything and the kitchen sink. The best counterspell printed in a long time.
Murder Not as powerful or efficient as the other removal spells, but the initial list of the deck didn't have many ways of dealing with larger creatures which showed up when playing against GB and other gearhulk decks. This helps fill that hole.
To the Slaughter One of the benefits of the delirium package, this answers Gideon very cleanly as long as you have delirium and cast it when he isn't a creature. This also is a solid answer for Bristling Hydra and large creatures as long as you can use your other removal to take the rest of their stuff out.
Overwhelming Denial While this is good at winning counter battles vs other control and combo decks, it is much weaker in the current aggro metagame.
Yahenni's Expertise A powerful boardwipe that helps clean up the early rush from WRB and even GB while also letting you cast another card off of it. This teams up very well with Liliana, the Last Hope and Tireless Tracker.
Walking Ballista Great at dealing with many early threats and also enabling delirium, it scales upwards into a huge threat in the late game. This protects against the Saheeli combo and can also pair with Grasp, Lili, Flaying Tendrils, and Yahenni's Expertise to take down bigger creatures. It offers so much versatility.
Tireless Tracker He is nearly always a 2 for 1 and will generate a huge card advantage and threat if left unchecked.
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet With all of our removal, this guy can often take over a game while permanently dealing with resilient threats like Scrapheap Scrounger and Prized Amalgam.
Ishkanah, Grafwidow Another payoff of delirium, nothing does a better job of gumming up the board and outside of countering it, she's very hard to answer cleanly while also being very mana efficient.
Noxious Gearhulk A nice 1 of tutor target, this is a great way of killing a big threat or taking something out and then presenting an evasive clock.
Torrential Gearhulk Snapcaster Mage on a Titan sized body. This is generally your best card in the late game with your mill effects giving him a good selection of targets and Traverse the Ulvenwald, Grapple with the Past, and Liliana, the Last Hope acting as copies 4-13. This guy provides a late game that's very hard to contend with.
The Decklists
2 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
1 Noxious Gearhulk
3 Torrential Gearhulk
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
3 Vessel of Nascency
3 Grapple with the Past
2 Fatal Push
3 Grasp of Darkness
1 Negate
2 Disallow
2 To the Slaughter
2 Pick the Brain
1 Overwhelming Denial
3 Glimmer of Genius
4 Blooming Marsh
2 Botanical Sanctum
4 Evolving Wilds
1 Forest
2 Island
2 Lumbering Falls
4 Sunken Hollow
3 Swamp
1 Appetite for the Unnatural
2 Fatal Push
4 Grim Flayer
1 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Negate
1 Overwhelming Denial
1 Pick the Brain
1 To the Slaughter
1 Transgress the Mind
1 Yahenni's Expertise
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
1 Noxious Gearhulk
3 Torrential Gearhulk
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Fatal Push
2 Grasp of Darkness
3 Grapple with the Past
1 Murder
2 To the Slaughter
2 Disallow
2 Glimmer of Genius
2 Yahenni's Expertise
4 Blooming Marsh
2 Botanical Sanctum
4 Evolving Wilds
1 Forest
2 Island
2 Lumbering Falls
4 Sunken Hollow
3 Swamp
2 Natural Obsolescence
2 Flaying Tendrils
1 Appetite for the Unnatural
1 Murder
1 Ruinous Path
1 To the Slaughter
2 Pick the Brain
2 Negate
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
2 Walking Ballista
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
3 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
1 Noxious Gearhulk
3 Torrential Gearhulk
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
4 Fatal Push
3 Grapple with the Past
3 Grasp of Darkness
1 Murder
2 To the Slaughter
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
2 Vessel of Nascency
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Forest
1 Hissing Quagmire
2 Island
2 Lumbering Falls
4 Sunken Hollow
4 Swamp
2 Flaying Tendrils
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Murder
2 Natural Obsolescence
3 Negate
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
2 Pick the Brain
1 Tireless Tracker
2 Transgress the Mind
This build eschews the maindeck counterspells, Glimmer of Genius, and Yahenni's Expertise and shaves a Liliana, the Last Hope for 1 more Grasp of Darkness, 4 Grim Flayer as early agression that doubles as card selection that helps turn on delirium, 2 Walking Ballistas to help trigger delirium, and a full 3 Ishkanah, Grafwidow. This main deck appears to have 61 cards.
Sideboard Guide (Based off of my build of the deck)
Cuts: 1 Vessel of Nascency, 1 Murder, 1 Disallow, 2 Tireless Tracker, and 1 Glimmer of Genius.
Adds: 2 Natural Obsolescence, 2 Flaying Tendrils, 1 To the Slaughter, and 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet.
Cuts: 2 To the Slaughter
Adds: 1 Murder, and 1 Ruinous Path.
If you see planeswalkers, -1 Liliana, the Last Hope and -1 Vessel of Nascency instead.
Cuts: 4 Fatal Push, 2 Yahenni's Expertise, 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, 1 Ishkanah, Grafwidow, and 1 Noxious Gearhulk.
Adds: 2 Pick the Brain, 1 Ruinous Path, 1 Murder, 1 To the Slaughter, 2 Overwhelming Denial, 1 Nissa, Vital Force and 1 Sphinx of the Final Word
If they have Dynavolt Tower, Stasis Snare, or anything similar, Appetite for the Unnatural / Natural Obsolescence can come in instead of Ruinous Path, Nissa, Vital Force and potentially even cutting 1 Liliana, the Last Hope as Dynavolt Tower is great at pressuring Planeswalkers and can generate a ton of Value over the course of a game.