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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 4421340" data-attributes="member: 19675">Thanks all for wading through the initial post, if nothing else!<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> And thanks for the suggestions. Now to respond!I know the original deck's curve looks out of whack, but this thing's been through the crucible- the first tournament out it finished in the top 4.  Its 2 losses that tourney came at the hands of other black decks that essentially top decked it.  (One, FWIW, to a deck using the Phyrexian Negator and a bunch of black discard- namely 3 Coercion in the first 4 turns- and I still almost beat him.)As mentioned, it also whupped a tournament winning Blue/White weenie/counterspell deck several times, and it fared well against that Donate/Illusions of Grandeur deck that was such a pain in its time.I have never- and I really mean that- lost a game with this deck because of not having enough mana for the job.When I drop certain cards to get more 2 casting cost critters or critters with a 2 power and a fancy ability (like the Hypnotic Specter), the deck simply stalls out.  Even something like the Khabal Ghoul, while potentially KILLER in a deck like this, often died- cheaply, even- before it became effective. It seems as if the magic number for creature power is "3+."  (Which, BTW, I've already discovered will be a problem for the white version of this deck).The deck was also resilient- in several games I got dropped down below 10 life before the deck started clicking...but then the hemorrhaging stopped.  The Drain Life kept me in several games (most notably the Donate/Illusion matches), and the Edicts plus the constantly recycled Bone Shredders generally kept the board clear of most blockers.Thran Lens was surprisingly effective.  It let my Bone Shredder affect pro-Black creatures, and meant that my big, colorless critters waltzed past a lot of smaller blockers, ignore COP, and cards that negated "black" damage.  It neutered cards that affected "black" or any other color permanents- meaning VERY importantly, it kept cards like Crusade from being effective.  That single card (plus the luck of my opponent not drawing a "Disenchant" in 2 games) dismantled a mono-White weenie deck.  It also crippled a Black weenie deck that depended upon Bad Moon.  Cards with text like "Tap X White creatures you control to _______..." were meaningless.When it wasn't effective, the Altar came in, and I started sacking critters to it.  A few turns of Skirges, Horrors, Shredders, Priests and Flukes getting sacked to it and most decks were effectively gutted.The Junun Efreet was effective.  It was the only other flyer besides the Skirge in the price range with a power of 3.  Typically, once the deck was rolling, my mana pretty much sat there, so powering the Efreet wasn't an issue.  On occasion, I sacrificed them to the Fluke if maintenance was an issue.I like that Gouger- yes, blocking is a complete afterthought.  If I'm blocking, I'm probably losing, or facing someone who didn't really read the text of Thran Lens and thinks his White Knight is a 4/4 first striker. That one might be worth tracking down for the R/Blk version of the deck.  Its more likely to replace the Skittering Horror, than the Hidden Horror, though.I'd have put them in in an instant, but...I haven't bought any cards since...the Masqerade sets?  Time Spiral?  This also means I'm not familiar with "Madness."I've done a little digging in my own collections, and I've found a few tasty ones...Green will probably use the Rogue Elephants, but I had forgotten about the Hunting Moa and Simian Grunts.Blue will be getting School of Piranha, Rishadian Airship, and Cloud Spirits.White will be the tricky one- there are almost no 3 casting cost white critters with 3 power...those that do are often pumpables.  So a different approach must be taken, focusing less on White critters and more on White support cards.  At this point, I'm using Pegasus Charger and Zhalfirin Crusader, Moonlit Wake, Angelic Renewal, and the very key Knighthood.  Plus Wrath of God for cementing a probable victory, since land isn't that important to this deck.</blockquote>

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