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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 4439139" data-attributes="member: 19675">A couple of points...While the Priests work kind of like Rituals, they can't replace them.  Ritual lets me get critters out on turn 1, if I'm lucky- even things like a Spined Fluke.  Example: in tournament, 1 Swamp, 1 Ritual, 3 Priests & 1 Spined Fluke all came out turn one.  Turn 2 was Unearth a Priest and cast a Marauder (this was before they changed the ruling on the Priest's ability).Without the Rituals, there isn't any jumpstart potential.I understand the preference for the Altar over the Lens (God knows I love to use the Altar a lot), but there is/was so much Protection from Black/(bonus) to all (color) in the environment, the Lens was actually more effective.  Against something like White Weenie, the Altar was an annoyance, but the Lens was a killer.The Skyshaper, OTOH, might be the better choice...I'll have to think about it.  Its definitely more proactive than protective, and has the chance to help me end the game quickly.Haunted Crossroads, while more efficient to use than Volrath's, doesn't provide mana when I'm not using it for getting critters back.The Ersatz Gnomes were part of the pre-tournament design, but while they do provide me with another critter, they're more expensive than the Lens and must be tapped to use.  The Lens's effect is continuous.I'm not sure how the Looter il Kor helps the blue version of this deck...I'm considering Man o War as a partner to the Bone Shredder...but while very useful, neither provides much offensive punch, which is where this deck shines.I love Lifeline, and use it very well in a deck with Hunting Moas, Multani's Acolyte, Marker Beetles, and Yavimya Elders.  Here, however, it would just keep putting roadblocks (my opponent's critters) into my thugs' way- unless I kill them, I can't get my damage through consistently.As for flyers, the only 3 or less casting cost black critters I could find were the Junun Efreet and the Skittering Skirge- both with powers of 3.  Do you know of any others?I like the Spirit of the Night, but something like that would just clog this deck.  I typically don't have more than 4 land in play at any time when running it, and I hold onto land and Rituals in order to jumpstart a recovery in case someone plays a big land sweeper like Armageddon, Cataclysm, Jokulhaups or whatever.</blockquote>

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