He Has A Master Plan

I had an opportunity to playtest Monster Man a few times by myself, just to get a hang of the deck again. I took some notes so I could remember how to adapt the deck later (I was in the pub while testing) and I thought I'd share those notes.

1) Remember your triggers. Squee should've come back 2x in that last game.

2) Need another way to get creatures from GY or hand into play. Purchase another Recurring Nightmare, but also...

3) Why Skullbriar? I don't have a way to grow it into a threat. It has interesting synergies with the graveyard recursion, for sure. But let's say I can cast it on turn 3; swing for 1. So what? It's just as vulnerable to anti-GY strategies and I'd rather have this as a 3/3 in the Liege deck (King of the Rotten, which I haven't written about yet), I think.

4) Could probably use another Vengevine. Damnit. (Because Vengevines are expensive). 

5) Card draw from Elvish Visionaries is good. Discard from Rats is good. Black Cat?

5a) Black Cat = dies. Look for g/b triggers on 'dies'.

6) Eidolon of Blossoms is kinda silly. It has one interaction in the entire deck. This is a graveyard deck, not an enchantment one. I reload better with Satyr Wayfinder.

7) Yavimaya Ants is the glory of cool things BUT I am keeping it in the deck. 5/1 trampling hasted dudes don't suck. Along those lines: Deathmist Raptor? (A search puts Deathmist Raptor at $24 a pop. No.)

8) How do I recover from board wipe? See point 5a to research. Anger of the Gods-or any exile removal is especially bad.

After some tweaking and research, here's what I came up with.

Point 1 just means practice. Point 2 was made for Body Snatcher. 3 = no more Skullbriar. Made room for another Wayfinder. Point 4 is under consideration but damn, Vengevines are nearly $20 a piece and that's a lot. 5 and 5a: Black Cat has been removed and after the search I have done, I do not see a satisfying 'dies' trigger. Blood Artist and Blood Artist and Brindle Shoat both show promise but I'm wary. Destructor Dragon could be an excellent thing since Planeswalkers are here and finding a viable threat against them is important, and it's not a bad card by itself.

To number 6, I have removed Eidolon for another Wayfinder. Point 7 stands; I like my Yavimaya Ants. As for point 8, I may just have to play smart, practice and hope for the best. Global removal is always problematic for creature oriented decks and if I can force the removal without having to abandon all the threats in my hand then it the global removal won't matter, I can still keep the pressure on. It's easier said than done but this is why I should practice.