Ashy Illness

So, first I fixed the mana. Did I cut Blue? 

.....no. Look, I'm not entirely sure why Lat-Nam's Legacy doesn't have a bigger presence but the ability to recycle cards in my hand that are redundant (because they are on the board) for answers I may need is a big deal. 

Then, I added in Hunted Bonebrute, a card Fuz stumbled on while we were brainstorming. I like this card quite a bit here, and it makes for a good substitute for Exsanguinator Calvary.

These have been pretty amazing changes: the playability of Blackened Disease has become so much better. I am kicking myself a little for not looking at the mana sooner. At the same time, the deck has been a little challenging to test, because a couple people I play with have leaned into some token decks. 

Well, it's pretty dickish to play a deck that deliberately fucks over tokens, right? I don't get a proper experience with how the deck plays and their time is miserable. So I've had to be judicious about when I got to play the deck.

Still, things have been solid and fun to play. I really need to remember that the foundation of every deck is mana, and getting that right is critical to seeing if the idea actually works. 

Also, and I'm not saying this is right, but Maha is a pretty spicy card for this deck...

Infectious Darkness

I don't know about you but I can't understand the lyrics for Blackened Disease, so I'm just going to find synonyms. 

Now I've been on a very big R/B kick, it's pretty clear. Probably going back nearly a year, when I wanted to do the Orcish Bowmasters/Burning Inquiry combo. I still love that deck, even though it doesn't quite come together as well as I would like. Still, that color combo has been the thing for me if anyone is wondering why I'm into this meme of a deck.

It is fun, I can't deny it. But it's definitely using some of the spaces needed to make the deck work like Illness in the Ranks, for cards that would be better in the game overall. There just aren't a ton of token decks to worry about, right?

And then there's the addition of Blue. Should it be there at all? 

The first test went...badly. Fuz was playing a GW deck and it just chewed through this deck. But he liked the engine of this deck so was happy to give me some suggestions. Many of those I'll be incorporating as soon as I can. Then we looked at the deck, big picture style.

One of the first problems I noticed was the manabase. This deck is a heavy Black one, and cards like Hero's Downfall need BB to get going. Well only 50% of the deck produces Black mana, in a deck that has 72% black cards!

There's a couple ways to take pressure off-running Go for the Throat was a suggestion. There was also the notion of removing Blue entirely and I really don't want to get rid of Lat-Nam's Legacy buuuuut there's a strong argument for that. 

First thing's first though: I need to fix the manabase so it properly reflects the colors it needs.

Blackened Disease

From the mad minds of YouTube, I present this:

4 Slaughter Specialist
3 Varchild's War-Riders
3 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor
2 Clackbridge Troll
4 Exsanguinator Cavalry

4 Trespasser's Curse
4 Illness in the Ranks

4 Lat-Nam's Legacy
2 Cathartic Pyre
4 Hero's Downfall

4 Forbidden Orchard
5 Swamp
5 Mountain
1 Swiftwater Cliffs
1 Dismal Backwater
1 Island
1 Evolving Wilds
4 Sulfurous Springs

3 End the Festivities

Let's see where this takes me. I named this after the killer Dukatalon song, because it links so nicely with Illness in the Ranks.