Punishing Thieves

[Stryfo]

Hi, I am Stryfo, but my MTGO handle is Clashed and I've been working on this deck since early December of last year (not really new, but potentially new to some of you). Recently, I think I've hit something pretty close to the sweet spot. Without any further nonsense, here is my current list:


3 Dack Fayden
3 Punishing Fire
4 Brainstorm
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Polluted Delta
2 Volcanic Island
2 Island
3 Underground Sea
1 Badlands
1 Swamp
4 Baleful Strix
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Diabolic Edict
2 Thoughtseize
1 Fatal Push
1 To the Slaughter
1 Toxic Deluge
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Force of Will
1 Tropical Island
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Ponder
1 Gurmag Angler
2 Counterbalance

Sideboard

2 Surgical Extraction
2 Pyroblast
1 Hydroblast
1 Sultai Charm
1 Spell Pierce
1 Notion Thief
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Thoughtseize
1 Nihil Spellbomb




Since the banning of DRS, the deck has moved closer to a Grixis deck with green sideboard cards. I have decided that the late game inevitability that DRS would help provide in the form of gaining life should be replaced by counterbalance. The idea is that a lot of early losses were coming after stabilization at low life to something like a lightning bolt. We were also missing a mainboard "hatebear" and CB helps with that. I think the build above is pretty decent, I've had plenty of success in MTGO leagues, but have had a really poor run in the challenges, which seems to have been a mixture of bad luck in the matchup lottery and randomly losing favorable matchups.

Some thoughts I've not had time to explore in the new format:

A 22nd land. I probably want to try a colorful spell land (maybe creeping tar pit?). I think the main has a spot currently occupied by angler that is really awkward, and it's very possible it should just be another land.

Hymn in the sideboard for control/combo matchups. As much as I hate Hymn, it is certainly very powerful and can help secure the combo and control matchups (though control is already very good and most combo matchups are close to even).

Bring Chandra back into the 75. I really miss playing with Chandra, but I think she just makes already good matchups better and doesn't fix any holes. She might still be worth exploring.

I miss playing with Rise//Fall, but I can't find a way to conveniently get enough creatures into the deck and still have a reasonable combo matchup (I'd like 10 creatures if I'm playing Rise//Fall)


Here is a video primer to the deck that will eventually include all of the common matchups:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRE2...CdLem1I-2y_S_R



I hope all of you coming to this deck are looking forward to stealing some wins!

Thanks for reading, I look forward to any thoughts, experiences, and ideas you all might have.