Arkham Asylum

[Xod]

Hi guys,

I had a long time the idea to play a madness deck (mainly because the card Asylum Visitor). So to play into the 2 tricks of this card: madness and hand depletion, we need 1 thing: discard

Splitted up in 2 devisions, discard for the opponent hand (as disruption), and as enablers for our madness cards.

My current list I was planning to test this Friday below.

4 Deathrite Shaman (manadork, ramp, reach and grave hate)
4 Insolent Neonate (enabler and CA with a madness card, don't underestimate the points of damage that it will get through thanks to menace, will cycle useless cards)
4 Asylum Visitor (main card of the deck, will provide CA, will act as a 'hopefully' better Dark Confident)
2 Reckless Wurm (big beater that is Decay proof and a madness card, can be replaced)

4 Thoughtseize (this can also be IoK, not sure yet)
4 Hymn to Tourach (well ... duh!)
4 Faitless Looting (enabler, card digger and CA with a madness card)

4 Fiery Temper (our madness bolt, this can be hardcasted, avoids CotV on 1, and with an enabler this is always value)
2 Big Game Hunter (was Avacyn's Revenge, but figured that card wasn't good enough, BGH will deal with Goyf's, Eldrazi, SnT, ...)

4 The Rack (if we let them discard so much, this was the natural inclusion, maybe add more discard? like Gerrad's Verdict?)

2 Bottomless Pit (Lily 3 and 4, don't have extra lily's :-(, but has other advantages over lily)
2 Liliana of the Veil (enabler, swiss army knife)

4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
4 Badlands
1 Bayou
4 Wasteland (was thinking of not playing these, but added these after adding DRS, disrupting first is more important)
2 Swamp
1 Taiga

60

Sideboard
4 Abrupt Decay
2 Alms of the Vein (burn)
3 Strength of Lunacy (DnT)
2 Dark Withering (creature decks, goyfs, eldrazi)
2 Psychotic Haze (sweeper)
2 Faerie Macabre (grave hate)


Main thoughts, maybe getting a decay or 2 maindeck, and Bottomless Pit should be Lilliana in the long run (don't have number 3 and 4 at the moment). Enablers can't cost to much because your madness will also cost mana.

Any suggestions?

[filln]

Maybe toss in Collective Brutality? Seems like a pretty natural fit.

EDIT: This might be a little too janky but Midnight Oil could be interesting too.

[Nouille]

You see Asylum visitor as the main card of the deck, but I doubt you'll ever draw with its effect. Your discarding power is -in my opinion- far too slow : you can't force your opponent to be hellbent before t3-4 at best, and the game will often be closed at this time (you don't play force). Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like Dark confident it still the way to go in this kind of deck, because its effect is immediate and must be answered quikly.

[tarmogoat]

If you want to play madness take a look at the old school madness:
Ken Ho - PT Osaka 2002 Chapmion
13 Forest
9 Island
1 Tarnished Citadel
4 Aquamoeba
4 Arrogant Wurm
4 Basking Rootwalla
3 Werebear
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Circular Logic
4 Roar of the Wurm
3 Upheaval
3 Squirrel Nest
4 Standstill

4 Aura Graft
3 Moment's Peace
3 Nantuko Blightcutter
2 Persuasion
3 Still Life

Christophe Haim - PT Osaka 2002 Top8
2 Centaur Garden
9 Forest
9 Island
2 Aquamoeba
3 Arrogant Wurm
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Werebear
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Breakthrough
3 Careful Study
3 Circular Logic
3 Deep Analysis
4 Æther Burst
2 Standstill

3 Anurid Scavenger
2 Aura Graft
1 Circular Logic
2 Divert
2 Moment's Peace
3 Spellbane Centaur
2 Standstill

Basically, back in the day green and blue were the madness colors. If I were to play mandess today, I think I'd go for BUG color combination, as it gives you the most powerful cards available:
Deathrite Shaman
Daze
Force of Will
Circular Logic
Wild Mongrel
Careful Study
Nimble Mongoose
Tarmogoyf
Hooting Mandrills
Gurmag Angler
Cabal Therapy
Liliana of the Veil
Abrupt Decay
Thoughtseize
Hymn to Tourach
Snapcaster Mage
Vendilion Clique
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy

You'd have to choose the creature and spell suites carefully thoug, as there are way too many good cards in the pool. I think the deck would be playing delver style between BUG and RUG, so in the end not too sure if it's where you want to be.