Janky Or Potentially Competitive? Should I build This Deck? Hellcarver Rebirth. DEC

[Kangaxx]

I need some advice from the community whether I should build this particular deck but I'm skeptical that it might be too janky to even dump money on. I'm recieving x4 Hellcarver Demon in the mail soon so I figured I'd use them for a deck. I'm not sure whether this list could be competitive or not so I need some advice on this matter. Here's the list.

Hellcarver Rebirth v.1.0

// Lands
4 [TE] Ancient Tomb
1 [EX] City of Traitors
3 [PLC] Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
1 [R] Bayou
1 Scrubland
2 [B] Badlands
4 [P3] Swamp (2)
3 [ZEN] Marsh Flats

// Creatures
4 Hellcarver Demon

// Spells
4 [8E] Searing Wind
4 [ARB] Vengeful Rebirth
4 [MR] Chalice of the Void
4 [TE] Scroll Rack
4 [SH] Mox Diamond
3 [MM] Skull of Ramos
4 [DDD] Sign in Blood
3 [DK] Inferno
3 [PLC] Damnation

// Sideboard
SB: 3 Diabolic Edict
SB: 3 Heroes Remembered
SB: 4 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 3 [DDD] Faerie Macabre
SB: 2 [DIS] Loaming Shaman

The deck basically works by getting a Hellcarver Demon into play then reveal cards like Searing Wind, Vengeful Rebirth and Inferno to deal enough damage to end the game in one attack phase. I'm not sure if this is the right application to abuse Hellcarver Demon since I'm skeptical that it might be too janky of a deck. I have other projects too that I could just jump to, so I basically need some guidance from the community to help me figure out if a deck like this is worth building or if it's just a basic casual deck. Thanks ahead of time for your advice! Hopefully you guys can set me in the right direction.

[jrsthethird]

Dark Ritual would help you let him hit faster.

Or maybe you could run a couple Badlands and pitch an Anger in the yard so he has haste.

[Kangaxx]

Dark Ritual would help you let him hit faster.

Or maybe you could run a couple Badlands and pitch an Anger in the yard so he has haste.

I'm not able to run Ritual becuase I usually set Chalice for 1 against StP/PtE. But I do run stuff like Mox Diamond, Skull of Ramos, in combination with Scroll Rack and Sign in Blood to accelerate both draws and mana development. Mana accel isn't the problem, it's whether if this deck can become viable or not becuase I'm initially skeptical about the idea.

EDIT: I might be getting misunderstood here. I really prefer advice on whether I should build the deck or not, not specific card interactions. I basically want you guys to tell me if the idea is viable or just complete crap. Thanks.

[ReAnimator]

Looks Janky and terrible, i don't think there is any compelling reason to run such an unstable combo deck over other more powerful and consistent options. I would keep this for casual games only.

[Grollub]

You might want to test out something like Wildfire too, it'd be a pretty nice topdeck off the demons ability - killing your opponents lands and creatures too, Cataclysm is another interesting nice option. There's of course also the option of Tendrils of Agony. Dredge, flashback, Ichorid and Bloodghasts seem like a natural fit too.

Regardless, you'd probably want to maximize the amount of fetchlands to strength the demons ability.

I don't think it'll be competetitive, but it'd probably be pretty funny to play. The demons power is really unique and powerful, so it's certainly worth experimenting with.

[jrsthethird]

EDIT: I might be getting misunderstood here. I really prefer advice on whether I should build the deck or not, not specific card interactions. I basically want you guys to tell me if the idea is viable or just complete crap. Thanks.

Could be viable, maybe not in Legacy but at least in Extended. You can always try it out against the crappy jank decks on MWS and see how it does. If you win maybe 75% or more of your matches then try it against some Tier 2 Legacy decks and go on from there.

[Oiolosse]

Blazing shoal is great with big red cards sitting useless in your hand.

[slylie]

One thing I've never understood, is why people say things like "I don't want to waste my money buying the cards to try it out, then find out it sucks". Why do you have to buy all the cards just to playtest? My friends and I play with proxies all the time, we even have whole decks proxied just for testing against. The decks we like, we try to get the cards for it. Try before you buy. Do you buy a car before going for a test drive or looking inside? no. Only an idiot would do that.

Option 1. Download MWS for free. You can build any deck you want and test it out, even against real people.
Option 2. Proxy the deck. You can proxy the cards you don't have. Print them out, if you dont have a printer just write the cards name on a piece of paper and slip it infront of a tortoise formation so people will know what it is.
Option 3. Buy all the cards for an idea in your head, play the deck and find out its crap, lose lots of money.

oh and PS. The deck does look like junk. Hellcarver Demon looks very cool but more as a card for SI or belcher that run very few to no lands.

[Vacrix]

Hellcarver Demon looks very cool but more as a card for SI or belcher that run very few to no lands.

Exactly my thoughts. Hellcarver Demon has the potential to Mind's Desire the top 6. Belcher and SI can win that same turn that you swing in for 6 (though SI is more likely to do so). In particular, SI's threat density is so high that you are more than likely to hit something relevant within those top 6 cards, storm off and win. Its like a (win the game)/6, not a 6/6 in a deck like SI.

Also, I agree. Don't dump money into untested decks. I'm going to be picking up 4 demon myself either way just because I might be able to use them in a deck I already play.

[Conficker]

Hellcarver Demon looks very cool but more as a card for SI or belcher that run very few to no lands.

Exactly my thoughts.

Both decks weren't vulnerable to spot removal then which made Swords and Paths dead cards. So why give Fish more reason now not to take out creature removal game 2 where your chance of going off already depends on a 0/1 flyer?

[Kangaxx]

Option 1. Download MWS for free. You can build any deck you want and test it out, even against real people.

I have MWS. I've goldfished with the deck and it runs very smoothly but I fear that it's too slow and suicidal in the sense that it uses life as a resource without any apparent life gain.

You might want to test out something like Wildfire too, it'd be a pretty nice topdeck off the demons ability - killing your opponents lands and creatures too, Cataclysm is another interesting nice option.

My initial list ran Wildfire but was removed when I realized that it didn't deal damage to each player. My current build is running it though, in conjunction with Nether Void.

Option 1. Download MWS for free. You can build any deck you want and test it out, even against real people

I have the entire deck built on MWS minus the Hellcarver Demon becuase of the lack of a patch for Rise. I have x4 Demonic Hordes as proxies, but I don't feel like playing against someone I don't know and have to explain to them that the Hordes are Hellcarvers followed by a System Loss message.

The demons power is really unique and powerful, so it's certainly worth experimenting with.

I agree. I have another deck up my sleeve that I don't want to divulge on just yet.

[Phoenix Ignition]

My initial list ran Wildfire but was removed when I realized that it didn't deal damage to each player. My current build is running it though, in conjunction with Nether Void.

I'm pretty sure Nether Void makes you pay 3 for each "free" spell Demon would give you, so that seems pretty terrible. Also the deck does too, you have far too many dead cards and very minimal ways to stop fast aggro decks like zoo and merfolk. Getting your Demon just countered will pretty much lose you the game, and you don't run brainstorm either so having all these dead cards is going to make your starting hands essentially be 6 or 5 card hands, making you auto mulligan.

Go with your other idea.

[Forbiddian]

Seems bad in either shell.

It's a mana and a turn slower than Ad Nauseam and vulnerable to every removal spell.

It also doesn't play very well with Ad Nauseam.



If you're going to do this, you need a way to protect it. Lightning Greaves does help with two problems, but it itself is a horrible problem.

The best bet, I think, is to use it like a Mind's Desire. Unfortunately, any possible way that you set it up, it looks worse than Ad Nauseam and just as vulnerable/more vulnerable. You also can't float mana into it to try to combo off. Also, your opponent can sometimes just block.

I don't see this as happening in any shell.

[Nidd]

Hellcarver Demon looks breakable, but he's also clunky.

At the end of the day, I'll rather play him in my ANT SB as some kind of man plan than build a deck around a 6 mana beater without protection from removal.