> Dear BMoor:

> 

> I played magic for about two years and then stopped because all my

> friends stopped. There is a new card store in town that has magic

> tournaments so i decided to try and play again. This deck was inspired

> by the card megrim but i did not include them because the deck changed

> a lot from the original idea.

> Here  is my deck list in extended

> 

> 

> 4 stronghold rats

> 4 marrow-gnawer

> 4 myojin of night’s reach

> 4 ravenous rats

> 

> 4 cry of contribution

> 3 goryo’s vengeance

> 4 wrench mind

> 3 unearth

> 4 funeral charm

> 4 dark ritual

> 4 hymn to tourach

> 

> 18 swamp

> 

> This deck is possible of one of the most devastating first turn i can 

> think of other than an instant win. What you do is use dark ritual,

> then cry of contribution or funeral charm and discard your own myojin

> of night's reach, then goryo's vengeance and you deal 5 damage then

> discard all of your opponents hand,  after the turn the myojin is

> removed from play but he did all he needs to. The  deck does not need

> the combo to win but it helps a lot. stronghold rats I know  is a

> wierd choice but it discards from my opponent and i can dump a

> creature to  be brought back later. the main thing I do not like is

> the creatures and the  lack of them, if i dont draw them soon enough

> it can be very hard to win. I  tried to get in more but could not fit

> any in. I have a some what of a budget for this deck. I do  not have

> enough for thoughtsieze and cards the same or above that expensive but 

> most anything else i can get.

> Joey

 

 

Well, this one should be pretty easy to fix.  It's already running a powerhouse suite of cards-- eight one-mana discard spells, eight two-mana discard spells that can get two cards each, and you should have no trouble stripping your opponent's hand bare.

 

There's just one problem. Your "combo" of ripping their entire hand from them with Myojin of Night's Reach... doesn't work.  You see, the Myojin only gets a divinity counter if you play it from your hand.  As in, straight up the hard way.  Using Goryo's Vengange to bring it back just gets you the 5/2, and while it is pretty impressive to smack your opponent with that on the first turn, it just doesn't do what you're asking of it.

 

So I'd say replace Goryo's Vengance with Zombify, or Beacon of Unrest, or the like-- something that will get you a creature and let you keep it.  You can keep the Myojin if you like, or you can replace it with something that doesn't mind being reanimated.  Ghastlord of Fugue works lovely in this deck if you can get it.  Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni is also a nice one, keeping with both the reanimator theme and the Rat theme.  Hollowborn Barghest also looks excellent in a deck so skilled at stripping cards out of an opponent's grip, especially if you tend to play out your own hand.  And then there's the old favorite Hypnotic Specter, which gives you more ways to keep your opponent sorely lacking in spells as well as being another Unearth target.

 

And aside from that, you're good to go!  As you said, this deck can win without the Myojin combo.  Turn one Dark Rit into Funeral Charm/Hymn to Tourach is an absolutely backbreaking opener.  Even without the Ritual, Cry of Contrition into Hymn to Tourach into Stronghold Rats will have most opponents scrambling for some way to recover.

 

Good luck!

 

~BMoor