Hi, this deck was sent to me from a reader and I will change this the best I can with my thoughts and views. It is a land destruction deck that is R/B. I have thought of version of this myself but not since Invasion. I think this one will be a fun task, so here is the deck.

LandDikDeker
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Creatures (12):
2 Nightscape Familiar
1 Thunderscape Familiar
1 Phyrexian Scuta
1 Two-Headed Dragon
3 Balduvian Horde
2 Pyre Zombie
2 Avatar of Fury

Spells (25):
3 Dark Ritual
3 Terror
4 Rain of Tears
4 Despoil
4 Stone Rain
4 Pillage
3 Terminate

Lands (24):
12 Swamp
12 Mountain


First we have to look at the Land destruction.

4 rain of Tears
4 Despoil
4 Stone Rain
4 Pillage

This is a very good core land destruction. It has almost all the needed elements so I find that there will not be too much change needed. We might want to add some more stuff to the land destruction. I think adding 1 Tectonic breaks can only helps this deck as it has some devastating effects at times. I plan on adding Vampiric Tutors to the deck so adding just 1 is not a bad idea. Also Implode is a very interesting card from planeshift. It is in my eyes potentially a great card to have in the deck. We are planning on playing the Nightscape Familiar and dark ritual so turn 3 is not unreasonable. . I also think it is better to get rid of the Despoils; we can add a few Pain/Suffering. My reasoning is that it will be to cards in one, plus since we are playing the black familiar it can be cast for one less, much better and more option than Despoil, so lets add 2 of those. After this is done we are ahead in card for the deck, it is currently 63. The deck was originally 61 so by the end of the article it will be a solid 60 cards.

+1 Tectonic break
+3 Implode
+2 Pain/Suffering
-4 Despoil

Next up let's look at the creature destruction and other assorted spells.

3 Dark Ritual
3 Terminate
3 Terror

For the most part this is pretty good, though I think terror is not as good as terminate. I would add another terminate due to its effectiveness and remove the other 2 terrors. If we are playing Pyre Zombie, I think that will get the job done for destruction with pyre and terminates. Also adding eh Dark Ritual count up to far is a good idea due to its effectiveness and need of an early land destruction to prevent opponent from getting anything going for him. I would also add 2 Vampiric Tutors. They are a great card and almost always welcomed in a deck with black in it. I would normally add some sort of card drawing device but this time I will add something that is similar to card drawing, it is Yawgmoth's agenda, though only one.

+1 Dark Ritual
+1 Terminate
+1 Yawgmoth's Agenda
+2 Vampiric Tutor
-3 Terror

So here we are 65 cards and what we are left with is the creatures. There will be some big cuts here but that normally is how land destruction works is with few creatures for the kill. Here are the creatures:

2 Nightscape Familiar
1 Thunderscape Familiar
1 Phyrexian Scuta
1 Two-Headed Dragon
3 Balduvian Horde
2 Pyre Zombie
2 Avatar of Fury

First we should add 1 more Nightscape apprentice as we have been praising this guy for some time now. Then we need to smooth out the creature and not have them as choppy and scattered. Avatar of Fury doesn't fit well in this deck. Its alternative casting cost will just not be beneficial at all. Also the hordes can be devastating on your hand so we will remove them. Next we are playing an Agenda and that poses a problem with Pyre Zombie. Cutting one is not unreasonable as you can tutor for it and later in the game you can decide when to cast the agenda and not get too screwed by multiple weakened cards in hand. The Thunderscape Familiar is out of place. Sure it is a helpful ability but it is a 1/1 first strike and there just isn't any good in one in the deck. The two-headed is good enough and can finish the game off in very short order when cast and also gets reduced by the familiar, I would add one more. Finally there is the Scuta and while he is a beating and a fast beating, the two-headed can sometimes be the same casting cost and ultimately has a better home in this deck due to flying. I would switch the Scuta for a dragon and add one additional more as well. So here are the final cuts.

+1 Nightscape Familiar
+2 Two-Headed Dragon
-1 Thunderscape Familiar
-1 Pyre Zombie
-3 Balduvian Hordes
-2 Avatar of Fury
-1 Phyrexian Scuta

Finally we will revamp the land. It is too one-dimensional splitting the 2 directly in half. We will add some multi-color lands for consistency. First we should add 4 Urborg volcanos. There isn't too often you will play something turn one aside with a ritual draw. The next land I would add is 4 Sulfurous Spring. Same thing as Urborg Volcano for consistency and the drawback is very minimal. Also I would add 4 Rishadan Ports. Using this on upkeep can sometimes be just like a land destruction in itself. The final land I would add to the deck is 1 Dust Bowl. Non-basic lands have made a huge landing in T2, there is a ton of them to use this card will get you land destruction at a small cost. So here are the final cuts and additions before I post the final deck list

+4 Urborg Volcano
+4 Sulfurous Springs
+4 Rishadan Port
+1 Dust Bowl
-7 Mountains
-6 Swamps

Here is the final tuned deck version:

Creatures (7):
3 Nightscape Familiar
3 Two-Headed Dragon
1 Pyre Zombie

Spells (29):
4 Dark Ritual
3 Implode
1 Tectonic Break
4 Rain of Tears
4 Stone Rain
4 Pillage
4 Terminate
2 Pain/Suffering
1 Yawgmoth's Agenda
2 Vampiric Tutor

Lands (24):
6 Swamp
5 Mountain
4 Urborg Volcano
4 Sulfurous Springs
4 Rishadan Port
1 Dust Bowl

I am going to try this deck out myself sometime and I hope you enjoy playing this one yourself. 

Mike Handfield
mhandfield@shana.com