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It's a Mad Mad WorldBy Sean DeCoursey on January 5th, 2007 · Filed in Extended (Type 1.x) · 4 CommentsMadness is a pretty crazy mechanic in theory. Intentionally discarding your own stuff seems like, well, the crazy mental hospital kind of madness. Yet the deck has made an impact in every format it has ever been legal in. The traditional colors for madness are  Say what? Say what again! Psychotic Episode - at regular cost, its a slightly upgraded Coercion, in that it prevents for at least one turn some amazing topdeck. When played Mad, this is a two mana instant speed improved Coercion. Run a quick count in your head of all the instant speed discard spells in standard, extended, and vintage. Done? There's five. Haunting Hymn, Tsabo's Decree, Recoil, Necrogen Spellbomb, and Funeral Charm. Episode is the most theoretically powerful of the new Madness cards, given that its hardcast cost is in line with what a non Madness spell of that type would get you and its madness cost is significantly less. A few new potential Madness outlets have also appeared in Time Spiral, namely: Lightning Axe, Smallpox, Looter il-Kor, and Trespasser il-Vec. Trespasser and Looter are the two great outlets on their own, whereas with Smallpox and Axe the primary purpose of the spell is entirely different, with only the off chance of gaining a bonus from the discard effect. Unfortunately, neither of these creatures do a great job of making it into a new madness deck due to their natural toughness of one, and the preponderance of boros decks in the metagame. The Orb of Insight is now up and there are four instances of Madness in it. No idea what they are, so no use worrying about it 'til they show up, K? Leroy in the House Ok, so you're probably thinking great, there's some new Madness cards, how does that matter to me again? Well, it matters because they enable a new version of a fusion of two old decks, one a standard deck from the IPA/OTJ era, the other a more recent online extended deck, circa the OLS/CBS era, before the emergence of Dredge and the banning of Vial. Those two decks were synthesized into this amazing aggro-control hybrid.
If you're wondering about the name, click here and get ready to laugh. The deck has undergone a lot of testing and revision in its short life, with some of the more notable changes being: Putrefy, Withering, and Episode going to the 'board from the maindeck at various points, the addition of Crypt to the board, the addition of Smallpox to the maindeck, and the removal of the incarnations (Genesis, Glory) from the deck altogether. Gorgon is currently fighting with the assassin for a spot pretty hard, mainly due to the presence of so much Boros in the metagame. Four toughness vs. one toughness is a pretty huge deal in that matchup, and as a bonus, the way the gorgons ability is worded means that even if a jitte'd first striking knight kills her, it'll still die at the end of combat, no matter how big it is, or if she dealt damage to it. Crime/Punishment might look a little out of place in the sideboard, and it is. Pernicious Deed would be better in that slot, unfortunately, Deed costs upwards of $100 online, and I don't feel like dumping an extra $500 into this deck when Punishment does kind of the same thing for about $4. The deck would be much, much better with Deed instead of C&P though, so if the cost isn't an issue for you, or you're building it for paper, forget C&P and the Godless Shrine and run Deed in its place.  I want to be in the deck, but with only seven Black creatures, I don't fit.  / decks, this is in many ways more of an assortment of "good stuff" rather than a synergistic, highly focused decklist. Unlike most / decks however, the Madness mechanic eliminates the dead draws in mid and late game that so often doom the / players' hopes for victory. I call this effect "redundant inefficiency." Basically it means that you have inefficient cards that can be utilized to feed other inefficient cards at different points in the game. Unlike many / decks this is also a multiblock synergy monster. The deck has a lot of cool interactions and "nifty plays" that highlight specific card combinations while still managing to utilize cards that are good on their own. An example of this would be Smallpox. It kills Bob off if he's getting to be too much of a pain, it three for ones your opponent, it works very well with Life from the Loam, and it sometimes lets you cast a Rootwalla on turn one or two. Life from the Loam comboes with Zombie Infestation to create an absolute ton of tokens. Zombie Infestation combines rather well with your Madness cards, allowing for the "put two (or three) creatures into play during your EOT" goodness. Therapy and Duress give you strong early game disruption while Chrome Mox gives early game acceleration, and all get turned into damage via Mongrel or Infestation in the late game. Cabal Therapy and Token generators combine with Dredge to give you extra free discard spells. The downside of all this is that your lategame is pretty non-existant, and you usually need to draw a mix of both beats and disruption in order to win. A good hand of all beats can deliver a force attacking for around 18 on turn four. A good all disruption draw empties your opponents' hand, but leaves you both in topdeck mode. Hint: against non-boros decks, their topdecks are usually > yours. The formula for this deck is pressure + disruption = turn 5-7 win. Miss part of that and you'll start having problems.Playing the deck and stuff (preferably without getting Leroy'd). The following matchup descriptions are generic, and assume that your opponent is using the most commonly available version of the deck. The Therapy Issues section addresses what card you should be naming with Therapy if your opponent hasn't provided any "tells" as to what they're holding. The sideboarding section addresses the usual changes you would want to make to the deck. At the end of each section is a description of the standard sideboarding you'll do against a deck of that archetype (aggro, control, combo). First up is aggro. Boros isn't your best matchup. Sudden Shock kills your pump dudes, Mongrel and Walla alike, you don't have any creatures with the magic five toughness, and quite a few of your creatures have toughness one, which just screams to be beaten down by things like Lava Dart and Grim Lavamancer. On the upside you have Smallpox, and Duress does a nice job of stopping the burn and LD. For sideboarding, bring in the Putrefys, Punishments, and Witherings, and take out the Duress', Therapies, and one Bob. I know, Duress was good game one, so why cut it? Because you've got better stuff to bring in. You really only want Bob to live long enough to draw you 2-3 cards in this match, and usually the boros player will oblige by killing him on sight because the extra cards draw will bury them, but just be aware that he's always the prime candidate to make that chump block or sacrifice to Therapy or Smallpox. Especially after boarding, when your decks' cc increases dramatically. Therapy Issues: 1. Sudden Shock. 2. Grim Lavamancer. 3. Lightning Helix. Affinity is slightly, but not greatly, in your favor as a match. Pre-board, you've got many of the problems Madness decks have always had with Affinity, namely, that you're trying to play the same game (big, undercosted critters and pump dudes) and they're better at it, and your main form of disruption is something they can easily ignore. Post board, you've got a nice big advantage, as they don't really have much to bring in, while you gain Punishment, which is a two mana Armageddon, Putrefy and Dark Withering, one of which is an instant speed Vindicate, and the other of which is a neo Swords to Plowshares. Smallpoxing out a Dark Withering is a really, really devastating play for Affinity to see. Take out the Therapies, Duress', and one Bob, and bring in the C&Ps, Putrefys, and Witherings. Therapy Issues: 1. Cranial Plating. 2. Thoughtcast. 3. Arcbound Ravager. Aggro-Rock plays a very similar game to yours, except that you don't really care about their discard, and your creatures are usually bigger. Troll and equipment are the problem cards here. Smallpox is your only out against Troll, so be aware of that when making decisions about using it. Equipment and flyers are the real threat in this matchup for you. A Specter with a sword is almost impossible to beat game one since you can't block it and have a hard time getting four black cards in hand with an Assassin before you're dead. If you expect some Withered Wretch/Leyline of the Void silliness post board, simply remove your two Life from the Loams. Vulnerability to GY hate is now eliminated. Playing against Flow Rock is fairly similar, just remember to mostly grab basic lands instead of duals against them. Generally you'll bring in Punishments and Putrefys for Therapies and (depending on their build) Loams or Bobs. Withering can also come in if there is a dearth of black creatures. Duress stays in to hit removal and equipment before it comes down. Therapy Issues: 1. Sword of Fire and Ice. 2. Umezawa's Jitte. 3. Troll Ascetic. Ichorid is a deck thats gained a lot from the last new set, picking up Dread Return, Nether Traitor, and possibly Bad Moon. Assassin shines in this matchup as her first strike stops ichy's and zombies alike, and with many of the ichy decks' critters having a toughness of one, she almost always two for ones. Note that cards are revealed on resolution, so if your opponent wants to pump their 'tog, they have to do it before seeing how many black cards are in your hand. There are two main problem cards in this match: Akroma and Wonder. Both of them essentially eliminate your ability to block. This is a bad thing, as Ichorid usually has a faster clock than you do. Fortunately, post board, you gain Tormod's Crypt and Crime. Say goodbye to Therapy, Duress, and Mists, and hello to Putrefy, Crypt, and Crime/Punishment. I've also experimented with taking out the other mists and a bob for the three Psychotic Episodes, but thats really only worth it when you can nail an Ichorid or Wonder in their hand, which isn't all that common of an occurrance. Therapy Issues: Anything without Dredge or Flashback. (1. Zombie Infestation. 2. Psychatog. 3. um, thats it.) Angel Solution rounds out the commonly played aggro decks. Game one can be a nightmare if they get down an early Counterbalance and Top, because so much of your deck is concentrated at the 1 and 2 cc slots. Games two and three the addition of Punishments, Putrefys, and Witherings really helps. Helix and Fire will burn out a lot of your early drops, the thing to remember is that they don't have any actual card drawing or counters, so simply wearing down their resources is a viable strategy. Stealing dead angels with Crime is also brutal. Therapy Issues: 1. Sensei's Divining Top. 2. Trinket Mage. 3. Counterbalance. Generally speaking, against aggro you're going to be taking out Therapy and Duress, and possibly Bob or Mists for Crime/Punishment, Putrefy, and sometimes Withering. Control Issues Scepter Chant can beat you game one with an early chant lock. Actually, game one you can't beat a chant lock at any stage of the game. Games two and three this changes a little bit with the addition of Putrefy. Your main defense against the scepter is to hit it with discard before it comes down. Necrogen Mists is an awesome card in this matchup, as so many of chant's cards are dependent on being reactive or comboing with other cards that they often are discarded for minimal or no gain. When sideboarding, take out the Assassins and two Bobs for the Episodes and Putrefys. Get the Mists out as fast as possible in this match and ride them to victory. Save Putrefy for Scepters if at all possible. If it's a version of the deck that relies on Angels for the victory, you may want to bring in some Witherings, if it doesn't use Angels you can cut the Smallpox for Punishments. Therapy Issues: 1. Isochron Scepter. 2. Fact or Fiction. 3. Thirst for Knowledge.  Booooo lifegaining, recurring, beats. U/W Control variants can be beaten by using discard to hit their card drawing then overloading their counters with threats. Use instant speed creatures to hit hard enough to force the Wrath without overcommitting to it. Cut Assassin for Episode here. Therapy Issues: 1. Repeal. 2. Fact or Fiction. 3. Azorious Signet. Against control you'll generally be pulling out Assassins and bringing in either Crypts or Episodes. Combo decks and Easy street Now we get to the part of the deck matchups where the fun really begins. Your most common sideboarding move will be cutting Assassins for Psychotic Episodes. The second most common will be pulling two LftL's and an Infestation for the Crypt's. TEPS is a multi-decklist moniker, but basically it focuses on abusing Mind's Desire into lethal Tendrils of Agony, and can reliably go off on turn three. Fortunately for you, your disruption starts on turn one. Therapy Issues: 1. Burning Wish. 2. Mind's Desire. 3. Sins of the Past. Sideboarding: say goodbye to Assasin, Loam, and and Infestation, say hi to Crypt and Episode. Sunnyside Up relys on playing out a lot of eggs/stars etc. then gaining massive card and mana advantage from recurring use of Second Sunrise. Therapy Issues: 1. Second Sunise. 2. Reshape. 3. Chromatic Star. Sideboarding: standard.  / Brain Freeze has lost some popularity lately, but is still a very strong combo deck, it has versions with and without Desire. Therapy Issues: 1. Gifts Ungiven. 2. Cunning Wish. 3. Early Harvest. Sideboarding: standard.GoblinStorm is an updated, faster version of Goblins that relys on exceptionally quick beats to win fast and hard. Sideboarding against Goblins is different than against most combo decks, Bob, one Wurm, and Duress go out, Punishment, Putrefy, and Withering come in. Necogen Mists is a critical card in this matchup as it prevents the Goblin player from building up a hand to storm out a bunch of Goblin tokens or hasty attackers. Fecundity is the best chance the green versions have against you. The LftL/Infestation combo is one of your best weapons in this match as your tokens will at least trade with every creature in the Goblin players' deck barring Clickslither. Sideboarding: pull Duress, Therapy, and one Bob for Withering, Putrefy, and Punishment. Therapy Issues: 1. Goblin Matron. 2. Skirk Prospector. 3. Goblin Warchief. Summary Judgement If you miss Madness, and like decks that can have explosively rediculous starts while still pushing out heavy disruption, then this is the deck for you. It thrives on combo, plays well against aggro, but only does moderately well against full on control. Additional copies of Genesis or Undead Gladiator in the board or main can compensate for that, but they will take away from your other matchups. By Sean DeCoursey on January 5th, 2007 · Filed in Extended (Type 1.x) · 4 Comments |
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