So I'm toying with another strange idea deck. This one is red based on the idea of destroying/stealing the enemy's land while using all the TIM-style damage possible to blast their creatures until you can go in for a killing stroke. I'm open to any thoughts anyone has. Is this worth trying? Should I just blow it up and go for something else?

http://deckbox.org/sets/142613

Thanks!

It would be helpful to know your intended audience for this deck. If, for example, you are looking for something to play at a legacy tournament you are not going to have much success with this deck. If you intend to play this at the kitchen table with a few of your friends you still might not do very well but without knowing their decks I couldn't say with certainty.

That being said, this deck is probably still not worth trying. Land destruction takes an incredible amount of effort, energy and luck to pull off. In the current state of the game it is not a viable strategy unless you can put it together with some very fast damage so your opponent dies before they can stabilize. I don't think the tims will be able to pull it off.

One thing I do like about the deck is the Orcish Squatters/Goblin Tunneler combo. You could turn these two cards into their own theme and protect them with countermagic (e.g. Counterspell) or protection spells (e.g. Mother of runes). If you can get the combo to stick it will be pretty devastating. A similar combo would be Stone Rain/Charmbreaker Devils although you'd need a way to ensure you only had Stone Rain in your graveyard...

The most likely scenario is just some friendly games. Nobody is running anything crazy like a tournament infect deck, and, to be honest, it's uncommon for us to see a game end in fewer than say 12-15 turns. But there isn't any one particular deck I'm looking to combat. Hence the wealth of TIM-style damage and the meekstone... then I can likely shoot down anything that would untap while keeping anything bigger tapped while I work toward destroying/stealing their land.

My other thought is that it's pretty cheap, roughly $25 for me to finish off...

OK, cool. It's helpful to know what you're up against so I can recommend a certain course of action over another. In your case I would recommend refining the deck to focus more on land destruction and creature removal. How about something like this?

-2 Fire servant
-2 Hammer of Bogardan
-2 Cerebral Eruption
-1 Feldon's Cane
-1 Howling Mine
-1 Burning Sands
-1 Price of Glory
-2 Demolish
-1 Mana Flare
-2 Brimstone Mage

+2 Stone Rain
+4 Pillage or Molten Rain
+2 Lightning Bolt
+2 Meekstone
+1 Charmbreaker Devils
+3 Circle of flame

I like some of those changes.

In retrospect there's no need for the Hammer of Bogardans if there's another Charmbreaker Devils to bring back the lightning bolts. Also the Brimstone Mages would take forever to level up to be effective, so that's a good move too. The Demolishes have been pulled in favor of Pillage, as it does the same thing only for one mana cheaper (so that's a plus). Feldon's is out, as another card is definitely better in its place.

I still think the Cerebral Eruptions are good though, as they can clear out a lot of creatures in a single move, or at least damage them to where TIM shots could finish them off. The Howling Mine is just to help in case I end up getting decked (after all, everyone else draws cards like crazy, so I have to keep up somehow). I'm still a fan of the Price of Glory (make people think twice before countering anything) and Burning Sands (then when the creatures die, they pay even more for it).

I'm thinking I'll pull it together and see how it works. Worst case scenario, from the look of things, I'll be out a few bucks and can try to figure out a better way to focus in on the Orcish Squatters - Goblin Tunneler combo.

Thanks!

Cerebral Eruption is totally a personal choice, feel free to run it but keep an eye on how effective it is.

Howling Mine is, in my opinion, a dangerous idea. You're playing a variation of a resource denial deck so the very last thing you want to do is allow your opponents to gain more resources. I understand that you get them too but it's really not the point; why remove their lands and creatures only to accelerate them into more lands and creatures? If anything, find ways to draw cards yourself but don't give them any cards.

Price of Glory is OK I suppose; there are only 5 spells you could even use on your opponents turn... Burning Sands is a really risky card. It affects you too and you won't be able to protect all of your creatures every time.

I wish you luck sir!

I solved the Howling Mine problem... and it's a good one...

-1 Howling Mine
+1 Well of Knowledge

Now they have to pay 2 to draw a card, and once their lands are gone... well... that's a dick move right there. Unless I'm misunderstanding how it runs... at which point they still draw one, but you can pay however much you want to keep drawing while they're up the creek only drawing one card per turn.