Howdy Budget Brewers! It's that time of the week for us to take a gander at some of the more budget options we can play at our local FNM's. While our main goal is ultimately to just have some fun, it's all gravy if we're able to win some matches as well. It's true, janky combo's are my bread and butter but I've been known to sprinkle in a dash of control or a smidgen of aggro. Then, sometimes a smattering of something in between the two. We tackle new and exciting ways to play that's easy on our wallet, and can have some fun at the local level!
This week I wanted to look at a card that see's Zero play. Seriously, I don't even think the card see's play at the Kitchen Table, let alone FNM's. Since we were just on Innistrad, and didn't see a rejuvenated version of this card, and the fact that I took a B/R Madness deck to GP Providence, I wanted to see if it was possible to play something like it in Modern. With the Master of Madness himself; Tibalt.
When built around, this actually can be a pretty neat card. You can take advantage of his +1 with the slew of Madness spells in Magic now. His -4 can punish Control opponent's who want to keep a fully stocked 7 card hand at all times and his ultimate -6 is the ultimate Act of Treason.
All about Tibalt
Tibalt's story starts on Innistrad where he was the student to a Necromancer. Failing at Necromancy, he discovered his true love: inflicting pain and torture. He ended up experimenting on people, driving them mad and seeing how much pain he could truly inflict on people.
He brought so much pain to the people he experimented on that devils and demons soon would gather outside of his laboratory where they would give him insights and even pointers to help him with his true passion: pain.
Eventually though, as what usually happens with torturer’s, he upset the town. The townsfolk gathered and attacked, putting Tibalt on the wrong end of pitchforks and spears. He was cornered and trapped like the rats he once experimented on. He decided to cast a spell. A spell of pure hatred. Only the spell was too much for him, and his spark ignited.
Now Tibalt is free to roam the Multiverse and set up shop on whatever plane he chooses to bring people to Madness.
Madness
Madness as a Keyword first came about in 2002 / 2003 with Torment's release in Odyssey block. It didn't look like much at first, but it gained some measure of popularity at the casual tables and it's cousin Threshold is still a namesake Legacy deck.
Madness as a Mechanic is, in my opinion, one of the more interesting mechanics. You're able to play a spell usually for cheaper than it's CMC, sometimes at Instant speed, and when you play the card for Madness instead of it's regular CMC, you also sometimes get a bit of extra value.
How it all works is when you discard a card, for whatever reasons (Thoughtseize, Liliana of the Veil, Tormenting Voice, etc...) the card gets discarded into exile to avoid any Rest in Peace like interactions, and then you get the choice to cast the card from Exile. You have to cast it right then, or else it does end up in your Graveyard.
My favourite Madness card is probably Fiery Temper paired with a Tormenting Voice it's basically a Build-Your-Own-Bolt (Lightning Bolt).
If you can't tell, there's a big draw / discard theme with Tibalt and gaining value through the Madness spells. The way we actually win is with Demigod of Revenge. Burying 3 of them, and then casting one will bring all 4 to the field. Then, through spells like Call to the Netherworld we can loop this for removal spells.
Muck Drubb serves as our budget Spellskite, redirecting a removal spell like Path to Exile will prove to be very worth it in the long run.
All told the deck runs around $80 at TCGPlayer Market Price, and upgrades would include cards like Blood Moon to disrupt your opponent's progression and stall out their game plan while you're able to work around it. Blood Crypt and Bloodstained Mire would also be obvious auto-include's.
Thanks all for checking out this week's Budget Brew. This one is one I'm going to make some video's about this week to post on YouTube because I'm pretty interested to see how well the deck plays out. It's also been awhile since I've been able to screw around on Xmage, so I'm overdue and this seems like the perfect brew to do such a thing with.
Thanks for joining me while I try to Untap the Multiverse!
I'll be testing and brewing our Budget Mono-U Faeries this week and posting vids on YouTube, so be sure to be on the lookout!
Have an idea for something you'd like me to brew up? Give me a shout in the comments!
Or in the usual social media ways -
Twitter - @maibuddha
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCii1H4HLwrHDWT4JGVlVajQ
