Troll Tuesday: Batwing Brawler

Hey guys, Mike (@Bonkarooni) here.  The first thing I need to say about this deck is that I can't take 100% credit for this.  My good friend Ryan Fisher and I both came up with this idea, at around 8 in the morning after I had been up all night.  As many brews tend to do, it started with something I had already built.  I don't remember the exact words, but the conversation went something like this.

Me: "Hunted Phantasm is really cool, what if I just let them have the creatures and then killed them with Rakdos Charm.  What else can I do to give them creatures?"

Ryan: "Forbidden Orchard?"

Me: "What else can I do to hurt them for having creatures?"

Ryan: "Batwing Brume?"

Me: After searching google for a minute, "Oh, this is getting stupid.."

Here she is, in all her beauty.  Probably one of the worst win conditions to ever strive for, but also one of the most rewarding.  Hey, are you swinging for lethal? Nope, stop that damage and kill you.  Oh, that doesn't quite do it? Let me Snapcaster it back the next turn and do it again...

Now obviously, this alone doesn't make a deck, it needed more.  More ways to give your opponent creatures, and more ways to kill them with said creatures.  This deck was a mess, but I think I've brought it together in the best way possible.

Here's the list I have right now:

4 Lightning Bolt 2 Path to Exile 3 Snapcaster Mage 4 Ghostly Prison 4 Rakdos Charm 4 Batwing Brume 4 Hunted Phantasm 2 Hunted Horror 4 Suture Priest 4 Blood Seeker 4 Forbidden Orchard 4 Scalding Tarn 4 Arid Mesa 4 Hallowed Fountain 3 Godless Shrine 1 Mountain 2 Restoration Angel 3 Steam Vents SB: 4 Thoughtseize SB: 4 Runed Halo SB: 2 Rest in Peace SB: 2 Wear // Tear SB: 2 Tempest of Light SB: 1 Anger of the Gods
There's a lot going on in this deck, and i'm going to do my best to explain all of it.  First of all, we've got these two dudes hanging out in two drop slot.

                                  'Sup bro, like your facepaint..'                               'Thanks bro, like your shoulder thing..'

Now obviously a 2 mana guy that can be bolted isn't always the best, but if these aren't answered immediately, you can really get the ball rolling for your later game plan.  Follow either one up with a Hunted Phantasm, and your opponent has already taken five.  Follow that up with a Restoration Angel, blink Hunted Phantasm....things are getting kind of silly already.  

Ghostly Prison is a must in this deck, even if it seems counter productive.  You won't always have Batwing Brume in your hand, or the mana to cast it right away.  If this deck can win without ever playing 'The Bat' then we'd be just as happy.

Hunted Horror feels a little more awkward, as giving your opponent 2 3/3's on turn 2 is actually going to put you on a pretty quick clock.  I just felt like you really needed a few more ways to give your opponent some dudes on the board.  I think you'd cut him first when you go to sideboard.

We're going to be weak to combo decks that don't involve creatures, almost weak enough that I would debate running Thoughtseize in the main, and that's also why I devoted 8 cards in the sideboard to it.  Runed Halo is an excellent card to take care of anything that doesn't try to kill you via creatures, and your deck already feels pretty decent vs those.  More Anger of the Gods might be a good idea too, so you can handle the aggro decks until you get control of the board..  Heck, you probably want board sweepers in your main, just in case things get out of hand.  That runs against the theme though, and I couldn't bring myself to do it.

This deck is 4 colors, but the mana base should actually be really stable.  I think there are a lot of different directions you could take this.  Snapcasters might not be needed, yet I feel like being able to say you played Batwing Brume out of your graveyard to win a game was too funny an idea to pass up.

If you try to play this list, be prepared for some awful games, but also some epic victories.  Try it out and let me know what you think, and as soon as I get it together you can be sure i'll report back to you!