It all started when I was reading Anthony Alongi's column on Radiate decks. I've wanted to play with that card since I read the Torment spoilers anyway, so I started sketching out a few ideas. I got the cards and put together a deck, which is currently doing quite nicely in three- to six-player chaos.

So anyway, I thought I'd share my thoughts (for whatever they're worth) on centring a deck on Radiate.

First - what's worth Radiating? I trawled through Magic Suitcase and mtgnews.com's spoiler generator, and came up with the following:

Aura Mutation GW
Artifact Mutation RG
Chastise 3W
Dark Banishing 2B
Death Mutation 6BG
Frenzied Tilling 3RG
Sever Soul 3BB
Order/Chaos 3W/2R
Mogg Infestation 3RR
Death Grasp XWB
Dominate X1UU
Morbid Hunger 4BB
Ray of Command 3U
Soul Burn X2B
Temporary Insanity 3R
Seize the Day 3R
Spinal Embrace 3UUB
Vicious Hunger BB
Twiddle U
Spinning Darkness 4BB
Mask of the Mimic U
Terminate RB

Dominate and Death Mutation are good, but far too expensive. The same goes for Morbid Hunger, which is not as useful as Spinning Darkness in this deck - when you're paying five to Radiate the spell, it really helps if it's cheap.

The Mutations are too dependent on the right permanents being in play (how many enchantments are you likely to see at one time, anyway?); Frenzied Tilling could be very good (unless someone Armageddons afterwards), but I hate playing LD. That seems to rule out green, and white can probably go the same way - removing attackers from the game doesn't seem like a good enough use of Radiate. If I'm spending 3RR on top of another spell, than I expect something pretty damn impressive in return.

That leaves:
Dark Banishing 2B
Sever Soul 3BB
Mogg Infestation 3RR
Ray of Command 3U
Soul Burn X2B
Temporary Insanity 3R
Seize the Day 3R
Spinal Embrace 3UUB
Vicious Hunger BB
Twiddle U
Spinning Darkness 4BB
Mask of the Mimic U
Terminate RB

Mask of the Mimic I like, as it now reads"3RRU, sacrifice a creature: duplicate all your creatures, plus any you happen to share with your opponents." Mogg Infestation could be funny with Brand. Twiddle's not bad either, and you get all your mana back. You could even use Jolt and draw your entire deck, if that's your idea of a good time.

However, my real favourites are the creature stealers, and particularly Spinal Embrace. Mmm... Radiated Spinal Embrace. I'll have... Well, everything, please, and lots of life on the side. Makes sure those creatures don't get to go back home, too. Hmm...

Mana problems? I hear Nightscape Familiar is good for that. Plus it survives radiated damage - and particularly Dark Banishing. I sense a black creature deck coming on...

Anyway, enough blathering. This is the deck I ended up with. It's seriously sub-optimal, but then so is my metagame. Besides, I find it's much better to throw something together and play for a bit than to theorise for days, and end up second-guessing all your choices. A few hours testing are worth days of messing with the 59^th slot. Oh yeah, the deck:

Radiation Burn.dec

// The Card - 4
4 Radiate

// Things to Radiate - 18
2 Vicious Hunger
2 Dark Banishing
2 Stitch Together
2 Spinning Darkness
1 Soul Burn
1 Sever Soul
2 Jolt
2 Ray of Command
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Temporary Insanity
1 Spinal Embrace

// Creatures - black to survive Dark Banishing - 14
4 Nightscape Familiar
2 Dauthi Mercenary
2 Phyrexian Rager
2 Bone Dancer
1 Nantuko Shade
2 Scrivener
1 Anarchist

// Lands - 24
4 City of Brass
2 Salt Marsh
3 Sulfur Vent
2 Rocky Tar Pit
6 Swamp
5 Mountain
2 Island

That was the plan. So, how'd it do? Pretty good, actually. Certainly much better than I expected of a pile of three-colour jank. I usually play green-based beatdown creature decks, so it's nice to play a deck with plenty of answers on tap; I'm not used to being able to deal with opponents' creatures in any way more direct than blocking. The little critters give some early-game staying power, and are often enough to make people leave you alone. Besides, there's no threat here, right? Scrivener and Archivist are seriously good. It doesn't matter if they die - they're more like sorceries than creatures anyway, and you can always Stitch them back Together. First game I played, I think I cast the same Lightning Bolt four times.

I'm not sure about Jolt instead of Twiddle, although it is sometimes nice to draw half your library. I've had surprisingly few mana problems, despite my land selection being as rocky as the Tar Pits. Nightscape Familiars are some good when you often want to cast two spells in one turn, and Sulfur Vents make for a strong finishing punch. I used to run Hearth Charms, too (all three abilities are useful, and two are Radiatable), but they got edged out - along with the Reality Ripples (now those were funny).

Still, there were a few problems. Spinning Darkness - a great idea in theory, but it just didn't work in practice. I never seemed to have the three black cards I needed in the yard. Same goes for Sever Soul - I'm just never going to get to use it. It doesn't even benefit from the Familiars. The creature base was as bad as it looked (surprise), so that needed sorting out.

Oh, and Jolt sucks. Twiddle's a lot more useful.

One thing I really needed was something to do with all those creatures that were about to go running back to their owners, ready for revenge. I thought about the various altars, or maybe Goblin Bombardment, but there was nothing that really seemed cool enough, until one of the regulars brought out his old Reins of Power deck - with Teferi's Veil.

How could I have missed it? Phasing has always been my favourite ability, and Mirage my favourite block. Boy, do I feel dumb! In they go, and my ability to protect my creatures from removal after combat also means I get to put in Terminate. Pinpoint removal or a RB Wrath? Can't be bad.

Other minor changes include the addition of Mirari - it fits in with the theme and there are plenty of targets, plus I have a foil one ;) - and the removal of Spinal Embrace. I'm sorry to see it go, but it just doesn't work with the Veil.

So, here's where I ended up. Version the second:

Radiation Burn.dec v. 2.0

// The Card - 4
4 Radiate

// Things to Radiate - 15
2 Vicious Hunger
2 Dark Banishing
2 Stitch Together
2 Terminate
2 Twiddle
3 Ray of Command
2 Lightning Bolt

// Creatures - 12
4 Nightscape Familiar
3 Phyrexian Rager
2 Bone Dancer
2 Scrivener
1 Anarchist

// Tricks and Traps - 4
3 Teferi's Veil
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Mirari

// Lands - 24
4 City of Brass
2 Salt Marsh
3 Sulfur Vent
2 Sulfurous Spring
6 Swamp
5 Mountain
2 Island

Yes, I splashed out for some decent multilands. It helps if I think of it as an investment.

Oh, and I should probably mention since I haven't yet - I'm well aware that 4x will give a deck a lot more consistency that a lot of 1x and 2x. I just don't care. For me, one of the points of multiplayer - and all casual, to a lesser extent - is to have fun. I prefer a deck that'll play a bit differently every time.

Future Directions?
One problem with this sort of semi-combo deck is that after the first time it goes off, everyone will be gunning for you next game to make sure it doesn't happen again. This deck has enough paths to victory and is 'fun' enough that it doesn't get stomped the way TestOfEndurance.dec would, but you're still going to come in for a lot of flack. There's enough removal to hold off creature attacks, but I'm beginning to wonder if I need counterspells - maybe Undermine?

One final thought - what could this deck take from Onslaught?

Cruel Revival - Possibly, if you want to shift the creature base to zombies.
Head Games - Another annoying trick, but not noticeably better than the ones that are in here already.
Erratic Explosion - Purely for comedy value
Insurrection - You mean I went to all this trouble, and they go and print my combo in one card? Damn you, Wizards! I shall refuse to use this card on principle; so there.
Threaten - Now we're talking. I wonder how much blue I can afford to remove...

Enough.

DireWolf
kzwu1a7p001@sneakemail.com
"Everybody wants a rock to wind a piece of string around"