Change is afoot—and it sucks. This week has been allergy hell for me as springtime approaches, and my son, in his brash desire to stand up by himself, is constantly banging his head on things and screaming.

Similarly, the Doom Inevitable precon is undergoing a few growing pains. Like the kid, my boldness exceeds my ability, and I've been testing in the Tournament Practice room this week. It hasn't been pretty. Here's the list (with a hastily conceived sideboard), and a few of my matches.

"Bonehoard 2: Bone Hoarder"

• Creatures (24)
• 4 Oculus
• 4 Coralhelm Commander
• 4 Phyrexian Rager
• 4 Calcite Snapper
• 4 Skinrender
• 2 Molten-Tail Masticore
• 2 Sphinx of Lost Truths

• Spells (11)
• 2 Bonehoard
• 2 Doom Blade
• 2 Go for the Throat
• 1 Morbid Plunder
• 1 Mind Control
• 3 Vivisection

• Lands (25)
• 10 Island
• 7 Swamp
• 4 Darkslick Shores
• 4 Creeping Tar Pit

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Into the Roil
• 3 Jace Beleren
• 4 Spreading Seas
• 3 Thada Adel, Acquisitor
• 2 Vampire Hexmage

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The Jace and Hexmage are there to battle decks with Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Thada Adel seemed cute against Caw-Blade, Islandwalking in and stealing their Swords. Spreading Seas are great against Valakut and decks with heavy color commitments, like Vampires. Into the Roil is just a catch-all—they might be better off as more Doom Blades or something.

Match 1 – Elves

With no mass removal, I was powerless against his explosive draws. In the first game, he had Nissa powering out her Chosen, making all the Skinrenders in the world irrelevant. Once they were bumped to 5/6 by a thrice-kicked Joraga Warcaller, they had no problem overwhelming my Calcite defenses.

I had nothing to bring in, so the second game was just as bad as the first. He had Elvish Archdruid, Ezuri, and a Warcaller, meaning my Skinrender couldn't kill the Ezuri that represented lethal on turn four.

0–2.

Match 2 – Kuldotha Red

I kept a hand that was fine against most of the metagame, but too slow against Kuldotha Red. Even the mighty Calcite Snapper was no match for the turn-four kill. I didn't realize when I joined, but this was a one-game match.

0–3.

Match 3 – Valakut

Calcite Snapper was my MVP in this match, as I had two of them storming past Overgrown Battlements and putting my opponent on a short clock. Even better, when he cast his Titan, he couldn't touch the Shrouded turtles, and he didn't have enough damage to kill me in one shot. Phyrexian Rager found the lucky Doom Blade I needed to kill the Titan and get through for lethal.

I 'board in Spreading Seas, Into the Roil, and Vampire Hexmage in order to keep his Khalni Hearts from blowing up. The Roils and Hexmages weren't great, but the Skinrenders, Molten-Tail Masticore, and Bonehoard I took out were essentially blank against Valakut. In Game 2, I didn't have nearly enough pressure, as my Coralhelm Commander ate a Pyroclasm before I could level him. I started casting Spreading Seas on his Mountains to slow down his kill and find gas, but he still had no trouble killing me with multiple Titans.

He stumbled on lands in Game 3, and I had removal for his two Overgrown Battlements. Spreading Seas made an appearance to turn off his Green mana, and Calcite Snapper brought it home.

2–4.

Match 4 – Mono-Red

Goblin Guide got in a couple of hits before my Coralhelm could trade, and then he had Ember Hauler. Calcite Snapper came in to block, but Koth joined the battle and threw a Mountain at me. Snapper killed Koth, and I had a Doom Blade for his Hauler, but his hand was all burn spells . . . and I was fried.

I kept a reasonable two-lander with double Calcite Snapper, a Doom Blade, an Oculus, and a Skinrender. I never saw a third land, and Koth went ultimate.

2–6.

Match 5 – Mono-White Control

My opponent's deck had Stoneforge Mystic, Squadron Hawk, Pilgrim's Eye, and Sun Titan. I was racing his Hawks with two Oculi, and I managed to pull ahead with a Skinrender, but then he found an Edge—three of them, in fact. I had two Sphinx of Lost Truths stranded in my hand as he destroyed my mana base, and Sun Titan stopped by to deliver some more Wastelands. Pecked to death by Hawks—the worst way to go.

The second game was much better, as Coralhelm came down on turn two and started doing his thing. My opponent had a Stoneforge and a Pilgrim's Eye, but I had multiple removal spells and could kill his creatures in response to equipping. He started playing Hawks, but Skinrender makes sure he can't chump-block all day. Coralhelm gets in for all 20 damage.

The third game started off like the second, until he played Condemn on my Coralhelm. He got a Sword active on a Pilgrim's Eye, and I was stunted at three land.

3–8.

Analysis

3–8 isn't a promising record, but I didn't expect much out of my still-raw deck. Actually, I was impressed by a number of cards.

The games where Coralhelm Commander hit the board on turn two (and lived) were cakewalks. I love that he blocks an equipped Hawk when at max level, and I appreciate how quickly he can close a game. Similarly, Calcite Snapper was fantastic on both offense and defense. Caw-Blade has enough blockers to ensure he isn't a threat, but control decks that rely on removal are cold to the turtle. Add in the fact that the most popular sweepers are Pyroclasm and Slagstorm—two cards that don't kill either creature—and we have a winning combination for aggressive Blue decks.

I didn't see Bonehoard too often, but it was always great when I did. After all the trading and removal spells, it usually comes down as at least a 4/4, and makes Coralhelm a monster when you equip it. I wouldn't want four, but I definitely like having two. Skinrender was, obviously, great against creature decks and bad against Valakut. Against Red, it feels like if you make it to Skinrender mana above 10 life, you're going to win. I even like him against decks with Squadron Hawks. Where most removal spells lose you value by killing the bird, Skinrender sticks around to attack right into them.

Masticore never found his way to my hand, but I was tracking whether he would be a nice card to draw in each game. He never was. Against aggro decks, where I thought he'd be awesome, he is just too slow. His ability doesn't get online until turn five, when I'm usually dead. Against control, he gets countered, he gets removed, or his ability just doesn't matter. Old Molten-Tail will be a fine card if mid-range decks become popular, and you need a multipurpose machine gun in the mid-game, but he just isn't right for this deck in this format.

Phyrexian Ragers were underwhelming this time around. The 2/2 body isn't super-relevant, and he was usually just a cycler that gets swept up by mass removal. Against the Red decks, the life loss really added up. In general, I didn't like wasting my turn three on the Rager because he didn't do much to advance my board state.

Finally, the weakest links: Oculus and Vivisection. Games where I played Oculus on turn two were far more likely to be losses than games featuring Coralhelm. He has the same problems as Phyrexian Rager, but they are compounded by the fact that 1/1 is much worse than 2/2. Vivisection is an odd card, because when you are ahead, it requires that you sacrifice board position to get even further ahead in cards. When you're behind, its casting cost is brutal, as is losing a potential chump-blocker.

At this point, I'm at a fork in the road. Clearly, cutting Oculus, Vivisection, and Rager for cards with a higher power level would make the deck more competitive. On the other hand, I would lose the identity of the Precon, as the deck would be something like 90-percent-plus new cards.

My fear is that the more I tweak the deck to be more competitive, the less original it will become. Eventually, it would just end up like a bad Blue/Black control deck, with Sphinx of Lost Truths instead of Jace. As much as I love Coralhelm Commander, in keeping with the spirit of a precon evolution, I'm going back to the drawing board with Doom Inevitable.

The big reason Oculus underperformed in the above deck is that it acted merely as a speed bump. The deck had no synergy with his "goes to the graveyard" effect. To be the star he was born to be, the Homunculus needs a deck built around him.

We'll start with a core based on what we were given in the precon:

4 Oculus

3 Myr Sire

3 Phyrexian Rager

4 Skinrender

3 Vivisection

We need some more ways to get Oculus into the graveyard, so I'll turn to limited favorites Mortarpod and Culling Dais.

4 Mortarpod

2 Culling Dais

With all this sacrificing going around, I can't see not playing my favorite one-drop. And how about an underplayed quest that likes seeing things die?

4 Mortician Beetle

3 Quest for the Gravelord

Finally, we sprinkle in the Holy Grail of decks with Enters-the-Battlefield and sacrifice effects, combined with an ETB creature that creates a soft-lock:

3 Mimic Vat

4 Liliana's Specter

If you have them, you can play all twelve Blue/Black rare duals that are in Standard, but since this is a budget deck, I'll be playing with only Darkslick Shores. Here's the completed list:

"Dial 'M' for Mortar"

• Creatures (22)
• 4 Mortician Beetle
• 3 Myr Sire
• 3 Phyrexian Rager
• 4 Skinrender
• 4 Oculus
• 4 Liliana's Specter

• Spells (16)
• 4 Mortarpod
• 3 Quest for the Gravelord
• 2 Culling Dais
• 3 Mimic Vat
• 4 Vivisection

• Lands (23)
• 4 Darkslick Shores
• 4 Jwar Isle Refuge
• 5 Island
• 10 Swamp

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Game 1 – Green/Red Land Destruction

I open with Oculus and Liliana's Specter, planning on imprinting the Specter on the Vat in my hand. That plan goes awry when he Flame Slashes the flyer and Demolishes the Vat. I happen to draw all three Quests, along with two Myr Sire, but no sacrifice effects, while my opponent uses two Acidic Slimes on my two Blue sources. Luckily, I have a third, and get to cast Vivisection off an Oculus. In those four cards, I find Mortarpod, which allows me to kill two of his creatures and max out all of my Quests. My opponent is left with an Acidic Slime, and can only muster a Cultivate to fetch his sixth and seventh land. I make three 5/5's at end of turn, Skinrender his Slime, and attack for lethal. He reveals the Destructive Force that would have cleared my board. Close one!

1–0.

Game 2 – Tempered Steel

My buddy, Mortician Beetle, comes down on turn one, ready to eat some cadavers. A Culling Dais on turn two sets the table for him. My opponent plays a Steel Overseer, and my next play is a Liliana's Specter. My opponent plays Perilous Myr and Glint Hawk, which goes on to trade with the Specter. It's all right, because I have two more and quickly empty his hand. He rips Tempered Steel, making his Overseer and two Perilous Myrs into huge threats. I play a Mimic Vat, so I'm able to block with Specter, sacrifice it to Dais (growing the Beetle), and imprint it on Vat. Now I can activate the Vat on his draw step to ensure he can never play another non-instant spell again.

Unfortunately, those artifact creatures just keep getting bigger, and I've been stuck on three land all game. If I could get a fourth, I could play Skinrender and start chipping away at the Overseer. I don't. He's able to bash me down to two and eventually use Perilous Myr death triggers to kill me.

1–1.

Game 3 – White Metalcraft/Quest

Turn-one Quest for the Holy Relic was hanging over my head all game, but he had a creature-light hand. I was able to keep his side of the board clear with double Mortarpod and Skinrender. My Quest for the Gravelord gave me a 5/5 on turn three, and my Mortician Beetle became a legitimate threat after a couple of Mortarpod activations. Eventually he played his fifth creature—a Memnite—and got to search up an Argentum Armor. Unfortunately for him, his 7/7 was on chumping duties from my 8/8 Mortician Beetle, and he died the following turn.

2–1.

Game 4 – Spitfire Burn

I have another strong start with Quest, Oculus, Mortarpod, while his first play is a turn-three Chandra's Spitfire. I play a Liliana's Specter to block (looking to ping the Spitfire with my Mortarpod), but Burst Lightning dispatched my flyer. Lightning Bolt and Burst Lightning were sent to my head, putting me to 15 and making Spitfire a 7/3. Assault Strobe brought me down to 1 life. I play another Specter to empty his hand (the third Burst Lightning) and block, hoping my 5/5 from Quest would be able to kill him before he found another burn spell. Unfortunately, he drew one of his 40 or so outs, and Cunning Sparkmage got me.

2–2.

Game 5 – Titanless Valakut Ramp

My opponent led with Expedition Map into Valakut, then charged up a couple of Khalni Heart Expeditions with Explore and Cultivate. I had a fine draw, with Mortician Beetle, Phyrexian Rager, and Liliana's Specter providing the beat-down and Vivisection reloading my hand, but I couldn't race the Molten Pinnacle. The turn before I could attack for lethal, he played a sixth Mountain, double-Bolted me, and sacrificed both Expeditions to kill me from 19.

2–3.

Tweaks

This deck has a lot of fun interactions, and it's a blast when all the pieces come together. Mortician Beetle and Quest for the Gravelord become quite powerful when combined with Mortarpod—an equipment that's impressing me more and more these days.

Maybe it's me, but playing with Mimic Vat can feel a little cheesy at times. It's powerful, but half the decks in the casual room are imprinting Skinrender on Mimic Vat. Besides, it wasn't even very good in these five games—I always wanted to play my other cards first, and then the game was over before the Vat became relevant. If I were playing against a lot of slow, removal-based decks, I could see running the Vat. But when everybody is playing aggro, I really just want more removal. And a land.

−3 Mimic Vat

−4 Liliana's Specter

+2 Morbid Plunder

+4 Gatekeeper of Malakir

+1 Evolving Wilds

More games!

Game 6 – Legacy Mono-White Control

Yeah, joined the wrong queue here, but it was a fun match anyway. My classic opening of Mortician Beetle, Mortarpod, Oculus dared him to play a creature, but he declined. Instead, he used Wing Shards and Otherworldly Journey to slow me down. I played a Quest for the Gravelord and a second Mortarpod, while my opponent played Mana Crypt and some 3/4 Lifelinking angel. Gatekeeper took care of that after I played another Mortician Beetle, and I sacrificed my germs to pump Morty and get in more damage. My Quest was ready to go, so I popped it at the end of his turn and had more than enough damage for lethal.

1–0.

Game 7 – Red Aggro

For a deck with Goblin Guides, he sure did get off to a slow start. His first play was turn-three Manic Vandal, killing half a Myr Sire. Meanwhile, Mortician Beetle was getting in for one a turn. Skinrender killed the 2/2, only to eat a Lightning Bolt when my opponent untapped. I cast Vivisection, sacrificing my Myr token, and my opponent played a kicked Goblin Ruinblaster and a Goblin Guide. I was at 22 from Jwar Isle Refuge, so I could afford to take some hits.

I played a Quest for the Gravelord and a kicked Gatekeeper, killing a Goblin Guide. He played Fire Servant, but only had one card in hand. At 14 life, I was only afraid of Fireball—which he didn't have. Vivisection got my Quest fully loaded and gave me a hand full of gas, and my opponent drew a blank and conceded.

2–0.

Game 8 – Mono-Green Poison

Turn-one Mortician Beetle . . . again! How unlikely. Anyway, after the Beets, I played a couple of Oculi, while my opponent played Overgrown Battlement into Carrion Call. I attacked with the 1/1's, and used a Skinrender to finish off his Battlement—and almost lost the game for it. He responded with another Carrion Call, which give him one more attacker than I had blockers. Vines of Vastwood and Primal Bellow brought me to 9 poison, and I had to play the rest of the game very carefully in order to survive a Putrefax attack.

Triple Skinrender, plus Morbid Plunder to bring two back, made sure I had completely control of the game from that point on, and my opponent never managed to deliver that last poison counter.

3–0.

I'm happy with where the deck ended up. Sure, it's strictly casual, but it's fun and different. More importantly, you can see Doom Inevitable in there. If you wanted to make some changes and move away from the precon even further, you could add Bloodghasts and Bloodthrone Vampires for really explosive turns. Or, you could add either Green or Red for some Eldrazi Spawn generators like Nest Invader and Spawning Breath, which can easily turn Mortician Beetle into a Wild Nacatl.

My only regret with this precon is that I didn't find a spot for the included foil rare, Psychosis Crawler. This is a fun Johnny card that just didn't do enough in my sacrifice-based Oculus deck. I still wanted to play with it, so I brewed up the following deck list (with some inspiration from one of my opponents in the casual room):

"Seven You?"

• Creatures (8)
• 4 Psychosis Crawler
• 4 Riddlesmith

• Spells (32)
• 4 Molten Psyche
• 4 Time Reversal
• 3 Runeflare Trap
• 3 Semblance Anvil
• 3 Temple Bell
• 4 Everflowing Chalice
• 3 Prophetic Prism
• 3 Sphere of the Suns
• 3 Mox Opal
• 2 Khalni Gem

• Lands (20)
• 4 Scalding Tarn
• 7 Mountain
• 9 Island

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If you don't have Mox Opal, just play a couple more lands and a Sphere of the Suns.

The deck is based around Psychosis Crawler and Molten Psyche, which combine for upward of 10 damage while digging for another Psyche. Time Reversal is a critical component, as the deck can dump its hand pretty quickly, and going back up to 7 while potentially doing 7 damage with Crawler is awesome. Sometimes you'll be able to Molten Psyche after a Time Reversal for some serious burninating. Runeflare Trap is just another way to dome them for 7 after the Reversal.

Riddlesmith is critical for finding your big sorceries, and plays nicely with Psychosis Crawler as well. Semblance Anvil makes most of our artifacts free, so we can unload our hand while drawing a ton of cards with Riddlesmith. Khalni Gem is a—well, hidden gem, as it fills our hand with lands to discard to Psyche or Riddlesmith. It's basically free with a Semblance Anvil in play.

This is one of those decks that only goes off every third game or so, but when it does, it's absurdly fun. The pieces are pretty fragile (Riddlesmith dies at least 95 percent of the time), and there should probably be some Lightning Bolts and Pyroclasms in there to help buy some time. But what could we possibly cut?

That's all for this week—I'm off to buy some Benadryl and an infant-sized helmet. Enjoy the warm days, and thanks for reading.

Brad Wojceshonek

bradwoj at gmail dot com