Hi Darcy- thank you for the feedback and suggestions! The Spike in me agrees with your critique about 90%, but hey what can I say- I love to brew! Hunted Horror + Echoing Truth has been strong enough to pull out a couple of games on it’s own, but as you pointed out, it shines most with Thing in the Ice (can be a terrible late game top deck I agree! but there’s a lot of natural synergies here which make the drawbacks less severe than you might think). Splashing white for Declaration in Stone and Path to Exile is also quite appealing, so I will be testing that out next.

Chasm Skulker is fantastic flavor, and could do some damage in combination with mid/late game cantrips + Thing in the Ice, but I’m not sure it’s strong enough. If only it had Flying! Repeal is a terrific suggestion however and I thought about putting in a couple in place of Vapor Snag, as drawing a card is likely better than the 1 loss of life.

Thanks again! Cheers!

Hi Lee- I appreciate the feedback and suggestions! I could imagine Torpor Orb in the sideboard potentially (has game against Collected Company decks), but it seems a little too narrow for the main deck.

Clock Spinning is interesting, but since Thing In the Ice would be the only main deck synergy, my concern is that it would sit in your hand much of the time (you could also remove counters from opponents creatures and Planeswalkers I suppose.) I’ve been toying with the idea of a couple Vampire Hexmage’s as well, which would fill a similar role, but also play offense and defense if need be.

Thanks again for reading and the suggestions. Cheers!

If you’re just going for style points, check out chasm skulker which goes nicely with Thing and blue cantrips. And if you’re really stuck on the hunted horror maybe slide in some repeals. One mana to bounce a centaur, draw a card and put a counter off the thing in the ice is solid, and it can solve/slow down opponents plans.

My suggestions tend towards the janky, but you’re getting them anyway. Cards that might work in either Main or board or not at all.

Torpor orb to shut off ETB decks and also the drawback from Hunted Horror’s ETB effect. Probably a cheeky sideboard card for me.

Clockspinning – instant – U
Buyback {3}
Choose a counter on target permanent or suspended card. Remove that counter from that permanent or card or put another of those counters on it.

Oh yes. The jank is strong here. It’s an instant so it removes an ice counter from thing in the ice, the spell resolves and it then lets you remove a second ice counter. Five mana will peel off all four counters from Thing in the Ice.

Instant, spell effect, instant, spell effect, U and {3} for the first one with buyback, U for the second one with no buyback.

It will also technically do loyalty counters on planeswalkers and sunburst counters from engineered explosives from the sideboard too. I’d run one main deck. Maybe more in the SB.

Hi Nicholas Thank you for the kind words, I appreciate it! Stubborn Denial is interesting as it has potential synergy with Hunted Horror and a flipped Thing In the Ice as you stated. My main concern however, is that G1 it would be too narrow against aggro match ups and be a conditional Force Spike against others. Dispel and Negate are currently in the board for combo/control match ups, their primary upside being that they’re hard counters. I also considered Spell Pierce as a 1 or 2 of, which would play a similar role.

I have not tested it yet, but a Grixis build is certainly appealing as access to Lightning Bolt and other burn spells would be nice against Centaur tokens created by Hunted Horror (which have protection from black) removal in general, and the ability to close out tight games. I’ve also considered splashing white for Path to Exile/Declaration in Stone to get the best of both worlds. Thank you once again for the feedback and suggestions! Cheers!

Hi Roland- Thank you for the feedback! Depending upon the match up/board state things definitely play out more like a tempo/mid-range deck rather than “traditional control.” Sometimes you can afford to be more aggressive with your play-style depending upon yours and your opponents draw, so it makes this build sort of a hybrid between tempo and control. In some games I’ve definitely wanted to see more spot removal. Doom Blade and Slaughter Pact are fine choices, but I also want spells that can hit Centaur tokens (they have protection from black) Siege Rhinos etc. I’ve considered splashing white for Path to Exile/Declaration in Stone and I will likely test that configuration next to see if that hedges me in various match ups. Thanks again for the feedback and suggestions. Cheers!

Hi Chris- Thank you, I appreciate it! Stubborn Denial is interesting as it has potential synergy with Hunted Horror and a flipped Thing In the Ice. My main concern however, is that G1 it would be too narrow against aggro match ups and be a conditional Force Spike against others. Dispel and Negate are currently in the board for combo/control match ups, their primary upside being that they’re hard counters. I also considered Spell Pierce as a 1 or 2 of, which could play a similar role. Thanks again for the feedback and suggestion! Cheers!

A couple suggestions, if I may be so bold:
I would really consider Stubborn Denial as at least a pair. It plays well with both Hunted Horror and Thing in Ice (flipped), and could also lead to removing the last counter from the Thing.

My initial reaction to your list was also “Why not go Grixis and have access to Bolt/Terminate?” Dropping the Vapor Snag for Lightning Bolt almost seems worth the mana base trouble to me. Have you done any testing in a Grixis shell?

Well, that’s odd. Not sure what those videos are doing here. The point that they interrupted was that 2 Spellskite in the 75 seems fine, and you could potentially try out a Revoker in the sideboard.

Nice article Scott! It’s worth noting (since you don’t explicity point it out) that your Spellskite horrors also block Hunted Horror tokens without any issue. I’m curious whether you considered Stubborn Denial, since the threats you care about protecting trigger ferocious for you. Provides additional combo hate in the mainboard as well.

Thanks for the feedback Bill! I considered Phyrexian Revoker as well, but couldn’t find room. In a meta with lots of Affinity and Tron however, I could definitely see squeezing in a couple copies somewhere in the 75. I’ve also had a long time love affair with with Obliterator and may try out a list that’s more “tap out” control with a higher creature count. Thanks again and let me know if you have any other questions on the list. Cheers!