Dies to Removal

Looking for opinions on this list:

DECK

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[DECK]
Lands (23)
4x Battlefield Forge
4x Bloodstained Mire
4x Caves of Koilos
4x Mana Confluence
2x Mountain
2x Plains
2x Swamp

Creatures (24)
4x Bloodsoaked Champion
4x Butcher of the Horde
4x Goblin Rabblemaster
4x Monastery Swiftspear
4x Soldier of the Pantheon
4x War-Name Aspirant

Spells (14)
3x Mardu Ascendancy
3x Ride Down
4x Stoke the Flames
4x Titan’s Strength

Sideboard (15)
3x Chained to the Rocks
2x Despise
2x Harness by Force
3x Magma Spray
1x Purphoros, God o the Forge
1x Ride Down
3x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
[/DECK]

Haven't even tested yet. I know the mana is a little greedy at only 22 lands, but seeing as I have 14 untapped sources of R, W, and B, I should be able to cast any of the one-drops 90% of the time. It's kinda similar to Saito's list, but I think his list didn't have the mana to support the white one drop.

Few thoughts:
- I'd run Seeker of the Way over War-Name Aspirant. It looks like Jeskai burn is going to be a popular deck and the lifegain will be really important for racing
- I'd don't like ride-down at all. It's a blank against control and can't target Caryatid. I'd just run more burn instead, Lightning Strike or Magma Jet, maybe even Crackling Doom
- I'd run some Hushwing Griff's in the 75. It blanks Nylea's Disciple, Hornet Queen, Doomwake Giant, Siege Rhino and Resolute Archangel, all of which could be problem cards
- For similar reasons I'd run some thoughtseize in the sideboard, purely to bring in against any wrath decks (you may well see Jeskai decks running End Hostilities post-board against you)
- With that many token generators and one-drops I think you need some anthems or mass-pump effects in the main. My preference at the moment would be Sorin, as he'll help you race the burn decks. I'd move 2 Sorin in to the main, drop 1 Mardu Ascendency and maybe 1 Butcher (as he'll be pretty damn hard to cast on your manabase, so only drawing 1-2 a game is fine)

I think it depends how aggro you are going. In the aggro shell I think Crackling Doom is better. I want to be killing Planeswalkers with creatures, rather than wasting a card (you are often getting 2-for-1'd if you Downfall a Nissa, Xenagos or Elspeth). Sometimes you'll get a 2-for-1 yourself with Crackling Doom (kill their guy and kill their planeswalker).

The 2 damage is relevant as well in any match-up where you're trying to kill your opponent before they can stabilize. I can also see scenarios where killing a Caryatid on T3 is the correct play as well (if you have 2-3 creatures in play already and want to slow them down and remove a blocker).

In a more controlling shell, downfall is probably better due to the flexibility. Also the card disadvantage from killing a planeswalker is less of deal as you should have more ways to refuel or offset than the aggro decks.

I've been testing out a Mardu deck for rotation, been through a few iterations, quite happy with the current list:
I'm not 100% sure the manabase is right. Wanting to cast Brimaz turn three I want more white sources. I don't have any BB spells, so could cut a swamp for a plains maybe.

Game plan against deck archetypes:

G/x ramp:
Game 1 you remove their dorks and coursers, try and beat down before they can get their engine going. Finish them off with flyers. I've included 2 pump spells and Seeker of the Way to make them nervous about blocking (I've played against Seeker as ramp, and it's pretty scary blocking a Seeker with courser/caryatid in to open mana). Game 2 you sideboard out the 1 drops and pump spells and bringing in thoughtseize, revoker and hushwing griff. Thoughtseize to strip bombs, Revoker to shut down dorks or walkers and Griff is there for Hornet Queen and Nylea's Disciple, which I'd both expect to see heavily post-board

Jeskai Burn:
Plan is to stabilize via the lifegain from Seeker/Butcher/Sorin and then beat them down with your bigger flyers. Ultimating Sarkhan or Sorin at first opportunity should win the game as well. Sideboard out the pump spells and bring in Burn Away and Sorin. It's possible Haruspex should come in as well. Burn Away is there to slow down their Dig Through Time if you manage to draw it in time.

Control:
Plan is to beat down as quickly as possible. If I'm well ahead on the board then I'd consider playing the duress option on Mardu Charm when they hit 5 mana to try and catch End Hostilities. Sideboard in Thoughtseize and Grim Haruspex, side out Seeker and Crackling Doom, unless they're playing troublesome creatures like Prognostic Sphinx.

Aggro:
Plan is to remove their creatures and race them with the lifelink from Seeker/butcher/Sorin. Game 2 you sideboard out the 1 drops and pump spells and bring in Scouring Sands and Sorin and a couple of Haruspex (for card advantage if the game goes long).

I've not had a chance to test with Hushwing Griff, but I think Hornet Queen is going to be a big player in the early Standard, so need to figure out some ways to get past her (the other obvious option is to play Bile Blight). I'm on the fence about Mardu Charm as well. If there's not much control in the meta, then I'd probably cut it for more Crackling Doom and Banishing Lights.

Such life loss. Must be pretty brutal to play against for a slow deck though. T1 1 drop, T2 two x 1 drop, T3 ascendency swing with 6 creatues, T4 trumpet blast. Some games you will get seriously blown out by sweepers though, if you don't get your ascendency down quick enough.

I think overall it's a bit vulnerable to sideboard hate as well. If someone brings in all of their lifegain and sweepers then you are going to struggle.

Yes definitely play Sorin, he'll help you rebuild from a sweeper, help you race other aggro decks and pump your team.

Thoughtseize I think is bad in the main deck, you're the beat down and don't want to durdle about at the start. It's also a pretty bad top deck. I'd have 3-4 in the sideboard and bring it in for game 2 against control or ramp.

I'd consider Warname aspirant, he blanks caryatid, is easy to cast and vanilla 3/2 for 2 is decent. He's also a warrior so gets pumped by the Chief.

I've been messing about with a couple of Mardu builds.

The first one I did was more creature focussed, token sub-theme to pump with Sorin and/or Sac to Butcher: The second version I did was similar, but more removal and less creatures. I added Altac Bloodseeker, as I think that card could be really good in creature mirrors where you're packing a lot of removal. Also included Ashcloud Phoenix, could be
good in grindy games where you get to recur it or 2-4-1 by trading twice: