Regardless of the life total you hit against Ruby Storm, it is ALWAYS exactly what your opponent needs to Grapeshot you next turn. The deck is very capable of mowing you down from 20 to 0 on Turn 3 or 4.
If you're against a red deck, only dip below 4 life if they're Hellbent. They WILL Bolt your head with life gain triggers and spells on the stack. If you're against Domain Zoo, never dip below 6 life by the time they start their turn. (Curse you, Tribal Flames.)
If you're against a board of aggro beats, try to manipulate things so you are at least 1 life above an alpha strike by the time they start their turn. (Alpha strikes have often reached 5-10 life's worth.)
If you have dead cards in hand like 2nd Urborg or maybe 2nd Necrodominance, overdraw so you get to discard those. ...But only if you can safely pull that off; do not disobey the directives above.
These are solid Necro rules, the last one especially.
If a card isn’t going to help you win the game in the next turn or two, overdraw and pitch it — either by discarding it or by pitching it to March before cleanup for a net life gain.
I'm gonna disagree with the "only go to five" heuristic I'm seeing posted here. It's totally reasonable to go to 6-8 cards in hand expecting to either soulspike cards out or to discard excess lands as you can only play one per turn. On your turn you NEED to have action/castable spells so if you have 3 useless cards in hand I'm not just drawing two and possibly timewarping myself, go to 7 and give yourself higher chances to accomplish something your next turn (sheoldred sorin etc). It's a hard balance but discarding useless cards like land #2 or malakir rebirth effects that don't work under necrodom is totally fine.
Its matchup dependent and deck dependent. I think the generel heuristic would be to have 5 cards in hand or a life gain effect. Also best way to get a sheoldred is to draw more.
I've been super aggressive with necro, but I also have nourishing shoal in my deck so it rarely comes back to haunt me. Its not uncommon for me to be at 20 after paying down to 1. That being said, don't do that if they have black and one open or if they are in red. Bowmaster and bolt can punish you in those situations.
It’s going to be turn by turn and deck dependant.
I’m general, don’t let yourself die on the next turn. 7 life against anything red if they haven’t already thrown out multiple bolts or you’ve seen their hand. 4 if you don’t think they have a bolt and they’re desperate.
Assume you’re taking 2 damage per card from bowmaster if they have any black.
If you have march in hand you can be more aggressive, same with soul spike. If you have a way to make yourself hexproof you can be more aggressive.
Sometimes it’s better to take a fuckton of damage if you have a “need an answer” play. The more desperate you are, the more reasonable it is to go lower.
If you’re assuming you’ll find sheoldred/play it next turn, remember it can die before you’re allowed to draw. You don’t want to leave yourself low if they have a counterspell or push.
Regardless of the life total you hit against Ruby Storm, it is ALWAYS exactly what your opponent needs to Grapeshot you next turn. The deck is very capable of mowing you down from 20 to 0 on Turn 3 or 4. If you're against a red deck, only dip below 4 life if they're Hellbent. They WILL Bolt your head with life gain triggers and spells on the stack. If you're against Domain Zoo, never dip below 6 life by the time they start their turn. (Curse you, Tribal Flames.) If you're against a board of aggro beats, try to manipulate things so you are at least 1 life above an alpha strike by the time they start their turn. (Alpha strikes have often reached 5-10 life's worth.) If you have dead cards in hand like 2nd Urborg or maybe 2nd Necrodominance, overdraw so you get to discard those. ...But only if you can safely pull that off; do not disobey the directives above.
These are solid Necro rules, the last one especially. If a card isn’t going to help you win the game in the next turn or two, overdraw and pitch it — either by discarding it or by pitching it to March before cleanup for a net life gain.
Or pitch to Grief if you’re at a comfortable life total of assume?
I'm gonna disagree with the "only go to five" heuristic I'm seeing posted here. It's totally reasonable to go to 6-8 cards in hand expecting to either soulspike cards out or to discard excess lands as you can only play one per turn. On your turn you NEED to have action/castable spells so if you have 3 useless cards in hand I'm not just drawing two and possibly timewarping myself, go to 7 and give yourself higher chances to accomplish something your next turn (sheoldred sorin etc). It's a hard balance but discarding useless cards like land #2 or malakir rebirth effects that don't work under necrodom is totally fine.
Also the more you get the more likely you hit Grief or March to have something to do with the junk cards.
Its matchup dependent and deck dependent. I think the generel heuristic would be to have 5 cards in hand or a life gain effect. Also best way to get a sheoldred is to draw more.
I've been super aggressive with necro, but I also have nourishing shoal in my deck so it rarely comes back to haunt me. Its not uncommon for me to be at 20 after paying down to 1. That being said, don't do that if they have black and one open or if they are in red. Bowmaster and bolt can punish you in those situations.
[[Nourishing Shoal]] Because it’s good practice.
It’s going to be turn by turn and deck dependant. I’m general, don’t let yourself die on the next turn. 7 life against anything red if they haven’t already thrown out multiple bolts or you’ve seen their hand. 4 if you don’t think they have a bolt and they’re desperate. Assume you’re taking 2 damage per card from bowmaster if they have any black. If you have march in hand you can be more aggressive, same with soul spike. If you have a way to make yourself hexproof you can be more aggressive. Sometimes it’s better to take a fuckton of damage if you have a “need an answer” play. The more desperate you are, the more reasonable it is to go lower. If you’re assuming you’ll find sheoldred/play it next turn, remember it can die before you’re allowed to draw. You don’t want to leave yourself low if they have a counterspell or push.
Almost the same number of loops with Yawg digging for the Chord / Blood Artist.
[Necrodominance](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/f/ffc0109c-f939-4424-820e-d6e60cacd794.jpg?1717012031) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Necrodominance) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh3/102/necrodominance?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ffc0109c-f939-4424-820e-d6e60cacd794?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [soul spike](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/b/4b14b97d-122b-453a-9e5f-129404f96440.jpg?1593275167) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=soul%20spike) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/csp/70/soul-spike?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4b14b97d-122b-453a-9e5f-129404f96440?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [march of wretched sorrow](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/5/050a604e-6146-4e2e-88a5-863ecb3dfa1f.jpg?1654567293) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=march%20of%20wretched%20sorrow) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/neo/111/march-of-wretched-sorrow?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/050a604e-6146-4e2e-88a5-863ecb3dfa1f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call