MTG Salvation

Night's Whisper is one of those cards that never makes it past the drawing board. The deck doesn't need drawpower that bad.

Quote from CaptShetz

I really don't think Warden was being sarcastic... and that post wasn't that productive either. :-\

But you are right... MBA has had a long history with MtG. I think the current historical decklists are probably enough for people to "pick from the cards of yesterday and today."

yes sir.... guess I am still mad at myself for ditching to much money on Tequila last night. my bad.

Notes made in the OP about backup choices for certain cards.




Oh, and Capt: OSU pwns Michigan lol

Quote from Warden

*I understand it's a work in progress. Good historical summary!

The history of this deck can fill up more space than is needed VERY easily. The sarcasm is not conductive to this primer dude.

IMO, Black Knight has fallen into the backgroung like Juzam. As you stated, Plague Sliver/Grinning Demon are decent, but Tombstalker just blows them out of the water.

If others really feel the Plague Sliver and Grinning Demon should be included, I can always add them in.

Sadly you gotta shop around a LOT to find some of these cards cheap. I myself am lucky on the Ports and Karakas I have. I got 1x Karakas YEARS ago when I was collecting Legendary cards (I think it was for $4) and the last of my playset for $22. The ports came in lou of trades at a local shop for $20 per playset, but the kid I got them from is more extended than Legacy so I got lucky.

I will agree that if you can get Chants for $152-15 each, jump on it.

Updated thanks to Capt.

Edit: Not at the moment that I can see. I did add in some more details and the stuff you suggested.

..... yay teamwork!!

CaptShetz: That is why this is a work in progress. Thanks for the assist, I shall get to work on ASAP.

Quote from DalkonCledwin

looks good so far. Though like I said, you could probably get something of a rough idea of what the match ups will be based on what you know of the deck... even without actual testing...

When it comes to the actual Match-ups, I would prefere to have more detailed data at my disposal rather than putting up knowledge that may or may not be out of date with the current Legacy Meta. As always, thanks Dalkon.

Section List
A: Deck Introduction and playing the deck
B: Sample Decks
C: Card Choices
D: Match-ups



A: Deck Introduction and playing the deck

Mono Black Aggro has been around since as early as Fallen Empires. The core strategy of MBA is to disrupt your opponet and attack with some nasty creatures. Originally it started out with the combo everyone has seen: turn one swamp, Dark Ritual, and Hypnotic Specter. Since then various other cards have made it into the deck including Phyrexian Negator, Tombstalker, and Dark Confidant, while other like Flesh Reaver and Hatred have kinda fallen off the map. Over the years it has had spawned off several versions which include Red Death and Deadguy's Ale and also various decks styles containing the name MBA. The main goal is to either land an early game beat-stick or to manipulate the other player until it is safe to come in for the win.

An example of the older version of the deck itself would be:



B: Sample Decks

Deck #1

This one uses Dark Confidant to get the most out of your deck. With low casting cost creatures and quick hand/land disruption it lands threat pretty effectively.

Deck #2

This version is built mainly to abuse Tombstalker. Sac lands provide graveyard fuel and the Hymns, Seizes, and Sinkholes also serve as BOTH disruption and food for the demon. It avoids using Dark Confidants because it runs more 2+ CMC spells than the average MBA deck. People do however differ on whether or not to combine Dark Confidant and Tombstalker, but the choice is up to you since these are only samples.

Deck #3

This version attempts to prevent the opponents creatures from being of any use, while at the same time dropping threats that when left unanswered can win the game relatively quickly. It also uses the Dark Confidant to a much higher efficiency than even the deck listed above because nothing in this version of the deck (except the Hypnotic Specters) costs more than 2 mana. The final creature spot has been replace with Smother since most of the viable creature threats in the current Legacy meta is wrecked by it.

Deck #4 - Bill Stark's 3rd place MBA from GP: Columbus '07


C: Card Choices

Main Card Choices
Lands
Dark Ritual: As far as rituals go, this is one of my favorite choices. Adding :symb::symb::symb: mana for a mana is great, but at instant speed it’s almost priceless. Whipping out a turn one Specter, or any other major threat has caused many a player to sweat in tournaments. It even works well with a surprise Nantuko Shade block.

Lake of the Dead Good for Mana excelleration, but avois if you fear Wastelands at all.

Mishra's Factory Factory has been used to various degrees of success in the past, but always be careful because MBA NEEDS black mana on turn one.

Polluted Delta / Bloodstained Mire: These are also helpful in the Tombstlker version to serve as his lunch.

Swamp The backbone of the deck. Wasteland can't hit it, and you really need access to at least on B to make the deck start rolling

Tomb of Urami: There, I said it. In a deck where your life-points don't matter and your late-game is pointless, this card really does shine. Some of the quickest games seen involve a turn one Thoughtseize followed by a turn two EOT activated Tomb. This card is not needed, but I prefere to run at least two in the Tombstalker build to serve as a fatty with evasion as well as a food for the decks main demon.

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth A greeat choice for turn unused Sacland/wastelands into swamps, but it is Legendary.

Wasteland: This serves as LD firstly and mana secondly. Your focus is to keep the other player off balance, and this does a wonderful job after someone uses a Sac Land to get a dual land.

Disruption:
Cabal TherapyThis is a good option in the Duress/Thoughtseize slot, depending on the meta and the version of the deck. Good against combo and control thanks to the flashback. Can also sacrifice a Bob if you are low on life.

Duress This serves as one of the deck main ways of controlling the flow of the game. Remember that it acts more as a control card than an actual discard spell.

Hymn to Tourach: Ever since this card was printed it has been used. It is one of the only "true" 2 for 1's in the game. The card is great not only because it hits for two cards, but they are ALSO random. Thoughtseize/Duress can't hit lands and this one has the ability to do so.

Sinkhole: Another building block for the deck. Removing land based threats has saved the game on so many occasions. Once again, keeping someone off of the mana they need is EXTREMELY helpful.

Smother: One of the few flaws with this deck is that it lacks decent removal. Smother is great because of it low cost and because it is not color specific. Phyrexian Dreadnaught, Hypnotic Specter, Tarmogoyf, Mishra's Factory, and many more viable creatures in Legacy all die to a well timed Smother.

Snuff Out This is one of the more useful 'free' spells to come along for the deck. It is not recommended for builds using Dark Confidant though. A plus is that it is almost uncounterale by counterbalance.

Thoughtseize: This is more of a form of hand manipulation than hand Disruption. It only works on a 1 verse 1 scale, but the fact that it reveals your opponents hand to you is INVALUABLE for the decks game-play. A timely Thoughtseize can easily tell what you are facing, and whether you should go aggressive or focus on disruption.

Umezawa's Jitte: Wow, this thing has proven itself incredibally useful in MBA. It gets you extra life to offset burn/Dark Confidant. It helps remove manlands. It saves your blockers, PLUS it does so while swinging for the win. Jitte is a great addition to the deck either way you look at it. Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Light and Shadow Also fill in this role if you can't afford Jittes. Both Swords have their own advantages, but Jitte is still quicker and better for the deck.

Creatures:
Ashenmoor Gouger: Granted, he can't block BUT 3 mana for a 4/4 that survives most chump blockers/burn spells is a great choice for either deck.

Bitterblossom: Granted, not a creature but it still pumps them.This enchantment is great in the deck, pumping out 1/1 flyers is just great. The damage is really not a problem since most versions running Bitterblossomcare about their life totals about as much as the other versions not running it.

Carnophage, Sarcomancy: The best black weenies available, they have fallen out of favor due to the omnipresent Tarmogoyf, which quickly makes them irrelevant (our discard often inadvertantly makes Goyf gigantic). Still they are decent enough if your local playgroup can't drop the cash for a playset of Goyfs.

Dark Confidant: In a deck that runs cards with low mana requirements, this dude is almost an auto-include when making it. Another plus is that he swings for two damage every turn, easily off setting the damage he causes you.

Hypnotic Specter: For a mere 3 mana you get a flyer, PLUS he acts as a mini Hymn when he hits your opponents life-points. Most versions of MBA can run without him, but if you need a constant flyer this little dude will work wonders for you.

Korlash, Heir to Blackblade In a deck with 14 + Swams, Korlash can become pretty dangerous. Regen is ok, but most of the time not needed.

Nantuko Shade: This shade is a 2/1, 2cmc that serves as a useful object to shove your mana into. This deck kind of has problems with 'goyfs, and a Shade can laugh at a 'goyf if timed perfectly.

Nyxathid: Currently being tested. Is this better than Phyrexian Negator? No. Is this better than Ashenmoor Gouger? Meh.

Oona's Prowler: A 3 power flier for 2 mana, it can replace the flying knights. However, be wary of someone using it to discard the right cards to uber-pump Goyf, as well as making favorable combat decisions. Usually not a problem if the opponent wants to turn a card into a bad Healing Salve.

Phyrexian Negator: Negator is a SOLID body if your meta is filled with combo decks. Sadly enough though, many games have been over far to early because of his drawback. This doesn't prevent him from being a force to be dealt with.

Pump Knights, Order of the Ebon Hand / Knight of Stromgald / Stromgald Crusader / little use for its lategame mana, and these little guys provide an excellent use for it. Depending on which one you choose, they also come with flying or First strike for a measly :symb:. Black Knight also fills in this role.

Stillmoon Cavalier: If the knights caught your attention for the deck, then this guy most certainly will. The pump ability is great, add in the flying and/or first strike, stir in some Pro: white AND black and you have one hell of a good choice for your deck. It really is hard to come up with reasons why Stillmoon Cavalier should not be at least considered for the final build. A black creature with protection from BOTH AND is awesome in Legacy. He can easily hold down opposing Tombstalkers, Exalted Angels, and easily swing through most defenses.

Tombstalker: This guy is a beast in MBA. Easily one of the better attackers for the deck. He comes out quickly, removes useless cards in the graveyard, and takes down Tarmogoyfs. Grinning Demon, Plague Sliver and Juzam Djinn fill in his role if you want to use them, but Tombstalker fits in the deck so perfectly.

Sideboard Options:
Dystopia: Kills Goyfs and Mongeese. Also good at killing D&T's creatures.

Engineered Explosives: Works if you want to pop it for 0 or 1, but doesn't destroy manlands.

Engineered Plague: People were considering this an almost useless card for a while until tribal decks started showing up again. Essential for killing Goblins, Merfolk, Elves and Faeries.

Leyline of the Void: Probably the better of the two since it helps to hose Goyf. Usually a great choice since it can come out as early as turn 0.

Perish: Probably a subpar choice to Dystopia, since Dystopia stops the "slow roll" approach from beating you. Dystopia also hits permanents and not creatures, and also hits white things. But if you are often swarmed by little green men, this is the better option.

Pithing Needle: SB swiss army knife. Cure of ails you (SDT, Deed, Manlands, Vial, whatever).

Planar Void and Relic of Progenitus: Also good goyf hosers, but they also hose your own Tombstalkers if you run them. I would suggest using these two only in Confidant builds.

Powder Keg: Artifact destruction that can also wipe tokens and manlands.

Tormod's Crypt - also available, the above two options are probably the best for the current meta.


Yixlid Jailer


D: Match-ups
More coming soon (after Chicago, sorry).

Aggro:
Suicide Black is pretty bad against most forms of aggro, but isn't impossible. Anything packing instant speed direct damage is going to do some nasty damage to suicide black, however. Snuff Out, Bob and Thoughtseize put us in easy range for burn or an alpha strike.

Thanks to Engineered Plague (and Dystopia to a lesser extent), there is a good SB plan for tribal strategies.

If MBA can manage to make it to the mid game after turns of disruption and land Tombstalker, the aggro player is in for a ride.

Aggro Control:
Monoblack has even MUs against most forms of Aggro-Control pre-sideboard. Aggresive starts or massive disruption puts this is favor of MBA. Counterbalance, Chalice of the Void @ 1 or 2, and Trinisphere are difficult plays for MBA to defeat, but it does have a plethora of 3cc and above options to pick from to defeat those strategies (like Negator, Hippie, and Tombstalker).
Most other forms of Aggro Control get bogged down due to a low threat count and messing with things like Ponder and Brainstorm. Since MBA doesn't have to sacrifice threat density for those cards, it can often overwhelm another aggro-control deck.

Dragon Stompy seems to be an easier MU than Threshold. In my experience, Balanced Threshold has been harder than Tempo Thresh.

Control:
The sheer amounts of disruption in MBA is typically awesome against control decks. The variations in the CCs of MBA's threats also makes the standard answers of Threads of Disloyalty, Engineered Explosives and Pernicious Deed problematic, although the latter is the best option against MBA, imo. The best way to break a Standstill is with a discard spell. Just make sure you have a couple of plays to make after breaking it.

Combo:
Again, our disruption package often works wonders, but becareful of the wily combo player packing Doomsday or Ad Nauseam. AN goes off the face of our discard, and Mystical Tutor searches for the right card to go off next turn. Still, turn 1 Ritual into Thoughtseize + Hymn to Tourach backed up by a turn 2 clock is pretty brutal on a combo player.


Thanks to DalkonCledwin and CaptShetz for their assistance in creating this.

Cavius: #1 I would suggest a little humility dude, How do you know 90% of the ideas are bad? Have you tested dthem? When I am constructing a deck, I try to take all help offered into consideration, for you never know what may work.

#2 The other dude had it correct. I love the idea of the deck, wut the build only really seems like it would work 3 years ago. I do however continue to look forward to this decks progress (unless you remove Urza's Rage entirelly, lol).

deck tech speaking the rough draft looks horrible BUT....

I once drafted a foil Urza's Rage to win one of my earliest tourney victories so I am secretly rooting for this deck to make it anywhere in the tournament scene.

Quote from Naz

http://mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10483&highlight=cavius+banned

Page 2

Has to do with him being a ... non-like-able person, claiming everything as his idea and having a hard time taking criticsm.

Pretty much exactly the same as he's doing here but there are no mods here.

heck, I really haven't had any problems with what I have seen him post in here. Well, outside of playstyles and whatnot.

Even so I remember having an "original" idea to build a B/w aggro-control deck and earned my nickname because of it. I even had a cut little nickname for it: Moonshine. Only later did I learn that the idea wasn't so original afterall (but I also did not have internet access back then either).

I LOVE the idea for this deck, have you considered Magus of the Coffers as extra mana and a way to get some additional damage through?

Upon seeing your linked post I do have a question: Care to share why you are banned from the Source? I am kinda curious on this one.

ok, well here is roughly how the night went (I kinda suck at taking note, sorry)

Round 1: Faerie Stompy?
I have little to no knowledge on this deck, the last decent faerie I saw in tourney play was Cloud of Faeries. Game one we swapped blows for several rounds with Stonecloaker dealing most of the damage. Mistbind Cliche kinda finished me off and Sower of Temptations hurts a lot when timed properly. lost 0-1 +3 Believers (Opp. targets me a LOT) and Canonists. I became a dumbass and sideout Cataclysms.

Game 2 was mostly the same result, saw no sideboard cards and Pithing needle on Aether Vial hurt me greatly. He countered most of my stuff and stole the rest. 0-2

Round 2: Eggs? (Tendrils/Helm/SDT combo)
I landed threat after threat and got him down to 6, he cast 2x Tendrils for the win. -3 Cataclysm, +3 Believers

Game 2 I played a Believer on turn 2, which he had no answer for and scooped.

Game 3 saw a turn two Tendril 1-2, 1-4

Round 3 Dragon Stompy

First game was decent, we swapped critters until and Arc-Slogger and Pit Dragon wrecked my face. 0-1

Second game I had to mulligan because of 4x land 3x Vial. This one was pretty quick with Vialed Avengers, one Jitte equipped, won the game. 1-1

Game 3 had Karakas tricks all day (Ring/Flickerwisp trick) and Avenger wielding a Jitte won again. 2-1, 3-5

Round 4: Countersliver

To tell the truth, I kept no notes on this round. It ended up 2-1 in my favor and I have found out that Ring/Flickerwisp and Stonercloaker/anything make me love the deck.

Most of my problems for the night came from bad draws coupled with bad timing. I look forward to testing the "toolbox" version next week to see how it compares.

I must say that after last nights tourney (2-2, yuck) that I am considering Glowriders over othercards in the sideboard.

I will put out that I LOVe 3x True Believer in the sideboard. I found him VERY successful including at least two autoscoupes when he landed.