Details on specific card selections are listed below the decklist along with a general idea of the deck's strategy. I also appreciate any feedback people are willing to offer.
I chose to build this deck because it seemed like the least popular of the uncommon cycle of legendary creatures. It also had a powerful affect in terms of damage potential and it is a color combination that I don't generally venture into as a pretty devoted player of the Dega color wedge.
Hallar, the Firefletcher, as a card, cares about a handful of things. First and foremost are +1/+1 counters and spells with Kicker. Secondly they care about doing damage to all players. Hallar is an elf which also opens up that as a potential thing to care about, though Hallar does not directly care. With Hallar caring about +1/+1 counters, it means that the deck also should care about creature size and bonuses from having large creatures since we want a large Hallar.
So in summary this deck wants to get +1/+1 counters onto creatures, especially our general. This deck also wants to do damage to all players on the board but can also go tall with a voltron strategy due to Hallar being aggressively costed and having trample. We also care about being/having elves as a support strategy. Lastly, we are slightly concerned with having big creatures.
Many Kicker spells are not worth the converted mana cost needed to cast them so I focused on picking out which Kickers actually worked with the deck and then went in on ways to recur those spells. This is why you see Den Protector, Eternal Witness, Greenwarden of Murasa, and Temur Sabertooth. Also being in the red-green color pairing, we're limited on tutors except for creatures so the creatures we have with kicker are some of our most important since they are the easiest to ensure we have them in our hand. Since Hallar is competing against a couple other decks in my collection for use of staple cards, I went with Summoner's Pact, Elvish Harbinger, and Fauna Shaman for tutoring.
Joraga Warcaller in particular checks several boxes since it cares about the number of counters on it, it cares about other elves, and it has kicker. Vines of Vastwood is another pick that supports several strategies which is to say that it has kicker, it keeps Hallar on the field, and it can allow us to increase Hallar's size as a combat trick which is not irrelevant. Comet Storm, Molten Disaster, and Breath of Darigaaz all put pressure on our opponents' life totals which being kicker spells as well.
It's going to be difficult to just 40 each opponent using counters since I expect they will be looking to remove Hallar whenever possible. We are running Purphoros, God of the Forge, Throne of the God-Pharaoh, and Ruric Thar, the Unbowed specifically to help pressure our opponents' life totals. We're running a lot of creatures since we're running an elf-subtheme which feeds Purphorus. This is also supported by Throne of the God-Pharoah which rewards us for using our mana dorks outside of swinging with them. Ruric Thar also does serious pressure to our opponents and will allow us a bit of flexibility in preventing our opponents from responding late game. Impact Tremors and Zhur-Taa Druid are probably also going to find their way into the deck but I haven't decided on a place for them yet.
Rishkar's Expertise and Harmonize are staple draw cards for green with Expertise having a nice synergy with the big stuff matters synergies in the deck. Snake Umbra helps protect Hallar and when we have it equipped to a creature that does damage to all opponents, you draw a card for each opponent damaged which is nice.
Woodfall Primus likes having +1/+1 counters on it and is a nice recursive threat that beefs up our spot removal.
Thank you for reading, feedback is always welcome.
Not really a critter but the Skyship Weatherlight looks fun. When it comes into play, grab one card and immediately use it (if you can afford to, otherwise fail to find so you aren't losing cards). Afterward blink it with Brago and grab two cards. Use the Weatherlight immediately and then again on your next turn after untap. Rinse, repeat.
When I mean core/must-have cards, cards like Purphoros and Food Chain in a Prossh EDH deck. Core or Vital like the deck will not function properly without those cards. For example, this is from the Prossh Primer:
1 Purphoros, God of the Forge $ 9.36 - Can't really go without this guy, so if you don't already have one I'd pick it up. OR 1 Phyrexian Tower $ 13.11 - I can't recommend this card highly enough. if Prossh gets tucked it's a bad deal, so I try to keep this and the High Market available at all times. I honestly can't get around it, I consider it a must have.
Is is possible to do a budget version of this deck, but say that my criteria was only cards equal or under $10 unless a card is core/must-have to the deck?
It really depends on what you mean by core/must haves to keep it as a sort of budget deck. I think that you'll lose some of the tricks in the deck but the great thing about EDH is that even inexpensive cards can be very powerful in a game. A couple suggestions off the top of my head that could be used to budgetify the deck:
1. Replace expensive nonbasic lands with a greater emphasis on basic lands. You can also take greater advantage of this by running cards like Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon (not strictly budget but they are cheaper than fetches and duals). Contamination can also work as a way to help fix black mana in a pinch while still being useful in outside cases.
3. If you don't want to put in money for a Stoneforge Mystic (which I don't suggest since it also tutors up good cards like Lightning Greaves) and Batterskull, you could actually force the deck more toward enchantments instead of equipment. This opens up some cards that there wasn't room in the deck to add like Spirit Loop to replace Basilisk Collar and some interesting effects like Enduring Ideal and throwing in Erebos, God of the Dead, Athreos, God of Passage, and Iroas, God of Victory and the Bestow creatures from THS and BNG that give lifelink and deathtouch. Plea for Guidance can also be used in a pinch though I do think it is a bit too expensive to not work replacing ASAP.
While this isn't all inclusive or necessarily the best route to take with a budget build (I haven't tried it yet), I hope it gives you a good starting point. Let me know how it goes and if you want to suggest any specific budget picks or cuts.
Really like this take on the deck. You chose a strategy that fits quite nicely with the general, but does not fold without it. It could use your advice on my Oros deck. It has a different angle from your deck, but you might have some refreshing ideas
I do think you also have quite a high average CMC. Do you ever run into problems with that?
If multiple people apply direct pressure or a single super aggressive deck does (particularly if it is a Voltron deck), it can be problematic if I don't hit a sweeper or a couple spot removal spells. Hardcore blue counter decks can also be frustrating since their "removal" is a lot more efficient than our somewhat expensive spells. You can get around this by hitting a couple board wipes or against non-voltron aggro decks you can generally blow them out with any of the damage dealing effect creatures with lifelink.
Hello, I play a shell of this commander as well, and a great card for me has been Past in Flames. Just throwing it out there. I run a little different theme than lifegain though!
I do like Past in Flames and have used it in a mono red deck I built a while ago. Do you have any particular synergies or tricks you'd recommend when using it?
The newly spoiled Plea for Guidance seems like it could be good- it tutors for the Exquisite Blood/Sanguine Bond combo, or 2 of your other enchantments. It might not be as good since you don't play that many enchantments, but it seems like it could be cool to try out!
I feel really bad I never saw this post. Plea for Guidance looks good but may be a bit more expensive to cast than the deck can absorb. I'd be better off running Increasing Ambition because it tutors for anything and on its flashback I still get two cards. If it put them into play sort of like a Tooth and Nail for enchantments I would be all over it (and so would everyone else) but as it stands it just looks too expensive. I'll give it a test though once I get my hands on one. Thank you for taking a moment to offer some feedback and please don't hesitate to pitch back in if you have a rebuttal or want to suggest any other cards.
Fixed the formating due to the launch of the new version of the site and added in a (mostly) complete list of cards that I tested and why they didn't make it into the main deck. I'm looking over the cards from BNG but I'm not seeing anything that jumps out that I need to run it in this deck but once they start becoming more available in my area I will look forward to getting my hands on some of them.
This is a 10 ticket budget Korlash, Heir to Blackblade deck (as of 2/4/2014 on MTGO Traders this deck was $10.16 to build sans general and basic lands which are another $2.50) for play on MTGO. I started with the general since I very rarely play voltron style decks and worked my way down from a swamps matter theme to what I am playing now. The deck's primary focus is to make Korlash big and unblockable and beat face. Because so many of the creatures in this deck have evasion, if Korlash gets tucketed we can generally aggro our way to win with the equipment in the deck as a back-up strategy. This deck also has a secondary focus where it can burn people out using a combination of cards like Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Corrupt and Exsanguinate along with Sanguine Bond and Wound Reflection. The deck has a number of ways to recur threats even from the graveyard which gives it some resiliency.
The deck is still being tuned and one of the I've noticed that it tends to be slower than I would like and that I am very light on instant speed spot removal. I'm playing around with different combinations of cheap cards (I am currently trying out Tragic Slip and Vendetta to see what I can cut to see what works and what I can cut for them.
Card Descriptions
Creatures
Korlash. Heir to Blackblade - Korlash is the general of the deck and is your generic "I'm going to shove this length of power into the nearest open orifice. Generally speaking he is going to be powerful enough to two shot an opponent on general damage though with the equipment available in the deck he is going to be to one shot an opponent. While he lacks built in haste or evasion, he does have the ability to regenerate himself which makes him more resilient than your run of the mill voltron. He also has some grandeur text but that doesn't work unless you are running clones. I'm not.
Dauthi Slayer and Nether Traitor - Shadow weenies who when suited up with some equipment can directly hit an opponent without having to worry about blockers. Nether Traitor has a bit more utility because it has haste and it can be brought back directly from the graveyard.
Nantuko Shade - An early beater that also scales well for late game because of its efficient shade ability.
Gatekeeper of Malakir - Value creature that makes target opponent sac a creature when cast for its kicker cost. The goal is to cast it, chump block, and bring it back with the numerous creature recursion cards we have.
Burnished Hart - This deck loves its swamps and Burnished Hart can not only get them but the deck has numerous ways to put him back into your hand to use and ramp again. It is expensive ramp but when you aren't playing green you take what you can get.
Fleshbag Marauder - This is essentially Gatekeeper of Malakir number two except this time with feeling because he makes everyone sac a creature. Same plan as with Gatekeeper, cast, chump, recast, profit.
Mogis's Marauder - To begin with this needs to be called Mogis' not Mogis's Marauder. This is a haste enabler and method of evasion for Korlash or any other juice creatures we would like to beat face with. It also synergizes nicely with some of the token generators the deck has like Keeper of the Bloodlines, Marshflitter, and Abhorrent Overlord so we can get immediate value from our creatures.
Pilgrim's Eye - Yo dawg, I heard you like swamps and curving out 'n' stuff. I brought you a swamp and I'll keep you from taking that fatty without trample on the chin.
Vampire Nighthawk - Value. So much value. The only thing this card doesn't do is draw you a card when it enters the battlefield.
Bloodline Keeper - This guy spits out tokens and is a respectable body with evasion so he loves him some equipment. I haven't ever used his flip ability but the deck runs enough vampires that you will get some value out of it if you can pull it off.
Crypt Ghast - Extort is corner useful for incremental value but the real deal is the mana doubling ability. This deck has a lot of tutors but they are all fairly mana expensive so making your mana go twice as far lets you search for something and cast it on the same turn when you wouldn't normally be able to do so.
Dimir House Guard - Mot sure what kind of house you would guard with an animated skeleton with knives but I am sure it is hella important. The main reason I picked up this guy was because he provides (mostly uncounterable) tutoring for key cards with a 4 CMC. The main ones I go for are Crypt Ghast, Tendrils of Corruption, Mutiliate, Sever the Bloddline, Greed, Whip of Erebos, Trading Post, and Nightmare Lash/Lashwrithe. The creature itself has pretty middlin' (bad) stats but it does have evasion which can be useful with how powerful most of the equipment we are running are.
Marsh Flitter - Hi, my name is Marsh Flitter and I generate chumps and occasionally punch people in the face for respectable amounts of damage. I like holding hands, walks on the beach, and being a member of one of the most abusive tribes printed in standard at its time.
Sangromancer - This was just a general value pick because the life gain can work well with a lot of the other effects in the deck. If you have this and Sanguine Bond out at the same time, it effectively stops people from wrathing until they can deal with Sanguine Bond. Being a vampire he also syngerizes well in corner cases that you flip Bloodline Keeper.
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - Mediocre stats for a four drop but he does have horsemanship which is the 3 Kingdoms version of shadow. His big ability is that he lets you fetch black cards back from your graveyard which can be back breaking when you can cast a spell like Corrupt or Exsanguinate multiple turns in a row. Because of all the ways of returning creatures from our graveyard to play or hand he usually gets at least two uses.
Bloodgift Demon - Phyrexian Arena stapled to a fairly large body. Arena was definitely out of our budget but this guy does a fair imitation of it and because his ability specifies that you can let target player draw once in a blue moon you can try burning someone for that last point of damage or helping a friend in a game of Two-Headed Giant.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel - Functionally a less powerful Exsanguinate but to its credit it is far more easily re-used once it hits the graveyard than its x-spell brethren. There is a reason this card is tearing up standard and resolving this with a Sanguine Bond or Wound Reflection in play is pretty strong.
Magus of the Coffers - Cabal Coffers stapled to a creature. While the lack of haste can be painful when you need the mana that turn, Magus has reasonable stats and provides some much needed acceleration for the deck.
Netherborn Phalanx - Another cost restricted tutor this guy does have a somewhat usable ability against token or swarm strategy decks when cast as a creature. Prossh and Rhys players throw up when they sees this guy hit the field. The main things I transmute this guy for are Nirkana Revenant, Steel Hellkite, Corrupt, Caged Sun, Wound Reflection and occasionally Enslave. Mich like Dimir House Guard this guy can be re-used fairly easily by the deck so getting more than one transmute out of him isn't unusual.
Nirkana Revenant - Our second mana doubling creature and this one is also a hellacious beater when swinging through unblocked. Revenant has most of the same ups and downs as Crypt Ghast but mostly I look at this creature and go "Damn I'm glad this is cheaper than the paper version."
Steel Hellkite - This guy gets rid of trouble permanents that this deck wouldn't normally be able to handle. He is a reasonably sized beater with a firebreathing ability so have a mana doubler out makes this guy much scarier.
Abhorrent Overlord - Another way of spitting out tokens, Overlord has good stats and generally produces at least 4 harpies. He has a strong ETB effect so bringing him back with Strands of Night or Whip of Erebos is usually a very powerful way to rebuild your position post wrath.
Rune-Scarred Demon - Unconditional tutor on a body? Value just by casting him?! I'll take it!
Which color provides resiliancy to wrath effects? I don't want to run out of gas, my meta loves to wipe the board.
White so you are good either way. I use Boros Charm to save my board from a wrath 99% of the time I cast it. There is also Faith's Reward and some other enchantments (like No Rest for the Wicked) that do the same thing.
You can find a list of some of the more efficient board wipe recovery spells in this deck list (this isn't my deck list but I've played a similar list to good effect) as well as some ideas you could possibly implement if you go the Dega route.
Both colors have their strengths so you'll want to look at what you want emphasize more. IMO Dega is more combo and controlling while Naya is going to be more consistent and aggressive.
It will not. While the ability will trigger (because the triggering event will happen before SBAs are checked), there will be no appreciable effect because the Crypt Rats will be put into the graveyard for having lethal damage marked on it before the ability granted by Mephidross Vampire resolves.
I figured this would be the case but I wanted to double check in case I was wrong. Thanks!
If I have Mephidross Vampire in play and I use Crypt Rats' ability to deal one damage to all creatures and players, will Mephidross' ability keep Crypt Rats from killing itself?
1 Hallar, the Firefletcher
Creatures (33)
1 Ulvenwald Tracker
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Arbor Elf
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Gyre Sage
1 Priest of Titania
1 Eternal Witness
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Wood Elves
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
1 Elvish Harbinger
1 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
1 Joraga Warcaller
1 Elvish Archdruid
1 Marwyn, the Nurturer
1 Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
1 Ivy Lane Denizen
1 Forgotten Ancient
1 Den Protector
1 Temur Sabertooth
1 Goblin Ruinblaster
1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
1 Kalonian Hydra
1 Mold Shambler
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1 Vigor
1 Greenwarden of Murasa
1 Thicket Elemental
1 Woodfall Primus
1 Sol Ring
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
1 Herald's Horn
1 Vanquisher's Banner
Artifact - Equipment (3)
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Ring of Kalonia
Enchantment (5)
1 Hardened Scales
1 Evolutionary Escalation
1 Growing Rites of Itlimoc
1 Doubling Season
1 Gratuitous Violence
Enchantment - Aura (1)
1 Snake Umbra
Instants (7)
1 Vines of Vastwood
1 Overload
1 Beast Within
1 Summoner's Pact
1 Urza's Rage
1 Comet Storm
1 Strength of the Tajuru
Sorceries (12)
1 Regrowth
1 Rampant Growth
1 Hull Breach
1 Cultivate
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Harmonize
1 Breath of Darigaaz
1 Grow from the Ashes
1 Verdant Confluence
1 Rishkar's Expertise
1 Hunting Wilds
1 Molten Disaster
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Scavenger Grounds
1 Temple of the False God
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
1 Opal Palace
1 Path of Ancestry
1 Temple of Abandon
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Karplusan Forest
1 Command Tower
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
Lands - Basic (20)
6 Mountain
14 Forest
I chose to build this deck because it seemed like the least popular of the uncommon cycle of legendary creatures. It also had a powerful affect in terms of damage potential and it is a color combination that I don't generally venture into as a pretty devoted player of the Dega color wedge.
Hallar, the Firefletcher, as a card, cares about a handful of things. First and foremost are +1/+1 counters and spells with Kicker. Secondly they care about doing damage to all players. Hallar is an elf which also opens up that as a potential thing to care about, though Hallar does not directly care. With Hallar caring about +1/+1 counters, it means that the deck also should care about creature size and bonuses from having large creatures since we want a large Hallar.
So in summary this deck wants to get +1/+1 counters onto creatures, especially our general. This deck also wants to do damage to all players on the board but can also go tall with a voltron strategy due to Hallar being aggressively costed and having trample. We also care about being/having elves as a support strategy. Lastly, we are slightly concerned with having big creatures.
Many Kicker spells are not worth the converted mana cost needed to cast them so I focused on picking out which Kickers actually worked with the deck and then went in on ways to recur those spells. This is why you see Den Protector, Eternal Witness, Greenwarden of Murasa, and Temur Sabertooth. Also being in the red-green color pairing, we're limited on tutors except for creatures so the creatures we have with kicker are some of our most important since they are the easiest to ensure we have them in our hand. Since Hallar is competing against a couple other decks in my collection for use of staple cards, I went with Summoner's Pact, Elvish Harbinger, and Fauna Shaman for tutoring.
Joraga Warcaller in particular checks several boxes since it cares about the number of counters on it, it cares about other elves, and it has kicker. Vines of Vastwood is another pick that supports several strategies which is to say that it has kicker, it keeps Hallar on the field, and it can allow us to increase Hallar's size as a combat trick which is not irrelevant. Comet Storm, Molten Disaster, and Breath of Darigaaz all put pressure on our opponents' life totals which being kicker spells as well.
It's going to be difficult to just 40 each opponent using counters since I expect they will be looking to remove Hallar whenever possible. We are running Purphoros, God of the Forge, Throne of the God-Pharaoh, and Ruric Thar, the Unbowed specifically to help pressure our opponents' life totals. We're running a lot of creatures since we're running an elf-subtheme which feeds Purphorus. This is also supported by Throne of the God-Pharoah which rewards us for using our mana dorks outside of swinging with them. Ruric Thar also does serious pressure to our opponents and will allow us a bit of flexibility in preventing our opponents from responding late game. Impact Tremors and Zhur-Taa Druid are probably also going to find their way into the deck but I haven't decided on a place for them yet.
The reason I chose an elves matter shell is to give us access to mana acceleration as well as some card draw/filtering specific to tribal cards (Path of Ancestry, Herald's Horn, Vanquisher's Banner). Also a number of elves care greatly about +1/+1 counters either directly or indirectly. Gyre Sage, Marwyn, the Nurturer, and Selvala, Heart of the Wilds each get nutty with counters on them. As a back-up attack plan we also have Ezuri, Renegade Leader who is a mini-Kamahl that can also regenerate Hallar. Running a lot of dorks also makes Growing Rites of Itlimoc better worth it.
Rishkar's Expertise and Harmonize are staple draw cards for green with Expertise having a nice synergy with the big stuff matters synergies in the deck. Snake Umbra helps protect Hallar and when we have it equipped to a creature that does damage to all opponents, you draw a card for each opponent damaged which is nice.
Woodfall Primus likes having +1/+1 counters on it and is a nice recursive threat that beefs up our spot removal.
Thank you for reading, feedback is always welcome.
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
1. Replace expensive nonbasic lands with a greater emphasis on basic lands. You can also take greater advantage of this by running cards like Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon (not strictly budget but they are cheaper than fetches and duals). Contamination can also work as a way to help fix black mana in a pinch while still being useful in outside cases.
2. Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, and Cruel Tutor can all be replaced with Diabolic Tutor, Beseech the Queen, and Rune-Scarred Demon/Diabolic Revelation. Also a previous poster pointed out, using cards like Past in Flames can give you more mileage out of the tutors as well.
3. If you don't want to put in money for a Stoneforge Mystic (which I don't suggest since it also tutors up good cards like Lightning Greaves) and Batterskull, you could actually force the deck more toward enchantments instead of equipment. This opens up some cards that there wasn't room in the deck to add like Spirit Loop to replace Basilisk Collar and some interesting effects like Enduring Ideal and throwing in Erebos, God of the Dead, Athreos, God of Passage, and Iroas, God of Victory and the Bestow creatures from THS and BNG that give lifelink and deathtouch. Plea for Guidance can also be used in a pinch though I do think it is a bit too expensive to not work replacing ASAP.
4. Replace Serra Ascendant with Figure of Destiny, Baneslayer Angel with Divinity of Pride, Kokusho, the Evening Star with Ryusei, the Falling Star, and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre with Scourge of Kher Ridges.
While this isn't all inclusive or necessarily the best route to take with a budget build (I haven't tried it yet), I hope it gives you a good starting point. Let me know how it goes and if you want to suggest any specific budget picks or cuts.
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
That said I'd suggest running Doran if you're looking for something fun.
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
1 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
Creatures//23
1 Dauthi Slayer
1 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Nantuko Shade
1 Nether Traitor
1 Burnished Hart
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Mogis's Marauder
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Bloodline Keeper
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Dimir House Guard
1 Marsh Flitter
1 Sangromancer
1 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Magus of the Coffers
1 Netherborn Phalanx
1 Nirkana Revenant
1 Steel Hellkite
1 Abhorrent Overlord
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Murder
1 Tendrils of Corruption
1 Consume the Meek
Sorcery//13
1 Black Sun's Zenith
1 Exsanguinate
1 Ashes to Ashes
1 Read the Bones
1 Ambition's Cost
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Mutilate
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Diabolic Revelation
1 Increasing Ambition
1 Mind Sludge
1 Promise of Power
1 Corrupt
Enchantment//7
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Greed
1 Strands of Night
1 Whip of Erebos
1 Sanguine Bond
1 Enslave
1 Wound Reflection
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Phyrexian Totem
1 Trading Post
1 Gauntlet of Power
1 Caged Sun
1 Staff of Nin
1 Spine of Ish Sah
Equipment//6
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Loxodon Warhammer
1 Strata Scythe
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Lashwrithe
1 Nightmare Lash
Land//38
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
1 Phyrexia's Core
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Rogue's Passage
33 Swamp
Deckstats as of 2/4/2014
Deck Description
The deck is still being tuned and one of the I've noticed that it tends to be slower than I would like and that I am very light on instant speed spot removal. I'm playing around with different combinations of cheap cards (I am currently trying out Tragic Slip and Vendetta to see what I can cut to see what works and what I can cut for them.
Card Descriptions
Dauthi Slayer and Nether Traitor - Shadow weenies who when suited up with some equipment can directly hit an opponent without having to worry about blockers. Nether Traitor has a bit more utility because it has haste and it can be brought back directly from the graveyard.
Nantuko Shade - An early beater that also scales well for late game because of its efficient shade ability.
Gatekeeper of Malakir - Value creature that makes target opponent sac a creature when cast for its kicker cost. The goal is to cast it, chump block, and bring it back with the numerous creature recursion cards we have.
Burnished Hart - This deck loves its swamps and Burnished Hart can not only get them but the deck has numerous ways to put him back into your hand to use and ramp again. It is expensive ramp but when you aren't playing green you take what you can get.
Fleshbag Marauder - This is essentially Gatekeeper of Malakir number two except this time with feeling because he makes everyone sac a creature. Same plan as with Gatekeeper, cast, chump, recast, profit.
Mogis's Marauder - To begin with this needs to be called Mogis' not Mogis's Marauder. This is a haste enabler and method of evasion for Korlash or any other juice creatures we would like to beat face with. It also synergizes nicely with some of the token generators the deck has like Keeper of the Bloodlines, Marshflitter, and Abhorrent Overlord so we can get immediate value from our creatures.
Pilgrim's Eye - Yo dawg, I heard you like swamps and curving out 'n' stuff. I brought you a swamp and I'll keep you from taking that fatty without trample on the chin.
Vampire Nighthawk - Value. So much value. The only thing this card doesn't do is draw you a card when it enters the battlefield.
Bloodline Keeper - This guy spits out tokens and is a respectable body with evasion so he loves him some equipment. I haven't ever used his flip ability but the deck runs enough vampires that you will get some value out of it if you can pull it off.
Crypt Ghast - Extort is corner useful for incremental value but the real deal is the mana doubling ability. This deck has a lot of tutors but they are all fairly mana expensive so making your mana go twice as far lets you search for something and cast it on the same turn when you wouldn't normally be able to do so.
Dimir House Guard - Mot sure what kind of house you would guard with an animated skeleton with knives but I am sure it is hella important. The main reason I picked up this guy was because he provides (mostly uncounterable) tutoring for key cards with a 4 CMC. The main ones I go for are Crypt Ghast, Tendrils of Corruption, Mutiliate, Sever the Bloddline, Greed, Whip of Erebos, Trading Post, and Nightmare Lash/Lashwrithe. The creature itself has pretty middlin' (bad) stats but it does have evasion which can be useful with how powerful most of the equipment we are running are.
Marsh Flitter - Hi, my name is Marsh Flitter and I generate chumps and occasionally punch people in the face for respectable amounts of damage. I like holding hands, walks on the beach, and being a member of one of the most abusive tribes printed in standard at its time.
Sangromancer - This was just a general value pick because the life gain can work well with a lot of the other effects in the deck. If you have this and Sanguine Bond out at the same time, it effectively stops people from wrathing until they can deal with Sanguine Bond. Being a vampire he also syngerizes well in corner cases that you flip Bloodline Keeper.
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed - Mediocre stats for a four drop but he does have horsemanship which is the 3 Kingdoms version of shadow. His big ability is that he lets you fetch black cards back from your graveyard which can be back breaking when you can cast a spell like Corrupt or Exsanguinate multiple turns in a row. Because of all the ways of returning creatures from our graveyard to play or hand he usually gets at least two uses.
Bloodgift Demon - Phyrexian Arena stapled to a fairly large body. Arena was definitely out of our budget but this guy does a fair imitation of it and because his ability specifies that you can let target player draw once in a blue moon you can try burning someone for that last point of damage or helping a friend in a game of Two-Headed Giant.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel - Functionally a less powerful Exsanguinate but to its credit it is far more easily re-used once it hits the graveyard than its x-spell brethren. There is a reason this card is tearing up standard and resolving this with a Sanguine Bond or Wound Reflection in play is pretty strong.
Magus of the Coffers - Cabal Coffers stapled to a creature. While the lack of haste can be painful when you need the mana that turn, Magus has reasonable stats and provides some much needed acceleration for the deck.
Netherborn Phalanx - Another cost restricted tutor this guy does have a somewhat usable ability against token or swarm strategy decks when cast as a creature. Prossh and Rhys players throw up when they sees this guy hit the field. The main things I transmute this guy for are Nirkana Revenant, Steel Hellkite, Corrupt, Caged Sun, Wound Reflection and occasionally Enslave. Mich like Dimir House Guard this guy can be re-used fairly easily by the deck so getting more than one transmute out of him isn't unusual.
Nirkana Revenant - Our second mana doubling creature and this one is also a hellacious beater when swinging through unblocked. Revenant has most of the same ups and downs as Crypt Ghast but mostly I look at this creature and go "Damn I'm glad this is cheaper than the paper version."
Steel Hellkite - This guy gets rid of trouble permanents that this deck wouldn't normally be able to handle. He is a reasonably sized beater with a firebreathing ability so have a mana doubler out makes this guy much scarier.
Abhorrent Overlord - Another way of spitting out tokens, Overlord has good stats and generally produces at least 4 harpies. He has a strong ETB effect so bringing him back with Strands of Night or Whip of Erebos is usually a very powerful way to rebuild your position post wrath.
Rune-Scarred Demon - Unconditional tutor on a body? Value just by casting him?! I'll take it!
Spells
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
Black will also provide you with some recovery from board wipes with cards like Living Death, Immortal Servitude, Patriarch's Bidding, Twilight's Call, etc.
You can find a list of some of the more efficient board wipe recovery spells in this deck list (this isn't my deck list but I've played a similar list to good effect) as well as some ideas you could possibly implement if you go the Dega route.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/teysa-shadowborn-advisor/
Both colors have their strengths so you'll want to look at what you want emphasize more. IMO Dega is more combo and controlling while Naya is going to be more consistent and aggressive.
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion