Pretty hateful and douchey deck, but hey, it's mono black, what did you expect? Rainbows and lollipops??
The only weakness to this deck is dealing with enchantments and artifacts, but it's definitely been compensated for with Karn, O-Stone, All is Dust, Nevi's Disk, and I'm currently testing Spine of Ish Sah with Phyrexia's Core for repeated explosions.
The deck can win in a few ways. You can combo out with infinite mana via Cabal Coffers + Deserted Temple + Rings of Brighthearth and a drain. The deck can also win via Helm of Obedience + Leyline of the Void, add Rings there and take out multiple players at once. If you manage to pull off your infinite mana combo, you want to make sure your opponents have no cards in hand before you drain them because you never know what can happen or what they have in hand...a Commandere would suck.
Creatures on the board are a bad thing because this deck only runs 8 creatures so you won't have bodies to absorb damage. You do have plenty of ways to deter attackers with Lethal vapors, No Mercy, and Ensnaring Bridge. And more than enough ways to clear the board if needed.
Have had a pretty big success rate with this deck and it is a lot of fun to play. Feel free to post questions, critiques, and suggestions!
I understand having few creatures, but 8 including general is really low, even if you can recurse them consistently. I'd consider dropping a few sorceries and instants or maybe a mana rock or two for some creatures.
My decks normally run 30-36 lands, depending on how many fetches I have, my average draw power, amount of mana rocks, etc. My Wrexial Deck runs 35, which is a bit high actually because my first two tutors almost always go to Urborg and Coffers, and the draw power is decent to afford 35 lands. 40 just seems like too many!
I wish I could find a Xiahou Dun for a not-rediculous price, i'd make him a deck in a heartbeat.
You know, running 8 creatures has not been an issue and it actually works well some times at staying under the radar..."oh, he's got no creatures, he's not a threat". I don't really see the need to run more creatures because the purpose of this deck isn't to win via beat down, although it can with Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief or Nirkana Revenant if it needs to. Keeping the board clear of creatures, or deterring your opponents from attacking you is key to survival when playing this deck, and if you're constantly being beat down by creatures, you're not doing something right.
I've been thinking of adding another board wipe, possibly Black Sun's Zenith, and cutting Chainer's Edict for the fact that it only targets one opponent.
How has Spine of Ish Sah been? I've toyed with the idea of running it in my own deck.
The low creature count is really cool, and if you're running stuff like No Mercy and Ensnaring Bridge I don't think you need to worry about adding more creatures. However, have you considered Rune-Scarred Demon and Steel Hellkite? They're both absolutely phenomenal utility creatures, and the Hellkite in particular can help make up for mono B's weaknesses when it comes to artifacts and enchantments.
I hope that helps!
I totally forgot about Steel Hellkite! He might definitely see some testing time You know I haven't been able to test Spine yet because I tweaked my Omnath EDH deck a bit and have been playing that the past few weeks, but I will be playing with XHD this Sunday at my shop's weekly EDH tourney because Spine + Dark Impostor are two new cards I'm putting to the test, and I think I will be cutting Extraplanar Lens for Crypt Ghast.
Ancient Craving: I already run Ambition's Cost, figured this was redundant, and sometimes I'm doing massive amounts of damage to myself. Extraplanar Lens: I like mana doublers, but this just gives people an incentive to want to blow it up because I already lost a swamp to get it out.
In:
Black Sun's Zenith: Board Wipes are good. Especially ones that can take out indestructible annoyances. Crypt Ghast: The instant I saw him spoiled, I knew he was going in here.
I'll start by saying I really, really want to build this deck.
Have you thought about playing Grafted Exoskeleton or Lashwrithe as an alt. win con with your pseudo--unblokable commander?
Haven't visited this thread in a long time lol. This deck has seen A LOT of changes and I need to update here, but I have actually ben running Grafted Exoskeleton, and it is a good optional win con. It doesn't even need to necessarily go on Xiahou Dun, just wipe the field, cast a creature, equip, and swing. For the most part your opponents will be on a 2-turn clock, unless you pump your swinger with a Profane Command or Liliana of the Dark Realm.
I'll start by saying I really, really want to build this deck.
Have you thought about playing Grafted Exoskeleton or Lashwrithe as an alt. win con with your pseudo--unblokable commander?
Haven't visited this thread in a long time lol. This deck has seen A LOT of changes and I need to update here, but I have actually ben running Grafted Exoskeleton, and it is a good optional win con. It doesn't even need to necessarily go on Xiahou Dun, just wipe the field, cast a creature, equip, and swing. For the most part your opponents will be on a 2-turn clock, unless you pump your swinger with a Profane Command or Liliana of the Dark Realm.
I do like the staxy side for XHD. This kinda reminds me of an older version of my list. A few of the four-mana plus cards in here never did me much good, though. (E.g. Temporal Extortion, Diabolic Revelation, most of your higher-end creatures)
The only weakness to this deck is dealing with enchantments and artifacts, but it's definitely been compensated for with Karn, O-Stone, All is Dust, Nevi's Disk, and I'm currently testing Spine of Ish Sah with Phyrexia's Core for repeated explosions.
The deck can win in a few ways. You can combo out with infinite mana via Cabal Coffers + Deserted Temple + Rings of Brighthearth and a drain. The deck can also win via Helm of Obedience + Leyline of the Void, add Rings there and take out multiple players at once. If you manage to pull off your infinite mana combo, you want to make sure your opponents have no cards in hand before you drain them because you never know what can happen or what they have in hand...a Commandere would suck.
Creatures on the board are a bad thing because this deck only runs 8 creatures so you won't have bodies to absorb damage. You do have plenty of ways to deter attackers with Lethal vapors, No Mercy, and Ensnaring Bridge. And more than enough ways to clear the board if needed.
Have had a pretty big success rate with this deck and it is a lot of fun to play. Feel free to post questions, critiques, and suggestions!
1x Ambition's Cost
1x Ashes to Ashes
1x Beseech the Queen
1x Black Sun's Zenith
1x Chainer's Edict
1x Consume Spirit
1x Damnation
1x Decree of Pain
1x Demonic Collusion
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Diabolic Revelation
1x Diabolic Tutor
1x Exsanguinate
1x Grim Discovery
1x Increasing Ambition
1x Innocent Blood
1x Mind Shatter
1x Mind Sludge
1x Mutilate
1x Persecute
1x Profane Command
1x Sadistic Sacrament
1x Temporal Extortion
1x Yawgmoth's Will
1x Caged Sun
1x Ensnaring Bridge
1x Expedition Map
1x Gauntlet of Power
1x Helm of Obedience
1x Jet Medallion
1x Mindslaver
1x Nevinyrral's Disk
1x Nihil Spellbomb
1x Oblivion Stone
1x Rings of Brighthearth
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Sol Ring
1x Spine of Ish Sah
1x Wayfarer's Bauble
1x Corpse Dance
1x Imp's Mischief
1x Shred Memory
1x Suffer the Past
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Karn Liberated
1x Liliana Vess
1x Sorin Markov
1x Dark Impostor
1x Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
1x Fleshbag Marauder
1x Kagemaro, First to Suffer
1x Myojin of Night's Reach
1x Nirkana Revenant
1x Crypt Ghast
1x Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
1x Buried Ruin
1x Cabal Coffers
1x Deserted Temple
1x Petrified Field
1x Phyrexia's Core
29x Swamp
1x Thawing Glaciers
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Lethal Vapors
1x Leyline of the Void
1x No Mercy
1x Painful Quandary
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
enchantmentartifact (love my typos) weakness.The only suggestion I really have is the land count. It seems a tad low to me.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Yup, Gate is solid Artifact hate for Mono black for sure, BUT i don't run enough creatures to make it a viable option for my build of XHD.
I upped the land count from 35 to 36 a little while ago because it did seem a bit low at 35, but I haven't had issues with lands, YET, lol.
My decks normally run 30-36 lands, depending on how many fetches I have, my average draw power, amount of mana rocks, etc. My Wrexial Deck runs 35, which is a bit high actually because my first two tutors almost always go to Urborg and Coffers, and the draw power is decent to afford 35 lands. 40 just seems like too many!
I wish I could find a Xiahou Dun for a not-rediculous price, i'd make him a deck in a heartbeat.
UBRSedris, the Necromancer KingUBR
I've been thinking of adding another board wipe, possibly Black Sun's Zenith, and cutting Chainer's Edict for the fact that it only targets one opponent.
I totally forgot about Steel Hellkite! He might definitely see some testing time
Out:
Ancient Craving: I already run Ambition's Cost, figured this was redundant, and sometimes I'm doing massive amounts of damage to myself.
Extraplanar Lens: I like mana doublers, but this just gives people an incentive to want to blow it up because I already lost a swamp to get it out.
In:
Black Sun's Zenith: Board Wipes are good. Especially ones that can take out indestructible annoyances.
Crypt Ghast: The instant I saw him spoiled, I knew he was going in here.
Have you thought about playing Grafted Exoskeleton or Lashwrithe as an alt. win con with your pseudo--unblokable commander?
Haven't visited this thread in a long time lol. This deck has seen A LOT of changes and I need to update here, but I have actually ben running Grafted Exoskeleton, and it is a good optional win con. It doesn't even need to necessarily go on Xiahou Dun, just wipe the field, cast a creature, equip, and swing. For the most part your opponents will be on a 2-turn clock, unless you pump your swinger with a Profane Command or Liliana of the Dark Realm.
I do like the staxy side for XHD. This kinda reminds me of an older version of my list. A few of the four-mana plus cards in here never did me much good, though. (E.g. Temporal Extortion, Diabolic Revelation, most of your higher-end creatures)