-I like to drain people to death. I don't mind killing people in combat either, but an alternative winning condition is more than welcome in my books.
-I like doing black things. Kokusho works well with sacrifice outlets and recursion, which is the bread and butter of black decks.
-I like the open nature of the deck. Most black decks would run sacrifice outlets and recursion regardless, and there is plenty of freedom with card selections, allowing for mini themes and such.
-I like card advantage. Cabal Coffers may be the biggest incentive to turn to the dark side, but Sign in Blood is a close second.
Deck Philosophy
-No infinite combos
-Interaction in removal, disruption or mana denial
-Players are given time to react to threats and resolve board states
The deck is designed to beat everyone else at your table in a fair game of magic, outdrawing them and keeping creature strategies in check with mass removal. I'm avoiding cards that incentivize playing powerful but fragile/boring combos (Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, Ashnod's Altar, Nim Deathmantle and Sanguine Bond to name a few examples). I'm also avoiding colourless permanents and mass enchantment removal to keep my devotion count high. If you enjoy casting All is Dust and other similar spells, this version of the deck is probably not to your liking.
2) Card Draw
The deck is filled with cheap card draw to ensure that we hit all the land drops, while at the top of the line Skeletal Scrying and Sanguimancy can easily draw you +10 cards in the mid to late game. Skullclamp and Dark Prophecy are both massive sources of card advantage with cards like Bloodghast and Abhorrent Overlord, provided you have a sac outlet to trigger Dark Prophecy. Disciple of Bolas is also a good way to refill hand, since we play Kokusho as our general
3) Devotion / ETB
The deck is flooded with powerful ETB abilities and some scale in power. Abhorrent Overlord can spam you a horde of 1/1 fliers to both protect your life total and do some honest-to-god face punching. Gray Merchant of Asphodel is the deck's prime winning condition. A mid-game Merchant can stabilize your life total should you be under pressure, and the multitude of sacrifice outlets and reanimation spells means that you can abuse the ETB trigger later in the game too. Hell's Caretaker, Volrath's Stronghold, Mimic Vat and Whip of Erebos are ways to reuse these abilities.
This looks really great! I love the Devotion synergies you've got going on. Do you feel you're running too many manarocks? You could probably cut 2 or 3 of them and just use Expedition Map to find your cabal coffers and from there it's smooth sailing.
Also, 3 Lilianas? Ever run into problems?
Private Mod Note
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EDH RADAMARO, FIRST TO DESIRER UKEFNET THE MINDFULU GSASAYA, OROCHI ASCENDANTG MODERN RMONO-RED ELDRAZIR
This looks really great! I love the Devotion synergies you've got going on. Do you feel you're running too many manarocks? You could probably cut 2 or 3 of them and just use Expedition Map to find your cabal coffers and from there it's smooth sailing.
Also, 3 Lilianas? Ever run into problems?
I'm not sure about the manarocks. I recently cut Coldsteel Heart because I dislike the art, and even with Heart I felt I was constantly looking for more acceleration in my openers. Then again I feel like I could cut those things because I don't draw them ever anyway. I'm probably going to cut the Pristine Talisman for an Unstable Obelisk and just see how things pan out. I do believe all the rocs with cmc <3 are really important for the deck though.
Same thing with Lilianas, really. I really enjoy playing with Liliana of the Dark Realms and Liliana Vess, even though they aren't super powerful. Liliana of the Veil I just added, but I'm sure her versatility will come in handy. I'm not expecting the numbers to be a problem, since it's common to run 3 copies of the same PW in a 60-card deck. Then again we'll see after I play some more games with this thing.
Since i like playing Commander with the ability "This creature hates you, you better hate it back" (like Gaddock Teeg, Grand Arbiter, Mogis Staxx), Kokusho fits perfectly to me^^
(also nobody around here plays a Kokusho Deck, so its time :D)
I really like your decklist, and i will build mine quite similar to yours^^
Some changes i will make to my deck will be cards like:
Necromantic Selection Not to sure about this one yet, since it cost a lot, but it will bring Kokusho back^^ Infernal Offering Maybe needs some testing. But hey, you can sacrifice Kokusho and bring him right back
Cool list, makes me want to build a monoblack build myself!
Agree with Kamiyadori, seems like there are better sac outlets out there - is there something that Mortarpod does that I don't get?
How has Garza's Assassin performed for you? Do you find Shriekmaw is able to hit everything you need?
Massacre Wurm? Three devotion and a psudosweeper seems reasonable.
Finally, do you feel like you run enough reanimation? I see lots of sacrificing but not many ways to get creatures back. Maybe Chainer, Dementia Master?
Edit: Ever feel the need to double up on sac triggers with Dictate of Erebos?
Since i like playing Commander with the ability "This creature hates you, you better hate it back" (like Gaddock Teeg, Grand Arbiter, Mogis Staxx), Kokusho fits perfectly to me^^
(also nobody around here plays a Kokusho Deck, so its time :D)
I really like your decklist, and i will build mine quite similar to yours^^
Some changes i will make to my deck will be cards like:
Necromantic Selection Not to sure about this one yet, since it cost a lot, but it will bring Kokusho back^^ Infernal Offering Maybe needs some testing. But hey, you can sacrifice Kokusho and bring him right back
I think all those cards are solid, except maybe for Strionic Resonater which I kind of dislike. I've been meaning to add Hypnotist to my list for the longest time, but I somehow always forget about the card. Mimic Vat is also super solid, I've been running it in the past.
Internal Offering and Necromantic Selection are both very fun, but not all that powerful. Selection is flavorful, but I don't want to have too many wraths and I much prefer the cheap ones like Toxic Deluge. You can usually always convert the extra mana into card advantage.
Altars are powerful, but they're not the kind of cards I like. They don't do anything when you have nothing going on, and on the other it's very easy to combo with them. I like to play with cards that have low ceiling but higher floor of power level.
Cool list, makes me want to build a monoblack build myself!
Agree with Kamiyadori, seems like there are better sac outlets out there - is there something that Mortarpod does that I don't get?
How has Garza's Assassin performed for you? Do you find Shriekmaw is able to hit everything you need?
Massacre Wurm? Three devotion and a psudosweeper seems reasonable.
Finally, do you feel like you run enough reanimation? I see lots of sacrificing but not many ways to get creatures back. Maybe Chainer, Dementia Master?
Edit: Ever feel the need to double up on sac triggers with Dictate of Erebos?
Mortarpod is okay - it's lotsa fun with the deathtouch tokens. Definitely one of the weakest cards in the last version of the deck, and I did cut it for new stuff.
Assassin is okay, the triple black in the mana cost is the biggest reason to run him. Same scenario as with Mortarpod tho, it's not that powerful and the effect is not unique so the card is easily replaced. Shriekmaw is pretty sweet because of the evoke.
I've been thinking about Massacre Wurm, but haven't pulled the trigger yet since it's kind of narrow. This deck can already handle enemies that go wide with tokens so it's not that necessary, but I can imagine there will scenarios where the life loss will help you close out games. I think it's a sweet card and I'll probably try it myself in the future, but I don't expect too much.
Chainer is pretty busted but once again it's the kind of card I don't enjoy playing with. Either it sticks and everyone else at the table will feel miserable, or it will get killed and you are hated out of the game. The worst part is that it exiles the creatures it recurred, which can backfire very heavily if you don't win on spot.
Dictate was ok for me, but I decided to cut it since I wanted to free slots for other sweet stuff and Grave Pact has a better mana cost (more black symbols, costs less)
I think all those cards are solid, except maybe for Strionic Resonater which I kind of dislike. I've been meaning to add Hypnotist to my list for the longest time, but I somehow always forget about the card. Mimic Vat is also super solid, I've been running it in the past.
Internal Offering and Necromantic Selection are both very fun, but not all that powerful. Selection is flavorful, but I don't want to have too many wraths and I much prefer the cheap ones like Toxic Deluge. You can usually always convert the extra mana into card advantage.
Altars are powerful, but they're not the kind of cards I like. They don't do anything when you have nothing going on, and on the other it's very easy to combo with them. I like to play with cards that have low ceiling but higher floor of power level.
Do you dislike the Resonator in general or just in combination with Kokusho? Because it is an extremly strong card. It wins games. It really does. Friend of mine is playing it inside his Aurelia, deck, which gives him 2 additional attack steps every turn. And in Kokusho, 5 life loss are bad, but 10 life loss every turn hurt even more. And when i get like 30 life every turn, its hard for them to keep up. Or 40, when we go for a 5-man round So maybe you don't like it, but believe me, the Resonator is a very strong and in my opinion underrated card.
I don't know about the Selection yet, since i never drew it up to now. Internal Offering did pretty well, each time i used it. Since you don't have to use the same player for the sac and trhe revive part. Just be sure to chose a player with the least threatening target in his graveyard or just empty someones graveyard before
About the altars. Well, it is indeed easy to combo with them, but since you don't run a combo, why bother about them in your deck. The more important thing about the altars is their ability of instant sac. Keep in mind that many of your sac outlets are only sorcery speed and you want to protect your general against stuff like hallowed burial or terminus. Or when you put your Kokusho into your mimic vat, he has to stay in exile in order to produce tokens. But if someone destroys your vat, while Kokusho is in exile, you won't be able to get him back. Ever. So if that happens, you need to sac another creature in response to make sure, youre Kokusho is back in your graveyard. And in Addition, Ashnod's Altar and Strionic Resonator are best friends
And why whould you ever run a Palace Siege, as long as there is Phyrexian Reclamation out there. Because of the life pay? 2 life, that's not much, especially in a Kokusho deck, but more important it is instant speed, like your Mimeoplasm wants my Rune-scarred Demon? I don't think so :3
I dislike cards like Resonator in general, they don't do anything on their own and on the other hand they can be busted when things go your way. Resonator isn't the biggest offender, though, but really - I'd rather be more consistent and have more different kinds of tools in my deck than use my slots for a card like Resonator.
Internal Offering was a card I thought about adding to my deck for some time, but ultimately decided against. It's kind of expensive, not very efficient at what it does and it doesn't bring anything new to my deck - I already have card draw, edicts and recursion. Although as I mentioned, the card seems decent and I could see myself playing it just because of the coolness factor.
I'm definitely running fewer sac outlets than before, and I might sneak in a few there at some point. The thing with altars is that if I'm running them, I feel dumb not playing any combo pieces. Also they have the issue of doing nothing on their own. I still think they're both amazing cards, and I could definitely see myself running them in the future, but these are the reasons they're not in right now. I really love High Market and Phyrexian Tower because they don't eat precious slots. I'm thinking about playing Crucible of Worlds since it's amazing with fetches, and can recur me both cabal coffers and the sac-lands, kind of making the deck more consistent at having that sac outlet. I would also love more tutors like Vampiric Tutor and Diabolic Intent since they would accomplish the same thing, acting as sac outlets when I need one, while being superb cards in other scenarios too.
Palace Siege is a modal card with kick-ass art, need I say more? There's also the fact it gives more devotion and doesn't require me to spend mana on it after the initial investment, and no life loss either, but really, the card just looks and feels sweet. Maybe Oversold Cemetery is stronger, maybe, but this card is sweet while making me less vulnerable to grave hate.
Your version of the deck looks pretty sweet too. The mana curve isn't bloated, and you own a Gate to Phyrexia too (I'm so jealous). Personally I'm a huge fan of the Sign in Blood & Night's Whisper & Read the Bones trio, and will always play these cards in a mono black deck.
As you can see I'm a fan of consistency above everything else, and you can see this in many of my card selections (I hope).
Well, i have to contradict about the Resonator. It is true, the card itself does nothing, when it is alone. But what does for example a Palace Siege do, when you have no creature in your graveyard? Both are supporting cards. Now you can argue, that you can also use the othder mode, but that is not, what you put the card in for.
And believe me, whenever i had my Resonator out, it was also in use. First of all, i use it with Kokusho, what the deck is all about. So you have like allways a target for it. And even without Kokusho out there, there are many other triggered abilities, you can copy. Like an additional card with Phyrexian Arena each round. Or drawing 4 instead of 2 cards with Skullclamp. Or destroy 2 targets with the Shriekmaw. And much more. And from the games i played so far, the Resonator was one of the most hated cards when on the bord.
About Sign in Blood and stuff. Well, some ppl run it but i still rarely see those. In my opinion, a phyrexian arena is more constant. But if you like running them, go on doing it.
I'm really happy to have a Gate to Phyrexia. I was thinking of running that card in several decks but it is really hard to get, since i never use MCM. But there are ppl here trading cards so i mostly get what i want anyway. And i was lucky, a person i know offered it on MCM, so i asked him and bought it directly without paying for the send or wait^^
I also finally bought a Damnation, Volraths Stronghold and a Phyrexian Tower since i can always run those cards in black decks^^ Good a pretty cheap damnation promo^^
Sword of the Animist, Ob Nixilis and Dark Petition are the newest inclusions. From the new Commander set I'm interested in trying out Wretched Confluence and Blade of Selves (du'h). The deck is getting quite streamlined and I've had a lot of fun and success playing against any creature based decks.
-I like to drain people to death. I don't mind killing people in combat either, but an alternative winning condition is more than welcome in my books.
-I like doing black things. Kokusho works well with sacrifice outlets and recursion, which is the bread and butter of black decks.
-I like the open nature of the deck. Most black decks would run sacrifice outlets and recursion regardless, and there is plenty of freedom with card selections, allowing for mini themes and such.
-I like card advantage. Cabal Coffers may be the biggest incentive to turn to the dark side, but Sign in Blood is a close second.
Deck Philosophy
-No infinite combos
-Interaction in removal, disruption or mana denial
-Players are given time to react to threats and resolve board states
The deck is designed to beat everyone else at your table in a fair game of magic, outdrawing them and keeping creature strategies in check with mass removal. I'm avoiding cards that incentivize playing powerful but fragile/boring combos (Mikaeus, the Unhallowed, Ashnod's Altar, Nim Deathmantle and Sanguine Bond to name a few examples). I'm also avoiding colourless permanents and mass enchantment removal to keep my devotion count high. If you enjoy casting All is Dust and other similar spells, this version of the deck is probably not to your liking.
Pros & Cons
+Damnation
+Card advantage
+Resilient against artifact removal
+Good reach
+Highly customizable
+Fun
-Somewhat soft to grave hate
-Land destruction will make you salty
-Weak against non-creature centric strategies
6 Kokusho, the Evening Star
Creatures (20):
1 Viscera Seer
2 Bloodghast
2 Reassembling Skeleton
2 Nether Traitor
3 Ophiomancer
3 Burnished Hart
4 Mindslicer
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Hell's Caretaker
4 Disciple of Bolas
4 Solemn Simulacrum
5 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
5 Shriekmaw
5 Corpse Connoisseur
5 Sadistic Hypnotist
5 Bloodgift Demon
6 Grave Titan
7 Rune-Scarred Demon
7 Abhorrent Overlord
7 Overseer of the Damned
Planeswalkers (3):
3 Liliana of the Veil
4 Liliana of the Dark Realms
5 Liliana Vess
2 Animate Dead
3 Dark Prophecy
3 Phyrexian Arena
4 Grave Pact
5 palace Siege
Equipment (2):
1 Skullclamp
3 Sword of Feast and Famine
Reanimation (4):
2 Wake the Dead
3 Mimic Vat
4 Dread Return
5 Beacon of Unrest
Removal (5):
2 Black Sun's Zenith
3 Toxic Deluge
4 Damnation
4 Sever the Bloodline
8 Decree of Pain
Draw / Tutor (10):
1 Expedition Map
1 Skeletal Scrying
2 Sign in Blood
2 Night's Whisper
2 Demonic Tutor
3 Read the Bones
3 Beseech the Queen
4 Ambition's Cost
4 Insidious Dreams
5 Promise of Power
0 Everflowing Chalice
1 Dark Ritual
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
2 Jet Medallion
2 Star Compass
2 Charcoal Diamond
2 Mind Stone
3 Worn Powerstone
3 Coalition Relic
4 Thran Dynamo
Lands (38):
28 Swamp
1 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 High Market
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Buried Ruin
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Cabal Coffers
Wishlist, Maybeboard & the "no"'s
Maybeboard:
"no":
19.1.2015:
- Swamp
+ Bloodstained Mire
+ Polluted Delta
- Garza's Assassin
- Mortarpod
- Increasing Ambition
- Sanguimancy
- Whip of Erebos
+ Palace Siege
+ Mimic Vat
+ Overseer of the Damned
+ Sadistic Hypnotist
6 Kokusho, the Evening Star
Creatures (19):
1 Viscera Seer
2 Bloodghast
2 Reassembling Skeleton
2 Nether Traitor
3 Garza's Assassin
3 Ophiomancer
3 Burnished Hart
4 Mindslicer
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Hell's Caretaker
4 Disciple of Bolas
4 Solemn Simulacrum
5 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
5 Shriekmaw
5 Corpse Connoisseur
5 Bloodgift Demon
6 Grave Titan
7 Rune-Scarred Demon
7 Abhorrent Overlord
Planeswalkers (3):
3 Liliana of the Veil
4 Liliana of the Dark Realms
5 Liliana Vess
Enchantment (5):
2 Animate Dead
3 Dark Prophecy
3 Phyrexian Arena
4 Whip of Erebos
4 Grave Pact
1 Skullclamp
2 Mortarpod
3 Sword of Feast and Famine
Reanimation (2):
2 Wake the Dead
4 Dread Return
5 Beacon of Unrest
Removal (5):
2 Black Sun's Zenith
3 Toxic Deluge
4 Damnation
4 Sever the Bloodline
8 Decree of Pain
Draw / Tutor (12):
1 Expedition Map
1 Skeletal Scrying
2 Sign in Blood
2 Night's Whisper
2 Demonic Tutor
3 Read the Bones
3 Beseech the Queen
4 Ambition's Cost
4 Insidious Dreams
5 Promise of Power
5 Increasing Ambition
5 Sanguimancy
Mana Acc. (12):
0 Everflowing Chalice
1 Dark Ritual
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
2 Jet Medallion
2 Star Compass
2 Charcoal Diamond
2 Mind Stone
3 Worn Powerstone
3 Coalition Relic
4 Thran Dynamo
29 Swamp
1 High Market
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Buried Ruin
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Cabal Coffers
Strategy
1) Fast Mana
Using cards like Burnished Hart, Solemn Simulacrum and Wayfarer's Bauble in conjunction with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth means that Cabal Coffers can tap for a ton of mana even in the early/mid game. The deck is also proliferated with black mana symbols, meaning Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx can cause even more massive bursts of mana.
2) Card Draw
The deck is filled with cheap card draw to ensure that we hit all the land drops, while at the top of the line Skeletal Scrying and Sanguimancy can easily draw you +10 cards in the mid to late game. Skullclamp and Dark Prophecy are both massive sources of card advantage with cards like Bloodghast and Abhorrent Overlord, provided you have a sac outlet to trigger Dark Prophecy. Disciple of Bolas is also a good way to refill hand, since we play Kokusho as our general
3) Devotion / ETB
The deck is flooded with powerful ETB abilities and some scale in power. Abhorrent Overlord can spam you a horde of 1/1 fliers to both protect your life total and do some honest-to-god face punching. Gray Merchant of Asphodel is the deck's prime winning condition. A mid-game Merchant can stabilize your life total should you be under pressure, and the multitude of sacrifice outlets and reanimation spells means that you can abuse the ETB trigger later in the game too. Hell's Caretaker, Volrath's Stronghold, Mimic Vat and Whip of Erebos are ways to reuse these abilities.
Youtube Channel
Also, 3 Lilianas? Ever run into problems?
RADAMARO, FIRST TO DESIRER
UKEFNET THE MINDFULU
GSASAYA, OROCHI ASCENDANTG
MODERN
RMONO-RED ELDRAZIR
I'm not sure about the manarocks. I recently cut Coldsteel Heart because I dislike the art, and even with Heart I felt I was constantly looking for more acceleration in my openers. Then again I feel like I could cut those things because I don't draw them ever anyway. I'm probably going to cut the Pristine Talisman for an Unstable Obelisk and just see how things pan out. I do believe all the rocs with cmc <3 are really important for the deck though.
Same thing with Lilianas, really. I really enjoy playing with Liliana of the Dark Realms and Liliana Vess, even though they aren't super powerful. Liliana of the Veil I just added, but I'm sure her versatility will come in handy. I'm not expecting the numbers to be a problem, since it's common to run 3 copies of the same PW in a 60-card deck. Then again we'll see after I play some more games with this thing.
Youtube Channel
(also nobody around here plays a Kokusho Deck, so its time :D)
I really like your decklist, and i will build mine quite similar to yours^^
Some changes i will make to my deck will be cards like:
Ashnod's Altar (or maybe Phyrexian Altar)
Sadistic Hypnotist Those as additional sac outlets.
Necromantic Selection Not to sure about this one yet, since it cost a lot, but it will bring Kokusho back^^
Infernal Offering Maybe needs some testing. But hey, you can sacrifice Kokusho and bring him right back
Strionic Resonator Well...umm...MUHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA (evil laugh)
Mimic Vat free Kokusho every turn^^
Agree with Kamiyadori, seems like there are better sac outlets out there - is there something that Mortarpod does that I don't get?
How has Garza's Assassin performed for you? Do you find Shriekmaw is able to hit everything you need?
Massacre Wurm? Three devotion and a psudosweeper seems reasonable.
Finally, do you feel like you run enough reanimation? I see lots of sacrificing but not many ways to get creatures back. Maybe Chainer, Dementia Master?
Edit: Ever feel the need to double up on sac triggers with Dictate of Erebos?
- Swamp
+ Bloodstained Mire
+ Polluted Delta
- Garza's Assassin
- Mortarpod
- Increasing Ambition
- Sanguimancy
- Whip of Erebos
+ Palace Siege
+ Mimic Vat
+ Overseer of the Damned
+ Sadistic Hypnotist
I think all those cards are solid, except maybe for Strionic Resonater which I kind of dislike. I've been meaning to add Hypnotist to my list for the longest time, but I somehow always forget about the card. Mimic Vat is also super solid, I've been running it in the past.
Internal Offering and Necromantic Selection are both very fun, but not all that powerful. Selection is flavorful, but I don't want to have too many wraths and I much prefer the cheap ones like Toxic Deluge. You can usually always convert the extra mana into card advantage.
Altars are powerful, but they're not the kind of cards I like. They don't do anything when you have nothing going on, and on the other it's very easy to combo with them. I like to play with cards that have low ceiling but higher floor of power level.
Mortarpod is okay - it's lotsa fun with the deathtouch tokens. Definitely one of the weakest cards in the last version of the deck, and I did cut it for new stuff.
Assassin is okay, the triple black in the mana cost is the biggest reason to run him. Same scenario as with Mortarpod tho, it's not that powerful and the effect is not unique so the card is easily replaced. Shriekmaw is pretty sweet because of the evoke.
I've been thinking about Massacre Wurm, but haven't pulled the trigger yet since it's kind of narrow. This deck can already handle enemies that go wide with tokens so it's not that necessary, but I can imagine there will scenarios where the life loss will help you close out games. I think it's a sweet card and I'll probably try it myself in the future, but I don't expect too much.
Chainer is pretty busted but once again it's the kind of card I don't enjoy playing with. Either it sticks and everyone else at the table will feel miserable, or it will get killed and you are hated out of the game. The worst part is that it exiles the creatures it recurred, which can backfire very heavily if you don't win on spot.
Dictate was ok for me, but I decided to cut it since I wanted to free slots for other sweet stuff and Grave Pact has a better mana cost (more black symbols, costs less)
Youtube Channel
Do you dislike the Resonator in general or just in combination with Kokusho? Because it is an extremly strong card. It wins games. It really does. Friend of mine is playing it inside his Aurelia, deck, which gives him 2 additional attack steps every turn. And in Kokusho, 5 life loss are bad, but 10 life loss every turn hurt even more. And when i get like 30 life every turn, its hard for them to keep up. Or 40, when we go for a 5-man round So maybe you don't like it, but believe me, the Resonator is a very strong and in my opinion underrated card.
I don't know about the Selection yet, since i never drew it up to now. Internal Offering did pretty well, each time i used it. Since you don't have to use the same player for the sac and trhe revive part. Just be sure to chose a player with the least threatening target in his graveyard or just empty someones graveyard before
About the altars. Well, it is indeed easy to combo with them, but since you don't run a combo, why bother about them in your deck. The more important thing about the altars is their ability of instant sac. Keep in mind that many of your sac outlets are only sorcery speed and you want to protect your general against stuff like hallowed burial or terminus. Or when you put your Kokusho into your mimic vat, he has to stay in exile in order to produce tokens. But if someone destroys your vat, while Kokusho is in exile, you won't be able to get him back. Ever. So if that happens, you need to sac another creature in response to make sure, youre Kokusho is back in your graveyard. And in Addition, Ashnod's Altar and Strionic Resonator are best friends
And why whould you ever run a Palace Siege, as long as there is Phyrexian Reclamation out there. Because of the life pay? 2 life, that's not much, especially in a Kokusho deck, but more important it is instant speed, like your Mimeoplasm wants my Rune-scarred Demon? I don't think so :3
Click here, if you want to see my version of Kokusho. It's cleary inspired by your deck but i made some changes
I dislike cards like Resonator in general, they don't do anything on their own and on the other hand they can be busted when things go your way. Resonator isn't the biggest offender, though, but really - I'd rather be more consistent and have more different kinds of tools in my deck than use my slots for a card like Resonator.
Internal Offering was a card I thought about adding to my deck for some time, but ultimately decided against. It's kind of expensive, not very efficient at what it does and it doesn't bring anything new to my deck - I already have card draw, edicts and recursion. Although as I mentioned, the card seems decent and I could see myself playing it just because of the coolness factor.
I'm definitely running fewer sac outlets than before, and I might sneak in a few there at some point. The thing with altars is that if I'm running them, I feel dumb not playing any combo pieces. Also they have the issue of doing nothing on their own. I still think they're both amazing cards, and I could definitely see myself running them in the future, but these are the reasons they're not in right now. I really love High Market and Phyrexian Tower because they don't eat precious slots. I'm thinking about playing Crucible of Worlds since it's amazing with fetches, and can recur me both cabal coffers and the sac-lands, kind of making the deck more consistent at having that sac outlet. I would also love more tutors like Vampiric Tutor and Diabolic Intent since they would accomplish the same thing, acting as sac outlets when I need one, while being superb cards in other scenarios too.
Palace Siege is a modal card with kick-ass art, need I say more? There's also the fact it gives more devotion and doesn't require me to spend mana on it after the initial investment, and no life loss either, but really, the card just looks and feels sweet. Maybe Oversold Cemetery is stronger, maybe, but this card is sweet while making me less vulnerable to grave hate.
Your version of the deck looks pretty sweet too. The mana curve isn't bloated, and you own a Gate to Phyrexia too (I'm so jealous). Personally I'm a huge fan of the Sign in Blood & Night's Whisper & Read the Bones trio, and will always play these cards in a mono black deck.
As you can see I'm a fan of consistency above everything else, and you can see this in many of my card selections (I hope).
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And believe me, whenever i had my Resonator out, it was also in use. First of all, i use it with Kokusho, what the deck is all about. So you have like allways a target for it. And even without Kokusho out there, there are many other triggered abilities, you can copy. Like an additional card with Phyrexian Arena each round. Or drawing 4 instead of 2 cards with Skullclamp. Or destroy 2 targets with the Shriekmaw. And much more. And from the games i played so far, the Resonator was one of the most hated cards when on the bord.
About Sign in Blood and stuff. Well, some ppl run it but i still rarely see those. In my opinion, a phyrexian arena is more constant. But if you like running them, go on doing it.
I'm really happy to have a Gate to Phyrexia. I was thinking of running that card in several decks but it is really hard to get, since i never use MCM. But there are ppl here trading cards so i mostly get what i want anyway. And i was lucky, a person i know offered it on MCM, so i asked him and bought it directly without paying for the send or wait^^
I also finally bought a Damnation, Volraths Stronghold and a Phyrexian Tower since i can always run those cards in black decks^^ Good a pretty cheap damnation promo^^
Wish you luck with your own Gate
5 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
Creatures (20):
1 Viscera Seer
2 Bloodghast
2 Reassembling Skeleton
2 Nether Traitor
3 Ophiomancer
3 Burnished Hart
3 Fleshbag Marauder
4 Mindslicer
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Disciple of Bolas
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Smothering Abomination
4 Arcbound Reclaimer
5 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
5 Shriekmaw
5 Sadistic Hypnotist
6 Kokusho, the Evening Star
7 Rune-Scarred Demon
7 Abhorrent Overlord
10 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Planeswalkers (2):
4 Liliana of the Dark Realms
5 Ob Nixilis Reignited
Enchantment (4):
2 Animate Dead
3 Dark Prophecy
3 Phyrexian Arena
4 Grave Pact
1 Skullclamp
2 Sword of the Animist
3 Sword of Feast and Famine
Reanimation (4):
2 Wake the Dead
3 Corpse Dance
4 Dread Return
5 Beacon of Unrest
Removal (5):
2 Black Sun's Zenith
3 Toxic Deluge
4 Damnation
8 Decree of Pain
Draw / Tutor (11):
1 Expedition Map
1 Skeletal Scrying
2 Sign in Blood
2 Night's Whisper
2 Demonic Tutor
3 Read the Bones
3 Beseech the Queen
4 Ambition's Cost
4 Insidious Dreams
5 Promise of Power
5 Dark Petition
Mana Acc. (13):
0 Everflowing Chalice
1 Dark Ritual
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
2 Jet Medallion
2 Star Compass
2 Charcoal Diamond
2 Mind Stone
3 Worn Powerstone
3 Coalition Relic
4 Thran Dynamo
4 Hedron Archive
28 Swamp
1 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 High Market
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Buried Ruin
1 Thespian's Stage
1 Cabal Coffers
Sword of the Animist, Ob Nixilis and Dark Petition are the newest inclusions. From the new Commander set I'm interested in trying out Wretched Confluence and Blade of Selves (du'h). The deck is getting quite streamlined and I've had a lot of fun and success playing against any creature based decks.
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