What can i do to make this deck better. 20 Swamp
2 Metallic Mimic
4 Swarm of Rats
1 Marrow-Gnawer
14 Rat Colony
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
1 Cartouche of Ambition
1 Explosive Apparatus
1 Dragon Blood
2 Skulduggery
1 Crypt Incursion
4 Contract Killing
3 Syphon Mind
4 Mind Rot
1 Liturgy of Blood
SB: 2 Explosive Apparatus
SB: 2 Dragon Blood
Any ideas
Welcome to the forums, [deck*] tags are your friend.
First off, this deck is too scattered. too many one of's and other cards that don't add much. Why Contract Killing? there are cheaper kill cards, and you really shouldn't need extra mana.
Explosive Apparatus is a slow and not as effective as other methods. Your deck has no synergy.
Figure out what cards you want to keep, and build around them.
Here's something i just threw together... many rats, that get big.
Rats are generally cheap, and shouldn't need a lot of mana to get them out.
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SELVAXRI! King of Misfortune & Master of Rocket Launchers "Do ya feel lucky? Because you'd better start runnin' while you still can." 375 Misfortune {+3 signed AP's} & 104 Rocket Launcher (41 AQ/ 63 Rev) Edgar Rice Burroughs, forgotten legend of the word.
The choice of spot removal is strange. Black has many of thre best spot removal in existence, many of those at common or uncommon rarity, yet you chose a lot of the much weaker (because more expensive and being sorceries) 5 mana variants. In mono-B you can have Doom Blade, Murder, Unmake, Dismember, Murderous Cut, etc.
Another strict upgrade would be to replace the Swarm of Rats with more Rat Colonies. They both get bigger with more rats under your control, but the Swarm starts at 1/1 (counting itself), while the Colony starts at 2/1. Though a more diverse collection of cheap rats with more useful abilities (like trample, fear, shadow, deathtouch, etc.) would serve the deck better than either. More Metallic Mimics would fall in here as well.
On that note, you want more Marrow-Gnawers. Preferably a whole playset of 4, and/or tutors for them. Because a large number of rats early on that suddely have fear can really devastate a nonblack deck. And he can make more. He'll also have a big target on his head, so additional copies in your hand won't be useless for long. And if the one on the field sticks, well, then you are probably already winning. Giving him haste and making him harder to kill would also be a good idea. Luckily, there are two equipment cards that do both: Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves.
Mind Rot, too, has strict upgrades in Arterial Flow (hitting all opponents, don't mind the vampire stuff), Heartless Pillage, or Unburden. Though usually, quality is better than quantity, meaning hitting specific cards in an opponent's hand is better than hitting the two weakest cards. For example, Distress can hit that Day of Judgment from a full hand, while Mind Rot and its friends can only do so if the hand has 2 or less cards in it. Personally, I would discard the discard stuff and get more card draw instead. Black is the second best color for that after all with cards like Sign in Blood. You want more rats, and you can get them by drawing more cards. If you are worried about the life loss that's attached to most black draw spells, you can run removal like Tendrils of Corruption or a set of Radiant Fountains to offset that. Though the only life point that matters and must be protected is the last one, the rest are resources, especially in black. Trading a bit of life for more cards is a great deal.
(Edit: Getting lots of creatures back from the graveyard is also a possibility to get more rats and lets you trade with yor opponent's creatures more easily. Immortal Servitude for X=2 can get lots of rats back with your current setup. Death Denied is another good choice for this.)
Dragon Blood is very slow and mana intensive. For a more aggressively minded deck like yours, cheap equipment like Vulshok Morningstar, Trusty Machete, etc. will be way more effective.
Depending on how the deck shapes up, you may actually want more lands in your 60 card deck, especially if you have lots of more expensive cards. You can't afford to wait for a dozen turns to get the mana to play them. At that time, they won't make much of a difference, if you get there at all before losing.
This gives you a powerful discard package, and a decent board wipe, while still providing bodies to pump up your Rat colonies, or sacrifice to Bone Splinters, Cabal Therapy, Innocent Blood or Altar's Reap. Rotting Rats is also quite good, even though it is card disadvantage. These cards can replace your mind rot's entirely.
If you are going to play higher cmc cards, Ratcatcher deserves some consideration, and your number of Marrow-gnawer could probably be higher. Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni is also quite good as a 1-of.
Most of your cards that buff the rats are unnecessary. Maybe a Door of Destinies or Coat of Arms would be good, but overall you should be able to win by removing your opponent's board, running them out of cards, and then continuously turning sideways with 1/1's and 2/2's. I do like options for buffing crypt rats, as that lets you re-use the board wipe and lay down some damage on your opponent. Giving it lifelnk would also be really good.
Depending on your playgroup you might want to consider Skullclamp. I don't play it outside of commander, but it's and extremely powerful card, especially in this deck, that isn't too expensive.
Finally, Rat Colony. It's good. You can play it, but it's not strictly necessary. Playing a handful (4-8) as a way to trade with some bigger creature can be good. If you decide to play crypt rats you may want to move some of the colonies over to Pestilence Rats to help it survive small wipes.
Thx for the help. In the end i scrapped the original idea and started over. The reason for most instant sorceries and artifacts was that i had them on hand and was being cheap
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2 Metallic Mimic
4 Swarm of Rats
1 Marrow-Gnawer
14 Rat Colony
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
1 Cartouche of Ambition
1 Explosive Apparatus
1 Dragon Blood
2 Skulduggery
1 Crypt Incursion
4 Contract Killing
3 Syphon Mind
4 Mind Rot
1 Liturgy of Blood
SB: 2 Explosive Apparatus
SB: 2 Dragon Blood
Any ideas
2 Metallic Mimic
4 Swarm of Rats
1 Marrow-Gnawer
14 Rat Colony
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
1 Cartouche of Ambition
1 Explosive Apparatus
1 Dragon Blood
2 Skulduggery
1 Crypt Incursion
4 Contract Killing
3 Syphon Mind
4 Mind Rot
1 Liturgy of Blood
Welcome to the forums, [deck*] tags are your friend.
First off, this deck is too scattered. too many one of's and other cards that don't add much. Why Contract Killing? there are cheaper kill cards, and you really shouldn't need extra mana.
Explosive Apparatus is a slow and not as effective as other methods. Your deck has no synergy.
Figure out what cards you want to keep, and build around them.
Here's something i just threw together... many rats, that get big.
10 Rat Colony
4 Pestilence Rats
4 Pack Rat
4 Swarm of Rats
4 Ravenous Rats
1 Marrow-Gnawer
4 Skulduggery
2 Vampiric Tutor
2 Murderous Compulsion
2 Ichor Slick
2 Attrition
10 Swamp
4 Piranha Marsh
4 Polluted Mire
Rats are generally cheap, and shouldn't need a lot of mana to get them out.
King of Misfortune & Master of Rocket Launchers
"Do ya feel lucky? Because you'd better start runnin' while you still can."
375 Misfortune {+3 signed AP's} & 104 Rocket Launcher (41 AQ/ 63 Rev)
Edgar Rice Burroughs, forgotten legend of the word.
Another strict upgrade would be to replace the Swarm of Rats with more Rat Colonies. They both get bigger with more rats under your control, but the Swarm starts at 1/1 (counting itself), while the Colony starts at 2/1. Though a more diverse collection of cheap rats with more useful abilities (like trample, fear, shadow, deathtouch, etc.) would serve the deck better than either. More Metallic Mimics would fall in here as well.
On that note, you want more Marrow-Gnawers. Preferably a whole playset of 4, and/or tutors for them. Because a large number of rats early on that suddely have fear can really devastate a nonblack deck. And he can make more. He'll also have a big target on his head, so additional copies in your hand won't be useless for long. And if the one on the field sticks, well, then you are probably already winning. Giving him haste and making him harder to kill would also be a good idea. Luckily, there are two equipment cards that do both: Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves.
Mind Rot, too, has strict upgrades in Arterial Flow (hitting all opponents, don't mind the vampire stuff), Heartless Pillage, or Unburden. Though usually, quality is better than quantity, meaning hitting specific cards in an opponent's hand is better than hitting the two weakest cards. For example, Distress can hit that Day of Judgment from a full hand, while Mind Rot and its friends can only do so if the hand has 2 or less cards in it. Personally, I would discard the discard stuff and get more card draw instead. Black is the second best color for that after all with cards like Sign in Blood. You want more rats, and you can get them by drawing more cards. If you are worried about the life loss that's attached to most black draw spells, you can run removal like Tendrils of Corruption or a set of Radiant Fountains to offset that. Though the only life point that matters and must be protected is the last one, the rest are resources, especially in black. Trading a bit of life for more cards is a great deal.
(Edit: Getting lots of creatures back from the graveyard is also a possibility to get more rats and lets you trade with yor opponent's creatures more easily. Immortal Servitude for X=2 can get lots of rats back with your current setup. Death Denied is another good choice for this.)
Dragon Blood is very slow and mana intensive. For a more aggressively minded deck like yours, cheap equipment like Vulshok Morningstar, Trusty Machete, etc. will be way more effective.
Depending on how the deck shapes up, you may actually want more lands in your 60 card deck, especially if you have lots of more expensive cards. You can't afford to wait for a dozen turns to get the mana to play them. At that time, they won't make much of a difference, if you get there at all before losing.
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)
4 Chittering Rats
4 Crypt Rats
This gives you a powerful discard package, and a decent board wipe, while still providing bodies to pump up your Rat colonies, or sacrifice to Bone Splinters, Cabal Therapy, Innocent Blood or Altar's Reap. Rotting Rats is also quite good, even though it is card disadvantage. These cards can replace your mind rot's entirely.
If you are going to play higher cmc cards, Ratcatcher deserves some consideration, and your number of Marrow-gnawer could probably be higher. Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni is also quite good as a 1-of.
Most of your cards that buff the rats are unnecessary. Maybe a Door of Destinies or Coat of Arms would be good, but overall you should be able to win by removing your opponent's board, running them out of cards, and then continuously turning sideways with 1/1's and 2/2's. I do like options for buffing crypt rats, as that lets you re-use the board wipe and lay down some damage on your opponent. Giving it lifelnk would also be really good.
Depending on your playgroup you might want to consider Skullclamp. I don't play it outside of commander, but it's and extremely powerful card, especially in this deck, that isn't too expensive.
Finally, Rat Colony. It's good. You can play it, but it's not strictly necessary. Playing a handful (4-8) as a way to trade with some bigger creature can be good. If you decide to play crypt rats you may want to move some of the colonies over to Pestilence Rats to help it survive small wipes.