So I've managed to find a mono green, red, blue and, white commander that I enjoy but I've yet to find a mono black commander that I like. I tried using both Marrow-Gnawer and Erebos neither of them ... clicked.
I wanted to see if anyone had an opinion. Since I figure every eligible commander will be suggested I'll turn this into a game and the first general with three nominations wins.
The choices have been narrowed down to Sheoldred and Chainer
I've seen Geth used to good effect. I think Seizan makes an interesting deck. Marrow-gnawer makes a decent rat tribal.
I think the overall most powerful is probably Skithiryx. Brings his own haste, infects, and regenerates. Pretty much all he needs is a small voltron package (e.g. lashwrithe, strata scythe and a few other pieces) and a massive control pile to become kind of ridiculous.
Seizan, Perverter of Truth I made a fairly fun deck with him once that drew a lot of cards and stayed alive often because people liked drawing cards. It basically exploited B's way of making explosive amounts of mana to play some of the most fun and brutal cards that I always wanted to play like Curse of the Cabal.
I've seen a Phage the Untouchable deck that was really competitive and take out threw opponents with ease several times with the general alone when everyone knew what was coming. I think a deck like that would be interesting because you have a unique strategy and end up playing a lot of unique cards you wouldn't otherwise play.
Geth, Lord of the Vault and Kagemaro, First to Suffer are the popular options in my area. With all of black's mana production, Geth can be an absolute beast and Kegamaro with strong draw support alternately a huge beater or a board wipe. Sheoldred, Whispering One is also a good general selection if you have a way to let her make it around the board.
Almost no one but me still plays Volrath the Fallen. You may like his voltron/control style as all creatures in the deck fuel his power.
However, consider your playstyle ie. control. combo, big plays and which legend appeals to you, I always look to one I like before I begin rather than one that is just raw power.
I also play Weiss Schwarz, Chaos, Vanguard and Wixoss.
Weiss Schwarz Sets
Accel World, Angel Beats, Familiar of Zero, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, Guilty Crown, Kill La Kill, Robotics;Notes, Sword Art Online.
Chaos Partners
Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Iona, Kirishima, Kongou.
Dangan Ronpa: Asahina, Togami.
Freezing: Vibration: Chiffon, Satelizer.
Vanguard Clans Favoured
Angel Feather, Dark Irregulars, Genesis, Neonecter, Pale Moon, Shadow Paladins, Tachikaze.
I would have to say the best mono-black general that isn't really 100% mono-black is Oona, Queen of the Fae. I made her mono-black (with the exception of phyrexian metamorph) and she is wonderful. I don't know if that counts though.
My current mono-black deck is Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker and I love it for being so wacky. I used to have a mono-black reanimation deck with Balthor the Defiled that was simply too strong for my meta. So I switched the commander to Sheoldred, Whispering One, but that really didn't help, making the deck even stronger probably. So then I swapped in Chainer, Dementia Master without changing anything else, and that depowered the deck a little, but it was STILL too strong. Finally I changed the deck to focus on reanimating from my opponents graveyard with Lim-Dûl the Necromancer at the helm. That deck sucked, and so died my mono-black reanimator.
Of all those decks, I think Balthor and Shirei were/are the most fun, but Sheoldred was the most powerful. So I guess those are my suggestions, depending on your goals.
Im assuming you are looking at playing re-animator with the selections you provided. I will mention that I started playing Toshiro Umezawa as a re-animator deck and its turned out to be a very surprising deck. You might check it out as an option if you were looking for something a little more outside of the box.
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
I will put a +1 for Toshiro. You will need to dedicate your deck around him, as sell as getting essential cards like Vampiric Tutor, Entomb, Insidious Dreams, etc. But he offers an incredibly unique experience for mono black control.
Alternatively, Geth, Drana, and Chainer all are amazing choices since they use blacks "manadoubling" to its fullest.
If you're looking for a less powerful commander with tons of flavor, look no further than Ihsan's Shade. He ca be built a couple of different ways but I've had most success with a voltron strategy plus a little bit of a knight tribal theme. (I really wish I could play Stillmoon Cavalier in it, sigh...)
Other than that, I also played with Maga, Traitor to Mortals for a while to great effect. Essentially it was a big pile of Drain Life effects and mana doublers.
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EDH Decks:
RRRDo Not Pursue Lu Bu!!!RRR UBUWydwyn, the Biting Gale 1v1UBU WRWBrion Cho Aniki!! I Wanna Be Strong Like Big Brother!WRW BRBLyzie Borden and the Thrill Kill CultBRB GWUDerevi, Birdman TacticianGWU
"Gotta have opposites dark and light, light and dark in painting. It's like in life. Gotta have a little sadness once in a while so you know when the good times come." -Bob Ross
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I wanted to see if anyone had an opinion. Since I figure every eligible commander will be suggested I'll turn this into a game and the first general with three nominations wins.
The choices have been narrowed down to Sheoldred and Chainer
Thanks to Heroes of the Plane for the awesome Sig.
Currently Playing- EDH
GGGOmnath, Locus of the LifestreamGGG
BBBShirei, Lord of PoniesBBB
UWRasputin Dreamweaver, Russia's Greatest Love MachineUW
UBWZur, Killer of FunUBW
UGWTreva, Princess of CanterlotUGW
RWTajic, Master of the Reverse BladeRW
RRRZirilan, How to Train Your DragonRRR
PDH Decks
Gelectrode
Ascended Lawmage
Blaze Commando
Erebos is crazy. Convert mana to cards.shame you never clicked.I think the overall most powerful is probably Skithiryx. Brings his own haste, infects, and regenerates. Pretty much all he needs is a small voltron package (e.g. lashwrithe, strata scythe and a few other pieces) and a massive control pile to become kind of ridiculous.
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
I've seen a Phage the Untouchable deck that was really competitive and take out threw opponents with ease several times with the general alone when everyone knew what was coming. I think a deck like that would be interesting because you have a unique strategy and end up playing a lot of unique cards you wouldn't otherwise play.
GAzusa, Lost but SeekingG
WBVish Kal, Blood ArbiterWB
WBRKaalia of the VastWBR
UBGVorosh, the HunterUBG
WRGisela, Blade of GoldnightWR
WUGJenara, Asura of WarWUG
WBGTeneb, The HarvesterWBG
WUBRGHorde of NotionsWUBRG
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa | Korlash, Heir to Blackblade | Karador Apostles | Brago, King Eternal | Talrand the Sky Summoner | Mageta the Lion
It should be noted that Sheoldred, Whispering One, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Chainer, Master of Dementia, and Zhao Dun, Something or other title all need only one more nomination to be my mono black commander.
However, consider your playstyle ie. control. combo, big plays and which legend appeals to you, I always look to one I like before I begin rather than one that is just raw power.
Main Decks
Diaochan, Iroas, God of Victory, Kaalia, Marton, Ulasht, Volrath,
Kaervek, Prossh, Titania
Amusing or Themed
Progenitus
Pauper Guildmages
Azorius Boros Dimir Golgari Gruul Izzet Korozda
Orzhov Rakdos Rix Maadi Selesyna Simic Skarrg Zameck
I also play Weiss Schwarz, Chaos, Vanguard and Wixoss.
Accel World, Angel Beats, Familiar of Zero, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, Guilty Crown, Kill La Kill, Robotics;Notes, Sword Art Online.
Chaos Partners
Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Iona, Kirishima, Kongou.
Dangan Ronpa: Asahina, Togami.
Freezing: Vibration: Chiffon, Satelizer.
Vanguard Clans Favoured
Angel Feather, Dark Irregulars, Genesis, Neonecter, Pale Moon, Shadow Paladins, Tachikaze.
Wixoss - Just trial decks for now!
Mono-Black Oona, Queen of the Fae
Athreos, God of Passage
Of all those decks, I think Balthor and Shirei were/are the most fun, but Sheoldred was the most powerful. So I guess those are my suggestions, depending on your goals.
[Primer] WBR Tariel: You'll Thank Me For This WBR [Primer]
GGG Dosan of the Green Rainbow GGG
RWU Zedruu: I Ain't Even Mad RWU
amazingly epic sig courtesy of DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Planes.
Signature by Inkfox Aesthetics by Xen
[Modern] Allies
UBRSedris, the Necromancer KingUBR
I actually run a zombie tribal Balthor deck and it's pretty damn fun, everyone that plays against it likes it because its very Zombie theme.
Alternatively, Geth, Drana, and Chainer all are amazing choices since they use blacks "manadoubling" to its fullest.
Other than that, I also played with Maga, Traitor to Mortals for a while to great effect. Essentially it was a big pile of Drain Life effects and mana doublers.
UBUWydwyn, the Biting Gale 1v1UBU
WRWBrion Cho Aniki!! I Wanna Be Strong Like Big Brother!WRW
BRBLyzie Borden and the Thrill Kill CultBRB
GWUDerevi, Birdman TacticianGWU
"Gotta have opposites dark and light, light and dark in painting. It's like in life. Gotta have a little sadness once in a while so you know when the good times come." -Bob Ross