So just to preface i used to play very competitively until they introduced Modern. That just felt like a good time to cash out. I have only played once since until the other day i found my old commander deck and decided to dust it off and go play. Worked well and im gonna play a little here and there so i figured why not optimize the deck a little bit.
So that is the deck as it stands today but after playing a couple games the other day im already thinking on some changes. This is wha's on the chopping block
Mindslaver - I love me some slaver but in MBC there's no way i know to recur it so there's no slaver lock. Athough slaver can crash in for a big swing it more often seems to come up with a big miss and ends up being a 10 mana time walk
Ob Nixilis, Unshackled - awesome for group and is fun but in 1v1 it's too slow and can be played around. not that its bad but i think that slot can be used better
Avatar of Woe - The Woe is a decent card, especially late game when it comes down for 2. Id say out of the cards on the block this would be the last to go. i just think i can do better.
Bubbling Muck - It's decent in this deck as there's some big mana to be spent but oten i feel like it ends up being a win more card and i dont need win more
Black Sun's Zenith - It's nice board wipe but i feel like for the mana i can do better
Here's some stuff i was thinking about adding
Cruel Tutor - Honestly if i add this it's only tyo replace Increasing Ambition. It to me is a toss up where the Cruel can come down 2 turns earlier but your losing some card advantage and a possible 2nd crack at tutoring. I dunno the 2 cards seem even split to me.
Perilous Vault - This is a new card to me but i think exile board wipe is always good and the mana ill put into that is probably a wash with what id spend on Black Sun's Zenith
Honden of Night's Reach - This is all speculation in my head. This deck has a couple decent spells to wipe out a hand and it seems to me this would be a nice soft lock.
Erebos, God of the Dead - Honestly i dont know about this. im putting it on here just cause its trendy. I seemingly always have plenty of card advantage and my devotion to black is never all that high. But everyone's running it so maybe i should to....Thoughts?
Indulgent Tormentor - Again i don't seem to be ever wanting for card advantage but this card seems to really be in keeping with this style of deck. I feel like this is a card that would pay dividends quite a bit
The next 2 seem good in my head and i may even consider moving them into the commander slot. Again this is totally speculation as ive never played with either of them. I do like the Maga as a general and dont cast it that often but its nice to have a win con tucked away when ever you want it especially after a sorin
Cao Cao, Lord of Wei - Looks good and it has control written all over it. Seems like even if i dont move it to commander i should make a slot for it in the deck. But again ive never used it so some thoughts on it would be good.
Xiahou Dun, The One-Eyed - This card looks spectacular. If i was going to slot something into commander zone over maga i feel like this would be it. It feels super controly and super toolboxy. I think probably 2 casts out of the zone is all id ever get but man it looks good. If i dont move it to commander zone it's definitely warranting of a slot
So ya pls give me some thoughts. Also keep in mind after like scards of mirrodin i don't know jack for cards except for a handful ive seen by chance. What little ive played with this deck i seem to be able to establish control reasonably well and stabilize around 20ish life. But my commander experience is fairly limited and i figure i can get some tips from other ppl. It seemed when playing the other day that the Dark Depths was my primary win con but that may have been because a piece kept floating to the top. Nirkana Revenant & Maga, Traitor to mortals seemed like the go to after that.
Some people hate infinite mana combos, or think they're antithetical to the spirit of the game, or whatever. But if you're going to have an X spell in the command zone, and you want your decklist to have synergy with that, infinite mana combos are what make sense. If you don't want to play with infinite mana combos, there are better monoblack generals, i.e. Sheoldred, Whispering One or Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon.
Current Deck list
General
Maga, Traitor to Mortals
Lands
Swamp x33
Strip Mine
Wasteland
Tectonic Edge
Reliquary Tower
Cabal Coffers
Thespian's stage
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
Dark Depths
Planeswalker
Lilliana Vess
Lilliana of the Dark Realms
Sorin Markov
Enchantments
Necropotence
Phyrexian Arena
Artifacts
Caged Sun
Gauntlet of Power
Extraplanar Lense
Cruciable of Worlds
Oblivion Stone
Nevinyrral's Disk
All is Dust
Memory Jar
Mindslaver
Creatures
Avatar of Woe
Sheoldred, Whispering One
Duplicant
Steel Hellkite
Bloodgift Demon
Graveborn Muse
Rune-Scarred Demon
Myojin of Night's Reach
gatekeeper of Malakir
Vampire Hexmage
Ob Nixilis, Unshackled
Magus of the Coffers
Crypt Ghast
Nirkana Revenant
Sorcery/Instant
Beseech the Queen
Increasing Ambition
Demonic Tutor
Vampiric Tutor
Diabloic Tutor
Ancient Craving
Promise of Power
Night's Whisper
Read the Bones
Skeletal Scrying
Sign in BLood
Ambition's Cost
Chainers Edict
Diabolic Edict
Geth's Verdict
Tribute to Hunger
Barter in Blood
Tendrils of Corruption
Consuming Vapors
Black Sun's Zenith
Decree of Pain
Mutilate
Damnation
Mind Twist
Mind Shatter
Mind Sludge
Yawgmoth's Will
Temporal Extrotion
Army of the Damned
Bubbling Muck
So that is the deck as it stands today but after playing a couple games the other day im already thinking on some changes. This is wha's on the chopping block
Mindslaver - I love me some slaver but in MBC there's no way i know to recur it so there's no slaver lock. Athough slaver can crash in for a big swing it more often seems to come up with a big miss and ends up being a 10 mana time walk
Ob Nixilis, Unshackled - awesome for group and is fun but in 1v1 it's too slow and can be played around. not that its bad but i think that slot can be used better
Avatar of Woe - The Woe is a decent card, especially late game when it comes down for 2. Id say out of the cards on the block this would be the last to go. i just think i can do better.
Bubbling Muck - It's decent in this deck as there's some big mana to be spent but oten i feel like it ends up being a win more card and i dont need win more
Black Sun's Zenith - It's nice board wipe but i feel like for the mana i can do better
Here's some stuff i was thinking about adding
Cruel Tutor - Honestly if i add this it's only tyo replace Increasing Ambition. It to me is a toss up where the Cruel can come down 2 turns earlier but your losing some card advantage and a possible 2nd crack at tutoring. I dunno the 2 cards seem even split to me.
Perilous Vault - This is a new card to me but i think exile board wipe is always good and the mana ill put into that is probably a wash with what id spend on Black Sun's Zenith
Honden of Night's Reach - This is all speculation in my head. This deck has a couple decent spells to wipe out a hand and it seems to me this would be a nice soft lock.
Erebos, God of the Dead - Honestly i dont know about this. im putting it on here just cause its trendy. I seemingly always have plenty of card advantage and my devotion to black is never all that high. But everyone's running it so maybe i should to....Thoughts?
Indulgent Tormentor - Again i don't seem to be ever wanting for card advantage but this card seems to really be in keeping with this style of deck. I feel like this is a card that would pay dividends quite a bit
The next 2 seem good in my head and i may even consider moving them into the commander slot. Again this is totally speculation as ive never played with either of them. I do like the Maga as a general and dont cast it that often but its nice to have a win con tucked away when ever you want it especially after a sorin
Cao Cao, Lord of Wei - Looks good and it has control written all over it. Seems like even if i dont move it to commander i should make a slot for it in the deck. But again ive never used it so some thoughts on it would be good.
Xiahou Dun, The One-Eyed - This card looks spectacular. If i was going to slot something into commander zone over maga i feel like this would be it. It feels super controly and super toolboxy. I think probably 2 casts out of the zone is all id ever get but man it looks good. If i dont move it to commander zone it's definitely warranting of a slot
So ya pls give me some thoughts. Also keep in mind after like scards of mirrodin i don't know jack for cards except for a handful ive seen by chance. What little ive played with this deck i seem to be able to establish control reasonably well and stabilize around 20ish life. But my commander experience is fairly limited and i figure i can get some tips from other ppl. It seemed when playing the other day that the Dark Depths was my primary win con but that may have been because a piece kept floating to the top. Nirkana Revenant & Maga, Traitor to mortals seemed like the go to after that.
For instance, basalt monolith with rings of brighthearth obviously, or deserted temple and cabal coffers with rings of brighthearth, or magus of the coffers with umbral mantle.
Some people hate infinite mana combos, or think they're antithetical to the spirit of the game, or whatever. But if you're going to have an X spell in the command zone, and you want your decklist to have synergy with that, infinite mana combos are what make sense. If you don't want to play with infinite mana combos, there are better monoblack generals, i.e. Sheoldred, Whispering One or Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon.