I've been running this Liliana deck for a couple of years and have been happy with the way it's performed, but I think I need to slot in more instant speed spot removal. I also wouldn't mind playing with a couple of the mono black gotchya cards like Imp's Mischief and Withering Boon.
I'd love a little critique on what to cut from the deck to fit some of the cards in my maybe list, or if I shouldn't even bother with them.
I think a cut that you could make is Exsanguinate. I'm of the opinion that Torment of Hailfire is just simply better, as it can impact the board in addition to killing your opponents outright, whereas the Exsanguinate simply increases your life total. In the place of Exsanguinate, I highly recommend Snuff Out. Being able to cast it for free is awesome for breaking up potential combo turns while also allowing you an element of control over the game.
It seems you're just going for a mono-B Goodstuff deck, correct? I also assume that your Commander is Liliana, Heretical Healer. That means creature synergies are going to be better for your deck, typically.
The other card that looks out of place is Vampire Hexmage. Do you play against a lot of Planeswalker Commanders? With no Dark Depths to go alongside it, it's just a 2/1 with First Strike. If you need the Hexmage to get rid of PW's, keep it. Otherwise, I think that's another cut you could make for your deck. I would recommend Go for the Throat in its place.
I think a cut that you could make is Exsanguinate. I'm of the opinion that Torment of Hailfire is just simply better, as it can impact the board in addition to killing your opponents outright, whereas the Exsanguinate simply increases your life total. In the place of Exsanguinate, I highly recommend Snuff Out. Being able to cast it for free is awesome for breaking up potential combo turns while also allowing you an element of control over the game.
It seems you're just going for a mono-B Goodstuff deck, correct? I also assume that your Commander is Liliana, Heretical Healer. That means creature synergies are going to be better for your deck, typically.
The other card that looks out of place is Vampire Hexmage. Do you play against a lot of Planeswalker Commanders? With no Dark Depths to go alongside it, it's just a 2/1 with First Strike. If you need the Hexmage to get rid of PW's, keep it. Otherwise, I think that's another cut you could make for your deck. I would recommend Go for the Throat in its place.
Cutting Exsanguinate is a good suggestion. I am never really happy to see both Exsanguinate and Torment in a game as it usually only takes one to end it, and I usually end up pitching them to Liliana if I draw them too early. Torment is much better when you can't cast it for x = lethal.
And yes Liliana is my commander. Sorry I forgot to list that.
Hexmage does a lot of work in my meta. There are a couple people who love their Planeswalkers.
Yeah I have this card listed in my maybeboard already. I'm really excited to play it.
As an update, I also cut Liliana of the Dark Realms and Dread Return. Liliana was almost always just a 4 mana Civic Wayfinder that I couldn't even benefit from sacrificing. I don't know if I've ever used her - ability and I've only gotten her emblem once. Dread Return got cut because it was the most expensive reanimation spell in the deck. My deck likes a little reanimation, but it's not its primary focus. A lot of the time I don't have 3 creatures on board to sacrifice to flash it back. These two cuts made room for Go for the Throat and Plaguecrafter.
In your current list, three cards jump out as removable/replaceable with some better instant speed interaction:
Bone Shredder is a little over priced for what you are getting, as Dark Banishing was never exactly spectacular. Even in a deck that wants to see its creatures sac themselves, you have enough redundancy there already.
Similarly Vampire Hexmage is more of a meta call. I don't tend to see planeswalkers that I can't kill with removal or combat, and that's about the only silver bullet that I have to deal with. If you don't have huge, relevant targets, you could easily make this Vraska's Contempt.
Finally, the third Sign in Blood variant doesan't tend to get as much mileage, especailly since you have Arena and Necro too. I would cut Night's whisper and grab something else from your maybeboard. (My vote goes to the Mischief, I love that card.)
In your current list, three cards jump out as removable/replaceable with some better instant speed interaction:
Bone Shredder is a little over priced for what you are getting, as Dark Banishing was never exactly spectacular. Even in a deck that wants to see its creatures sac themselves, you have enough redundancy there already.
Similarly Vampire Hexmage is more of a meta call. I don't tend to see planeswalkers that I can't kill with removal or combat, and that's about the only silver bullet that I have to deal with. If you don't have huge, relevant targets, you could easily make this Vraska's Contempt.
Finally, the third Sign in Blood variant doesan't tend to get as much mileage, especailly since you have Arena and Necro too. I would cut Night's whisper and grab something else from your maybeboard. (My vote goes to the Mischief, I love that card.)
Cutting Bone Shredder is a good idea. With the addition of Plaguecrafter, I still have the same amount of creatures that sacrifice themselves.
I still like Hexmage in my playgroup, but I'll definitely pay more attention to how useful it is.
I'm not sure how I feel about cutting the draw, but it's another thing for me to keep an eye on.
In your current list, three cards jump out as removable/replaceable with some better instant speed interaction:
Bone Shredder is a little over priced for what you are getting, as Dark Banishing was never exactly spectacular. Even in a deck that wants to see its creatures sac themselves, you have enough redundancy there already.
Similarly Vampire Hexmage is more of a meta call. I don't tend to see planeswalkers that I can't kill with removal or combat, and that's about the only silver bullet that I have to deal with. If you don't have huge, relevant targets, you could easily make this Vraska's Contempt.
Finally, the third Sign in Blood variant doesan't tend to get as much mileage, especailly since you have Arena and Necro too. I would cut Night's whisper and grab something else from your maybeboard. (My vote goes to the Mischief, I love that card.)
Cutting Bone Shredder is a good idea. With the addition of Plaguecrafter, I still have the same amount of creatures that sacrifice themselves.
I still like Hexmage in my playgroup, but I'll definitely pay more attention to how useful it is.
I'm not sure how I feel about cutting the draw, but it's another thing for me to keep an eye on.
I failed to read your previous response to someone recommending removing Hexmage, so that's my bad. I still see it as the most notable cut, as Plaguecrafter gives you another creature-based way to interact with Walkers (essentially covering both Bone Shredder and the Hexmage) in your list. Adding in that Vraska's Contempt will also help in that regard, though if you're drowning in walkers you should just run all three.
While unhelpful so far as making cuts, Disciple of Bolas is another card that seems pretty much tailor-made for your deck and is a solid way to draw cards.
Price of Fame is what you're looking for. It's the new hotness in black spot removal. Often in commander it's just going to be 2 mana removal, and then being able to smooth out your draws with the surveil 2 is quite unlike anything mono-black has had access to before.
I ran Disciple of Bolas at one time. The card was either great or awkward. Sometimes I didn't always have a creature I was willing to give up for a 4 mana 2/1. Maybe I'll reconsider though.
As far as Price of Fame goes, when it's targeting a legendary creature, that's awesome, and the surveil 2 is great. I'm not sure I want to pay 4 to kill an ordinary creature though. If this makes the deck, I could see it taking Murderous Cut or Go for the Throat's spot. Is everyone on board with this card? My initial feeling though is that if I may have to pay 4 mana to use it, I'd rather just have Vraska's Contempt and have the option to hit walkers and indestructible creatures.
As far as Price of Fame goes, when it's targeting a legendary creature, that's awesome, and the surveil 2 is great. I'm not sure I want to pay 4 to kill an ordinary creature though. If this makes the deck, I could see it taking Murderous Cut or Go for the Throat's spot. Is everyone on board with this card? My initial feeling though is that if I may have to pay 4 mana to use it, I'd rather just have Vraska's Contempt and have the option to hit walkers and indestructible creatures.
Do you have those games where an opponent plays a Turn 1 Sol Ring or mana creature and then follows it up with their Commander on Turn 2, like Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, Yisan, the Wanderer Bard, Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, Captain Sisay, Arcum Dagsson, Brago, King Eternal, etc and you just wished that you had removal? At the same time you are also hoping to draw into maybe lands, or even find cards to give you a more explosive start? Well Price of Fame can do that for you. Vraska's Contempt is always going to be slow and planewalkers are not the bug-bear of the format. I mean Price of Fame can be slow if you really have to hit a problematic creature, but it is commander we are talking about, so you are 100% guaranteed to have legendary targets you'll want off the board every single game.
Ok. I can see this coming in over Murderous Cut. Price of Fame is going to hit important creatures early for less than Cut would. Late game it may cost 1-3 mana more, but the cost is less likely to matter and you still get to surveil two.
I don't have a spot for Contempt yet as I'm not completely sold on it.
I'd love a little critique on what to cut from the deck to fit some of the cards in my maybe list, or if I shouldn't even bother with them.
1x Bone Shredder
1x Crypt Ghast
1x Duplicant
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
1x Fleshbag Marauder
1x Grave Titan
1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1x Grim Haruspex
1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
1x Massacre Wurm
1x Merciless Executioner
1x Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1x Nirkana Revenant
1x Plaguecrafter
1x Reassembling Skeleton
1x Rune-Scarred Demon
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
1x Shriekmaw
1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1x Soldevi Adnate
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Vampire Hexmage
1x Viscera Seer
1x Withered Wretch
1x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
Planeswalker (3)
1x Karn Liberated
1x Ob Nixilis Reignited
1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
1x Ashnod's Altar
1x Caged Sun
1x Expedition Map
1x Jet Medallion
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mind Stone
1x Nihil Spellbomb
1x Nim Deathmantle
1x Oblivion Stone
1x Phyrexian Altar
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
1x Wayfarer's Bauble
1x Whip of Erebos
Sorcery (10)
1x Damnation
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Diabolic Intent
1x Night's Whisper
1x Read the Bones
1x Reanimate
1x Sign in Blood
1x Torment of Hailfire
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Victimize
Instant (5)
1x Go for the Throat
1x Hero's Downfall
1x Murderous Cut
1x Snuff Out
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Buried Ruin
1x Cabal Coffers
1x High Market
1x Maze of Ith
1x Myriad Landscape
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Phyrexian Tower
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Strip Mine
24x Swamp
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Volrath's Stronghold
Enchantment (5)
1x Animate Dead
1x Necromancy
1x Necropotence
1x Phyrexian Arena
1x Phyrexian Reclamation
Maybeboard
1x Dismember
1x Imp's Mischief
1x Vraska's Contempt
1x Warping Wail
1x Withering Boon
1x Noxious Gearhulk
1x Ravenous Chupacabra
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG
It seems you're just going for a mono-B Goodstuff deck, correct? I also assume that your Commander is Liliana, Heretical Healer. That means creature synergies are going to be better for your deck, typically.
The other card that looks out of place is Vampire Hexmage. Do you play against a lot of Planeswalker Commanders? With no Dark Depths to go alongside it, it's just a 2/1 with First Strike. If you need the Hexmage to get rid of PW's, keep it. Otherwise, I think that's another cut you could make for your deck. I would recommend Go for the Throat in its place.
UB Dralnu, Lich Lord
RBW [Primer]-Kaalia of the Vast
BUG [Primer]-Tasigur, the Golden Fang
GWU [Primer]-Arcades, the Strategist
WUB Primer-Aminatou, the Fateshifter
UBR Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
(W/U)(B/R)GForm of Progenitus, Shape of a Scrubland
BRGJund Tokens with Prossh, the Magic Dragon Foil
URGAnimar, the RUG CleanerFoil
RRRFeldon of the Third Path 2.0 Foil
BG(B/G)Not Another Meren DeckFoil
UR(U/R)Mizzix, Y Control and X Burn Spells
(W/U)(B/R)GHarold Ramos - The 35 Foot Long Twinkie (In +1/+1 counters)
UB(U/B)Dragonlord Silumgar
Cutting Exsanguinate is a good suggestion. I am never really happy to see both Exsanguinate and Torment in a game as it usually only takes one to end it, and I usually end up pitching them to Liliana if I draw them too early. Torment is much better when you can't cast it for x = lethal.
And yes Liliana is my commander. Sorry I forgot to list that.
Hexmage does a lot of work in my meta. There are a couple people who love their Planeswalkers.
Thanks for the recommendations.
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG
Yeah I have this card listed in my maybeboard already. I'm really excited to play it.
As an update, I also cut Liliana of the Dark Realms and Dread Return. Liliana was almost always just a 4 mana Civic Wayfinder that I couldn't even benefit from sacrificing. I don't know if I've ever used her - ability and I've only gotten her emblem once. Dread Return got cut because it was the most expensive reanimation spell in the deck. My deck likes a little reanimation, but it's not its primary focus. A lot of the time I don't have 3 creatures on board to sacrifice to flash it back. These two cuts made room for Go for the Throat and Plaguecrafter.
I also edited the OP to reflect the current list.
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG
Bone Shredder is a little over priced for what you are getting, as Dark Banishing was never exactly spectacular. Even in a deck that wants to see its creatures sac themselves, you have enough redundancy there already.
Similarly Vampire Hexmage is more of a meta call. I don't tend to see planeswalkers that I can't kill with removal or combat, and that's about the only silver bullet that I have to deal with. If you don't have huge, relevant targets, you could easily make this Vraska's Contempt.
Finally, the third Sign in Blood variant doesan't tend to get as much mileage, especailly since you have Arena and Necro too. I would cut Night's whisper and grab something else from your maybeboard. (My vote goes to the Mischief, I love that card.)
Cutting Bone Shredder is a good idea. With the addition of Plaguecrafter, I still have the same amount of creatures that sacrifice themselves.
I still like Hexmage in my playgroup, but I'll definitely pay more attention to how useful it is.
I'm not sure how I feel about cutting the draw, but it's another thing for me to keep an eye on.
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG
I failed to read your previous response to someone recommending removing Hexmage, so that's my bad. I still see it as the most notable cut, as Plaguecrafter gives you another creature-based way to interact with Walkers (essentially covering both Bone Shredder and the Hexmage) in your list. Adding in that Vraska's Contempt will also help in that regard, though if you're drowning in walkers you should just run all three.
While unhelpful so far as making cuts, Disciple of Bolas is another card that seems pretty much tailor-made for your deck and is a solid way to draw cards.
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
As far as Price of Fame goes, when it's targeting a legendary creature, that's awesome, and the surveil 2 is great. I'm not sure I want to pay 4 to kill an ordinary creature though. If this makes the deck, I could see it taking Murderous Cut or Go for the Throat's spot. Is everyone on board with this card? My initial feeling though is that if I may have to pay 4 mana to use it, I'd rather just have Vraska's Contempt and have the option to hit walkers and indestructible creatures.
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG
Niv-Mizzet Reborn
Feather, the Redeemed
Estrid, the Masked
Teshar
Tymna/Ravos
Najeela, Blade-Blossom
Firesong & Sunspeaker
Zur the Enchanter
Lazav, the Multifarious
Ishai+Reyhan
Click images for decks->
-Prime Speaker Vannifar
---------------------Will & Rowan Kenrith
I don't have a spot for Contempt yet as I'm not completely sold on it.
BLiliana, Heretical HealerB| |GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
GWBDoom Plane EnchantressBWG