The only one of those cards legal in this format is Victim of Night. In Modern you can only play cards from core sets and expert-level sets printed from 8th Edition-onward.
I'm not sure if there is a dedicated Mono-Black Legacy deck on this site. You can always look through the Legacy forums over here for one or start a thread there if one doesn't exist.
I had no problems in my current meta which is RDW, Junk/Jund, Tron to some extent, mono blue, and infect, but affinity. I feel there’s no correct response to that deck and I’m out of ideas. Personally I hate Phyrexian Vatmother, it’s so slow and painful to cast, it never hits anything and Vampire Nighthawk always ends up taking the deck afloat so that’s why I main 4 copies. I found interesting the suggestion to use Read the bones instead of sign in blood but I definitely should switch to Night's Whisper since the double B can be a drag with so many colour-less lands, I guess I should try both options at least. Overall I think I need to raise the land count to 24, add 2 more discard spells (but no more thoughtseize please, perhaps despise or duress? I'm not sure which would be the best to main), and maybe main an anti-aggro solution since loosing the first game aggainst affinity is the worst, you get a 50% chance to draw the correct answer the second game and I think it’s leaving too much to luck.
Wouldn't that take out the fun of playing mono black control?
Seriously though, if I wanted to splash other colours I would consider a different deck altogether, except maybe blue (let's not forget the potential of piracy charm plus the awesome draw options). I don't find this deck particulary weak against RDW (quite the opposite it's RDW worst match), but I haven't played against the treasure cruise variant, luckly a friend is making that deck so he can kick my a** properly...
I got this deck initially because it was a budget option, but also I find it very elegant, BTW I made some modifictaions so I'll post results next week when I get to try it
Why run doom blade? Is it really better than victim of night? I'm curious as to why you set it up like this You're already running two urborgs anyway.
I agree with you on MBI's matchup against RDW, it's actually great cause our beater has pro-white and -red which means it won't be removed and all you have to do is smash in for 10. Also don't the Nighthawks and Cathedrals slow you down?
Splashing actually defeats the "speed" and consistency of mono black. You play it because of great removal and so you can cast aggressively costed cards with double B in their mana costs.
Hey guys, I could not respond earlier as I didn’t have anything relevant to add, but I had the opportunity to test a new build and here are some thoughts
Ok, Night’s whisper is awesome, It really helps with otherwise unplayable hands such as 1 swamp, 1 inkmoth nexus. I’m definitely done with sign in blood. I added the 3 drown in sorrow but I didn’t want to bloat the deck so I lowered the land count, dropped the cathedral of war and then lowered from 4 to 3 inkmoth nexus since having one is usually enough with a crusader in game. Also Dismember is super fast and kills virtually everything! I really like the deck with 9 creature control spells, it makes easier to use funeral charm for discard instead of having to kill turn-1 drops. At first I was worried about the life loss, but then that’s one of the reasons I have vampire nighthawk in main, and it’s not a problem if you get to successfully control your opponent. In general I like the deck more now, and I don’t feel any more as if with every turn that passed I was about to lose the game.
So far I played against red deck wins (non-treasure cruise variant, the deck felt the same, a turn 2 [[wrench mind]] destroys their game plan), Slivers modern (I was able to stop the deck with ease!), a non-competitive mono blue, and an incomplete affinity deck. I’m finishing a UWR or UR twin deck so I’ll play against it next week when I get some cards I’m still missing, and hopefully this Wednesday I’ll try against Tron and Junk. I’ll comment about those later. Unfortunately nobody near me plays Pod.
I’m a bit lost with respect to the sideboard though
I guess I could add 2 laswrithe but since I’ve never used them… well, any thoughts would be useful!
Finally, I’m not sure about 21 lands, perhaps 22 is the magic number. It would have to be a swamp though. Someone suggested to try smallpox. I would replace raven’s crime with it, but the couple of times I’ve used it, it crippled me and my opponent did recover :/ so perhaps it was just bad luck or bad timing
I personally don't like nighthawk in this deck. I think we should focus to kill by infect. Vatmother works fine for me. I never had problems to cast, and usually 2 attacks is enough to kill the opponent. And it is hard to remove, doesn't die to bolt, drown in sorrow, anger of gods, doom blade, consume the meek, etc.
I like to run 4 inkmoth, because I feel the deck has few creatures.
Out of the blackness and stench of the engulfing swamp emerged a shimmering figure. Only the splattered armor and ichor-stained sword hinted at the unfathomable evil the knight had just laid waste.
Any sideboard ideas against tron?
For me tron is a auto loss.
Not really an autoloss. Ripping their hand apart is the most effective way to win the game 1 of the match-up. In my list, i have 2 Tectonic Edge mainboard, and 2 Ghost Quarter in the side. Pithing Needle is good against Karn and Eye of Ugin, i have 2 on side. Extirpate is for Wurmcoil and Emrakul. I side out my Dismembers and Go for the Throats. My list is in th new thread.
I just wanted to know if Damnation is better then Drown in Sorrow in the sideboard? Because I feel like damnation is way better for only one more mana.
@Asmodee1337: Damnation? What match-up you want to use it? If you want to have a decent board against creature aggro deck like affinity, then you can still play Drown in Sorrow, and Ratchet Bomb. Our deck is a removal-heavy deck. So I think we won't having any bad problem against them. Funeral Charm kills many things in Affinity.
Is the corner case of drawing a card immediately worth playing UC over Phyrexian Arena? I guess it gives you choice, but it also costs mana and is vulnerable to both land and enchantment hate.
I'd say no. I love mono black infect, piloted it to a top 40 at a scg open during scars-innistrad block, but for modern, I really see no reason to stay mono black except for an easier mana base.
Red provides more removal, one sided sweepers.
Blue adds draw/counters and corrupted conscience
Green adds Abrupt Decay and M Pulse, good artifact/enchantment removal and life gain options
This is what I'm going to be testing soon. Lots of changes to be made to make the list optimal,not sure on Devour Flesh vs Tribute to Hunger. I think the green splash adds so much to the deck. Probably need Read the Bones
It has some fun synergy that makes you want to include it immediately (I did, at first) but after some testing I dropped it for disfigure/thoughtseize 3/1.
The charm was stuck in my hand too many times when the opponent's 1-drops happened to have two toughness (as in RDWs, for example) and as discard is weak. As a support spell during combat disfigure is still beter (vs Gurmag Angler for example. . .). Finally, while I must have won a game or two for killing my opponent a turn earlier (+2/-1), I'm playing a grindy B(r) build with so much removal/discard that, once the opponent goes defensive, there's little chance of things turning around.
That said I don't know about these monoblack builds with Pike, do you often get to swing for 10 with the swampwalk effect?
| Omnath | Zada | Alesha | Scion |
| Mazirek | Animar |
Modern
UR Storm RU
UBRG Dredge GRBU
Standard
UR Thermo-Thing RU
| Omnath | Zada | Alesha | Scion |
| Mazirek | Animar |
Modern
UR Storm RU
UBRG Dredge GRBU
Standard
UR Thermo-Thing RU
For me tron is a auto loss.
RGGruul Aggro
WSoul Sisters
WBTokens
BUGRRestore Balance
BMono-Black Infect
EDH:
RGWMayael, the Anima
GWURoon of the Hidden Realm
BDrana, Kalastria Bloodchief
2x Cathedral of War
4x Inkmoth Nexus
15x Swamp
2x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Sorcery (17)
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Raven's Crime
4x Sign in Blood
2x Thoughtseize
4x Wrench Mind
4x Phyrexian Crusader
4x Vampire Nighthawk
Artifact (2)
2x Runechanter's Pike
Instant (10)
3x Disfigure
3x Doom Blade
4x Funeral Charm
3x Blackmail
3x Drown in Sorrow
3x Extirpate
3x Lashwrithe
3x Pithing Needle
I had no problems in my current meta which is RDW, Junk/Jund, Tron to some extent, mono blue, and infect, but affinity. I feel there’s no correct response to that deck and I’m out of ideas. Personally I hate Phyrexian Vatmother, it’s so slow and painful to cast, it never hits anything and Vampire Nighthawk always ends up taking the deck afloat so that’s why I main 4 copies. I found interesting the suggestion to use Read the bones instead of sign in blood but I definitely should switch to Night's Whisper since the double B can be a drag with so many colour-less lands, I guess I should try both options at least. Overall I think I need to raise the land count to 24, add 2 more discard spells (but no more thoughtseize please, perhaps despise or duress? I'm not sure which would be the best to main), and maybe main an anti-aggro solution since loosing the first game aggainst affinity is the worst, you get a 50% chance to draw the correct answer the second game and I think it’s leaving too much to luck.
Seriously though, if I wanted to splash other colours I would consider a different deck altogether, except maybe blue (let's not forget the potential of piracy charm plus the awesome draw options). I don't find this deck particulary weak against RDW (quite the opposite it's RDW worst match), but I haven't played against the treasure cruise variant, luckly a friend is making that deck so he can kick my a** properly...
I got this deck initially because it was a budget option, but also I find it very elegant, BTW I made some modifictaions so I'll post results next week when I get to try it
I agree with you on MBI's matchup against RDW, it's actually great cause our beater has pro-white and -red which means it won't be removed and all you have to do is smash in for 10. Also don't the Nighthawks and Cathedrals slow you down?
Splashing actually defeats the "speed" and consistency of mono black. You play it because of great removal and so you can cast aggressively costed cards with double B in their mana costs.
3x Drown in Sorrow
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Night's Whisper
2x Raven's Crime
2x Thoughtseize
4x Wrench Mind
4x Phyrexian Crusader
4x Vampire Nighthawk
Instant (10)
3x Disfigure
3x Dismember
4x Funeral Charm
3x Inkmoth Nexus
17x Swamp
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Artifact (2)
2x Runechanter's Pike
Ok, Night’s whisper is awesome, It really helps with otherwise unplayable hands such as 1 swamp, 1 inkmoth nexus. I’m definitely done with sign in blood. I added the 3 drown in sorrow but I didn’t want to bloat the deck so I lowered the land count, dropped the cathedral of war and then lowered from 4 to 3 inkmoth nexus since having one is usually enough with a crusader in game. Also Dismember is super fast and kills virtually everything! I really like the deck with 9 creature control spells, it makes easier to use funeral charm for discard instead of having to kill turn-1 drops. At first I was worried about the life loss, but then that’s one of the reasons I have vampire nighthawk in main, and it’s not a problem if you get to successfully control your opponent. In general I like the deck more now, and I don’t feel any more as if with every turn that passed I was about to lose the game.
So far I played against red deck wins (non-treasure cruise variant, the deck felt the same, a turn 2 [[wrench mind]] destroys their game plan), Slivers modern (I was able to stop the deck with ease!), a non-competitive mono blue, and an incomplete affinity deck. I’m finishing a UWR or UR twin deck so I’ll play against it next week when I get some cards I’m still missing, and hopefully this Wednesday I’ll try against Tron and Junk. I’ll comment about those later. Unfortunately nobody near me plays Pod.
I’m a bit lost with respect to the sideboard though
I guess I could add 2 laswrithe but since I’ve never used them… well, any thoughts would be useful!
Finally, I’m not sure about 21 lands, perhaps 22 is the magic number. It would have to be a swamp though. Someone suggested to try smallpox. I would replace raven’s crime with it, but the couple of times I’ve used it, it crippled me and my opponent did recover :/ so perhaps it was just bad luck or bad timing
I like to run 4 inkmoth, because I feel the deck has few creatures.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/budget/596416-60-mono-b-infect-control
Not really an autoloss. Ripping their hand apart is the most effective way to win the game 1 of the match-up. In my list, i have 2 Tectonic Edge mainboard, and 2 Ghost Quarter in the side. Pithing Needle is good against Karn and Eye of Ugin, i have 2 on side. Extirpate is for Wurmcoil and Emrakul. I side out my Dismembers and Go for the Throats. My list is in th new thread.
I just wanted to know if Damnation is better then Drown in Sorrow in the sideboard? Because I feel like damnation is way better for only one more mana.
3 Howltooth Hollow
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
7 Swamp
4 Phyrexian Crusader
4 Phyrexian Vatmother
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Funeral Charm
4 Wrench Mind
3 Duress
3 Dismember
2 Hero's Downfall
2 Slaughter Pact
2 Go for the Throat
2 Raven's Crime
2 Runechanter's Pike
1 Basilisk Collar
3 Tribute to Hunger
3 Ratchet Bomb
2 Extirpate
2 Pithing Needle
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Black Sun's Zenith
This is my deck for now, not yet tested but i think this is good enough to beat Burn, UWx decks, Delvers and DnT. Thoughts or questions are welcome.
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
Red provides more removal, one sided sweepers.
Blue adds draw/counters and corrupted conscience
Green adds Abrupt Decay and M Pulse, good artifact/enchantment removal and life gain options
2 Forest
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Polluted Delta
4 Swamp
2 Twilight Mire
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Phyrexian Crusader
2 Phyrexian Vatmother
2 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
// Spells
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Damnation
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Murderous Cut
3 Primal Command
2 Runechanter's Pike
2 Thoughtseize
2 Tribute to Hunger
2 Victim of Night
This is what I'm going to be testing soon. Lots of changes to be made to make the list optimal,not sure on Devour Flesh vs Tribute to Hunger. I think the green splash adds so much to the deck. Probably need Read the Bones
It has some fun synergy that makes you want to include it immediately (I did, at first) but after some testing I dropped it for disfigure/thoughtseize 3/1.
The charm was stuck in my hand too many times when the opponent's 1-drops happened to have two toughness (as in RDWs, for example) and as discard is weak. As a support spell during combat disfigure is still beter (vs Gurmag Angler for example. . .). Finally, while I must have won a game or two for killing my opponent a turn earlier (+2/-1), I'm playing a grindy B(r) build with so much removal/discard that, once the opponent goes defensive, there's little chance of things turning around.
That said I don't know about these monoblack builds with Pike, do you often get to swing for 10 with the swampwalk effect?