Hello,
I have been playing in a local store with this mono black deck, mainly focusing on disruption (especially hand disruption via discard spells and abilities).
I'm on a short budget, so no Dark Confidant or Thoughtseize for me, at least for now. This is my deck so far:
What I'm lacking is a good sideboard selection (mainly some graveyard hate, but I'm waiting for some Tormod's Crypts and Leyline of the Void)
I'd like to tune up a bit this deck, as I really like playing this disruptive style and I'd like to keep mono black whenever possible, as I don't own any dual land or any fetchlands.
In my metagame, I have decks like Zoo ("tribal flames" kind), Kiki-Twin, Living End, Aggro-Bant and some lower tier decks like zombies, burn or elves
I managed to get some victories, nonetheless. Mainly against combo decks (obvious weakness to discard/disruption).
If anybody can suggest different cards to try, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Or maybe replace some of my cards for better ones (with the exception of the two I named before or others in the $20 or higher, I can't afford those right now). As I said, I like the disruptive playstyle of this kind of decks, so anything in that direction should be welcome. Main problems are the lack of life gaining and card drawing engines (I'm thinking on getting some Phyrexian Arena, but in that case, I'm not very sure on what to take out from the deck).
In short, what I would like from the vast knowledge of this forum is:
- ideas on sideboard
- card drawing and life gaining (or alternatively, answers to aggro decks)
- ideas on deck thinning
Tendrils of Corruption could easily be used mainboard in place of some existing removal, it gains life and by the time you can cast it you can answer most creatures with it. I would try 2x, cutting a Go for the Throat and a Smother.
Further potential lifegain, Vampire Nighthawk. It's a beast in it's own right, with each attack swinging combat 4 points in your favor.
If you don't mind slowing the deck down you could also find room for some Corrupt as it's a bit of an alternate win condition.
As for draw power, there are a number of budget options. Phyrexian Rager, and if you look he has a bigger brother with a stronger effect. Dream Salvage, though looking at it the best your likely to net is 3 cards and it becomes unusable later on.
Ratchet Bomb is an effective, and fairly budget friendly answer to leylines. Slow, sure. But you are in mono black, and options are limited.
If you cut Nyxathid then your deck is fairly friendly toward Ensnaring Bridge. I'm not fond of it as an answer since your deck is full of 3CMC drops, and so it won't be particularly meaningful if you drop it early and zoo already mainboards Qasali Pridemage so it's effect against aggro is limited.
Ratchet Bomb is an effective, and fairly budget friendly answer to leylines. Slow, sure. But you are in mono black, and options are limited.
If you cut Nyxathid then your deck is fairly friendly toward Ensnaring Bridge. I'm not fond of it as an answer since your deck is full of 3CMC drops, and so it won't be particularly meaningful if you drop it early and zoo already mainboards Qasali Pridemage so it's effect against aggro is limited.
Ratchet Bomb will work so will Oblivion Stone. Good point about Pridemage but with discard the opponet would almost have to topdeck it. Ensnaring Bridge would be best as a two of in this deck or coming out of the Sideboard I think.
This is a deck i have fun with. you really need to know your meta though. If you don't know every card in your opponents deck (Not including super secret tech) after a turn 1 thoughtseize, you aren't going to win. Anyway the plan is to rip plan A and plan B out of thier hand and deck, then laugh as there wasn't enough space for a plan C, dark confidant and phyrexian arena should put you well ahead.
you can also look at the MBC thread which has recently become Monoblack Pox thread (unofficially, ofcourse).
although Leyline really does murder you, Geth's Verdict is pretty good since many creatures like Mirran Crusader, Geist and Kira, Great Glass Spinner are all untargetable and big pains on board.
if money is an obstacle then you really can't play a MBC deck that's competitive. If its just for FNMs then your list looks ok.
Wow, a ton of suggestions!
Thanks a lot for all the input!
About money, I know what you say, it's very difficult to get even near to a competitive deck without putting in a decent sum of money (I'm from Argentina, so the cards are really expensive here or I have to pay great sums in terms of international shippings when purchasing expensive cards).
BUT... if I decide which cards are really A MUST, maybe I can try to get those. For example, thoughtseize is a staple in black discard, so I can't go wrong by getting it, despite it's high prize.
What other cards could really be a must have in this list?
I would say Dark Confidant. I would make some proxys and test each card before buying anything. Here's another card that could work in your deck Augur Of Skulls .
I would say Dark Confidant. I would make some proxys and test each card before buying anything. Here's another card that could work in your deck Augur Of Skulls .
Instead of dark confidant you could do phyrexian arena, its slower, but you will take less damage, harder for opponent to deal with, and way less $$$$.
Victim of Night is much better than Doom Blade or Go for the Throat if you are mono black and playing modern.
Private Mod Note
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I support WotC's goal of shaping Modern in favor of diversity.
I ran a thought experiment on my blog Modern in a Nuclear Wasteland
of an extreme case of banning 20 more cards to make sure they get everything, then scaling back where appropriate. WotC seems to be on a slowly build up approach. Both ways probably reach similar end points.
The post Gatecrash metagame is proving to be closer to the endpoint than I estimated, so its very possible that few (if any) more cards need to be banned.
and smother beats the pea-wadding out of victim of night. There are very few big creatures you'd need to hit that you couldn't also use one of the other two removal spells for as needed.
After some testing, the most useful spells here (I mean, the ones which really defines the course of the games) are the inquisition of kozilek t1 followed by wrench mind t2. If you can connect a well played smallpox, it can be absolutely crippling for an unexpecting opponent. If bloodghast could block, it would be the key creature of this deck. Are there other recursive blockers which you can safely sac on a smallpox?
I could never get to use hypnotic specter. Never. It gets all the removal (and there's plenty of it in modern). It seems like the slowest creature on this deck, not having a "get into play" effect. Even the ravenous rats help me more than hyppie here.
Still, I cant get to cut the total number to 60. So I'm thinking in leaving specters out and keep testing.
Any non basic land suggestion for this deck? I tested online with ghost quarters and they didn't make too much of a difference without getting them back with something like Crucible of Worlds
I have been playing in a local store with this mono black deck, mainly focusing on disruption (especially hand disruption via discard spells and abilities).
I'm on a short budget, so no Dark Confidant or Thoughtseize for me, at least for now. This is my deck so far:
20 Swamp
Creatures (20)
4 Bloodghast
4 Ravenous Rats
4 Nyxathid
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Hypnotic Specter
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Duress
4 Wrench Mind
4 Smallpox
3 Smother
3 Go for the Throat
4 The Rack
What I'm lacking is a good sideboard selection (mainly some graveyard hate, but I'm waiting for some Tormod's Crypts and Leyline of the Void)
I'd like to tune up a bit this deck, as I really like playing this disruptive style and I'd like to keep mono black whenever possible, as I don't own any dual land or any fetchlands.
In my metagame, I have decks like Zoo ("tribal flames" kind), Kiki-Twin, Living End, Aggro-Bant and some lower tier decks like zombies, burn or elves
I managed to get some victories, nonetheless. Mainly against combo decks (obvious weakness to discard/disruption).
If anybody can suggest different cards to try, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Or maybe replace some of my cards for better ones (with the exception of the two I named before or others in the $20 or higher, I can't afford those right now). As I said, I like the disruptive playstyle of this kind of decks, so anything in that direction should be welcome. Main problems are the lack of life gaining and card drawing engines (I'm thinking on getting some Phyrexian Arena, but in that case, I'm not very sure on what to take out from the deck).
In short, what I would like from the vast knowledge of this forum is:
- ideas on sideboard
- card drawing and life gaining (or alternatively, answers to aggro decks)
- ideas on deck thinning
Thanks a lot for your help!
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=519290
Further potential lifegain, Vampire Nighthawk. It's a beast in it's own right, with each attack swinging combat 4 points in your favor.
If you don't mind slowing the deck down you could also find room for some Corrupt as it's a bit of an alternate win condition.
As for draw power, there are a number of budget options. Phyrexian Rager, and if you look he has a bigger brother with a stronger effect. Dream Salvage, though looking at it the best your likely to net is 3 cards and it becomes unusable later on.
Alter's Reap might work with Bloodghast. Sign in Blood, Night's Whisper, Scarscale Ritual, and my favorite, Dusk Urchins all seem like fine choices.
Maralen of the Mornsong, or Bloodgift Demon might work for draw power.
As for sideboard suggestions, I've only two at the moment. Slay, buy these and run them. Also, Execute is worth considering.
If you cut Nyxathid then your deck is fairly friendly toward Ensnaring Bridge. I'm not fond of it as an answer since your deck is full of 3CMC drops, and so it won't be particularly meaningful if you drop it early and zoo already mainboards Qasali Pridemage so it's effect against aggro is limited.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=380253&highlight=mind+wrench
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge + Nameless Inversion are repeatable creature kill so is Garza Assassin.
20 Swamp
Creatures:
4 Phyrexian Obliterator
4 Dark Confidant
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Thoughtseize
4 Duress
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Extirpate
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Memoricide
4 Doom Blade
2 Phyrexian Arena
4 Scepter of Fugue
although Leyline really does murder you, Geth's Verdict is pretty good since many creatures like Mirran Crusader, Geist and Kira, Great Glass Spinner are all untargetable and big pains on board.
if money is an obstacle then you really can't play a MBC deck that's competitive. If its just for FNMs then your list looks ok.
Thanks a lot for all the input!
About money, I know what you say, it's very difficult to get even near to a competitive deck without putting in a decent sum of money (I'm from Argentina, so the cards are really expensive here or I have to pay great sums in terms of international shippings when purchasing expensive cards).
BUT... if I decide which cards are really A MUST, maybe I can try to get those. For example, thoughtseize is a staple in black discard, so I can't go wrong by getting it, despite it's high prize.
What other cards could really be a must have in this list?
Instead of dark confidant you could do phyrexian arena, its slower, but you will take less damage, harder for opponent to deal with, and way less $$$$.
I ran a thought experiment on my blog
Modern in a Nuclear Wasteland
of an extreme case of banning 20 more cards to make sure they get everything, then scaling back where appropriate. WotC seems to be on a slowly build up approach. Both ways probably reach similar end points.
The post Gatecrash metagame is proving to be closer to the endpoint than I estimated, so its very possible that few (if any) more cards need to be banned.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
I could never get to use hypnotic specter. Never. It gets all the removal (and there's plenty of it in modern). It seems like the slowest creature on this deck, not having a "get into play" effect. Even the ravenous rats help me more than hyppie here.
Still, I cant get to cut the total number to 60. So I'm thinking in leaving specters out and keep testing.
Any non basic land suggestion for this deck? I tested online with ghost quarters and they didn't make too much of a difference without getting them back with something like Crucible of Worlds
Tooth & Nail........Grishoalbrand....Living Dominance....Tezzerator.........Vannifar Pod
My Decks that have been BANNED
DRS Jund | Kiki-Pod | Bloom Titan | Splinter Twin | KCI