My main deck in modern. The purpose of this deck is to cause discard for both players but allowing me to use both creatures and spells from the graveyard. Board control is inevitable. Now, it doesn't mean I rely on the graveyard. The deck itself runs as a weak version of white knights under heavy graveyard hate and has answers to both unplayed and played hate.
At one point I was trying for the mono black theme with liliana and gravecrawler but I play to win and this is much better. I understand some things are personal preference, but I will do my best to explain the choices I've made. I hope to receive harsh constructive feedback if needed. This deck needs to win tournaments.
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
Haakon is the true lord of the deck, allowing the repeated use of all knights including himself and nameless inversion. Because he costs 2 life every time he dies, I've added a little healing attached to art/ench destruction and more healing in the sideboard vs burn/swam.
Knight exemplar
The figurehead lord. +1/1 and indestructible will cause opponents to think twice about which knight they're using their exile on. Without Haakon, knights are still a huge threat because of exemplar. Vice versa, we can just revive everyone. Both Haakon and Exemplar? It's probably GG.
Mirran Crusader
Amazing card, great extra synergy with Accorder paladin and exemplar. Immune to black and green
Black knight
Solid card. First strike and protection from white. First strike and double strike always has synergy with pump.
Accorder Paladin
Solid effective 3/1 that pumps allies. Fits the two color curve perfectly.
Smallpox
Good for discarding Haakon and pushing the game towards attrition. Best to use this before your first creature, and deliver a massive blow to the opponent.
Duress
Use this to get rid of the real threats. Exiles or anything funny your opponent is doing. Shutdown combos with this. In my area for example, noobs love using blighted agent or blistercoil combos and go for the turn 2-3 kill. Get rid of the engine sorcery/artifact and all they have is a creature about to get smallpoxed. Thoughtseize and inquisition are generally better, but thoughtseize costs life and inquisition is not as versatile later on. This deck needs life and doesn't mind creatures.
Delirium Skeins
Liliana is better. Except she can get countered(new murder in theros and more) and takes longer to get discards in. Delirium Skeins allows me to rush to that attrition stage. Boom 3 cards gone.
Terashi's grasp
Destruction equipped with healing. Far superior to disenchant for this deck.
Nameless inversion
Reusable removal. Every turn your opponent's creatures dies as long as you have mana. Goes through indestructible.
DarkBlast
Combat trick, gets rid of most dangerous turn 1 drops(coil,agent, etc) and searches for knights/nameless/Haakon with dredge.
Nightmare void
Check up on your opponent and remove a card. Dredges. Kind of expensive, but at least it's reusable/discardable therefore useful in the attrition process.
Sideboard:
Despise
If you need to remove creatures for some reason. Useful card overall. In some cases, it's just going to make game 2 a joke with 4 duress, 4 despise, and 3 dark blasts. Like with all strategy, from Starcraft to mtg, I believe the first step towards a strong long term strategy is protection from "all-ins" and that is exactly what these cards do.
Day of Judgement
You don't care if your creatures die. No reason to have this over wrath of god except when running knight of the holy nimbus but I've been using it as I don't have wrath and the difference is minimal.
Pull from eternity
Against heavy graveyard hate that bypassed discards/destruction. Bring back some Haakons.
Timely reinforcements
Often times the best response to burn is healing. And swarm, swarm yourself.
Saddistic sacrament
Meh this card is okay. I'm not super excited. However, it's main job is to counter-sideboard. Basically, the few spells the opponent side boarded in response to graveyard abuse can be searched and destroyed. It can be sided in to deal with other bombs as well, or decks relying on few cards.
Yea I saw your post. However, I feel you tried too hard to keep the monoblack/undead theme.
This version combines white knights and the threat of exemplar along with Haakon and discard. And instead of liliana, I used skeins for instant hand discard, getting me to that attrition stage by turn 3
Instant? You just mean immediate, right? Personally, I think Wrench mind is a better choice though. =.=
I had tried a Haakon-Delirium Skein's package in my Changeling deck once it rotated out of Standard. It wasn't really relevant that I discarded 2 creature to it and replayed them via Haakon. It slow enough to miss on the more important cards to force out of your opponents.
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On the works: Leyline Deck Wins
:symbu:Null 'n Void:symbu:
Decks built:
:symg::symb::symr::symw::symu:ChangelingsUWRBG
:symru:16 land Ignite Memories Combo:symru:
:symbu:Hunted Singularity:symbu:
Personally I love the Loam-Crime engine for stripping cards as well as potentially getting Haakon into the grave. Liliana of the veil is the most effective method of getting Haakon, stromgald scourge[/c] into the grave.
Perhaps we could get some justification? I realize the deck is graveyard focused but I dont think it's an autofold situation. I played vs a GB version of this deck and he fought through two grafdigger's cages.
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Find something, Live For it, Fight for it, Die for it. Then it might get passed on the the next generation.
Just imagine those cards with a Leyline of the Void (Rest in Peace if you want) in play:
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge => useless
Knight of the Reliquary => bad
Tarmogoyf => bad
Darkblast => bad
Nameless Inversion => bad (see Haakon)
Life from the Loam => useless
Raven's Crime => bad
Grave Hate negates at least a third of your deck (counting lands), which leaves you with some Lilianas and Confidents. Light. Graf Cage doesn't negate Tarmogoyff & Reliquaries, that's a big difference.
So, what's the B-plan ?
But the second color for this deck is White or Green both can handle both artifacts and enchantments which tend to be the hate, plus I'm not sure how much Hate for Graveyards people pack into their yards.
I've also wondered if Mindslicer would be a good card in a deck like this since we can kill our own with Nameless Inversion, but we operate just fine without a hand. If we have our graveyard.
The mono black darth knights list I ran/run doesn't really worry about grave hate. When the premier removal was white, having 8 pro white guys main was very solid and gravecrawler is still a 2/1 for B, which makes it a solid beater. The only card that really became dead was haakon and it still fulfilled his primary function of being something not useless to discard to haakon. Now that the most played removal is black/green (particularly in the graveyard style) I am still running 7 targeted discard that hits their pesky removal (abrupt decay, mostly), and 11 maindeck creature removal spells (smallpox, liliana, and nameless inversion) that offs the grave removal. If you play it as a graveyard recursion deck only, then yes, the rock/junk lists will give you trouble. If you play it as an MBA deck with a recursion plan that you can sometimes use, then you might have an uphill fight, but it's still a solid fight.
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Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
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At one point I was trying for the mono black theme with liliana and gravecrawler but I play to win and this is much better. I understand some things are personal preference, but I will do my best to explain the choices I've made. I hope to receive harsh constructive feedback if needed. This deck needs to win tournaments.
Undiscardable spells [12]
Creatures [18]
Graveyard Spells [8]
Lands [22]
Sideboard [15]
Curve:
7/38 cards cost 1cc, excluding sideboard. ~18.4%
16/38 cards cost 2cc, excluding sideboard. ~42.1%
13/38 cards cost 3cc, excluding sideboard. ~34.2%
2/38 cards cost 4cc, excluding sideboard. ~5.3%
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
Haakon is the true lord of the deck, allowing the repeated use of all knights including himself and nameless inversion. Because he costs 2 life every time he dies, I've added a little healing attached to art/ench destruction and more healing in the sideboard vs burn/swam.
Knight exemplar
The figurehead lord. +1/1 and indestructible will cause opponents to think twice about which knight they're using their exile on. Without Haakon, knights are still a huge threat because of exemplar. Vice versa, we can just revive everyone. Both Haakon and Exemplar? It's probably GG.
Mirran Crusader
Amazing card, great extra synergy with Accorder paladin and exemplar. Immune to black and green
Black knight
Solid card. First strike and protection from white. First strike and double strike always has synergy with pump.
Accorder Paladin
Solid effective 3/1 that pumps allies. Fits the two color curve perfectly.
Smallpox
Good for discarding Haakon and pushing the game towards attrition. Best to use this before your first creature, and deliver a massive blow to the opponent.
Duress
Use this to get rid of the real threats. Exiles or anything funny your opponent is doing. Shutdown combos with this. In my area for example, noobs love using blighted agent or blistercoil combos and go for the turn 2-3 kill. Get rid of the engine sorcery/artifact and all they have is a creature about to get smallpoxed. Thoughtseize and inquisition are generally better, but thoughtseize costs life and inquisition is not as versatile later on. This deck needs life and doesn't mind creatures.
Delirium Skeins
Liliana is better. Except she can get countered(new murder in theros and more) and takes longer to get discards in. Delirium Skeins allows me to rush to that attrition stage. Boom 3 cards gone.
Terashi's grasp
Destruction equipped with healing. Far superior to disenchant for this deck.
Nameless inversion
Reusable removal. Every turn your opponent's creatures dies as long as you have mana. Goes through indestructible.
DarkBlast
Combat trick, gets rid of most dangerous turn 1 drops(coil,agent, etc) and searches for knights/nameless/Haakon with dredge.
Nightmare void
Check up on your opponent and remove a card. Dredges. Kind of expensive, but at least it's reusable/discardable therefore useful in the attrition process.
Sideboard:
Despise
If you need to remove creatures for some reason. Useful card overall. In some cases, it's just going to make game 2 a joke with 4 duress, 4 despise, and 3 dark blasts. Like with all strategy, from Starcraft to mtg, I believe the first step towards a strong long term strategy is protection from "all-ins" and that is exactly what these cards do.
Day of Judgement
You don't care if your creatures die. No reason to have this over wrath of god except when running knight of the holy nimbus but I've been using it as I don't have wrath and the difference is minimal.
Pull from eternity
Against heavy graveyard hate that bypassed discards/destruction. Bring back some Haakons.
Timely reinforcements
Often times the best response to burn is healing. And swarm, swarm yourself.
Saddistic sacrament
Meh this card is okay. I'm not super excited. However, it's main job is to counter-sideboard. Basically, the few spells the opponent side boarded in response to graveyard abuse can be searched and destroyed. It can be sided in to deal with other bombs as well, or decks relying on few cards.
Look at the bottom of the first post "Haakon's Darth Knights".
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
Thanks JPoJohnson! Yup there's a column on Darth Knights in the Modern Knights thread, besides that I also have one for Legacy:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=340460
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
This version combines white knights and the threat of exemplar along with Haakon and discard. And instead of liliana, I used skeins for instant hand discard, getting me to that attrition stage by turn 3
I had tried a Haakon-Delirium Skein's package in my Changeling deck once it rotated out of Standard. It wasn't really relevant that I discarded 2 creature to it and replayed them via Haakon. It slow enough to miss on the more important cards to force out of your opponents.
On the works:
Leyline Deck Wins:symbu:Null 'n Void:symbu:
Decks built:
:symg::symb::symr::symw::symu:ChangelingsUWRBG
:symru:16 land Ignite Memories Combo:symru:
:symbu:Hunted Singularity:symbu:
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Flagstones of Trokair
1x Forest
3x Ghost Quarter
2x Godless Shrine
4x Marsh Flats
4x Overgrown Tomb
2x Swamp
1x Temple Garden
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Vault of the Archangel
4x Verdant Catacombs
3x Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
4x Knight of the Reliquary
4x Tarmogoyf
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Darkblast
2x Nameless Inversion
4x Life from the Loam
4x Raven's Crime
4x Smallpox
3x Liliana of the Veil
3x Ancient Grudge
2x Darkblast
2x Extirpate
3x Jund Charm
3x Kitchen Finks
2x Thoughtseize
Personally I love the Loam-Crime engine for stripping cards as well as potentially getting Haakon into the grave. Liliana of the veil is the most effective method of getting Haakon, stromgald scourge[/c] into the grave.
Knight of the Reliquary is a good beater late game while providing land shenanigans.
Maybe we could look into merging the decklists as they have similar end game goals?
Perhaps we could get some justification? I realize the deck is graveyard focused but I dont think it's an autofold situation. I played vs a GB version of this deck and he fought through two grafdigger's cages.
But the second color for this deck is White or Green both can handle both artifacts and enchantments which tend to be the hate, plus I'm not sure how much Hate for Graveyards people pack into their yards.
I've also wondered if Mindslicer would be a good card in a deck like this since we can kill our own with Nameless Inversion, but we operate just fine without a hand. If we have our graveyard.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!