Your deck is almost the same as the build I am planning on running when Zen hits MOTO, except I go +1 Duress, +1 Swamp, -1 Disfigure, -1 Infest. Oh, and I actually run Doom Blade instead, putting 4x Disfigure in the board. Also planning on shuffling around that 3CC slot between Hypnotic Specter, Nyxathid, and Vampire Nighthawk and see what works best for me.
I really want Nyxathid to be good but I feel like the fact that he has no evasion hurts him. Just seems awesome after you Sludge them on T5, or even as a decent blocker against aggro decks who empty their hand.
I played yesterday against a deck that could probably be a new incarnation of cruel control but it now looks more like a planeswalker control (jace, ajani vengeant, liliana, elspeth) with cruel ultimatum.
The MVP cards were obviously Mind Sludge + Haunting Echoes but also Sorin (because the deck had almost no solution against him and he's excellent in keeping 2-3 opposing planeswalkers in line :D) and Liliana
I have to say that sometimes 1 mind sludge does not feel enough (usually when they have jace in play) and because of this I felt liliana was also strong
I also never felt the need for consume spirit and therefore I'm still questioning that card... I had some problem without sorin against ajani doing his ultimate... but against a control that basically only plays negate as counter I'd play hexmage over consume spirit without hesitation... or even a 3rd sorin
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"The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix,
Her ashes new-create another heir
As great in admiration as herself.”
—William Shakespeare, King Henry the Eighth
I played yesterday against a deck that could probably be a new incarnation of cruel control but it now looks more like a planeswalker control (jace, ajani vengeant, liliana, elspeth) with cruel ultimatum.
The MVP cards were obviously Mind Sludge + Haunting Echoes but also Sorin (because the deck had almost no solution against him and he's excellent in keeping 2-3 opposing planeswalkers in line :D) and Liliana
I have to say that sometimes 1 mind sludge does not feel enough (usually when they have jace in play) and because of this I felt liliana was also strong
I also never felt the need for consume spirit and therefore I'm still questioning that card... I had some problem without sorin against ajani doing his ultimate... but against a control that basically only plays negate as counter I'd play hexmage over consume spirit without hesitation... or even a 3rd sorin
Hexmages and needles are wonderful here.. Malakir bloodwitch is immune to almost everything they have as well
Hexmages and needles are wonderful here.. Malakir bloodwitch is immune to almost everything they have as well
well... bloodwitches were not actually that good since I played against terminate... but I agree that in general they are really strong unless terminate becomes the removal of choice over path to exile...
Private Mod Note
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"The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix,
Her ashes new-create another heir
As great in admiration as herself.”
—William Shakespeare, King Henry the Eighth
well... bloodwitches were not actually that good since I played against terminate... but I agree that in general they are really strong unless terminate becomes the removal of choice over path to exile...
My bad, I thought it was like R/U/W ascension/walker build..
4 color planeswalkers control? interesting.. They might even have Nicol Bolas(who is a house in this format).... How's their mana base?
My bad, I thought it was like R/U/W ascension/walker build..
4 color planeswalkers control? interesting.. They might even have Nicol Bolas(who is a house in this format).... How's their mana base?
my friend didn't play with nicol bolas and his mana base looked like it could reliably play cruel ultimatum turn 7-8ish (but he also had 4 jace and 4 esper charm to draw)
BTW, this weekend I have a small standard tournament and I'll play my version of MBC.
I guess I'll play against all sorts potentially good decks and not just jund...
I'll post my impressions/results if anyone is interested
"The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix,
Her ashes new-create another heir
As great in admiration as herself.”
—William Shakespeare, King Henry the Eighth
I think that this list will hold up well but i still have questions about its game vs jund.. I did some testing vs boros and its a good matchup for this list.
Disfigure is key there.. Comments/critique appreciated
OK. I havn't seriously played in a long time except for the occasional M10 draft, but I've kept up with the top decks/strategies (and from what I've seen I havn't missed much more than blowing too much cash for Fae). I'll be buying this deck when ZEN is released on MTGO, but in the meantime I've done as much research on MBC as possible. Here's my take and a compilation of that research.
My build is based mostly on generally agreed upon building rules (4 gatekeeper, 4 tendrils, 3 mind sludge).
3 MD Infest: Aggro has been proven to be popular and this deck's biggest headache. W/ Disfigure can wipe a strong board (Darn you Thrinax!). Also wipes mana dorks.
1 MD Haunting Echoes: This will straight END GAMES for RDW/other aggro post-infest. I'd rather not be able to draw more than one in close games where it isn't too useful
4x Vampire Nighthawk Most don't seem to argue about this guy, but he is a weak point for us. With the only other creature kill targets being hard to kill or a bear this slot sees a lot of hate. Other viable options are hyppie , Nyxathid, or Fleshbag Marauder. But even those guys either see the hate and/or perform subpar
2x Consume Spirit Yes, it sucks at everything it does, but it does a lot. It kills creatures/walkers/players, gains sometimes precious life. Staple it in there.
NO Doom Blade. Too much black is floating around for this to be too effective. Jund,Vamp,Mirror. I'd only consider for SB, but don't we have enough removal?
Sideboards are going to vary from place to place, day to day, so this isn't a definitive one, but Sadistic Sacrament is an awesome turn 3 play against control and can finish. Also, I think Pithing Needle might be a better option than hexmage. There are plenty other viable options as well.
Other Strategies: Crypt/cycling based decks really don't play the same way as this one, making it more of a combo. That may be a strong deck, but its not this one.
Fetchlands + Grim Discovery has a lot of synergy, but I've rarely seen a strong deck that includes a one shot Gravedigger effect, even if it does guarantee us another land drop. Mana screw is a sickness that plagues this deck, but i don't think this is the cure. (and who wants to make the cheapest competitive deck triple in price?)
Questions, thoughts, concerns?
your justification for infest astonished me. Have you played this list? I've played at least 50-60 matches on the beta with a very similiar list. I have vess instaed of echoes and doom blade instead of infest. I would never say aggro is one of our struggles. We're playing a life gain creature kill control deck? I don't understand that statement.
However after all of that, I like your list. I still don't know what creature kill spells are the best.
I really like Gargoyle Castle a lot- I run 2 of them but the games last so long that I have one come online about 80% of games I play. They make an effective beater in the late game when they have nothing on the board and no cards in hand.
I'm trying to work Disfigure in more, because it IS so good against tough matches like vamps/Jund/Goblins but it seems like for everything else, Doom Blade is just better.
I like your build more or less, though I'm not a huge fan of the Bloodwitch, and I think 1 more Mind Sludge would be good.
I think that this list will hold up well but i still have questions about its game vs jund.. I did some testing vs boros and its a good matchup for this list.
Disfigure is key there.. Comments/critique appreciated
opting for 61 cards rather than 60 (25 non creature spells, 11 creatures, 25 lands)? Probably could do just fine with 24 land and get it down to 60.
+1 Mind Sludge -1 Consume Spirit -- yes the Consumes can double as removal. But they are janky removal and used in a pinch. Better as a win con and only need 2. Sludges are problematic, yes would probably do not want to see more than 1. But you want to see it early before they play their hand out and 2 of decreases the chances you will see it early. If you draw it late, it is almost a dead card anyway.
The question is why wouldn't you run the castle? It can become a creature they can't counter. It sits on board so you can cast it when ever. As a 2 of you will rarely see both early so you will always have enough enough swamps for whatever conditional you want--especially since you are running 25 land.
It is 3/4 so it can block and kill a Nighthawk, and since you can pop it on their turn, late game it can make for a useful combat trick where you cast Disfigure on a beefy attacker only to see it die to your newly activated Gargoyle. Yes it takes a chunk of mana to do it but when the only removal in your hand is a late game Disfigure it does the trick.
The thing is, during the late game either i'm struggling to survive (tapping out a lot) or i'm easilly controlling the board in which case i don't need the castle
I suppose i could try it, along with the land suggestion and mind sludge suggestion.
Do i just throw the 3rd Spirit in the board? or replace it with something more effective such as a 4th hexmage/black knight.
you really really need sadistic sacrement...IMO he'd fit better than the 3 haunting echoes, which feels clunky. 1 random echo is one thing, but having 3 in there is another. You really dont want to be sitting on multiple echoes in hand.
Echoes wins the match vs MWC even IF they get emeria active
And it wins the matchup vs turbofog you swing in and go aggro boarding in more guys and you get 2 or 3 of their fogs and echoes them out of their library
Also, echoes nails bloodghast after they're only drawn one, rather than if they draw 2 you have to deal with them for the full game. no matter what
I feel that echoes >>>> Sacrament until a combo deck rears its head
plus in a random sidenote
Against jund once they expend a few removal spells you can echoes them out as well as thrinaxes etc. and i feel that this final point is what sends the decision over the edge.
I've seen a lot of lists that don't feature Deathmark in the Sideboard, when I feel like the card is one Jund deck away from maindeckable (this is an exaggeration, but I do board it in a lot). It's not going to stop a Thrinax from making tokens or a Bloodbraid Elf from swinging in the turn it hits, but it blows up nearly every creature in their list (I guess it doesn't hit Stag if they run it and it doesn't hit the Broodmate token), and it's a low-mana solution to any creature in a white deck aside from White Knight or Devout Lightcaster. I've never been unhappy to see it in the matchups where I board it in.
Edit: Also, I'm all about trying out 2x Haunting Echoes. There are so many games where I feel like that card would break the game in half, and it hasn't been in my 75 (I had Sacrament boarded).
@powurz: go for it.. try it out of the board i garauntee you'll find more use out of it than sacrament.
Post board it makes MWC even better makes turbofog good. and is good vs jund aswell.. (obviously you board only 1 or 2 depending on what you have in the board besides it.)
Also, deathmark.. hm... and it does kill baneslayer..
I may board that now, i completely forgot about it to be honest.
I actually would think about MDing it, but it does nothing vs b/r blightning and vamps and mirror. where difigure is clutch.
Personally ive been running 4 sacrement out of the board and its pretty nifty especially removing stuff thats particularly hard to deal with such as luminarch ascension etc.
As for haunting echoes its like when i try it the good stuff dont seem to be in their graveyard yet...
your justification for infest astonished me. Have you played this list? I've played at least 50-60 matches on the beta with a very similiar list. I have vess instaed of echoes and doom blade instead of infest. I would never say aggro is one of our struggles. We're playing a life gain creature kill control deck? I don't understand that statement.
However after all of that, I like your list. I still don't know what creature kill spells are the best.
It's really a meta choice. Any kind of token generator is hard to deal with when you only have spot removal. It seems like you've mostly dealt with big creatures and card draw while I've been looking at lots of little ones and a burnt out hand. Maybe I'm way off the mark with the Infests, but I wont know for sure till Monday what the developing online scene will be like.
Also, would you say that control or combo is more painful than aggro against this? IDK, maybe the fact that it isn't obvious is a good sign.
A big focus once I can get a lot of playtesting in will be on the infest/doom blade/deathmark mix. Just about everybody has a different point of view on it.
I would asume Infest is nice choice per meta. Last night I popped into a Standard tourney and there was a ton of small, fast, cheap costing creatures. If you're going mono-black it's almost as good as running DoJ. One mana more and you can throw a Disfigure at the big bad that Infest couldn't kill outright.
Personally ive been running 4 sacrement out of the board and its pretty nifty especially removing stuff thats particularly hard to deal with such as luminarch ascension etc.
As for haunting echoes its like when i try it the good stuff dont seem to be in their graveyard yet...
They have different purposes
Sacrament gets rid of things you otherwise have no answer for, eg emeria/iona/valakut as early as possible
However, it does nothing when they actually draw a copy(however, we do have mind sludge for that ;p)
Whereas haunting echoes wants to be the mid game breaker, removing 16-24 cards(assuming 4-5 cards) means their deck will have a significantly lower threat density, essentially handicapping them, this is ALMOST a sure win after a mind sludge.
One thing I like to do against white based decks is to leave PtEs in the deck.
Malakir Bloodwitch being immune and more lands are always good.
Personally, I'm more of a echoes fan, but thats cuz I've had so much time with it the last time
Haunting echoes vs emeria is good... all you need to do it hit one with sludge OR just make sure most of the guys they want to recur are in yard and echoes..
I've seen a lot of lists that don't feature Deathmark in the Sideboard, when I feel like the card is one Jund deck away from maindeckable (this is an exaggeration, but I do board it in a lot). It's not going to stop a Thrinax from making tokens or a Bloodbraid Elf from swinging in the turn it hits, but it blows up nearly every creature in their list (I guess it doesn't hit Stag if they run it and it doesn't hit the Broodmate token),
The better question is why is it needed. With Disfigure, Gatekeepers, and Tendrils that is already 12 forms of spot removal. Play with Doom Blades and Consume Spirit in some combination and you can push that higher. In the build I run I have 2 Doom Blades and 2 Consumes. That is 16 spot removal of that number only 2 are dead against the leach, Thrinax, and Broodmate. Add in Vampire Nighthawk, there are 4 more conditional spot removal. It is better versus the Leech, I will give you that.
Doom Blade hits the token, while Deathmark does not so its pretty even, I ll take Doom Blade as I can cast it at instant speed. Doom Blade does kill the Elf as soon as it is flipped, everything else is not a concern as they do not have haste. If I have removal in the sideboard it is Infest, I may maindeck these depending on meta but found I can win game 1 against aggro decks with out them. Tendrils, Consume Spirit, Gatekeepers, Doom Blade all kill BSAs so again why do we need more conditional single target removal at sorcery speed? Yes it is great against Jund and white? How about everything else? Maybe if there is a ton of Jund it is better but I like Doom Blade versus everything else, even BSAs.
Okay so, Doom Blade vs Deathmark is interesting board question.
DM is 1cc removal so it makes it easier to go turn 4 DM your thrinax then infest
Doom Blade is 2cc but at instant speed, and only hits Broodmate token and BBE Not the broodmate itself or thrinax OR putrid leach.
IMO the 1cc and VERSATILITY outweigh the fact that its sorcerery speed. What are your guys' thoughts on this?
Well, given your reasoning I'd run both, since deathmark only hits the dragon half but not the token half.
On the flip side, both the 2nd and 3rd place of 5K philly consisted of very fast, very aggressive red decks, in which you absolutely want 4 doomblades and 4 disfigures(and 4 infests) post board. So i'd make my priority go to doomblade.
Okay so, Doom Blade vs Deathmark is interesting board question.
DM is 1cc removal so it makes it easier to go turn 4 DM your thrinax then infest
Doom Blade is 2cc but at instant speed, and only hits Broodmate token and BBE Not the broodmate itself or thrinax OR putrid leach.
IMO the 1cc and VERSATILITY outweigh the fact that its sorcerery speed. What are your guys' thoughts on this?
The problem with your assessment is it focuses on a single match up nor whether that versatility is needed in that match up. Disfigure kills BBE, it drops the P/T of the leech forcing them to pump it or trade it--you do have creatures after all.
Deathmark is useless against Boros--too slow even if it kills white. Is it useless in against Mono Red, Vampire Aggro, MBC (Doom Blade can at least kill a Gargoyle Castle). In those match ups it forces you to kill on your turn instead of theirs which can prevent you from Mind Sludging, laying out Soren, or playing multiple spells that would net you better board position if you were able to play on their turn and not yours.
Need to focus on more than just one match up, even if there will be a number of people playing Jund.
Your deck is almost the same as the build I am planning on running when Zen hits MOTO, except I go +1 Duress, +1 Swamp, -1 Disfigure, -1 Infest. Oh, and I actually run Doom Blade instead, putting 4x Disfigure in the board. Also planning on shuffling around that 3CC slot between Hypnotic Specter, Nyxathid, and Vampire Nighthawk and see what works best for me.
I really want Nyxathid to be good but I feel like the fact that he has no evasion hurts him. Just seems awesome after you Sludge them on T5, or even as a decent blocker against aggro decks who empty their hand.
The MVP cards were obviously Mind Sludge + Haunting Echoes but also Sorin (because the deck had almost no solution against him and he's excellent in keeping 2-3 opposing planeswalkers in line :D) and Liliana
I have to say that sometimes 1 mind sludge does not feel enough (usually when they have jace in play) and because of this I felt liliana was also strong
I also never felt the need for consume spirit and therefore I'm still questioning that card... I had some problem without sorin against ajani doing his ultimate... but against a control that basically only plays negate as counter I'd play hexmage over consume spirit without hesitation... or even a 3rd sorin
Her ashes new-create another heir
As great in admiration as herself.”
—William Shakespeare, King Henry the Eighth
Hexmages and needles are wonderful here.. Malakir bloodwitch is immune to almost everything they have as well
well... bloodwitches were not actually that good since I played against terminate... but I agree that in general they are really strong unless terminate becomes the removal of choice over path to exile...
Her ashes new-create another heir
As great in admiration as herself.”
—William Shakespeare, King Henry the Eighth
My bad, I thought it was like R/U/W ascension/walker build..
4 color planeswalkers control? interesting.. They might even have Nicol Bolas(who is a house in this format).... How's their mana base?
my friend didn't play with nicol bolas and his mana base looked like it could reliably play cruel ultimatum turn 7-8ish (but he also had 4 jace and 4 esper charm to draw)
BTW, this weekend I have a small standard tournament and I'll play my version of MBC.
I guess I'll play against all sorts potentially good decks and not just jund...
I'll post my impressions/results if anyone is interested
Her ashes new-create another heir
As great in admiration as herself.”
—William Shakespeare, King Henry the Eighth
And i don't feel that Gargoyle castle is necessary.. Everyone else here seems too though...
Heres my current list.
25 Swamp
Creatures
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
3 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Vampire Nighthawk
Spells
4 Disfigure
4 Tendrils Of Corruption
4 Sign In Blood
3 Consume Spirit
2 Mind Sludge
3 Durress
3 Infest
2 Sorin Markhov
4 Vampire Hexmage
1 Duress
1 Mind Sludge
3 Haunting Echoes
3 Black Knight
3 Doom Blade
What do you guys think?
I think that this list will hold up well but i still have questions about its game vs jund.. I did some testing vs boros and its a good matchup for this list.
Disfigure is key there.. Comments/critique appreciated
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=299420
your justification for infest astonished me. Have you played this list? I've played at least 50-60 matches on the beta with a very similiar list. I have vess instaed of echoes and doom blade instead of infest. I would never say aggro is one of our struggles. We're playing a life gain creature kill control deck? I don't understand that statement.
However after all of that, I like your list. I still don't know what creature kill spells are the best.
2009 Richmond City Champ
I'm trying to work Disfigure in more, because it IS so good against tough matches like vamps/Jund/Goblins but it seems like for everything else, Doom Blade is just better.
I like your build more or less, though I'm not a huge fan of the Bloodwitch, and I think 1 more Mind Sludge would be good.
opting for 61 cards rather than 60 (25 non creature spells, 11 creatures, 25 lands)? Probably could do just fine with 24 land and get it down to 60.
+1 Mind Sludge -1 Consume Spirit -- yes the Consumes can double as removal. But they are janky removal and used in a pinch. Better as a win con and only need 2. Sludges are problematic, yes would probably do not want to see more than 1. But you want to see it early before they play their hand out and 2 of decreases the chances you will see it early. If you draw it late, it is almost a dead card anyway.
The question is why wouldn't you run the castle? It can become a creature they can't counter. It sits on board so you can cast it when ever. As a 2 of you will rarely see both early so you will always have enough enough swamps for whatever conditional you want--especially since you are running 25 land.
It is 3/4 so it can block and kill a Nighthawk, and since you can pop it on their turn, late game it can make for a useful combat trick where you cast Disfigure on a beefy attacker only to see it die to your newly activated Gargoyle. Yes it takes a chunk of mana to do it but when the only removal in your hand is a late game Disfigure it does the trick.
On another note, this is of course a meta call but it seems Executioner's Capsule seems like a good answer to Iona, Shield of Emeria.
I suppose i could try it, along with the land suggestion and mind sludge suggestion.
Do i just throw the 3rd Spirit in the board? or replace it with something more effective such as a 4th hexmage/black knight.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=299420
And it wins the matchup vs turbofog you swing in and go aggro boarding in more guys and you get 2 or 3 of their fogs and echoes them out of their library
Also, echoes nails bloodghast after they're only drawn one, rather than if they draw 2 you have to deal with them for the full game. no matter what
I feel that echoes >>>> Sacrament until a combo deck rears its head
plus in a random sidenote
Against jund once they expend a few removal spells you can echoes them out as well as thrinaxes etc. and i feel that this final point is what sends the decision over the edge.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=299420
Edit: Also, I'm all about trying out 2x Haunting Echoes. There are so many games where I feel like that card would break the game in half, and it hasn't been in my 75 (I had Sacrament boarded).
Post board it makes MWC even better makes turbofog good. and is good vs jund aswell.. (obviously you board only 1 or 2 depending on what you have in the board besides it.)
Also, deathmark.. hm... and it does kill baneslayer..
I may board that now, i completely forgot about it to be honest.
I actually would think about MDing it, but it does nothing vs b/r blightning and vamps and mirror. where difigure is clutch.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=299420
Personally ive been running 4 sacrement out of the board and its pretty nifty especially removing stuff thats particularly hard to deal with such as luminarch ascension etc.
As for haunting echoes its like when i try it the good stuff dont seem to be in their graveyard yet...
It's really a meta choice. Any kind of token generator is hard to deal with when you only have spot removal. It seems like you've mostly dealt with big creatures and card draw while I've been looking at lots of little ones and a burnt out hand. Maybe I'm way off the mark with the Infests, but I wont know for sure till Monday what the developing online scene will be like.
Also, would you say that control or combo is more painful than aggro against this? IDK, maybe the fact that it isn't obvious is a good sign.
A big focus once I can get a lot of playtesting in will be on the infest/doom blade/deathmark mix. Just about everybody has a different point of view on it.
They have different purposes
Sacrament gets rid of things you otherwise have no answer for, eg emeria/iona/valakut as early as possible
However, it does nothing when they actually draw a copy(however, we do have mind sludge for that ;p)
Whereas haunting echoes wants to be the mid game breaker, removing 16-24 cards(assuming 4-5 cards) means their deck will have a significantly lower threat density, essentially handicapping them, this is ALMOST a sure win after a mind sludge.
One thing I like to do against white based decks is to leave PtEs in the deck.
Malakir Bloodwitch being immune and more lands are always good.
Personally, I'm more of a echoes fan, but thats cuz I've had so much time with it the last time
Valakut... not so much.
I'd go Echoes all the way IMO.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=299420
The better question is why is it needed. With Disfigure, Gatekeepers, and Tendrils that is already 12 forms of spot removal. Play with Doom Blades and Consume Spirit in some combination and you can push that higher. In the build I run I have 2 Doom Blades and 2 Consumes. That is 16 spot removal of that number only 2 are dead against the leach, Thrinax, and Broodmate. Add in Vampire Nighthawk, there are 4 more conditional spot removal. It is better versus the Leech, I will give you that.
Doom Blade hits the token, while Deathmark does not so its pretty even, I ll take Doom Blade as I can cast it at instant speed. Doom Blade does kill the Elf as soon as it is flipped, everything else is not a concern as they do not have haste. If I have removal in the sideboard it is Infest, I may maindeck these depending on meta but found I can win game 1 against aggro decks with out them. Tendrils, Consume Spirit, Gatekeepers, Doom Blade all kill BSAs so again why do we need more conditional single target removal at sorcery speed? Yes it is great against Jund and white? How about everything else? Maybe if there is a ton of Jund it is better but I like Doom Blade versus everything else, even BSAs.
DM is 1cc removal so it makes it easier to go turn 4 DM your thrinax then infest
Doom Blade is 2cc but at instant speed, and only hits Broodmate token and BBE Not the broodmate itself or thrinax OR putrid leach.
IMO the 1cc and VERSATILITY outweigh the fact that its sorcerery speed. What are your guys' thoughts on this?
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=299420
Well, given your reasoning I'd run both, since deathmark only hits the dragon half but not the token half.
On the flip side, both the 2nd and 3rd place of 5K philly consisted of very fast, very aggressive red decks, in which you absolutely want 4 doomblades and 4 disfigures(and 4 infests) post board. So i'd make my priority go to doomblade.
The problem with your assessment is it focuses on a single match up nor whether that versatility is needed in that match up. Disfigure kills BBE, it drops the P/T of the leech forcing them to pump it or trade it--you do have creatures after all.
Deathmark is useless against Boros--too slow even if it kills white. Is it useless in against Mono Red, Vampire Aggro, MBC (Doom Blade can at least kill a Gargoyle Castle). In those match ups it forces you to kill on your turn instead of theirs which can prevent you from Mind Sludging, laying out Soren, or playing multiple spells that would net you better board position if you were able to play on their turn and not yours.
Need to focus on more than just one match up, even if there will be a number of people playing Jund.
20 Swamps
3 Gargoyle Castle
Creatures - 14
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Malakir Gatekeeper
3 Hypnotic Spectre
3 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Duress
3 Mind Sludge
Drain - 6
3 Consume Spirit
3 Tendrils of Corruption
Removal - 6
3 Marsh Casualties
3 Disfigure
4 Sign in Blood
4 Deathmark
3 Black Knight
3 Bloodghast
3 Vampire Hexmage
1 Tendrils of Corruption
1 Malakir Bloodwitch
The cards are mostly obvious, but if anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask.
I'd love input and advice!