Quite an interesting deck, how did it run last night?
I actually didn't get to go out; late case came in and I got stuck at work longer than expected.
But with play testing; I know the deck is solid; is it perfect? No; hardly.
I've had alot of success with my various builds of MBC; so it's def a fun deck.
I'll be playing Grixis on Friday; and MBC on Saturday/Tuesday; if I get the chance to go.
These 2 decks are basically my main decks right now; they're the only decks I care about because they're unique; no one runs them; and no one plans/expects them.
All my other decks are boring. LOL (Esper, UB, Mardu).
Quite an interesting deck, how did it run last night?
I actually didn't get to go out; late case came in and I got stuck at work longer than expected.
But with play testing; I know the deck is solid; is it perfect? No; hardly.
I've had alot of success with my various builds of MBC; so it's def a fun deck.
I'll be playing Grixis on Friday; and MBC on Saturday/Tuesday; if I get the chance to go.
These 2 decks are basically my main decks right now; they're the only decks I care about because they're unique; no one runs them; and no one plans/expects them.
All my other decks are boring. LOL (Esper, UB, Mardu).
Thanks for the reply. I have most of the cards to build the deck and i've played it a bit in forge and i enjoyed it, always have enjoyed MBC. Have two Ugins on order now LOL. What would you sideboard in vs control decks?
Quite an interesting deck, how did it run last night?
I actually didn't get to go out; late case came in and I got stuck at work longer than expected.
But with play testing; I know the deck is solid; is it perfect? No; hardly.
I've had alot of success with my various builds of MBC; so it's def a fun deck.
I'll be playing Grixis on Friday; and MBC on Saturday/Tuesday; if I get the chance to go.
These 2 decks are basically my main decks right now; they're the only decks I care about because they're unique; no one runs them; and no one plans/expects them.
All my other decks are boring. LOL (Esper, UB, Mardu).
Thanks for the reply. I have most of the cards to build the deck and i've played it a bit in forge and i enjoyed it, always have enjoyed MBC. Have two Ugins on order now LOL. What would you sideboard in vs control decks?
Honestly; I just bring in Discard; it's not fun for them; and it's totally fun for us.
Our Matchup is really like 50/50... LOL And they hate it...
Duress + Thoughtseize + Mind Rot combination/split.
Just wanted to give my thoughts on my mono black control list. I recently started playing around with the mono black list I won a pptq with in December and that I had been doing fairly well with online. This is my updated list with Dragons of Tarkir cards. I 3-0ed a couple online 8 mans with the deck this week. It's a sweet deck that I would try for the next tournament I can get a chance to play in real life. Mana has to be 24 swamps due to Squelching Leech, which is surprising still very good in this meta. I have seen too many list get "too cute" with cards like Merciless and Outpost. Just play solid stand alone cards and card draw. The base of the deck is essentially thoughtseize, hero's downfall, and sign in blood. The reasons to play mono black are the clean mana base, the 3 above spells, and the fun factor. Good Luck all with the deck.
How do you handle other types of permanents like echantments or artefacts? I am asking out of curiosity because I have to agree with MrRotten that one Ugin (or Vault) is a must.
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Decks:
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Legacy - UR Delver
Pauper - BGRUW Tron, Mono U Delver, Mono B Control
How do you handle other types of permanents like echantments or artefacts? I am asking out of curiosity because I have to agree with MrRotten that one Ugin (or Vault) is a must.
For me it appears he's racing that stuff; which the way his main is setup is very very reasonable to consider.
It's like a Devotion Style of Control.
He's getting very big Gary's; so yea VS some of that kind of stuff he's winning with big finishes like that or even big Leech smashes.
And of course he has Thoughtseize which can help with some of those problem cards too.
I guess my post got deleted 5 days ago for some reason and I just now noticed, I was asking about sideboarding, weird.
Anyways I got to play the deck on friday with some friends that came over in casual games. I think i ended up doing about 50/50 win loss ratio with the deck, granted I was playing against completely random decks that werent standard decks. Most of the times that I lost were due to bad hand/draws(happens to everyone), I think sometimes the temples slowed me down, but at the same time the scry ended up being helpful. One game I was out of a hand but was able to set up my 3rd temple for 6 points a turn with my side of the battlefield being empty and his having 7 damage worth, would have won that game but he ended up top decking and put out 13 damage for the win(it was a haste/burn deck). Had alot of fun playing it and hopefully I will get to take it to a FNM soon and play against other standard decks should be a blast.
Back to my question, what cards would you take out when facing control? I didn't have to sideboard out the main deck at all during my games since I didnt face any control decks. Would something like this look to be on the right track?
-3 bile blight
-2 crux of fate
-2 ultimate price
=7 total
+1 duress
+2 thoughtseize
+1 liliana vess
+2 mind rot
+1 empty the pits
=7 total
I guess my post got deleted 5 days ago for some reason and I just now noticed, I was asking about sideboarding, weird.
Anyways I got to play the deck on friday with some friends that came over in casual games. I think i ended up doing about 50/50 win loss ratio with the deck, granted I was playing against completely random decks that werent standard decks. Most of the times that I lost were due to bad hand/draws(happens to everyone), I think sometimes the temples slowed me down, but at the same time the scry ended up being helpful. One game I was out of a hand but was able to set up my 3rd temple for 6 points a turn with my side of the battlefield being empty and his having 7 damage worth, would have won that game but he ended up top decking and put out 13 damage for the win(it was a haste/burn deck). Had alot of fun playing it and hopefully I will get to take it to a FNM soon and play against other standard decks should be a blast.
Back to my question, what cards would you take out when facing control? I didn't have to sideboard out the main deck at all during my games since I didnt face any control decks. Would something like this look to be on the right track?
-3 bile blight
-2 crux of fate
-2 ultimate price
=7 total
+1 duress
+2 thoughtseize
+1 liliana vess
+2 mind rot
+1 empty the pits
=7 total
You may want to keep Crux of Fate in against control since many control decks rely on dragons as finishers.
I guess my post got deleted 5 days ago for some reason and I just now noticed, I was asking about sideboarding, weird.
Anyways I got to play the deck on friday with some friends that came over in casual games. I think i ended up doing about 50/50 win loss ratio with the deck, granted I was playing against completely random decks that werent standard decks. Most of the times that I lost were due to bad hand/draws(happens to everyone), I think sometimes the temples slowed me down, but at the same time the scry ended up being helpful. One game I was out of a hand but was able to set up my 3rd temple for 6 points a turn with my side of the battlefield being empty and his having 7 damage worth, would have won that game but he ended up top decking and put out 13 damage for the win(it was a haste/burn deck). Had alot of fun playing it and hopefully I will get to take it to a FNM soon and play against other standard decks should be a blast.
Back to my question, what cards would you take out when facing control? I didn't have to sideboard out the main deck at all during my games since I didnt face any control decks. Would something like this look to be on the right track?
-3 bile blight
-2 crux of fate
-2 ultimate price
=7 total
+1 duress
+2 thoughtseize
+1 liliana vess
+2 mind rot
+1 empty the pits
=7 total
You may want to keep Crux of Fate in against control since many control decks rely on dragons as finishers.
This is exactly what I take out VS Control; because we have Merciless Executioner and Palace Sieges to get those back to deal with those Creatures that Control decks run.
I've been following this thread since a day or two after MrRotten started this thread. I've just gotten back to playing magic after a 3-year hiatus that time and I've always been a sucker for playing decks that aren't mainstream in a given standard environment. Hence, when I saw MrRotten's post I knew this is the deck I wanna build.
After many builds since end-January mirroring the other suggested decks here (though it really took me a while to give up on the Squelching Leeches-based deck; I gave up on it when I had a 0-4 FNM result) and taking in all of MrRotten's highly in-depth & thorough games-tested-based analysis and the one-off suggestion of trimvirate regarding Kolaghan's Command here's what I came up with so far.
My experience so far with the different modes offered by Kolaghan's Command though quite incrementally small are nevertheless very relevant due to the instant speed and always complimenting the already existing synergy of the deck. I think it's strength is the relatively cheap casting cost when compared to the other cards we have in the deck that do the same but at a higher or equal cost and always hitting with that instant speed of 2-for-1 advantage. It's like a cheap-costed versions of my high-cost creatures (sidizi,scuttling,erebos) with the extra bonus of discard or damage to creature/player.
Yes, my deck is 61 and mainly because of Temur Battle Rage. Since I am dipping on a bit of red, I looked for that one low-casting red card that would have maximum boost for the cards in my deck and then I remembered this card from a heroic deck that I lost to. This card had saved me quite a few times but also equally surprised me and some opponents on ending quickly some games. It's quite nasty once when I was able to attack with Scuttling Doom Engine and since Temur Battle Rage is such a low casting cost card then I was also able to play Merciless Executioner at the same turn and the game ended abruptly. Moreover even if the massive damage had not been enough that time (the doom engine sac damage was just enough to zero my opponent's life that time), I still had sign in blood on hand with still the extra mana to cast it.
Anyway, even though I'm liking my build right now, I still have yet to make it work like how MrRotten does with his deck as I could not play as often as I could hence I still do a lot of misplays since I am still not too familiar with the archetype decks in the present standard. Good thing players in our area are very helpful and always help out after the games to teach me on things that I should've done. They say our deck is really out-of-the-ordinary and is quite impressed since it seems it can compete against a lot of decks.
I hope by next FNM, I would have a better hang of my deck. My last FNM was just 1 win,1 draw, 2 losses (one loss due to I was late, the other one was against a deck that I have no idea how to play against, only after the game did I learn from the other helpful players that I was doing the wrong tactic against the deck).
My worry though is I think the meta's changing again (to a lot of dragons) and I am finding it hard to keep up in terms of thinking through the different decks I'll be facing but hey, that's really the fun thing about our hobby, it is so fluid and fun!
So; if I haven't been playing MBC, what have I been playing?
Mardu and Grixis mostly... Just because I am enjoying the Dragons. I love Mardu because of Crackling Doom though.
With that being said; a few people lately have been mentioning to splash RED and playing cards like Kolaghan's Command.
Well let me just say; I LOVE Kolaghan's Command. It's one of my favorite cards right now from both Mardu and Grixis lists that I play.
With that being said; I think Kolaghan's Command could add some extra utility to what I'm trying to do in MBC.
In the Mardu and Grixis lists that I play it; sometimes it does some great things that it's almost as good as a Draw Spell.
Anyone that has been playing MB with Palace Sieges and setting a Siege to KHANS to get a creature back is almost as good as a Draw Spell. You start to gain really nice advantages with it.
I like what @Kulixap did with his SPLASH of Red; but I think I'd like to enhance upon the idea a bit more.
This is my take on the RED Splash for Kolaghan's Commands, if I'm going to Splash Red for it; then I'm going to feature it fully.
Kolaghan's Command is really good VS pretty much anybody; you either Kill a Creature and make them Discard VS Red Decks; or you Deal 2 Damage and bring back a Creature VS everybody else. Or Make them Discard and bring back a Creature... Kolaghan's Command I feel will prove to be way better than Read the Bones; and doesn't damage us the way Read the Bones does.
I have opted to up the amount of Red Sources in the mana base compared to the previous poster too. I wanted atleast 10 Sources and some Flexibility with having 1 Mountain and the Mires.
All in all; although I have been very attached to the idea of keeping the deck MONO BLACK and control; I do like this Splash compared to all of the other suggested splashes the most.
With that said; I also like the Mono Black Devotion list someone else posted; it's not my style so I won't be playing that style; but if it works it works.
Checking the deck lists, wondering why everyone us running mind rot over rakshasa's secret. I feel like secret is strictly better in this deck.
Just dont want to risk milling a threat?
Correct; I ran it awhile... LONG while back ago; and a Turn 3 Rakshasha's Secret also potentially runs you into milling a needed land too.
The few times I ran it; I always mana screwed myself. Probably just bad luck; but the card immediately became one of my least favorite cards for me atleast.
and was completely destroyed, ended up 0:4. I immediatelly recalled why I stopped playing this deck though I like it. Played against Mono R, Demonic Zoo, Atarka Sligh and GW Aggro. I feel 2 copies of the Damnable Pact are too much, I maybe need another Drown in Sorrow maindeck and to speed up or I die in pain. I rarely play Palace Siege because I need to solve some situation on the board and then still simply die in next two three turns...
Maybe I am just unlucky with this deck, dunno.
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Active player in years 1999-2004.
Mono U Draw & Go fan
Decks:
Modern - Mono U Tron, UR Delver
Legacy - UR Delver
Pauper - BGRUW Tron, Mono U Delver, Mono B Control
and was completely destroyed, ended up 0:4. I immediatelly recalled why I stopped playing this deck though I like it. Played against Mono R, Demonic Zoo, Atarka Sligh and GW Aggro. I feel 2 copies of the Damnable Pact are too much, I maybe need another Drown in Sorrow maindeck and to speed up or I die in pain. I rarely play Palace Siege because I need to solve some situation on the board and then still simply die in next two three turns...
Maybe I am just unlucky with this deck, dunno.
Yea those are tough matchups; decks that are speedy but then round out with big Burn spells. Tough to stabalize against that kind of stuff.
Atarka Red is rough!
That's part of the reason I was happy to examine the Kolaghan's Command RED Splash for the deck; gives us a way to force them to Discard spells instead of sandbagging them; and also kill creature of theirs; or get one of ours back.
Because of the Red Splash; I'm playing less of the stuff that hurts me too.
It's something I'm trying out; and will actually be picking the list back up this week to play for a change of pace. Been playing various Dragon Decks (Grixis, Mardu, Jund); so this will be a nice chance for a bit.
And if you do keep playing the deck; I agree; sounds like you'll want to consider bringing the Drowns back main.
I've gone back and fourth; just depends what the Meta feels like...
Also; I agree x2 Damnable Pact is too much; I was running 2 and it didn't take long for me to drop it down to 1; and now I've completely cut it in the Red splash list.
Played the MB deck on MTGO this week in a standard event and went 3 loss 1 win, got destroyed for the most part. I'm not that up to date with standard so not sure of the deck types but mostly vs dragons and mono red. Of course playing online from what i've seen is way more competitive which makes sense. I think the deck would definitely do better at a LGS where its not 120 people all playing online competitively. I also did not get the best hands, playing before vs random people for fun I was pulling everything I needed to stay alive until I could get seiges up to start stealing life and get out ugin, in the standard event I just didnt get the draws I needed almost every match and Mulligan a few times also which hurt.
That said I'm tempted to play the red splash version after getting screwed over by Kolaghan's Command a few times. How necessary are the mana confluences in it?
Played the MB deck on MTGO this week in a standard event and went 3 loss 1 win, got destroyed for the most part. I'm not that up to date with standard so not sure of the deck types but mostly vs dragons and mono red. Of course playing online from what i've seen is way more competitive which makes sense. I think the deck would definitely do better at a LGS where its not 120 people all playing online competitively. I also did not get the best hands, playing before vs random people for fun I was pulling everything I needed to stay alive until I could get seiges up to start stealing life and get out ugin, in the standard event I just didnt get the draws I needed almost every match and Mulligan a few times also which hurt.
That said I'm tempted to play the red splash version after getting screwed over by Kolaghan's Command a few times. How necessary are the mana confluences in it?
The Mana Confluences are not necessary at all; the Slot actually was Nomad Outpost.
Just another Slot that provides R/B.
I was also considering 2 Bloodstained Mire and pulling 1 Swamp for a Mountain; but I don't like Fetches right now in this list; thinning is rough sometimes.
I will more then likely pull the Confluences for Nomad Outpost.
As for the deck itself; yea I don't know; I haven't played it in a little bit. The last time I played it though was about a month ago and I went 3 and 0 with the Pitiless Horde NON Red version.
It surprises me that everyone else is having major problems; I do think that the deck is very Meta Game dependent.
If you're dealing with alot of Red/Burn decks; Atarka Red; then it's not going to be a successful deck IMO. Perhaps try the Devotion style with Garys.
Initially when the deck was first created; I kicked serious butt for a while; the Metagame was very heavy with Abzan and Whip decks.
With the Grand Prix having so many Abzan decks in the top 8; I'm thinking Abzan will be back on the rise.
Merciless Executioner + Palace Siege and Kolaghan's Command outta prove to be pretty spicy again.
I think it is a good deck, Just the main problem when I played it on MTGO it seems like the level of competitiveness is much higher there than paper FNM from what ive researched, and I may not have always picked the best play. When I was playing it in practice games I was winning fairly often.
Been lurking for a while, fi ally decided to make an account here.
Been testing out a version of this deck with some friends and it seems really strong. I'm not sure how much I'm feeling drown in sorrow these days though. I understand the need to 2 cmc removal but my local meta is really heavy in abzan(midrange aggro and megamorph), esper dragons, green/red dragons/monsters and a bit of mono/atarka red and heroic.
I might remove drown or ultimate price for foul tongue or self inflicted wound. Thoughts?
My other decks include mono red dash and b/w warriors so I don't need another aggro deck. I do, on the other hand really like the idea of the red splash for kolaghans command. I was dabbling with it in Mardu, and while it didn't quite get there as much it was never a dead card.
Been lurking for a while, fi ally decided to make an account here.
Been testing out a version of this deck with some friends and it seems really strong. I'm not sure how much I'm feeling drown in sorrow these days though. I understand the need to 2 cmc removal but my local meta is really heavy in abzan(midrange aggro and megamorph), esper dragons, green/red dragons/monsters and a bit of mono/atarka red and heroic.
I might remove drown or ultimate price for foul tongue or self inflicted wound. Thoughts?
My other decks include mono red dash and b/w warriors so I don't need another aggro deck. I do, on the other hand really like the idea of the red splash for kolaghans command. I was dabbling with it in Mardu, and while it didn't quite get there as much it was never a dead card.
If you're shop is heavy Midrange then this is a solid option for sure.
My list shifts depending upon how my meta shifts... sometimes its Controlly heavy; sometimes it's Aggro heavy; and sometimes it's Midrange heavy. I shift...
The Drowns belong in the side if you're up against a Midrange Heavy meta.
I wouldn't worry about Foul-Tongue invocation; we have Merciless Executioner and Palace Siege.
Mix in Ultimate Price and Hero's Downfalls and you should be in great shape to take down big dragons and other big creatures.
Set Palace Siege on Khans and really goto town killing anything they play over and over and over again.
This deck Thrives VS Aggro and Midrange; struggles VS Burn; and the Control matchup is 50/50 IMO.
It's important to just know when to Thoughtseize/Duress VS Control...
Correction, when I typed drown in sorrow I was talking about bile blight.
If i can get it out early against a rakshasa, fleecemane or warden it's solid, but it doesn't hit siege rhino, courser or any of the dragons. Not to mention the recurring deathmist raptor shenanigans.
I'll always keep at least three drown in sorrow in the side for mono red and other token strategies.
1.) To the person who mentioned something about Casual FNM VS Pro Meta; I don't pretend to be any kind of pro...
Most of my decks are FNM decks; but I study the Format.
I research; watch Big Event Reports; read many articles; watch many hours of Twitch Coverage.
My Shop Meta has quite of few players that will always be on Tier 1 decks.
And yes; although FNM is a Casual Format; and a PRO Meta is a different animal; much like the regular season of a NBA or NFL game compared to a Playoff game; there's definitely a lot of really good players at the shop.
So although I do agree; I always try to have 1 or 2 rogue decks up my sleeve; decks that by studying the current meta game on the PRO level; my rogue decks can fair well against either Casually at FNM or even on the Pro level; barring a few adjustments of course.
At the time I built this deck; Abzan; Heroic Decks; and Whip decks were the top dogs. So I countered those with Merciless Executioners; Downfalls; Palace Siege Synergies; and UGIN with Thoughtseizes.
If you look at the original list; I would still take that list if the format ever becomes heavy with those 2 decks again.
Since however; Dragons of Tarkir has come; Mono Red; Atarka Red; TONS of Dragons; Hexproof; alot has changed; and some things haven't... there are alot more different viable archetypes now which makes rogue decks like this struggle...
No deck beats ALL decks; atleast not in this current Format... and a Rogue deck generally is great at beating what is perceived to be the Top 1 or 2 decks; but will struggle sometimes VS other aspects of the field.
With that said though; I do believe some people are just flat out playing my list wrong; because I'll be honest, no disrespect to anyone; I've actually experienced nice success with my various iterations of Mono Black Control Shells as they've adapted here and there.
Sure; it's not nearly as great as it seemed back when I first created the deck; but that was also a very different format then too.
2.) I try to answer any and all questions; as long as it fits with the Theme of what we're trying to accomplish here... And quite honestly; what we're trying to accomplish isn't a deck that is going to break the format... but it's a deck that will have a solid game VS a good majority of top decks; and not be completely bad VS others. And its a fun deck; with a very very smooth MONO Colored style mana base.
As I've said; sometimes it's nice to play decks like these when you've been jamming 3 and 4 color decks for sooo long.
So basically if you're bringing some very off the wall ideas to the table; I probably won't comment... IE: The Mono Black Dragon deck; that's not what this thread is for.
The Black Devotion List; I admit has been a interesting list; but just not my style; but I don't' mind answer questions or providing feedback really about anything relating to this deck; as I've tried alot of things and tested alot of others.
Primary Focus: The primary focus of the Mainboard is VS Midrange. With Kolaghan's Commands and Bile Blights and Ultimate Prices however; we still have a solid game to keep Aggro decks at bay and setup the Life Steal game plan. Kolaghan's Command is handy in either the Midrange or Aggro match; because VS Aggro you Burn a Creature and force them to Discard which you eventually out tempo them. VS Midrange you can force them to Discard and bring back an Executioner. VS Control you deal 2 Damage and make them Discard; or bring back your Executioner or Pitiless Hordes; or even Sidisi. So the primary focus easily VS Midrange; should still be strong VS Aggro and still be solid VS Control.
Sideboard Focus: Duress and Liliana pulling most of the Removal; but keeping in the Merciless Executioners. You'll still want Executioners for any Hexproof or big fatty win conditions that they'll tap out for. You'll want Downfalls too for Planeswalkers. So you'll pull the rest of the removal for those 6 cards. VS Aggro the obvious choice is Cores and Drowns; VS Tokens; Drowns and Plague. It's simple...
Current Metagame: The way I break down the meta game now; the same way I did back when I first created the deck....
I still see the ABZAN decks; but Abzan Aggro has IMO overtaken the other Abzan archetypes. So we have Bile Blight; Ultimate Price; Downfalls; and of course Merciless Executioners all to deal with their Turn 2 and 3 Creatures. Rhino will still be a bit of a beast; but we have the Removal to kill it; and the Palace Siege recoups our life.
Dragon Decks; lots and lots of Dragon Decks... most of them start off with the beastly 4 Drop of Thunderbreak Regent... And targeting this bugger isn't the greatest thing to do at times, especially when they have 2 out at the same time. So that's where Merciless Executioner and Palace Siege on KHANS will be key to get online. Late game we can afford usually to kill the Thunderbreak with a targeted removal spell; but early Executioners are huge.
Control Decks; the primary control decks are Esper Dragons; really... They have Hexproof shananigans going on... Most of the Esper Dragons players all tap out on Turn 5 for their Ojutai; well that plays into our Merciless Executioner. When they don't make that mistake again; we have the Kolaghan's Commands and Palace Sieges to keep re-using Executioners to play around the Hexproof if need be. These games are wars of attrition; and generally they are the better Control deck. So it's important to keep heavy Discard hands; and get the Merciless Executioners and Palace Sieges going asap; along with Pitiless Hordes; and just try to keep them off balance. Discard hitting any EXILE effects; and any effects that will destroy Enchantments. We don't really care about Creature Removal; but we can also nab Planeswalker removal.
Green/X Decks; GW; all base themselves off having creatures. Targeted Removal early; get Merciless Executioner and Kolaghan's Commands chaining; reusing Executioners is back breaking. Then the Palace Sieges; Ugin. Bring in Drowns; etc.. etc..
Red/AtarkaRed; Life Gain Life Gain Life Gain... NO creature Lives... Go full boar on removal; get the Kolaghan's Commands going and force Tempo Discard; you'll nab burn spells or lands... This is good for us!! Careful to use your Palace Sieges; as sometimes they will have splashes and ways to kill Enchantments.
Kolaghan's Command + Red Splash: I gotta say; I really love what Kolaghan's Command brings to the deck; a whole lot of utility; it's almost as good as Read the Bones but Instant and provides good enough Utility to make it really great more often then not. It really also allows us to feel completely safe in putting the 1st Palace Siege on Dragons immediately. As I've played the deck; sometimes I was left with a tough decision on knowing if I should choose Khans or Dragons in some tight situations. Usually; it's always Dragons first; but sometimes you do want the Khans. With Kolaghan's Command; you're given alot more flexibility and the Palace Siege Decisions are easier.
Pitiless Horde: I'm still very happy with this card; with the way you keep the board clear of any blockers; he seems to always sneak through for 5 Damage; and you pick him back up. This way if you want to CRUX next turn; you can; and not kill your own 5 damage DASHED chop...
x1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon: This is down 1 from all of my previous lists; used to run 2. The fact that Kolaghan's Command will destroy Artifacts; the main one we worry about is mostly WHIPS. Sure; it doesn't kill Enchantments; the main one we worry about is Jeskai Charm; but that deck isn't played as much anymore; but we can also Sidisi FETCH up a Ugin when we need it. The worst thing when I ran x2 Ugin was getting an early Ugin and working hard to get on 8 Lands to cast it. Now; it feels way smoother... Sandbag a Thoughtseize; and pick away at your opponents hand with Kolaghan's Command; and playing Pitiless Hordes and bringing them back drawing Downfalls and such. Then Thoughtseize; check if coast is clear; then UGIN. It's been a much more effective way to go, instead of sitting back and praying we get there.
x1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier: Initially I was a big advocate against Sidisi with the idea that we didn't have alot of EXPLOIT targets; but let me just say... I was already starting to be fine with Exploiting Sidisi to herself with Palace Siege KHANS, but now that we have Kolaghan's Commands; it's even more disgusting. Sure; it's still not the most effective way to Exploit Sidisi; but it's pretty great. And it's funny to watch them try and Burn Removal on her before the Exploit Triggers; because you were planning on Killing her Anyways; and now they just had to kill it and waste a removal spell. Now; in some cases; one of the reason I like the Empty the Pits in the deck; you Exploit one of your Zombie Tokens late. It's effective; TRUST ME.
Also; let me just say; sometimes you get things setup; a Palace Siege online with a Merciless Executioner that you're bringing back every turn. Maybe you got another online and gaining 2 life. So you're pretty much GASED; and you still got a decent hand with some removal... It's not entirely bad to play Sidisi and NO EXPLOIT. With her 6 Toughness and Death Touch; she turns out to be a very good blocker and ATTACKER. And if something changes in the board state; cast a Executioner; destroy Sidisi; bring her back with the Kolaghan's Command or Palace Siege KHANS; RECAST Sidisi and Exploit your Executioner. Rince/Wash/Repeat.... The Synergies are great!!!
Everything else I feel like I've beaten to the ground; it's been in the Shell going back many pages....
I'll write up a report on how things went tomorrow after FNM... hopefully we did good.
I actually didn't get to go out; late case came in and I got stuck at work longer than expected.
But with play testing; I know the deck is solid; is it perfect? No; hardly.
I've had alot of success with my various builds of MBC; so it's def a fun deck.
I'll be playing Grixis on Friday; and MBC on Saturday/Tuesday; if I get the chance to go.
These 2 decks are basically my main decks right now; they're the only decks I care about because they're unique; no one runs them; and no one plans/expects them.
All my other decks are boring. LOL (Esper, UB, Mardu).
Thanks for the reply. I have most of the cards to build the deck and i've played it a bit in forge and i enjoyed it, always have enjoyed MBC. Have two Ugins on order now LOL. What would you sideboard in vs control decks?
Honestly; I just bring in Discard; it's not fun for them; and it's totally fun for us.
Our Matchup is really like 50/50... LOL And they hate it...
Duress + Thoughtseize + Mind Rot combination/split.
And bring in some luck too, you will need it. They love to counter our threats, a lot.
Mono U Draw & Go fan
Decks:
Modern - Mono U Tron, UR Delver
Legacy - UR Delver
Pauper - BGRUW Tron, Mono U Delver, Mono B Control
Mono U Draw & Go fan
Decks:
Modern - Mono U Tron, UR Delver
Legacy - UR Delver
Pauper - BGRUW Tron, Mono U Delver, Mono B Control
For me it appears he's racing that stuff; which the way his main is setup is very very reasonable to consider.
It's like a Devotion Style of Control.
He's getting very big Gary's; so yea VS some of that kind of stuff he's winning with big finishes like that or even big Leech smashes.
And of course he has Thoughtseize which can help with some of those problem cards too.
...just my thoughts if I'm wrong def let us know
Anyways I got to play the deck on friday with some friends that came over in casual games. I think i ended up doing about 50/50 win loss ratio with the deck, granted I was playing against completely random decks that werent standard decks. Most of the times that I lost were due to bad hand/draws(happens to everyone), I think sometimes the temples slowed me down, but at the same time the scry ended up being helpful. One game I was out of a hand but was able to set up my 3rd temple for 6 points a turn with my side of the battlefield being empty and his having 7 damage worth, would have won that game but he ended up top decking and put out 13 damage for the win(it was a haste/burn deck). Had alot of fun playing it and hopefully I will get to take it to a FNM soon and play against other standard decks should be a blast.
Back to my question, what cards would you take out when facing control? I didn't have to sideboard out the main deck at all during my games since I didnt face any control decks. Would something like this look to be on the right track?
-3 bile blight
-2 crux of fate
-2 ultimate price
=7 total
+1 duress
+2 thoughtseize
+1 liliana vess
+2 mind rot
+1 empty the pits
=7 total
This is exactly what I take out VS Control; because we have Merciless Executioner and Palace Sieges to get those back to deal with those Creatures that Control decks run.
You also have Hero's Downfall..
After many builds since end-January mirroring the other suggested decks here (though it really took me a while to give up on the Squelching Leeches-based deck; I gave up on it when I had a 0-4 FNM result) and taking in all of MrRotten's highly in-depth & thorough games-tested-based analysis and the one-off suggestion of trimvirate regarding Kolaghan's Command here's what I came up with so far.
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
1 Scuttling Doom Engine
4 Merciless Executioner
2 Pitiless Horde
Instants: 13
1 Temur Battle Rage
3 Bile Blight
2 Foul-tongue Invocation
2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Hero's Downfall
1 Silence the Believers
4 Sign in Blood
2 Mind Rot
1 Damnable Pact
2 Crux of Fate
Enchantments: 4
4 Palace Siege
Planeswalkers: 1
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Lands: 25
11 Swamp
4 Radiant Fountain
4 Bloodfell Caves
4 Temple of Malice
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Duress
3 Thoughtseize
2 Virulent Plague
4 Pharika's Cure
2 Liliana Vess
My experience so far with the different modes offered by Kolaghan's Command though quite incrementally small are nevertheless very relevant due to the instant speed and always complimenting the already existing synergy of the deck. I think it's strength is the relatively cheap casting cost when compared to the other cards we have in the deck that do the same but at a higher or equal cost and always hitting with that instant speed of 2-for-1 advantage. It's like a cheap-costed versions of my high-cost creatures (sidizi,scuttling,erebos) with the extra bonus of discard or damage to creature/player.
Yes, my deck is 61 and mainly because of Temur Battle Rage. Since I am dipping on a bit of red, I looked for that one low-casting red card that would have maximum boost for the cards in my deck and then I remembered this card from a heroic deck that I lost to. This card had saved me quite a few times but also equally surprised me and some opponents on ending quickly some games. It's quite nasty once when I was able to attack with Scuttling Doom Engine and since Temur Battle Rage is such a low casting cost card then I was also able to play Merciless Executioner at the same turn and the game ended abruptly. Moreover even if the massive damage had not been enough that time (the doom engine sac damage was just enough to zero my opponent's life that time), I still had sign in blood on hand with still the extra mana to cast it.
Anyway, even though I'm liking my build right now, I still have yet to make it work like how MrRotten does with his deck as I could not play as often as I could hence I still do a lot of misplays since I am still not too familiar with the archetype decks in the present standard. Good thing players in our area are very helpful and always help out after the games to teach me on things that I should've done. They say our deck is really out-of-the-ordinary and is quite impressed since it seems it can compete against a lot of decks.
I hope by next FNM, I would have a better hang of my deck. My last FNM was just 1 win,1 draw, 2 losses (one loss due to I was late, the other one was against a deck that I have no idea how to play against, only after the game did I learn from the other helpful players that I was doing the wrong tactic against the deck).
My worry though is I think the meta's changing again (to a lot of dragons) and I am finding it hard to keep up in terms of thinking through the different decks I'll be facing but hey, that's really the fun thing about our hobby, it is so fluid and fun!
The last time I played my list it was on 4/7 for TNM and I went undefeated over 3 Rounds and didn't lose a single game.
I made a few slight modifications to my list; but haven't played it yet; decided to give it a little bit of a rest.
NON Splash Mono Black Control:
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
2 Pitiless Horde
3 Merciless Executioner
Spells: 22
4 Duress
3 Bile Blight
2 Crux of Fate
1 Silence the Believers
4 Hero's Downfall
2 Ultimate Price
4 Sign in Blood
2 Read the Bones
4 Palace Siege
Planeswalkers: 2
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Lands: 25
8 SCRY Lands
4 Radiant Fountain
12 Swamp
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
2 Thoughtseize
2 Liliana Vess
1 Empty the Pits
2 Mind Rot
1 Virulent Plague
3 Drown in Sorrow
1 Merciless Executioner
3 Pharika's Cure
So; if I haven't been playing MBC, what have I been playing?
Mardu and Grixis mostly... Just because I am enjoying the Dragons. I love Mardu because of Crackling Doom though.
With that being said; a few people lately have been mentioning to splash RED and playing cards like Kolaghan's Command.
Well let me just say; I LOVE Kolaghan's Command. It's one of my favorite cards right now from both Mardu and Grixis lists that I play.
With that being said; I think Kolaghan's Command could add some extra utility to what I'm trying to do in MBC.
In the Mardu and Grixis lists that I play it; sometimes it does some great things that it's almost as good as a Draw Spell.
Anyone that has been playing MB with Palace Sieges and setting a Siege to KHANS to get a creature back is almost as good as a Draw Spell. You start to gain really nice advantages with it.
I like what @Kulixap did with his SPLASH of Red; but I think I'd like to enhance upon the idea a bit more.
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
2 Pitiless Horde
4 Merciless Executioner
Spells: 22
2 Thoughtseize
4 Kolaghan's Command
3 Bile Blight
2 Crux of Fate
1 Silence the Believers
4 Hero's Downfall
2 Ultimate Price
4 Sign in Blood
4 Palace Siege
Planeswalkers: 1
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Lands: 25
4 Temple of Malice
4 Bloodfell Caves
2 Bloodstained Mire
4 Radiant Fountain
10 Swamp
1 Mountain
4 Duress
2 Liliana Vess
1 Empty the Pits
1 Virulent Plague
3 Drown in Sorrow
4 Pharika's Cure
This is my take on the RED Splash for Kolaghan's Commands, if I'm going to Splash Red for it; then I'm going to feature it fully.
Kolaghan's Command is really good VS pretty much anybody; you either Kill a Creature and make them Discard VS Red Decks; or you Deal 2 Damage and bring back a Creature VS everybody else. Or Make them Discard and bring back a Creature... Kolaghan's Command I feel will prove to be way better than Read the Bones; and doesn't damage us the way Read the Bones does.
I have opted to up the amount of Red Sources in the mana base compared to the previous poster too. I wanted atleast 10 Sources and some Flexibility with having 1 Mountain and the Mires.
All in all; although I have been very attached to the idea of keeping the deck MONO BLACK and control; I do like this Splash compared to all of the other suggested splashes the most.
With that said; I also like the Mono Black Devotion list someone else posted; it's not my style so I won't be playing that style; but if it works it works.
Just dont want to risk milling a threat?
Correct; I ran it awhile... LONG while back ago; and a Turn 3 Rakshasha's Secret also potentially runs you into milling a needed land too.
The few times I ran it; I always mana screwed myself. Probably just bad luck; but the card immediately became one of my least favorite cards for me atleast.
EDIT: My updated Red Splash List
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
2 Pitiless Horde
4 Merciless Executioner
Spells: 22
2 Thoughtseize
4 Kolaghan's Command
3 Bile Blight
2 Crux of Fate
4 Hero's Downfall
2 Ultimate Price
4 Sign in Blood
1 Empty the Pits
4 Palace Siege
Planeswalkers: 1
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Lands: 25
4 Temple of Malice
4 Bloodfell Caves
2 Mana Confluence
4 Radiant Fountain
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
10 Swamp
4 Duress
2 Liliana Vess
1 Virulent Plague
4 Drown in Sorrow
4 Pharika's Cure
4x Merciless Executioner
2x Pitiless Horde
1x Scuttling Doom Engine
Enchantment 5x
4x Palace Siege
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
Instants 8x
3x Bile Blight
4x Hero's Downfall
1x Silence the Believers
Planeswalker 2x
1x Liliana Vess
1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
2x Crux of Fate
2x Drown in Sorrow
4x Sign in Blood
4x Duress
2x Damnable Pact
Lands 24x
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Radiant Fountain
19x Swamp
2x Virulent Plague
2x Mind Rot
2x Staff of the Death Magus
4x Pharika's Cure
1x Empty the Pits
4x Thoughtseize
and was completely destroyed, ended up 0:4. I immediatelly recalled why I stopped playing this deck though I like it. Played against Mono R, Demonic Zoo, Atarka Sligh and GW Aggro. I feel 2 copies of the Damnable Pact are too much, I maybe need another Drown in Sorrow maindeck and to speed up or I die in pain. I rarely play Palace Siege because I need to solve some situation on the board and then still simply die in next two three turns...
Maybe I am just unlucky with this deck, dunno.
Mono U Draw & Go fan
Decks:
Modern - Mono U Tron, UR Delver
Legacy - UR Delver
Pauper - BGRUW Tron, Mono U Delver, Mono B Control
Yea those are tough matchups; decks that are speedy but then round out with big Burn spells. Tough to stabalize against that kind of stuff.
Atarka Red is rough!
That's part of the reason I was happy to examine the Kolaghan's Command RED Splash for the deck; gives us a way to force them to Discard spells instead of sandbagging them; and also kill creature of theirs; or get one of ours back.
Because of the Red Splash; I'm playing less of the stuff that hurts me too.
It's something I'm trying out; and will actually be picking the list back up this week to play for a change of pace. Been playing various Dragon Decks (Grixis, Mardu, Jund); so this will be a nice chance for a bit.
And if you do keep playing the deck; I agree; sounds like you'll want to consider bringing the Drowns back main.
I've gone back and fourth; just depends what the Meta feels like...
Also; I agree x2 Damnable Pact is too much; I was running 2 and it didn't take long for me to drop it down to 1; and now I've completely cut it in the Red splash list.
That said I'm tempted to play the red splash version after getting screwed over by Kolaghan's Command a few times. How necessary are the mana confluences in it?
The Mana Confluences are not necessary at all; the Slot actually was Nomad Outpost.
Just another Slot that provides R/B.
I was also considering 2 Bloodstained Mire and pulling 1 Swamp for a Mountain; but I don't like Fetches right now in this list; thinning is rough sometimes.
I will more then likely pull the Confluences for Nomad Outpost.
As for the deck itself; yea I don't know; I haven't played it in a little bit. The last time I played it though was about a month ago and I went 3 and 0 with the Pitiless Horde NON Red version.
It surprises me that everyone else is having major problems; I do think that the deck is very Meta Game dependent.
If you're dealing with alot of Red/Burn decks; Atarka Red; then it's not going to be a successful deck IMO. Perhaps try the Devotion style with Garys.
Initially when the deck was first created; I kicked serious butt for a while; the Metagame was very heavy with Abzan and Whip decks.
With the Grand Prix having so many Abzan decks in the top 8; I'm thinking Abzan will be back on the rise.
Merciless Executioner + Palace Siege and Kolaghan's Command outta prove to be pretty spicy again.
Been testing out a version of this deck with some friends and it seems really strong. I'm not sure how much I'm feeling drown in sorrow these days though. I understand the need to 2 cmc removal but my local meta is really heavy in abzan(midrange aggro and megamorph), esper dragons, green/red dragons/monsters and a bit of mono/atarka red and heroic.
I might remove drown or ultimate price for foul tongue or self inflicted wound. Thoughts?
My other decks include mono red dash and b/w warriors so I don't need another aggro deck. I do, on the other hand really like the idea of the red splash for kolaghans command. I was dabbling with it in Mardu, and while it didn't quite get there as much it was never a dead card.
If you're shop is heavy Midrange then this is a solid option for sure.
My list shifts depending upon how my meta shifts... sometimes its Controlly heavy; sometimes it's Aggro heavy; and sometimes it's Midrange heavy. I shift...
The Drowns belong in the side if you're up against a Midrange Heavy meta.
I wouldn't worry about Foul-Tongue invocation; we have Merciless Executioner and Palace Siege.
Mix in Ultimate Price and Hero's Downfalls and you should be in great shape to take down big dragons and other big creatures.
Set Palace Siege on Khans and really goto town killing anything they play over and over and over again.
This deck Thrives VS Aggro and Midrange; struggles VS Burn; and the Control matchup is 50/50 IMO.
It's important to just know when to Thoughtseize/Duress VS Control...
2 Dragonlord Kolaghan
2 Dragonlord Silumgar
2 Dragonlord Atarka
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
4 Thoughtseize
2 Bile Blight
1 Ultimate Price
3 Hero's Downfall
4 Foul-Tongue Invocation
1 Murderous Cut
2 Crux of Fate
1 Perilous Vault
3 Sign in Blood
2 Read the Bones
4 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
4 Temple of Silence
4 Temple of Malady
2 Radiant Fountain
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
8 Swamp
4 Duress
1 Bile Blight
1 Ultimate Price
2 Self-Inflicted Wound
3 Drown in Sorrow
1 Virulent Plague
1 Sign in Blood
1 Read the Bones
1 Radiant Fountain
If i can get it out early against a rakshasa, fleecemane or warden it's solid, but it doesn't hit siege rhino, courser or any of the dragons. Not to mention the recurring deathmist raptor shenanigans.
I'll always keep at least three drown in sorrow in the side for mono red and other token strategies.
1.) To the person who mentioned something about Casual FNM VS Pro Meta; I don't pretend to be any kind of pro...
Most of my decks are FNM decks; but I study the Format.
I research; watch Big Event Reports; read many articles; watch many hours of Twitch Coverage.
My Shop Meta has quite of few players that will always be on Tier 1 decks.
And yes; although FNM is a Casual Format; and a PRO Meta is a different animal; much like the regular season of a NBA or NFL game compared to a Playoff game; there's definitely a lot of really good players at the shop.
So although I do agree; I always try to have 1 or 2 rogue decks up my sleeve; decks that by studying the current meta game on the PRO level; my rogue decks can fair well against either Casually at FNM or even on the Pro level; barring a few adjustments of course.
At the time I built this deck; Abzan; Heroic Decks; and Whip decks were the top dogs. So I countered those with Merciless Executioners; Downfalls; Palace Siege Synergies; and UGIN with Thoughtseizes.
If you look at the original list; I would still take that list if the format ever becomes heavy with those 2 decks again.
Since however; Dragons of Tarkir has come; Mono Red; Atarka Red; TONS of Dragons; Hexproof; alot has changed; and some things haven't... there are alot more different viable archetypes now which makes rogue decks like this struggle...
No deck beats ALL decks; atleast not in this current Format... and a Rogue deck generally is great at beating what is perceived to be the Top 1 or 2 decks; but will struggle sometimes VS other aspects of the field.
With that said though; I do believe some people are just flat out playing my list wrong; because I'll be honest, no disrespect to anyone; I've actually experienced nice success with my various iterations of Mono Black Control Shells as they've adapted here and there.
Sure; it's not nearly as great as it seemed back when I first created the deck; but that was also a very different format then too.
2.) I try to answer any and all questions; as long as it fits with the Theme of what we're trying to accomplish here... And quite honestly; what we're trying to accomplish isn't a deck that is going to break the format... but it's a deck that will have a solid game VS a good majority of top decks; and not be completely bad VS others. And its a fun deck; with a very very smooth MONO Colored style mana base.
As I've said; sometimes it's nice to play decks like these when you've been jamming 3 and 4 color decks for sooo long.
So basically if you're bringing some very off the wall ideas to the table; I probably won't comment... IE: The Mono Black Dragon deck; that's not what this thread is for.
The Black Devotion List; I admit has been a interesting list; but just not my style; but I don't' mind answer questions or providing feedback really about anything relating to this deck; as I've tried alot of things and tested alot of others.
Now; with that all being said; onto the list!
RED SPLASH VERSION:
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
2 Pitiless Horde
1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
4 Merciless Executioner
Spells: 22
2 Thoughtseize
4 Kolaghan's Command
4 Hero's Downfall
2 Ultimate Price
3 Bile Blight
2 Crux of Fate
4 Sign in Blood
1 Empty the Pits
4 Palace Siege
Planeswalkers: 1
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Lands:
10 Swamp
4 Radiant Fountain
4 Temple of Malice
4 Bloodfell Caves
1 Nomad Outpost
1 Mana Confluence
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Liliana Vess
4 Duress
1 Virulent Plague
4 Pharika's Cure
4 Drown in Sorrow
Some notes/observations about the Deck:
Primary Focus: The primary focus of the Mainboard is VS Midrange. With Kolaghan's Commands and Bile Blights and Ultimate Prices however; we still have a solid game to keep Aggro decks at bay and setup the Life Steal game plan. Kolaghan's Command is handy in either the Midrange or Aggro match; because VS Aggro you Burn a Creature and force them to Discard which you eventually out tempo them. VS Midrange you can force them to Discard and bring back an Executioner. VS Control you deal 2 Damage and make them Discard; or bring back your Executioner or Pitiless Hordes; or even Sidisi. So the primary focus easily VS Midrange; should still be strong VS Aggro and still be solid VS Control.
Sideboard Focus: Duress and Liliana pulling most of the Removal; but keeping in the Merciless Executioners. You'll still want Executioners for any Hexproof or big fatty win conditions that they'll tap out for. You'll want Downfalls too for Planeswalkers. So you'll pull the rest of the removal for those 6 cards. VS Aggro the obvious choice is Cores and Drowns; VS Tokens; Drowns and Plague. It's simple...
Current Metagame: The way I break down the meta game now; the same way I did back when I first created the deck....
I still see the ABZAN decks; but Abzan Aggro has IMO overtaken the other Abzan archetypes. So we have Bile Blight; Ultimate Price; Downfalls; and of course Merciless Executioners all to deal with their Turn 2 and 3 Creatures. Rhino will still be a bit of a beast; but we have the Removal to kill it; and the Palace Siege recoups our life.
Dragon Decks; lots and lots of Dragon Decks... most of them start off with the beastly 4 Drop of Thunderbreak Regent... And targeting this bugger isn't the greatest thing to do at times, especially when they have 2 out at the same time. So that's where Merciless Executioner and Palace Siege on KHANS will be key to get online. Late game we can afford usually to kill the Thunderbreak with a targeted removal spell; but early Executioners are huge.
Control Decks; the primary control decks are Esper Dragons; really... They have Hexproof shananigans going on... Most of the Esper Dragons players all tap out on Turn 5 for their Ojutai; well that plays into our Merciless Executioner. When they don't make that mistake again; we have the Kolaghan's Commands and Palace Sieges to keep re-using Executioners to play around the Hexproof if need be. These games are wars of attrition; and generally they are the better Control deck. So it's important to keep heavy Discard hands; and get the Merciless Executioners and Palace Sieges going asap; along with Pitiless Hordes; and just try to keep them off balance. Discard hitting any EXILE effects; and any effects that will destroy Enchantments. We don't really care about Creature Removal; but we can also nab Planeswalker removal.
Green/X Decks; GW; all base themselves off having creatures. Targeted Removal early; get Merciless Executioner and Kolaghan's Commands chaining; reusing Executioners is back breaking. Then the Palace Sieges; Ugin. Bring in Drowns; etc.. etc..
Red/AtarkaRed; Life Gain Life Gain Life Gain... NO creature Lives... Go full boar on removal; get the Kolaghan's Commands going and force Tempo Discard; you'll nab burn spells or lands... This is good for us!! Careful to use your Palace Sieges; as sometimes they will have splashes and ways to kill Enchantments.
Kolaghan's Command + Red Splash: I gotta say; I really love what Kolaghan's Command brings to the deck; a whole lot of utility; it's almost as good as Read the Bones but Instant and provides good enough Utility to make it really great more often then not. It really also allows us to feel completely safe in putting the 1st Palace Siege on Dragons immediately. As I've played the deck; sometimes I was left with a tough decision on knowing if I should choose Khans or Dragons in some tight situations. Usually; it's always Dragons first; but sometimes you do want the Khans. With Kolaghan's Command; you're given alot more flexibility and the Palace Siege Decisions are easier.
Pitiless Horde: I'm still very happy with this card; with the way you keep the board clear of any blockers; he seems to always sneak through for 5 Damage; and you pick him back up. This way if you want to CRUX next turn; you can; and not kill your own 5 damage DASHED chop...
x1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon: This is down 1 from all of my previous lists; used to run 2. The fact that Kolaghan's Command will destroy Artifacts; the main one we worry about is mostly WHIPS. Sure; it doesn't kill Enchantments; the main one we worry about is Jeskai Charm; but that deck isn't played as much anymore; but we can also Sidisi FETCH up a Ugin when we need it. The worst thing when I ran x2 Ugin was getting an early Ugin and working hard to get on 8 Lands to cast it. Now; it feels way smoother... Sandbag a Thoughtseize; and pick away at your opponents hand with Kolaghan's Command; and playing Pitiless Hordes and bringing them back drawing Downfalls and such. Then Thoughtseize; check if coast is clear; then UGIN. It's been a much more effective way to go, instead of sitting back and praying we get there.
x1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier: Initially I was a big advocate against Sidisi with the idea that we didn't have alot of EXPLOIT targets; but let me just say... I was already starting to be fine with Exploiting Sidisi to herself with Palace Siege KHANS, but now that we have Kolaghan's Commands; it's even more disgusting. Sure; it's still not the most effective way to Exploit Sidisi; but it's pretty great. And it's funny to watch them try and Burn Removal on her before the Exploit Triggers; because you were planning on Killing her Anyways; and now they just had to kill it and waste a removal spell. Now; in some cases; one of the reason I like the Empty the Pits in the deck; you Exploit one of your Zombie Tokens late. It's effective; TRUST ME.
Also; let me just say; sometimes you get things setup; a Palace Siege online with a Merciless Executioner that you're bringing back every turn. Maybe you got another online and gaining 2 life. So you're pretty much GASED; and you still got a decent hand with some removal... It's not entirely bad to play Sidisi and NO EXPLOIT. With her 6 Toughness and Death Touch; she turns out to be a very good blocker and ATTACKER. And if something changes in the board state; cast a Executioner; destroy Sidisi; bring her back with the Kolaghan's Command or Palace Siege KHANS; RECAST Sidisi and Exploit your Executioner. Rince/Wash/Repeat.... The Synergies are great!!!
Everything else I feel like I've beaten to the ground; it's been in the Shell going back many pages....
I'll write up a report on how things went tomorrow after FNM... hopefully we did good.