Play lifebane or sin collector or something that is 4 mana and good.
4 mana is for cards like polukranous and desecration demon and advent of the wurm and jace. Not disciple of bolas but slightly better CA for double the cost.
I admit to not having tested Disciple and suspect there isn't room for it in my B/W build, but I agree with Thoras (and Luis Scott-Vargas) that it should not be written off without a trial. Thoughtseize into Lifebane Zombie (or Sin Collector) into Disciple is backbreaking against almost any deck, and unlike an actual Coercion it doesn't cost you complete board presence and can pay off in extra devotion life, an animated God, and potential 'Whipback' down the track. Control decks in particular should fear it, and as Thoras said, they are a difficult match for this deck.
I've actually thought a lot about it. I think Liliana of the Dark Realms would be more fitting in a complete Mono Black version of this list, which is something I wanted to touch on, but ultimately decided against because I feel as if this deck (Devotion) needs to be two colors to be as competitive as possible. She has a place, but not in any of the decks I listed.
Agreed. It's sad that despite screaming monoblack control, she is just not that great a card. Not being able to use her second ability straight away is tragic, and the ultimate doesn't even do that much in this deck unless we have life to burn on Erebos. I would sooner run Corrupt in the monoblack version of this deck.
Something I think is worth considering is Hythonia the Cruel, in lieu of any good black sweepers (which essentially make or break this as a top-tier deck - come on, Born of the Gods!). Could potentially explode on turn 6-7 off Nykthos.
High Priest of Penance is a pretty effective wall against a lot of aggressive decks and most midrange decks, including Naya. I'd consider maindecking it in a control-lite meta. The rest of the list is fairly straightforward. I love running three Obzedat - at least twice, I've dropped one on turn five after a Whip (2), exiled for turn six (4), dropped a second after attacking (6), exiled it for turn seven (8), attacked, then Whipped the first one back (10) and exiled it for turn eight (12 life) which is a kill.
Played a few games on 'trice with this tonight, it's testing fairly well so far. Thoughts on the list?
Feels like one Aetherling isn't enough finisher, along with Sting's comments. I'd say maindeck Essence Scatter is a meta call.
I like Opportunity in there. Seriously underrated compared to Steam Augury, but at the same time I don't think the deck would exist without the latter.
Prognostic Sphinx should also appear somewhere in the 75. Greatly speeds up victories against decks that can't handle it, in my experience.
Wouldn't be a complete set unless they waste a rare slot with utter jank.
I guess knowledge pool and warp world weren't crappy enough that they had to print this. These are the rares you open and cringe and wish you had rather spent your money on a root canal.
I too have a bad habit of spending money on Magic boosters when I require necessary dental surgery.
Bestow is reminding me a lot of a reversed haunt. I love the image of killing a graveyard-fuelled enemy only to see a Nighthowler rise from its remains and come at me again.
Champion of Marlthrun2WUR
Creature -- Minotaur Warrior (MR)
Creatures you control with power less than or equal to the number of cards in your hand have double strike.
Whenever Champion of Marlthrun attacks, you may return any number of creatures you control to their owners' hands.
4/4
@ yewlas: I'm confused why you think this is overpowered. It doesn't really give a counterspell to every deck since you have to build around it to make it quite good. It's also 3 mana, which is on par (albeit colorless) with cancel. It's essentially a 2/1 creature with a situational Cancel attached to it. Good, but not OP as you described. Mental misstep was a mistake because it really did fit into every deck and obsoleted a good number of decks that relied on 1 drops. Not griping, just curious where the OP mindset comes from.
It's true you have to build around it, but the resulting deck will be more than quite good. Aggressive artifact decks will gain access to a colorless three-drop artifact Mystic Snake. These decks already tend to be :symw::symu:, so start adding a couple of blink effects and the card quickly becomes degenerate. I think it may have been borderline printable with zero power, but not as a 2/1.
MDenham: Great uncommon and a perfect card for NPH.
Altaurus321: A bit too powerful, I think, as it gives colorless artifact decks like Affinity a way to counter essentially any spell for if they've been making regular drops. I would've preferred this as a 0/2 or even 0/1. Also missing a creature type.
Socrates: Cool effect connecting to the Metamorph, but a bit undercosted (compare to Cytoshape) and similarly feels more rare than uncommon.
luminum can: I can't tell whether this only searches for blue Phyrexian mana or any color from the quote, and if so, what symbol would be used for the latter. Good card for the set though. Also missing a creature type.
Sightless Surgeon1BR
Creature -- Human Cleric (R)
Whenever Sightless Surgeon deals combat damage to an opponent, that player's maximum hand size is reduced by one.
2/2
Chronic PainUBR
Sorcery (R)
As an additional cost to cast Chronic Pain, sacrifice half the permanents you control, discard half the cards in your hand, and you pay half of your life, all rounded up.
Take an extra turn after this one.
I admit to not having tested Disciple and suspect there isn't room for it in my B/W build, but I agree with Thoras (and Luis Scott-Vargas) that it should not be written off without a trial. Thoughtseize into Lifebane Zombie (or Sin Collector) into Disciple is backbreaking against almost any deck, and unlike an actual Coercion it doesn't cost you complete board presence and can pay off in extra devotion life, an animated God, and potential 'Whipback' down the track. Control decks in particular should fear it, and as Thoras said, they are a difficult match for this deck.
Agreed. It's sad that despite screaming monoblack control, she is just not that great a card. Not being able to use her second ability straight away is tragic, and the ultimate doesn't even do that much in this deck unless we have life to burn on Erebos. I would sooner run Corrupt in the monoblack version of this deck.
Something I think is worth considering is Hythonia the Cruel, in lieu of any good black sweepers (which essentially make or break this as a top-tier deck - come on, Born of the Gods!). Could potentially explode on turn 6-7 off Nykthos.
4 Lifebane Zombie
3 Sin Collector
4 Desecration Demon
2 Erebos, God of the Dead
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
3 Obzedat, Ghost Council
Artifacts and Enchantments: 5
3 Underworld Connections
2 Whip of Erebos
Instants and Sorceries: 10
3 Thoughtseize
3 Doom Blade
2 Pharika's Cure
2 Hero's Downfall
4 Godless Shrine
4 Temple of Silence
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Orzhov Guilgate
11 Swamp
3 Plains
4 High Priest of Penance
4 Pithing Needle
2 Pharika's Cure
2 Shadowborn Demon
2 Duress
1 Thoughtseize
High Priest of Penance is a pretty effective wall against a lot of aggressive decks and most midrange decks, including Naya. I'd consider maindecking it in a control-lite meta. The rest of the list is fairly straightforward. I love running three Obzedat - at least twice, I've dropped one on turn five after a Whip (2), exiled for turn six (4), dropped a second after attacking (6), exiled it for turn seven (8), attacked, then Whipped the first one back (10) and exiled it for turn eight (12 life) which is a kill.
Results to come after FNM this week.
Feels like one Aetherling isn't enough finisher, along with Sting's comments. I'd say maindeck Essence Scatter is a meta call.
I like Opportunity in there. Seriously underrated compared to Steam Augury, but at the same time I don't think the deck would exist without the latter.
Prognostic Sphinx should also appear somewhere in the 75. Greatly speeds up victories against decks that can't handle it, in my experience.
I too have a bad habit of spending money on Magic boosters when I require necessary dental surgery.
Bestow is reminding me a lot of a reversed haunt. I love the image of killing a graveyard-fuelled enemy only to see a Nighthowler rise from its remains and come at me again.
Creature -- Minotaur Warrior (MR)
Creatures you control with power less than or equal to the number of cards in your hand have double strike.
Whenever Champion of Marlthrun attacks, you may return any number of creatures you control to their owners' hands.
4/4
It's true you have to build around it, but the resulting deck will be more than quite good. Aggressive artifact decks will gain access to a colorless three-drop artifact Mystic Snake. These decks already tend to be :symw::symu:, so start adding a couple of blink effects and the card quickly becomes degenerate. I think it may have been borderline printable with zero power, but not as a 2/1.
Altaurus321: A bit too powerful, I think, as it gives colorless artifact decks like Affinity a way to counter essentially any spell for
Socrates: Cool effect connecting to the Metamorph, but a bit undercosted (compare to Cytoshape) and similarly feels more rare than uncommon.
luminum can: I can't tell whether this only searches for blue Phyrexian mana or any color from the quote, and if so, what symbol would be used for the latter. Good card for the set though. Also missing a creature type.
Ranking:
1. MDenham
2. Socrates
3. luminum can
Critiques incoming.
Creature -- Human Cleric (R)
Whenever Sightless Surgeon deals combat damage to an opponent, that player's maximum hand size is reduced by one.
2/2
Mindblitz 3UBR
Sorcery
Target player draws two cards, then that player's life total becomes equal to the number of cards in his or her hand.
Sorcery (R)
As an additional cost to cast Chronic Pain, sacrifice half the permanents you control, discard half the cards in your hand, and you pay half of your life, all rounded up.
Take an extra turn after this one.