I love Profane Command with XHD so much that I went ahead and foiled it for my deck. You already play infinite mana combo and Cabal Coffers... This just gives you one more way to finish the table. With XHD in the yard or not, cast profane command, drain the opponent for X, and whatever else (recurring XHD if he is in the g.y.), XHD comes into play..sac XHD to get back Profane Command...Rinse and Repeat. I have finished off tables with this card and where you play 1v1 sometimes..It doesnt matter if it hits everyone.
Wow, I did not connect the dots initially on that one with the recursion of Xiahou Dun. That's definitely nice. Thanks for explaining that well! I'll make room for that.
Sadly, I won't be able to meet with this current playgroup for a long time, so I'm going to adjust this a tiny bit, so I have the option of using this at my LGS when I choose to, so I'm going to remove the banned cards. I don't think this affects a lot, but I will miss being able to play recurring nightmare the most with its insane broken-ness.
ophiomancer / bitterblossom = contamination OR gravepact
contamination shuts them down (just like infernal darkness wich i also play)
tokens + gravepact is always fun
Contamination effects are the one effect I'd rather not use in this deck even though it would be great in here. (This is more of I don't like playing against cards like that that much, so I'd rather not use them myself. It's only a personal reason for this card even though it is amazing in this deck!)
I'm considering Ophiomancer as well, but I just don't know what I would remove for this. The each upkeep is nice.
Dimir House Guard I feel he will be good if I end up having room for it, which I plan to, but I've reached that point where it's really hard to find more to remove.
Shred Memory-I just feel I don't have enough great 2 CMC cards worth it to have this included. Bitterblossom is great, but I'm not a big fan of tutoring for a tutor and a decent number of cards take priority over bitterblossom for me.
Also i kinda like puppeteer clique and phyrexian obliterator (no body wants to attack you)
And dystopia is cheap and very annoying for a lot of generals.
Phyrexian Obliterator is close to my favorite creature to play, but, sadly, I just don't think it has much synergy in here and I feel other cards would be better suited that are supported more by other cards like the Puppeteer Clique that you suggested that I feel would work well as well.
Changes:
Remove: Braids, Cabal Minion Recurring Nightmare Griselbrand Burnished Hart-I see this played in a decent amount of mono black control decks when I looked online, so I stuck it in here. When I played with my playgroup the other day, this was just the most disappointing draw I had by far. I figured it fit in with the sac ability, but it just felt too slow and too late to be very useful.
Any suggestions on what people feel is unnecessary in the deck currently would be appreciated if anything should be removed for some of these or other opinions on these. Also, thanks for all of the suggestions! It's coming along nicely I'd say.
Remove: Black Market-Way too slow and I find myself not playing it until it's the last card in my hand every time. Probably a sign that it shouldn't be in here. I love this card and tried to keep it in longer than I definitely should have. Geth, Lord of the Vault-I'm going to decrease the curve a bit more. He doesn't have much for synergy in this deck, also he's expensive with no immediate benefit that requires 2 turns of syncing mana into. Everflowing Chalice-I just wasn't satisfied with this card when I drew it. It's probably just because I prefer more early game/cheaper ramp. Sign in Blood-I just replaced this with Night's Whisper because of the mana cost.
For these, I pretty much just think I need more removal. I only have one spot removal, so these should help. Thinking of trying to make room for Innocent Blood as well.
I don't know. I haven't been sold on this card for this deck. I'm not a big fan of the non-instant speed spot removal, recursion (which is done well in my deck already), and the drain of life being on only one opponent. The fear ability is nice though, but I'm not sure how well Grave Pact/Wraths will actually be working to keep my opponents' fields cleared/controlled when I want them to be. I might include this if I find it difficult to keep my opponents' field empty enough. How have your experiences been with using this card? Same goes to anyone that uses this card in a similar deck.
That was one of the three lists I used to fine tune this quite a bit.
Hmm... I like this list as well.
Yeah, yours and the other primer were the other two of the three decks decks I mentioned that I mainly looked at. I would have gone your deck's route if my summer playgroup wasn't as noncompetitive as they are. I already have Arcum Dagsson, Edric, and Azusa decks for my competitive group during the rest of the year, and my summer group doesn't find those very enjoyable, which is understandable for some of them. So, I had to go the slow, control route so they find it more enjoyable and the games last longer. That said, onto the deck building.
I do find that the rituals are useful, but that said, all bragging aside, my deck is also one of the most fast-focused of any that I've seen. However, Cabal Ritual becomes absolutely ridiculous late-game as well. I don't actually like Wayfarer's Bauble, but Expedition Map is a consideration even for people who aren't going ham on the Cabal Coffers-and-other-big-mana route.
I agree. I tried this out and when I did have Wayfarer's Bauble in my hand at the start, I found myself just not using it's ability. This is because I felt a T2 Tutor, T3 Buried Alive, or some T2/T3 card draw would be better, and by having the option of playing it on Turn 4, I found I would probably have drawn a T4 drop by then to play instead or would have just done it then. Either way, I found it to be not very good for me or too late. I figured I'd add it for Cabal Coffers support, but that card doesn't really need anything for support with how bonkers it gets quickly. I do think rituals are a better option for me instead of land ramp because of the instant benefit they provide instead of having to wait another turn to activate. So, these are the new changes:
Geth, Lord of the Vault is the next card I'm considering removing. I think its usefulness will come to late, and it doesn't have much for instant benefit, which I would prefer if it did. I'm not a big fan of relying on my opponents' GY for creatures as well. I also prefer Chainer, Dementia Master because I can bring back my own guys, sacrifice those guys in response if Chainer were to be removed, and use it as a form of GY removal for my opponents. His ability is also cheaper in mana cost. Considering maybe Slaughter Pact as a replacement; Hero's Downfall is my only spot removal in this deck right now. Removing him would also help my mana curve a bit more.
Black Market is next on the chopping block after this probably. I do know how quickly this will go off and how useful it will be, so I don't know if the benefit is worth it with how much this enchantment costs to cast. Haven't had the chance to play either of these in a multiplayer game yet, so I can't really say definitely for both.
Thanks for all of the help everyone! I appreciate it!
Yeah, Lashwrithe probably is more solid. The reason I'm keeping an equipment in is because my group doesn't really use much for spot removal for some reason. They love their wraths though, so it sounds like it might be better in my meta than yours, and with the amount of recursion I have, I figured I could also just have Xiahou Dun eat some removal if I wanted to protect something else, since there isn't much spot removal already. It looks like you ran equipments at one time in your build. Did you ever run Lashwrithe and if so, how did it compare to batterskull or Umezawa's Jitte when you were actually able to cast them and Xiahou Dun would survive removal? I'd be leaning more toward Umezawa's Jitte out of the two because of the horsemanship on Xiahou Dun and it's low CMC/equip cost.
This looks like it will help my curve quite a bit more. I like the Bubbling Muck definitely. I used to run the Everflowing Chalice in an old deck and wasn't a huge fan of it then. I'm going to test it out later today to see how it works or if I just wish I had something else instead.
Thanks! I like your Xiahou Dun deck as well! That was one of the three lists I used to fine tune this quite a bit. I can't believe that I completely forgot about Griselbrand. I feel that may push the boundaries, but I'm going to try it and see how it goes. I had the reanimate type cards in my first draft, but I tried to focus more on the grave pact aspect of the current draft, but I feel I should go a little more reanimator based in order to speed things up a bit more and lower the mana curve. Based off of your suggestions and a couple more times play testing this in 1v1 only, this is what I'm thinking of:
Remove:
1) Bloodgift Demon-I feel he's just too slow and underwhelming for me. I also already have a high amount of 5 drops, and I think Chainer, Dementia Master, Sidisi, Undead Vizier, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel provide more benefit quicker and fit more in this deck.
2) Caged Sun-I have so many other 6 drops in this deck, I definitely need to cut it down a bit. I feel on this turn I will probably be dropping one of those creatures. I also feel like Extraplanar Lens is a better option for me if I think I need another mana doubler. If Black Market doesn't end up performing well, this or Extraplanar Lens will probably take its place
3) Nightmare Lash
4) Strata Scythe-I feel 2 equipments may be enough. It also had the most expensive equip cost and I lose a swamp.
5) Lashwrithe-I think I'll keep it to one equipment and tutor it up as needed. I just think Bonehoard fits the flavor of this deck better and will scale better in the late game.
6) Sheoldred, Whispering One-Expensive and I already have a lot of recursion for my own creatures and sacrifice effects. I feel Geth, Lord of the Vault and Chainer, Dementia Master fulfill Sheoldred's role better because I can reanimate my opponents' creatures.
7) Steel Hellkite-This guy just doesn't belong really. I only included it because my playgroup loves Aura shards and there aren't many ways to deal with enchantments in mono black. He might go back in if I have a horrific time with that card.
I'll add the changes to the above 2 deck lists. What are your opinions on what I chose to remove?
Edit: Also, I've never been a fan of ritual effects in EDH. I tend to always get them as dead draws in the later game. How have they treated you in your deck? I'm considering trying them again in this deck to see how they go.
This is my mono black control build. I've been tinkering with this deck idea for a while. It started out as a Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter W/B control deck. I decided to switch it over to mono black in order to deal with ramp better and so I always have recursion as an option with my general. I generally play in a multiplayer setting (about 3-4 other players on average). Currently, this is a non-combo build. I'm thinking of trying to keep this non-combo focused (I know there's at least 1 combo in here currently by accident) because my current play group isn't super competitive and I don't find it very enjoyable to combo off for a win in a noncompetitive meta/a group that plays without many instant responses to these, but my win cons may be a bit too unreliable, so I may have to give in and add some combos (i.e. Leyline of the Void and Helm of Obedience and other combos). My current win cons, excluding swing with creatures, are a general damage package (viewable in the deck list based on function) and life drain. My current playgroup sadly does not play with the ban list, considering they all love fastbond and primeval titan so much, so the recurring nightmare and Braids, cabal minion are not an issue. I don't want to push the limit, so I'm not including Yawgmoth's Bargain even though recurring nightmare is already super janky.
My main concern is: alternative/better win cons or additional cards to help these current win cons while trying to avoid combos along with any other cards that I may have missed and did not consider to include in the deck. Also, my creature curve seems a bit too high. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!
Cards I'm considering: Harvester of Souls-considering replacing Bloodgift Demon with this, but I already have a lot of 6 CMC creatures Falkenrath Noble-seems a bit too slow Nirkana Revenant-If ramp package ends up not being enough, but I already have a very high amount of 6 CMC creatures. Extraplanar Lens-If ramp package ends up not being enough Diabolic Tutor-might just want another tutor even though it's pretty expensive to cast
Land Tax could work well with burgeoning and exploration, but pretty much only before either of these are active. Definitely enlightened tutor as well. Also, you could have island sanctuary with rhystic study as well. Just be weary of your playgroup countering this deck with more enchantment removal; it sounds like this will be extremely annoying to play against. As iemsparticus mentioned, beware of dissipation field. Substituting Ghostly prison/propaganda effects could prevent this if you do run into that a lot and they probably won't have the lands to attack often either.
Chameleon Colossus is always good for something to constantly keep your opponents on their toes and to spend your extra mana on. He may get chump blocked quite often but he'll take out an opponent's creature every turn and when memorial is out, it will be a one hit kill probably. Nemata, Grove Guardian is another good one to use your extra mana on continuously and he's just classic along with verdeloth the ancient.
So, for a very brief overview, Angus Mackenzie basically will just act as a shield paired with Seedborn Muse and Prophet of Kruphix. There's not a very strong role for him in this deck. I mainly picked him for his colors. Anyways, he will act as defense paired with propagandas, ghostly prisons, etc.
This is for around 3-5, including me, person games. I have never built an enchantment deck before, so I may be missing some powerful enchantments that I am not aware of. Any suggestions for improvements are appreciated.
Skyshroud Claim! Amazing ramp card and you can grab shock lands and cards of that sort. Also, I'd avoid parallel lives. You won't be using enough token producers and it would take up much needed space for ramp.
I would definitely say expand into white. It offers ghostly prisons, which would work well for this deck. The problem that you will have is finding a balance between ramp and defense. Also, you won't have access to any really good tutors like black has to offer, so get some good draw (Wall of Omens) unless you want to expand into black. I think B/W would be the best color combination for you.
Also, I think that you're going to have to lower the mana curve of your deck a lot if you want this to work well based on the cards I see that you listed. I used a max of 5 cmc I believe with a lot of ramp and defenders and it was still too slow for my playgroup. You could always do constant token producers like awakening zone with a lot of wrath effects and propaganda type effects. That would be interesting to see how it worked.
If you want weaker creatures than that, I'd say just put in large creatures that can be chump blocked (i.e. no fliers or tramplers. Getting a Bogarden or Mindleech Mass turn 2/3/4 is extremely unfair if you're playing with a playgroup that thinks duress is annoying)
Some good ones of this type would be: Avenger of Zendikar, Symbiotic Wurm, Multani, Maro-Sorcerer. These cards are still powerful on turn 2/3/4 but don't deal damage always when they attack. They're still pretty powerful unless you slow your deck down quite a bit like you were talking about with the diabolic, but I think that whatever you do, unless you run all casting cost 4/5 reanimators like zombify, a reanimate deck will be deemed as annoying in your playgroup. I went through the same things when some of my friends decided to start the game up and based upon what you said about your playgroup, I think that they won't stand a good chance against a reanimate deck unless you tone it down a lot.
I generally run 7-8 finishers in these types of decks as I use a lot of fetch cards to put them in graveyards. I liked dragons then so I kept it toned down and simple. I didn't use the Iona, Shield of Emeria and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite like I do now It's Pretty broken too when one gets a Bladewing and Karrthus out on turn 1 and attack for 11 before your opponent goes. This doesn't happen too often though.
Draw/Discard Buried Alive Entomb (up there in price) Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Diabolic Tutor (if you want to go slower and spend less like you said), Mystical Tutor (pretty cheap) Putrid Imp (Since you generally will start with one beater in your hand)
If you decide to use green too, you have Survival of the Fittest (but pretty expensive) and when that's paired with Recurring Nightmare, you're opponents will cry. (In other words, don't use this if you aren't playing competitive decks or people you hate)
Slower/cheaper ones: Putrid Imp (as said above)
Or any of the blue draw and discard abilities like Careful Study, as stated in a previous comment
Whatever you do, I think the deck will be deemed as unfair unless you tone it down a lot, so I'd avoid dark ritual, sol rings, and other ramp cards if you don't want to get a big beater turn 2/3.
My goal is just going to be to control the board state with a lot of wraths and sacrifice effects combined with graveyard shenanigans. What do you think?
Wow, I did not connect the dots initially on that one with the recursion of Xiahou Dun. That's definitely nice. Thanks for explaining that well! I'll make room for that.
Sadly, I won't be able to meet with this current playgroup for a long time, so I'm going to adjust this a tiny bit, so I have the option of using this at my LGS when I choose to, so I'm going to remove the banned cards. I don't think this affects a lot, but I will miss being able to play recurring nightmare the most with its insane broken-ness.
Contamination effects are the one effect I'd rather not use in this deck even though it would be great in here. (This is more of I don't like playing against cards like that that much, so I'd rather not use them myself. It's only a personal reason for this card even though it is amazing in this deck!)
I'm considering Ophiomancer as well, but I just don't know what I would remove for this. The each upkeep is nice.
I'm definitely a fan of Beseech the queen.
Dimir House Guard I feel he will be good if I end up having room for it, which I plan to, but I've reached that point where it's really hard to find more to remove.
Shred Memory-I just feel I don't have enough great 2 CMC cards worth it to have this included. Bitterblossom is great, but I'm not a big fan of tutoring for a tutor and a decent number of cards take priority over bitterblossom for me.
Phyrexian Obliterator is close to my favorite creature to play, but, sadly, I just don't think it has much synergy in here and I feel other cards would be better suited that are supported more by other cards like the Puppeteer Clique that you suggested that I feel would work well as well.
Changes:
Remove:
Braids, Cabal Minion
Recurring Nightmare
Griselbrand
Burnished Hart-I see this played in a decent amount of mono black control decks when I looked online, so I stuck it in here. When I played with my playgroup the other day, this was just the most disappointing draw I had by far. I figured it fit in with the sac ability, but it just felt too slow and too late to be very useful.
Add:
Profane Command
Innocent Blood
Sign in Blood
Beseech the Queen
Cards I'm considering adding, but can't find the room for at the moment:
Puppeteer Clique
Ophiomancer
Dimir House Guard
Mindslicer
Any suggestions on what people feel is unnecessary in the deck currently would be appreciated if anything should be removed for some of these or other opinions on these. Also, thanks for all of the suggestions! It's coming along nicely I'd say.
Remove:
Black Market-Way too slow and I find myself not playing it until it's the last card in my hand every time. Probably a sign that it shouldn't be in here. I love this card and tried to keep it in longer than I definitely should have.
Geth, Lord of the Vault-I'm going to decrease the curve a bit more. He doesn't have much for synergy in this deck, also he's expensive with no immediate benefit that requires 2 turns of syncing mana into.
Everflowing Chalice-I just wasn't satisfied with this card when I drew it. It's probably just because I prefer more early game/cheaper ramp.
Sign in Blood-I just replaced this with Night's Whisper because of the mana cost.
Add:
Slaughter Pact
Silence the Believers
Snuff Out
Night's Whisper-replace sign in blood
For these, I pretty much just think I need more removal. I only have one spot removal, so these should help. Thinking of trying to make room for Innocent Blood as well.
Also, I do like the Sign in Blood and Read the Bones effects a lot more than I thought I would. Thanks for the suggestion! The Cabal Ritual and Bubbling Muck were working well also!
I don't know. I haven't been sold on this card for this deck. I'm not a big fan of the non-instant speed spot removal, recursion (which is done well in my deck already), and the drain of life being on only one opponent. The fear ability is nice though, but I'm not sure how well Grave Pact/Wraths will actually be working to keep my opponents' fields cleared/controlled when I want them to be. I might include this if I find it difficult to keep my opponents' field empty enough. How have your experiences been with using this card? Same goes to anyone that uses this card in a similar deck.
Yeah, yours and the other primer were the other two of the three decks decks I mentioned that I mainly looked at. I would have gone your deck's route if my summer playgroup wasn't as noncompetitive as they are. I already have Arcum Dagsson, Edric, and Azusa decks for my competitive group during the rest of the year, and my summer group doesn't find those very enjoyable, which is understandable for some of them. So, I had to go the slow, control route so they find it more enjoyable and the games last longer. That said, onto the deck building.
I agree. I tried this out and when I did have Wayfarer's Bauble in my hand at the start, I found myself just not using it's ability. This is because I felt a T2 Tutor, T3 Buried Alive, or some T2/T3 card draw would be better, and by having the option of playing it on Turn 4, I found I would probably have drawn a T4 drop by then to play instead or would have just done it then. Either way, I found it to be not very good for me or too late. I figured I'd add it for Cabal Coffers support, but that card doesn't really need anything for support with how bonkers it gets quickly. I do think rituals are a better option for me instead of land ramp because of the instant benefit they provide instead of having to wait another turn to activate. So, these are the new changes:
Remove: Wayfarer's Bauble
Add: Cabal Ritual
Geth, Lord of the Vault is the next card I'm considering removing. I think its usefulness will come to late, and it doesn't have much for instant benefit, which I would prefer if it did. I'm not a big fan of relying on my opponents' GY for creatures as well. I also prefer Chainer, Dementia Master because I can bring back my own guys, sacrifice those guys in response if Chainer were to be removed, and use it as a form of GY removal for my opponents. His ability is also cheaper in mana cost. Considering maybe Slaughter Pact as a replacement; Hero's Downfall is my only spot removal in this deck right now. Removing him would also help my mana curve a bit more.
Black Market is next on the chopping block after this probably. I do know how quickly this will go off and how useful it will be, so I don't know if the benefit is worth it with how much this enchantment costs to cast. Haven't had the chance to play either of these in a multiplayer game yet, so I can't really say definitely for both.
Thanks for all of the help everyone! I appreciate it!
Remove:
1) Bonehoard
2) Dawn of the Dead
3) Ogre Slumlord
Add:
1) Bubbling Muck
2) Lashwrithe
3) Everflowing Chalice
This looks like it will help my curve quite a bit more. I like the Bubbling Muck definitely. I used to run the Everflowing Chalice in an old deck and wasn't a huge fan of it then. I'm going to test it out later today to see how it works or if I just wish I had something else instead.
Remove:
1) Bloodgift Demon-I feel he's just too slow and underwhelming for me. I also already have a high amount of 5 drops, and I think Chainer, Dementia Master, Sidisi, Undead Vizier, and Gray Merchant of Asphodel provide more benefit quicker and fit more in this deck.
2) Caged Sun-I have so many other 6 drops in this deck, I definitely need to cut it down a bit. I feel on this turn I will probably be dropping one of those creatures. I also feel like Extraplanar Lens is a better option for me if I think I need another mana doubler. If Black Market doesn't end up performing well, this or Extraplanar Lens will probably take its place
3) Nightmare Lash
4) Strata Scythe-I feel 2 equipments may be enough. It also had the most expensive equip cost and I lose a swamp.
5) Lashwrithe-I think I'll keep it to one equipment and tutor it up as needed. I just think Bonehoard fits the flavor of this deck better and will scale better in the late game.
6) Sheoldred, Whispering One-Expensive and I already have a lot of recursion for my own creatures and sacrifice effects. I feel Geth, Lord of the Vault and Chainer, Dementia Master fulfill Sheoldred's role better because I can reanimate my opponents' creatures.
7) Steel Hellkite-This guy just doesn't belong really. I only included it because my playgroup loves Aura shards and there aren't many ways to deal with enchantments in mono black. He might go back in if I have a horrific time with that card.
Add:
1) Griselbrand
2) Necromancy
3) Reanimate
4) entomb
5) Wayfarer's Bauble
6) Sign in Blood
7) Read the Bones
I'll add the changes to the above 2 deck lists. What are your opinions on what I chose to remove?
Edit: Also, I've never been a fan of ritual effects in EDH. I tend to always get them as dead draws in the later game. How have they treated you in your deck? I'm considering trying them again in this deck to see how they go.
My main concern is: alternative/better win cons or additional cards to help these current win cons while trying to avoid combos along with any other cards that I may have missed and did not consider to include in the deck. Also, my creature curve seems a bit too high. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!
Deck list based on type of card:
4 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
Creatures (20)
1 Viscera Seer
2 Blood Artist
2 Nether Traitor
2 Bloodghast
2 Reassembling Skeleton
3 Grim Haruspex
3 Pawn of Ulamog
3 Fleshbag Marauder
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Graveborn Muse
4 Solemn Simulacrum
5 Chainer, Dementia Master
5 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
5 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
6 Grave Titan
6 Kokusho, the Evening Star
6 Massacre Wurm
Sorcery/Instant (22)
0 Slaughter Pact
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Entomb
1 Innocent Blood
1 Reanimate
1 Bubbling Muck
2 Cabal Ritual
2 Demonic Tutor
2 Sign in Blood
2 Diabolic Intent
2 Night's Whisper
2x Profane Command
2x Exsanguinate
3 Buried Alive
3 Read the Bones
3 Corpse Dance
3 Yawgmoth's Will
3 Beseech the Queen
3 Hero's Downfall
3 Toxic Deluge
4 Damnation
4 Silence the Believers
4 Snuff Out
5 Hatred
5 Living Death
8 Decree of Pain
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
2 Bitterblossom
2 Gate to Phyrexia
3 Dark Prophecy
3 Necromancy
3 Necropotence
3 Phyrexian Arena
4 Grave Pact
5 Dictate of Erebos
Artifacts (14)
0 Mana Crypt
1 Expedition Map
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
2 Jet Medallion
2 Nim Deathmantle
3 Ashnod's Altar
3 Crucible of Worlds
3 Phyrexian Altar
3 Rings of Brighthearth
4 Lashwrithe
Lands (36)
0 Bloodstained Mire
0 Buried Ruin
0 Cabal Coffers
0 Deserted Temple
0 High Market
0 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
0 Phyrexian Tower
0 Polluted Delta
0 Thawing Glaciers
0 Thespian's Stage
0 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
0 Vesuva
0 Volrath's Stronghold
23 Swamp
Deck list based on function of cards:
0 High Market
0 Phyrexian Tower
1 Viscera Seer
3 Ashnod's Altar
3 Phyrexian Altar
Ramp (8)
0 Mana Crypt
1 Bubbling Muck
1 Sol Ring
2 Cabal Ritual
2 Jet Medallion
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Solemn Simulacrum
Land Ramp Package (7)
0 Cabal Coffers
0 Deserted Temple
0 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
0 Thawing Glaciers
0 Thespian's Stage
0 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
0 Vesuva
Card Draw (10)
1 Skullclamp
1 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Night's Whisper
2 Sign in Blood
3 Read the Bones
3 Dark Prophecy
3 Necropotence
3 Phyrexian Arena
3 Grim Haruspex
4 Graveborn Muse
0 Buried Ruin
0 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Reanimate
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
2 Nim Deathmantle
3 Necromancy
3 Corpse Dance
3 Yawgmoth's Will
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
5 Chainer, Dementia Master
Wraths/Mass Creature Control (9)
1 Innocent Blood
3 Toxic Deluge
3 Fleshbag Marauder
4 Damnation
4 Grave Pact
5 Dictate of Erebos
5 Living Death
6 Massacre Wurm
8 Decree of Pain
Tutors (7)
1 Expedition Map
1 Entomb
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Demonic Tutor
2 Diabolic Intent
3 Buried Alive
3 Beseech the Queen
5 Sidisi, Undead Vizier
2 Nether Traitor
2 Bitterblossom
2 Bloodghast
2 Reassembling Skeleton
3 Pawn of Ulamog
6 Grave Titan
General Damage Package (2)
4 Lashwrithe
5 Hatred
Drain Effects (4)
2 Blood Artist
2x Exsanguinate
2x Profane Command
5 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
6 Kokusho, the Evening Star
Spot Removal (5)
0 Slaughter Pact
2 Gate to Phyrexia
3 Hero's Downfall
4 Snuff Out
4 Silence the Believers
General Shenanigans (1)
3 Rings of Brighthearth
Other Lands (25)
0 Bloodstained Mire
0 Polluted Delta
23 Swamp
Cards I'm considering:
Harvester of Souls-considering replacing Bloodgift Demon with this, but I already have a lot of 6 CMC creatures
Falkenrath Noble-seems a bit too slow
Nirkana Revenant-If ramp package ends up not being enough, but I already have a very high amount of 6 CMC creatures.
Extraplanar Lens-If ramp package ends up not being enough
Diabolic Tutor-might just want another tutor even though it's pretty expensive to cast
1x Angus Mackenzie
Creatures (16)
1x Sun Titan
1x Academy Rector
1x Argothian Enchantress
1x Eternal Witness
1x Hanna, Ship's Navigator
1x Mesa Enchantress
1x Verduran Enchantress
1x Seedborn Muse
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1x Prophet of Kruphix
1x Genesis
1x Mother of Runes
1x Aura Thief
1x Laboratory Maniac
Spells (8)
1x Idyllic Tutor
1x Replenish
1x Calming Verse
1x Open the Vaults
1x Wargate
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Worldly Tutor
1x Eladamri's Call
1x Omniscience
Artifact (3)
1x Sol Ring
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Scroll Rack
1x Survival of the Fittest
1x Land Tax
1x Sacred Mesa
1x Mana Reflection
1x Solitary Confinement
1x Opalescence
1x Honden of Seeing Winds
1x Mystic Remora
1x Privileged Position
1x Sterling Grove
1x Sigil of the Empty Throne
1x Enchanted Evening
1x Luminarch Ascension
1x Collective Restraint
1x Karmic Justice
1x Cloud Cover
1x Sphere of Safety
1x Greater Auramancy
1x Leyline of Sanctity
1x Ghostly Prison
1x Rhystic Study
1x Enchantress's Presence
1x Propaganda
1x Defense of the Heart
1x Sylvan Library
1x Parallax Wave
1x Enduring Ideal
1x Hive Mind
1x Paradox Haze
1x Copy Enchantment
1x City of Solitude
1x Burgeoning
1x Mirari’s Wake
1x Aura Shards
1x Serra's Sanctum
1x Tolaria West
1x Deserted Temple
1x Strip Mine
1x Reliquary Tower
1x Maze of Ith
1x Exotic Orchard
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Temple Garden
1x Breeding Pool
1x Vivid Grove
1x Vivid Creek
1x Vivid Meadow
1x Command Tower
1x Seaside Citadel
9x Forest
5x Island
8x Plains
So, for a very brief overview, Angus Mackenzie basically will just act as a shield paired with Seedborn Muse and Prophet of Kruphix. There's not a very strong role for him in this deck. I mainly picked him for his colors. Anyways, he will act as defense paired with propagandas, ghostly prisons, etc.
So for my win cons, there's obviously the Luminarch Ascension, Sacred Mesa, Opalescence, and Sigil of the Empty Throne. There's also Enchanted Evening combined with cards like Aura Shards, Calming Verse, Parallax Wave, and Aura Thief. There's Omniscience with an incredibly large amount of draw and Laboratory Maniac. There's Defense of the Heart with some nice fatties thrown in. Then, there's Enduring Ideal paired with Hive Mind.
This is for around 3-5, including me, person games. I have never built an enchantment deck before, so I may be missing some powerful enchantments that I am not aware of. Any suggestions for improvements are appreciated.
-Ajani Steadfast
-Ajani, Caller of the Pride
-Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
-Elspeth Tirel + Ajani Goldmane or Vraska the Unseen could work well together
-Elspeth, Knight-Errant
-Garruk, Primal Hunter
-Jace, Architect of Thought
-Liliana Vess
-Vraska the Unseen
I would definitely say expand into white. It offers ghostly prisons, which would work well for this deck. The problem that you will have is finding a balance between ramp and defense. Also, you won't have access to any really good tutors like black has to offer, so get some good draw (Wall of Omens) unless you want to expand into black. I think B/W would be the best color combination for you.
Also, some good creatures to look into would be:
-Primordial Hydra
-Spike Feeder
-Spike Weaver
-Awakening Zone
Also, get Umezawa's Jitte. It's ridiculous to begin with but with doubling season it is godly. Aether Vial is damn good too if you have large cmc creatures.
Also, I think that you're going to have to lower the mana curve of your deck a lot if you want this to work well based on the cards I see that you listed. I used a max of 5 cmc I believe with a lot of ramp and defenders and it was still too slow for my playgroup. You could always do constant token producers like awakening zone with a lot of wrath effects and propaganda type effects. That would be interesting to see how it worked.
2x Bladewing the Risen
1x Hellkite Overlord
1x Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund
1x Bogardan Hellkite
1x Scion of the Ur-Dragon (If you want to go the slower route)
1x Bogarden Hellkite
1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
If you want weaker creatures than that, I'd say just put in large creatures that can be chump blocked (i.e. no fliers or tramplers. Getting a Bogarden or Mindleech Mass turn 2/3/4 is extremely unfair if you're playing with a playgroup that thinks duress is annoying)
Some good ones of this type would be:
Avenger of Zendikar, Symbiotic Wurm, Multani, Maro-Sorcerer. These cards are still powerful on turn 2/3/4 but don't deal damage always when they attack. They're still pretty powerful unless you slow your deck down quite a bit like you were talking about with the diabolic, but I think that whatever you do, unless you run all casting cost 4/5 reanimators like zombify, a reanimate deck will be deemed as annoying in your playgroup. I went through the same things when some of my friends decided to start the game up and based upon what you said about your playgroup, I think that they won't stand a good chance against a reanimate deck unless you tone it down a lot.
I generally run 7-8 finishers in these types of decks as I use a lot of fetch cards to put them in graveyards. I liked dragons then so I kept it toned down and simple. I didn't use the Iona, Shield of Emeria and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite like I do now It's Pretty broken too when one gets a Bladewing and Karrthus out on turn 1 and attack for 11 before your opponent goes. This doesn't happen too often though.
For reanimate, the best Black ones are:
Reanimate (Obviously)
Exhume
Animate Dead
Necromancy
Recurring Nightmare (with Keiga, the tide star and Kokusho, the evening star)
Slower/cheaper ones:
Zombify
Beacon of Unrest
Chainer, Dementia Master
Dread Return
Hell's Caretaker
Rise from the Grave
Draw/Discard
Buried Alive
Entomb (up there in price)
Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor, Diabolic Tutor (if you want to go slower and spend less like you said), Mystical Tutor (pretty cheap)
Putrid Imp (Since you generally will start with one beater in your hand)
If you decide to use green too, you have Survival of the Fittest (but pretty expensive) and when that's paired with Recurring Nightmare, you're opponents will cry. (In other words, don't use this if you aren't playing competitive decks or people you hate)
Slower/cheaper ones:
Putrid Imp (as said above)
Or any of the blue draw and discard abilities like Careful Study, as stated in a previous comment
Whatever you do, I think the deck will be deemed as unfair unless you tone it down a lot, so I'd avoid dark ritual, sol rings, and other ramp cards if you don't want to get a big beater turn 2/3.
If this works, these will be my edits:
-Leyline of the Void
-Drain Life
-Consume Spirit
-Choice of Damnations
+Ink-eyes, servant of oni
+Recurring Nightmare (my playgroup apparently doesn't play with the ban list, excluding the banned commanders)
+Massacre Wurm
+Nezumi Graverobber