This deck grew out of my Liliana deck. I ended up using my mighty tutors and lilianas resurrection ability to grab Razaketh more time then I felt were really right, so I ended up moving him to the commander slot. The deck has essentially two win conditions: God's Gift with a grave full of value creatures and slow grinding to victory, or grabbing more ramp and Torment of Hellfire with Razaketh and ending with Torment on 20ish.
The deck is more redundant then other brawl decks in my experience, with three tutors + a tutoring commander, panharmonicon and god pharohs gift letting you double or triple up on effects and all of the board wipes. You are the control deck, resetting the board while dropping ramp and 2-1s to slow enemies until you either grind them out or torment for victory.
This deck is going to become much, much stronger when Core 2019 enters as Raza + Reassembling Skeletons will be legal together!
Best Card by Turn:
1. A Swamp hopefully.
2. Thaumatic Compass if against control, or Gifted Aetherborn against aggro.
3. Golden Demise or Mirage Mirror, the Mirror is the swiss army knife of cards and demise resets the board.
4. Ravenous Chupacabra is nearly always the best turn four spell. Mastermind and Diabolic Tutors are better when you can search and cast on the same turn.
5. Final parting or Gilded Lotus. Final parting usually grabs God's Gift, and drops the relevant creature into the grave for next turn. Alternatively Cabal Stronghold in hand, a weak creature in the grave for later.
6. Cabal Stronghold. If you haven't placed it yet, you really want it now. Then God's Gift to begin resurrecting the grave.
7. Razaketh, grabbing Torment if you have sufficient ramp or panharmonicon/Mirage Mirror to double God's Gift if you don't.
8+. Torment for lethal, or begin grinding out opponents.
Basically it is some combination of Baleful Strix and Dark Confidant stapled together. Monarch is a very powerful mechanic in pauper, and a deathtouch blocker is good at keeping you from being immediately attacked.
I play online about 4 days a week for 3-5 games, offline about 1 a month. I play some limited leagues online, otherwise just free matches. Offline pure casual multiplayer.
I'm the group spike, so I often feel the need to underplay in person. Online I can play more competitively without feeling bad/being ostracized.
[quote from="Ferdi_da »" url="/forums/the-game/other-formats/mtgo-pauper/established/189720-primer-mono-black-control?comment=406"]
But I posted here for another reason:
What is Thorn of the Black Rose doing in a pauper deck, and why is it so expensive? It's 3B for a 1/3 that has deathtouch. I don't see the appeal.
It draws you a card every turn against control. Most control decks run more card draw and less creatures then MBC, which in long games gives them the advantage. Getting a card every turn is back breaking against those decks. It is also why Boros Monarch is good right now; monarch is an amazing mechanic for midrange style decks.
I really want to try Muldrotha as the curve topper to a Birthing Pod deck. The two seem like they go together perfectly, filling your graveyard with recurrable stuff, cheating out the king, and tutoring for answers.
I've been having a blast playing Liliana, Value Re-animator.
The deck's fluff is pretty solid, winning by Liliana repeatedly drawing on her demonic patrons for support.
Mechanically the deck wins by having multiple tutors and the ability to reanimate your big demons over and over again, along with whatever value creatures you need. I have won several games off of reanimating Demon of Dark Schemes, then grabbing whatever the best creature is in your opponent's graveyard as a new wincon.
Mirage Mirror and Panharmonicon are absurdly good value engines, even jank like Skittering Surveyor is good with panharmonicon, and Mirage mirror can target your own cabal stronghold for extra mana, your panharmonicon for extra value, or your legendaries in response to exile effects to remove them from the board first and protect them for reanimation.
The odd creatures out are Josu and Dread Shade, who don't fit the theme but are good beaters throughout the game.
I've never played standard before, but MBC being cheap and big mana got me excited. With some tweaking I ended up with the following list, I will eventually pick up 4 Walking Ballista in place of the Torment of Venom and Josu. I'm playing the compass/blood fast split because additional Arguels' are worthless, and against control Compass is better.
I run 3 in my list and many times I want a fourth. I've learned that a 4/5 with menace on turn 4 is POWERFUL backed by removal. He's a walker killer and a hell of blocker at that point.
Phyrexian Scriptures I want to try it. I've just not been able to test much this past week and I'm honestly not satisfied with what i've tested so far. Some day I will get some time to run some games with it.
As I recall you aren't playing Torment of Hellfire. Your list is closer to a midrange then mine, which is more focused on control and the end game. Torment is nearly always better IME, reaching lethal damage quite early on and sealing wins.
I've never played standard before, but MBC being cheap and big mana got me excited. With some tweaking I ended up with the following list, I will eventually pick up 4 Walking Ballista in place of the Torment of Venom and Josu. I'm playing the compass/blood fast split because additional Arguels' are worthless, and against control Compass is better.
Title name is a joke off of BG Rock and Threshold, so I'm naming it Thrash after the music genre.
With the new Divest and the glut of good threshold cards I decided to see if the Rock style of high redundancy, high consistency midrange would work in pauper. The deck is pretty dang good so far, lots of things that could be trimmed up but it is disruptive and consistent enough to tank delver, fast enough to race burn, and mongoose cooks control decks. The amount of graveyard hate has gone down recently as well so it doesn't have to worry as much about being blown out by relics.
The side is very iffy, and two of the mainboard choices could probably be swapped. Dead weight I picked over other 1 drop removal because commune can tutor for it, and rootwalla is there for mongrel and because it is very efficient aggro early game.
The other rats protect the swarm by grinding the opponent's hand, we get very big creatures and lead the stampede nets the deck almost a full hand every time.
Trying to make the new Ghitu Lavarunner work in UR Delver, having no manner of luck at all.
I want the deck to be very aggressive (why have goblin guide otherwise?) and play more like legacy UR delver but so far it feels slower then mono U delver and less reach then normal UR delver.
The problem as I see it is that the faerie package is not really functional in this deck. It is too slow for what I am trying to accomplish, and doesn't provide enough protection.
Except, Frantic Search is banned in pauper, but yeah, still a strong possibility as a sideboard. Leaves blue with mana open to brainstorm and such at EoT at least.
Not in paper pauper it isn't. Of course if you aren't using the ban list your playing drake in that slot.
Arcane Flight is actually playable, another shockingly acceptable card.
The deck is more redundant then other brawl decks in my experience, with three tutors + a tutoring commander, panharmonicon and god pharohs gift letting you double or triple up on effects and all of the board wipes. You are the control deck, resetting the board while dropping ramp and 2-1s to slow enemies until you either grind them out or torment for victory.
This deck is going to become much, much stronger when Core 2019 enters as Raza + Reassembling Skeletons will be legal together!
Best Card by Turn:
1. A Swamp hopefully.
2. Thaumatic Compass if against control, or Gifted Aetherborn against aggro.
3. Golden Demise or Mirage Mirror, the Mirror is the swiss army knife of cards and demise resets the board.
4. Ravenous Chupacabra is nearly always the best turn four spell. Mastermind and Diabolic Tutors are better when you can search and cast on the same turn.
5. Final parting or Gilded Lotus. Final parting usually grabs God's Gift, and drops the relevant creature into the grave for next turn. Alternatively Cabal Stronghold in hand, a weak creature in the grave for later.
6. Cabal Stronghold. If you haven't placed it yet, you really want it now. Then God's Gift to begin resurrecting the grave.
7. Razaketh, grabbing Torment if you have sufficient ramp or panharmonicon/Mirage Mirror to double God's Gift if you don't.
8+. Torment for lethal, or begin grinding out opponents.
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Mastermind's Acquisition
1 Live Fast
1 Arguel's Blood Fast
1 Thaumatic Compass
1 Metalspinner's Puzzleknot
1 Never/Return
1 Battle at the Bridge
1 Walk the Plank
1 Phyrexian Scriptures
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
1 Golden Demise
1 Yahenni's Expertise
1 Josu Vess, Lich Knight
1 Ravenous Chupacabra
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
1 Dread Shade
1 Skittering Surveyor
1 Kitesail Freebooter
1 Dusk Legion Zealot
1 Gifted Aetherborn
1 Demon of Dark Schemes
1 Tetzimoc, Primal Death
1 Demonlord Belzenlok
1 Filigree Familiar
1 Torment of Hailfire
1 Panharmonicon
1 Mirage Mirror
1 Manalith
1 Powerstone Shard
1 Cabal Stronghold
24 Swamp
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Razaketh, the Foulblooded
I'm the group spike, so I often feel the need to underplay in person. Online I can play more competitively without feeling bad/being ostracized.
It draws you a card every turn against control. Most control decks run more card draw and less creatures then MBC, which in long games gives them the advantage. Getting a card every turn is back breaking against those decks. It is also why Boros Monarch is good right now; monarch is an amazing mechanic for midrange style decks.
1 Never/Return
1 Torment of Hailfire
1 Battle at the Bridge
1 Walk the Plank
1 Cast Down
1 Tetzimoc, Primal Death
1 Demonlord Belzenlok
1 Demon of Dark Schemes
1 Razaketh, the Foulblooded
1 Nightmare
1 Kitesail Freebooter
1 Dusk Legion Zealot
1 Gifted Aetherborn
1 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
1 Josu Vess, Lich Knight
1 Ravenous Chupacabra
1 Dread Shade
1 Skittering Surveyor
1 Panharmonicon
1 Fortuitous Find
1 Thaumatic Compass
1 Metalspinner's Puzzleknot
1 Arguel's Blood Fast
1 Mirage Mirror
1 Cabal Stronghold
22 Swamp
1 Renegade Map
1 Cradle of the Accursed
1 The Eldest Reborn
1 Phyrexian Scriptures
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
1 Golden Demise
1 Yahenni's Expertise
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Mastermind's Acquisition
1 Liliana, Death's Majesty
I've been having a blast playing Liliana, Value Re-animator.
The deck's fluff is pretty solid, winning by Liliana repeatedly drawing on her demonic patrons for support.
Mechanically the deck wins by having multiple tutors and the ability to reanimate your big demons over and over again, along with whatever value creatures you need. I have won several games off of reanimating Demon of Dark Schemes, then grabbing whatever the best creature is in your opponent's graveyard as a new wincon.
Mirage Mirror and Panharmonicon are absurdly good value engines, even jank like Skittering Surveyor is good with panharmonicon, and Mirage mirror can target your own cabal stronghold for extra mana, your panharmonicon for extra value, or your legendaries in response to exile effects to remove them from the board first and protect them for reanimation.
The odd creatures out are Josu and Dread Shade, who don't fit the theme but are good beaters throughout the game.
As I recall you aren't playing Torment of Hellfire. Your list is closer to a midrange then mine, which is more focused on control and the end game. Torment is nearly always better IME, reaching lethal damage quite early on and sealing wins.
4 Cabal Stronghold
3 Never/Return
3 Divest
3 Arguel's Blood Fast
4 Battle at the Bridge
2 Torment of Venom
3 Torment of Hailfire
2 Thaumatic Compass
4 Kitesail Freebooter
4 Dread Shade
2 Josu Vess, Lich Knight
3 Yahenni's Expertise
3 Lost Legacy
4 Duress
4 Knight of Malice
1 Torment of Venom
With the new Divest and the glut of good threshold cards I decided to see if the Rock style of high redundancy, high consistency midrange would work in pauper. The deck is pretty dang good so far, lots of things that could be trimmed up but it is disruptive and consistent enough to tank delver, fast enough to race burn, and mongoose cooks control decks. The amount of graveyard hate has gone down recently as well so it doesn't have to worry as much about being blown out by relics.
The side is very iffy, and two of the mainboard choices could probably be swapped. Dead weight I picked over other 1 drop removal because commune can tutor for it, and rootwalla is there for mongrel and because it is very efficient aggro early game.
4 Duress
4 Chainer's Edict
4 Dead Weight
3 Commune with the Gods
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Wight of Precinct Six
4 Werebear
4 Wild Mongrel
7 Forest
4 Jungle Hollow
7 Swamp
2 Echoing Decay
4 Shrivel
2 Thorn of the Black Rose
4 Natural State
3 Crippling Fatigue
4 Chittering Rats
2 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
4 Ravenous Rats
2 rotting rats
4 Peat Bog
4 Jungle Hollow
2 Golgari Guildgate
2 Mortuary Mire
8 Swamp
The other rats protect the swarm by grinding the opponent's hand, we get very big creatures and lead the stampede nets the deck almost a full hand every time.
I want the deck to be very aggressive (why have goblin guide otherwise?) and play more like legacy UR delver but so far it feels slower then mono U delver and less reach then normal UR delver.
The problem as I see it is that the faerie package is not really functional in this deck. It is too slow for what I am trying to accomplish, and doesn't provide enough protection.
Current Deck:
10 Island
5 Mountain
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ghitu Lavarunner
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Faerie Miscreant
2 Valley Dasher
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Spell Pierce
4 Gush
4 Smash to Smithereens
4 Stone Rain
3 Curse of the Pierced Heart
Potential Deck:
10 Island
5 Mountain
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
4 Gitaxian Probe
2 snap
4 daze
4 Ghitu Lavarunner
4 Valley Dasher
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Spell Pierce
4 Gush
4 Smash to Smithereens
4 Stone Rain
3 Curse of the Pierced Heart
Valley Dasher is a bad card by comparison, Firebrand Archer or Mage-Ring Bully might be a better choice.
Not in paper pauper it isn't. Of course if you aren't using the ban list your playing drake in that slot.
Arcane Flight is actually playable, another shockingly acceptable card.