Round 1, Naya Zoo:
Game one: I win the roll and keep a hand with Liliana, tendrils, nighthawk and four swamps. We continue passing back and fourth until he makes his first play of the game and plays ranger of eos fetching two scute mobs. I lay aland for the turn and play liliana, using -2 to fetch sorin and pass. He attacks the liliana with the ranger and plays a scute mob. I draw and then shoot the scute mob, at this poin my removal and sorin kick in and he's unable to get back control of the game.
1-0
Sideboard: In 3 deathmarks, out two consume spirit, one duress
Game two: He leads off with a wild nacatl and passes, I play a swamp and pass, he pings me with the nacatl and plays another and a mesa and passes, I draw and pass, he plays a mountain and pops the mesa, I respond by disfiguring a nacatl, he attacks and I doomblade the nacatl. I draw and pass, he plays blood elf and cascades into vines of the vastwood and doesn't play it, I disfigure the elf. he passes and I play a nighthawk which eats a bolt on his next turn after he plays a ranger of eos for a nacatl and a scute mob. I draw, play a kicked gatekeeper and pass. he lays the nacatl and scute mob, I EOT doom blade the nacatl, draw and play sorin shooting scute mob, he can't stabilize after this and concedes after I haunting echoes away most his stuff.
2-0 1-0
Round 2 Five Color Rite of Replication Deck:
Game one: He gets stuck on four and I proceed to resolve liliana, then mind sludge, then haunting echoes, then sorin and he can't deal with it.
1-0
In three pithing needles, out 3 disfigure.
Game two:
I got a solid start and resolved a turn five mind sludge, and was beating with nighthawk every turn, he then proceeds to Kicked rite my nighthawk and even though I tendrils two of them for 9 at end of turn, I then see nothing but doom blade and swamps for the next 7 draws.
1-1
game three:
The game runs long and he gets a kicked sphinx of lost truths, I then doom blade it and mind sludge away his hand followed by a haunting echoes, the next turn essentially taking away his entire deck, I play two bloodwitchs after that and with his day of judgments removed, he scoops.
2-1 2-0
Round Three, RG Elf beatdown.
Game one: I win the roll and he plays the first spell of the game with a visionary, I draw and play a kicked gatekeeper, he is stuck on four forests and plays a llanowar elves, I untap draw and disfigure the elves, I mind sludge him on my fifth turn and he never can draw out of it.
1-0
In 3 deathmark, 2 marsh casualties out three duress, two gatekeeper
Game two:
He starts strong with llanowar turn one archdruid turn two, which I disfiure end of turn, he then plays nissa revane, which was a nightmare when he was using oran-reif, the vastwood on the chosen, thanks to some very luck tendrils off the top, i was able to survive until bloodwitch + consume spirit took out nissa and I then resolved another bloodwitch and was able to outrace him.
2-0 3-0
Round 4, Jund:
Game one: I win the roll and keep a relatively promising hand with mind sludge and lots of removal, he's unable to get a creature to stick until I mind sludge, we're then both playing off the top and every creature I attempt to stick gets terminated or pulsed. He finally draw the thrinax followed by broodmate dragon and I can't deal.
0-1
Game Two: I'm forced to mull to six and quite simply, I get steam rolled, I get both a sorin and a liliana resolved, but they both get pulsed, he runs me over with putrid leech and a bituminous blast, into a blood elf into a thrinax.
0-2 3-1.
I need to put a second sorin in, if he dies I lose one of my main win cons and can fall apart, while liliana was nice some of the time, she wasn't good against jund, which is a good enough reason to move it to the board.
I am curious about people's experiences versus Mono-Black Vampire Aggro. There seems to be quite a bit of it in my meta and I'd like to prepare accordingly. In the testing I have done, I see Quest for the Gravelord, Vampire Hexmage, and the random explosiveness of Vampire Nocturnus as its primary threats versus MBC. If this is correct, Pithing Needle in the side should make short work of the Quest and Hexmage.
Other than that, it seems like a battle of creatures vs. removal and discard vs. discard. Who can Duress whose Mind Sludge first, and so forth.
Ive been playtesting this deck thoroughly with mixed results. Ive made a lot of changes to it, so it probably looks a lot different then everyone elses decklist on here but there are some explanations for what ive cut..so here it is.
So your probably wondering why i'm not running nighthawks. its a horrible decision. well you might be right. after playtesting this deck for hours up end with nighthawks in place of the fleshbags the fleshbags seemed much more efficient for the type of deck this is actually trying to be.
You need to lock down the board as soon as possible with a mind sludge or infest and Jund is the hardest deck for this deck to beat so i tried to focus more on getting rid of the stag and other bothersom creatures early game and it seems to be working.
This deck still is very fragile tho. Mainly based against the creature / aggro metagame, as soon as you hit control you will probably most definately lose until you sideboard, but after that you have a much better shot for sure.
Grim Discovery is amazing in this deck. You can even use Terramorphics over Sac lands if your poor and they work almost as well.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Trying to take this deck more into the control aspect considering i see it slowly going more towards vampire aggro more than anything.
Ive been playtesting this deck thoroughly with mixed results. Ive made a lot of changes to it, so it probably looks a lot different then everyone elses decklist on here but there are some explanations for what ive cut..so here it is.
So your probably wondering why i'm not running nighthawks. its a horrible decision. well you might be right. after playtesting this deck for hours up end with nighthawks in place of the fleshbags the fleshbags seemed much more efficient for the type of deck this is actually trying to be.
You need to lock down the board as soon as possible with a mind sludge or infest and Jund is the hardest deck for this deck to beat so i tried to focus more on getting rid of the stag and other bothersom creatures early game and it seems to be working.
This deck still is very fragile tho. Mainly based against the creature / aggro metagame, as soon as you hit control you will probably most definately lose until you sideboard, but after that you have a much better shot for sure.
Grim Discovery is amazing in this deck. You can even use Terramorphics over Sac lands if your poor and they work almost as well.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Trying to take this deck more into the control aspect considering i see it slowly going more towards vampire aggro more than anything.
Hi, I really like your build, but can I suggest trying out something along the lines of, 4 catacombs, 4 jund panaroma with 4 maelstrom pulse and 1 forest in the side? Other than that, it looks pretty solid, although I may run something over tutors.
Hi, I really like your build, but can I suggest trying out something along the lines of, 4 catacombs, 4 jund panaroma with 4 maelstrom pulse and 1 forest in the side? Other than that, it looks pretty solid, although I may run something over tutors.
thanks for the comment
what is the maelstrom absolutely needed for im kinda lost on that?
and the the above poster is right. you cant run that many sac lands.
you need to run as many swamps as possible. the 4 sac lands are enough
And i put the tutor in because of how game changing turn 5 mind sludge is everytime against almost any deck other then decks that run howling mine and the such. it works wonders.
This is the 5k philly first play list, no great sable stags. The idea is that they want to minimize cards that can't do anything before a mind sludge hits. Not to mention the only real targets for bit blast in this deck is malakir bloodwitch.
Regarding putrid leech, he's not going pump knowing you have disfigure, it hits for 2 on turn 3, just like ruinblaster. But the ruinblaster has haste, and is conditionally better. Its not exactly easy to get 8 lands, especially after mind sludges.
From your statements I think you have yet to do much playtesting against jund. I may be mistaken, but I feel you should give more solid arguments aside from theorycrafting.
My point is Ruinblasters are not that big of a concern for potentially hitting 2 out of 25 land in the deck. Sure bringing them in may give them an additional hasted creature. So sure I was a bit hyperbolic downplaying their boards choices for the game overall. Have never had a problem hitting a T5 Mind Sludge, if it is drawn while holding on to castle such that it never is at risk. Does that mean it could never be at risk no? Is there reasons to play Castles?
Yes--not every Jund build runs the 5K--gasp I know--so there are people playing it who play Stags which gives you an out other than hoping they do not have another creature on board so your Gatekeeper will get the Stag. There are other builds running green that have Stags in the board even if Jund does not. Not running 2 cards because a Ruinblaster might get them is not a particularly good reason not to run 1-2 castles that give you a creature that can be a threat post mind sludge.
Round 1, Naya Zoo:
Game one: I win the roll and keep a hand with Liliana, tendrils, nighthawk and four swamps. We continue passing back and fourth until he makes his first play of the game and plays ranger of eos fetching two scute mobs. I lay aland for the turn and play liliana, using -2 to fetch sorin and pass. He attacks the liliana with the ranger and plays a scute mob. I draw and then shoot the scute mob, at this poin my removal and sorin kick in and he's unable to get back control of the game.
1-0
Sideboard: In 3 deathmarks, out two consume spirit, one duress
Game two: He leads off with a wild nacatl and passes, I play a swamp and pass, he pings me with the nacatl and plays another and a mesa and passes, I draw and pass, he plays a mountain and pops the mesa, I respond by disfiguring a nacatl, he attacks and I doomblade the nacatl. I draw and pass, he plays blood elf and cascades into vines of the vastwood and doesn't play it, I disfigure the elf. he passes and I play a nighthawk which eats a bolt on his next turn after he plays a ranger of eos for a nacatl and a scute mob. I draw, play a kicked gatekeeper and pass. he lays the nacatl and scute mob, I EOT doom blade the nacatl, draw and play sorin shooting scute mob, he can't stabilize after this and concedes after I haunting echoes away most his stuff.
2-0 1-0
Round 2 Five Color Rite of Replication Deck:
Game one: He gets stuck on four and I proceed to resolve liliana, then mind sludge, then haunting echoes, then sorin and he can't deal with it.
1-0
In three pithing needles, out 3 disfigure.
Game two:
I got a solid start and resolved a turn five mind sludge, and was beating with nighthawk every turn, he then proceeds to Kicked rite my nighthawk and even though I tendrils two of them for 9 at end of turn, I then see nothing but doom blade and swamps for the next 7 draws.
1-1
game three:
The game runs long and he gets a kicked sphinx of lost truths, I then doom blade it and mind sludge away his hand followed by a haunting echoes, the next turn essentially taking away his entire deck, I play two bloodwitchs after that and with his day of judgments removed, he scoops.
2-1 2-0
Round Three, RG Elf beatdown.
Game one: I win the roll and he plays the first spell of the game with a visionary, I draw and play a kicked gatekeeper, he is stuck on four forests and plays a llanowar elves, I untap draw and disfigure the elves, I mind sludge him on my fifth turn and he never can draw out of it.
1-0
In 3 deathmark, 2 marsh casualties out three duress, two gatekeeper
Game two:
He starts strong with llanowar turn one archdruid turn two, which I disfiure end of turn, he then plays nissa revane, which was a nightmare when he was using oran-reif, the vastwood on the chosen, thanks to some very luck tendrils off the top, i was able to survive until bloodwitch + consume spirit took out nissa and I then resolved another bloodwitch and was able to outrace him.
2-0 3-0
Round 4, Jund:
Game one: I win the roll and keep a relatively promising hand with mind sludge and lots of removal, he's unable to get a creature to stick until I mind sludge, we're then both playing off the top and every creature I attempt to stick gets terminated or pulsed. He finally draw the thrinax followed by broodmate dragon and I can't deal.
0-1
Game Two: I'm forced to mull to six and quite simply, I get steam rolled, I get both a sorin and a liliana resolved, but they both get pulsed, he runs me over with putrid leech and a bituminous blast, into a blood elf into a thrinax.
0-2 3-1.
I need to put a second sorin in, if he dies I lose one of my main win cons and can fall apart, while liliana was nice some of the time, she wasn't good against jund, which is a good enough reason to move it to the board.
Nice job on going 3-1. I play a very similar list, I went 4-0 going up against blue/white control, green/white aggro, esper artifacts, and vampires...only game i lost was game vs the blue/white deck suck on 4 lands. By far the worst matchup for this deck is jund, when it comes to playing off the top deck..jund has too many advantages aka cascade. I Think we need to focus our sb vs the jund match up.
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T2 Decks
:symb:The Night Mono Black Control:symb:
:symw::symr::symu:IonaMorph:symw::symr::symu:
I've been testing my build in the tournament practice room on MOTL over the last couple of days, and I have to say, Gargoyle Castle is definitely worth two slots.
It rarely shows up in the opening hand, and I've been finding that at worst, my T5 Mind Sludge hits for only 4 (which is still good). In the late game, it swings for a chunky 3, chumps in the air, and is actually quite useful at keeping Jund's Bloodbraid Elf in check. Sure, you might have hit them with a Sludge and left them with no hand, but if they rip an Elf off the top, suddenly it's not as impressive.
Really the only downside I've found is that they might still get lucky with Bituminous Blast, but that's why we have Haunting Echoes. The key, I'm finding, is to match their creatures 1 to 1.
I also had a match against Flores yesterday (which was pretty cool). He was running BG Ob-noxious Landfall, and I was keeping up with him pretty well, winning game one on the back of a Sludge and tons of removal.
Two key things I took away from that game were this:
He sided in Scepter of Fugue. Some people have been dismissing this card, but it ruined me, and the only way to get rid of it is through Duress or Mind Sludge. Pithing Needle doesn't work because of our friend Maelstrom Pulse. The Scepter seemed surprisingly effective, and I think it should be worked into our deck against slower builds; not necessarily in the main deck, but the side at least.
Haunting Echoes can be effective, but Flores decided to board so that he only ran 2-ofs. Not necessarily something that will be effective every time, but something to keep in mind for game 3 at least if you boarded in another 2 for game 2.
I've also been running a single copy of Nyxathid because I've only been able to snag a pair of Malakir Bloodwitches. I'm finding him surprisingly effective as a blocker against aggro decks who empty their hands early, and he's pretty nice to drop after a Sludge. He sucks against control but I'm actually considering leaving him in my build. Anyone else who's been using him, please let me know what else you're finding with him, because I'm still not completely sold. I'll be using him until I get a 3rd witch at least though.
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In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
He sided in Scepter of Fugue. Some people have been dismissing this card, but it ruined me, and the only way to get rid of it is through Duress or Mind Sludge. Pithing Needle doesn't work because of our friend Maelstrom Pulse. The Scepter seemed surprisingly effective, and I think it should be worked into our deck against slower builds; not necessarily in the main deck, but the side at least.
I've got two sideboarded. I'm glad to hear it works.
***WARNING - Wall of incoming text, please proceed with caution***
Hey guys, just got back from my first ever Standard tournament this evening with my newly beloved MBC deck. You may have seen my lengthy post a couple pages back in this very same thread regarding the deck and my thoughts on it. After play-testing it for only a week (and very limited at that) I was very happy with the results! I managed to go 4-1-1 ... going 9-4 overall in the matches.
Out of a total of 26 participants for a Tuesday tournament I ended up in the top 4 All the usual decks you'd expect were there including lots of Jund, Vampires (some of the R/B variety), The R/W Boros Bushwacker deck from the Philly 5k, some Naya and Bant, etc. It was a fun evening as three of us out of the top 4 were running some form of Rogue deck and rose above the others - A 'unique' varient of Mono White Control, G/W Naya with Ranger of Eos and Scute Mob shenanigans, and myself with the ol' MBC (The final spot went to Bant). Since it was getting late we decided to split the top 4 prize money and head home...
Game 1 - Myself against some mediocre form of W/U Control. Not much to report here as I win the match within a good 15 minutes going 2-0. I drop Sorin both games and he simply fails to have an answer for it after using all his counters or removal on previously played cards. Turn 5 Mind Sludge in the second game seals the deal as I win big.
Game 2 - Put me against one of those R/W Boros Bushwacker lists floating around online today. I win game 1 rather easily on the back of early Gatekeepers, a Disfigure, and ToC. Sorin plus a two Consume Spirits end it quickly for me (Much to the dismay of my opponent). Second game is not close as he applies too much early pressure with Goblin Guide and Plated Geopede. Me keeping a band opening hand doesn't help matters much. Game 3 is a bit closer but he hits for me lethal damage after dropping a Bushwacker and swinging with his four creatures on the board.
At this point I'm sitting at 1-1 (3-2 for matches)
Game 3 - I want to say it was MWC but it also had some WW elements to it with Honor of the Pure and *gulp* Iona (Makes a mono colored player like me very sadface indeed). First game he gets mana screwed and I come out of the gates early swinging with my ceatures and clearing the board of any threats with a combination of kicked Gatekeepers in addition to my other removal. Sorin hits the board and I use his second ability which next turn leads to a swing with Bloodwitch and a Consume Spirit for 6. Game 2 is my most frustrating game of the evening as I get him down to 4 without much trouble but then he clears the board with a kicked Martial Coup then next turn drops an Iona calling Black. I sit there and laugh at my failure to do an extra 4 points of damage earlier. Game 3 I sideboard in my Sacraments play one turn 3 to take out those annoying Iona's plus a random Luminarch Ascension. He keeps a terrible hand and eventually gets Mind Sludged for 6.
The game is never really close and I win easily on a Consume Spirit for 8.
Now sitting at 2-1 (5-3 for matches)
Game 4 - Yet another R/W Boros Bushwacker deck (there were three total out of 26 present). Game 1 I was pretty worried but he's never able to establish any sort of board presence with me drawing into three Gatekeepers (1 in opening hand). I catch two Ranger of Eos with a Mind Sludge with a turn 5 and it's over from there. My Nyxathid which I had dropped turn 4 swings in for 7 damage. Sorin hitting the board and using his second ability before following that up with Bloodwitch damage, etc. Game 2 I sideboard in my 3 Infests taking out the 3 Mind Sludges (Not as good against fast aggro decks in my opinion). It pays off massively for me as I start with two in my opening hand + a Gatekeeper. That pretty much ensures he has no creatures out. By this time I have a Nighthawk and Gatekeeper out (Hexmage was PtE for some odd reason) and play Bloodwitch for the little bonus life drain. A couple of turns attacking and a Consume Spirit for 7 seal the deal.
Now 3-1 (7-3 for matches)
Game 4 - Get matched up with a one of the guys there whom I know and we decide to draw the game and each guarantee ourselves a spot in the top 8 for single elimination from there. This is a good thing as he was the one running the custom MWC deck with some seriously mean combos in it - I doubt I would've won.
Leaves me at 3-1-1 (7-3 Matches)
The pairings for top 8 come out and I find myself pitied up against Jund Game 1 I win based off the strength of three early Gatekeepers and back-to-back Bloodwitches. Sorin hits the board soon after and thanks to some chump blockers + the decent amount of Vamps out for Bloodwitche's ability to be decent Markov is able to effect the game on his lonesome. To be fair he seemed to keep a rather mediocre hand after having to mulligan down to 6 cards in his opening hand.
For Game 2 I sideboard in 4 Deathmarks in place of Disfigure and 2 Haunting Echoes for the pair of Nyxathids. This is a rather long game that goes back and forth for the most part. I'm unable to draw anything worthwhile after dropping my Sorin and trying to make a desperate last push. Three straight land draws ensure I get nothing to help me out and I end up losing.
Game 3 of this match-up was probably the most satisfying of the evening He's not able to keep anything out for long thanks to two Gatekeepers and a Deathmark. Nighthawk hits the board turn 4 and starts swinging in before I catch him with a Mind Sludge (he has two cards in hand) which catches two Blightnings. Next turn I tap 5 and Haunting Echoes him (so so satisfying to pull off in a game). This wipes out nearly half of his library as it catches Verdant Marshes, BBE, Putrid Leech, Blightning, etc. Bloodwitch hits the board and drains him down for a small chunk. After two attacks with her I Consume Spirit him for 6 for the win!
Finishing 4-1-1 (9-4 in matches)
My thoughts - The Deck was insanely fun to play and surprisingly competitive considering I *just* put it together last week and this was my first time playing it in a tournament. My MVP's for the night were Sorin and Consume Spirit. Many people were completely shocked to find themselves getting dinked for large sums of damage out of nowhere with this card - it easily finished 5-6 matches for me. After tonight I can't see why anyone wouldn't run 3 in the mainboard. It does so much (Planewalkers weren't a huge problem for me this evening) and surprised a lot of folks as my finisher.
Hexmage was put in the mainboard to stave off fast aggro decks like the Bushwacker (2/1 first strike plus her ability? Yes please). Also she's another Vamp to potentially have out on the board when Bloodwitch comes into play. I was pleasantly surprised at the damage her drain was able to do - typically anywhere from three to four.
Nyxathid ended up being great for me and was always a nice sight early game either right before or after a Mind Sludge. There were at least three matches where he provided me with some early heat and one where he finished on his lonesome. He's great for early tempo and while some might prefer to run Nightmare over him to be honest at turn 6 I'd rather be playing some other cards in some sort of combination in place of some high cost creature. I'm still open to the idea of running Nightmare x 2 in this deck in place of Nyxathid but will decide upon that later after some more games.
In general Infest was great for me against all the small aggro running around as a sideboard option (I don't think I killed any of my own creatures tonight when playing it - often Nighthawk was on the board for me). I don't see why anyone would choose to PtE any of our creatures as each game those who did lost it seems. Giving our deck an extra land for free just allows me to play that Mind Sludge or Sorin one turn sooner. I was never sad when one of my creatures ate it
I was very happy with how the deck played out and other than one match in which I kept a band opening hand (two lands - one being a Castle - one Sign in Blood and no removal outside of a Tendrils of what I can remember) I didn't have any complaints. Most often my opening hands consisted of three lands, one-two utility spells such as Disfigure or Sign in Blood, and one removal in the form of Gatekeeper or Tendrils.
I'm looking forward to playing this deck once more in the next tournament I can make it to and further learning the ins and outs of it. As a final thought I'll leave you with this ... seriously if you aren't running 3 Consume Spirits you really need to find room for them. Once you manage to force the match into the mid-late game (which is where this deck truly shines) I was never sad to draw one or play the one I had been holding onto.
Any other questions or comments about this wall o' text feel free to ask me and I'll try to answer as best I can. If you have any specific questions about one of the decks I went against and want me to go into more detail about it I'd be happy to. For now it's rather late and I'm heading off to bed...
Good luck, have fun MBC players
- Weazy
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"Never trouble trouble until trouble troubles you..." - indeed
Game 3 of this match-up was probably the most satisfying of the evening He's not able to keep anything out for long thanks to two Gatekeepers and a Deathmark. Nighthawk hits the board turn 4 and starts swinging in before I catch him with a Mind Sludge (he has two cards in hand) which catches two Blightnings. Next turn I tap 5 and Haunting Echoes him (so so satisfying to pull off in a game). This wipes out nearly half of his library as it catches Verdant Marshes, BBE, Putrid Leech, Blightning, etc. Bloodwitch hits the board and drains him down for a small chunk. After two attacks with her I Consume Spirit him for 6 for the win!
Awesome! Great to here the deck is doing well.
Food for thought, you might not want to remove fetchlands. with echoes, more dead draws and life loss is may be valid in the long run.
thanks for the comment
what is the maelstrom absolutely needed for im kinda lost on that?
and the the above poster is right. you cant run that many sac lands.
you need to run as many swamps as possible. the 4 sac lands are enough
And i put the tutor in because of how game changing turn 5 mind sludge is everytime against almost any deck other then decks that run howling mine and the such. it works wonders.
Well, maelstrom pulse takes care of enchantments and planeswalkers and tokens, its like a catch all solution for everything.
Also, 4 saclands means there will be sometimes that you have a grim discovery but no fetchlands in the graveyard. Also helps with the splash. I don't think you will miss many land drops with grim discovery bringing back fetches.
Why nobody uses Nocturnus in a deck with vampires? Numerous times he was a trump that secured me victory. He buffs and provides evasion for all my creatures, I can't understand why he's not used as an automatic 4 of...
Nobody uses Vampire Nocturnus because we aren't playing vampires, we are playing MBC. Maybe my style of playing is different from yours but, I dont drop alot of creatures and try to swing in early. I take board control, then drop bombs like Sorin Markov, Malakir Bloodwitch, and Consume Spirits. I Think you should post your list in the Vampire aggro thread, seeing as most lists here only play 12 creatures.
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T2 Decks
:symb:The Night Mono Black Control:symb:
:symw::symr::symu:IonaMorph:symw::symr::symu:
Vampire Nocturnus is way too expensive (financially and mana-wise), so I'd like to try this aggro-control route instead.
The main problem is dealing with late game Broodmates. I think this deck's clock is fast enough to take on most other decks (WW, Boros)
I'd like to think this defeats other aggro matchups by losing their card advantage. The Quests produce creatures when I face DoJ, Volcanic Fallout, or other sweepers of the like.
Vampire Nocturnus is way too expensive, so I'd like to try this aggro-control route instead.
The main problem is dealing with late game Broodmates. I think this deck's clock is fast enough to take on most other decks (WW, Boros)
- Game 1 was a breeze. I don't even recall what happened, really.
- Game 2 saw me stuck at 3 mana and his board cluttered with Quest for the Gravelords. He played 2 consecutive Nocturni and that was that.
- Game 3 started with my turn 1 Pithing Needle naming Quest for the Gravelord. I was able to control him from there.
Round 2 was vs. ... Vampires!, 2-1
- Game 1 was completely locked down by me until he dropped his 1-of Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet. (WHYYYY?!) I stared at the 3 Tendrils in my graveyard and cried, and proceeded to draw 3-4 swamps while he killed my field and drew nothing but playables. I was holding 2 Mind Sludges and a Doom Blade the whole time this was going on. The game lasted so long because we both kept gaining life.
*This game lasted about 35-40 minutes, so I have 10-15 minutes to win 2 more games...*
- Game 2; in comes the 4x Bloodghast and 4x Hexmage army. The guy's deck was a bit budget, so I decided to try to blitz him. And it worked beautifully.
- Game 3; repeat of Game 2.
Round 3 was vs. Boros Bushwhacker, 2-0
- Game 1; I was able to control the field and issue beats without breaking a sweat.
- Game 2; I had some early control again. He played 2 Punishing Fires, but it was too little too late. He drew a few lands in a row, which sealed the deal.
Round 4 (Top 8) was a rematch vs. the Round 2 Vampires, 2-0
- Game 1; I was able to control the game easily and he didn't last long enough, and I was ready for any shenanigans this time.
- Game 2; I decided to bring in the 4x Bloodghast / 4x Hexmage army and swarm him since it worked so well in our earlier match. And it did.
I would have liked to continue to Top 4 and the Finals, but the TO has recently restructured TNM so it ends with the top 4 so everyone can get home earlier.
I also wish I could have tested against a greater variety of decks. I'm not sure if my Vampire matchup is good or not because the gentleman I faced twice only had 1 Bloodghast and less than 4 Nocturni (I think).
Anyone tried Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet ? It seems like good card advantage and beatings at the same time to me.
Actually I added that card yesterday in place of an infest (since it did not perform too well). I still have to observe results though because I played only against pyromancer's ascension combo where I lost most of the games... either because my opponent is very lucky or the deck is more consistent than it looks... mind sludge and duress did almost nothing... my only solution preboard is to be the agressive deck...
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"The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix,
Her ashes new-create another heir
As great in admiration as herself.”
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4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
3 Malakir Bloodwitch
3 Disfigure
3 Duress
4 Sign in Blood
3 Doomblade
2 Consume Spirit
4 Tendrils of Corruption
2 Mind Sludge
1 Haunting Echoes
1 Liliana Vess
1 Sorin Markov
3 Deathmark
1 Mind Sludge
2 Marsh Casualties
3 Pithing Needle
3 vampire Hexmage
3 Desecrated Earth
Round 1, Naya Zoo:
Game one: I win the roll and keep a hand with Liliana, tendrils, nighthawk and four swamps. We continue passing back and fourth until he makes his first play of the game and plays ranger of eos fetching two scute mobs. I lay aland for the turn and play liliana, using -2 to fetch sorin and pass. He attacks the liliana with the ranger and plays a scute mob. I draw and then shoot the scute mob, at this poin my removal and sorin kick in and he's unable to get back control of the game.
1-0
Sideboard: In 3 deathmarks, out two consume spirit, one duress
Game two: He leads off with a wild nacatl and passes, I play a swamp and pass, he pings me with the nacatl and plays another and a mesa and passes, I draw and pass, he plays a mountain and pops the mesa, I respond by disfiguring a nacatl, he attacks and I doomblade the nacatl. I draw and pass, he plays blood elf and cascades into vines of the vastwood and doesn't play it, I disfigure the elf. he passes and I play a nighthawk which eats a bolt on his next turn after he plays a ranger of eos for a nacatl and a scute mob. I draw, play a kicked gatekeeper and pass. he lays the nacatl and scute mob, I EOT doom blade the nacatl, draw and play sorin shooting scute mob, he can't stabilize after this and concedes after I haunting echoes away most his stuff.
2-0 1-0
Round 2 Five Color Rite of Replication Deck:
Game one: He gets stuck on four and I proceed to resolve liliana, then mind sludge, then haunting echoes, then sorin and he can't deal with it.
1-0
In three pithing needles, out 3 disfigure.
Game two:
I got a solid start and resolved a turn five mind sludge, and was beating with nighthawk every turn, he then proceeds to Kicked rite my nighthawk and even though I tendrils two of them for 9 at end of turn, I then see nothing but doom blade and swamps for the next 7 draws.
1-1
game three:
The game runs long and he gets a kicked sphinx of lost truths, I then doom blade it and mind sludge away his hand followed by a haunting echoes, the next turn essentially taking away his entire deck, I play two bloodwitchs after that and with his day of judgments removed, he scoops.
2-1 2-0
Round Three, RG Elf beatdown.
Game one: I win the roll and he plays the first spell of the game with a visionary, I draw and play a kicked gatekeeper, he is stuck on four forests and plays a llanowar elves, I untap draw and disfigure the elves, I mind sludge him on my fifth turn and he never can draw out of it.
1-0
In 3 deathmark, 2 marsh casualties out three duress, two gatekeeper
Game two:
He starts strong with llanowar turn one archdruid turn two, which I disfiure end of turn, he then plays nissa revane, which was a nightmare when he was using oran-reif, the vastwood on the chosen, thanks to some very luck tendrils off the top, i was able to survive until bloodwitch + consume spirit took out nissa and I then resolved another bloodwitch and was able to outrace him.
2-0 3-0
Round 4, Jund:
Game one: I win the roll and keep a relatively promising hand with mind sludge and lots of removal, he's unable to get a creature to stick until I mind sludge, we're then both playing off the top and every creature I attempt to stick gets terminated or pulsed. He finally draw the thrinax followed by broodmate dragon and I can't deal.
0-1
Game Two: I'm forced to mull to six and quite simply, I get steam rolled, I get both a sorin and a liliana resolved, but they both get pulsed, he runs me over with putrid leech and a bituminous blast, into a blood elf into a thrinax.
0-2 3-1.
I need to put a second sorin in, if he dies I lose one of my main win cons and can fall apart, while liliana was nice some of the time, she wasn't good against jund, which is a good enough reason to move it to the board.
Other than that, it seems like a battle of creatures vs. removal and discard vs. discard. Who can Duress whose Mind Sludge first, and so forth.
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Gargoyle castle
3 Duress
4 Disfigure
3 Grim Discovery
3 Sign in Blood
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
2 Infest
4 Fleshbag Marauder
2 Diabolic Tutor
4 Tendrils of Corruption
2 Mind Sludge
2 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
1 Liliana Vess
2 Sorin Markov
3 Deathmark
4 Vampire Hexmage
2 Scepter of Fugue
2 Haunting Echoes
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
2 Sadisctic Sacrament
You need to lock down the board as soon as possible with a mind sludge or infest and Jund is the hardest deck for this deck to beat so i tried to focus more on getting rid of the stag and other bothersom creatures early game and it seems to be working.
This deck still is very fragile tho. Mainly based against the creature / aggro metagame, as soon as you hit control you will probably most definately lose until you sideboard, but after that you have a much better shot for sure.
Grim Discovery is amazing in this deck. You can even use Terramorphics over Sac lands if your poor and they work almost as well.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Trying to take this deck more into the control aspect considering i see it slowly going more towards vampire aggro more than anything.
Hi, I really like your build, but can I suggest trying out something along the lines of, 4 catacombs, 4 jund panaroma with 4 maelstrom pulse and 1 forest in the side? Other than that, it looks pretty solid, although I may run something over tutors.
thanks for the comment
what is the maelstrom absolutely needed for im kinda lost on that?
and the the above poster is right. you cant run that many sac lands.
you need to run as many swamps as possible. the 4 sac lands are enough
And i put the tutor in because of how game changing turn 5 mind sludge is everytime against almost any deck other then decks that run howling mine and the such. it works wonders.
My point is Ruinblasters are not that big of a concern for potentially hitting 2 out of 25 land in the deck. Sure bringing them in may give them an additional hasted creature. So sure I was a bit hyperbolic downplaying their boards choices for the game overall. Have never had a problem hitting a T5 Mind Sludge, if it is drawn while holding on to castle such that it never is at risk. Does that mean it could never be at risk no? Is there reasons to play Castles?
Yes--not every Jund build runs the 5K--gasp I know--so there are people playing it who play Stags which gives you an out other than hoping they do not have another creature on board so your Gatekeeper will get the Stag. There are other builds running green that have Stags in the board even if Jund does not. Not running 2 cards because a Ruinblaster might get them is not a particularly good reason not to run 1-2 castles that give you a creature that can be a threat post mind sludge.
High Five!
:symb:The Night Mono Black Control:symb:
:symw::symr::symu:IonaMorph:symw::symr::symu:
Nice job on going 3-1. I play a very similar list, I went 4-0 going up against blue/white control, green/white aggro, esper artifacts, and vampires...only game i lost was game vs the blue/white deck suck on 4 lands. By far the worst matchup for this deck is jund, when it comes to playing off the top deck..jund has too many advantages aka cascade. I Think we need to focus our sb vs the jund match up.
:symb:The Night Mono Black Control:symb:
:symw::symr::symu:IonaMorph:symw::symr::symu:
It rarely shows up in the opening hand, and I've been finding that at worst, my T5 Mind Sludge hits for only 4 (which is still good). In the late game, it swings for a chunky 3, chumps in the air, and is actually quite useful at keeping Jund's Bloodbraid Elf in check. Sure, you might have hit them with a Sludge and left them with no hand, but if they rip an Elf off the top, suddenly it's not as impressive.
Really the only downside I've found is that they might still get lucky with Bituminous Blast, but that's why we have Haunting Echoes. The key, I'm finding, is to match their creatures 1 to 1.
I also had a match against Flores yesterday (which was pretty cool). He was running BG Ob-noxious Landfall, and I was keeping up with him pretty well, winning game one on the back of a Sludge and tons of removal.
Two key things I took away from that game were this:
I've got two sideboarded. I'm glad to hear it works.
It blocks and kills Great Stable Stag. For those times when you just can't topdeck a Gatekeeper.
Just sayin.
Hey guys, just got back from my first ever Standard tournament this evening with my newly beloved MBC deck. You may have seen my lengthy post a couple pages back in this very same thread regarding the deck and my thoughts on it. After play-testing it for only a week (and very limited at that) I was very happy with the results! I managed to go 4-1-1 ... going 9-4 overall in the matches.
Out of a total of 26 participants for a Tuesday tournament I ended up in the top 4 All the usual decks you'd expect were there including lots of Jund, Vampires (some of the R/B variety), The R/W Boros Bushwacker deck from the Philly 5k, some Naya and Bant, etc. It was a fun evening as three of us out of the top 4 were running some form of Rogue deck and rose above the others - A 'unique' varient of Mono White Control, G/W Naya with Ranger of Eos and Scute Mob shenanigans, and myself with the ol' MBC (The final spot went to Bant). Since it was getting late we decided to split the top 4 prize money and head home...
Here's the decklist of what I ran for tonight:
3 Vampire Hexmage
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Malakir Bloodwitch
2 Nyxathid
Spells
4 Disfigure
4 Sign in Blood
3 Consume Spirit
4 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Mind Sludge
2 Sorin Markov
Land
2 Gargoyle Castle
22 Swamp
4 Deathmark
3 Duress
3 Infest
3 Sadistic Sacrament
2 Haunting Echoes
Games:
Game 1 - Myself against some mediocre form of W/U Control. Not much to report here as I win the match within a good 15 minutes going 2-0. I drop Sorin both games and he simply fails to have an answer for it after using all his counters or removal on previously played cards. Turn 5 Mind Sludge in the second game seals the deal as I win big.
Game 2 - Put me against one of those R/W Boros Bushwacker lists floating around online today. I win game 1 rather easily on the back of early Gatekeepers, a Disfigure, and ToC. Sorin plus a two Consume Spirits end it quickly for me (Much to the dismay of my opponent). Second game is not close as he applies too much early pressure with Goblin Guide and Plated Geopede. Me keeping a band opening hand doesn't help matters much. Game 3 is a bit closer but he hits for me lethal damage after dropping a Bushwacker and swinging with his four creatures on the board.
At this point I'm sitting at 1-1 (3-2 for matches)
Game 3 - I want to say it was MWC but it also had some WW elements to it with Honor of the Pure and *gulp* Iona (Makes a mono colored player like me very sadface indeed). First game he gets mana screwed and I come out of the gates early swinging with my ceatures and clearing the board of any threats with a combination of kicked Gatekeepers in addition to my other removal. Sorin hits the board and I use his second ability which next turn leads to a swing with Bloodwitch and a Consume Spirit for 6. Game 2 is my most frustrating game of the evening as I get him down to 4 without much trouble but then he clears the board with a kicked Martial Coup then next turn drops an Iona calling Black. I sit there and laugh at my failure to do an extra 4 points of damage earlier. Game 3 I sideboard in my Sacraments play one turn 3 to take out those annoying Iona's plus a random Luminarch Ascension. He keeps a terrible hand and eventually gets Mind Sludged for 6.
The game is never really close and I win easily on a Consume Spirit for 8.
Now sitting at 2-1 (5-3 for matches)
Game 4 - Yet another R/W Boros Bushwacker deck (there were three total out of 26 present). Game 1 I was pretty worried but he's never able to establish any sort of board presence with me drawing into three Gatekeepers (1 in opening hand). I catch two Ranger of Eos with a Mind Sludge with a turn 5 and it's over from there. My Nyxathid which I had dropped turn 4 swings in for 7 damage. Sorin hitting the board and using his second ability before following that up with Bloodwitch damage, etc. Game 2 I sideboard in my 3 Infests taking out the 3 Mind Sludges (Not as good against fast aggro decks in my opinion). It pays off massively for me as I start with two in my opening hand + a Gatekeeper. That pretty much ensures he has no creatures out. By this time I have a Nighthawk and Gatekeeper out (Hexmage was PtE for some odd reason) and play Bloodwitch for the little bonus life drain. A couple of turns attacking and a Consume Spirit for 7 seal the deal.
Now 3-1 (7-3 for matches)
Game 4 - Get matched up with a one of the guys there whom I know and we decide to draw the game and each guarantee ourselves a spot in the top 8 for single elimination from there. This is a good thing as he was the one running the custom MWC deck with some seriously mean combos in it - I doubt I would've won.
Leaves me at 3-1-1 (7-3 Matches)
The pairings for top 8 come out and I find myself pitied up against Jund Game 1 I win based off the strength of three early Gatekeepers and back-to-back Bloodwitches. Sorin hits the board soon after and thanks to some chump blockers + the decent amount of Vamps out for Bloodwitche's ability to be decent Markov is able to effect the game on his lonesome. To be fair he seemed to keep a rather mediocre hand after having to mulligan down to 6 cards in his opening hand.
For Game 2 I sideboard in 4 Deathmarks in place of Disfigure and 2 Haunting Echoes for the pair of Nyxathids. This is a rather long game that goes back and forth for the most part. I'm unable to draw anything worthwhile after dropping my Sorin and trying to make a desperate last push. Three straight land draws ensure I get nothing to help me out and I end up losing.
Game 3 of this match-up was probably the most satisfying of the evening He's not able to keep anything out for long thanks to two Gatekeepers and a Deathmark. Nighthawk hits the board turn 4 and starts swinging in before I catch him with a Mind Sludge (he has two cards in hand) which catches two Blightnings. Next turn I tap 5 and Haunting Echoes him (so so satisfying to pull off in a game). This wipes out nearly half of his library as it catches Verdant Marshes, BBE, Putrid Leech, Blightning, etc. Bloodwitch hits the board and drains him down for a small chunk. After two attacks with her I Consume Spirit him for 6 for the win!
Finishing 4-1-1 (9-4 in matches)
My thoughts - The Deck was insanely fun to play and surprisingly competitive considering I *just* put it together last week and this was my first time playing it in a tournament. My MVP's for the night were Sorin and Consume Spirit. Many people were completely shocked to find themselves getting dinked for large sums of damage out of nowhere with this card - it easily finished 5-6 matches for me. After tonight I can't see why anyone wouldn't run 3 in the mainboard. It does so much (Planewalkers weren't a huge problem for me this evening) and surprised a lot of folks as my finisher.
Hexmage was put in the mainboard to stave off fast aggro decks like the Bushwacker (2/1 first strike plus her ability? Yes please). Also she's another Vamp to potentially have out on the board when Bloodwitch comes into play. I was pleasantly surprised at the damage her drain was able to do - typically anywhere from three to four.
Nyxathid ended up being great for me and was always a nice sight early game either right before or after a Mind Sludge. There were at least three matches where he provided me with some early heat and one where he finished on his lonesome. He's great for early tempo and while some might prefer to run Nightmare over him to be honest at turn 6 I'd rather be playing some other cards in some sort of combination in place of some high cost creature. I'm still open to the idea of running Nightmare x 2 in this deck in place of Nyxathid but will decide upon that later after some more games.
In general Infest was great for me against all the small aggro running around as a sideboard option (I don't think I killed any of my own creatures tonight when playing it - often Nighthawk was on the board for me). I don't see why anyone would choose to PtE any of our creatures as each game those who did lost it seems. Giving our deck an extra land for free just allows me to play that Mind Sludge or Sorin one turn sooner. I was never sad when one of my creatures ate it
I was very happy with how the deck played out and other than one match in which I kept a band opening hand (two lands - one being a Castle - one Sign in Blood and no removal outside of a Tendrils of what I can remember) I didn't have any complaints. Most often my opening hands consisted of three lands, one-two utility spells such as Disfigure or Sign in Blood, and one removal in the form of Gatekeeper or Tendrils.
I'm looking forward to playing this deck once more in the next tournament I can make it to and further learning the ins and outs of it. As a final thought I'll leave you with this ... seriously if you aren't running 3 Consume Spirits you really need to find room for them. Once you manage to force the match into the mid-late game (which is where this deck truly shines) I was never sad to draw one or play the one I had been holding onto.
Any other questions or comments about this wall o' text feel free to ask me and I'll try to answer as best I can. If you have any specific questions about one of the decks I went against and want me to go into more detail about it I'd be happy to. For now it's rather late and I'm heading off to bed...
Good luck, have fun MBC players
- Weazy
Awesome! Great to here the deck is doing well.
Food for thought, you might not want to remove fetchlands. with echoes, more dead draws and life loss is may be valid in the long run.
Well, maelstrom pulse takes care of enchantments and planeswalkers and tokens, its like a catch all solution for everything.
Also, 4 saclands means there will be sometimes that you have a grim discovery but no fetchlands in the graveyard. Also helps with the splash. I don't think you will miss many land drops with grim discovery bringing back fetches.
Nobody uses Vampire Nocturnus because we aren't playing vampires, we are playing MBC. Maybe my style of playing is different from yours but, I dont drop alot of creatures and try to swing in early. I take board control, then drop bombs like Sorin Markov, Malakir Bloodwitch, and Consume Spirits. I Think you should post your list in the Vampire aggro thread, seeing as most lists here only play 12 creatures.
:symb:The Night Mono Black Control:symb:
:symw::symr::symu:IonaMorph:symw::symr::symu:
The main problem is dealing with late game Broodmates. I think this deck's clock is fast enough to take on most other decks (WW, Boros)
22x Swamp
Creature - 22
4x Vampire Lacerator
4x Bloodghast
4x Vampire Hexmage
4x Vampire Nighthawk
4x Gatekeeper of Malakir
2x Malakir Bloodwitch
2x Quest for the Gravelord
4x Disfigure
3x Tendrils of Corruption
2x Mind Rot
1x Mind Sludge
3x Sign in Blood
4x Duress
4x Hideous End
2x Quest for the Gravelord
4x Feast of Blood
1x Tendrils of Corruption
Avid fan of buying overpriced precons and using 5/60 cards to make a "fun" deck.
UUU Sovereign of the Sea UUU
RB BR Blightning Discard RB
WG Budget G/W KoNA Aggro WG
I'd post this in the vampires section
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=299420
With all due respect to the big vampire, he is not visara.
And this is in regards to the Nyxthid vs Nightmare vs ? debate. Any of those would eat a PtE...
(Had my black sleeves and Infest playmat - woot)
23 Swamp
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Disfigure
2 Doom Blade
4 Sign in Blood
3 Infest
4 Tendrils of Corruption
2 Mind Sludge
1 Haunting Echoes
2 Sorin Markov
2 Consume Spirit
4 Bloodghast
4 Vampire Hexmage
3 Pithing Needle
3 Deathmark
1 Doom Blade
Round 1 was vs. Vampires, 2-1
- Game 1 was a breeze. I don't even recall what happened, really.
- Game 2 saw me stuck at 3 mana and his board cluttered with Quest for the Gravelords. He played 2 consecutive Nocturni and that was that.
- Game 3 started with my turn 1 Pithing Needle naming Quest for the Gravelord. I was able to control him from there.
Round 2 was vs. ... Vampires!, 2-1
- Game 1 was completely locked down by me until he dropped his 1-of Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet. (WHYYYY?!) I stared at the 3 Tendrils in my graveyard and cried, and proceeded to draw 3-4 swamps while he killed my field and drew nothing but playables. I was holding 2 Mind Sludges and a Doom Blade the whole time this was going on. The game lasted so long because we both kept gaining life.
*This game lasted about 35-40 minutes, so I have 10-15 minutes to win 2 more games...*
- Game 2; in comes the 4x Bloodghast and 4x Hexmage army. The guy's deck was a bit budget, so I decided to try to blitz him. And it worked beautifully.
- Game 3; repeat of Game 2.
Round 3 was vs. Boros Bushwhacker, 2-0
- Game 1; I was able to control the field and issue beats without breaking a sweat.
- Game 2; I had some early control again. He played 2 Punishing Fires, but it was too little too late. He drew a few lands in a row, which sealed the deal.
Round 4 (Top 8) was a rematch vs. the Round 2 Vampires, 2-0
- Game 1; I was able to control the game easily and he didn't last long enough, and I was ready for any shenanigans this time.
- Game 2; I decided to bring in the 4x Bloodghast / 4x Hexmage army and swarm him since it worked so well in our earlier match. And it did.
I would have liked to continue to Top 4 and the Finals, but the TO has recently restructured TNM so it ends with the top 4 so everyone can get home earlier.
I also wish I could have tested against a greater variety of decks. I'm not sure if my Vampire matchup is good or not because the gentleman I faced twice only had 1 Bloodghast and less than 4 Nocturni (I think).
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=299420
Avid fan of buying overpriced precons and using 5/60 cards to make a "fun" deck.
UUU Sovereign of the Sea UUU
RB BR Blightning Discard RB
WG Budget G/W KoNA Aggro WG
Actually I added that card yesterday in place of an infest (since it did not perform too well). I still have to observe results though because I played only against pyromancer's ascension combo where I lost most of the games... either because my opponent is very lucky or the deck is more consistent than it looks... mind sludge and duress did almost nothing... my only solution preboard is to be the agressive deck...
Her ashes new-create another heir
As great in admiration as herself.”
—William Shakespeare, King Henry the Eighth