MTG Salvation

Hi ^^ .. I'm brand new to the EDH-concept and I pretty much checked all the 'I'm new to EDH, need help'-threads on the forum.
Considering all the tips given and found on the forum I started building my first EDH-deck.

Listed below is my attempt to a Maga, Traitor to Mortals deck.
Any advice or random chat is always welcome.
[Also feel free to send me a private message :)]

Cards i'm considering to add, but no idea what to cut:
+ Whispersilk Cloak
+ Gravestorm

I don't know what your budget is, but here are some cards to consider.

Shizo, Death's Storehouse - Gives you a much better chance of hitting a player with Maga rather than letting him chump block
Urbord, Tomb of Yawgmoth - This will let your non-basic land act as swamps, increasing the power of Cabaal Coffers and magus of the coffer. If you also play with creatures like Korlash, Heir to Blackblade, it helps there.
Candelabra of Tawnos, expensive but a very nice effect with lands that can tap for double mana or more.
Everflowing Chalice another mana ramper
Volrath's Stronghold Constant recursion in land format.
Crypt of Agadeem this one is dependant on how many creatures you have.
Bubbling Muck Quick doubling of your land producing ability
Yawgmoth's Will They don't call it Yawgmoth's Win for no reason.

Necropotence is much better than Greed. It is fine to run both but Necro is a must. Mystifying Maze is a little out of place here, maybe Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth instead?

@Matridom: I've considered some of the cards you mentioned and i am looking for Everflowing Chalice. Stronghold is already in and trying to male some room for Korlash.
I'm not a great fan of Bubbling Muck and Yawgmoth's Will cuz they aint 'replayable' that easy. CoA is a great land card, but with only 20 creatures (bit less, dunno the exact number) i feel it's pretty useless.

@Donald: I've heard many great things of Necro and i'm sure it's a great carddraw engine. Never the less i don't like playing it just cuz you only get the cards at the end of your own turn. Greed on the other hand let's me draw cards instantly which is according to me a bit better. [Will test Necro if i get my hands on one]
I'm playing Mystifying maze to have some sort of control on attacking mobs my opponents control. Made this choice cuz my creaturebase is pretty small (somewhere around 20 including maga), Urborg is an awesome land i'm also looking for and it will replace a swamp once i get it.

@Both of you: Thanks for the input! Never guessed i'd get an answer this fast ^^

Quote from StNCondor

@Matridom: I've considered some of the cards you mentioned and i am looking for Everflowing Chalice. Stronghold is already in and trying to male some room for Korlash.
I'm not a great fan of Bubbling Muck and Yawgmoth's Will cuz they aint 'replayable' that easy. CoA is a great land card, but with only 20 creatures (bit less, dunno the exact number) i feel it's pretty useless.

With the mana you will be producing, yawgmoth's will is a fantastic card, sure you can't recur the card itself, but look at what you can recast in mid/late game and get to recast all the little spells.

To give you an idea of some of the crazy stuff that i've pulled off.

9 swamps in play. tap 1, bubbling muck
tap 2 more, yawgmoth's will 1 floating. Use the floating to recast bubbling muck, now each swamp taps for 3, tap 6 lands, 18 mana, pipe half through Candalabra of Tawnos, 9 floating all land is untapped, tapped all the land for 27 more mana, cast Maga for 31 counters, floating 2 mana, eliminating a player, with the last 2 floating, I cast Rite of Consumption that was in my graveyard, sacking Maga to kill off the other player. One player was left with about 10 life, and a drew my Cabaal Coffers, it ended quickly for him.

Quote from Matridom

To give you an idea of some of the crazy stuff that i've pulled off.

9 swamps in play. tap 1, bubbling muck
tap 2 more, yawgmoth's will 1 floating. Use the floating to recast bubbling muck, now each swamp taps for 3, tap 6 lands, 18 mana, pipe half through Candalabra of Tawnos, 9 floating all land is untapped, tapped all the land for 27 more mana, cast Maga for 31 counters, floating 2 mana, eliminating a player, with the last 2 floating, I cast Rite of Consumption that was in my graveyard, sacking Maga to kill off the other player. One player was left with about 10 life, and a drew my Cabaal Coffers, it ended quickly for him.

Hmm hadn't thought bout it that way ... i'll proxy those 3 and test play them. Any advice on what to cut for them?

I can definitely second Yawgmoth's Will, Bubbling Muck and Candelabra. Yawgmoth's Will in particular is just outrageously broken, it is almost comical how completely unfair this card is when you have like 30+ mana available (remember to replay a land too!). While Necro does have the drawback of not getting you the cards right away it has many upsides as well. It is cheap to cast, costs no mana to activate and draws 1 card for 1 life. Typically you are going to want to drop it when you don't have many cards in hand. Use it to draw back up to 7 or 8 and then repeat every turn while casting as many spells as possible. It is easily the best draw spell available to a monoblack deck and arguably the best non-banned draw spell available in EDH.

Quote from Donald_McDonald

While Necro does have the drawback of not getting you the cards right away it has many upsides as well. It is cheap to cast, costs no mana to activate and draws 1 card for 1 life. Typically you are going to want to drop it when you don't have many cards in hand. Use it to draw back up to 7 or 8 and then repeat every turn while casting as many spells as possible. It is easily the best draw spell available to a monoblack deck and arguably the best non-banned draw spell available in EDH.

The main reason i don't use necro is that it exiles evertyhing that would hit the graveyard. my black deck is heavy on recursion and the two are just not compatible. I rather not take the risk of exiling my best spells.

Quote from StNCondor

Hmm hadn't thought bout it that way ... i'll proxy those 3 and test play them. Any advice on what to cut for them?

Just keep in mind the cost of the cards

Bubbling muck is cheap
Yawgmoth's Will is semi expensive at $10-$15
Candelabra of Tawnos is in the $50+ range

Necropotence actually only exiles cards you discard. It doesn't exile spells you cast, permanents destroyed, or anything else.

Since your deck looks like it can generate massive mana, consider hardcasting Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. Myojin of Night's Reach has the potential to just end games too. Sorin Markov? With Maga, he can let you 1-shot someone. Maindeck Bojuka Bog for emergency tutor shenanigans. In your deck Shred Memory can grab Demonic Tutor, Lightning Greaves, Profane Command, Drain Life, Consume Spirit, Rite of Consumption and more. It can also play as GY hate, so it's probably worth a slot. Nightmare Incursion is worth a look if Sadistic Sacrament has played well. If you want another cool tutor, Demonic Collusion has buyback!

As for things to cut, Dusk Urchins and Blood Tithe seem like they don't carry their weight compared to the rest of the power you have here.

Guys, thanks for the massive input! ^^

I'm gonna test-play my current deck this weekend. After this weekend i'll update the decklist with some cards you've mentioned if i believe they're worth playing.

Stay tuned for the update ^^