Hey there, I'm jumping back into standard and wanted to start fiddling around with Mono Black. Is there a good stock list for the pure black version? I'm also interested in the red splash but I wanna start with the pure black version first.
Here is my decklist. It's the basic shell that everyone uses that runs Mono.
I have made some changes. most notably adding 2x Mutavaults and removing 2x Swamps. The scry lands are there for just that, scrying. It's nice to be able to set up a draw here and there.
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The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's too late to stop reading it....
Well boys MBD took down another starcity. And yes he beat control in the final. The black player was very patient and won on the back of underworld connections both games. Also E-Fro is still splashing red BUT main decking pack rat. He currently sits at 9-1. I just saw him lose to mono blue. I don't have his entire deck list but I am very interested to see it!
Well boys MBD took down another starcity. And yes he beat control in the final. The black player was very patient and won on the back of underworld connections both games. Also E-Fro is still splashing red BUT main decking pack rat. He currently sits at 9-1. I just saw him lose to mono blue. I don't have his entire deck list but I am very interested to see it!
Game 2 the control player mulled to 5 and then flooded out. I would consider that to not be how that match up normally plays out.
Well he just beat Sheehan shehar in another control matchup. Who is arguably one of the best players in the world. Is that good enough? From what I understand though, no red cards in the main, just rakdos return in the board. I still have not seen the decklist. And as far as that mulligan goes, he had 7 cards in his hand by turn 5. Not exactly what I call a blow out.
Well he just beat Sheehan shehar in another control matchup. Who is arguably one of the best players in the world. Is that good enough? From what I understand though, no red cards in the main, just rakdos return in the board. I still have not seen the decklist. And as far as that mulligan goes, he had 7 cards in his hand by turn 5. Not exactly what I call a blow out.
I was reffering to the scg open. In the semi and the final each of his opponents mulled down to 5 cards in g2.
I know civil, that's what I was talking about. His opponent had a full grip on turn 5, so the mulligan really wasn't an issue. And now mono black is in the finals of the GP. This deck is awesome!!!
Im thinking, the way I see MBD is as a creature control deck and sometimes as a midrange deck, how would you feel about adding more scry lands?
U/W and Esper are really powerful decks because their lands let them choose how they play their turns.
any thoughts?
If you add more scry lands, the possibility of tempo loss is too great. You need to land a Rat (2cc creature or your choice) on T2 especially on the play.
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The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's too late to stop reading it....
Im not talking about a full 8 scy lands maybe 6? i realize how important thoughtseize andthe rat are but everything else can be slowed down especially if it gives us the advantge of skipping lands for real threats
Here's my report from Phoenix (I played basically the exact list I posted recently, with a few tweaks):
Round 1: Bant Control
He doesn't play particularly fast and game 1 takes half an hour before he kills me with Elspeth. By the time a Gary drains away his last points of life in game 2, it's turn 5 in extra turns.
0-0-1
Round 2: B/g Devotion
G1, he draws Deso and Reaper of the Wilds. I draw both copies of Mizzium Mortars. G2 I RR his hand away, but not before he's dealt with the two Specters in my opener. He topdecks a Demon. I Downfall. He topdecks another Demon. I Downfall. He topdecks a third Demon. This time I have no answer.
0-1-1
Round 3: Esper
I get a nut draw G1, Thoughtseizing away a Rev and a D-Sphere before playing Connections into Deso into Gary. G2 is much more drawn out, but I get a Connections to stick. Mogis eventually kills her despite three Revs, leading me to make two false assumptions: that Mogis is good, and that my luck is changing for the better.
1-1-1
Round 4: Esper
Pretty uneventful match, I draw dead cards G1, then zero hand hate cards until he's already stuck an AEtherling, at which point I draw Thoughtseize-Duress-Thoughtseize. Mogis is bad in the matchup it's supposed to be good in.
1-2-1
Round 5: Esper
He nut draws every game. At this point I just accept that I'm doomed to play Esper decks that nut draw every game for the rest of the day.
1-3-1
Round 6: Esper
This confirms my assumption. Losing to him hurts especially badly since it's clear he isn't very good (he had a bunch of creatures maindeck, and Temple of Abandon, and he played badly.
1-4-1
Round 7: Mono-U
I manage to shake off the frustration from the last few matches. Unfortunately, he gets Thassa to stick G3, but the first two games were intense. G1 went back and forth, with multiple topdecks when I was dead on board with no cards in hand, and I somehow managed to pull out the win with Gary. G2 the roles reversed, and he was the one topdecking Rapid Hybridizations and Tidebinders. He deals with my threats and kills me with Thassa.
1-5-1
Round 8: Jund Monsters
As expected, I steamroll him. Great matchup, and this was no different. Side note: He went 0-3-5. With Monsters.
2-5-1
At this point, I was exhausted and didn't feel like playing Esper again, so I dropped.
Now, I'm not going to say that luck was all of it. The two copies of Mogis I jammed into my deck before the GP probably cost me at least 5 games, and misplays cost me another 2. The deck was insane, and zero Pack Rats is the way to go, though you guys think otherwise and my GP result could be used as evidence. However, the list I played at the Super Sunday Series, with more red sources and two Stormbreath Dragons, was even better. I was in top 8 contention until the very end, losing only to Josh McClain with Mono-U before getting steamrolled by Boros Burn in my win-and-in. I finished 6-2.
Pack rat still is a very difficult card to deal with. Since it's better in multiples there's no reason to run less than 4. The only matchup where I would never overcommit to pack rat is against the u/w/x control decks with supreme verdict. I am rarely worried about detention sphere or bile blight because I can just devour flesh/ultimate price myself. The other night there was one game in particular where I led with
turn 1: swamp, thoughtseize taking his only removal spell.
turn 2: mutavault, pack rat
turn 3: swamp, pack rat
turn 4: mutavault, pack rat
then he scooped
of course that's a godly draw but that's the power of pack rat. Unless JOU brings answers for the rat there's no reason to abandon it.
Pack rat still is a very difficult card to deal with. Since it's better in multiples there's no reason to run less than 4. The only matchup where I would never overcommit to pack rat is against the u/w/x control decks with supreme verdict. I am rarely worried about detention sphere or bile blight because I can just devour flesh/ultimate price myself. The other night there was one game in particular where I led with
turn 1: swamp, thoughtseize taking his only removal spell.
turn 2: mutavault, pack rat
turn 3: swamp, pack rat
turn 4: mutavault, pack rat
then he scooped
of course that's a godly draw but that's the power of pack rat. Unless JOU brings answers for the rat there's no reason to abandon it.
Yeah, it randomly wins you a lot of games, but it randomly loses you a lot of games as well. I only have 12 untapped sources so it gets even worse.
I am not trying to hate on the guy who won the scg cause making it to the top in a large tourney is a great accomplishment but play two matches where your opponents mull to five make winning kind of easy. Vs A. Sullivan he only play one rev in two games for a small amount.
What I did like was the main deck copy of duress. Will be trying that out.
I have tried that as well and I really like. Having a pusedo 5th thoughtseize seems really good. I was happy with it. And fot the record, game one he cast a rec for 7! I dont know how he didnt find an answer but it miust have been a really bad rev.
I am so ready for the BG scry land. Golgari is my favorite guild and I was wondering if there were any MBD builds that splash green and if there aren't then what cards would green be splashed for? Also what would the mana base look like?
Splash for green would undoubtly include abrupt decay, and possibly Sylvain Caryatid. A T3 Demon is way to much to handle for almost any deck. Creaturewise maybe miscutter Hydra out of the board
I did a once over at the mono black lists in the top 16 for phoenix, and I noticed that people are playing specter again MB? Was that in anticipation of the mirror since lifebane is pretty terrible there? Because I thought that up to that point people were hailing lifebane as the premier 3 drop instead of specter.
Underworld connections won him the match against Adrian. It's funny to see him out card advantage the control player. I also like the one duress something I saw yuuya try at gp Beijing. All decks play non creature spells and it helps us deal with things we normally couldn't game 1.
I did a once over at the mono black lists in the top 16 for phoenix, and I noticed that people are playing specter again MB? Was that in anticipation of the mirror since lifebane is pretty terrible there? Because I thought that up to that point people were hailing lifebane as the premier 3 drop instead of specter.
Mono-B was easily the most-played deck in Phoenix. Every dealer was sold out of Staff of the Death Magus an hour and a half before the GP (I know because the guy in front of me bought the last playset) and everywhere you looked, there was Mono-B or Bw or Br or Bg or Bu or even Bwr or Bgw or Bwu Devotion. And those are just the ones I saw. I'd estimate that 35-40% of the field was on Mono-B or a variant. So in short, I wouldn't say that Specter was any more prevalent than it was before (though many, including me, may have anticipated this), just that the lists with Specter performed better because they were better in the mirror. The Specter lists at the top would also explain the gradual fall of control decks after a strong start on day 1.
Underworld connections won him the match against Adrian. It's funny to see him out card advantage the control player. I also like the one duress something I saw yuuya try at gp Beijing. All decks play non creature spells and it helps us deal with things we normally couldn't game 1.
Right because Adrian drew so poorly. Play that match up 20 times again and i bet that happens one time. Not twice.
I did a once over at the mono black lists in the top 16 for phoenix, and I noticed that people are playing specter again MB? Was that in anticipation of the mirror since lifebane is pretty terrible there? Because I thought that up to that point people were hailing lifebane as the premier 3 drop instead of specter.
Mono-B was easily the most-played deck in Phoenix. Every dealer was sold out of Staff of the Death Magus an hour and a half before the GP (I know because the guy in front of me bought the last playset) and everywhere you looked, there was Mono-B or Bw or Br or Bg or Bu or even Bwr or Bgw or Bwu Devotion. And those are just the ones I saw. I'd estimate that 35-40% of the field was on Mono-B or a variant. So in short, I wouldn't say that Specter was any more prevalent than it was before (though many, including me, may have anticipated this), just that the lists with Specter performed better because they were better in the mirror. The Specter lists at the top would also explain the gradual fall of control decks after a strong start on day 1.
actually more esper decks were registered and played, seconded by mono black
Underworld connections won him the match against Adrian. It's funny to see him out card advantage the control player. I also like the one duress something I saw yuuya try at gp Beijing. All decks play non creature spells and it helps us deal with things we normally couldn't game 1.
Right because Adrian drew so poorly. Play that match up 20 times again and i bet that happens one time. Not twice.
Oh it'll happen again and again. Because that's the power of playing a mono colored deck vs. a greedy three colored deck, consistency. His thoughtseizes and duress ripped his hand apart and left him in top deck mode. Unfortunately yes he had bad luck and did not draw so well but that's how it goes sometimes.
Underworld connections won him the match against Adrian. It's funny to see him out card advantage the control player. I also like the one duress something I saw yuuya try at gp Beijing. All decks play non creature spells and it helps us deal with things we normally couldn't game 1.
Right because Adrian drew so poorly. Play that match up 20 times again and i bet that happens one time. Not twice.
Oh it'll happen again and again. Because that's the power of playing a mono colored deck vs. a greedy three colored deck, consistency. His thoughtseizes and duress ripped his hand apart and left him in top deck mode. Unfortunately yes he had bad luck and did not draw so well but that's how it goes sometimes.
Adrian Sullivan was playing straight UW with no black cards and not Esper.
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Modern: UW Control
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Here is my decklist. It's the basic shell that everyone uses that runs Mono.
I have made some changes. most notably adding 2x Mutavaults and removing 2x Swamps. The scry lands are there for just that, scrying. It's nice to be able to set up a draw here and there.
The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's too late to stop reading it....
Thanks to xeno for the sig and avvy!!!
Game 2 the control player mulled to 5 and then flooded out. I would consider that to not be how that match up normally plays out.
Thanks to xeno for the sig and avvy!!!
I was reffering to the scg open. In the semi and the final each of his opponents mulled down to 5 cards in g2.
U/W and Esper are really powerful decks because their lands let them choose how they play their turns.
any thoughts?
And now we have another GP MBD champion.
Thanks to xeno for the sig and avvy!!!
If you add more scry lands, the possibility of tempo loss is too great. You need to land a Rat (2cc creature or your choice) on T2 especially on the play.
The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's too late to stop reading it....
Round 1: Bant Control
He doesn't play particularly fast and game 1 takes half an hour before he kills me with Elspeth. By the time a Gary drains away his last points of life in game 2, it's turn 5 in extra turns.
0-0-1
Round 2: B/g Devotion
G1, he draws Deso and Reaper of the Wilds. I draw both copies of Mizzium Mortars. G2 I RR his hand away, but not before he's dealt with the two Specters in my opener. He topdecks a Demon. I Downfall. He topdecks another Demon. I Downfall. He topdecks a third Demon. This time I have no answer.
0-1-1
Round 3: Esper
I get a nut draw G1, Thoughtseizing away a Rev and a D-Sphere before playing Connections into Deso into Gary. G2 is much more drawn out, but I get a Connections to stick. Mogis eventually kills her despite three Revs, leading me to make two false assumptions: that Mogis is good, and that my luck is changing for the better.
1-1-1
Round 4: Esper
Pretty uneventful match, I draw dead cards G1, then zero hand hate cards until he's already stuck an AEtherling, at which point I draw Thoughtseize-Duress-Thoughtseize. Mogis is bad in the matchup it's supposed to be good in.
1-2-1
Round 5: Esper
He nut draws every game. At this point I just accept that I'm doomed to play Esper decks that nut draw every game for the rest of the day.
1-3-1
Round 6: Esper
This confirms my assumption. Losing to him hurts especially badly since it's clear he isn't very good (he had a bunch of creatures maindeck, and Temple of Abandon, and he played badly.
1-4-1
Round 7: Mono-U
I manage to shake off the frustration from the last few matches. Unfortunately, he gets Thassa to stick G3, but the first two games were intense. G1 went back and forth, with multiple topdecks when I was dead on board with no cards in hand, and I somehow managed to pull out the win with Gary. G2 the roles reversed, and he was the one topdecking Rapid Hybridizations and Tidebinders. He deals with my threats and kills me with Thassa.
1-5-1
Round 8: Jund Monsters
As expected, I steamroll him. Great matchup, and this was no different. Side note: He went 0-3-5. With Monsters.
2-5-1
At this point, I was exhausted and didn't feel like playing Esper again, so I dropped.
Now, I'm not going to say that luck was all of it. The two copies of Mogis I jammed into my deck before the GP probably cost me at least 5 games, and misplays cost me another 2. The deck was insane, and zero Pack Rats is the way to go, though you guys think otherwise and my GP result could be used as evidence. However, the list I played at the Super Sunday Series, with more red sources and two Stormbreath Dragons, was even better. I was in top 8 contention until the very end, losing only to Josh McClain with Mono-U before getting steamrolled by Boros Burn in my win-and-in. I finished 6-2.
-MH
Modern
BUGLantern ControlBUG
turn 1: swamp, thoughtseize taking his only removal spell.
turn 2: mutavault, pack rat
turn 3: swamp, pack rat
turn 4: mutavault, pack rat
then he scooped
of course that's a godly draw but that's the power of pack rat. Unless JOU brings answers for the rat there's no reason to abandon it.
Yeah, it randomly wins you a lot of games, but it randomly loses you a lot of games as well. I only have 12 untapped sources so it gets even worse.
What I did like was the main deck copy of duress. Will be trying that out.
Thanks to xeno for the sig and avvy!!!
The funniest thing about this particular signature is that by the time you realize it doesn't say anything it's too late to stop reading it....
Mono-B was easily the most-played deck in Phoenix. Every dealer was sold out of Staff of the Death Magus an hour and a half before the GP (I know because the guy in front of me bought the last playset) and everywhere you looked, there was Mono-B or Bw or Br or Bg or Bu or even Bwr or Bgw or Bwu Devotion. And those are just the ones I saw. I'd estimate that 35-40% of the field was on Mono-B or a variant. So in short, I wouldn't say that Specter was any more prevalent than it was before (though many, including me, may have anticipated this), just that the lists with Specter performed better because they were better in the mirror. The Specter lists at the top would also explain the gradual fall of control decks after a strong start on day 1.
Right because Adrian drew so poorly. Play that match up 20 times again and i bet that happens one time. Not twice.
actually more esper decks were registered and played, seconded by mono black
Modern
BUGLantern ControlBUG
Oh it'll happen again and again. Because that's the power of playing a mono colored deck vs. a greedy three colored deck, consistency. His thoughtseizes and duress ripped his hand apart and left him in top deck mode. Unfortunately yes he had bad luck and did not draw so well but that's how it goes sometimes.
Adrian Sullivan was playing straight UW with no black cards and not Esper.