Is Rule of Law needed? If you lock down people's mana enough, they're not going to cast more than one spell per turn anyway. Better to focus on that side of the lockdown. Have you considered Armageddon?
Once you disenchant your Orb, it may be too late, who knows what your opponent could have at that point.
I do think you should really go 'all- in' on the Tabernacle/Orb lock. The Lion isn't even needed as they will have to constantly sac all but one creature anyway. Also, while Archangel is nice, you already have prison for that effect. If you want to consistently get your lock pieces, perhaps Enlightened Tutor?
While I think you're missing a lot by not going into another color, there are still other ways to go full on lockdown with Orb; Relic Barrier or Icy Manipulator for instance. Tap the Orb at the end of their turn so you can untap all your lands.
As for other cards: Enlightened Tutor could help find your important game pieces. Orim's Chant can be used to buy you a much needed turn or in combination with Scepter to lock your opponent out of the game even more than Orb can. Isochron Scepter Ethersworn Cannoist could also be a type of soft lock.
Thanks for the reply. I'd really like to keep this Mono-White. The thing with Winter Orb is that yes it is pretty much a lockdown for my opponent AND myself, but the way I get around that is to lock them down and then cast a Disenchant when I'm ready to get moving. I do however love your suggestion for the planeswalker. Definitely going to get one or more of those!
Winter Orb doesn't really fit in this deck. With Magus it's a complete creature and land lock on both sides of the field. I suppose the only way that would work is with a 'Protect the king' type plan where you slowly ride Magus to the win, having stuff like Kismet and Mana Tithe/Apostles Blessing to protect him. It will still be deathly slow. Maybe one of the Gidions as another win-condition since it won't have to pay Magus cost and has his own protection.
If I were looking to make a Wx Control deck with Orb and Magus, this is probably what I would start with.
Mana Rocks to help you push through Orb. Gush and Borderpost to get around it(return tapped lands). Taxing counters to tap opponent out. Brainstorm to help find what you need and Gideon/Magus/Keyrune to close out the game.
I'm working on what I thought was a mono-white control deck, but apparently after looking at some Primers, MWC usually includes things like Wrath of God, which I do not have. Maybe, I'll include them?
So far, this deck is really fun to play and frustratingly (in a good way) SLOW. My biggest issue is not really having a win condition or many creatures to attack with. Normally what happens is that I have control of the board which is good, but then I only have something like Aegis of the Gods on the battlefield which is super easy to kill. So, I have no problems controlling the board and almost completely stopping my opponents, but unless I draw lucky, it takes me forever to win. Not a problem, but I want to beef this thing up a bit.
One really easy way to get both a creature's death and the creatures to activate the Skirsdag High Priest are Eldrazi token generators. Eldrazi Scions and Spawn also act as ramp to get your big creatures out the hard way if nessessary.
For example, Dread Drone would give you a total of three creatures, two of which can be sacrificed right away. If you have the High Priest out, all it takes is sacrificing one token for mana, then use the Drone and the remaining token to make a Demon token. Or use Corpsehatch to kill an opponent's creature and get the two creatures nessessary to get a Demon token.
Pawn of Ulamog and Sifter of Skulls give you more tokens for your dying nontoken creatures. Especially in multiples the two can give you quite the army of sacrifice fodder and tap help.
A Spawning Bed is basically a free spell to give you three tokens, one to sac, two to tap for the High Priest. The activation cost is quite high, so a full playset is too much, but 2-3 should be very helpful.
If you are going for sacrifices anyway, take your opponent along for the ride with Grave Pact and/or Dictate of Erebos.
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed not only makes your creatures bigger, they also get undying, so they come back to be sacrificed again.
Thanks for the info! I see what you're saying. I suppose Extractor Demon would fit better in a dedicated mill deck or something. Let's see...How about this?
The first thing that springs to mind is that the deck seems like it need lots of creatures, more than it can reliably generates right now, as it wants to both sacrifice several while at the same time still have enough on the battlefield to activate Skirsdag High Priest. Repeatable token generation is a possibility but the options off the top of my head are nothing close to budget-friendly, so I'd look for creature recursion instead. Wander in Death or Phyrexian Reclamation looks useful here.
The card I don't really understand is Extractor Demon.
Putting a few cards from the top of your opponent's library into their graveyard achieves nothing of value. You're certainly not going to win this way, so all you're getting from it is a few life from Profane Memento. While repeatable life gain is useful if you want to abuse Phyrexian Reclamation there are less convoluted ways of doing that - even something as simple as Prism Ring.
Initially, I wanted to build a deck around Skirsdag High Priest. Then I saw Extractor Demon and wanted to add him to the mix. Doesn't seem like too much of a problem. THEN I saw Delraich and totally wanted to add him to the list LOL
So, I know a lot of times it's just easier to pick ONE theme and run with it, but I'm playing casual so the deck doesn't have to be perfect and I'd really like to incorporate all three of these cards. How does this look?
So, it looks like I can sac Bile Urchin to activate the ability of Skirsdag High Priest causing my opponent to lose 1 life and give me a 5/5 demon. The Bile Urchin leaving will also cause my opponent to put the top two cards of their library into their graveyard (If I have out my Extractor Demon).
With the Death Cultist, I can do the same thing as Bile Urchin, but I'll also gain a life in the process. Not to mention, whenever one of my opponents creature dies, either from Innocent Blood or just plain dying - I gain a life there as well. More icing on the cake is if I have Deathgreeter out resulting in yet again another life gained.
Delraich is just plain brutal and the three creatures being sacrificed will cause my opponent to put cards into their graveyard from Extractor Demon while also allowing me to activate the ability of Skirsdag High Priest giving me a demon.
I'll hopefully be killing more things thus giving me more life from Profane Memento.
1.) How can I make this better while staying relatively budget friendly?
2.) What would really push this deck over the edge that I can include in the future when I'm willing to put more money into it?
For example, one card I was thinking about adding in the future is Whip of Erebos
Yeah, I'm looking to get more Master of the Wild Hunt. Ideally, I'd like to run 4 of them. You know what's funny though? All this time, I've only used him to pump out a wolf each upkeep. I've never used his tapping ability. I might be misunderstanding it, but I have always been afraid to use that ability for fear of losing a wolf. I guess that really doesn't matter though because I get a new wolf during my next up keep. In a way, it's kind of like a never ending Moonlight Hunt.
It deals damage as though it were not blocked but it receives damage as though it were blocked.
2/2 Lone Wolf vs 2/2 Grizzly Bears. Wolf deals 2 damage to opponent as though it was not blocked. Bears deals 2 damage to Wolf. Wolf dies and Bears live. (realistically you would just deal 2 damage to the Bears so they would trade)
With Silverfur Partisan you can make a lot of wolf tokens. So far your deck doesn't have many ways to trigger it. But if you use spells like Nature's Way or Rabid Bite or Pit Fight as your removal, then it will also trigger Silverfur to make a wolf token! But those spells are worse than Moonlight Hunt in a wolf deck, so it may not be worth running them.
Master of the Wild Hunt is really good. Can you get any more copies?
I don't like Lone Wolf post-2002. It used to be really good, but nowadays if a 2/2 is blocked, it's dying right away. So you can only use the ability once. If you use the abililty, you're just doing 2 damage to the opponent for 3 mana and 1 card spent (a 3-mana Shock). There are some cool things you can do with Lone Wolf and buffs, but I think your deck had better wolves before. Witchstalker and Spirit of the Hunt both give you more value for 3 mana.
I know what you mean. My strategy is definitely all over the place. The reason that this hasn't been a problem is that the casual group that I play with don't really seem to be a threat. Yes, I occasionally lose games, but so does everybody else. Most of the time my wolves are so powerful, nothing is a problem. And if I draw a Howl of the Night Pack on opening hand - forget about it. I pretty much know I'm going to win. This goes for drawing it early on as well.
Another reason, which is not a good one, is that I like all of my wolves! LOL I mean seriously, their all so cool, that I didn't want to get rid of any of them. Hence, why I have so many 2 ofs
All that being said. I do want this deck to be absolutely brutal and the best it can be. I know that can be tricky because there are many paths to go. How does this look?
There's a card called Howling Wolf that can fetch itself, useful for thinning your deck.
There are cards like Bifurcate and Pack Hunt that can search for more wolves- imagine either targeting the Silverfur Partisan. Feed the Pack with the Cagebreakers could provide some interesting combinations- you just need somethings to sacrifice.
That said, you're strategy is all over the place. I can see a deck built around Lone Wolf, Nyxborn Wolf and Wolfir Silverheart. a 9/7 dodging through enemy line's is something to fear.
If you're running a Wolf token/Parallel Lives strategy, definitely look at some Populate cards, like Growing Ranks.
Hi kamakazi! Thanks for the reply. Yes, I don't know why I overlooked Lone Wolf. I've definitely contemplated it before. Which cards should I drop top include him? Any other ideas? Thanks again!
It's been awhile since I've posted in this thread, but I've got a great wolf deck going and I'd love to hear opinions on making it as best as it can be. I really want to keep this mono-green. However, I'm open to the idea of splashing a little black to play cards like Golgari Charm. Again though, I'd love to keep this mono-green so keep that in mind. What can I do to make this the best it can be? One idea I had was to add Aether Vial to the deck. How's that sound? And would I need an entire playset? Also considering Descendants' Path
A few 6 CMC silver bullets, especially as creatures, give you a very powerful toolbox without overloading the deck, you really only need 1-ofs if you can search for them and use them over and over.
Other than that, what you recommend adding to this deck? I've looked over CZ's mono black multi-player guide, but there is an overwhelming amount of information there.
Gnat Miser is totally useless for you, especially as a 2-of. No opponent will care that they can keep only 6 instead of 7 cards in the hand when their turn ends. The Rat won't stop them from drawing more cards. This effect is only useful if you can drastically reduce the maximum hand size, like to 2 or less. A bunch of Gnat Misers alone can't do that, not even as a full playset.
Whyever would you take out the Vampire Nighthawks? Not only is it a very strong card, you now have almost no way of dealing with any opposing flyers, except for the nuke that is your demon, which may never come down due to its high mana cost. Even with a Dark Ritual you still need 8 lands. And the Ritual sucks in multiplayer, it is card disadvantage for tempo gain, but in multiplayer that trade is terrible. You need cards much more than you need tempo. Try more permanent/repeatable mana accelleration instead.
If you add a few sacrifice outlets, you can do a repeatable Merchant drain turn after turn with Haunted Crossroads. Black has many useful things it can sacrifice its creatures to.
Netherborn Phalanx's transmute goes entirely wasted in this deck, but it is a very strong ability, especially due to Haunted Crossroads. Of course, the Crossroads + sac outlet can also use the Phalanx's ETB trigger for a repeatable effect. A few 6 CMC silver bullets, especially as creaures, give you a very powerful toolbox without overloading the deck, you really only need 1-ofs if you can search for them and use them over and over.
A very glaring hole in the deck is the lack of removal. Yes, spot removal is less effective in multiplayer, but it is still very effective. Oftentimes you simply have to kill that particular creature over there. You're the black mage, you should be able to do it. Doesn't mean, that you have to kill whatever dares to rear its head (there are other players, too, after all), or that you have to do it right away, but there will be many times where the only one truly bothered by some creature is you. Everybody else will be very happy to see it eat into your life or constrain you.
I played the deck you posted above and it's been going really well. I'd like to swap out a few things and see how it goes. I would totally appreciate your opinion. How about something like this? Thanks again! All the new cards that I "added" I do not own. I'll have to guy buy them tonight. Wanna make sure I do a proper upgrade before I shell out the money. Although, these additions don't look all that expensive.
Of course this would effect me as well. Is there something I'm missing here? Or will Armageddon mess up my opponent much more than it will me?
4x Nyx-Fleece Ram
4x Magus of the Tabernacle
2x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2x Dawn Elemental
4x Disenchant
Enchantment
4x Oblivion Ring
2x Arrest
2x Ghostly Prison
2x Sphere of Safety
2x Rule of Law
2x Luminarch Ascension
4x Winter Orb
2x Icy Manipulator
Land
24x Plains
How does this look?
3x Mageta the Lion
2x Magus of the Tabernacle
2x Archangel of Tithes
2x Nyx-Fleece Ram
2x Dawn Elemental
2x Gideon of the Trials
Instants
4x Disenchant
2x Abeyance
Enchantment
3x Oblivion Ring
3x Arrest
2x Ghostly Prison
2x Sphere of Safety
2x Rule of Law
2x Luminarch Ascension
2x Winter Orb
2x Icy Manipulator
Land
24x Plains
I'm working on what I thought was a mono-white control deck, but apparently after looking at some Primers, MWC usually includes things like Wrath of God, which I do not have. Maybe, I'll include them?
So far, this deck is really fun to play and frustratingly (in a good way) SLOW. My biggest issue is not really having a win condition or many creatures to attack with. Normally what happens is that I have control of the board which is good, but then I only have something like Aegis of the Gods on the battlefield which is super easy to kill. So, I have no problems controlling the board and almost completely stopping my opponents, but unless I draw lucky, it takes me forever to win. Not a problem, but I want to beef this thing up a bit.
I'm thinking about adding Luminarch Ascension, Archangel of Tithes, and a couple more Dawn Elemental if you all think that's a good idea. Love that card by the way
I would like to take out and replace the following..
White Sun's Zenith
Loxodon Gatekeeper
Spelltithe Enforcer
Any thoughts?
Here's what I'm playing right now:
4x Magus of the Tabernacle
3x Spelltithe Enforcer
2x Aegis of the Gods
2x Nyx-Fleece Ram
2x Dawn Elemental
2x Loxodon Gatekeeper
4x Disenchant
2x White Sun's Zenith
Enchantment
4x Oblivion Ring
3x Arrest
2x Ghostly Prison
2x Sphere of Safety
2x Rule of Law
2x Winter Orb
Land
24x Plains
What if I went a slightly different route and used cards such as Smallpox, Braids, Cabal Minion, and other kinds like them?
2x Demon of Death's Gate
4x Bile Urchin
4x Death cultist
4x Deathgreeter
4x Skirsdag High Priest
4x Delraich
4x Wander in Death
2x Innocent Blood
2x Duress
2x Hymn to Tourach
2x Prism Ring
Instants
2x Dark Ritual
Initially, I wanted to build a deck around Skirsdag High Priest. Then I saw Extractor Demon and wanted to add him to the mix. Doesn't seem like too much of a problem. THEN I saw Delraich and totally wanted to add him to the list LOL
So, I know a lot of times it's just easier to pick ONE theme and run with it, but I'm playing casual so the deck doesn't have to be perfect and I'd really like to incorporate all three of these cards. How does this look?
So, it looks like I can sac Bile Urchin to activate the ability of Skirsdag High Priest causing my opponent to lose 1 life and give me a 5/5 demon. The Bile Urchin leaving will also cause my opponent to put the top two cards of their library into their graveyard (If I have out my Extractor Demon).
With the Death Cultist, I can do the same thing as Bile Urchin, but I'll also gain a life in the process. Not to mention, whenever one of my opponents creature dies, either from Innocent Blood or just plain dying - I gain a life there as well. More icing on the cake is if I have Deathgreeter out resulting in yet again another life gained.
Delraich is just plain brutal and the three creatures being sacrificed will cause my opponent to put cards into their graveyard from Extractor Demon while also allowing me to activate the ability of Skirsdag High Priest giving me a demon.
I'll hopefully be killing more things thus giving me more life from Profane Memento.
1.) How can I make this better while staying relatively budget friendly?
2.) What would really push this deck over the edge that I can include in the future when I'm willing to put more money into it?
For example, one card I was thinking about adding in the future is Whip of Erebos
EDIT: I was considering adding Carrion Feeder to the deck, but decided not to. Would he be a better fit in this deck than say the deathgreeter, Bile Urchin, or Death Cultist?
4x Extractor Demon
4x Bile Urchin
4x Death cultist
4x Deathgreeter
4x Skirsdag High Priest
4x Delraich
2x Innocent Blood
2x Duress
2x Hymn to Tourach
4x Profane Memento
Instants
2x Dark Ritual
Yeah, I'm looking to get more Master of the Wild Hunt. Ideally, I'd like to run 4 of them. You know what's funny though? All this time, I've only used him to pump out a wolf each upkeep. I've never used his tapping ability. I might be misunderstanding it, but I have always been afraid to use that ability for fear of losing a wolf. I guess that really doesn't matter though because I get a new wolf during my next up keep. In a way, it's kind of like a never ending Moonlight Hunt.
Two questions:
1.) What do you think of Briarpack Alpha?
2.) Between Spirit of the Hunt and Silverfur Partisan - Who's better?
I know what you mean. My strategy is definitely all over the place. The reason that this hasn't been a problem is that the casual group that I play with don't really seem to be a threat. Yes, I occasionally lose games, but so does everybody else. Most of the time my wolves are so powerful, nothing is a problem. And if I draw a Howl of the Night Pack on opening hand - forget about it. I pretty much know I'm going to win. This goes for drawing it early on as well.
Another reason, which is not a good one, is that I like all of my wolves! LOL I mean seriously, their all so cool, that I didn't want to get rid of any of them. Hence, why I have so many 2 ofs
All that being said. I do want this deck to be absolutely brutal and the best it can be. I know that can be tricky because there are many paths to go. How does this look?
4x Young Wolf
4x Lone Wolf
4x Timberpack Wolf
4x Wolfir Silverheart
4x Silverfur Partisan
3x Briarpack Alpha
1x Master of the Wild Hunt
1x Garruk Relentless
Instants
4x Moonlight Hunt
2x Giant Growth
Enchantment
2x Bifurcate
2x Howlpack Resurgence
1x Howl of the Night Pack
It's been awhile since I've posted in this thread, but I've got a great wolf deck going and I'd love to hear opinions on making it as best as it can be. I really want to keep this mono-green. However, I'm open to the idea of splashing a little black to play cards like Golgari Charm. Again though, I'd love to keep this mono-green so keep that in mind. What can I do to make this the best it can be? One idea I had was to add Aether Vial to the deck. How's that sound? And would I need an entire playset? Also considering Descendants' Path
Here's what I have so far:
4x Young Wolf
4x Timberpack Wolf
2x Darkthicket Wolf
2x Silverfur Partisan
2x Witchstalker
2x Spirit of the Hunt
2x Wolfir Avenger
1x Master of the Wild Hunt
3x Wolfir Silverheart
2x Kessig Cagebreakers
1x Garruk Relentless
Enchantment
2x Howlpack Resurgence
2x Beastmaster Ascension
1x Parallel Lives
Instants
4x Moonlight Hunt
2x Howl of the Night Pack
Lands
24x Forest
ok, I'm thinking 6+ here, but...
How about adding 1x Demon of Death's Gate, 1x Griselbrand, and 1x Grave Titan? or maybe Reiver Demon? That seems like it would good in Multiplayer.
20x Swamp
4x Leechridden Swamp
Creatures (20)
2x Thrull Parasite
2x Deathgreeter
2x Vampire Nighthawk
3x Nantuko Shade
2x Crypt Ghast
4x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1x Demon of Death's Gate
1x Griselbrand
1x Dread Cacodemon
1x Grave Titan
4x Dark Ritual
4x haunted Crossroads
2x Syphon Mind
2x Exsanguinate
Alright, what if I take out the 2x Gnat miser? and put back in my Vampire Nighthawk?
Other than that, what you recommend adding to this deck? I've looked over CZ's mono black multi-player guide, but there is an overwhelming amount of information there.
I took out the Gonti's Machinations and put in Deathgreeter and Gnat miser. All of the games I've played thus far...I have never gotten any use out of Gonti's. I also took out the Pestilence Demon, Bloodgift Demon, Zulaport Cutthroat, and Vampire Nighthawk.
I added in nantuko Shade, Netherborn Phalanx, Dread Cacodemon, Haunted Crossroads, Repay in Kind. For lands, I added Leechridden Swamp.
20x Swamp
4x Leechridden Swamp
Creatures (20)
2x Thrull Parasite
2x Deathgreeter
2x gnat miser
4x Nantuko Shade
2x Crypt Ghast
4x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
2x Netherborn Phalanx
2x Dread Cacodemon
4x Dark Ritual
2x haunted Crossroads
2x Syphon Mind
2x Exsanguinate
2x Repay in Kind