I always have a hard time letting go of Rift in my blue decks, even in this deck despite the fact that it's not a creature. Lim-Dûl's Vault, on the other hand, is a pretty solid scry engine that helps keep us off the throne. Any thoughts?
I love Horde of Notions! I must ask you: why no Maelstrom Wanderer? Almost without exception the single best card for a Horde deck, as you can keep playing it from the graveyard with Horde's activated ability and trigger double cascade repeatedly at instant speed. So broken :).
Sorry if some of the cards I suggested were already in your list; I was posting from my phone on a break and had to hit submit in a hurry before reviewing my post thoroughly.
I'd lobby for reconsideration of Liliana of the Dark Realms. I know that getting 1 swamp for 2BB isn't especially efficient, but getting 2 swamps for that is pretty efficient, and anything other than that is just gravy. If you play her after a board wipe and are able to protect her for just 3 turns, her ultimate can pretty much win the game for you.
Another option you might consider against combo decks: if you can't beat 'em... join 'em? Someone suggested Leyline of the Void in a previous post to combat graveyard-based combo strategies, and incidentally Leyline pairs nicely with Helm of Obedience for a 2-card combo that can kill your opponents one at a time.
I will say, however, that Stifle was surprisingly effective; I run this card because I've never bothered to pick up a Voidslime, but after that last game I think I would keep it in even if I had a Voidslime to add. The U is just so much more efficient than UUG off of a Tasigur activation--I was able to hardcast Stifle on Turn 2 to stop an Expedition Map from fetching something broken like Coffers or Nykthos, then again on turn 5 to prevent a ramped-into Karn Liberated from exiling my Prophet, and then later stopped two triggered/activated abilities from resolving in the same turn with 10 mana open. I would not have been able to do any of that with Voidslime.
Do you think the "for as long as you control Dragonlord Silumgar" clause limits its effectiveness? It renders him kind of un-Sneak Attackable, does it not?
EDIT: speaking of Sneak Attack, I wouldn't even venture to say that I've ever underestimated it. In fact, it's the only card I've proxied for the deck. I don't own an Entomb either, but unlike Sneak Attack it isn't the sort of card I'm compelled to proxy for this deck. Luckily, it isn't legacy season so Sneak Attack is surprisingly affordable right now. I just got one online for $35 and I couldn't be more stoked. Happy day!
Got a chance to play a game with Tasigur, and when I told the group to just think of me as the shenanigans police, the initial consensus was, "but dude, nobody likes the cops." That opinion changed drastically in the late game, when Tasigur activations combined with a bit of collusion allowed me to stop the Phenax player from assembling Mind Over Matter+Temple Bell, then the Daretti player from recurring Darksteel Forge from his graveyard, and then the Karador player from landing a game-ending Sepulchral Primordial ETB trigger.
Unfortunately, once it became clear to my opponents that none of them would be able to win with me still in the game, I was forced into a 3v1 situation that cost me the win. I may have misplayed by revealing Palinchron off of a Worldly Tutor too early, though, and if I'd waited till just before my turn to tutor I would've been able to combo off with impunity. This really is a brutally effective control deck; I will be wary of breaking it out against strangers in a meta with a casual skew, but if I know in advance I'll be facing other combo decks it'll be a blast to play.
If you feel like you need to make your deck faster, I'd recommend cutting some lands and adding more low CMC mana rocks, and maybe even higher cost rocks such as Thran Dynamo and Gilded Lotus. Monoblack needs to hit every land drop, so repeatable land fetch is a perfect way to supplement the lands you cut to add mana rocks. I recommend the following additions:
Kudos, CentralCommand, you have a great deal more patience than I do.
Back on topic: first, my meaning must've been misconstrued--I didn't mean to imply that I dislike Venser or think he's bad, by any stretch, I really only cut him to test something else in the slot. Second, I still think he's too slow to truly stop a tuned combo/control list (but that's okay, right? We're not trying to beat Hermit Druid, and a single Venser trigger isn't going to stop Azami, right?), so the argument that he can answer anything is relatively meaningless; he simply cannot stop a dedicated combo deck, because against tier 1 combo he's just one answer pitted against a deck full of answers or a combo setup too fast to disrupt. Third, I'm actually looking for a Thalakos Deceiver. My LGS doesn't have any so I'll have to make a trip elsewhere.
All that said, I will probably make room to put Venser back in. I played a game last night in which I could've cast Living Death with a stuffed graveyard to kill the whole table, but the blue player resolved a Rewind and it cost me the game. I had Sneak Attack in play and Sidisi, Undead Vizier in hand so I could've stopped the rewind easily if I was still running Venser.
So, as I said when I cut him, I'll slot him back in since I encountered a situation in which having him in the 99 would've meant winning a game instead of losing. At the end of the day, I think Venser's most important role is being able to protect our alpha strike, and secondarily he's a universal answer in a deck that largely lacks universal answers.
PS: Central's right, Spiritmonger. There is always a way to deliver your opinion respectfully. Please don't be so inconsiderate.
Prossh tends to perform better in a combo shell than an aggro one, and Zurgo seems kind of underwhelming (I'd probably try Alesha, Who Smiles at Death as a Mardu commander before Zurgo, personally), so I'll also advocate Marchesa. She's fun, powerful, and actually quite unique as far as commanders go.
A word of warning regarding aggro, however: you may find that bringing an aggro deck to a table full of Timmies may result in you being targeted first, because a lot of the more casual EDH players prefer their games to be long and full of big, splashy plays. That said, Marchesa's dethrone ability can make your choice of combat targets more or less arbitrary, so you can always downplay your aggro-ness with the whole, "hey, well, you've got the highest life, so I have no choice but to attack you" political approach, and that may help you survive longer.
Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. No need to get so salty, pal. Good luck getting anyone to take you seriously with an attitude like that. Despite the fact that your post actually consists of some worthwhile criticism, it reeks of pretensiousness, so I will submit no further response to it. Thanks for your time, anyway.
Oh that's right, I forgot that you hardly run any creatures in your decklist. Different strokes for different builds :). At any rate, I'm testing Goblin Grenadiers in Venser's spot for now--if it really pulls its weight I'll keep it in there.
If I ever find myself in a situation in which tutoring for Venser would make the difference between winning and losing, then I'll think about what else to cut to put him back in. For now, he goes to Tasigur to improve that deck's resiliency in case one of my other combo pieces gets exiled.
- Cyclonic Rift
- Lim-Dûl's Vault
I always have a hard time letting go of Rift in my blue decks, even in this deck despite the fact that it's not a creature. Lim-Dûl's Vault, on the other hand, is a pretty solid scry engine that helps keep us off the throne. Any thoughts?Re: planeswalkers, I think a Tamiyo, the Moon Sage emblem would be ridiculously fun.
I'd lobby for reconsideration of Liliana of the Dark Realms. I know that getting 1 swamp for 2BB isn't especially efficient, but getting 2 swamps for that is pretty efficient, and anything other than that is just gravy. If you play her after a board wipe and are able to protect her for just 3 turns, her ultimate can pretty much win the game for you.
Another option you might consider against combo decks: if you can't beat 'em... join 'em? Someone suggested Leyline of the Void in a previous post to combat graveyard-based combo strategies, and incidentally Leyline pairs nicely with Helm of Obedience for a 2-card combo that can kill your opponents one at a time.
If my memory serves (it was beer and pizza night at my LGS so things are hazy), my all-stars were pretty much cards that we already know for certain to be good: Prophet of Kruphix, Force of Will and Pact of Negation, Deadeye Navigator, Reality Shift, etc, so not a whole lot to report on that front.
I will say, however, that Stifle was surprisingly effective; I run this card because I've never bothered to pick up a Voidslime, but after that last game I think I would keep it in even if I had a Voidslime to add. The U is just so much more efficient than UUG off of a Tasigur activation--I was able to hardcast Stifle on Turn 2 to stop an Expedition Map from fetching something broken like Coffers or Nykthos, then again on turn 5 to prevent a ramped-into Karn Liberated from exiling my Prophet, and then later stopped two triggered/activated abilities from resolving in the same turn with 10 mana open. I would not have been able to do any of that with Voidslime.
EDIT: speaking of Sneak Attack, I wouldn't even venture to say that I've ever underestimated it. In fact, it's the only card I've proxied for the deck. I don't own an Entomb either, but unlike Sneak Attack it isn't the sort of card I'm compelled to proxy for this deck. Luckily, it isn't legacy season so Sneak Attack is surprisingly affordable right now. I just got one online for $35 and I couldn't be more stoked. Happy day!
Unfortunately, once it became clear to my opponents that none of them would be able to win with me still in the game, I was forced into a 3v1 situation that cost me the win. I may have misplayed by revealing Palinchron off of a Worldly Tutor too early, though, and if I'd waited till just before my turn to tutor I would've been able to combo off with impunity. This really is a brutally effective control deck; I will be wary of breaking it out against strangers in a meta with a casual skew, but if I know in advance I'll be facing other combo decks it'll be a blast to play.
If you feel like you need to make your deck faster, I'd recommend cutting some lands and adding more low CMC mana rocks, and maybe even higher cost rocks such as Thran Dynamo and Gilded Lotus. Monoblack needs to hit every land drop, so repeatable land fetch is a perfect way to supplement the lands you cut to add mana rocks. I recommend the following additions:
0 Mana Crypt
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Mana Vault
2 Mind Stone
2 Fellwar Stone
2 Journeyer's Kite
4 Liliana of the Dark Realms
Mana doubling is also huge, so you might consider Extraplanar Lens and Nirkana Revenant. Karn Liberated is crucial. He deals with things you can't otherwise touch. Ob Nixilis, Unshackled is cute, but he might help you punish tutoring if you can play him at instant speed.
Other suggestions:
Back on topic: first, my meaning must've been misconstrued--I didn't mean to imply that I dislike Venser or think he's bad, by any stretch, I really only cut him to test something else in the slot. Second, I still think he's too slow to truly stop a tuned combo/control list (but that's okay, right? We're not trying to beat Hermit Druid, and a single Venser trigger isn't going to stop Azami, right?), so the argument that he can answer anything is relatively meaningless; he simply cannot stop a dedicated combo deck, because against tier 1 combo he's just one answer pitted against a deck full of answers or a combo setup too fast to disrupt. Third, I'm actually looking for a Thalakos Deceiver. My LGS doesn't have any so I'll have to make a trip elsewhere.
All that said, I will probably make room to put Venser back in. I played a game last night in which I could've cast Living Death with a stuffed graveyard to kill the whole table, but the blue player resolved a Rewind and it cost me the game. I had Sneak Attack in play and Sidisi, Undead Vizier in hand so I could've stopped the rewind easily if I was still running Venser.
So, as I said when I cut him, I'll slot him back in since I encountered a situation in which having him in the 99 would've meant winning a game instead of losing. At the end of the day, I think Venser's most important role is being able to protect our alpha strike, and secondarily he's a universal answer in a deck that largely lacks universal answers.
PS: Central's right, Spiritmonger. There is always a way to deliver your opinion respectfully. Please don't be so inconsiderate.
1 Venser, Shaper Savant (just testing without him)
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Shriekmaw
1 Goblin Grenadiers
1 Necropotence
1 Azami, Lady of Scrolls
A word of warning regarding aggro, however: you may find that bringing an aggro deck to a table full of Timmies may result in you being targeted first, because a lot of the more casual EDH players prefer their games to be long and full of big, splashy plays. That said, Marchesa's dethrone ability can make your choice of combat targets more or less arbitrary, so you can always downplay your aggro-ness with the whole, "hey, well, you've got the highest life, so I have no choice but to attack you" political approach, and that may help you survive longer.
If I ever find myself in a situation in which tutoring for Venser would make the difference between winning and losing, then I'll think about what else to cut to put him back in. For now, he goes to Tasigur to improve that deck's resiliency in case one of my other combo pieces gets exiled.