Hello all. I've recently acquired Angus Mackenzie and want to build him as my next deck. What would be the best shell for Angus? I saw on EDHREC that some of the archetypes he falls into are: Enchantress, Superfriends, and Group hug.
I want the deck to include non-combat based win conditions such as Approach of the Second Sun, however, the enchantress package is also interesting but potentially looks semi-durdly (I haven't played much enchantress so I could be wrong here).
In terms of reanimation hierarchy, I believe the power level of these three commanders is as follows:
1) Chainer - Instant speed reanimation that doesn't require tap activation or any other clause. Targets all graveyards.
2) Karador - Better than Meren due to access to White, which grants the Karmic Guide + Reveillark loop, some hatebears, and access to orzhov removal such as Vindicate and Utter End, swords to plowshares, etc.
3) Meren - reanimation is 'free' but 'time' based, requires meren to be on field a few turns to build experience counters. This is the least controlled reanimation (on your end) aspect of these three commanders - she doesn't generate instant value.
Having said all of this, it's an interesting point to remove Reliquary Tower and Temple of the False God. I see the justification for both, and could easily see even a basic swamp being as valuable.
You are right! I used to run Diamond Valley (a proxy version, I'm also not made of money ;P) and the amount of times I seen it in my opening hand/drawn was annoying enough to replace it with a Swamp. Temple of the False God is a good card, but monoblack doesn't have the ramp package to really utilize this. Temple is great in monogreen for something like Nissa, Vastwood Seer.
I also understand it's somewhat hypocritical to talk about utility lands such as Nykthos, Strip Mine, Bosiju as they are colorless sources, however, I think their abilities offset this negative. Worst case scenario I can just tutor/expedition map for Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
Bubbling Muck is very nice High Tide effect that scales at every point of the game, however, I think it's better suited in a MonoBlack Control styled archetype. Something like MonoBlack XiaHou Dun Stax where you can abuse card recursion via Xiahou Dun, The One-eyed+Nim Deathmantle loops. So with this in mind, I believe creature/artifact doublers are valued higher compared to instant / sorceries for Chainer.
Outside of scenarios where you're playing stuff like Mesmeric Orb, stuff like Songs of the Damned gain higher value in those lists.
I'd recommend for you to to swap Extractor Demon for Nirkana Revenant. The mana doubling redundancy on creatures is amazing for chainer. I'd also proably think about cutting Temple of the False Gods and Reliquary Tower - personally I never found Reliquary tower to be amazing for Chainer because the discard can be useful for dumping creatures in the grave and the colorless mana will always be annoying to see. If financially possible, run 4 fetch lands and replace 4 swamps. Strip Mine for Ghost Quarter as we don't want a card disadvantage land.
I want the deck to include non-combat based win conditions such as Approach of the Second Sun, however, the enchantress package is also interesting but potentially looks semi-durdly (I haven't played much enchantress so I could be wrong here).
Or should I just make own homebrew BANT goodstuff-stax? Include fun stuff like Ensnaring Bridge and Dueling Grounds, a mix of tax effects via Ghostly Prison and Propaganda?
BANT has too many options available...I need some direction!
1) Chainer - Instant speed reanimation that doesn't require tap activation or any other clause. Targets all graveyards.
2) Karador - Better than Meren due to access to White, which grants the Karmic Guide + Reveillark loop, some hatebears, and access to orzhov removal such as Vindicate and Utter End, swords to plowshares, etc.
3) Meren - reanimation is 'free' but 'time' based, requires meren to be on field a few turns to build experience counters. This is the least controlled reanimation (on your end) aspect of these three commanders - she doesn't generate instant value.
Stick with Chainer!
You are right! I used to run Diamond Valley (a proxy version, I'm also not made of money ;P) and the amount of times I seen it in my opening hand/drawn was annoying enough to replace it with a Swamp. Temple of the False God is a good card, but monoblack doesn't have the ramp package to really utilize this. Temple is great in monogreen for something like Nissa, Vastwood Seer.
I also understand it's somewhat hypocritical to talk about utility lands such as Nykthos, Strip Mine, Bosiju as they are colorless sources, however, I think their abilities offset this negative. Worst case scenario I can just tutor/expedition map for Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
Outside of scenarios where you're playing stuff like Mesmeric Orb, stuff like Songs of the Damned gain higher value in those lists.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/marquees-de-chainer-sadism-101/
I'd recommend for you to to swap Extractor Demon for Nirkana Revenant. The mana doubling redundancy on creatures is amazing for chainer. I'd also proably think about cutting Temple of the False Gods and Reliquary Tower - personally I never found Reliquary tower to be amazing for Chainer because the discard can be useful for dumping creatures in the grave and the colorless mana will always be annoying to see. If financially possible, run 4 fetch lands and replace 4 swamps. Strip Mine for Ghost Quarter as we don't want a card disadvantage land.
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Boseiju, Who Shelters All, Deserted Temple, Phyrexian Tower, are the best colorless utility lands in my opinion. I also run Cavern of Souls as blue is fairly prevalent in my area, naming Humans. Counterspell protection for Chainer, Dementia Master, Xiahou Dun, The One-Eyed, Disciple of Bolas, Senguir Autocrat, and Zulaport Cutthroat is very nice.