MTG Salvation

Inquisition is great in Aggro or Control decks since they aren't hurt as much by counterspells, but most combo decks (this one included) need to be able to grab FoW.

I think I'm going to try a split between Duress and Thoughtseize. Since we can tutor for either one, I don't think running 2 of each is a terrible idea. I'm still running them in the board, but maybe when I'm more comfortable with the deck, I'll try putting some in the main.

I'm having trouble playing against Pox. They have tons of ways to get rid of Emrakul (Pox, Smallpox, Innocent Blood, etc.), and their hand disruption can make it difficult to Storm off (Hymn to Tourach, Duress, Pox). What should my goal be in this match? Do I want to get Emrakul into play with counter-protection or do I try to Storm with IGG?

Just started testing this the other day. It's playing very solid for me, though I'm pretty inexperienced with Storm combo, so I've still been making mistakes. I think once I get more experience with it, I'll find it really good though.

Would splashing white for Orim's Chant be a good idea or not? Also, I think putting a few Counterbalance in the sideboard could work. I don't think I'd play them mainboard, but it could be useful to board in against decks like ANT and TES.

I run both. I love both. They're both really important cards to the deck, imo. I don't think Nighthawk is a replacement for Hyppie, though, since they don't fill the same role.

Not true, Volcanic Island is legal. I suggest building around that.

Evolution Games is starting to also host tournaments, but their events tend to be much smaller (on the 25th there was only 8 people and on the 2nd, there wasn't enough to have a tournament). I also don't think their Legacy events are DCI rated, but it is a place to play on off-weeks.

edit: also, I believe Dave said there won't be an event at Premier next week due to Mother's Day.

I play 2 Jitte in the board, normally. Sometimes I'll bring one or both to the main deck if I know my meta is going to be really aggro-heavy, but I haven't played in a meta like that in a while, so I keep it in the board for my Goblins and occasional Zoo match-up.

Thanks for the quick responses.

My opponent has an Argothian Enchantress in play. I want to cast Engineered Plague to kill the Enchantress. I know that the card's creature type was changed from "Enchantress" to something else, but don't remember what.

If I ask my opponent what Argothian Enchantress's Creature Type was changed to, does he have to tell me?

Also, if I don't know that Argothian Enchanress's type was changed, and I try to cast Engineered Plague naming "Enchantress", would my opponent have to tell me that the creature type was changed (and what it was changed to) before I have to chose what I name with Engineered Plague? (i.e. I chose "Enchantress", my opponent says it was changed to "Human Druid", and I get to re-chose a creature type.)

I guess it would depend on what your manabase looks like. If you have any basic lands other than Islands, you'll obviously want the appropriate fetchland, but if you manabase is just Islands and Dual Lands, than anything that searches for Islands will do the same thing.

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Edit: going to take this opportunity to post my updated decklist.

Eva Green: "That last hand nearly killed me"

So what if it's a bond quote and not a Vesper Lynd quote? It fits really well with the suicidal nature of the deck.

I really like Fetchland, Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Tombstalker

If I can follow it up on turn 2 with Bayou and Tarmogoyf, it only makes things better.

Quote from Snow

The only thing I don't like is the nyxathid. I'm not sure what would replace it though, unfortunately. =/
I'd up the mountains somehow. With all the hype with spread 'em, well, spreading, they will mess your ☺☺☺☺ up hitting your only mountain.

Yeah, I'd like a different beater, as well, but Nyxathid seemed to be the best I could find. It looks like it'll be a Phyrexian Negator most of the time (5/5 for 3), but it can't come down on turn 1 (irrelevant here, anyway), and doesn't die to Lightning Bolt.

As for the mana base, I hadn't thought of things like Spreading Seas. With that in mind, how is this for a mana base?

All the lands tap for black now, I have 8 red sources, and 4 of the lands can be a fairly large creature, late game.

Speaking of Spreading Seas, what do you guys think of Contaminated Ground? It can be pseudo-Land Destruction, and helps fill the 2cmc slot.

Quote from ash and fire

Try those slavering nulls. Better fit to your curve, gives you a red permanent for kederekt parasite. (I'm sure I spelled that wrong lol).

I like Slavering Nulls, they are like a 2cmc Hyppie, without evasion. I'll try them.

I'm not too big a fan of Kederekt Parasite, however. It doesn't seem like a large enough threat to be relevant.

Would 21 Land be good? The deck has a very low mana curve (everything aside from Sarkhan is 3cmc or less, with 16 1-drops), so I don't think it needs too much land, but I understand why I might want to raise the count without acceleration in the deck.

I was thinking I can remove 1 Gatekeeper and 1 Nyxathid for a Swamp and a Mountain.

**Sorry if there is a thread for this. I looked around the forums, and couldn't find anything similar, but if there is a thread please point me in that direction, and I'll post there instead.

I normally play Legacy, however I have been looking into expanding into Standard since it is easier to find a playgroup for (Legacy events are held twice a month, if that in my area, where Standard is held twice a week). My favorite archetype has always been Suicide Black (mono-black aggro). So I figured, I'd attempt to port the Suicide Black archetype into the current Standard environment.

After looking through the current legal cards, I realized that there just weren't enough good black cards to make this deck without a splash for another color. The two viable splashes seemed to be Green for Putrid Leech (much like how current Legacy suicide black splashes Green for Goyf) or Red for Burn spells. I decided on red and came up with this list.



For those not familiar with the deck, it's very tempo-oriented. The idea is to disrupt your opponent while simultaneously laying down very effective threats. Unfortunately, Standard didn't seem to have any Land Destruction worth playing, from what I saw, so disruption comes soley in the form of Discard, however Nyxathid can let us play this to our advantage.

Card Choices

Creatures
Nyxathid: The deck's main finisher. I'm not too familiar with the current Standard Meta, but I've heard it's very aggro-heavy. This guy loves an Aggro meta since these deck's tend to dump their hands, even without us having to use our discard.

Hypnotic Specter: Not as great in this format since Dark Ritual is absent, however, this is still a must-answer threat that pairs great with Nyxathid.

Vampire Nighthawk: Creature removal, life gain, and a pretty efficient flyer. What's not to love?

Gatekeeper of Malakir: I'm not too sure on this guy. It's great card advantage, but 3 mana for a 2/2 isn't what the deck wants. Still, it's a way to deal with shrouded creatures, if they appear.

Vampire Lacerator: Standard's Carnophage. Definitely worth running.


Sarkhan
Sarkhan the Mad: the deck's other win condition. 5cmc is a lot for this deck, but Sarkhan does give the deck a long game plan if it comes down to it.


Discard
Duress: One of the best targeted discard spells ever printed. Run 4.

Inquisition of Kozilek: I'm not sure on this card. Standard seems to have a higher mana curve than the Eternal formats, so I'm not sure if this will be as great as it is in Legacy.

Blightning: Card advantage in the form of discard and a great burn spell. Exactly what this deck wants.


Creature removal
I wasn't sure what to run here. At first, I picked Smother, because I had great success with it in my Legacy Suicide black deck when I ran it, but I wasn't sure if it'd be as great in this format.

The format seems to have too many black decks for Vendetta or Doom blade to be a wise choice.

I decided on Terminate, but the strict color requirement is a turn-off, so I'm not sure if Smother is the best option.

I don't know the format very well, so side board choices would be helpful, as well as Main deck help. I know Vampire Hexmage will be included in the sideboard, but not sure what else to put in.