On a side note I tried the deck with 25 lands and it ran ....... ok. I took the land out and main decked an ultimate price to help with the g/r matchup. It was just meh ok.
I have continued my play testing today and I think I did jump the gun about the losses to mono blue. I think I only lost to it twice in about 10 games. I also spilt with g/r monsters 3-3. I also played a crap ton of games against r/w but the deck had more burn than creatures. I think I lost 2 games in about 10 games as well. So the deck is still legit. I will be packing 4 duress in the board. It was invaluable against the red deck and we already know it's good against control. No way am I leaving home without 4 in the board. Thoughts?
I agree with that axman, I am keeping nightveil main and running 4x lifebanes in the board. I lost back to back rounds on Saturday to mono blue. Something I haven't lost in a long time. Suggestions for the sideboard? Mine currently is this:
4x lifebane zombie
4x duress
2x doom blade
2x erebos, god of the dead
2x dark betrayal
1x drown in sorrow
Do I need more drown in sorrow? Axman and I will be attending the GP in Cinncy. Is anyone traveling to Cinninati that would know what the meta might look like?
Well Stran someone has to be that guy at the LGS!!! I saw a MBD today deck that played both nightveil and lifebane. It finished 12th at the latest SCG open. It cut 1 land, 1 connections, and 1 nightveil. Can we run that many 3 drops and not get punished? Can we afford to go to 25 land?? What do you guys think?
@ Duxx - your ultimate play is discard to make a rat. Turn 4 is very situational. If it's an aggro deck you want to put the demon down. It's like having another removal spell. If the don't sac a guy, it's usually 6 damage, at its worst the are blocking with a smaller flier and you are getting rid if a guy anyway. In the control match up the Erebos is the choice. Play it more and it will come second nature to you.
@ soviet - the B/W deck seems to be making a surge as of late. It's better against monsters (lifebane main) and it's better against us (mono black) is that the direction we should be going ?
No they were both mono blue, and I also made a couple critical play errors. The first match I left a bile blight on top of my library. He killed my specter, used his specter, took the bile blight and then cast it on my rats with his nykthos. He crushed my board and then won the game. Should we be playing a nykthos??
Ok I took down the FNM yesterday and there was another tournament today that I scrubbed out of. I have beaten mono blue with no problems for the past 2 months. I lost to mono blue in the 2nd and 3rd round today. Granted I made some bad misplays but I never thought I was in control in either match. Am I over analyzing the consistency on mono black or did I just screw it up today. Should I be testing the white splash? Or am I just getting ahead of myself?
Removal is becoming an issue for me. I don't know what to do about it. With the decline of blood baron, we would need less devour flesh. Is 2 bile blight enough? What about this 4 downfall, 2 bb, 2 devor flesh, 2 ultimate price. Are we all against doom blade main??
Ok boys, I am going to test the lifebanes tomorrow at FNM but unless it proves to be out of this world I am leaning toward the nightveils. With that said, what does everyones's removal suite look like? Mine is currently 4 downfall, 3 bile blight, and 3 devour flesh. I have also tried -1 bile blight and -1 devour flesh and put 2 ultimate price in their place. I have to be honest, during testing I did not like the ultimate price. What is everyone running for removal?
I've finally decided to switch over to MBD. Had couple extra event tickets on mtgo after selling my Jace's and Revelations.
Noticed a couple of things. First one is mono black seems to be weaker than U/w control against hyper aggressive decks (RW burn, RDW etc). RDW and other creature based aggro decks has never been a problem for me with UW, just RW burn.
Second is Pack Rat. I don't know about you guys but it seems pretty weak for me. I almost always take 4 out against pretty much anything on game 2. I've been looking for a 2 cmc replacement for him but I can't find any. It seems this card is only being played because there are no other options?
This is what I'm running btw
Hey guys, long time lurker, first time poster--just wanted to say a few words about this post: if Pack Rat seems weak, it isn't being played properly. It has a unique (and almost counter-intuitive) strategy that requires full commitment as soon as it hits the board, assuming you are playing against aggro. If you Thoughtseize into Pack Rat against aggro on the play, it is very unlikely that you can lose that match. Hope that sures up any concern regarding the monoB aggro matchup.
I cannot agree with this more. Great point about our friend pack rat. I am still torn on this lifebane specter situation. I am running out of time to test it for Cincinnati. Anyone have some experience with which one is better? I know you want specter in the mirror and mono blue but it would seem the zombie would be better against the rest of the field.
Demon is a beast against the G/R decks and with running so much removal a demon on an empty board means lights out. Plus you cannot beat a 6/6 for 4 casting cost. Stick with him he will pay off as well!
Galerion are you in the specter camp or lifebane for paper magic?
You need to play with pack rat more. The card is a blow out when it gets online. It also forces your opponent to deal with it immediately. Because if they don't they are way to far behind to ever get back in the game. It's real really good. Play with it some more and you will see.
Also, all I have been reading online is that lifebane zombie is the way to go for the main. I can't say I'm totally convinced but it's looking like that is the way that all the pros are recommending. Do you guys think it's possible to just swap out the ; lifebanes I have in my board for 4 specters? Is packing 4 specters in the board doing to much??
I have been a part of this community for over 14 years, almost since its inception. I have completed almost 1,000 trades on this site and have been a a part of countless threads throughout the years. As I write this I just sent out my end of another trade. Sadly it will be my last. I want to give a HUGE thank you to Feyd for all of his help throughout the years. If it wasn't for him and the countless volunteers this site would have folded years ago. The end of an era indeed. So long MTGS, it has been an amazing ride!
+4 lifeban zombie -4 nightveil
+2 doom blade -2 bile blight
On a side note I tried the deck with 25 lands and it ran ....... ok. I took the land out and main decked an ultimate price to help with the g/r matchup. It was just meh ok.
4x lifebane zombie
4x duress
2x doom blade
2x erebos, god of the dead
2x dark betrayal
1x drown in sorrow
Do I need more drown in sorrow? Axman and I will be attending the GP in Cinncy. Is anyone traveling to Cinninati that would know what the meta might look like?
@ soviet - the B/W deck seems to be making a surge as of late. It's better against monsters (lifebane main) and it's better against us (mono black) is that the direction we should be going ?
That makes the nightveil specter argument closed then. They have to stay in the main.
I cannot agree with this more. Great point about our friend pack rat. I am still torn on this lifebane specter situation. I am running out of time to test it for Cincinnati. Anyone have some experience with which one is better? I know you want specter in the mirror and mono blue but it would seem the zombie would be better against the rest of the field.
Galerion are you in the specter camp or lifebane for paper magic?
Also, all I have been reading online is that lifebane zombie is the way to go for the main. I can't say I'm totally convinced but it's looking like that is the way that all the pros are recommending. Do you guys think it's possible to just swap out the ; lifebanes I have in my board for 4 specters? Is packing 4 specters in the board doing to much??