No Goblins Allowed :: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions

You don't have the speed to rely on griselbrand here.

You have no defense against big fliers other than 5 drops and your first few turns are really slow. The discard feels tacked on and it feels like you would be better off swapping in some more draw instead. And you don't have that much to keep you going long enough to get griselbrand out once your opponent starts casting big creatures. Especially big fliers. While things like last gasp are good cards, we know from experience they don't stop everything.

Why not 4 Pharika's Chosen?

Honestly I think that's the case with a lot of mono-colour decks this time round. A lot of what you can do with them can be done better - or at least more efficiently - in a dual-colour deck.

Black's main problem in this pool is its creature base; there isn't much exciting going on below 4CMC.

Garren_Windspear wrote:

Honestly I think that's the case with a lot of mono-colour decks this time round. A lot of what you can do with them can be done better - or at least more efficiently - in a dual-colour deck.

Well, that lead designer Nik guy did say that the premium cards did help mono-color decks a lot more than dual color decks. Seems we're starting to see some truth to that.

Hakeem928 wrote:

Black's main problem in this pool is its creature base; there isn't much exciting going on below 4CMC.

I see lots of exciting things at the 1-3cmc for blacks creatures: Pharika's Chosen, Agent of the Fates, Child of Night, Giant Scorpion, Lilliana's Specter, Phyrexian Rager, Tormented Hero, Bloodghast. All of those creatures have their place.

Btw, update to my mono-black control. It's been running awesome.

Touch of Death (v2.0)

Creatures - 20
4 Pharika's Chosen
3 Giant Scorpion
4 Liliana's Specter
2 Phyrexian Rager
2 Graveborn Muse
2 Indulgent Tormenter
2 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Griselbrand

Other Spells - 16
3 Ulcerate
4 Vicious Hunger
4 Mind Rot
2 Flesh to Dust
3 Tribute to Hunger

Land - 24
20 Swamp
4 Radiant Fountain

Except a whole bunch of those are premium cards so are discounted for a lot of people and then Agent of Fates is mostly just a deathtouch creature in pure black since there's not really much to activate his trigger without maybe wasting a few spots, the only really good one is the card that grants undying but then it's a bit of a waste after 1 turn unless you recurred the guy form graveyard or had him bounced or something like that.

Author:	minddrifter [ Wed May 28, 2014 11:53 am ]
Post subject:	Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
Mono Black Black Card List Name \| Rarity \| CMC \| Availability \| DLC Asphodel Wanderer \| Common \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Dead Weight \| Common \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Death Cultist \| Common \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Demonic Appetite \| Common \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Deviant Glee \| Common \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Pharika's Chosen \| Common \| 1 \| Premium \| Base Ulcerate \| Common \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Undying Evil \| Common \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Child of Night \| Common \| 2 \| Non-Premium \| Base Drudge Skeletons \| Common \| 2 \| Non-Premium \| Base Vicious Hunger \| Common \| 2 \| Premium \| Base Walking Corpse \| Common \| 2 \| Non-Premium \| Base Assassinate \| Common \| 3 \| Non-Premium \| Base Bloodflow Connoisseur \| Common \| 3 \| Non-Premium \| Base Corpse Blockade \| Common \| 3 \| Non-Premium \| Base Dead Reckoning \| Common \| 3 \| Premium \| Base Devouring Swarm \| Common \| 3 \| Non-Premium \| Base Giant Scorpion \| Common \| 3 \| Non-Premium \| Base Liliana's Specter \| Common \| 3 \| Premium \| Base Mind Rot \| Common \| 3 \| Non-Premium \| Base Necromancer's Assistant \| Common \| 3 \| Non-Premium \| Base] Phyrexian Rager \| Common \| 3 \| Premium \| Base Rotted Hulk \| Common \| 3 \| Non-Premium \| Base Accursed Spirit \| Common \| 4 \| Non-Premium \| Base Gravedigger \| Common \| 4 \| Non-Premium \| Base Ogre Jailbreaker \| Common \| 4 \| Non-Premium \| Base Flesh to Dust \| Common \| 5 \| Non-Premium \| Base Rotfeaster Maggot \| Common \| 5 \| Non-Premium \| Base Shadowcloak Vampire \| Common \| 5 \| Non-Premium \| Base Covenant of Blood \| Common \| 7 \| Non-Premium \| Base Quest for the Gravelord \| Uncommon \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Suffer the Past \| Uncommon \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Tormented Hero \| Uncommon \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Tribute to Hunger \| Uncommon \| 3 \| Non-Premium \| Base Cutthroat Maneuver \| Uncommon \| 4 \| Non-Premium \| Base Paragon of Open Graves \| Uncommon \| 4 \| Premium \| Base Rescue from the Underworld \| Uncommon \| 5 \| Non-Premium \| Base Maalfeld Twins \| Uncommon \| 6 \| Non-Premium \| Base Skeletal Wurm \| Uncommon \| 8 \| Non-Premium \| Base Cruel Sadist \| Rare \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Bloodghast \| Rare \| 2 \| Non-Premium \| Base Agent of the Fates \| Rare \| 3 \| Non-Premium \| Base Graveborn Muse \| Rare \| 4 \| Premium \| Base Indulgent Tormentor \| Rare \| 5 \| Non-Premium \| Base Monomania \| Rare \| 5 \| Non-Premium \| Base Sanguine Bond \| Rare \| 5 \| Non-Premium \| Base Blood Tribute \| Rare \| 6 \| Non-Premium \| Base Nightmare \| Rare \| 6 \| Non-Premium \| Base Rune-Scarred Demon \| Rare \| 7 \| Non-Premium \| Base Shadowborn Demon \| Mythic Rare \| 5 \| Non-Premium \| Base Griselbrand \| Mythic Rare \| 8 \| Non-Premium \| Base Colourless Card List Name \| Rarity \| CMC \| Availability \| DLC Adventuring Gear \| Common \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Traveler's Amulet \| Common \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Cobbled Wings \| Common \| 2 \| Non-Premium \| Base Darksteel Axe \| Uncommon \| 1 \| Premium \| Base Elixir of Immortality \| Uncommon \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Hot Soup \| Uncommon \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Millstone \| Uncommon \| 2 \| Premium \| Base Warmonger's Chariot \| Uncommon \| 2 \| Non-Premium \| Base Blasting Station \| Uncommon \| 3 \| Premium \| Base Darksteel Ingot \| Uncommon \| 3 \| Premium \| Base Gargoyle Sentinel \| Uncommon \| 3 \| Non-Premium \| Base Greatsword \| Uncommon \| 3 \| Non-Premium \| Base Galvanic Juggernaut \| Uncommon \| 4 \| Premium \| Base Meteorite \| Uncommon \| 5 \| Non-Premium \| Base Pyxis of Pandemonium \| Rare \| 1 \| Non-Premium \| Base Illusionist's Bracers \| Rare \| 2 \| Non-Premium \| Base Hall of Triumph \| Rare \| 3 \| Non-Premium \| Base Avarice Amulet \| Rare \| 4 \| Non-Premium \| Base Creepy Doll \| Rare \| 5 \| Non-Premium \| Base Sphinx-Bone Wand \| Rare \| 7 \| Non-Premium \| Base Kozilek, Butcher of Truth \| Mythic Rare \| 10 \| Premium \| Base Non-Basic Land Card List Name \| Rarity \| CMC \| Availability \| DLC Radiant Fountain \| Common \| 0 \| Non-Premium \| Base Note: Please mark decks as "Premium" if you use Premium cards in your deck builds. Thank you. If I left anything out or you see any errors please let me know. Source: Atharva's Decklists & Strategies Thread

Author:	GobO_Kheldar [ Fri Jul 11, 2014 8:15 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
Unlocked and ready for discussion!

Author:	megamaster125 [ Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:58 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
Time for me to start infusing DotP 2015 with control decks. Here's a first draft of mono-black control. Touch of Death Creatures - 19 3 Pharika's Chosen 4 Giant Scorpion 4 Liliana's Specter 2 Graveborn Muse 2 Indulgent Tormenter 2 Rune-Scarred Demon 1 Shadowborn Demon 1 Griselbrand Other Spells - 17 4 Ulcerate 4 Vicious Hunger 4 Mind Rot 2 Flesh to Dust 3 Tribute to Hunger Land - 24 20 Swamp 4 Radiant Fountain Your deathtouch weenies should keep things at bay. The scorpion acts as a wall. Vicious Hunger to take out small threat and regain life. Specter, Muse, and Mind Rot create card advantage. Round out the finishers with bomby demons. Should be a blast to play.

Author:	mjack33 [ Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:11 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
You don't have the speed to rely on griselbrand here.

Author:	megamaster125 [ Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:32 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
mjack33 wrote: You don't have the speed to rely on griselbrand here. Speed? This is a control deck. I don't need speed to play one 8 mana game winning bomb. The only thing the deck lacks is mass removal, but that's not needed to play Griselbrand.

No Goblins Allowed http://862838.jrbdt8wd.asia/

Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions http://862838.jrbdt8wd.asia/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=3881	Page 1 of 15

Author:	mjack33 [ Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:40 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
You have no defense against big fliers other than 5 drops and your first few turns are really slow. The discard feels tacked on and it feels like you would be better off swapping in some more draw instead. And you don't have that much to keep you going long enough to get griselbrand out once your opponent starts casting big creatures. Especially big fliers. While things like last gasp are good cards, we know from experience they don't stop everything.

Author:	mjack33 [ Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:57 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
Baneslayer angel is a flier you would have trouble with. And I believe you are not running phyrexian rager.

Author:	megamaster125 [ Sat Jul 12, 2014 12:13 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
Baneslayer is limited to 1. Provided you can play it through the discard, I still have 2 Flesh to Dust and 3 Tribute to Hunger. I could also take it out with a bit of trickery with Giant Scorpion and Ulcerate (dependant on my opponent blocking, but it is an option). If I'm really desperate, I can bump up the number of Flesh to Dust or throw in some Assassinate. You got me on the Phyrexian Rager. I excluded him because it's just a cantrip attached to a 2/2 body for 3 mana. My real life experience is that he's generally not worth it. The Muses act as a Phyrexian Arena with legs. I have them and Grislebrand. Obedient Dead only had Grislebrand and 2 Sign in Blood and it did just fine for itself (unless you want to count the Liliana's Shades, but those aren't really card draw). Anyways, I don't care to add a 2/2 for 3 mana that cantrips at this time. I ran 4 Specters and 4 Mind Rot in 2012's Grave Whispers, and I know it works well.

Author:	djAMPnz [ Sat Jul 12, 2014 3:49 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
Why not 4 Pharika's Chosen?

Author:	minddrifter [ Sat Jul 12, 2014 5:56 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
I agree with Mega, looking at this build I don't think big flyers will be a problem seeing as how they won't be coming out until this deck's big flyers come out (if they are not discarded as he mentioned). A single baneslayer isn't enough to change an entire deck to try and counter it. I can't wait to get this on Steam...only 4 more days...

Author:	megamaster125 [ Sat Jul 12, 2014 7:47 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
djAMPnz wrote: Why not 4 Pharika's Chosen? The 4th one was the 61st card. I had to cut something, so I decided to keep the 4th scorpion because they can survive so much more. If I find I have too many Ulcerates or Vicious Hungers, I can cut one to put the 4th Chosen back in.

Author:	Garren_Windspear [ Sat Jul 19, 2014 3:18 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
Last Rites x24 Swamp x3 Quest for the Gravelord x4 Drudge Skeletons x4 Dead Weight x3 Liliana's Specter x3 Darksteel Ingot x3 Tribute to Hunger x2 Graveborn Muse x3 Rotted Hulks x2 Indulgent Tormentor x4 Flesh to Dust x2 Rescue from the Underworld x2 Rune-Scarred Demon x1 Griselbrand My take on the whole ' stall for demon bombs' thing à la Obediant Dead. Drudge Skeletons and Rotted Hulks can hold of just about anything in 1-on-1 combat while Liliana's Specter attempts to hold off air assaults. Removal takes care on anything they can't handle (considering the relative low-toughness of creatures in this game Dead Weight is far more effective then it has any right to be). Threw in a couple of Rescue from the Underworlds as well to pick up any of the big demons that get countered or killed. Honestly it's not unbeatable or anything - really needs an Infest or Mutilate to deal with things like Selesnya Token BS but it's good enough for what it is.

Author:	WrightJustice [ Sat Jul 19, 2014 4:45 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
I have been having a bit of trouble building a premium-less mono black deck since it just feels a bit sparse in some areas and feels like the colour must eager to pair up with another colour, though I also ended up trying out some kind of stall and kill everything until big demons type of deck.

Author:	Hakeem928 [ Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:11 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
Black's main problem in this pool is its creature base; there isn't much exciting going on below 4CMC.

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Author:	megamaster125 [ Sat Jul 19, 2014 7:00 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
Garren_Windspear wrote: Honestly I think that's the case with a lot of mono-colour decks this time round. A lot of what you can do with them can be done better - or at least more efficiently - in a dual-colour deck. Well, that lead designer Nik guy did say that the premium cards did help mono-color decks a lot more than dual color decks. Seems we're starting to see some truth to that. Hakeem928 wrote: Black's main problem in this pool is its creature base; there isn't much exciting going on below 4CMC. I see lots of exciting things at the 1-3cmc for blacks creatures: Pharika's Chosen, Agent of the Fates, Child of Night, Giant Scorpion, Lilliana's Specter, Phyrexian Rager, Tormented Hero, Bloodghast. All of those creatures have their place. Btw, update to my mono-black control. It's been running awesome. Touch of Death (v2.0) Creatures - 20 4 Pharika's Chosen 3 Giant Scorpion 4 Liliana's Specter 2 Phyrexian Rager 2 Graveborn Muse 2 Indulgent Tormenter 2 Rune-Scarred Demon 1 Griselbrand Other Spells - 16 3 Ulcerate 4 Vicious Hunger 4 Mind Rot 2 Flesh to Dust 3 Tribute to Hunger Land - 24 20 Swamp 4 Radiant Fountain

Author:	Nuke2099 [ Sat Jul 19, 2014 8:14 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
megamaster125 wrote: Garren_Windspear wrote: Honestly I think that's the case with a lot of mono-colour decks this time round. A lot of what you can do with them can be done better - or at least more efficiently - in a dual-colour deck. Well, that lead designer Nik guy did say that the premium cards did help mono-color decks a lot more than dual color decks. Seems we're starting to see some truth to that. Hakeem928 wrote: Black's main problem in this pool is its creature base; there isn't much exciting going on below 4CMC. I see lots of exciting things at the 1-3cmc for blacks creatures: Pharika's Chosen, Agent of the Fates, Child of Night, Giant Scorpion, Lilliana's Specter, Phyrexian Rager, Tormented Hero, Bloodghast. All of those creatures have their place. Btw, update to my mono-black control. It's been running awesome. Touch of Death (v2.0) Creatures - 20 4 Pharika's Chosen 3 Giant Scorpion 4 Liliana's Specter 2 Phyrexian Rager 2 Graveborn Muse 2 Indulgent Tormenter 2 Rune-Scarred Demon 1 Griselbrand Other Spells - 16 3 Ulcerate 4 Vicious Hunger 4 Mind Rot 2 Flesh to Dust 3 Tribute to Hunger Land - 24 20 Swamp 4 Radiant Fountain If only I could add Gray Merchant of Asphodel to your deck >< damn you WotC giving it to the AI and not us. Poor Gary.

Author:	WrightJustice [ Sun Jul 20, 2014 8:04 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
Except a whole bunch of those are premium cards so are discounted for a lot of people and then Agent of Fates is mostly just a deathtouch creature in pure black since there's not really much to activate his trigger without maybe wasting a few spots, the only really good one is the card that grants undying but then it's a bit of a waste after 1 turn unless you recurred the guy form graveyard or had him bounced or something like that.

Author:	bentz [ Sun Jul 20, 2014 8:16 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Magic 2015 - Mono-black decklists and discussions
WrightJustice wrote: Except a whole bunch of those are premium cards so are discounted for a lot of people and then Agent of Fates is mostly just a deathtouch creature in pure black since there's not really much to activate his trigger without maybe wasting a few spots, the only really good one is the card that grants undying but then it's a bit of a waste after 1 turn unless you recurred the guy form graveyard or had him bounced or something like that. My thoughts exactly, He is in my mono black build, just because a 3/2 death toucher is still better than other early game plays the non premium mono black have to offer, same for tormented hero - they have 3 spells that activate them, unless I put dead weight on him or something. non premium mono black is terrible, as does mono blue. mono red EDH is strong, same as mono white weenies rush. mono green is also ok, I don't know if I want to call it hunting strength or hunter's season - it is ok, ramp to big dudes and use prey upon+green one turn boosters, like any Garruk's deck.