felbatista has just posted the article "Duels of the Week: Drawing cards for fun and profit" in Duels Of The Week.

Comment on it here!

Great first article! loved it

Duels is where I learned to fear Sphinx's Tutelage.

Thanks Barney. I hope the quality can improve over time.

Why Cruel Revival over some of the other 5-mana removal in black? I don't see any zombies to get back so it limits what you can hit for no gain. The 2-Black mana cost in the other spells should not be a problem once you get to that much mana in a two-color deck.

Otherwise, good article.

The 2-black mana cost is actually a problem. At least a bigger one than not being able to hit Zombies, of which are very few relevant ones that would warrant a removal spell.

I wouldn't think it would be an issue at 5-mana cost, especially when you need 2 Black mana to cast Languish.

You might want to switch to Reave Soul there if mana cost is the issue or fix the mana base. Also, the 2 life gained from the other removal spell would probably be relevant more often in this deck as you have no real fogs in here to stall.

Not having Languish T4 is not that big of a deal, since I have a bunch of creatures to hold the fort until I pull the trigger. They are my fogs. Revival is for stuff like Outland Colossus, which my creatures can only delay. Reave Soul can't deal with that.

Got it. All I am saying is that the 2 Black mana shouldn't be an issue when you get to the mana to Unholy Hunger in 9 out of 10 games, probably more like 19 out of 20 or better. If it is, your mana base needs tuning. And with all those instants/sorceries, the 2 life Spell Mastery would be on more likely than not.

But, that's my take on the deck. If what Cruel Revival works for you (no lifegain, no hitting zombies, nothing to pull back from graveyard) over Unholy Hunger, (which hits everything in the meta save Gaea's Revenge and Primal Huntbeast) and possible lifegain, cool. I don't personally use the card myself, but in that deck it seems like a no-brainer.

Not having Zombies to bring back is not a knock against the card, because the effect is just gravy. I need a removal spell, not a removal spell that brings something back from the grave (not to mention the fact that Hunger also doesn't bring anything back from the grave in my deck).

The conflict is between being easier on the mana versus gaining 2 life (because again, there's no relevant zombie in the format that I can't just block). And in a deck with a bunch of creatures that were included specifically for blocking (and drawing cards), not being able to cast your removal on time is far more likely to screw you than 2 life.

With the number of small creatures you have, why not bone splinters as removal?

Any way we can get this posted to the Magic Duels sub as well?

Well, you could always post it there. I'm on phone right now, so can't do much.

Now that is something I did not consider. I'll have to think about it, I'm particularly concerned about how bad Splinters is after a Languish, but I think this is worth exploring.