Seems to be a whole lot of defensive posturing going on here...

I'll throw I'm my tuppence opinion as I too have life commitments and I can't play every deck that I like the look of, just like I can't watch ever film or read every book.... Sometimes I look at the blurb and make a decision based on an opinion that I form.

Saying that, I like the deck; I do have concerns about the mana base (that you're not going to listen to) but I'll try to explain any way...

Bearer of silence is a lovely 2/1 flyer for just two mana... Lovely on curve but a bit lacklustre as a top deck.... Unless I've colourless mana, then it's much better.... So much so that I'd be willing to edge my mana base to get it online

Thoughtknot can be devastating and the sooner I get to see my opponents hand the better equipped I am to plan around it.... In that case I need a colourless source reliably by turn 4.

Forget the black card to colourless card ratio, it's not important, so far we've identified that it's very desirable to get colourless by turn 4

Reality smasher adds to this pressure because he puts so much pressure on the opponent that I want to drop him turn 5

So now I need colourless by turn 4 and want to use it again turn 5.... I'd go as far as to say that these are the best turn 4 and 5 plays of the deck. Read the bones helps to dig for a colourless so that's now a priority turn 3 play if I haven't seen colourless by turn 3.

So, what changes would I do?

I want 25 lands, so I'm dropping a whispers for a wastes
I'm not seeing the need for the passage or the mires so I'm ditching 2 each and adding 4 evolving wilds.

That gives me 8 colourless sources and 21 black....

I maybe tempted to leave the passage and take 2 swamp out, that gives 10 colourless to 19 black

Having not play tested and just theorised I think that would run smoother. The deck is more likely to get its priority colourless requirements sooner and to reach the 5 mana required for numerous cards earlier. Why not give these suggested changes a try?

Thank you for your feedback and I can appreciate your concerns, you are correct in your theory that there is a lot of pressure added from wanting thought-knot and smasher on turn 4 and 5 retrospectively. I believe in the end of my video I mentioned that I felt I could drop whispers, I wasn't impressed with how passage performed myself so I have considered dropping them for something else. I have considered wastes and wilds before as I do play read the bones and that plays well with shuffle effects. Anyways thanks once again and if I do happen to revisit the deck in my future videos I'll be sure to test these out.

Has anyone tried to build a mono-black Zombie deck since Eldritch Moon came out?

I'm trying to throw one together and looking for ideas.

Something built around these cards;
Baby Liliana
Big Liliana
Graf Harvest
Vampiric Rights (I see this as basically 'the black Evolutionary Leap')
Cemetery Recruitment
Dark Salvation
Dire Graf Colossus
Ob-Nixilus
From Beneath the Floor Boards (perhaps include Call of the Bloodline to cast this for its Madness cost)

Unsure about;
Ever After?
Mindwrack Demon?

Throw in some Murders, Fleshbags?, Read the Bones?

I played mono black from rank 1 to 40 twice but now there's just too many planeswalkers and no black cards to deal with them

tried a couple different versions with Thought-knot Seer but nothing worked well enough to continue playing

There has to be an MBC build that works well.

MBC=Mono Black Control I presume?

If so, there is not. One of the biggest questions to a control deck is how it handles planeswalkers; as they are the most common way to finish out a game. Mono-Black does not have removal for them (neither hard removal nor burn as you can't redirect lifeloss to a Walker) and neither does mono-Black have hand-hate (Transgress the Mind is not in Duels). You have to rely on creatures - but none of the mono-black creatures has haste or any kind of reach, really. You're giving your opponent a whole turn to deal with your creatures - at worst he'll use his planeswalker to deal with it.

So, Walkers are a problem; and I don't think mono-Black has any redeeming features to make up for that horrid flaw.

it has tools in mindbender and the bad discard we have, and the ability to get t-knots in (but those are t4, sadly often a turn too late), but yeah, basically you are correct, and mind rot isn't gonna solve this. Imagine if they had given us Transgress the mind in zendikar. Im still peeved about this.

Having a lot of luck with this one so far. I've played it quite a bit and seems to hold up pretty well in the current meta. I tried splashing white for Displacer/Anguished Unmaking but the # of times it helped was outnumbered by mana probs. Abundant Maw is kind of a fun slot at this point. (I've subbed in Endbringer and haven't looked back.) I tried Ob Nix there but usually by this point I'm trying to finish off opponent or get some life back. Emerging off a familiar, reshaper, scrounger, thrall isn't too bad. Ruins of Oran-Rief has been quite useful, esp. with the Scrounger and the Mimic. One thing that has helped me win a couple of times was using Liliana's -2 to get back Thought Knot Seer to destroy some hand. Spatial Contortion has helped turn a lot of trades positively. I pretty much never cast Bearer of Silence till I can use the ability. Also this deck really wrecks the AI since they don't run sweepers or Planeswalkers that much.

Deck List

Creature(21):

2 x Scrapheap Scrounger
2 x Carrier Thrall
2 x Bearer of Silence
2 x Eldrazi Mimic
2 x Filigree Familiar
2 x Matter Reshaper
2 x Thought-Knot Seer
1 x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 x Reality Smasher
1 x Noxious Gearhulk
2 x Distended Mindbender
1 x Endbringer
Instant(7):

3 x Grasp of Darkness
2 x Spatial Contortion
2 x Murder
Sorcery(4):

2 x Read the Bones
2 x Languish
Planeswalker(1):

1 x Liliana, the Last Hope
Artifacts(3):

2 x Smuggler's Copter
1 x Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
Lands(24):

9 x Swamp
2 x Wastes
2 x Ruins of Oran-Rief
2 x Geier Reach Sanitarium
3 x Aether Hub
2 x Westvale Abbey
4 x Crumbling Vestige


A lot of good vids/black Eldrazi content from Conley Woods here:
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.a ... 11-23-2016

This isn't a SuperWinBig deck by any means. It's something I threw together for giggles. But I've been having a ton of fun with it, and maybe you might, too.

Creature (24):

2 x Cryptbreaker
3 x Indulgent Aristocrat
3 x Gurmag Swiftwing
4 x Child of Night
4 x Graf Rats
3 x Fleshbag Marauder
1 x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 x Midnight Scavengers

Instant (8):

3 x Grasp of Darkness
3 x Murder
2 x Read the Bones

Enchantment (4):

4 x Dead Weight

Planeswalker (2):
1 x Liliana, the Last Hope
1 x Ob Nixilis Reignited

Lands (22):

22 x Swamp


As you've probably guessed, this is a mix of aggro and control, with the intent of getting Chittering Host out there ASAP. Earlier this evening, I had an opponent rage-quit when I melded the third Chittering Host and went in for the kill.

Like I say, it's not a real killer deck, but it's fun for me.

Cheers,

Bob

hit 40 playing this pile, wooo we did it, go black! This makes 3 times to rank 40 with mono black. I didn't think it was gonna be possible but then superfriends stopped being a thing on Steam. Deck isn't tier 1 by any means, but it got the job done and felt good to hit 40 without some netdeck to carry me.

Creature: 16
2 x Asylum Visitor
2 x Scrapheap Scrounger
2 x Graveblade Marauder
1 x Erebos's Titan
1 x Mindwrack Demon
1 x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 x Priest of the Blood Rite
2 x Gilt-Leaf Winnower
1 x Noxious Gearhulk
2 x Distended Mindbender

Instant: 6
3 x Grasp of Darkness
3 x Murder

Sorcery: 8
4 x Read the Bones
2 x Languish
2 x Ever After

Enchantment: 3
1 x Shadows of the Past
2 x Oath of Liliana

Artifact: 1
1 x Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

Plainswalker: 2
1 x Liliana, the Last Hope
1 x Ob Nixilis Reignited

Land: 24
21 x Swamp
3 x Rogue's Passage

@Eriatarka: I've had very good luck with the deck.. like it very much. Thanks for posting. About 6-0 with it.

I took out one Priest of the Blood Rite for one Kothophed, and added one Essence Extraction in place of the 4th Grasp of Darkness you have in your list.. which we can't have in Duels.

@Eriatarka: Me too, a lot of luck with the deck. You haven't lived til you've beaten Burn creatureless control with Erebos' Titan, or used Ever After to bring back to 2 critters to sack to Kalitas to beat a Miller I found I always milliganed' to either a grasp or a murder and 3 lands for best chances.

oh whoops that 4x is just typo, with 4x I think that's 61 cards could be wrong.. anyway glad you enjoyed it

Priest of the Blood Rite into Distended Mindbender



mono black power! Gifted Aetherborn pretty excited to add this to mono black deck

Hi
I have updated Eriatarka's Deck with some of the new cards from Aether Revolt and I am surprised how good it is doing in the new meta
I am 16-3 and I think they are still some things to improve.

This is the current list

Creature: 17
3 x Gifted Aetherborn
1 x Liliana, Heretical Healer
1 x Graveblade Marauder
1 x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
1 x Erebos's Titan
1 x Mindwrack Demon
1 x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 x Priest of the Blood Rite
2 x Gilt-Leaf Winnower
1 x Noxious Gearhulk
1 x Kothophed, Soul Hoarder
2 x Distended Mindbender

Instant: 9
3 x Grasp of Darkness
3 x Murder
3 x Rush of vitality

Sorcery: 7
2 x Read the Bones
2 x Languish
1 x Yahenni's Expertise
2 x Ever After

Artifact: 1
1 x Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

Plainswalker: 2
1 x Liliana, the Last Hope
1 x Ob Nixilis Reignited

Land: 24
17 x Swamp
4 x Mortuary Mire
3 x Rogue's Passage

The Idea is to survive in the early turns, by killing everything or gaining enough life, and then finish it with the big bombs , that you can bring them back from the grave or protected them with rush of vitality and gaining tons of life

The cards that I am not currently sure about are:

1 x Liliana, Heretical Healer
1 x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
1 x Kothophed, Soul Hoarder

I am sure I am forgetting some other card to add. Was thinking some other Vehicles, but there are no many pilots for the cheap ones, and couldn't find a good expensive one.

Come on people , help us make Black great again !!!

Haven't played the list, yet, but it looks promising. For testing purposes I'd recommend replacing those three cards with 3x Filigree Familiar and find out which of the former cards you miss the most.

I love the deck.
It has a goood flow and synergy.
But I am running 1-3 @ Rank 36-4

Lost to Abzan playing Nissa+Ob Nix
Lost to RDW
Lost to grixis creatureleas ctrl
Won vs boros/vehicles

The one win I had was a total blowout.

This is one for people who like mono-black:

Demon tribal

Creature(17)
2 x Scrapheap Scrounger
3 x Gifted Aetherborn
2 x Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
1 x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
1 x Liliana, Heretical Healer
1 x Erebos's Titan
1 x Mindwrack Demon
1 x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 x Priest of the Blood Rite
1 x Noxious Gearhulk
1 x Kothophed, Soul Hoarder
1 x Herald of Anguish

Instant(8)
3 x Fatal Push
3 x Grasp of Darkness
2 x Murder

Sorcery(4)
2 x Languish
2 x Yahenni's Expertise

Planeswalker(2)
1 x Liliana, the Last Hope
1 x Ob Nixilis Reignited

Artifact(3)
2 x Aethersphere Harvester
1 x Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

Land(26)
24 x Swamp
2 x Westvale Abbey


To view this deck go to: https://www.magicduelshelper.com/deckli ... b20011482f

Created using Magic Duels Helper: http://www.magicduelshelper.com

The idea is to try to survive early with removal, drop some bombs and clean up with sweepers.
Got plenty of lifegain because Demons tend to be on the painful side...

Koth deck from yesterday...

Mono Black Vehicles

Creature(19)
2 Dread Wanderer
1 Sanitarium Skeleton
2 Cryptbreaker
2 Scrapheap Scrounger
2 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
2 Despoiler of Souls
1 syndicate trafficker
2 Gifted Aetherborn
2 Plague Belcher
2 Bone Picker
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet

Instant(6)
3 Fatal Push
3 Grasp of Darkness

Sorcery(2)
2 Yahenni's Expertise

Planeswalker(1)
1 Liliana, the Last Hope

Artifact(9)
2 Smuggler's Copter
2 Key to the City
2 Aethersphere Harvester
2 Fleetwheel Cruiser
1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

Land(23)
20 Swamp
3 Cradle of the Accursed

These decklist forums are gathering dust, so I might as well try and breath some life back into them:

The night is dark and full of terrors

Creature(25)
2 x Walking Ballista
2 x Bomat Courier
2 x Dread Wanderer
4 x Thornbow Archer
2 x Scrapheap Scrounger
3 x Gifted Aetherborn
2 x Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
2 x Despoiler of Souls
2 x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
2 x Plague Belcher
1 x Erebos's Titan
1 x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet

Instant(9)
3 x Fatal Push
3 x Supernatural Stamina
3 x Grasp of Darkness

Enchantment(3)
3 x Gonti's Machinations

Planeswalker(1)
1 x Liliana, the Last Hope

Artifact(2)
2 x Smuggler's Copter

Land(20)
13 x Swamp
2 x Smoldering Marsh
2 x Dragonskull Summit
3 x Aether Hub

To view this deck go to: https://www.magicduelshelper.com/deckli ... 821c9fc981

Created using Magic Duels Helper: http://www.magicduelshelper.com

Red splash is exclusively for the Bomat Couriers, so its technically still mono-black. All lands producing black is essential for the costs, so a larger red splash isn't a good idea, although I'd love to have Lathnu hellions in there,.they're great with the staminas.
Speaking of which, they are key cards for blanking removal, especially all the 1-mana removal that's so popular and have extra pump utility to use as removal or a finisher. Siphoners are the other key card, especially with the Machinations, you'll be drawing cards like crazy, so save the staminas to save Siphoners whenever possible.

A word of warning: the staminas don't work so well with a couple of cards, like the Ballistas (which I've included because I'm always flooding... Even with 20 lands), but they are great with Siphoners (black a kill spell and get an extra energy) and with the Couriers (get the cards and keep the Bomat too).

So... Enjoy! (Current list is 4-0 atm)

I like the look of it, Haven_PrimalTerrier, but what's up with the Thornbow Archers? I don't see them getting much use outside of elf-centric decks (elvocentric?).