card:Praetor's Grasp allows you to cast the spell you take from your opponent's library... but ya gotta be able to cast it with the right colour mana!
Shimmering Grotto is in there for card:Praetor's Grasp, so i can steal a card from their library, and then be able to produce the proper colored mana to play the card i stole, if i so choose.
Very nice deck. Perhaps add some bulkier creatures to block for you. Mark of the Vampire is good to give creatures lacking lifelink. It helps with using the Phyrexian mana as well.
Mark of the Vampire is nice, but it's just so expensive.
I usually do pretty good on getting a Vampire Nighthawk , or a Vault Skirge swinging for life link. Thanks for the comment :D
Very nice deck. I love the whole feel of it. I was wondering when you bring out Demonlord of Ashmouth who do you sack?
@BravelilToaster135 as much as it usually pains me, i normally end up throwing a Tormented Soul or a Vault Skirge at it.
LOL a Vault Skirge? Now I +1 for the ironic deck title. ;)
He is great and all but I would take out Demonlord of Ashmouth for more Shimian Specter s. Gotta love controlling what they can play! :D
@DarthTrevyn I think i agree with you there. I love my Demonlord of Ashmouth but the Shimian Specter s fit so much better. I'll keep the demons in until i get 2 more of the specters.
I'd try out Duress over Distress and some number of 2 drops, possibly Child of Night , or Vampire Interloper . Sign in Blood is also a great card for any black deck.
Did you ever consider Exotic Orchard for card:Praetor's Grasp? I think it'd be perfect, and doesn't require the extra 1 mana like Shimmering Grotto does to produce the color you need. Surely your opponent's lands produce the color(s) required for his own spells. I run four in my blue theft deck.
@qk1 That is a great idea! next time i order cards i'll get four Exotic Orchard s, thanks for the tip!
i'm already planning on pulling the 2 Demonlord of Ashmouth s and putting in two more Shimian Specter . but thanks for the suggestion!
I love your deck, and I hope these humble suggestions prove useful in some way.
+2 Liliana of the Dark Realms ->> Initially I was not a fan of her, but I have grown to love her. She's a great distraction, a great mana fixer with shockswamps, and she helps you with your lifelink/swamp combo. Her ultimate doesn't synergize with your deck, but maybe there is an XB card out there to consider?
+1 Praetor's Grasp +1 Nightveil Specter
More thievery.
+2 Blood Crypt+2 Overgrown Tomb+2 Watery Grave+2 Godless Shrine
Mana fixing with Lili to help you cast cards you steal.
Best card in black, period.
If you can run with shockswamps, you don't need this. You probably have enough problems with the colorless mana sources and BBB spells.
-3 Dark Favor
Seems like you are inviting card disadvantage, but when played on a lifelink flyer, it's probably decent value if you can connect with it just once.
-1 Sorin Markov-5 Swamp-1 Royal Assassin-1 Sadistic Sacrament
22 Land seems low for a deck that runs at needs to hit 3 on 3, 24-25 seems right to me.
@hawgdriver: those are some great suggestions and i'll have to see what i can come up with. Thanks!
The shock lands are out of place when the following are cheaper financially and in terms of life:
Isolated ChapelWoodland CemeteryDrowned CatacombDragonskull Summit
Add in 1 or 2 of those, not too many or they'll start coming in tapped.
True but Liliana of the Dark Realms cannot fetch those, so mana fixing issues are not addressed, and stolen cards are much harder to cast.
For now i'll stick in as many shockland as i have, and then finish the rest off with dual land.
I'd be awesome for all shocklands, but they are a tad more pricey than i can swing now lol
I'm kinda suprised you chose Liliana of the Dark Realms for this deck, I think Liliana of the Veil fits much better.
Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize are great for this kind of build, though they do cost an arm and a leg..
Finally, another card that came to mind was Hypnotic Specter. Good job so far, +1 from me. :)
Want to know what this deck is missing, Boros Reckoner. It is necessary in any deck.
@DubstepDeligate thanks for the suggestion, but a red/white card would be a tough squeeze for this deck. :)
Murder
B
Instant
As an additional cost to cast Murder, tap a creature named Rathi Trapper and Royal Assassin
Destroy Target Creature
I've made two similar mono-black decks that have been playing really well even against top-tier decks. If you'd like to take a look:
Black Bob (with Dark Confidant)
Curtain of Darkness (without)
Disciple of Bolas is amazing with Lashwrithe .
| Low | Avg | High |
| $60.41 | $94.85 | $219.53 |
| Date added | 1 year |
| Last updated | 1 year |
| Legal formats | Commander / EDH, Legacy, Modern, Vintage |
| Cards | 65 |
| Avg. CMC | 2.85 |
| Folders | Currently Playing, awesome decks i want, Standard, 1, cool, Inspiration, Black, Black, Red |
| Top rank | #19 on 2012-08-18 |
pappasmurf91 says... #1
idk if i'm missing something but you don't need the Shimmering Grotto . you are running a mono black deck.
August 7, 2012 4:30 p.m.