BIG CHANGES
due to the recent meta shift I have heavily reworked the deck, it took a while but after some testing I have re-optimised it to handle control Matchups more effectively with the main board and moved a lot of the anti aggro to the side board.
The cards in the deck and their uses
Land:
Swamp, pretty straight forward, makes black mana.
Blighted Fen, land that doubles as removal, produces colourless mana for the eldrazi and gives alternative options for killing things.
Mirrorpool, can copy kill spells late game to take out two creatures/planeswalkers or can turn into a creature itself. Enters tapped so always play turn 1 if possible.
Aether Hub
, a recent addition; I found with how much the deck needed double black and at least one colourless I wasn't getting that all the time, this was largely due to the loss of Llanowar Wastes,
Aether Hub
makes for a serviceable replacement.
Instants:
Grasp of Darkness, cheap quick removal, hits almost anything and gets around indestructible. Also doubles as a debuff to soften incoming damage or to make a big attacking creature easier to block.
Succumb to Temptation
, decent card draw spells, not nearly as good as
Read the Bones
but still a good option for black card draw.
To the Slaughter, previously just a sideboard card - I have found this instant speed edict to be very useful against both control and
Aetherworks Marvel
decks.
Sorceries:
Ruinous Path
, one of the important new main board pieces, this removal spell is far more versatile in the current meta than the Dead Weights it replaced.
Transgress the Mind, great anti control piece. Picking apart Their hand helps ensure they aren't throwing down pesky planeswalkers anytime soon. Also works well against most midrange decks.
Collective Brutality, a card I previously found to inconsistent for the versatility to be worth it - the meta shifts have caused for a large variety of both small creature decks and control decks to emerge, This piece is good against both.
Creatures:
Matter Reshaper, efficient card often 'two for oneing' against control and aggro alike, this creature helps put on the pressure against walkers and eats up aggro creatures like a boss.
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, one of the few ways to gain life and an all around power house creature. Making an army of tokens to counter opposing token armies this card also ruins any aristocrat or zombie/recursion strategies.
Reality Smasher, an already super value creature that is just made even more disgusting by the fact that it is almost hexproof in this deck as your opponent will rarely have a second card in hand to throw away. Casting a turn early with Hedron Crawler or duplicating with
Mirror Pool
are both very valuable plays.
Thought-Knot Seer taking the best anything out of their hand and getting a 4/4 is super value, a great beat down creature that also eats almost any token or mid sized bant or Boros creature.
Planeswalkers:
Liliana, the Last Hope, strong all around card, hard to answer for both control and aggro.
Ob Nixilis Reignited, one of the more recent non-kaladesh additions, this planeswalker has proven to be amazing for this deck, the card advantage is very useful, the removal is a great answer for most creatures and If you have already shut down your opponent, it prevents them from wanting to play creatures. His ultimate will also win the game very fast.
THE SIDE BOARD
The sideboard for this deck, like most, is to help against mainstream strategies. It is important to know what you need, and what you should get rid of.
Lost Legacy, a replacement for Infinite Obliteration, this is amazing against almost every major deck just not useful 'game one' if you don't know what they are running. Taking out super key creatures from their deck like Duskwatch Recruiter
, Spell Queller, Thalia, Heretic Cathar etc. Swap with redundant removal or creatures that aren't pulling Their weight.
To the Slaughter, a third copy is available in the side board just for removal density reasons.
Pick the Brain
, a recent sideboard addition, this hand disruption spell will often Steal walkers the turn before they can be played, also taking away payoffs for ramp and midrange decks. This hand disruption spell has proven itself to be very useful in the current standard meta and will often replace Grasp of Darkness, Matter Reshaper or Ob Nixilis Reignited.
Rush of Vitality, not sure about this piece, but I like its application against aggro for life gain and value and for dealing with destruction spells, saving a Thought-Knot Seer from a board wipe for example, can prove to be very convenient for card advantage reasons.
Sinister Concoction
, good against both Emrakul, the Promised End decks and any deck wanting to save it's creatures with counter spells this card also helps increase the removal density when dealing with aggro. Most often replacing
Ruinous Path
, Grasp of Darkness or Mater Reshaper.
Dead Weight and Harsh Scrutiny, I put these together because they serve essentially the same purpose, anti aggro. They are an obvious option to seal with any deck trying to rush you out.
Harsh Scrutiny, strong alongside sead weights, this piece acts as two extra copies of said removal enchantment, I chose to split the playset to include Harsh Scrutiny just for convenience and variety reasons, taking creatures preemptively stops 'ETB's, allows for snatching up bigger creatures, and makes for a viable turn one play, when on the play.
Thanks for reading, enjoy the deck and please, leave a comment :D I would love to hear your thoughts.
