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THIS DECK IS RETIRED AND IS NO LONGER UPDATED; IT IS NOW A "CASUAL" DECK
If this deck good enough for you to put in a folder, it's good enough for you to please upvote it! Thank you!
A mono-black deck update to my now-retired Mono-black weenie speed deck. I've been kicking this one around for a while and I think it is finally time to give it a try. I think the creatures and synergies within the deck are pretty good. It's a typical aggro deck-- a lot of low CMC creatures, some removal, and a couple of tricks to help keep the weenies on the battlefield.
The deck plays better than I anticipated (at least in play-testing). The incidental damage from Night Market Lookout and Vicious Conquistador is significant. The recursion of Scrapheap Scrounger and Dread Wanderer is significant. The lifelink from Gifted Aetherborn and Aethersphere Harvester is significant. Protecting creatures with Supernatural Stamina is significant. These all add up and chip away at opponent's life totals while also keeping mine slightly inflated.
And the deck is fast. Very fast. I have been typically winning by about turn 7.
It's fun to play and I hope that you enjoy giving it a try!
Bone Picker is rarely ever cast for its full mana cost. Between the aggressive nature of the deck losing creatures and the removal, there are rarely times when the full CMC is paid. Keep in mind that Bone Picker only costs to cast if ANY other creature dies. It doesn't have to be a creature you control-- it can be an opponent's creature!
Dire Fleet Poisoner is just amazing. A 2/2 for with flash and deathtouch is pretty amazing. This is effectively instant speed removal. Sure, it doesn't have many targets for the enter-the-battlefield ability, but who cares! If this were only a 2/2 for 2 with flash and deathtouch, it would still be amazing!
Dread Wanderer is efficient at for a 2/1. It is a bit annoying that it enters the battlefield tapped, but the recursion late game is quite important. It's worth it, though it is the main card that is sideboarded out when on the draw.
Dusk Legion Zealot is replacing Ruin Raider. This is an experiment and I'll see how this goes...
Gifted Aetherborn is one of my favorite cards! A 2/3 with deathtouch and lifelink for only is phenomenal. Yeah, it does die to a lot of removal, but so do most creatures. It's still difficult enough to deal with-- with great benefits from the deathtouch and lifelink-- that it is well worth putting them into the deck.
Night Market Lookout is the ideal creature for crewing Aethersphere Harvester. I was so sad when Smuggler's Copter was banned as I had a mono-black deck that used the Night Market Lookout - Smuggler's Copter combo, and it was great! Good card that is used well in this deck when the vehicles are in play.
Scrapheap Scrounger is a workhorse. It may not be able to block, but the recursion is great as it keeps creatures on the battlefield, and therefore keeps pressure on the opponent. Eventually, removal and counter spells dwindle, and Scrapheap Scrounger is able to stick on the battlefield. When it does stick, it often gets the job done.
Vicious Conquistador is a good card for good value-- a 1/2 for is nice. The point of damage to the opponent whenever it attacks is just good incidental damage that adds up. There are only 2x in the deck because I needed to make room somewhere for the vehicles and Ruin Raider, and, ultimately, I decided that was where I could make some room. I get arguments that there are better places to trim creatures. This is just where I chose to do it.
Fatal Push is arguably the best removal in Standard. There are times when I feel silly having them in my hand (against control) as there aren't targets, but that seems to be a rarity in this more aggro-driven Standard meta. It's great against Temur/4 Color/Sultai energy, and against Ramunap Red. Great card.
Supernatural Stamina is one of the cards I used in my previous version of this deck (see Mono-black weenie speed deck). An extra boost to kill a creature, then it regenerates. Target of removal? Regenerate. Pretty good way to keep the weenie creatures on the battlefield.
Aethersphere Harvester is a great card. It's a part-time creature, which makes it more difficult to hit with removal and sweepers. It has at least a couple of turns of lifelink. It flies. It has a "big butt" as a 3/5, making it difficult to kill in combat. It has a crew cost of 1, and coupling with Night Market Lookout is great. Very good card.
Heart of Kiran is also a very good vehicle. The reason for 3x of this is the vigilance. That has saved me multiple times. The crew cost can be annoying, but Night Market Lookout can still crew (even if it's not enough) to ping for a point of damage (and a point of life!). I have found this card to be quite good with many options for crewing (e.g., Bone Picker, Scrapheap Scrounger, and Ruin Raider; Ammit Eternal after sideboarding).
Ifnir Deadlands was initially a card I didn't like a lot. However, there are matchups where those -1/-1 counters are brilliant (e.g., against Hazoret the Fervent).
Scavenger Grounds is just needed when there are decks with God-Pharoah's Gift and The Scarab God, and it can be useful for cycling decks as well. Too important to not include.
Ammit Eternal has impressed me. A 5/5 for only is pretty efficient, and the Afflict mechanic is interesting. I sincerely thought about this main deck, but I think Ruin Raider is better, and I don't want too many 3+ mana creatures main because of Ruin Raider.
Duress is good, particularly against control, for eliminating pesky removal spells and planeswalkers. Good card to disrupt a player's game.
Harsh Scrutiny, like Duress, is great for messing with a player's game plan. It is particularly effective when there are larger creature threats (e.g., The Scarab God, Hazoret the Fervent, Glorybringer, Bristling Hydra, to name a few great targets).
Kitesail Freebooter is a good card. I don't use it much, but against a God-Pharaoh's Gift deck, it seems to be quite useful for removing Settle the Wreckage and God-Pharaoh's Gift. It is subject to removal, so it really takes the correct matchup for it to be impactful, though the flying is certainly a plus!
Never / Return is not as common in these mono-black decks, but I prefer it to Bontu's Last Reckoning as it can use the Return part of the card (so, 2 spells in 1 card) to eliminate important graveyard targets (e.g., The Scarab God, Angel of Invention). The ability to hit a planeswalker or creature is also quite nice.
Vraska's Contempt is just good removal, albeit 1 more mana than I really want to pay. Nevertheless, I also gain 2 life and exile a powerful creature. Can't complain too much.
Walk the Plank was in the main deck, but I replaced it with 4x Dire Fleet Poisoner. Here's the text from when it was in the main:
Walk the Plank is good for the larger creatures. After sideboarding, it is great to couple with the Return part of Never / Return to exile The Scarab God or a similar threat. It's also good for killing many of the annoying creatures of Temur/4 Color/Sultai Energy (e.g., gearhulks) and Ramunap Red (e.g., Glorybringer).
Ruin Raider was in the main but replaced with Dusk Legion Zealot. This is only an experiment. I am moving the Ruin Raider text to here until I decide whether to keep it or not.
Ruin Raider is a card that I simply didn't get when it was first spoiled. However, after having played with the card fro a while, I now understand how powerful it can be. In a low-to-the-ground deck like this, the damage from drawing cards is generally negligible, and the lifelink often makes up for it. The card advantage is amazing. Good card. It is also often sided out to make room for Vraska's Contempt, Ammit Eternal, and/or Never / Return because adding more cards with higher mana cost can start to make Ruin Raider a liability. However, being able to crew Heart of Kiran and to provide card advantage is worth it.
As I said above, the deck is a lot of fun to play. Hopefully you'll also have some success with this deck!
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Revision 6 See all
(6 years ago)
| +3 | Dire Fleet Poisoner | main |
| +1 | Dusk Legion Zealot | main |
| -1 | Heart of Kiran | main |
| -1 | Never / Return | side |
| +1 | Swamp | main |
| -2 | Vicious Conquistador | main |
| +1 | Vraska's Contempt | side |
| -1 | Walk the Plank | main |
| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 6 years |
| Last updated | 5 years |
| Legality | This deck is Casual legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 2 - 0 Mythic Rares 16 - 6 Rares 16 - 5 Uncommons 10 - 4 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 1.84 |
| Tokens | Zombie 2/2 B |
| Folders | To Try, Decks of Interest - STD, C - Possible Build, Great Standard Decks (Kaladesh Rotation), Cool, wants, Cool Decks, B Torments, Standard ideas, Interesting Standard Decks |
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